The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-01-06

A geological Puzz1e-Wireless Control at
. Distance-o Glass Colored by Radiations
concentrated Bnorgy-Land Suspend
ed IN the Sea-An Antiseptic Giove-A
Tin Foil Substitute-A Safe Explosive
Iron in Gold.
A curious eye exists in the abdomen of the pa
lolo worm (Eunice viridiO Of Samoa. 1t is UNI
like any other eye known, and in q recent dis
cussion Of It. o. Schroeder. Of Heidelberg. doubts
whether II is really an organ for the perception
OF light, stating that It has been 80 regarded be-
cause It has nerves cells. pigment and lens.
Lsht-siying organs sometimes have pigment
and lenslike structures. This is not such an
organ. however. and what may be its true func-
tion is one Of the problems that still perplex
naturalists.
Electric waves and sensitive receivers offer
. means Of performing variety Of operations
ct distance. Prof. e. d. Brandy, French
electrician, has been trying to attain such effects
and has shown the Paris Academy an apparatus
By which he can start an electric motor. cause
incandeecent lamps to glow and cause an explo-
sion. These effects can be produced or discon-
tinued in any desired order, one after another.
They we're chosen arbitrarily, and 1t is possible
70 bring about at distance other mechanical
action or series Of actions, or to work compli
Gated machine.
sSs
Glass containing manganese is slowly turned
violet by sunlight. and Sir William Crookes has
found that radium produces in few days col
Grafton as intense as that caused by the sun in
years. +. Fischer has now been studying the
effects Of ultraviolet rays. and reports that the
light Of q mercury arc lamp in quartz tube
gave slight color to four out of eight glasses in
4w.&n lola t.a4af &.
twelve hours. The color proved to be due to
manganese silicate.
The radium clock Of the Hon. r. j. Strut is
the most mysterious and most efficient machine
in existence, and the twelfth Of a grain of radi-
um that supplies the energy is estimated to be
sufHcient for q run of 10000 years. The small
glass containing q tube. having two aluminium
leaves attached to its lower end is supported in
an exhausted glass vessel. The positive charge,
left behind after the beta" rays are carried
away, Is passed on to the leaves. which separate
until one of them touches the enclosing glass.
when the charge is conveyed to the earth and
the leaf falls back This operation, repeated min
ute after minute, will continue so long as the
machine lasts. By means Of coherer, such as
is used in wireless telegraphy, the action can be
made audible, and an electric bell made to sound
at every discharge.
The Matchmaking powers Of the sea are strik-
ingIy illustrated in the recent estimate of Scot
tish geographer. The amount of mineral mat
ter in sea water is found 10 be sufficient to form
q solid layer 125 feet deep over the whole earth,
and to equal North America. Europe and Aus
tralia together. or nearly one-fifth Of all land
above sea level. Even more mineral matter has
been taken from the sea- Most of the limestone
gypsum and salt has been derived from sea
water, and so also has been much of the cement
ing material of the sedimentary rocks.
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The new glove for surgeons is an impercepti-
BILE covering that does not impair touch or the
pliability Of the skin. 1t is applied BY miners
ing the hand in weak solution Of gutta percha
in benzine or acetone, and it Is as effective as an
ordinary rubber glove in closing any crevice in
the skin against pus or secretions and in making
the hand antiseptic for operations.
=.
Ammonia vapor has proven powerful disin-
fectant, a room filled with it being freed from
cholera bacilli. pustuIe germs or diphtheria mi
crobes in two hours.
Ars
Aluminium coated paper, made in Germany for
wrapping food substances. is prepared by apply
ASoAA@
TO artificial parchment. then sprinkling alumni
mum powder over the surface. and finally sub
hitting to pressure. The artificial parchment
il paper that has been treated with sulphuric
acid. The aluminium paper is not attacked bv
the air or by fats is much cheaper than tin foil'
and late analyses in Paris of this paper and Of
aluminium foil showed but small proportion Of
foreign matter and no arsenic or poisonous
metal.
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quite extraordinary combination of merits
Is claimed in France for q new explosive, which
consists Of Q mixture Of powdered aluminium
and nitrate of ammonium. It is not liable to
spontaneous decomposition, cannot be prema-
turely exploded by shock or friction, burns only
with difnculty. is not affected by frost or damp
ness. and the gases from its explosion are harm
less. It can be exploded readily by an ordinary
detonator.
About 500 specimens of iron and its alloys have
been tested by Mr.. r. A. Hadield, the English
metallurgist, while they were immersed in
liquid air at q temperature of 1922 below zero
Cent. The most notable results were the very
general and remarkable increase in tenacity and
tbs, disappearance of ductility. These changes
took place in the softest wrought iron as well as
In the various carbon and other steels. An ex-
ceptlon was the INSTRUMENTATION alloys,
which not only showed most extraordinary in
crease In tenacity but became more ductile. The
Importance of toughening iron with nickel was
demonstrated.
The plants Of the Bahama Islands have been
found by DR.. W. G. Coker to embrace $50 species
including 20 useful woods, medicinal plants. 10
indigenous fruits, rs cultivated fruits and 10
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