The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-07-06

MISCELLANY


| within ten years, still finds little use
except as a source of acetylene. In
| the last two or three years, expert
ments have been made with it in ret1n-
| ing metals and it gives promise of be-
| coming an efficient econmical reducing
agent for separating metals from va
rious compounds. In the case of sui
nhide ores. which cannot usually be re-
duced with carbon except after pre-
| liminary roasting, the trials seem to
have been especially satisfactory. Gel
| muyden has found that sulphides OF
| iron, copper, lead, antimony and mag
| nesium may be readily reduced, the
| stable monosulphide of calcium re-
| naming in the crucible, and the met
ais being liberated and some of them
| yolatilized Aluminium sulphide alone
resisted reduction. M. Louis M. Bull
| lier adds calcium carbide to copper
sulphide fused with blast furnace Stag
as fiuX, and readily obtains copper as
an ingot free from sulphur, the cal
| cium sulphide diSsolving in the Stag.
| Copper pyrites, sulphide of iron and
| copper, gives a lower layer of copper
sharply separated from an upper layer
| of iron mixed with carbon. For ores
| of zinc and other volatile metals
closed retort may be used, and the
metals, condensed in the usual way
With oxides, chlorides and other ores
L
difficulty in some reductions being to
get rid of the carbon, while explosive
mixtures with chlorides give trouble
The heliograph and the wireless tel
egraph would have an astounding de-
yelopment on Mars IL the SurmiSeS OF
some credulous people were true. Sir
Robert Ball points out that the keen
! est eye cannot see man more than
1 - H., ~, fAta
will not show him more than 800 miles
| off, and the smallest object that our.
most powerful instruments can reveal
| on the moon must be as large as st.
PauFs Cathedral. The inhabitant of
| Mars, being at his nearest approach
to us, about $50 times as far away as
| the moon, must manipulate signal
at least as large as Ireland to have
| it detected by our astronomers under
| the most favorable conditions possible.
| To reach the earth with any electric
| signals would be quite as far beyond
| the power of any conceivable Mar
| tian's, for if it is admitted that Mar
coni's electric waves can be sent over
the entire earth's diameter, they must
have 900 times as great efficiency to
reach the moon, and 10000 600 times as
great to be perceptible on Mars.
| The new arc lamp of Herr Rasch Is
claimed to>have two to four times the
efficiency of the ordinary arc, and ten
| to fifteen times that of the incandes-
| cent filament. 1t uses two pencils of
very refractory solid electrolytes-s
as magnesia, lime, thoria or zirconia--
and is a development from the Nernst
incandescent lamp, claiming much
greater lighting power from the same
| expenditure of energy. AS with the
| Nernst filament, the rods must be
| heated before current can pass. Herr
Rasch states that the arc between
electrodes of magnesia or oxide of tho
rum has the whiteneSS of sunlight,
and that by choice of material light
of any color can be obtained.
Birds are made to take their own
pictures by the ingenious apparatus of
| MIR. o. c. Pike, an English photogra-
pher. A bait of fat is placed on an
electrical wire, which is so connected
with camera that when the bait Is
removed the camera shutter is releas-
| ed, giving an instantaneous exposure
of the sensitive plate. An excellent
portrait of the song thrush is among
| the interesting results that have been
shown. The arrangement may be used
| with other timid creatures, and for
getting pictures of nocturnal animals
| the electrical wire can be made to ig-
mite little magnesium as it releases
the shutter, giving a strong light at
the instant of exposure.
A novel boiler-feed is the special fea-
ture of the Chaboche steam motor-car.
The boiler is of the flash type, con-
sisting of numerous coils of steel tub
ing, but the feed-water, instead of be-
ing pumped directly through the coils.
&c of nj OF
to 400 pounds per square inch from a
| vessel at the drivers side. The air
pressure is kept up by intermittently
working a pump geared to one of the
engines. No pressure remains in the
boiler when the car is stopped, but
the pressure in the water-c chamber
serves to start the car without pump
ing in water by hand, as IN other
flash boilers.
sssiss. -
A curious observation has been made
by a German bacteriologist in a study
of the micro organisms of constantly
used swimming bath. The number Of
bacteria was found to increase regu-
larly during the first day after the
bath was newly filled with water and
then to decrease constantly There
was evidence that the decrease could
not be due to the action of light, nor
to standardization, nor to lack of food
The conclusion reached was that it re-
suited from struggle of bacteria with
each other, many being destroyed.
Next to malaria. pellagra, or Italian
leprosy, seems to be the plague of the
Italian peasantry. It is supposed to be
caused by musty Indian corn, and it
is first manifested by an appearance of
infamed patches on the skin, which is
followed by LESSONS of the walls of the
stomach and intestines, and then by
serious nervous disturbance and fatal
madness. In the province of Verona,
$500 cases were certified last year,
nearly l per cent of the population
being victims, with eighty-two OF the
cases in the final stage.
The new electric furnace OF Prof. j.
Jolly consists of fire-clay crucible in
whose wall is embedded a spirally-
wound platinum wire, through which
a current is passed. Very high tenn
peratures, up to the softening of the
clay, are obtainable, and the furnace
is valuable where it is required to pro-