Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-12-03
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

Calcium cyanamide, or nitrolimc, con-
tains 20 per cent of fixed nitrogen, and
is prepared by the action of nitrogen
on mixture OF lime and carbon. Ex-
periments have shown it's fcrtilizing
value to be about four -fifths OF that of
Chile saltpeter Among the newer
nitrous products is nitride of alumni
um, which NJ, Serpek, OF Mulhausen.
Alsace, makes by first converting
alumina and carbon into carbide OF
aluminium in the electric furnace, then
adding a fresh quantity of alumina,
and treating the mixture with nitro
gen gas. The resulting mass. with 20
to "a per cent of nitrogen, can be used
at once as fertilizer, while crystalliZed
nitride Of aluminium has been obtained,
with as much as 81 per cent of nitro
gen. This material has certain ad-
vantages, but the claim is made that
calcium nitrate, or air-Saltpeter, Is in
some respects the most promising of
the now numerous substances fixing
the airs nitrogen in fertilizer. The
nitrogen is oXidized In the electric arc,
and 1t has been found to be possible to
effect the direct absorption by milk OF
lime of the resulting gases, thus OBJ
tanning calcium nitrate or calcium MI
trite, equal to Chile saltpetdr without
further treatment. This process uses
no coal, being dependent on water
power. and the nitrogen is taken di-
rect from the air.
The new universal clock Of an Eng
lish maker is designed to show the time
in any part of the world. In an aper-
ture in the fixed dial Is a revolving
disc, turning nee each day, and hav-
ing the "a hours marked on the outer
edge, with subdivisions into intervals
of five minutes. Greenwich is painted
at the top of the dial, with the names
of other places so spaced that the cor
rect differences in time will be shown.
On turning the disk. one can read the
time at any place at a given time i'll
London or New York, or elsewhere
Scientific forestry in Germany has
raised the average yield of wood per
acre from 20 cubic feet m 1880 to 60 Gu
bic feet in 1904. trebling the proportion
of sawn timber secured from the aver
age cut. The money returns per acre
We're increased seven-fold In 81 years.
The German Empire now has nearly
81, ,000, 600 acres of forest, about % per
cent belonging to the state. and the for
ests were never before in so good con-
dition.
1t is sometimes noticed with surprise
that the two hands or the two feet
arel unequal. onesbeipg larger than the
other or differently developed. and this
asymmetry in the right and left halves
of the body has been the curious sub
ject OF research OF Prof. Z. Gaupp, of
Freburg. From extensive inquiry. he
concludes that the inequality is normal
and a sign of progresS-not defect,
as Bichat regarded 1t a century ago.
The asymmetry of the head. spine,
chest and limbs is not present at birth,
but appears with adaptation to sur
roundings, and each individual seems
to have inborn tendencies TO right
handed and left handed effort The
asymmetry develops with the varying
use and disuse of the sides. A marked
degree was recorded in the face by
ancient sculptors. but the greEtest In
equality represents the greatest ad-
vance in evolution, and the brain of
Europeans shows more variation in the
two sides than that of negroes, still
more than that of the anthropoids.