The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-09-15
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

The Road Transportation Problem.
Electric Batteries Under Water.
Cremation Not Neccssary-Whea
Live Wires Are Dangerous--Dessi-
cation OF Turkestan-Cnrbon Be-
fore Lifc-IInproveG Ventilation.
Submerged Seeds sunstrokc's
Cause.
4 INV steam freight automobile
r,ale in Leeds. England. merits special
attention becaY9c It has been pro-
bounced .cGGtoS the most satisfactory
solufdTs sdia difficult problem. It
consists OF road locomotive weigh
Ing 600 pounds ard n truck weighing
200 pounds and having u platform
clever feet long by, SIX wide, the load to
be carried being four tons. The front
wheels OF both engine ard truck are
thIrty-flvc inches In diameter. those in
the rear being torty-six inches. The
higl.pressure cylinder is four inches In
diameter. the low-pressurc is SIX and
ore-half inches, ard for starting on
nigh grades steam can be admitted at
high pressure into the low-pressure CYL
inder. The water tank holds 239 gall
Ions and the cokc-boS carries two hun
dred pounds. In q recent test for ten
hours, with four tons OF baled wool and
Nve passengers, an average speed OF 4.s
miles per hour was made. and 800
pounds OF coke and GOO gallons OF water
were consumed. The cost per mile for,
each ton carried was estimated at q
trihe less than half til. cost with
horses. .
During foundations at Munich two
batteries OF aceumulators in the munic-
ipal electric station were completely
submerged. On the following night On
attempt was. made to light Fart of the
streets from one of the batteries, and,
proving successful, with about two
thirds of the usual current, the battery
was charged on the next day. and
again discharged on the second night.
On the subsidinE Of the water, the ac-
cumulators were found to have sus-
tanned no damage except slight
weakening of the acid.
A late critic of cremation afIlrms that
earth disinfection makes burial the
safest disposal of the dead, In twelve
years of experiment Sir Seymour Ha-
den found that bodies buried four feet
deep required more than four years for
complete dissolution: three feet. three
years: two feet, two years; one foot
one year. In no case was the earth or
air polluted: nothing worse than car.
bonic acid and water ever being given
of at the surface OF burial grounds.
An investigation in Switzerland by
Prof H., f. Weber. has proven that
electric currents begin to be dangerous
at much lower voltage than has been
supposed. With wet hands grasping
both bare conductors, the muscles were
paralyzed at ffty volts. and the wires
could not be released; and with dry
hands like result, with severe pains.
was reached at ninety volts. With one
conductor only touching the skin. the
body Being insulated by the shoes, the
experience was very different. The ef-
fects varied from tinglng Of the skin
on Slight touching to trembling Of the
fingers. etc. on firm gripping. but when
standing on moist gravei soil they were
scarcely perceptihle at 500 volts and
We're not more serious than violent
singing or intense trembling at 1000
dust, the singing began to be notice
able at 200 volts, the effects becoming
severe and only momensari.y endurable
at 1000. volts. with paralysis OF the
muscles at 1900 volts. The current
used was an alternating one, and 1t was
concluded that the simultaneous touch
Ing OF. both poles of an alternating cir
cult is dangerous when the pressure eN-
tween 100 and 1000 volts may be re-
garded as equally dangerous. but that
the risk OF using pressures up TO 1000
volts is very slight. as only persons OF
some electric training are likely to be In
position to touch both poles at once.
The entire drainage basins Of the
Aral and Caspian seas are found by DR..
Swan Hedin to be drying up. Lakes
and rivers are becoming smaller. and
jewellers on Lake Balkhash assert that
the lowering OF Its waters is as much
as foot In Ave years. The most re-
narkable changes appear In the Lob
Nor. This lake has no outlet. although
1000 feet abov/ sea level. and It's fresh
ness led to the Inference that 1t must
be OF recent formation. 1t Is now prov
en- that the sheet OF water described
by early geographer2 has disappeared,
leaving only dry bed CT shells and
other remains, while series Of new
lakes has formed around :he old basin.
An interesting chapter in the worlds
history is. suggested by Moissan's cleo
trio furnace. The metallic carblbs
produced are like those now existing In
the sun and stars, and 1t Is thought
that thesc-many of them decompos-
hold Nm