The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-04-10

the moisture of the air I'm a. snow-lilSe coat
ing on the outer surface of the figure: This
covering remains as long as the refrigera-
ton is continued.
Cultures OF the typhoid bacillus have been
found by Dr. EDWARD Germano to retain
their vitality for sixty days in warm, moist
air. although killed within twenty-four
hours in drv air He concludes that trans
mission of the disease by winds from IN
fected districts is highly improbable, but
that it may be conveyed long distances IN
blankets and wooden clothing that have
been 1mperfectly dried and disinfected
A paving brick, said to be equal to gran
lite while having the advantage of regular
shape is now being made in Eisleben, Thu~
ringia, from copper Stag. AS sudden cooiinS
of tho material forms brittle CLASSY mass,
the moIds are heated before the Stag is run
in from the smelling furnace and anneallng
is effected by thiekly covering the ihlcl
molds with sand and allowing them TO stahu
seventy-two hours or more. the MODS ste
of iron, each having a capacity OF thirty
six bricks.
Was Nautilus right? He held that popula-
ton tends to increase more rapidly than its
wants can be supplied if not checked by
war, famine or other dire calamity and 1t is
suggested that the present universal un-
rest and war-craving may be an instructive
consequence of unchecked multiplied ton OF
the race during the long peace Antl-M MAI
thusian, however, appears the more evident
theory that overproduction OF IRE necessl-
ties has turned human activities into any
new fields that open.
The by-products of blast furnaces in Scot
land are now being generally utilized, their
recovery having proven profitable INDUS
try. Figures given by Mr.. A. II. Sexton
show that from four furnaces, consuming
1900 tons of coal per week with produc-
ton of l,4OO tons of pig iron, there are re-
covered weekly one hundred tons OF pitch
q, 900 gallons of oil and 201a tons of sulphate
of ammonia. The aggregate value is 44fo.
The expense in wages. and ACID us seq od Is
placed at G50R, and in interest on ElO,OO0
plant at 93S leaving a handsome balance
for depreciation and profit.
There are virtues in blood-letting of which
the unscientific practitioner of old knew
nothing, if we may accept the conclusions
of Russian psychologist named Essipor.
This experimental believes he has proven
that profuse bleeding changes the compost
ton and properties of the blood remaining,
giving it a bactericidal action. Loss of
blood equal to about fortieth of the body
weight gave rabbits, pigeons and guinea
pigs marked resistance to infection by
bacteria. and especial protection against
the microbe of cholera. The effect seemed
to be produced gradually, reaching maxi
mum in about twenty-four hours.
How to preserve yeast for a considerable
problem. 1t is itself destroyed by antisep-
tics, but the extraordinary tenacity of life
among certain heterogeneous when dried
has suggested to German chemist the
plan of desiccation, and he has now demon
strated that the yeast may be kept in this
way without loss of vitality for at least
year. The yeast cake is first made into
pellets the size of a pea. These pellets are
partially dried in air, then sifted over with
pulverized potato starch and thoroughly
dried in rotating cylinder heated mO0er-
ately, but not enough to injure the yeast,
and are finally placed in alright jars.
The production of liquid air on CONNER
cial scale has brought out some interesting
applications, one of these being the use of
the material as an explosive. In the slow
evaporation of the liquid in open air. the
nitrogen escapes first, so that a high pro-
portion of oxygen may be readily obtained,
and when this reaches 40 or so per cent the
liquid forms with charcoal an explosive
comparable to dynamite in power, and, like
dynamite. capable of being exploded by
detonator. The mixture has been tested in
a coal mine near Munich with fair results.
The explosive is not expensive, but, as it
must be used within a few minutes after
Delng produced 1T is not expected to come
into general use, except in blasting on a
large scale, as in cutting an Alpine tunnel.
The discovery suggests the idea that plants
for making explosives as needed might be
better for war ships than great powder
magazines
Fires play considerable part in forest
development The great forest fires of Can
ada, according to DR.. Bell, are mostly set
by lightning, and occurred even in the
pleistocene epoch of geology. Recently
burned portions of the great forest between
Alaska and the Straits of Belle Isle are
marked by tenderer green. Woods of
resinous pine are consumed fastest fallen
branches and dead leaves burning like tim
der, and the flames rise nearly 200 feet while
rushing along at race~horse speed. One fire
spread l60 miles in ten hours Birds and
beasts are destroyed, the amphibious crea-
lures ike beavers and muskrats alone hav-
ing a chance of escape. The traces of a
fire remain nearly q century After fifteen
or twenty years the ground is covered with
poplars. willows, etc, which shelter young
hrs and other trees, but in fifty years the
comfers are tallest, and in one hundred
years all others are dying out beneath the
pines; Some pines would hardly be pro-
duced without the fire, which sets free the
seeds. Alaska's forest may be divided into
thirds, of which one-third is fifty years old
the second between fifty and one hundred
and the third over one hundred.