The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-07-17
Science
and Invention.

and Invention.
British Medical Journal: The beard
has lately fallen under the. suspicion
of being the haunt Of bacilli. 1t has
been limited that surgeons who wish to
keep inviolate the aseptic faith should
for conscience sake sacrifice what Pa
ROLES calls ''valor's excrement." DR..
SchoulI of Tunis has long been so con-
WINGED of the dangers which Turk in
the boards and mustaches of men suf-
ferihg from tuberculosis that he has
made it a rule to insist on the thor
ough disinfection Of these masculine
adornments when the wearer will not
consent to part with them.
The discovery of manganese steel has
meant the manufacture of the best
burglar-proof safes. When this steel
was discovered it was impossible to
developed through which it is as read
lily shaped as the inferior grade of
steel. Nothing equaling manganese
steel in the combined properties Of
hardness and toughness has since been
produced. Experiments with gun-cot-
ton and dynamite on manganese steel
plates have demonstrated that the re-
sistance of this metal to the action OF
explosives is unequaled by that Of any
metal known to science. The ordinary
methods followed by nocturnal visitors
are of no avail in the case of man
ganese steel safes.
The London Globe: 1t has long been
known that climate alone is not 'suffi-
cient to account for colored people.
Dark skins are by no means confined
to the tropics; they are to be found in
races even beyond the temperate zone
This diversity, according to writer
in one of the American magazines, can
only be accounted for by considering
the different modes of life that have
acted for centuries upon the various
classes and castles of the country. The
coolie who works in the fields with
strip of cotton cloth about his loins is
very dark, the merchant and trader,
who never go abroad without being
thoroughly clothed, are many degrees
fairer.
1t is said that a colony of Jews on
the west coast of India has been es-
tablished for nearly eighteen centuries,
but because they have not followed the
habits of the people as regards cloth
ing, they remain to this day white
people On the other hand, the Ara
yam population of India and Persia,
originally a fair people, by adopting
the customs Of those countries, have
become in great measure colored
race. Accordingly, it is argued that
the steady march of nature is toward
the evolution of fair people all over
the world. The layer of dark pigment
beneath the cuticle prevents the skin
from blistering, and when proper cloth
ing renders this safeguard unnecces-
sary, nature dispenses with 1t alto
gether.
1t is also limited that color has
something to do with the mental ana
intellectual conditions Of a people, but
into these questions the writer wisely
forbears to enter.
&AH
The biokam, an instrument for anna
teurs interested in the production OF
living pictures, strikes us, says
knowledge" as being eminently
adapted for bottling up, so to speak,
those animated scenes, incidents and
phenomena, when for reasons, general
or special, their reproduction may
serve some useful purpose. The bio
kan is so compact, portable, moderate
in price and easy of manipulation that
-. At, 1,o sou 6nOran
of popularity as the ordinary camera
Indeed, the film, twenty-five feet IN
length and containing as many as 'Oo
pictures, can be wound on a sort OF
creel and developed as easily as an
ordinary plate. The exposure, py
means of a train of wheels. can be cf-
fected at such a speed that each sep
arate impression is practically instan-
taneous, and thus an unlimited num-
Der of midget portraits or photographs
of scenery may be taken with mini
mum of trouble The instrument is
provided with two lenses-one for neg
atives, the other for projection pur-
poses, by which means living pictures
taken by the amateur himself may be
thrown upon the screen for his own
delectation and that if his friends.
At one time coarse russell shoes OF
the heaviest material was doled out
to slaves on the Southern plantations,
and russet shoes were long associated
in the mind of the negro with servl-
tude For years after the war South
ern darkies refused to wear them, but
now when colored shoes are so general
the old prejudice has died away, and
as many russets are sold South as
elsewhere Tanners, it is noted by a
trade authority, are always introduce
ing something new, and colored leath-
ers we're but an incident. There are
large quantities of small Russian
horse hides being imported now. and
tanned into what is called scoltskin, and
made into shoes. Western cowhide is
made into a fine imitation kangaroo
and alligator, and frequently counter
feits. calfskin. There is r. great for
eign demand for American, upper
leathers,'' which has increased olrap-
idly that exports. are now nearly dou-
BILE the shipments OF. sole leather.
*gfs*
Goldschmidt, a German investigator,
obtains high temperature by the oxida-
ton of aluminium, which he effects by
heating a powdered% mixture of the
metal with some common oxid. The
heat obtained, together with the reduc-
ing action Of the aluminium. enables
RI he cnp1ted nv This method.