The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-03-09

slve platinum stills. Many unsuccessful
attempts have been made to utilize the
| discovery patented in England in 1891
| tnat the caCalytic action Of finely divided
| platinum may cause sulphurous vapor, or
| dloxide, to burn to trioxide, which with
water forms sulphuric acid Within the
| last decade German chemists at A4udwigs-
| hafen took up the matter and made the
| strong acid direct by burning the purified
gases from the pyrites burners in the
presence of a mixture containing plati-
mum, but the operation would cease ur-
accountably a. .er a few days or even
| hours The remedy has been discovered
| only after some years of patient research
the source of the trouble being found in
the presence of arsenic as an impurity
| The process seems to have been made
practicable at last, and the product has
the advantages Of requiring no concen-
trating plants and Of being free from
arsenic.
The identification of glass on rubbing
is known to vary with the different speci-
mems of fur or flannel used. An expert
menter has lately noticed that smooth
rcd of soda-glass is always positively
electrified py gentle rubbing wit a GER
tain piece of fur, while vigorous rub
blng gives negative charge, and the two
kinds o. electrifcatiOn may be produce
in different parts Of the same rod and
varied at Win. Another observer reports
the same results with sealing-waX rub
pea with silk, attributing the varying eff
fects to differences of temperature.
The extremely sensitive test-paper OF
X. Dietrich is made by painting alco-
holic solution Of shellac and hourescein
on black background. The slightest
trace of alkan causes a chara cteristlc
green fiOurescence, one part OF ammonia
in 100000 being detected.
Some striking differences have been
drawn from the extraordinary case of
word blindness reported by Dr. j. H.
Wood. An Englishman, fluent in French,
Latin and Greek, suddenly became total
~ blind to English but retained unim-
paired his ability to read Greek. and
could still understand French and Latin
with lessened clearnesS This case
with other results, including those OF
ambideXtrous training in school, suggest
that memory is built up in Jumps One
language, for example, is recorded in a
part of the brain Isolated from the i'm
pression5 of previously learned lam
guaSes, and it is possible that a brain
lesion may obIiterate any single Ian
gGase As many mental faculties have
their seat in the left side Of the brain
it is asked whether both sides may not
be taught ones mother tongue, thus in
suring against the worst form of word
blindness by a kind of extended amoi-
u6AleIlJy.
In calcareous soil the carbonic acid car
ried down by rainwater acts upon some
of the lime, which then finds its way as
blcarbonate of lime solution into cavities.
where the added carbonic acid and the
water evaporate. The carbonate Of lime,
in its original insoluble form, is thus de-
posted in crystalline rings that srauu-
ally enlarge into stalactitcs and staIag-
mites NJ. StanislaUs Meunler gives an
account of a remarkable formation II
stalactites in thirty-siX years, in a dis
| used cellar that in 1863 was walled Up
after being partly filed and was opened
in 1889. More than 500 perfect staiacuEeS,
with many fragments We're founi The
cellar had received the drainage Of a
courtyard and the presence Of much
animal matter had FASTENED the growth
of the deposit.
The butterflies of Central America and
Mexico number l, 800 species, according to
Goldman and Salyin. Only Gas species are
known to occur in North America north
| of Mexico
With his electro-mag ghetto gun, Prof.
Kirkland, who has been experimenting
at Christiania, expects to hurl 900
| pound projectiles much farther than they
| can be thrown by explosives.