The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1899-05-30
SClENTlFlc> AND INDUSTRIAL.

It is generally believed that the
common house martiD, which leaves
England --hen nesting time is over,
spends tie winter in Africa. But, al
though millions Of the birds disappear
from Europe every autumn, the ornl'
thologist, Dr. Sharpe, knows Of only
one single authentic instance OF the
capture Of martin in the African con.
tinent.
In a late volume DR.. A. Fl. Fisol
says that "tbough our own sun has
passed the zenith OF its career, it may,
in the remote future, brighten into
rivalry with Sirius itself, which is
seventy-fve times hotter and brighter
than our central luminary. The dis
tance from us Of Arcturus is foul
million times that Of the sun, aud his
motion Of 1877 miles in a second mUsl
be continued for 100 years before Le
would be carried across space III the
heavens which to our eyes wonld be
no greater than the width Of the moon
at the FULL
A new process for coating iron sno
steel consists in the use Of bath con.
sisting Of zinc, tin, and aluminium. Il
IS claimed that this produces 3 coat
ing which is much superior to any
now known, adheriug 50 firmly that
the sheet will stand working after il
has been applied and Will llresist corro'
sion and can even be heated red hot
without injuring it. The coating is
applied in the same manner as IL the
well-known process of gal7auizing,
that is, by dipping galvanized sheets
in the metal alloy. The most ap-
proved mixture is made by melting
together 81 parts Of zinc. IA ports Of
tin, and /! parts Of lead and 0'5 Of a
part of aluminium. The process Is
patented.
An interesting paper on the effects
Of light at very low temperatures was
recently submitted to the Paris Acad.
emy Of Sciences by NM. Augnste and
Louis Lumiere. BY using liquid air
they were able to obtain very low
temperatures, and when . sensitlzed
gelatino-b bromide plate was immersed
in it and exposed to light for a short
time, no tint was shown on develop
| ment. When the plates were i'm
mersed in the liquid air, but allowed
| to regain their original temperature
| without being exposed to- the light,
| they did not show any changes in
their properties. If, however, plates
of great sensitiveness were exposed at
-Ie1 degrees Centigrade, they re-
quired al exposure about four hun
dred times as long as at ordinary tenn
peratures. :.
As a motive power, the explosive
force Of liberated -hest has.. Of course,
| long been utilized, 5ut t seems that
to the ingenuity of Rudolf Diesel, q
Bayarian inventor, is due the con
structicn of g practically available
| QGaC lGOtOl. LII lu1S 4CfiSo, WILMA -
technically explained at much length
in the foreign scientific journals, g
sharp distinction is made between the
Temperature of ignition and the tenn,
peratare of combustion. The first oi
Jhsse IS constant value at each pres
| sure and dependent only on the phys
! ical qualities of the fuel, the higher
| the pressure the lower the tempera'
ture OF ignition. The temperature Of
! combustion, on the other hand, is
| variable, depending On many condi.
tions, and especially on the quality Of
the air by which the combustion is
| maintained, but is always higher than
the temperature of ignition. Briefly.
Diesel's radical departure from all
previous practice is defined as consist
| ing in generating combustion tenn
perature by mechanical compression
of pure air by ingeniously adapted
methods, utilizing this temperature tc
| ignite the fuel, and by so introducing
the fuel that the heat lost by ezpan
| cion is rracticallv balanced by the