The Weekly Tallahasseean., 1901-12-13
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

oL1AS FlantS-Plague Among the
Palms-Elephant origAn-An IN
used Material-New Ligb on Drown
"A Timed FlasnlighE IA Light
Weight Boiler.
The nebula that seems th be spread-
ing from the new star in tPerseus not
only changes at a perceptible rate but
mas bright spots on it's OUTER edge that
appear to nave passed oveAa minute OF
arc In six weeks, implying the ire
mendouS velocity of 2.OOk miles per
second If the nebula is assumed 10 De
at the distance of the nekrest known
star. 1t is suggested as mA)re prOiaEl4
1nat the new star and it'll nebula are
nearer, or that flash d light may
nave been sent through the cOmpara-
lively dark gas without a&tual motion
of the gas itself The Greatest ap-
parent motion of a Starkin space is
;8% seconds of arc in a " ar, which is
that of a small star in khe southern
hemisphere. The famous &1rOombridge
1880, with a proper mott bn of Z sec
'ondS a year, taking it a@ross a space
'squal to the diameter of khe moon in
-Z5O years, has a parallaXSOf about a.
100 of a second; and is calculated to
travel at speed of 200 nj les a second.
The prOjectile of mOderh cannon has
a maximum velocity of B little more
than " mile per secondS
Nickel and aluminium fave been dit
Lflcult to alloy on accOunttof the differ
ence between their meHing points,
which are 1450 and 604 degrees re-
Spectively. A Berlin 9manufactuI cr
has overcome the difficulF by Il special
furnace, and in one cafe by adding
copper with an intermediate melting
point. 'Nickel-aluminu b. contains
nickel and copper, withfalunihIn n
greatest proportion, .he Specific grav-
ity being 2.86. 1t can s4 rolleJ int
sheets and has a tensiB strength of
16h tons per square inch. "Minckin"
seems to contain more nickel than the
26 per cent of new silver" and is
gaining favor for its resistance to cor
rOSiOn by weak acids, ktc.
About one-ffth of ths earth's land
surface was known in 800, states G..
H. GrOSvenOr, and in 1900 only one
eleventh was uneXplOres. The Dark
Continent of the twents eth century is
the land buried under me oceans, an
area thrice as great al the exposed
land surface.
The areca-nut, or bekel-nut, is the
fruit of an East .Indiah palm. 1t is
achewed in great quantities by the Ash
:atics, who regard it as Al aid to dige'
ton and in pharmacy is used as q
-Vermilide. The preSeIE scarcity Of
the nuts seems to be du to mySterl-
cous plague that has swept the planta-
.tiOns of Lower Bengal Dense groves
of thousands of trees haze become veg
eetable cemeteries in f Nv months and
no parasites or other adequate cause
can be discovered. Thd only explana-
tion offered by DR.. GeOSge Watt, after
investigation, is degeneration of
tissue" to be remedied Hy Gaze in culti-
walton.
A mastodon-like anfnal from the
EOCene of the LlDyan Qbsert is regard
ed by DIR. Andrews as. the probable
ancestor of the mammoth and ele-
phant.
Tea-seed, a bye-prO Nct of an i'm
pOrtant industry, is aw$iIing profitable
use. 1t was placed upOk the market in
London in 1885, undet the name of
tame, but nobody knfw what to do
with it and there wa$ no sale. An
agent of the Indian 'sea Association
has a report upon thS oil and cake.
Tea seed oil is clear, III kht and yellow,
with a more or less ac{id taste and is
unsafe as an edible ois on account of
it's saDonin. Tea seedS oil cake is by
the same constituent made dangerous
food for cattle, while sas' manure it
is much inferior to ether oil seed
cakes. 1t is suggesteA that the oil
might prove useful az lamp oil, and
that the cake might sefVe as an insec-
ticide.
The idea that drOsTning persons
take much water into the lungs has
seemed to be unQueStiOned. but it
has been long opposed by Prof. W. K.
Whitford, who in fOrtE years has sue
eceSsfully treated many patients appar-
emily dead from drowning, and who
now asserts as the res 4Ilt of many eX.
aminations that practically no water
enters the lungs. Th& mistaken view
has caused the waste 9f much valuable
time. He has foundi heaJ-energeti-
.cally and persistentlS applied-to ba
the most important agent in resuscita-
1ion and with this, a9led by artificial
respiration and stimuS SltiOn, he has re-
stored patients that IhaYe been sub
merged ala hour.
The advantage of Ia Photographic
flashlight that can bel himed is claimed
for new cartridge made at Often
bach, Germany, and consisting of j
small celluloid powder and provided
small celluloid capsule filled with COM
bustlble powder and provided with
"A fuse. The fash va&es with the size
of the cartridge. Anklysis shows that
the powder which hkrns quietly and
with little smoke, cSntains - per
cent of aluminium, 1856 of magnesium.
12 of red phosphorus and 73 of strou-
dium nitrate.
Ether, converted ntO V&pO" much
more readily than water, is stated to
have failed in enginet from the lack Of
"a suitable generator. M. MalaDcrl