The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1908-12-12

seum-Derangement from Teeth-Bor-
rowed nlumination-Cars and Load
Cancer Cause in India-Silent Warfare
Cotton Silk.
Besides serving as a letter carrier, the homing
pigeon has been made to do express messenger
service by conveying medicines, and of late DR..
Neubronner, German experimenter, has been
testing its possibilities military photograph
er. A special camera has been devised, taking
pictures IL inches square, and one form of the
bird's-eye views at definite intervals. The time
of exposures can be regulated with much ac-
curacy. In a strange place, the pigeon begins
its fight In a spiral curve. and thus would take
pictures in several directions, giving informa-
ton of the country and the enemy's quarters
that might prove of great value in time of war.
Flying homeward at height of $50 to 800 feet,
and a uniform speed of 40 miles an hour, the
pigeon is fairly safe from an enemy's bullets.
-.
For ire-r resisting doors, armored Wood is TAX
ing the place of iron in British warehouses and
factories. The armored fire door is made of
several thicknesses of seasoned pine boarders,
planed, tongued and grooved, and well nailed
together, and is covered with timed steel sheets
fitting close to the wood. Several hours of the
lercest heat simply carbonizes the outer layer of
wood to the depth of fraction of an inch. The
door remainsi place. and is not as the iron often
is, warped and torn from its fastenings.
s's
The great meteorite collection of the Imperial
Natural History Museum at Vienna now has
specimens from 6l5 different falls, the whole
weighing about 3K tons. OF these meteorites,
2S2 are iron. % iron and stone and S55 stone.
Prof. Berwerth. of Vienna, has found strong
similarity between meteoric iron and manufac-
tured steel, and Widmannstatten figures and
other meteorite peculiarities can be reproduced.
"a
The teeth are given little attention by physi-
clans, but, it we are to credit new work by DR..
Henry s. Epson, they may be regarded as a
leading source of nervous and mental derange-
ment. No disease is so common as dental carries,
which may occur without any local pain or SEN
sation of any kind. 1t is often accompanied by
disordered nerve action, and insomnia has been
proven to be due to this cause. In severe cases.
where the teeth defects were shown only by
skiagraphs, and sleeplessness vanished as soon as
the cavities were treated. Arterial disease often
accompanies insomnia, and man of s. broke
down after two years of the insomnia, and be-
came paralyzed, and yet he was relieved when
his teeth were treated for disease made known
by similar means.
Illuminated signs without sources of light
form the curious invention offs French engineer
who uses stray light rays, and makes it possible
to appropriate our neighbours lighting without
stealing current from his electric mains. The
diffused light from street lamps, brilliant store
windows and ordinary daylight may be utilized
The rays are collected by rejecting mirrors and
glass prisms, and concentrated in box behind
the transparent sign, which maybe at consider
able distance away. The sign glows so brilliant
ly that it is difficult to realize that there is moi
powerful arc lamp directly behind it.
-.
To reduce the weight of cars without sacrih-
cling strength is one of tho great engineering
problems of the day. OF 46 American electric
cars of varying design lately compared, the ma.
jority seated 45 to go passengers, and weighed
from 1900 to 1900 pounds for each seat. The
range was 625 to 1903 pounds per seat. The latter
was the weight of steel car for 81 passengers
on interurban service. and a wooden car for q
passengers on like service weighed only S5l
pounds per seat. For city service the cars va
ried between 625 and 1889 pounds per seat.
A*A
That every second person he met had tumol
in one cheek or the other was the first striking
impression that DIR. VIM. G. Bentall, British
surgeon, received on reaching Travancore, South
India, six years ago. Closer acquaintance
showed that the swelling was guild of betel, OF
betel-leaf enclosing bits of areca-nut and lime
but in the records of 100 cases of cancer he
finds there is a remarkable connection between
the apparent tumor and the real malignant one
Cancer is most frequent in females between the
ages of SO and As, or 20 years younger than il
Great Britain, and a similar contrast appears
among males; while 706 per cent. of the cases Of
cancer in Travancore affect some part of the
mouth cavity, but only 5.8 per cent. of British
cases. From these figures and a personal ex
perience with $50 cases of cancer, DIR. Dental
concludes that the inveterate habit of bette
chewing, beginning in early childhood, is tbs
chief cause of cancer in India. 1t may act as 6
source of mechanical irritation, or it may gives
lodging place to possible cancer germ.
-.
The noiseless rifle of Hiram P. Maxim II
claimed to reduce the report more than IS pei
cent. and to be practically inaudible beyond 15l
feet. The dampening is effected by valve that
instantly closes the bore as the projectile passes
The gases, thus prevented from sudden expan.
sion, escape slowly, and the sound is slight
Kissing. The hammer striking the firing pin ID
said to give a sound much sharper than the re-
port of the gun. With noiseless and smokeless
rifles making the firing line of an army hard to
locate. it is predicted that future warfare will
be very different from that of the past.
A+A
A silky gloss much superior to that Of mer-
cerizing, or stretching in caustic alkali, is now
given cotton by dipping into cellulose solution,
or by partially dissolving the cotton itself in
solvents of cellulose. The 'fibers produced are
very glossy, strong and durable, being an adj
vance over ordinary artificial silk which is lack
ing in strength. especially when wet.