The new age. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1896-1905, 1906-02-17
rs
PoPuleT: 5ience.


A steel Of special hardness, patent
ed in Germany by F. Munster. results
from subjecting the molten metal to
blast Of nitrogen.
With a tensile strength often e1-
ceeding three hundred thousand
pounds per square inch, steel piano
wire seems to be the strongest mate
rial known, and it possesses the addi-
tional valuable property Of a very high
elastic limit
A peculiar process for separating
non-magnetic particles like gold from
sand has been patented by L. T.
Weiss. The metallic particles In mass
are electroplated with iron, by spe-
cial apparatus, and can then be separ-
ated by any magnetic method.
Glass water-pipes, which have a
covering Of asphalt to prevent frac-
ture, are In use In some parts Of Ger
many. They give thorough protection
against moisture in the ground,
against the action Of acids and aka.
lies, and they cannot be penetrated by
gases.
DR.. Max Reithoffer, a professor In
the Technical High School of Vienna,
In conjunction with Herr Karl Mora
wetz, the government inspector of
clocks, has completed a system for
synchronizing clocks by means of
wireless telegraphy, and permission
has been secured for regulating the
public clocks by this agency.
The use Of milk of lime for quick
ly and effectively extinguishing fires
in coal mines is recommended by In
spector Wolfgang Hummer, Ger
man. The suggestion Is not new, but
has been newly tested with satisfac-
tory results. The emulsion-which
can be used with hand or power
pumps-runs into and fills the crevices
Of the coal or mineral.
A new type Of mitrailleuse is being
constructed at the government arms
factory of st. Etienne, France. This
weapon is far more powerful than the
existing type, its firing capacity being
three hundred shots per second, with
maximum range of $500 yards The
tests with the weapon have proved
highly satisfactory, except for a nat
ural tendency to become heated
through continued discharge, but this
dafact iS hniDO remodfod
The Gaulois of Paris has been in
vestigating that grave question, why
do men wear mustaches" About one
hundred men answered the question.
Six replied that it was too much trou-
BILE to shave, one declared that 1t was
to hide his teeth, another that his
long nose without it gave him bad
appearance, and three that 1t avoided
colds. Three others maintained that
it improved the air they breathed, and
seven were of the opinion that a mus
tache was necessary to health. Seven.
teen men were content to state that
they did it to please themselves, while
only two said 1t was to please their
wives. About sixty gave the reason
that women did not like clean-shaven
men.
Il. Dofein, German naturalist, has
recently seen in CeylOn a species OF
ant, the oecophylla smaragdina, in the
act Of sewing" two leaves together
for the purpose of forming nest
| This observation confirms the report
of the English naturalist, Ridley
made in 1890. Dofein saw a row OF
the insects pulling the edges Of the
leaves together; then others trimmed
and fitted the edges, and finally q
seam was made by fastening the
edges with a silky thread, yielded by
larvae Of the same species which the
workers carried in their mandibles
He made a drawing illustrating the
method of working. According to
Ridley, the sewing ants pass the
thread-giving larvae like shuttlei
through holes In the edges Of thu
| leaves