The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-07-06
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
a Constant Battery-House Light
ing-Anti-Fat Of Ancient Greece.
India's Mannn-Corsica's Chest
nuts-Measurement of Taste-Oxy-
gen for Seasickness-Hnil Cloud
Bombardment-Blood Temperature.
Elconal.
(; In the new electric battery OF Pop
penberg, the positive .electrode is q hol-
low cylinder of rctort carbon filed with
dapolarizing matter and closed at the
bottom by, an insulating. plate, the neg
ativelis 4 cylinder OF zinc, and the two
rest on a horizontal porous plate or
diaphragm, beneath which is q thick
layer OF sulpllate Of soda, with or with
out little common salt. When water
is poured into the cell. part OF 1t
passes through the porous Diaphragm
dissolvlNg the salt. The solution passes
by endosmose Into the water above,
forming an, electrolyts that varies bu:
slightly with time, and causes the bat
terry to retain its strength for long
period. The eiectromotlvc force Is
about two volts.
The color and character of the wallis
have much to do with the lighting of a
room. and experiments have shown
these percentages of reflection by differ
ent wall materials. Black velvet, GA:
black cloth, 1,3; black paper. AS: dark
blue, 'Gj; dark green. 1O.l; pale red. 16.2;;
dark yellow, 20; pale blue, 80; pale vel
low, 40: pale green, 400; pale orange,
54.S; pure white, 10: mirror covering,
%. Dull or vanished paint also has
effect. Aside from mirrored walls.
white vanish ensures the best lighted
room. and this may be dcvantageously
used In conjunction with lncnndescent
gas light as the most economical source
of artificial Illumination.
or nearly five hundred treatlses,
mostly on medicine. alleged TO have
been written by Gaten, less than one
hundred accepted MS genuine are now
| known. a hitherto unknown Greek
text on the lessenins OF obesity has just
been published by DR.. kallneisch, OF
Fr!bourg. Among the Recommended
tons are to eat birds which are found
in arid mountains and fish which FREE
Qucnt rocky shores, and to avoid vcge-
tables which arc round. af&
Records of more than 5000 .observa-
tons showing the deviation OF The.
magnetic needle from the voyage OF Co.
lumbus in li92 10 1850. have been COL
lectcd by German physicist.
Probably, no modern discovery In nat
ural history hns been moro seemingly
miraculous than The finding OF an cli-
bic gum cXuding from the bamboos OF
Central India ut time when the poo
pie are suffering from their greatest
famine. This substance Is pleasantly
sweet, occurs In white or brown stutac-
THORN rods about an inch long. and IL
found by David Hooper, of the Indian
Museum ut Calcutta. TO consist mainly
Of sugar related to. IL not Identical
with. cane sugar. The strange ap-
rcarance in the bamboo forests OF
Camboo mamma of history, which Is
moi sugar. but white. gritty body
occurring inside the stem Of the plant,
and now called Tabnshir by Europeans.
Tnbnshir contains about so per cent OF
silica, with varying proportions or nj
knlcs ana organic matter. 1t has been
much used In medicine.
Wherever extensive forests cover the
land, special industries are growing at
their expense. Immense forests OF
sweet chestnut trees exist In Corslca,
and the most hoHrlsifng Industry Of tho
island Is probably the extracting of
tnnnc acid from these trees, ubou;
10000 tons OF the. wood being now re-
CURED annually for the 1000 tons of H.
nuid extract sent away. Without COM
pulsory rcnlanting, this wholesale de.
strnciion of forests Is iike!y TO bring
FERROUS consequences IN time. It is
feared that no, only will the climate be
affected. but That the peasants win SUI
Ter the loss OF their staple food of llour
from ne dried fruit OF the chestnut,
Attempts to measure the sensation Of
taste nrc being mndc by Il. Toulouscund
N, Vaschlde, French Psychologists,
They text with sodium chloride for
salty tastes, sncchnrosc, for sweet
TASTES, d!hromhyAra,e of duIntne for
olttnFH, ana cltric acid for sours--son-
tons OF these substances. varying IN
strength along a decimal scale, being
prepared with distilled water. A ape.
cfaf drcppsd gives DROPS or ,,nvaryinE
SIZE Another series OF solutions IA
used for determining ''odar.,astes."