Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1901-12-24
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

II was the agricultural department
that started the present organized war
on mosquitoes, and now it has started
one on the fly. A special form OF Trap
has been devised, which it is pelleveu
will prove to be better than anythins
yet tried and directions for maklhS
are to be distributed throughout tne
country. The fly renders some service
as a scavenger, but it is so potent
factor in the spread of disease that II
should be killed off as far as possible
Professor Simon Newcomb, in an ar"
ticle published in McClure's Magazine
expresses doubts as to the realization
of aerial navigation, unless some way
of controlling gravity shall be dlscoV-
cred. The balloon is too bulky, the
flying machine on a very small scale
may be possible, but hardly on large
scale, weight offering an obstacle
which will increase with every addl-
ton to the size of the machine, more
rapidly than the propellng and sus-
tanning power can increase.
When the two Hungarian scientists,
Messrs. Pollak and Virag, displayed
their new telegraphic apparatus at the
Paris exhibition last year, they were
invited by the French government to
make experiments with it over the
lines between Paris and Lyons. On ac-
count of the enormous expense, how
ever, the inventors declined the invita-
tion. Since that time, however, they
have established line of their own
extending from Buda-Pesth to Fiume,
a distance of 375 miles, and have been
carrying out series of tests with their
apparatus. A speed of 10000 words
per hour has been attained.
A distinguished English authority in
veterinary science suggests that the ze-
bra be domesticated as beast of bur-
den in British East Africa and the
Uganda protectorate, where these ami
mails are found in great number. 1t
is well known that they are immune
to the poison of the terrible tsetse fly,
which horses and mules are not and
that of itself would be of inestimable
advantage The adult zebra is domes-
ticated with great difficulty, but there
would be little trouble in getting the
young, and they might readily be
trained. They would be specially
adapted to army use in Africa and
India.
DR.. Calmette, the director of the
Pasteur institute at Lille, and the dis
coverer of curative serum for the
effects of snake bite, is said to have
been severely bitten recently on the
hand by a trignocephalus. Without de-
lay he gave himself an injection of
his anti-venom serum, but neverthe-
less the hand swelled and acute fever
set in; but by the afternoon of the
same day he was sufficiently recovered
tu attend sitting of the conseil gener-
al of the department and on the fol-
lowing day was perfectly well. DR..
Chalmette has thus afforded in his own
person though unintentionally, con-
vincing proof of the efficacy of his rem
edy.
A French scientific investigator be-
lieves that he has discovered a flash
light powder compound which is prac-
tically smokeless. The principle is 10
keep the magnesia that is formed when
magnesium powder is exploded as
much as possible attached to a heavy
substance that will not easily fly about
and which soon falls of its own weight.
A substance suitable for this purpose
is found in the binoXid of barium. At
red heat this substance gives up half
its oxygen, and supplies that neces-
sary for the rapid combustion of the
magnesium powder. AS the binozid
must be kept from contact with the
air the flash powder is made up in col
lodion capsules. This is also con-
sumed and it's combustion adds to the
intensity of the light developed. The
proportion of smoke produced by flash
light powders of this description is
as small as 10 percent compared with
ordinary makes.