Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1904-05-20
rklmaSCience
A Il 4 gAs2s AND
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Gravel will shrink eight per cent
gravel and sand nine per cent: clay
and clay earths ten per cent; loan and
light sandy earths, twelve per cent.
These figures are useful In making
estimates for such work.
Among the innumerable expert.
ments with liquid air two are particu.
larly curious. ball OF india rubber
Immersed In 1t becomes as brittle as
glass, but a ball of lead, In the same
circumstances. acquires elasticity, and
Will rebound like rubber.
French statistics show that total
Of 23S, 703 horse power from the falls
of the Alps is now used for generating
electricity. The electric power serves
the following; Aluminium works, 22.-
536 horse power, other metallurglcal
factories 2O,4S5. ehlorate OF potassium
works, 1000 calcium carbide works.
lo4 ,466; sodium chlorate works, 49,
500: transmission of power and light
ing, 3S. 727; various industries, 19.9S9.
that new and unexpected source OF
wealth has been discovered In the ter
ritory of the late Boer republic. Near
the eastern border of the Transvaal, on
the edge of the lofty South African
plateau, three valuable lodes of tin ora
have been found. and the deposits are
apparently so extensive that predic-
tions are heard that the new colony
may prove to be as rich In tin and
copper as II is already known to he In
gold
The human body changes Its tenn
perature very slightly under any con
ditions Of heat or cold, but Russian
naturalist finds that the body tempera-
ture of insects Is practically that of the
atmosphere. 1t usually rises more
slowly than the air, though more rap
idly when the air is very moist. When
the insect begins to move, the temper
ature rises rapidly, and may reach
about 3S degrees c. 0022 degrees F.
Below-O.5 degrees c. insects remain
motionless, and the wings are not
moved until the temperature reaches
about u degrees G.
The latest new form of dirlgible bal
loon, invented by l.. ]. Andersen. of
London, has two elongated gas-bags
Of the same shape and size placed side
by side, like the two hulls of cata-
maran boat The car is suspended
beneath, being equally supported by
both balloons, and the driving pro
peller is placed behind their rear ends,
and half way between them. In eXpe-
rimenting with model having bal
looms seven feet long the inventor
finds that this form of air-ship pos
sesses advantages in steering and In
maintaining a straight course. He is
constructing full-sized apparatus
with balloons 10 feet long, to be driven
by a 5O-horse-power electrict motor.
After forty years of agitation. led
by Liverpool merchants, the British
government has Just sanctioned the
use of weight of fifty pounds In
place of the standard ''hundredweight'
Q12 pounds, and "half-hundred-
weight" (fifty-six pounds). The re-
form was demanded because the I'M
mense quantities of cotton, corn, to
bacco and other American products
landed at Liverpool were calculated by
the sellers in pounds, while the buyers
were compelled to reckon in hundred
weights" which did not represent the
number of pounds that the name Inn
plies. 1t is claimed that the reform
will save great amount of time and
labor and prevent many errors. 1t Is
also regarded as an entering wedge
for the Introduction OF the decimal
system in England.