Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-12-28
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

| So far the worlds uranium and radi
| UNI compounds have come chiefly from
| Joachlmstnal. in Bohemia, but the
| mines at Cornwall, England, have now
become an important source oil supply.
| The Two active mines at Joachlms thai
belong TO u Saxon company. The pitch
| blonde, or uranium oxide, occurs in
| detached lumpS-SometimcS weighing
| several poundS-ln the lodeS, which
| range from one inch to 10 feet in width,
and number IL extending east and west
| In the mica schst. with a like num-
Der crossing at right angles. Most of
| the ore Is sold to the uranium works
| OF the Austrian government. The ura
mum Is extracted, and the residue Is
| then worked over for radium salts In
| an adjacent laboratory. From a dis
| used mine of the government has been
taken water of the highest radio-ae-
tivity of any yet found. leading to the
expectation that Joacnimsthal win be-
come rndium watering place. In pro-
ducing pitchblende the Cornish mines
bid fair To equal or SurpasS those OF
Bohemia, but the ore Is sent to Ger
many for treatment.
Knowing that the Arabs use vinegar
to improve retarded dates, A. L. Vim
son of the Arizona experiment station
n.
fruit with acetic acid for IL or 10
hours, and in three days has produced
perfect commercial dates of the best
natural flavor. The process may be
aided by sunshine or a heat of lilo d.
greeS +. 1t Is anticipated that this
process will be OF much practical I'M
portance, as the dates can be shipped
While green and hard, and ripeaecl
after reaching their destination. Other
chemicals had a ripening effect The
flavor being impaired by some.
From the smoke pollution investiga-
ton that has been in progress for q
number of years at Leeds. Eng, il ap-
pears that the solid impurities In the
air at the Industrial center are 20 times
as great as three miles to the north
east. The SCOT washed down by rain
over four square miles in the industrial
center averages 100 tons per square
mile per year, or half a ton per square.
mile per day, and at one station reaches
the rate Of 300 tons per square mile
per year. The waste in unburnt fuel
Is represented by about 100 tons per
square mile per year. The tar deposit
ed with the SCOT has been estimated
TO be "a times greater In town than 9
miles away, and has been shown to be
eo pounds per acre per annum in the
center and only IA pounds miles TO
the northeast although the proportion
Is higher In domestic smoke than in m
dustrlal smoke. The free acids-sul-
phuric and sulphurous-in the air at
the center represent an annual deposit
OF W pounds per acre. or 25 OF 80 tons
per square mile. The solid impurities
in the air often reduce daylight ono
half, the tarry matter causes the SCOT
TO adhere to buildings and vegetation
the Sulphurous acid makes town fog
irritating when breathed and is very
injurious to agriculture, and the chlor-
ideS-chiefly common salt-are snfii
Gent In industrial centers to damage
plants. The ammonia and other nitro
SenouS compounds in smoke, on tho
other hand. have some beneficial action
as Fertilizers and in neutralizing the
acids.
Luminous organs have been supposed
TO belong TO fishes OF the deep sea only.
not TO those of shallow waters. In the
Malay archipelago, however, the shall
lower waters of q coral reef have been
round to contain two hshes-Anomalop
katoptron and Photoblepheron palpe-
, " i1cuS-witn a hght-giving organ as q
large oval body beneath the eve. and
tho light seems to serve In lurIng
cruLacea and other animals on which
the nshes prey. The native MaIavs
actually cut out the luminous organs to
attach to baited hooks for catching
olner hsh, the emission of light under
Such conditions continuing several
hours. DR.. Otto Steche> the German
naturailst who has just described these
ilshes' mas been able to keep specimens
IN captivity. and has made an inter
esting study OF the luminous organ.
Inc ood-treating process known as
Sidarizing' Is claimed to have the
advantages OF being cheap, inparting
no odor, and having no effect on color
me WOOD is first impregnateh with a
not solutlon of an iron salt, and, after
eoollnS' Is then deposited in hot water
slasS' Near the surface the wood thus
becomes filled with an iron silicate
absolutely insoluble in water The iron
salt penetrating to the interior greatly |
retards rot. and makes soft wood dur |
aoie Tor cellar beams. posts. and many |
The new galvanizing process of |
George L. Paterson, Thomas /. Mornes
and carl H. Zilme, three Pennsylvania
artlsdhS' consists In first coating the
IRON or steel with paste OF So parts of
zinc nue dust, parts of lampblack. and
III parts OF clay, with water as needed,
ana then heating the whole In a furnace
Oh 10 oVo TO 1000 degrees f. for hnlr
an hour to four hours The cooling is
effected away from oxidizing Influences.
lne paste is easily removed from the
oooIeo OBJECTS, but the surface retains
ine coating of zinc. The process is
CLAIMED to use less zinc dust than
sherardizing." or exposing to zinc va
por, while the results are superior.
Copper-plated steel has been found. in
lhe tests OF recent months. to withstand
tne usual methods OF working metals
Inc TWO welded metals have practically
the same How, and on rolling their rela-
tive thickness Is preserved unchanged.
Inc material resists corroslon like cop
per. while under certain conditions II
mas proven as strong as steel, or even
stronger.
or the rs electric furnaces now en-
oloyed in the world in making steel,
70 are on the induction and 4S on the
arc prlnciple. The size of such fur