Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-09-02
SCIENTIFICsNOTEs.

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There has recently come into prac-
tice in South Africa and Australia an
electrolytic method of extracting gold
from solutions Of this metal in
potassium cyanide, which is slowly
but surely superseding the more ex-
pensive and less certain practice Of
the zinc precipitating process. This
electrolytic method, which is most
generally known as the Siemens &
Halske process, has a number of ad-
yantages. The latter process consists
in passing a flow Of fluid Of about
three feet in width and about one and
one-half inches in thickness between
two electrodes a certain number of
times-e bch time increasing the diff
ficulty Of extraction the greater
portion of the gold existing in the
solution is precipitated. The catholics
Of this apparatus consist of number
Of lead plates, which, under the con-
ditions employed, must be fused and
cupelled to obtain the deposited gold.
But Mr.. T. H. Jory suggests an i'm
provement He uses copper instead of
lead for the cathode and places the
electrodes 3.32 inches apart, thus in
creasing the deposition of gold on the
copper for a sim current 256 times.
Electricity in GIass-Making.
The glass called "electroverre,
says the Moniteur Scientifque, is
made as follows: The materials in
fine powder are fed into an electric
furnace in several compartments; in
about 20 minutes clear liquid glass
is obtained, which can be run into
molds or worked as usual. For the
finer kinds of glass the compartments
are placed over one another, as the
refining takes place more quietly.
Fifty volts are sufficient with the
Becker furnace, and the current can
be either alternating or continuous.
An advantage is that the furnace can
be easily started or stopped within a
short time and that the expense of
pots will be saved.
Platinized Porcelain.
"Dr. Heraeus has devised" says the
Electrical Review, "a process of pro-
ducing platinum coating on porce-
lain The surface of the biscuit is
coated with preparation of platinum
salts and then heated to a high tenn
perature to fuse the coating. The sur
face thus becomes covered with a
conducting covering of platinum
which is very durable and much less
expensive than the thinnest sheet
This is stated to be economically
adapted for the manufacture of resist
ances, as the film can be made con-
tinuous for considerable length and
yet of high resistance and great
durability"
Stamps for Freight Packages.
The French state railroads issue
stamps for the prepayment of charges
on freight shipped in moderate quaint
ties. The shipper buys the stamps and
sticks them on the freight bill which
he hands in with the freight. These
are used by those who make frequent
small shipments to certain large
towns, the charges on which are famil-
lar to them. The stamps are of six
different denominations, from 1 cent
to 40. They are so satisfactory that
the six great companies are about to
adopt them.
Coarser Yarn Used.
Formerly the idea had a strong hold
on manufacturers that goods to be
well made must be made from fine
yarn. Manufacturers have learned
that this is an error. In many cases
the reverse is true. The change from
the finespun fabrics of 20 years ago
to the coarsespun cloths of today has
been gradual but steady. 1t has been
crease in the production capacity of
the wooden loom. Two decades ago
a heavyweight fabric weighed Is to
80 ounces per six-Quarter yard. To-
day 20 ounces is not far from the av-
erage weight required. A like change
has taken place in lightweights. For
merly 16 ounces was about the weight
required, while now the aim is to
make the goods as light as possible.
Antiseptics.
There is a fallacy which deserves
mention There exist substances
which which are called "antiseptics,
a term that implies the prevention of
decay. We may arrest decay or putre-
faction without of necessity killing the
microbes to the action OF which that
process is due. A few drops Of solu-