The Caldwell tribune., 1905-11-18
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ny berCOM, the German chemist, TO Do
of great industrial value. 1t grows
eight or ten inches high, and is found
to contain from twenty to thirty times
as much saccharine matter as sugar
cane or the beet. . 5..s gss4t. --,:-
A curious blackening of the faces
and hands Of certain persons being
treated by electricity has been no.
ticed. Investigations showed that this
took place only when the patients
chair was electrically positive and the
crown Of the head negative, and when
oil-heaters were being used to warm
the room. The blackening proved to
be due to Invisible carbon particles
thrown off by the burning Oil and
drawn to the positive pole.
Stovaine enters the list beside chlor-
oform and ether. Stovaine, the new
anaesthetic of DIR. Fourneau, Is in-
jected into the spinal fluid, and within
| five minutes gives complete insensibil-
ity below the point of injection while
the patient does not lose conscious
ness. The effects last for an hour and
a half. No unfavorable results have
been reported in the numerous tests
that have been made in France, but
fears of lack of control and danger of
blood poisoning have been expressed.
l A great deal Of attention has recent
ly been drawn to the experiments of
Mr.. John B. Burke, of the Cavendish
Laboratory, Cambridge, England,
where, by putting radium into tubes
of sterilized bouillon, he has produced
puzzllng phenomena, which have been
regarded as possibly indicating the
spontaneous generation Of living Or
ganisms out Of non-living matter.
Every known precaution was taken to
exclude living germs, yet under the
| apparent influence of the radium, bac-
teria-like forms developed III the
tubes. This strange growth showed a
continuous development, followed by
segregation, and finally by decay. DR..
Sims Woodhead suggests that the mi
) croscopic forms may be crystals, but
Mr.. Burke thinks that they resemble
> vital organisms, and he has named
LQom rdulODeS.
Trees carry off the palm for long
lives. The distinction of being the
: oldest living thing undoubtedly be
: longs to some giant tree, and many
II attempts to locate it and determine
/ its age have been made. A century
y ago De CandolIe found two yews-
one OF Fortingal, In Berkshire, anC
p one at Hedsor, in Bucks-that were
% estimated to be respectively $500 ant
j. 3,24O years old. Both are still flour
IS ishing, and the older tree has trunl
8 twenty-seyen feet in diameter.
e gigantic baobab of Central America
g with a trunk twenty nine feet through
a was thought by Humboldt to be no
less than $3.50 years old. Mexican
Is botanists believe they have now dis
IL covered a life-span even greater tha
80 this, and from the annual rings a cy
D. press Of Chepultepec, whose trunk
IN 118 feet in circumference, is assigne
an age Of about $500 years.
u The recovery of gold from sea wt
10 ter is still a fascinating problem
50 Liversidge has estimated that til
y ocean contains from 1870 to 2GO tons {
10 gold per cubic mile, or total Of 100
-, OOO,OOO,OOO tons; but if this be divi'
ed by 100 the value would still
$697, I'll ,OOO 100000, while NJ.
Wilde, of Brussels, finds that all I
ed the gold mined up to the present tin
nd would not form a cube more thI
ho thirty feet square, representing
~ value Of $13, 3,559, ,946,O ,OO0 NJ. de Wild
ar has a new method Of separation, fro
lot which he expects great results. t
* treats ocean water with a concentra
Ter ed solution Of salt of tin, which ira
Is, forms the gold into purple of Casslr
re- an oxide of gold and tin, and this
4y fixed by hydrate Of magnesia, Whi'
te. Is liberated from the sea water
ce- adding lime water. The hydrate
far maxnesia has been charged with
an much as IS per cent of gold, which
rs. removed with cyanide of potassiu
yer solution.