The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-09-01
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

z y = ..,4 80 y
SAlgin-A Triumph Of science-Life
in Metals-Flour From the Tropics.
Tho Red Color of Plants-Globular
Lishtning-Earthquakes Not Fa-
yerable to Sky scrapers - Sea
Water Gold Again-Fire Resisting
Houses.
q The many uses that are being found
for algtn, a gelatlnous product discov-
cred a few years ago by Mr.. E. c. C.
Sanford. are giving rise to great ex.
pectations Of wealth from ocean waste.
When seaweed is. teeped in sodium cnr-
Donate for twenty-four hours I It be-
comes q mass having fourteen times
the viscoslty OF starch and thirty-seyen
times that of gum arabic. and on filter
Ing this gives soluble algin, or sodium
alginate, and q resIduum OF cellulosc.
Align may be pressed into n cheese
like cake. which may be kept lndeiin-
itcly in a cool drying room. This re-.
markable material has already proven
valuable for sizing fabrics. as q NOR
dant in dyeIng. as food for thick
ening soups or for conversion Into Jelly,
as q preventive Of boiler incrustation,
with 4 scaweed carbon as the best non-
conducting covering for boilers. and in
combination with Iron as remedy for
hitherto incurable nnaemia and CHOIR
osis. Algic ccllulose. or algulosc. IS also
proving useful. as 1t can be hardened,
turned and polished, makes an excel
lent transparent paper, and is a cheap
insulator for electricity. =,
Not conquest of arms has elevated
Queen Victoria's reign above that OF all
other monarchs. but conquest of dis
ease. This reign. the public health
committee of Edinburgh polnt out, has
been pre-eminently one OF reform, tn.
factory acts having eased the hard lot
of children by forbiddins long hours OF
toll. the repeal OF the corn laws having
brought cheaper and bitter food. while
improved drainage, better water sup
ply, Improved dwellings,, shorter hours
of labor, and thc Increase OF parks have
brought Improved health. With better
health has come increased resistance
to Infectious disease. The deaths from
consumption In England and Wales
have fallen from IS in 10000 In 1898, to
IA In 1894, and 1t Is absolutely safe to
say that the dimlnut!on OF the different
forms Of tuberculosis alone Is now saw
Ing more than 100000 lives every year
In. the British isles.
Normal mir Is found by a. Gautlcr to
contain 100000 OF hydrogen. which Is
added TO by exialations from soil,
plants. animals, etc.
Some interesting life ,anulogics In In
crt matter, which may even be regard.
cd rs constituting an elementary form
OF lie, have been pointed out by C. L.
Guillaume. These include thu fatigue
OF metals and changes to resist de-
istructivc forces An illustration Of Che
latter Is the hardening. OF metal ut
tho point or construction Just before
breaking. anu this effect Is so marked
that if the bar, before actual rupture,
is turned down to n uniform diameter.
It will Invariably break ut some other
place ir then subjected to n breaking
load. Even more striking Il the pro-
teotive change OF the gray iodine or
chloride OF silver in the Bccquere, pro-
cess of color photography. This silver
salt takes the color OF the light strIl;-.
Ing II, and thus reflects tho radiation
that,.it absorbed. would destroy The salt
by reducing 1t.
Banana -four Is n food whose value
seems to have been overlooked In Lu-
rope and the United Suites. The ba.
mana was estimated by Humboldt 10 be
iforty-clght times AS nutritious as the
potato. and Cr1chton Campbell has
found It twcnty-n five. times us nutritious
as the best wheat bread. Analysla has
shown the nutritious matter OF tho
-four to be nbout the same az that OF
wheat flour. BANANA -four, sold under.
the nanip OF musarira, Is extensively
manufactured In Central. America, Col.
ombla and Venezuela. and IL used like
ordinary tlourstxcept that It's lack or
gluten untllslt for bread 1t Ia esppc.