The record-union., 1898-09-06
SOME ODD NEWS NOTES.
SPANISH IRON MINES-ARCTIC
RAILWAY.
Rontgen Ray Tests-Illuminatio
Standard-A Great Map-False
Teeth-Delirium Tremens.

ore to Europe, and the ore itself now
possesses a certain reputation. The in
creased demand for iron ore in Belgium
and Great Britain has served to stimu-
late this industry, which, owing to the
Incidence and lack of enterprise of the
Spaniards had been almost entirely
neglected. Ore in considerable quanti-
ty is found in the provinces of Almeria,
Biscay, GuipuZcon, Huelva, Malaga,
Murcia, Oviedo, Pontevedra, Santander
and Seville, but the most important de-
posits are situated in the neighborhoOd
of Bilboa in the province of Biscay,
where the industry has become quite
important. From Spain last year there
was exported 6,SS4, 5SS tons, compared
with 6,272, 5SS tons in 1896, of which
totals Bilboa contributed 4,697 1893 and
4,SO2, 719 tons. OF this amount Great
Britain took over 100000 tons, while
over a million tons We're sent to Hol
land, though for the most part merely
for transportation to Belgium and Ger
many. France received last year 49,,
912 tons of Spanish ore, while Belgium
imported direct 224, ,776.
One of the most northern of railway
lines on the earth has been projected to
extend entirely across Northern Swe-
den and Norway from the northern end
of the Gulf of Finland to Ofoten on
the Atlantic, about 12O miles north
of the Arctic Circle. A portion of the
line has already been constructed for
transporting iron ore, and the extension
in Sweden will be largely for strategic
reasons.
Already over two kilometers of the
Gornergrat Mountain Railway at Ter
mat has been finished, and the compile
ton of the line is expected within a few
weeks. The maximum grade is 20 per
per cent, and the gauge is one metre.
A double line of racks run parallel with
the rails throughout the entire length
Of the line, and the rails are used as
returns for the current. The original
current is a 5, 5,4O0-volts three phase al
ternatlng current, which is transform
ed to 800 volts and supplied to the mo-
tor by double trolley. The motor car
has two motors of 80 horse power each,
and Will seat sixty persons, being able
also to push another car carrying fifty
persons. The maximum speed obtained
on that portion Of the road already
completed was seven kilometers per
hour. The car descending generates a
current which is transmitted back to
the line and serves as a brake. The
new railway makes accessible to tour
lists one of the finest view points in all
Switzerland, which hitherto had to be
reached either on foot or by mule.
The use Of the Rontgen rays to test
coal has been recently suggested by NJ.
n. Curiot in a communication to the
Paris Academic des Sciences. In the
same manner as the rays are used to
show the skeletons of animals. the
structure of siliceous skeleton of coal
| may be observed. Carbon is transpar-
ent to the rays, but silica and silicates
are quite Opaque, SO that if a lump of
coal be placed between a Crookes tube
and fiuorescent screen it is possible
to see all the details of the Stag and
clinker forming portions of the fuel. NJ.
Couriot has tested in this way samples
of anthracite coal, Ignite. peat. coke
and black fuel, and finds that the fin
est particles of silicate, though quite
| invisible to the eye appear on the screen
as dark bands or spots on a bright
ground. Radiagraphs of samples vary
ing from one to two inches in thickness
have been made by M. Couriot, and he
has been able to study in this wav
many questions connected with the
structure and composition of coal. coke
and carbon.
Under the direction of the Astrono-
mer Royal of Great Britain there have
been made at the Greenwich Observa-
tory large number of negatives for
the international Photographic map of
the heavens on which astronomers Of
all countries are engaged. At the time
OF rendering the annual report it was
stated that S2S photographs have been
taken for this purpose, while for the
star catalogue 900 have been taken,
and 40 remain TO be made. In this
connection a most lamentable feature
has been brought to light; the deterior-
alton of large number both of the
catalogue and the chart plates, the
cause Of which is attributed to the
dampness of the building in which they
have been stored. At other observa-
tories, however, where considerable
work is done in measuring and reduc-
ing star photographs, this effect has
not been noticed, and astronomers in
New York City are now working on
plates that were made many years
ago.
In view of the fact that a large ma
jority of the visual hallucinations ac-
companying cases Of delirium tremens
consist Of the appearance of snakes
and worms, a series of examinations
with the ophthalmoscope We're recently
made and brought to light some in
teresting facts. In sixteen cases ex-
amined there was found in every case
an abnormal condition of the blood
vessels of the retina. Instead of having
their usual appearance and being pale
and but slightly visible, they were
dark with congested blood. Normally,
these small blood vessels are SO small
and semi transparent that they are not
projected into the field of vision, but
in the case of this disease they assume
great prominence, and their movements
seem like the twisting of snakes.
The Lancet" is authority for the
statement that there has been invented
recently a new variety of false teeth
which grow into the jaw, and in the
experiments already tried both with
men and dogs, the device has attained
considerable success The teeth are
made Of gutta-percha, porcelain, or
metal, and at their roots have holes.
Holes are also drilled upward into the
jaw and the tooth placed in the cavity.
From the patients jaw. soft granu-
In Growth ypakaS IFS way into the