Amador ledger., 1908-12-04


the homing pigeon has been made to
do express messenger service by CON
veylng medicines, and of late DIR.
Neubronner, German experimeuter,
has been testing its possibilities as a
military photographer. Atspecial cam
era has been devised, taking pictures
IL inches square, and one form of
the apparatus uses a strip of film to
obtain eight of the birds-eye views at
definite intervals. The time OF expo
sures can he regulated with much
accuracy. In strange place, the
pigeon begins its flight 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 home
ward at a height of $50 to 300 feet and
uniform speed of 40 miles an hour,
the pigeon Is fairly safe from an
enemy's bullets.
For Hre-Teslsting duors armored
wood is taken the place of iron IN
British warehouses and factories. The
armored fire door is made of several
thicknesses of seasoned pine boards,
planed, tongued and grooved, and
we'll nailed together. and is covered
with timed steel sheets fitting close
to the wood. Several hours of the
fercest heat simply carbonizes the
outer layer of wood to the depth of
a fraction Of an inch. The door re-
mains in place, and is not as the iron
often is, warped and torn from its
fastenings.
The great meteorite collection of
the Imperial Natural History Museum
at Vienna now has specimens from 6l5
different falls, the whole weighing
about 80 tons. OF these meteorites,
232 are iron, % iron and stone, and
$50 are stone. Prof. Berwerth, of
Vienna, has found strong similarity
between meteroric iron and manufao-
tured steel, and Widmannstatten fig
ures and other meteorite peculiarities
can be reproduced.
The teeth are given little attention
by physicians, but, if 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. Nc disease is so common as
dental carries which may occur with
out any local pain or sensation of any
kind. 1t is often accompanied by dis
ordered 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
the sleeplessness vanished as soon as
the cavities were treated. Arterial
disease often accompanies insomnia
and a man of d0 broke down after two
years of the insomnia, and became
paralyZed and yet he was relieved
when his teeth we're treated for dis
ease made known only by the rays.
Melancholy has bean cured by SINH
lar means.
Illuminated signs without sources
of light form the curious invention of
"a French engineer, who uses stray
light rays, and makes il possible to
appropriate our neIghbor's lighting
without stealing current from street
lamps, brilliant store windows and
ordinary daylight may be utilized.
The rays are collected by rejecting
mirrors and glass pTisms, and concen-
trated III a box behind the transparent
sign. which may be at considerable
distance away. The sign glows so
brilliantly that it is difficult to real
ize that there Is not powerful arc
lamp directly behind it,
10 reduce the weight of cars without
sacrificing strength is one Of the great
engineering problems of the day. OF
46 American electric cars of varying
design lately compared, the majority
seated 40 to 60 passengers aud weighed
from 1900 to 1900 pounds for each
seat The range was 625 to 1903 pounds
per seat. Ihe latter was the weight
Of steel Car for "a passengers on III
terurban service, and a wooden car
for 60 passengers on like service
weighed only 85l pounds per seat
For city service the cars varied be-
tween G25 and 1889 pounds per seat.
That every second person he met had
a tumor on one cheek or the other
was the first striking impression that
DR.. VIM. q. Bentall, a british sur