The Hawaiian gazette., 1901-05-07
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

SCltN IlflC WlSOGllRN1
Globular lightning on Photographic
films was produced by Prof. +. 10. Nj
pher not long ago. The balls came
from the cathode of Hotz machine
away from the source of the discharge,
| leaving trail of metallic silver. He
has now obtained larger balls on
| boards of pine or other wood. These
balls are formed at the secondary
spark gap of an induction coil, a direct
current being used with Wehnelt in
| terrupter, and they travel in either
direction, burning deep track in the
wood. The balls are started by touch
! ing the wood with pointed terminals,
brought near together, the gap being
! then heightened.
The novel form of incandescent
lamp devised by Oh. Petersen, OF
Christiana, is claimed to yield a
stronger light than the Nernst lamp,
with about the same saving of electric
current. The light-radiating material
is a small rod-instead of thread
that becomes a conductor only when
heated, and around this is wound a
thin metal wire of good conductivity.
Rod and wire are connected with the
current conductors by equaliZing re-
sisters, which serve to heat the rod
and increase the current resistance.
The current is mostly taken up by
the rod.
Recent products brought to the no
tice of French engineers by NJ. Leon
Appert include glass stone, glass
strengthened by enclosed metallic net
work, opaline glass, and glass perfor
ated to facilitate ventilation. The glass
stone of NJ. Garchey is produced by
cooling below
lime, then relocating to 1000 degrees
centigrade, COMPRISING in hydraulic
presses, and annealing. The material
is adapted for paving bricks and TIL
ing, and the outside of buildings. 1t
is unalterable, remarkably hard and
durable, and much less fragile than
ordinary glass.
A unique condition exists at North
witch, in Cheshire, England. The
pumping of brine from the salt beds
under the town causes frequent sub
sidences, and to remedy this a special
system of framing buildings has been
adopted so that when a house settles
it can be raised on jackscrews and re-
stored to it's original position.
On the ice of Greenland Nordenskjold
collected three different kinds OF dust
one consisting of diatoms, the Sec
ond of a siliceous and apparently
feldspathic sand, while the third (con-
tanning metallic iron, cobalt, nickel,
carbon, silicon and phospnorus) was
decided to be meteoric matter. The
spectra of dust and SCOT from various
sources have been lately studied by
Prof. w. N. Hartley and Mr.. Hugh
Ramage. In dust from the chimneys
of factories and dwellings they find
more lead, silver and copper than in
other varieties, with considerable nick
ell and manganese, and an especially
striking proportion of rubidium, gal
lium, indium and thallium. Lime, mag
nesium and the alkali metals seem to
be the leading basic constituents of
volcanic dust. SCOT varies much in the
proportions of the substances contain
ed, but is distinguished from other
dust of the heavens by its manganese,
silver and lead. Dust from the clouds
has the greatest regularity of compost
ton, apparently consisting of the same
proportions or iron, nickel, calcium,
copper potassium and sodium, with
much lead in sleet, snow and hail.
Nickel in cloud dust is shown 10 be no
positive evidence of meteoric origin
but the magnetic character, appear
ance and composition of some dust that
fell November l6 and II. 1897 point
to n source beyond the earth.
Studying human food, Prof +.
Hueppe finds that the anthropoid stock
from which man was evolved lived on
a mixed diet of nuts, fruit, eggs, small
birds and insects. The struggle for eX-
istence compelled early man to become
carnivorous, being a mammoth hunter
in glacial times; and at later period
after the introduction of fire and
cooklng-over-p population IN the East
forced upon him rice eating. Cooking
was necessary to yegetarianism, ns
man has neither the teeth nor the d.
gestlye apparatus OF herbiyorous
animal A vegetarian diet, such as
that OF Irish peasants, contains an eN-
cess OF carbohydrates over albumen,
and this can be safely borne only
when burned up by hard bodily labor
In the open air As mixed feeder,
man attains his greatest longevity ana
exceeds all other mammals IN strength,
The sloNnsss of the old process OF
tanning leather Ii dus 10 the dliiiculty
with which tannin penetrhteH the hide
liy passing an electric current through ]
the constantly -ciroulated bath heavy
leather 10 now tanned as eneellNely Va |
FlN days ~ 10 twelve months by the |
old method,
When aFsenle IL hslna takru frgur
lHflg rlthrT incidentally 90 accident
Ally lp drink OF foodwlt appears that |
rnougl Y absorbed ~ ihe hAil 10 ala |
plr leHf IL a. irfat The han With al
num8nia "COPPER" solution. ana ihen a. /
fAHmiRf n under Wlffosenpa ibs |
bar ulth containing small quantity I
Hf Hfstnlf hrinp uhlhHHHri uudeT y
hhn mob OBJECTIVE hpi showing small I.
400 Hlail lnfh nhiHrilta nHe auiRnu
nj lfliHffH that The ifHf VIII become /
~ Importance NJ frlulnai inait ths I
amount ~ hfHfnif ~ nflru 900 small
iN ~ hrlffiiAnfi iNI n ihf laaf ~
q naiifni psihs lhF rllfaa ~ iasai