Amador ledger., 1907-01-18

able Wireless.
Lusol is impure benzene from coal
tar. Itsis used in various lamps de-
vised by Louis Deuayrouze-these
lamps being now under trial IN
France, and is claimed to be the
cheapest illuminant known, the light
costing only one-fifth as much as the
same amount from kerosene and one
tenth of that from electricity. With
care in filling the lamps, the material
proves to be quite safe. The lamps
are specially designed to retain the
thin volatile liquid, and have cotton
wick leading the lusol from the
reservoir to the vaporizing chamber,
from which the vapor escapes through
fine hole under the incandescent
mantle. Large street lamps require
simple mechanism for giving air
pressure to aid the capillarity of the
wick in forcing the lusol upward.
The disadvantages of the lamps are
the necessity of filling, and the time
required to generate a little vapor
before lighting.
Exposing many oil and water colors
in his studio window for six years,
q. Bakenhas, German painter, has
found the following to be unaffected
by light: krems white, zinc white,
Naples yellow, cadmium yellow, light
ocher, Roman ocher, gold ocher, burnt
light ocher, terra pozzuolI, Italian
red, English red, red and blue ultra
marine, cobalt blue, chrome Oxide,
permanent green, cobalt green, raw
and burnt sienna and umber, CaseI
brown, Van Dyke brown. and thin
asphalt. Paris blue. Berlin blue,
Prussian blue, madden brown, mad
der purple, chrome yellow, yellow
and brown lakes, green lakes, car
mine, and vermllion we're much alter
ed or wholly destroyed.
Gases of stammerIng are reported
by English opticians to have been
cured by fitting glasses to correct
defect OF the eyes.
The LesIie-W Walker fire detector.
which has lately given warnings of
British fires, is novel and ingenious
device for giving instantaneous alarms
it is attached to the ceiling, and
consists of a thin walled tube or
reservoir of mercury in horizontal
position, connected by a capillary
tube to an upright branch reservoir
at one end, and at the other end join
ed to small upright empty tube,
having three platinum contacts con-
nected with electric bell circuits.
Ordinary slow changes of temperature
whether of the seasons OF artificial
heating and ghting- cause the ex-
panding mercury to flow through the
capillary tube and rise i'll the branch
reservoir, leaving the contacts un-
affected because the mercury does not
readily enter an empty tube. With
quick rise in temperature, however,
the capillary bore offers such resist
obOO bLob bhc LnC.Ouly 10 1OIOSu bdCh
into the contact tube. A slight blaze
sends the mercury to the first contact.
giving one alarm, but if the flames
are not speedily eXtingulshed a
further rise sounds the danger alarm
as the second contact is reached.
The lighting of a newspaper in a
room 45 feet square by As feet high
was signaled in 10 seconds.
The number of facets IN the eyes
of insects is the little known subject,
that has been taken up by German
entomologist. He has patiently
made counts in $50 species of beetles
and finds that the number is more
numerous in large specimens, but
that there is usually little difference
in the sexes. In some cases, how
ever, the male has many more than
the female. In Lampyris splendidula
the males eye has $500 Facets and the
females only 300; and the male eye
of MeIolontha vulgarls has $500 while
the female reachs 1850.
The pneumatic locomotives of large
German mines have an aiI tank IN
place of the boiler in steam loco
motives. The air is stored at a pres
sure of 700 to 1000 pounds per square
inch, and its expansion gives a safe
reliable and cheap power.
The creation of life by artificial
means is no new dream, and no man
can say it is impossible, but to most
scientific men the achievement seems
still far away. Among those whose
phenomena have been strongly sug-
gestive of life is Prof. Leduc, of
Nantes. In his late experiments
before the Paris Society of Surgeons,
he used tube containing gelatlne,
and small quantity of cyanide of
iron, potassium aud salt, and In this
he placed some grains composed of
suIphate of copper and sugar globules
less than one-twenty fifth of an inch
in diameter. termination immedi-
ately began IN these grains. Some
pushed forth tiny branches with
leaves like those of the water lily,
others formed blades resembling
wheat, and still others took the
shape of seaweed. The expeIImenter
affirmed that these plants lacked