The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1900-01-20
Correspondence Baltimore County linton.
SCIENTIFIC MIS- CELLANY.

AS520S7 SsoO s sSSiISo ISOz'I 0|zs
Correspondence Baltimore County linton.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
Vagaries of Sound-Strength of Anchor
Bolts-Enamel Finish for Iron-Fluorine
in Copper VesSelS-Where to Seek the
Successful Air Ships-Pearls and Pearls
oil Applied Direct to the Lungs-Med-
icine Tubes of Gelatine.
Phantom sounds have been subject of pro-
longed inquiry by an English Investigator. Nh.
John N. Bacon, who finds that they are often
purely imaginary and due to an overstrained or
fatigued condition of ear mind, while in
other cases vague and indstinct noises are
wrongly interpreted. In this way may be ex-
planned most of the mysterious roar of artillery
from no earthly guns, boom of waves days
journey from the sea, and tolling of bells in the
heart of the mountain. A practical old soldier
was mystified by weird night lament in his
park, which was at last found to be produced by
the rubbing together of two branches high up in
an oak tree; and a coast guardsman on night
duty heard the plaintive cry of an infant, which
seemed to move about as he went from place to
place in search of the sound, until this was
proved to be the bleating of lamb hidden by a
rock. An intrepid balloonist has described the
awful impressiveness of the closing of the
valve of his balloon after a discharge of gas.
The sudden sharpness of the click in the dead
silence aloft. its unexpected direction, its posi-
BILE connection with the aeronaut's fate, and the
drum-liISe echoes in tho tense silk. always ten
ded to give an effect akin to the ghost-seer's
terror
The holding power of anchor bolts fastened
with lead, cement and sulphur has been a sub
ject Of experiment by Mr.. NJ. NJ. Wilcox. Holes
X to IL inches in diameter were drilled in hard
limestone blocks about 6 inches thick. and
smooth, threaded and notched bolts from Y to
inch in diameter were used. After ramming
about the rods, the cement was allowed to stand
seven days. With cement the smooth bolts re-
sisted a pull of LOG pounds per square inch of
contact surface, the notched rods, 1856 pounds;
and the threaded ones 5S5 pounds With lead,
the results were S32, AGO and 9O3 POUNDS respec-
lively.
wire rope 3H inches in diameter was lately
broken at the Royal Testing Laboratory by a
pull of about $50 tons, the full strength of the
1850 individual wires being $50 tons.
Bright lacquers on steel and iron have been
unsatisfactory, as they lack elasticity and soon
crack of. An enamellike coating brought to
notice by L. Sena is claimed to be highly elastic
and perfectly adherent, while it is free from
odor and sickness, and covers the metal uni
formly. 1t is simply and inexpensiveIy pro- |
duced by the following method The bottom of |
a cylindrical pot is covered with coal-dust. an |
inch above this is placed CRATE and the re- |
naming space in the pot is filled with the ar
ticles to be coated. The pot, closed with tight
lifting cover, is then placed on high fire below /
a Withdrawing flue. The vessel becomes filed |
with light brown fumes from the coal-dust and |
a Tor re hrNff
a quarter of an hour the carbonization is COM
pleEs aQsa the not = aEs1HQEeO fEG Inc 5sRt
black coating completely covers the objects.
"a
The element fluorine is the most powerful re- |
agent the chemist has at his disposal. Its use |
has been restricted, however by the supposition |
that it would destroy all apparatus except that |
constructed of platinum, lead or f1uorspar, but |
M. Moissan has lately shown that vessels of cop
per only slightly attacked, a thin layer of in
soluble fluoride of copper being formed over
the metal. Such vessels can be employed even
? feS the electrolysis of hydrohuoric acid.
-
Air-ship designers may seek navigable bal |
loon in three directions-by an imitation of the
fight of birds, by balloons of various shapes, |
and by aeroplanes. DIR. Barton of the British |
Aeronautical Society believes the problem will |
be solved through a combination of the second |
and third methods. He has constructed such |
machine, consisting of cigar-shaped balloon, |
with horizontal and vertical acceptance and |
finds that the balloon may not only be steered |
but has its buoyancy regulated without ballast |
or loss of gas.
a useful wax-lilIe material which is not sticky |
is made by Herr e. Schliemann of Hamburg, by |
forcing air through molten resin and paraf1ine. |
He gets even better results by using as oxi- |
dizing agents not only air nitric acid chromates |
or permanganate of potash.
"a
The origin of pearls has been a much-consid- |
cred problem-one theory being that they are |
result of disease in the oyster, and another that
they are a coating of nacre formed over an in
trusive object to shield the soft flesh. 1t ap- |
pears that both views may be correct. In |
paper to the Paris Academy, NJ. Leon Diguet |
distinguishes between fine pearls and intrusive |
bodies coated with nacre, regarding the former |
as true pearls and finding that the latter have |
only the iridescence of the shell or mother-of-
pearl. They occur between the mantle and the
shell, usually attached to the latter. The true
pearl is formed in any part of the shellfsh ex-
cept the mantle, has no connection with the
shell, and is a Qualification seemingly due to /
parasites. Unlike the pearls of intrusion, it is
perfectly spherical 1t begins in small sac of
humOr, winch gSlatlnlZeS ana calc1teS In q series
of concentric layers, and its heart is a cavity
holding calcareous crystals and remains of what
may have been the parasites provoking the
shellfsh's malady.
-
The Mendel treatment of consumption now
being eagerly watched in Europe, consists of
daily injection into the bronchial tubes of olive
oil containing essence of eucalyptus, thyme and
cinnamon. The oil slowly descends into the
F,art-ef- ths l.anesaIt -satairatas tina air
breathed with vapor, and this acts on the
cous membrane as far as the air penetrates. In
the sixteen cases of tuberculosis and two of
bronchitis thus far treated, lessening or ccssa-
ton of cough and expectoration was noted
within a week or two, with return of sleep,
appetite and strength.
-
Gelatine has been substituted by DIR. Stohr, of
Vienna, for tin in the tubes used for salves,
soaps. etc. Colored gelatine can be used to pro-
tect contents sensitive to light. and the trans
parency aids in controlling the filling, while the
tubes are less liable to be acted chemically
than those Of metal, and are cheaper
"a
The temperature of the Bunsen flame, as de-
termined by a new electric method, is 1892
Cent. or 3,3Oso Fair.
-
French railway cars as now constructed, with
most of the metal parts of aluminium, are 5000
pounds lighter than old ones.
DR. SAMUEL e. LLOYD,
-: VETERINARY SURGEON -