The record-union., 1899-09-11

blnatlon of shovel poker and tongS IN
one implement for fireplace use, the
poker having a pair of lugs which hold
| it in a slot in the shovel handle, to
extend over the blade and form the
tongs.
| A sterilizing cuspidor has been pat
ented by a Frenchman, the upper por-
tion being formed of a removable lid,
with a separate vessel underneath, in
which is placed a cake of porous ma
terial saturated with a volatile disin-
fectant, which passes off in gas through
the liquid in the cuspidor.
A continuous spinning top has been
invented by Californian, having
balanced ring suspended on a central
vertical shaft, with a spiral groove IN
the center of the shaft, in which IS
mounted a spirally-threaded stem, to be
depressed by the hand and spin the top.
The roughened edges of collars and
neckbands are made smooth by new
ironing machine, which is formed of an
iron bracket secured to the wall wits
a heating device inside, the end Of the
bracket having a deep slot with pol
ished surface at the bottom over which
the edges are drawn.
i >
The rays of the sun are used to heat
water for bathing in the summer by
new Californian apparatus, having two
water tanks placed in heat-retaining
| receptacle with a system of mirrors
arranged to throw the rays of the sun
on the tanks and heat the water con-
tanned therein.
At recent meeting of the French
Academy of Sciences, M. Louis Boutan,
who is connected with the Arago lab
oratory at Banyuls, on the seacoast,
presented a series of instantaneous sub :
marine photographs taken with a cam
era arranged to be operated under
water These plates have been obtained
on a. clear day, when the sun was high.
and the results are very good; in sew
eral plates are clearly perceived bands
of fish which have been taken at a dis
tance of 1.50 to two meters from the
objective, the camera being immersed
to a depth of three meters. In order
to form a background, white screen
was let down, before which bait was
thrown in order to attract the fish into
the field of the camera. This, however,
is not Indispensable, as on certain or
the plates the fish are easily diStin-
guished against the sandy bottom, and
a diver placed against a background OF
seaweed, at a depth of three meters and
a distance of four meters from the
camera, gave a very good image. M
Boutan estimates that it is possible to
take good instantaneous plates at q
depth of seven to eight meters when
the weather is favorable.
cit is reported," says Science"
"that Dr. Nansen has resolved to enter
the lists as an Antarctic explorer. Let
ters received in London from him
state that he hopes to have an expedi-
tion organized and ready to start in
1902. He is at present engaged in pre-
pairing his plans and will endeavor to
shape them so that he may supple
ment the work which the British and
German expeditions proposes to accom-
plish.'
A writer in Mature speaks of the
medical tyranny which banishes the
strawberry from the diet of the gouty,
and notes that Linnaeus considered
that he had been cured of this very dis
ease by the free use of the fruit. He
goes on to say: although strawberries
are forbidden to the equity by some
authorities, by others they are per-
mitted, the fruit being regarded as a
useful food for equity persons on ac-
count of it's richness in the salts OF
potash, soda and lime, and it's cooling,
diuretic and laxative qualities. The
analysis of the strawberry shows it to
be particularly rich in soda salts, and
in spite of the high percentage of wa
ter this fruit excels all other common
fruit in the amount of mineral salts.
The chemistry of the strawberry there
fore would teach that this fruit is like
ly to be beneficial in equity states
Referring to the speed with which a
chemical curiosity or a laboratory toy
is transformed nowadays into an ev-
eryday commercial article, the "Engi-
neering News" says editorially: "A
new idea appears sometimes merely as
a suggestion in a discussion, or in the
form of a note to a learned body. In
a few weeks some one else takes it up;
then comes a popular article, and be-
fore long what was only an interest
ing fact becomes a commercial possi-
bility, developing into a great indus
trial factor An excellent example is
found in the progress Of the 1iquefac-
tion of air. It is but a short time
since few drops, hardly more than q
deposit of dew on the walls of glass
bulb, were exhibited in a lecture room
as rare curiosity; then came a beah-
erful on the table of popular lecturer.
followed by larger quantities, available
for experimental purposes and original
research, and now we have the an
nouncement among the articles of the
month of the completion of q CONNER
cial plant to supply thousands Of gal
Ions per day. The story of liquid air
is but a repetition of that of aluminium.
Once a rarity in the chemical museum,
then a commercial material at f-any
dollars a pound, ranging almost with
the precious metals, and all ut once
| brought by the methods of practical
electro-chemistry into the market as a
| commercial product with innumerable
applications in the arts. There is some
thing curious in the fact that the metal
which applied electricity made possible
in the markets is likely to become a
rival of copper as an electrical conduc-
tor, and thus we find electricity supply
ing the materials for it's own utiliza-
tion."
The Marquis of Salisbury has for
many years been an earnest student of