Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-04-19
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY


commercial scale has brought out
some interesting applications. one OF
these being the use of the material as
an explosive. In the slow evapora-
ton of the liquid in open air the nitro
gen escapes first, so that a high pro-
portion of oxygen may be readlly on
ta,ned. and when this reaches 40 or ~
per cent the liquid forms with ehar-
coal an explosive comparable to dyna-
mite in power. and. like dynamite
capable of being exploded by de-
torator. The mixture has been tested
in a coal mine near Munich with fair
results. The explosive is no; exp nslVe'
but. as 1t must be used within lew
minutes after beng produced, !. IS not
expected to come into use expect IN
blasting on a large scale. as In cutting
an Alpine tunnel. The discovery sug-
gests the idea that pants for making
explosives as needed might ne hc'ter
for warshlps than great powder maya
zines.
The by-products OF blast furnaces
in scotland are now being generally
utilized. their recovery having proven
profitable industry. Figures given
by MIR. A. II. Sexton show that nom
four furnaces consuming 1000 tons OF
coal per week with produHti' N u
400 tons of pig iron. there are re-
covered weekly 100 tons of pitch 2nrpO
gallons of oil, and 20is tons OF suiphate
of ammonia. The aggregate value IS
f470. The expense In wages and acid
used is placed at G5Ois and In inter- ST
on 10000 plant at e5s. leaving a
handsome balance for depreciation
and profit.
Dental carries. Prof. Winter aliirins,
may be reduced ne-half by medicines
taken internally creosote being an
effective preventive Much decay may
be avoided by cleanliness of inoutn
and teeth. and the use of mngnesia-
especially at night-when aci lily pre-
walls.
The disagreeable odor often acquired
by water in open Reservoirs has been
lately shown To be due in many cases
to vegetable growths. and not always
as has been supposed. to decomp1slng
organic matter. Various minute plants
are now known to impart both I'M
pleasant odor and taste to such water.
Fires play u considerable part In for
est development. The great forest fires
of Canada, according to Or. Bell are
mostly set by lightning. and occurred
even in the Pleistocene epoch of geolo-
gy. Recently burned portions of the
great forest between Alaska and the
Straits of Belle Isle are marked by a
tenderer green. Woods OF resinous pine
are consumed fastest, fallen branches
and dead leaves burning lige finder.
and the flames rise nearly 200 feet while
rushing along at race-horse speed, One
fire spread 100 miles In ten hours.
Birds and beasts are destroyed, the am
phibious creatures like beavers and
muskrats alone having n chance of es-
cape. The traces of n fire remain near
ly n century. After 10 or 90 years the
ground is covered with poplars. willows
etc, which shelter young frs and other
trees, but in 80 years the conifers are
out beneath the pines. Some pines
would hardly be produced without the
fire, which sets free the seeds. Alaska's
forest may be divided into thirds. OF
which one-third is 80 years old, the sec.
ond between so and 100, and the thirC
over 100.
a paving brick. said to be equal t.
granite. while having the advantage o
regular shape, Is now being made II
Eisleben. Thuringia. from copper Stag
As sudden cooling OF the material form
the Stag is run in from the smeltini
furnace. and annealing Is affected bl
thickly covering the filled moulds will
sand and allowing them to stand Z
hours or more The moulds are of Iron
each having capacity OF 30 bricks.
Was Mathus right? He held that pop
than Its wants can be supplied II no
checked by war, famine or other dir
calamity, and II Is suggested that tn
present universal unrest and war
craving may he an instructive conse
quence of unchecked multiplication o
the race during long peace. Anti Nal
thusian, however, appears the NOR
evident theory that over-production o
life's necessities has turned human ac
tivities into any new fields that open.
Non-infiammable artificial silk I
produced by II German chemist by us
Ing, instead of the usual nitfatcd cellu
lose, n solution of purified cellulose II
sulphophosphoric acid.
There are virtues in blood letting o
which the unscientlfic practitioner o
old knew nothing, II we may accept tn
conclusions of Russian physlologis
named Esslpor. This experimenter be
lleves he has proven that profuse bleed
ing changes the composition and prop
critics of the blood remaining. giving /
bactericldal action, Loss Of bloo'
equal to about a fortieth of the bod,
weight gave rabbits, pigeons and guinei
pigs marked resistance to infection
by bacteria, and especial protection
against the microbe of cholera. The ef
feet seemed to be produced gradually
reaching maximum in about twenty
four hours.
How to preserve yeast for n con
siderable time has been a difficult bu
important problem. II Is itself de
stroyed by antiseptcs but the extra
ordinary tenacity of life among certain
micro organism when dried has sug
gested to a German chemist the plan o
dessiccation, and he has now demon
strated that the yeast can be kept II
this way without loss of vitality for a
least year. The yeast cake Is frs
made into pellets the size OF pea
These pellets are partially dried in all
then sifted over with pulver!zed potat
starch and thoroughly dried In rotat
ing cylinder heated moderately but no
enough to injure the yeast, and ar
finally placed In alright Jars.
Snow statues are the achievement O
French sculptor-Pierre Roche
through scientific means. within tn
statue, which is of copper, Is placed
vessel containing liquiiled carbonl
acid, whose slow evaporation generate
great cold and condenses the moistur
of the air In snowflake coating on tn
outer surface OF the figure, This cover
ing remains as long as the refrigeration
is continued.
Cultures of the typhoid bacillus hav
been found by Dr. Edward Gernano t
retain their vitality for sixty days Il
warm moist air. although killed With
twenty-four hours in dry air. He con
cludes that transmission OF the diseas
by winds from infected districts
hi4b1y al a l,ttt thaI IL MAJ /.