Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1904-09-09
kMxSCience

~NNNN0000~

~N
The distinct compounds from coal
tar have increased from 454 in 1894
to 695, not less than three hundred of
the present products being dyes.
The sound-deadening arrangements
tried on the Berlin elevated railway
include felt under and at the sides of
the rails, woOd-illed car wheels, steel
and wood ties resting on sand and
cork-lined floor planks. Low rails on
deep wooden %stringers proved the most
effective.
A new camera of great importance,
photographing for the first time the
interior or back of the eye, is the pro-
duction of DR.. Walther Thorner, of
Berlin. A te~lescope-like focusing glass
gives accurate focus under the mild
illumination of a kerosene lamp, and
a tashlight ignited by an electric
spark impresses the image upon the
plate. The pictures show the varia-
tions of the eye in health and disease,
making it possible now to follow the
progress Of disease step by step.
With the special purpose of secur-
Ing more accurate records at automo-
bile races than can be obtained with a
stop-watch, the Mors Company in
Paris has constructed an electric ap-
paratus, which is said to give excel
lent results. Two small boxes. cleo
trically connected by wire, are placed
Ii at the starting and the other at
the finishing point. At the start the
wheels Of the racers touching a wire
stretched across the track cause a nee
Ole to form a dot on a band of paper
driven at uniform speed by a chrono-
meter. At the finish the wheels, in
a similar manner, cause another dot
to be made on the same paper. BY
measuring the distance between the
dots the time elapsed is ascertained.
About a dozen years ago, NJ. Richter
showed that the mysterious fires in
misunderstanding blishments are
due to electricity, which produces
SRNS 10 pANNCo VI WOOl dEe uIdNu
from the combustible fluid on cool or
dry days, and he found that the sparks
be prevented by adding magne-
SUM oleate-even as little as O.O2 per
cent-to the benzine. The reason of
remarkable effect of the oleate has
not beer understood. 1t has now been
investigated by G. Just at Karlsruhe,
and he finds that the conductivity of
the benzine is very slightly increased.
this change being sufficient to prevent
the accumulation of dangerous electric
charges. In pure benzine an electrode
kept Its charge for minutes, while in
the diluted oleate solution it refused
to take any charge.
An interesting instance Of the man.
In which insects sometimes assist
the growth of plants without any in
tention to do so, and while attending
strictly to their own business, is fur
nished by the history of a climbing
plant which grows in the Philippines,
and which has recently been described
by Professor ]. w. Harshberger of
the University Of Pennsylvania. At
an early stage in it's career the plant,
which, like other plants, begins to
grow at the ground, sewers its connec-
ton with the soil, and thenceforward
lives with its roots attached to dead
bamboo canes. 1t develops, in addi-
ton to other leaves, certain pitcher
shaped leaves, into the cups of which
sends a second set of roots. A spe-
cies of small black ant frequents the
pitchers, and incidentally carries into
them minute fragments of decaying
wood and leaf mold, from which the
roots just mentioned derive a constant
supply of food for the support of the
plant.
No Relation Of His