Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-01-10
u SCIENCE. -.

1t has been predicted by Lord Kelvin,
that in four or five centuries it will be-
come difficult to live on account of the
scant supply of oxygen in the atmosphere.
Fortunately, as a French writer points
out, there are other oxygen mines besides
the atmosphere, and, thanks to Signor
Garutti and the dynamo, works in Italy,
Switzerland and Belgium are already OBJ
tanning oxygen by electrolysis from wat
er at a cost of less than half a cent per
cubic foot. There are now many uses for
the oxygen as also for the hydrogen OBJ
tanned at the same time. The apparatus,
which successfully overcomes the old dlf5>
ficulties of securing free circulation of the
electrolyte and at the same time avoiding
the liability of the freed gases to MIX Is
very simple, the electrolyzer consisting of
a ank of steel plate, divided into cells by
dlaphragms having very small apertures$
near the bottom. The metallic walls off,
fer feeble resistance to the current. 1 The
apertures permit the water to circulate
freely, but the bubbles are too large to-
pass, and the gases cannot mix. The al
ternate cells, those having the samefpol-
arity, are connected with the gasoneter'
for oxygen or hydrogen. 10 Y
Water is contaminated by lead pipes,
says Herr Liebrich, a German chemist.
through the joint action of the oxygen of
the air and carbonic acid, but this action
is greatly retarded if the water contains
bicarbonate of lime. This, however, does
not entirely prevent the dissolving of
lead. The quantity of lead taken up
while the water is in active circulation is
extremely small, but it is liable to be-
come very noticeable in water that has
stood in pipes all night, and to ensure
complete freedom from lead it is recon-
mended that carbonate of soda be used,
in quantity sufficient to fix the carbonic
acid without rendering the water aka
line. % t-
The thrilling discovery of a survivor of
an earlier geological epoch must arouse
active search for others, to be captured
or preserved living. The four modern
specimens known of New Zealand's
fightless rail. the Nortornis, were killed
in the years 1S49, 1851, 1879 and 1898.
While progress in civilization has
brought greater care of human life, there
is yet a prodigal waste. DR.. A. Hill, vice
chancellor of Camburg University, states
that o%ne-fourth of all the diseases that
destroy life are absolutely p~reventible,
ard that if the practice Of hygiene We're
only or a level with it's theory the aver
age longevity would be raised at once
from so to SIS years. The greater number
of diseases over which the individual has
control are due to mistakes in eating and
drinking. One purpose yet to attain is a
more exact knowledge by every citizen of
the causes and properties of preventiblc
diseases, but it is hardly surprising that
!, the knowledge is still slight when eeven
medical men hardly realized the conta-
gious character of consumption twenty
years ago, although one-third Of thelcows
in England are tuberculous and half the
milk sold distributes the bacillus Of tub
{ erculOsiS. H
The possible extent of the spread Of dis
ease by the animals about us is still a
matter Of conjecture only. While it is
more than probable that consumption
and other diseases are distributed by do
nestle animals, good reason has been
: found for believing that the plague was
introduced into Calcutta by rats
and while mosquitoes probably inoculat6
the blood with disease germs. it. now ap-
pears that flies may carry death in Other
ways. The last named suggestion comes
from Mid-Surrey. Two deaths from
ptomaine poisoning We're attributed Joy
. the coroner's jury to eating lamb which
f had been placed in a larder containing
e putrid tongue, and, as the two were mo-
- II ClUSc plOAliilltS, III analyst DGiitN
e that flies brought the poison from The
= tongue to the lamb. The obvious mora
= is that flies should be kept from larder:
V and meat stores.
e The flashes of blush white light seen il
the dark when pieces of sugar are rubbe(
o together have been studied by Mr.. JOIN
Burke, an English physicist. BY rotat
ing a loaf of sugar on a lathe against
hammer, he has obtained almost contin
uous luminosity enabling him to observ
and photograph the spectrum. The ligh
appears to be a result of some change il
W the crystals, and not to be due to heatin
or to chemical action between sugar an
air.
A remarkable dwarf pine from Gree
Mountain, near Boulder. Colo, is report
ed by Prof. Bessey to be only 5 inche
high and a fifth of an inch through, wit
a single tuft of leaves, yet to show % an
nual rings.
A recent distribution of a half to
of fish to the soldiers at Camp Wiko
possessed greater significance than tt
casual observer would suspect. This ir
cident possibly marked the opening of a
important new industry, one that Pro
Baird believed would date from 1881, bl
which for fifteen years has been abar
doned. The fish were newly discovere
specimens of a lost species. This specie
was the tile-fish, which was first descril
ed from specimens taken in 1879 off tt
southern coast of Nantucket, in 1881 We
a found to exist in great numbers and ca