The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1907-08-03
ODFYsspondsncs Baltimore County Union.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

W.T. o9EOfstscftSo DtStttNitOIe OOuUtN Ott0Ws
so1ENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
Airehip Motors later Walking Boots
Safe Household Lamp-The Wall
Stove Volcanic Fertilizer - Fighting
the African Scourge = Panoremas of
sound-A Killer OF Pneumonia Germs.
The remarkable progress that has been made
building powerful engines Of light weight for
ships is well shown by the "Antainette'' gas
'OIne motors Of N. Levavasseur, the Paris engi-
neer. The new 50-horse-power type has eight
Synnoers this number ensuring great steadiness
anu making iywheel unnecessary. while the
STARTS on simply switching on the ignition
So 800. ana cah be reversed by simple cam
lifting device. The power is developed by l.
400 revolutions per minute. The bore and stroke
are each AZ inches, the total Notwithstanding
gasoline, pump, piping, wires, plugs and spark
COLTS but 1S7K pounds, and the space occupied
Is 201s inches long by 2.62 inches wide and high.
This motor has been used on the new 9roplane
Of Santos Dumont and by other seronauts, also
giving good results on launches. A l3O-horse-
power now being built will have sixteen cylin-
ders, and is to weigh only go pounds, without
gasoline, etc.
Walking on water was accomplished year ago
by W. d. Llewellyn, an English naval pensioner.
The apparatus has been improved and now con-
sists Of pair of canvas-covered boots, about
four feet long, with a large steering rudder-
controlled by lines hitched round the waist-at-
tached to one, and wooden cross-bars fitted to
the bottom Of each to aid in keeping the balance.
In late test the inventor walked with and
ainst running stream at about two miles an
r. ;.
A novel English table lamp depends upon Pc
troll absorbed by porous stone filing the con-
tainer. There is no wick, but air rising through
perforations in the stone carries enough vapor
to light the mantle. Upsetting extinguishes
he light, while there is no free petrol, no odor
- - s-sz.ss -rstas sssss.raptio1a 81 salsa
inaht.
A heating apparatus that is cheap, efficient,
sanitary, and Of light and ornamental construc-
ton is claimed by Prof. Junkers, of Dessan, Ger
many, in his novel gas-stove for hanging on the
wall. The lower half of the stove consists SIM
ply Of corrugated reflector. behind which is a
passage for the cold air, which rises into series
of fat tubes over the burners, becomes heated,
and escapes into an external casing around the
upper half of the stove. One series of openings
inthe casing allows the heated air to rise to the
top Of the room, another series projects 1t for
ward, while the heat passing downward is turned
by the reflector against the floor. The gas is
completely burned, the heat is used to best adj
vantage, the strong circulation ensuring quick
and uniform warming of the room and the pro-
fucts Of combustion are led from the burners to
nvenient chimney fue. The stove is usu-
- .hspended at a height of IL to 20 inches. 1t
economies space. dust does not collect beneath
1t. and it does not heat the wall behind it.
sts
vesuvius proves to be fertilizer factory of
strenuous kind. DR.. .Stoklasa, of Prague, calcu-
lates that in the late eruption the crater threw
out upon the surrounding ground about 50,0OO.-
900 tons of mud, sand, ashes. lava, etc., contain
ing an average of OIL per cent of nitrogen. This
product of $1,000 tons of heterogeneous fertilizer
il more than is used in the whole of England.
In addition the mountain has made enormous
deposits Of potassium phosphate and other fer
tilizng salts. and the vapors constantly rising
from the crater are laden with plant food.
sts
The dreaded tsetse-fy of Africa is supposed to
breed in the banana plantations. AS the banana
is the staple food of the country the plantatisns
cannot be destroyed. and it is proposed to intro
duce the jungle-fowl to exterminate the flies,
beginning the experiment on the fiy-infested
de&ertea island of Kimmi in the Victoria
syanza.
Photographs of single vowel sounds or musi-
cal notes have been made for considerable
time, but with the improved recording system
of K. marble, German investigator into the
the psychology of language, we may obtain a
continuous picture of an entire speech. Using
Konigs eas-fame, which oscillates in height
with the vibrations of the gas container. he
registers the sound motion in smoke instead of
by photography. The gas is passed through
tube into capsule closed by a membrane and
q suitable burner tube, the capsule is placed on
q box with the membrane over circular aper-
ture, and vibrations are set up by tuning fork
ut one side of the box or by telephone MEM
brane. A strip of paper is slowly rUo=Aa from
0ff t6 another just above the flame. While
is no vibration the paper is smoked uni
! g lay color; but when the tuning fork or
telephone membrane is made to act, the flame
is rapidly oscillated and the smoked record is
broken up into a series of little tongues point
ing in the direction of the tapes motion, The
tongues vary in size and shape. Each vowel
spoken into the telephone gives characteristic
series of vibrations, and words produce varying
combinations. Atfm1ng device, marking tenths
Of second on the tape, is to be added to the ap-
paratus.
"a
Having given five per cent. aqueous solution
Of carbon bisulphide for the relief of intestinal
symptoms accompanying pneumonia, an italian
physician was surprised by remarkable i'm
provement in the pneumonia itself. Tried on
four cases of uncomplioated pneumonia, the
remedy gave excellent results, fever disappear
lingo the third orfourth day, and expectora-
ton being slight. The volatile substance. east
ly absorbed byGhe blood. is supposed to para
lyze the ppeumococci and neutralize their
toxins.
A late list shows that COL minor planets had
been accorded up to June 81 last, "a having been
Extraordinarily at Heidelberg-since the
yfevious July 30.
R0BERT CLARK. A. W. CLARK.
LUTHERVILLE