The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-07-10
Some Accidental inventions,

An Augustinian monk. Berthold
| Schwartz. having put a composition OF
| sulphur and saltpetre in a mortar. IL took
| fire. and the stone that covered il was
| blown OF with great violence, which &C
cidenI led the chemist TO think il might
! be used 10 much advantage in attacking
| fortified places. He accordingly added 20
II a quantity OF charcoal 10 render X
more apt 10 take FIRE and increase COM
| bustion.
Leaden shot are attributed to a Bristol
| plumber. who. one night about the year
| 1873. had a dream which was not all
| dream" that be was out in shower OF
molten lead. which fel in the form OF
spherical drops His curiosity being
aroused. he went next day TO the top Of
church and poured some melted lead
into vessel of water lying below. To his
great delight. he found that the lead had
/ gathered into beautifully formed gloAu-
1 lar balls, and he at once took out pat
ent.
A Nuremburg glass-cutter happened 20
! let some squsfortis fall upon his spects-
! eles, and noticed that the glass was cor
! roded and softened where the acid had
| touched It. Taking the hint, he made a
| liquid. then drew some figures upon piece
! Of glass. covered them with varnish. ap-
| piled his corroding fluid. and cut away
| the glass round his drawing. When he
removed the varnish the figures appeared
| raised upon a dark ground. and etching
upon glass was added TO the ornamental
arts.
| One day, nearly three hundred years
| ago, a poor optieian was working in his
| shop in tbs town of MiddlebuTs. in The
| Netherlands, his children helping him or
amusing themselves with the tools and
| objects lying about, when suddenly his lit
tie girl exclaimed: "Oh. papa. see how
| near the steeple comes!"
Anxious to learn the cause of the child's
Amusement. he turned towards her. and
saw that she was looking through TWO
lenses, one held close to her eye. the other
at arms length; and calling her - his
side, he noticed that the eye lens was
plano-convex. Taking the two glasSes. be
repeated his daughters experiment. and
soon discovered that she had cnanCed to
hold the lenses al the proper focGS. thus
producing the wonderful effect that sne
observed. His quick wit saw in this
a wonderful discovery, and he at once
set about making use of his new knoWl-
edge of lenses. Ere long he had fash
Toned tube Of pasteboard, in which he
set the glasses at their proper focus. and
so the telescope was invented.
Among the many traditions concerning
William Lee and the stockiu s-framo is
one that he was expelled from the uniyer-
sity for marrying. and that, beiIg very
poor, his wife was obliged 10 contribute
! towards the housekeeping by knitting. Ii
was while watching the mot on Of her fin
gers that he conceived how 20 initiate
those movements by a machine.
Arkwright accidentally derived the idea
of spinning by rollers from seeing a red
| hot bar elongated by being passed be-
tween two rollers.
The ordinary practice Of taking bath
solved for Archimedes the question Of how
20 test the purity of the gold ~ Hero's
crown. He observed that when he stepped
into full bath the quantity OF water
which over1owed was equal 70 the bulk
of his body, and il occurred TO him thsJ
the worth of the crown might be tested
by such means. He thereupOn mace two
masses of the same weight as the crown
one Of gold, the other of silver and !m-
mersed them separately in a vesse' filed
to the brim, measuring exactly the guam
tity of water that overlooked in eaca case.
Having found by this means what meas
ure of the fluid answered to the quantity
of each metal, less in the case OF the
gold than of the silver-the bulk OF the
former being less, weight for weight-nc
next immersed the crown itself dld found
that it caused more water TO overflow
than the gold, but less than the silver
Having found the differenc- between the
two masses Of pure gold and Silve-, IN
certain known proportions. he was able 20
compute the real quantity OF each metal
in the crown. and thus discovered the .
fraud that had been practiced on the king
to whom he hurried, eXclaiming. "Eurek1i
Eureka" CT have found IT. l have
found iti'D an exclamation that has ever
since been used TO express eXultation over
a discovery.
Coming down now 10 our own time tho
account of the discovery Of saccharine /
one of the numerous by-prOducts Of the
gas-maker's refuse, whose sweetness is (
three hundred times more intense than
that Of cane-sugar, reads almost like ro-
nance.
Dr.. Fahlberg had entered the John
Hopkins University in America in order
TO devote himself exclusively To a study
Of the chemistry Of coal-tar derlvations
Some months had passed. when one even
ing a tea-time ne detected an intensely
sweet flavor upon his bread and butter
He traced the sweetness TO his fingers. 90 !
his hands. and 10 his coat-sleeves. and IT
dawned upon him thar 81 must have been
derived from one OF the new compounds
finch he had that day succeeded ia pro-
ducing- He promptly returned 10 his la
boratOry and tasted the contents Of ev-
cry vessel with which he had been work
ing. His idea was correct. One al his
OitdhoIS tohtdlht4 the S"eei material
Prof R0ntgen came upon his marvellous
Y rays-which have opened out new fields
Of research in physical science. besides
being Of far-reaching practical utility IN
surgery and other departmeuts-qu.te hy .
chance. He was experimenting in the dark
with a Cr0okes vacuum tube. which was
covered with some sort ~ cloth strong
electric current was passed THROUGH
while close by was some prepared photo .
graphic paper. but no camera. Next dag F.
he noticed several lines on this paper f5r
which he could not account. By res9rtlnz .
everything 20 exactly the same condition +
al on the preceding DAY. he was shIs % .
ascertain the real origin ~ these mysterl- +
Gus marks ham5er-s Journal.
Along the Kansas Nile
Kansas editor after rrrf0t7-,s F.