Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1903-04-06
:soENCE'AIIIiE9I2'HAucs
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1t is likely that in cpdemics of ty-,
phoid feycr-especially among soldiers
in camp-inoculation Will hereafter be
practised. Summing up the results of
the experiments made during the
South African war, DR.. A. Z. Wright
says that in the aggregate the proper
ton of deaths to cases among the inoc-
ulated is approximately Laif that
among the uninoculated.
An interesting discovery in the shape
Of an ancient flint mine has just been
made in the neighborhood OF High
Wycombe, England, in connection with
railroad cutting. The mine was dis
covered in eXcavating Il hill. a speci.
men Of a primitive pick was found,
made of the antler of stag. with its
points worn perfectly smooth. Many
of the partially disintegrated masses
still bear tho marks made by these
picks in the hands of their prehistoric
miners.
Professor Ramsay, of London re-
Gently showed an experimental proof
of the aurora borealis. Between the
poles of powerful electro-magnet
he hung an exhausted glass globe
with n metallic ring at the top. An
alternating current discharged through
the ring in the globe produced an an
nular glow, and when a current was
sent through the coils of the electro
magnet the glow was DETECTED down
ward in streamers resembling these
Of the aurora. The spectrum of the
natural aurora shows the presence of
krypton, and in Professor Ramsay's
experiment krypton was produced in
the discharge through the rarefied air
within the globe.
A form of guy anchor for holding in
position poles carrying electric wires
is designed like n screw. so that it can
be placed in position without digging,
filling or tamping; thus no disturbance
of the ground is effected. and trcN
mendous load can be placed on the
anchor without displacing it. Actual
tests with n tive-inch tdisk diameterp
anchor showed that pull of 5000
pounds was necessary to draw it from
its position in Il three-foot hole in
sandy soil: which pull is 5000 pounds
greater than the breaking strain Of the
size Of guy usually attached TO this
size of anchor. A twelve-inch anchor
withstood a pull OF $4,000 pounds when
bored into five feet OF clay.
A patent was recently granted to
AlonZo Ramsdell, a conductor of an
elevator in the City Hall of Chicago.
for a metal which he claims will not
rust under any conditions. He was ut
one time q metal-worker and is ac-
quainted with the properties of var;-
Gus metals. and he says he has made
an alloy, the composition of which he
means to keep a secret, which haA
many of the qualities of iron and Is
almost as cheap, but which has a rust
repelling feature which will make it
very valuable for the construction of
pipes of various kinds and building
purposes. He says his claims have
been vindicated by experiments and
that conclusive tests have been made
by number of disnterested foundry
men of that city. and in every case the
sample of metal was found to resist
the action of dampness effectually.
During the recent turbulent times in
the anthracite regions certain indivi-
duals turned to the huge piles of mine
refuse, called culm, which litter the
coal fields. The finely divided coal
recovered from these heaps which had
been exposed to the elements for a
great many years, and the coal taken
from river beds where it had been sub
merged for perhaps decade. found a
ready sale, especially to manufacturing !.
concerns. When the purchasers under|
took to burn it under their boilers it
was found practically valueless. The
scientific explanation why this coal
was really, after all, not coal, is illus
trated by n recent communication to
the Paris Academic des Sciences by
M. Moissan. Coal is amorphous car
bon, and the French savant found
that while the temperature of the
combustion OF amorphous carbon is be-
between three and five hundred de-
grees Centigrade. yet oxidation takes
place slowly at much lower tempera-
lures, either in dry or moist air. Now
combustion, or burning, is only rapid
oxidation, and it is plainly obvious why
the fine coal which had been exposed
in piles or under water for long time
had SO materially deteriorated. OF
course, the oxygen Of the air and water
had gradually combined with it, and
slowly, but surely, burned it up with
out either heat or fire.
Italy's New Brigand.