The sun., 1899-10-08
VOTES ON SCIENCE AND IxDusrnE.

oeooeists OF the opinion thatthe vast territory
now known as Wyoming once had numerous fresh
water lakes and climate approaching the semi
tropical and that the animals whose bones are from
time to time coming to light inhabited these lakes
and the adjoining swAmps in myrisds. They sank
into the mud in diving and their bones were covered
with other deposits tnd became perined. The large
beds are found at points supposed to have been the
mouths OF Rreat rvers the animals after death hav
ing hoated down These rivers to places where they
were deposited in these estuar,s. thus Rccount ting
for tho vast deposits which characterize certain
| localities and which have proved such q study to
scientific Investigators.
Information communicated to the state Depart.
ment by Consul Monaghan. OF nitL, shows that
artincial paving stones are being more and more
adopted In Germany. the d. mand in all the large
cities being great The process for their
production 10 to mix coal tar with sulphur and
thoroughly. chlofato Of lime being added to the
sultlnS seniliquid mass. and. after cool .ns. the
mass is broken into small pieces and miyed with
glass or blast furnace glass lag the powder being
then subjected to apres-ure Of tw, hundred atmos.
pheres and reduced to the form forms desired.
The specific weight Of these stones s az and the
| Sistanoe against crushing is th'oe hundred and
! nfteen pounds to the square centmetre or hfteen
and one'half inches square. the res stance to
and tear in use. n appears, being fully half great
as that of Swedish granite Its points of advantage
tAeEoioIe' he sun as DuruDlIiy
equal to { vt OF many stone roads. resistance to
changes OF emperrtlre, a rou.hness Of surface
which gives horsssA good foothold. non.trans mis-
sion OF sound. and az the toinings are very small
drth avoided and cleaning is very easy.
recent English device for shutting a railway
| chrra.e door-the object being to enable the guard
to close and lock ali OF the doors OF the train by
simply turning handls In his compartment or
"cahoose"-i' described in the Fraoucdt knO,nssr.
Briefly. comprtssed air 10 the agent employed and
n conveyed along the train by the aid of ntxibls
couplings Ike those used for the West ngLouse air
brake. tnler each coach is ht'ed an air Cylinler
! with piston actuatng pair Of horizontal rods
which slide in guides under tho footbosrds On each
side of tho train the door, are ecte ny suitable
devices. that when the guards bring the rods
action. with tho aid of air valves. the doors are
opened simultaneously. spriig connect on rem
ders the operation very gentle and noiseless. The
locking Is managed in tho same way II q pa'sen-
gers dnger should DO in the way. it would not be
+ hurt; tho door would not lock automatically but
would be shut separately.
The interesting announce q ent Is made that J. A.
! Broshear has completed ono of the pair Of large
camera doublots for the observatory OF
! Heidelberg Germany. which are notable as be-
ing neIt to the largest ever made. and of course of
. the most pertact workmanship. They are sixteen
nches clear aperture and oghty inche. focal eng
Two " these douolet' each consisting OF four lenses
are to Ge made. and To be used almost exclusive.
ly for the Photographic discovery OF asteroids The
reason for making two cameras and objectvss Is to
serve na check. Tho track OF an ssteroid an
eight by ten plate is only about twentieth OF an
inch long for three hours exposure, and, as tNe
curves Of the lenses have NECESSARILY to be very
deep the operation OF eating such at disks is
involving much trouble and degree OF skill far
above the common requirements.
| -
oonduits about Ephesus and SMYRNA were recently
subjected to chemical analysis and the various
pies were fonnd to 10 quite similar in position
noteworthy in view OF the fact that the water works
from which the specimens were taken date their
struoton from PERIOD several centuries be.
fore the Christian era to three hundred years
after. lhs chief constituent of these pies Is car
Donate OF lime. having mixed with IL from ? to 8
per cent. OF organic material ths being found to
consist OF a compound Of fatty acids. Experiments
were made with cement consisting OF burned lin 0
and olive or lnseed OIL but it did not prove to be
permanent; but. on the other hand. . mixture of
two-thirds air-slaked lime and onothrd olive oil
hariensd readily and possessed great endurance,
and was possibly the composition Of the ancient
eemens.
An almost universal notice is being given BY III .
pross to new glaasmakng process initiated by a
lamp manufacturer in Anderson. Ind. which
claims to overcome the greatest trouble heretofore
experienced. viz. the melting OF sand involving AZ
is we'll understood, q large amount OF time and tho
best fuel. natural gas proving superior. According
to the account given. this manufacturer VIII l. pAs
sing through his plant recently Observed globe ON
an arc light break. and piece OF glass fall on the
carbon. II was only second until II was reduced
to liquid nd dr!pped to the ground. Th o gave
him his cue, and he directed the construction OF a
big vat. with sides and bottom composed Of carbons
over which could be turned lateral and Longitude
N ms haip 90, T..
sand through this vat. the plan worked perfectly
the best otan glass be thus turned out in Abou,
many seconds as requires hours for tho old fuels
to meltit. The vat has been patented and Is beina
used. being arranged that it can be adapted for
every kind OF gAaSmAking from plate to bottles
The cost OF melting 10y this process is stated being
not so greatas by coal or oil. though may be more
sIpeusve than natural gas
The distinction of being the wettsGt locality on earth
seems u belong TO Cherra Punji in India During the
frst Ave and half month"; OF this year. down to the
middle of June Cherra has received the m sre bara
telle OF 2T7.s+ inches of rAn-in fact, within the
limits of single vek the aggregate fall was 49, ~
inches while on two success We days the gauge
registered 16.+5 inches and 1921 inches Itisuot
however wet spot all the year round: like tho res,
of the Indian empire it has It's dry and wet seasons
the former under the northeast mo soon or wind
from the interior OF Asa the latter under tire
west monsoon or W nd from the Indian Ocean. Over
a. long period as nve days rain fall. at Cherra al
rate OF an inch or more per hour; for shorts,
p'rod the rates are much greater. fourteen inche.
in seven hours, seventeen inches in six hours
s!ghy-hve in ehes in eighteen hours. and on: but
the forty and eighttenths inches June IL, l sos
appears TO have been th' largest amount on any on
day at Chcrra Notwithstanding such huge rain alls
the spot is considered fairly healthy one fol-
almost as rapidly as It falls the water hows awaJ
down the gorges.
Various vestigations into tho properties OF iror
and nickel alloys show that tho addition Of nickel to
iron or steel appears to produce effect similar to
Annealing; and Chcrnon. the Russian scientist ba,
stated that steel is composed Of crystals Of metallic
iron cemented together by carbide of iron the prob
ability beng that IN nickel.iron alloys the inter
crystalline spaces are moge completely filed thu,
increasing tho cohesion. What il known as tn,
Demenge process OF hardening steel ingots which
has for some time been in us, at one of the pinci
pal Steel works of france. consists in d recty car
bur2. one uf the faces Of the lngots at the tim,
of casting by lin n; OF the vertical .les OF
the mould with carhurizing substances; the carbur