The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1907-08-24
CDTspondencs Baltimore County linton.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

Correspondence Baltimore County linton.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
Safety In Wireless Torpedo Firing-Radi-
atoms from Rusting-A New Science
An Air-Filter for the Nose-The Best
Test for Floor Materials-How the Fly
ing-Fieh Flies-A Timidity Cure.
The control of distant mechanisms by electro
asenetic waves offers fascinating possibilities
hward Brandy, the inventor of the coherer,
ho.. already started, stopped and steered a
caiv.oy properly-tuned system Of wireless re-
i r,,-.o. ~, avoid outside interference-an i'm
4ner in such operations as exploding
6does-M. Brandy has perfected an inge-
NOUS though complicated apparatus. A wheel
has nonconducting rim with five conducting
pins at equal distances, and cam is so placed
as to move lever and start the action of the
mechanism when the wheel makes q contact
with each other through the pins The receipt
Of an electric impulse turns the wheel at a uni
form rate to the first pin, another wave sends it
20 the second. and so on, but If no wave is re-
ceived as pin is reached, the wheel drops back
to starting point. AS contact with each pin
lasts only one-twentieth of second, there little
probability that the precise moment would be
HE Ave times in succession by any random
shower of sparks from an enemy.
sss
Radiations from oxidizing substances have
been studied in Germany by F. Streintz. In
gas containing oxygen, such metals as magne-
SUM, aluminium, zinc and cadmium give of in
visible rays-presumably like ultraviolet light
that ionize the surrounding gas and act on pho
tographic plates. OF practical interest in the
observation that metals may be protected from
rust by electricity.
The importance Of gas as source of energy
ia shown by the fact that Germany's iron and
coal industry alone uses about 400 large gas en-
gines. with combined capacity Of 10000 horse
power
The primitive life of the earth comprises a
multitude of microscopic forms, each of single
cell or group Of simple cells. and some not dis
tinctly plants or animals. The bacteria have
been assigned to the special science of bacteri-
ology. forms having vegetable mode of life are
claimed by the botamists, and the protozoa are
ranked as animals. The bacteria were formerly
looked upon as the sole agents of disease, but
recent researches prove that perhaps fourth
Of the protozoa exist as parasites. and play
part 10 the disorders of man and other creatures.
The malaria parasites became known in 1880,
those Of the Texas fever of cattle in 1898 and
tional discoveries have opened wonderful new
field for investigation, and have transformed all
: 5ians for making habitable certain disease-in-
Tested regions. Malaria, for instance, is now
known to be due to parasites spread by mosqui-
toes, instead Of being attributed to bad air
from marshes. The malaria parasite is diges-
ted in all stages in the stomach of mosquitoes
OF the genus Culex. but in the Anopheles mos
qut0es certain stages resist digestion, the para
sites multiply. penetrate the stomach walls and
produce an immense number of germs which
eventually reach the salivary glands, when the
mosquito becomes infectious. Similar organ
ism, with different methods of distribution,
seem to prey on many animals. Our knowledge
70 just beginning. but has already developed a
new science of protozoology, of which special
chair has been established at the University of
London.
Breathing through wet handkerchief at night
has given relief to hay-fever patients. This has
suggested to DR.. A. G. Heath a novel filter
which consists of two rings connected by a
bridge, each ring having stretched over It fine
netting of silk gauze. The rings are to be worn
ln~th6 nose, half an inch from the openines
This device has been tried with discomfort in
anumber of severe cases of hay-fever, and the
removal of pollen or dust has invariably i'm
proved the breathing within fifteen minutes to
an hour.
Exposure to the sand-blast for two or three
minutes cuts away road and floor materials as
much as months of ordinary wear and IL has
been found in Germany that this is the best
method OF testing such materials A special
apparatus has been made by Alfred Gutmann.
near Hamburg. Test cubes of As inches to a
q 10 aorrk~ -
one side of the cube is partially covered. so that
circular area 2 rs inches across is exposed to
the sand thrown up by jet of steam escaping
from pressure of two atmospheres. Natural
quartz sand is used with rounded grains passing
fRE1l1ek sieve of TIA meshes per square inch,
Tne abrasion shows the quality and the charac-
teristic properties of the material, the homoge-
nelty OF the different parts, the coarseness of
tine grain or the peculiarities of structure and
the uniformity or irregularity of wear. Granite
porphyry, blast furnace Stag, certificial stone.
hard plaster, hnoleum, and oak pine and other
woods. are among the materials that have been
tested in this way.
The theory that the flying fish gides through
the air like an aeroplane, propelled by the tail
and guided by the pectoral fins, is disproved by
Lieut-CoL c. d. Durnford, an English naturalist
-Ao mus tnht an average hight begins with q
jump into the air, impelled by the tail and aided
oy the wing-like fms; that it is continued by
iaoored and exceedingly rapid movement of the
seemingly motionless wings, which at times
down so that the vibration becomes visible and
that It ceases either with sudden stoppage or
gradual slowing down of the wings before reach
ing the water
Stage fright Is disease and easily cured,
we are told by DR.. Paul Farez of Paris, the
remedy being suggestion. He has had rapid
and permanent recovery in three cases. The
usual associated bodily failngs, such as respira-
tory spasm and heart troubles, are treated SIM
UNANIMOUSLY with suitable medicaments
CASTORIA
For Infants and Children.
The Kind You Have Always Bought