The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-02-05
Queer Things
Science Finds.

| to portend some great physical dis
| coVery-greater and more farreaching
| possibly than any yet made. The
alchemists theory of the transmutation
| of the elements was long ago discard
| ed, but the work of recent years has
| pointed more and more to the unity
| of matter, and the worlds investi-
| gators are now engaged in a restless
I struggle to trace matter and energy
| to their source. Already we are told
vaguely that the form of energy known
as electricity is made up Of solid atoms
and that the atoms Of matter may be
| aggregations of these electric atoms.
| The motions and shapes of atoms are
I being called upon to explain not CITY
! light and heat, but gravitation, cohe-
/ sion, repulSiOn, and chemical and vital
| Phenomena, and 1t can hardly be
| doubted that the new laboratories Of
| extreme heat and extreme cold, with
| our lately acquired acquaintance with
new radiations, must soon lead us a
| step nearer to a solution Of the nnys-
1 terieS of the universe. -.,, .......-.- 10
Deep coal mining will be a problem
for British engineers to solve within
| the present century. At present the
/ noxiOus gases and the heat of so de-
grees to so degrees above. that at the
| surface make mining impossible at
| depths of 5000 feet or more, but Mr.
mine will be 5000 to 10000 feet below
/ the surface, and will be reached by
| electric locomotives running in inclin-
ed tunnels seven, eight or ten miles
long. In such a mine, he foresees, 5000
to 10000 workers will live for several
| days at a time.
Not all granulated sugar, MIRA E.
Hiss is surprised to find, is contami..
mated with ultramarine blue. On COM
! ing from the vacuum pans the best of
| the sugar is sorted out, and that lack
ing in whiteness is treated with bluing.
Mr.. Hiss suggests that the uncolored
be marketed as druggists sugar." for
! medicinal syrups and other purposes
where purity is important.
The wireless telegraph of Herr
| Blockmann uses lenses of resin, glass,
paraffin or other dielectric material,
| instead of antennae, and is practically
| a Photograph employing invisible cleo
| tromagnetic rays instead of visible
| light rays. With transmitting and re-
| ceiving lenses or mirrors of moderate
| size signals can be exchanged over an
| unobstructed path through the air to
distance of several miles. The dark
rays are not intercepted by fog or by
nom conducting solids, but mountains
| are an obstacle thai must be overcome
by relays. Simultaneous messages
may be sent out and received in vari-
Gus directions, the direction of arriv-
| ing waves being easily determined to
within one degree.
A newly patented German process Cor
| soldering cast iron is claimed to give
! strength equal to that of the iron it
self After first picking the surfaces
| with acid the pieces are fastened to-
gether, the joint is covered with a
paste of cuprous oxide and borax, and
the metal is heated to redneSS. The
melted borax protects against oxida-
ton from the air. Heating causes the
cuprOus oxide to give UP its oxygen,
which burns the carbon Of the cast
iron surfaces, and metallic copper is
separated in fine subdivision. Hard
solder is finally applied, which in melt
ing forms an alloy with the copper,
the alloy combining with the .decar-
buried surfaces of the cast iron.
The Snakes" seen by victims of
delirium tremens have been made Wis
ible to French oculists in some recent
experiments. The ophthalmoScope was
used to examine the eyes of sixteen
alcoholic patients, when it was found
that the minute blood vessels in the:
retina were cOngeSted, and in this con-
dition these gently moving objects
would be projected into the field Of
vision as something very much like
black, squirming serpents.
A British engineer has calculated
that when boy of 100 pounds eats
two ounces of ice in five minutes his
stomach performs heat work equiva-
lent to nearly an eighth of a hCrsG
power In a machine wasting no pow.
er it would raise the boy 1874 feet high.
The way in which billiard playing is
simplified by the device Of q Munich
| college professor has aStoniShed those
who have witnessed the test. The sides
of an ordinary billiard table are pro-
vided with six mirrors, one or more Of
which can be turned down when a play
is to be made, and the advantage rests
in the fact that any image is reflected
in the same angle in which 1T falls on
the mirror, just as the billiard ball re-
bounds from the cushion in the same
angle as that of striking. The mir
rors show at once the different ways
in which a shot can be made. Even the
| tyro is said to make difficult indirect
shots as readily as direct ones, and
the intricacies of the game are quickly
conquered by anybody.
A rational theory of contact cleo
tricity is hoped for as an outcome of
experiments by Heschus, a Russian. A
polished metallic surface proves to be
always positively electrified to an I'M
polished surface Of the same substance,
and slab of wood cut parallel to the
fbers is always positive to one cut
crosswise from the same piece. The
softer of two plates of various metals
is positive. Non-metaIIic bodies are
more positive as they become harder,