The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1907-04-20

C0gyespondsncs Baltimore County linton.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
a Miners Breathing Bag--A Vegetable
Patriarch--Seed Longevity--A Heart OF
Bone-Oalcium Alloys-The End OF .
Long Iife-A Big Tree in Tree-11oe
RoWer-Mosquito Electrocution.
A new respiratory apparatus which has re-
suited from late experience in French mining
consists externally Of Q rubber bag, which 10
worn in front about waist high, and is supported
by q strap over the shoulder. The breath OF the
miner Is exhaled into the bag by means OF .
mouthpiece. The gases pass through two tubes
containing grains of oxylith, which retains the
moisture and carbonic acid and renews the air
for breathing by setting free corresponding
quantity Of oxygen. The circulation through
the bag therefore supplies the miner. With air
without connection with any outside source,
and enables hl.z to work in suifocating gases an
indefinite time.
The Oldest living plant has been claimed to be
some individual among the dragon-trees of the
Canary Islands. A once famous specimen Of
Teneriffe, whose age has been variously esti-
mated at 1000 to 5000 years. retained its full
height Of 20 feet or more until 1919. when a
storm carried away one of its largest branches,
and the remaining branches were broken on in
like storm in 1857.
New experiments to determine how long seeds
may retain their vitality have been reported TO
the Paris Academy Of Sciences by Paul Becque-
rel Seeds of $50 species belonging to 30 families.
were tried, the known ages ranging from rs
to 485 years. and the only kinds preserving
their terminating power more than 80 years
were those protected by thick skin and having
slightly oxidizable reserves.
Sc
Examining the four vases containing the en-
balmed internal parts Of the body of Rameses
II, who died in 1858 B. c., Prof. Lortet has found
the heart as bony oval plate, requiring saw
to cut It.
Calcium is practically new metal, its recent
isolation in the electric furnace having made it
q commercial product. Experiments described
by L. Stockton, European metallurgist. prove
that IL cannot serve in steel-making. as it does
not alloy with iron, but it is likely to be useful
in refining copper and nickel. DEGRADATION can
be effected by it without risk of any of the
calcium being left behind as impurity. 1t
readily forms alloys when molten copper is
poured upon it, but these are so brittle that
bar two inches thick containing seven per cent.
Of calcium can. be broken by light taps with
hammer. An alloy of 20 per cent. Of calcium
and so Of copper is white and decomposes in the
air. Aluminium and magnesium form very
brittle alloys with calcium, and q mixture Of
calcium with ten per cent. Of either of the two
other metals can be pulverized in mortar. The
addition of calcium gives toughness to an alloy
Of aluminium and zinc that is much employed
for electrical purposes
-
The death Of Drake, the venerable giant tor
toise or Testuda abingdoni of the London Zoo
logical Garden, removes one of the last members
Of q vanishing race. for whose fellows recent
search has been made in vain, and one Of the
earth's oldest inhabitants, whose life may have
begun as far back as the reign of Queen Eliza
beth. This tortoise is supposed to have been
between 800 and 400 years old. When captured
in the Galapagos Islands near the end of the
eighteenth century. its shell bore half effaced
date beginning with rs" and it is inferred that
seventeenth century pirates cut the figures
when the creature was probably 80 years old.
As Drake often remained motionless for days
ut q time, even the exact date Of death is not
known. Its appetite was great, and it ate vast
-
A remarkable botanical specimen of Japan is
q hollow tree-trunk 65 feet in circumference
containing living tree nine feet in circumfer-
ence. The older tree was destroyed about 100
years ago, leaving 80 feet of trunk, and the in
ner tree is about ITO years DID,
-
The difficulties of concentrating tidal power
~ "a
has been used only on a small scale and in q
primitive way, but the near future will prob
ably see great electric generating plants estab
lished at favorable localities where the tides
run high and there are natural storage basins
Some months ago a plan was worked out fol
utilizing the ebb and flow of the river Seine
Assuming that tidal embankments were needed
for guiding the channel through the estuary, /
was proposed that these be connected to thu
shore on either side so as to form two larg,
reservoirs, each of which should be divided intt
high water basin and low water basin, thu
discharge from one to the other to drive tur
bines. The available tide is about ten feet
Each reservoir would have an area of abou
$500 acres, and it was estimated that about 900
horse power would be given off during the si1
hours of the rising tide. The cost of division
=
100000. From this the annual cost of eact
horsepower was computed at $500, including
land rent and interest at 10 per cent. but thil
would rise to more than 5000 if the channe
walls were to form part of the expense.
-.
The experiment of electrocuting cockroaches
was tried by Edison long ago, and now French
electrician, NJ. Maurice Chanlin, is making
practical application of the idea. The new ap-
paratus is designed for killing gnats and mos
quitoes. Two rings, one above the other, with
a network Of parallel and vertical chains be-
tween, form a cylindrical lantern, and in the
center an electric or other light is placed.
Each chain is kept charged by an electric cur
rent. As the mosquitoes try to reach the light,
they come in contact with the live chains, and
the instant two chains are touched at the same
time short circuit is established, promptly
killing the insect.