Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1906-12-18
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

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SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
Attention has been drawn OF late 20 the
curious neglect OF electricity In medicine.
Dr. a. Bruce Of Edinburgh points cut that
this neglect Is leading % n very uhscieh-
tinc use II q. valuable curative agent by
| high frequency currents OF 2,ioJ To 1000
alterations per second stimulate both
nerve and muscle. They act rs general
tonic. They lessen congestive cofditicns
Of the mucous nenlb aa,e, relieve neu-
raig1c and rhcmcatic pains. and give Inn
prOycment IN acrvous exhaustion ana
| aiinentary diseases. They do not seem
10 be Of benefit however, IN hysteria or
IN heart degencraticn the effects In
many diseases seem to be impcrfoctly
known. but assurance can be given that
electrical treatment is a field worthy OF
| development.
The slow growth OF plants has been
studied by taking successive photographs
at considerable Intervals and rapidly re-
| producing the Views IN the kinemato-
| graph. The suggeOlion n now made tina.
the formation u clouds and other meteor
illogical phenomena be observed In Ike
| manner. so pictures on more being taken
IN an hour and then thrown upon scrcel
| In a minute or 80. Other slow processes In
nature can be effectively studied by tie
| same means.
| World shaking earthquakes seem to be
most numerous in the years when the
\ earth wobbles most For example, In 1870
| the pole shifted 0sl second and there were
| but IL severe earthquakes, while In ls9l
| the poles movement was i.0I second and
about IS great EARTHQUAKES were felt.
In a. test OF the sense of time, inter-
| walls OF quarter OF a minute TO minute
| and a half were over-estmated ~ per
| cent by 10 men students and III per cent
by 10 women.
Recent remarkable effects OF lightning
on the bridge Of the "Galicia' Of the
| neutrality-suspicious. line have opened
| new investigation. Immediately after
| brilliant flash the second officer was sur
| prised 10 find an imprint Of his hand on
a cabinet on the bridge, and was further
| amazed to see the Silhouette persist as
| much as five minutes. Experimenting
| little, he obtained shadowgraph OF his
observation instrument ana me II a life
| pfescrycr, such details being brought out
| on the ships paint as the cross-lines on
| the Instruments objective and the letter.
ing on the life preserver II was found
| that only the damp gray paint over wood.
| work was sensitive. and no effect was OBJ
tanned on the dry paint or on the paint
| oyer iron. Tie composition and peculiari-
Ties Of the paint are to be determined, a
| suggestion being that some Ingredients
have phosphorescent properties
While the therapeutic value OF radium
has been questioned striking claims OF It's
! powers. are stll made. DR.. Darier Of
| Paris has reported cancer OF the face
made painless by datum, and has obtain
| ed prompt relief from pain In certain eye
diseases. Even more important were
| found the effects on the motor-nerve CEN
TO the temples cured nervous spasms In
| two Or tntec Gays, aNutc ll.. AZ a.. - ya.o
wax cured in one day. and inability OF mo-
| lon from nervous debility was cured In
| three days. In the last named case the
| result Is attributed to suggestion.
| The growing. OF acid fruits-such as to-
matoes and strawbcrres--is among the
means suggested for lessening the mos
| quito evil. Ii has been noticed that when
mosquitoes have access to acid fruits
their bites are less POI nous, and dis
! trlcts Of Italy seem TO Nave been freed
from malaria by the cultivation Of to-
matoes the natural food OF mosquitoes. 1t
| j. s1ppssa lLat See aiasidi parasite Is
destroyed BY fruit acids,
Many European physicians treat alco-
holism by hypnotic suggestion, some prac-
utoners claiming as high as 50 per cent
| Of cures. The suggestion Is usually re-
peated 10 or ~ times within a year.
| The delicate microbalance OF Il. Sal
/ NlVul tbIlslNiS VI u lflll tflIttu OF TlDDNn
| Of glass or other material, liked at one
| end and placed In u closed case, with
| weights OF platinum wire and silk thread
| to be manipulated BY a suitable handle
The ,hexure of the loaded thread Is noted
| by the aid Of an ocular mlcromcter. In the
| Experiments made, n glass thread four
| Inches long and somewhat less than one
hundredth OF an inch In diameter, with
an arrangement 10 magnify 100 times,
weighed to one-thousandth Of mile
| gram--or .one-sixty five-t housandth OF a
| grain--whie capable OF supporting by fiex-
ure weight OF more than 100 mlligrams
With the apparatus the toss Of weight Of
musk. by rehabilitation has been demons
trated and proven to be proportional to
| the time,
The novel night clock Of Prof Hirth OF
Munich contains an electric lamp which
| lights up when button Is pressed and
| which throws an enlarged shadow OF the
| anal upon the ceiling. In.ugil tlie sna4-
| ON has the szo ~ cnurtn .l0rk. tn
greatly magnihed hands and figures are
sharp and distinct
A German method Of increasing the dem
| slty or steel consists In forcing q gas
past downward upon the molten metal
Tie bottom being allowed 10 cool. the
macs soldlfes upward. and all gases are
forced cut instead Of being confined by
ne quick coOiing Or the Top.
IL IL the wireless telephone instead OF
the wireless telegraph that Is 10 pi-oye
o. future importance II We may accept the
| view Of Prof Mnichic, prominent Paris
electrician. beginning his exerplments five
years ago, he used the earth as q con-
| ductur, sending telrphonic MESSAGES two
miles. and q year later using the sea as
conductor ne was able to communicate
from Touion over the sea TO Ajaccio In
Corsica. "a distance of no miles, In his
ater efforts the sounds have been trans.
| mlttpl tllOuuh the nfr xrit hoIt
| For TINS telephone instrument. connect
ed up with a three-eell battery and
special Induction coil was mounted on a
table In his garden. and slmiar aplar-
atts was placed it0 feet away In study,
With several walls Intervening Speech
was heard very distinctly. Increase OF
power Is expected 10 extend the range in
definitely. and greater delcacy OF appara-
tus should be evolved with experience.
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The worlds platinum Is mostly supplied
! by Russia, but the production has not
been keeping pace with the rapidly. In
crcasing demand. In consequence, the
value has nearly Guadrupled In II years
having advanced 20 S9l an ounce--or more
than gcld-carly IN 1875 ard quito recently
to s5i an ounce search for new sources
of supply has been made, especially In
the United States. This has shown that
platinum exists In Is counties in Califor.
MIA, nine Ia Oregon. eight IN Idaho, four
w Colorado. three In Washington two IN
Montana and one county each In Utah
Arizona and Wyoming, Profitable mining
seems to be promised IN southern Oregon
and northern California.
The great Englsh-FrenchG German tech
MEAL dictionary begun IN 1901 under tho
auspices OF the Society of German Engi-
necrs, IL nearing completion, and printing
is TO begin early in 1891. over S0Ul0.i
word caros have been collected. Or. HUI
bert Jansen Of Berlin A. editcr ard -h9u
200 frms and individuals IN Germany
aud elsewhere are assisting 10 ccmpila-
ton.
SKATING FACTS.