The new age. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1896-1905, 1906-06-30
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COMPRISING 100000 newspapers by
hydraulic machinery, an Austrian
genius has constructed a yacht of the
material thus obtained. 1t Is sixteen
feet long, and every part, including the
masts and sails, is paper.
BY means of ergograph measure
ments, NJ. Charles Ferre has found that
one-tenth more work can be done stand
ing than sitting, but that the greater
intensity of effort during a long period
In the standing position is followed at
the end by more rapid fatigue
Fog dissipation by electric discharges
has proven more effective when the
fog contains dust or smoke than when
1t Is water only, the solid particles
seeming to become charged and to be
then repealed, precipitatlng particles
of vapor with which they collide. With
bundle Of spikes as radiator, a space
of some yards can be cleared in a few
seconds.
About ten species of vegetable
sponges" are now cultivated In the
warmer parts of Africa and Asia, espe-
cially in Algeria. The fruit is edible
before maturity, but on ripening the
pulp separates from the fibrous mate
rial, which then becomes an excellent
substitute for real sponge for the toilet,
bath room and many other purposes.
The Algerian spOnges are in large de-
mand in Paris.
The snail, ''the poor mans oyster"
Of France and Spain, Is pronounced a
very pleasing food when selected from
clean feeding grounds and properly
cooked. Its nutritive value is 100 per
cent greater than that of the oyster,
analysis showing that the solids en-
brace nearly 80 per cent Of tissue build
ing proteid matter, besides which are
6 per cent Of fat and per cent of min
eral substance including phosphates.
Talking before the Institution of
Electrical Engineers at Glasgow, on
the unknown energy contained in the
chemical elements and the prospect of
making 1t available, f. Soddy said that
the forces at our disposal compared
with those exhibited when an atom
suffers change are of a different and
lower order of magnitude. Suppose,
he said, that a way could be found in
which uranium, which disintegrates to
the extent of thousand-millionth part
annually, could be made to disintegrate
completely in the course of a year !;
then from one gram of uranium 1,0O0,-
100000 caloric could be evolved, which,
converted into electric energy, would
suffice to keep a 80 candle-power lamp
burning continuously through the year.
By the expenditure of about one ton
more energy would be derived than is
supplied by all the electric supply sta
lions of London put together.
Much has been said of late In favor
Of the extensive cultivation of the black
locust, and one railroad company is
reported to have planted nearly $780,
600 trees Of this species, with the view
Of utilizing their extraordinarily du.
rable wood. But Charles A. White of
the Smithsonian Institution points out,
in the Popular Science Monthly, that
the black locust possesses a mortal en-
envy in longicorn beetle, which bores
the wood through and through. 1t is q
native of the same regions in which
the tree flourishes, and depends upon
the tree for its own existence When
population flowed to Illinois and Iowa,
the black locust was taken along. 1t
tiourished luxuriantly for some years,
until its insect foe followed it, and now,
says Mr.. White, nothing remains of the
great groves of black locust in the
Middle West except blasted remnants.
The tree, native east of the Alleghenies,
from New York to the Gulf, was also
transplanted to Europe, whittier its
enemy has not followed it.