Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-02-26
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

Automobiling Disease-Coffee WIN
out acknowledgements From Waste
Vapor-How the Body Starves-
Voices of the Air-Speech OF the
cIock-The World In a Dryins-uP
Staae-UsefuI AlIoys-SuppIantins
Chimneys.
Conjunctivitis, due to friction of the
wind and chilling of the eyeball, is
noted in America as fairly common
result of fast riding. French and Ger
man physicians, however, report that
all automobiling diseases are the result
of nervous excitement, and the cases
are sufficiently numerous to attract
much attention. A typical record de-.
scribes a patient who was affected only
on long journeys. No disease except
brain disturbance then appeared, but
the fourth day Of travel invariably
brought pain in the stomach, with gen.
eral nervousness, followed by chill
There was also palpitation of the heart,
with an overwhelming fear of sudden
death.
Coffee berries have been credited
with an average Of about l per cent OF
caffeine, but Bertrand, French chem
ist, shows that the proportion varies
in the berries of different countries
and also in those of other species than
Coffea arabica. In c.. canephora, which
is richest in alkaloid, the percentage Is
|1.97. C. humblotiana berries are re-
markable for containing bitter prin-
ciple, cafamarin but no caffeine at all;
and those of C. mauritania have only
O.O7 per cent. These two species offer
the much sought coffee free from caf-
feline.
| By a new method, pigments of metal
lie oxides are produced by burning IN
special fiues the waste vapors from
electric reduction furnaces. The vary
ing mixtures from different ores give
a great variety of colors. waste Is
avoided, and the products are In ex-
tremely fine powder without grinding.
| Physiological radiations, probably NJ
rays, have been transmitted by A.
Charpentier along a wire. This offers
the physiologiSt means for a more pre-
else study of such rays.
The phenomena of starvation have
been a subject of study by Vanlair,
Belgian psychologist. The fasting per-
son is at first tantalized by recollec-
tions of flavors and aromas, and the
call for food is soon emphasized by
rumbling in the intestines, painful
spasms Of the stomach, and dizziness.
The activity of the brain diminishes,
the hands tremble, the limbs shake, and
muscular weakness becomes excessive.
The heart soon beats faster and light
err. Body weight diminishes, the fat
cells being first affected, then the liver
muscles, blood, intestines and bones,
but the heart and nervous centres suf-
fer little until near the end. The les
sening of bodily activities brings
rapid fall of temperature. AS death
draws near the face becomes ashy. the
eyes are fixed, muscular feebleness is
extreme, and the legs are swollen and
covered with blotches. The scene
closes in an unreal world Of hallucina-
tions.
| Weird sounds Of atmospheric distur-
bances-unlike the ordinary telegraphic
and inductive disturbances-have been
noticed by Mr. J. C. Taylor, British
electrician, during experiments in wire
less telegraphy. They are more fire.
uuent in summer than in winter, most
/ hnurc ohn1t
set, and often precede a storm or gale.
They resemble the flowing and bubblinS
of water though there are also crack
lings and screenings like rocket dis
charges. The latter are attributed to
the electric currents set up by the fall
Of meteors, and the other noises are
supposed to be connected with the
ionization Of the air, disturbances be-
ing caused when the ionization is dis
sipated by an electric field.
| The "tick-tock" that is universally
regarded as the sound of both pendu-
lum and spring clocks has been inVes-
tigated by DR.. Rosenbach, a Berlin
psychologist. He finds that the tick
capement anchor strikes a cog Of the
wheel moving upward, while the took
| is produced when the other arm strikes
a cog moving downward. The differ
ent conditions give different acoustic
effects.
| A new field of investigation has been
opened up by Prince Kropotkin. He
finds evidence in Central Asia that the
whole vast region has been steadily
drying up since the first historical rec
ords, and the evaporation now greatly
exceeds precipitation, with the result
that the deserts are rapidly extending,
while life and agriculture are possible
only near the rain making mountains.
The destruction of forests is insufficient
| to account for the drying up OF lake
systems and rivers. He concludes that
the dessiccation going on over the
whole surface of Europe and Asia,
more especially in the northern and
more elevated portions, has continued
since the Glacial epoch, and that we
are living in geological epoch as
marked by dessiccation as was the
Glacial epoch by accommodating precipi-
tation. ee-planting on large scale
and the sinking of artesian wells are
suggested as means of combating the
coming drought.
| Of DR.. Guillaume's remarkable iron
and nickel alloys, two are being manu-
| factured. linear" contains 81 per cent
of nickel, and is practically unalter-
able in length at any atmospheric tenn
perature. 1t is finding use for standard