The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1902-06-14
Correspondence Baltimore County Union.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

Correspondence Baltimore County Union.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
Poison of Reptiles-Q artz Fused by
Electric Furnace-Weight of Motors
Vanishing Sounds--Nature's Soa p
Electrically Made Fuel-Veils OF Mica
Novel treatment of Insomnia-A Start
ling Death-Test.
Snake venom, from which q, 900 people die an
nually in India, is poisonous, when injected
into the veins, to all animals except the snakes
themselves. The bite of the cobra kills most
animals within two hours, but of lOO persons
bitten only % succumed in less than two hours,
while 81 survived more than "a hours. The
poison is chemical and physiological, states NJ.
Antoine Fureteur, microbes having no part In
the process. The blood globules are deformed,
and coagulation stops circulation, so that par
tial paralysis may result when the venom has
not been sufficient to cause death. Injections
of chloride of lime tend to counterfeit the effect.
But the one successful remedy seems to be DIR.
Calmette's serum, prepared in granuated
strengths by inoculating rabbits with the venom
of the cobra or other reptiles, and this is not
only a cure but fortifes against subsequent
bites.
Although silica has been reduced to silicon in
the electric furnace, Mr.. r. s. Hutton has sue
ceeded in fusing the material without any par
tial reduction, by admitting current of air.
The quartz is coarsely powdered and held on
carbon support, and tubes are formed by mould
ing the powder on carbon core and moving the
support along so as to expose successive por-
tions to the electric arc. Quartz tubes foot
long are now made in this way.
s+s
The explosion motor holds the palm for light
ness. The best electric motor with its storage
battery is stated to weigh nearly 100 pounds to
the horsepower; and the Serpollet steam en-
CINE, flashing water into steam from a coil
boiler, about IA pounds. But the Bourdiaux
gasoline engine gives horsepower with a
weight of only pounds.
AFs
Stellate designs on curious pebble discs OF the
Algerian Sahara are supposed by DIR. o. Abel to
have been etched by natural sand-blasts while
the stones were rolled by storms.
sFs
The mysteries of acoustics still offer little
explored field for the investigator. Rev. j. M.
Bacon cites recent experience of a half dozen
lifesavers, one of whom-left on high cliff to
watch-could hear distinctly the cries of drown
ing men, while his fellows-rowing about the spot
of the supposed disaster-could neither see nor
hear anything. Who shall say whether the
sounds we're phantom voices, whether they
reached the higher and more distant observer
by some easy route, or whether the open doors
Of the boat-house behind the watcher acted as
shelter and sound receiver to aid his ears
The sounds of sirens, as is we'll known, are Of
ten lost at nearby points, to be recovered
farther away. Heavy gun-salutes last year
~ mil
although easily distinguished far beyond, and
sound signals between distant stations have
been interrupted by calm, slightly hazy at
mosphere but easily passed across strong wind.
Late balloon experiments have shown the mark
ed effect of turmoil in the air in masking GER
tain classes of sounds, and how constantly the
play of upper currents must influence local
phenomena. The feebleness of the earth echoes
from the explosions of powerful aerial bombs
was puzzling at first. But 1t was soon found
that the thick stratum of moist air carrying
the balloon at forty miles an hour was penetra-
ted by streamlets of opposed cold wind, the
cloud masses formed proving an Opaque sound
barrier, while the casual but powerful up
draughts seemed to account for any fickleness
in sounds coming far by sky.
-
The natural soap mined near Ashcroft B. c.,
is washing compound containing borax and
soda. The exact composition seems to be I'M
known, as different analyses of the same sample
have reported 10 and 26 per cent. of borax, but
it is claimed to give results equal to those of the
common washing powders. The mixture lines
the bottom and sides of several soda lakes, one
of which contains 10000 tons.
~
In the experiments of Anderson and Nichol-
son. filings of brass, lead, tin, iron and copper
have been In turn welded into strong cylindri-
cal bars of metal by pressure of $4,000 pounds
per square inch for ten minutes.
-.
Turf fuel is made by T. Jebsen by drying the
turf, pressing into blocks, and heating in retorts
by means of internally placed electric resist
ance COZ. Inc charcoal left in the retorts is a
useful substitute for either wood charcoal or
gas-coke. gas is produced that is adapted for
lighting or heating purposes, and tarry liquid
that distilled over can be worked up for paraf-
fine ammonium sulphate, and methyl alcohol.
A factory at Stangfjorden, Norway, now has IL
retorts intended to deal with so tons of airdried
turf per day. The retorts are heated by five
dynamos, direct coupled to five 12s horsepower
turbines, and a separate turbine supplies the
needed mechanical power.
The use of automobile goggles is especially
Objectionable to women. Substitutes have been
sought in paper fans, artistically painted masks,
and even masks of beaten silver, but all these
have proven ineffective as guard for the eyes
or otherwise unsatisfactory. The mica veil is
the happy thought of man milliner. 1t is
transparent, very light and both dust and air
proof, and it can be tied over the hat like any
other veil.
An effective remedy for sleeplessness is re-
ported by DR.. Won Gellhorn to be a band of wet
muslin, about eighteen inches wide, wound
around the lower part of the leg. The band
age is covered by gutta percha tissue and the
stocking, and in some cases is replaced every
three or four hours. The effect is to dilate the
vessels of the leg, thus diminishing the blood in
the head and producing sleep. The temperature
of the ear has been reduced xo f. in 10 minutes,
returning to normal only after TX to hours.
Sc
An injection of horescin is the novel test of
DIR. Icard, of Marseilles, for detecting life in a
supposed corpse. A gramme of this coioring
matter in solution will color 5000 qnarts of
water. and little of it will make the body grass
green in two minutes ifthere is any circulation,
the color harmlessly disappearing in a couple of
hours.
A Valuable Publication.
On June the Passenger Department of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company will publish
the 1902 edition of the Summer Excursion Route
Book. This work is designed to provide the
public with descriptive notes of the principal
summer resorts of Eastern America, with the
best routes for reaching them, and the rates of
fare 1t contains all the principal seashore and
mountain resorts of the East, and over seven
teen hundred different routes or combinations