The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-11-22
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY
REVERSING wRITIN0--ENGLrsH
 REFUsE-BuRNxNG.
Ether-Forcsd Flowers--Bone Filling. Nitrogen from the Air--sex in Handwriting-A Useful Fur nace-Phosphoyie Acid
 Inhalation---Californtte.

In a recent case of mirror-writing, . hoy of or wrote unusually well. but in this singular reversed style, and some months later, after acquiring the normal method of writing, would return to his original style on becoming fatigued. pr. C. D. Jones, of Boston. in reporting the case. states that the anomaly seems to be more common in England than tn Ameri- ca. In one group of 45i, the precentage of mirror-writers was 5.l@ but in many reported instances the sPecimens have proven to be merely those of poor pen- manship Various explanations of the peculiarity have been offered. It seems to be most common with mental disease. but has been observed in persons of normal mental capacity, and one explana- ton is that it is due to ieft-handednsss and some preponderating influence of the left brain.
 A summary of the progress of quarter of a century in disposing of city refuse was given by ". F. Goodrich in British Association paper. Not less than 1so towns now use destructors; and in sixty three of these the steam generated Is used at electric stations. while forty apply the power to pumping sewarge and three use it for the water works. Numerous tests lave shown that every ton of refuse burnt ! 6OlACi @tCS aUOut OuC Nuit Ul utAn pressure steam. smell and dust being practically vanished.
 Flowers out of the natural season are usually obtained by keeping the young plants in cold. dry houses. and forcing them later by heat and moisture. It is possible to give young buds premature development by exposing them to ether. and A. Maumene claims that such de- velopment is not only more rapid. but more regular and complete.
 A dying ground" of elephants, a re- sort where these animals go to die, was interesting discovery by Major Powell Cotton in Eastern Equatorial Africa.
 Extraordinary 'esults are claimed for the bone filling process of Prof. Mosetig, which has been adopted fin Vienna hos pitals. Disease of the bones causes cav ities, like those in teeth, and cure is us. ually slow, patients often being disabled for many months or even years. Prof Mosetig plugs the cavity with a melted mixture of iodoform, oil of sesame and spermaceti. The patient is soon able to go to work, the antiseptic power of i.e
 odoform arrests the disease. and as the cure progresses and new bone is formed, the plugging material is reabsorbed. en- llIcly pdlu. AtuOHS LH6 cures IS that of a Servian of nineteen, who was cured in 15 days after having suffered for eight years from necrosis of the left fe- mur to such an extent that Ie had been compelled to use crutches,
 The rapid exhaustion Of supplies of ni- trates-such as Chili saltpeter-haS given great importance to the problem of using the airs free nitrogen for farming and other purposes. Dr. Frank, of Chariot tenburg. has called attention to me- thod of fixing atmospheric nitrogen through the carbides of the alkaline earth metals. Barium carbide is espec- tally suitable. and by absorbing nitro gen is concerted directly into barium cy- anide. Carcium carbide is m; le by elec- tric power to yield calcium cyanamide. Heating with water under high pressure converts this into calcium carbonate and ammonia, and experiments have shown the calcium cyanamide to be very good fertilizer.
 A curious investigation by Alfred Binet of the Laboratory of the Sorbonne. has reveal differences in the handwriting of the sexes. Numerous characteristics are traced-such as carelessness in the writ ing of women and firmness and simplicity in that of men-and an expert grapholo- gist has been able to give the sex of the writers of III addresses out of lS0. The writing of old men resembles that of women.
 A sand worm of the northern and west ern coast of France seems to have %