The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1909-04-03
Correspondence Baltimore County Union
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.


less Towns-Humane Horse Shoes-Air-
ship Harbors-Electric Light Fettening
"A Novel Telephone Receiver-A Ma
terial for Electric Observation-Disclosures
Paper-The Electric offee-Roaster.
Rubber is in such demand for modern uses
that not only are new plants supplying 1t being
sought, but eager efforts are being made to pro
duce substitutes. Artificial indigo and artificial
camphor are among the great successes of
modern chemistry, and artificial rubber seems to
be near at hand. as the production of caoutchouc
by synthesis has been already announced By Mr..
Allsebrook and DIR. Docherty, of Burton-on-
Trent, England. A process yielding an ade-
quate supply would take rank as one of the
greatest of chemical achievements. Substitutes
for rubber find some uses, and one of the most
promising recent ones seems to be patented
German composition containing glue. glycerine.
chrome salts, lead plaster" vegetable fbers
parchmented by acids, gum tragacanth, veee-
table balsaIms. and water glass. A process OF
making rubber from naphtha is said to be under
test on large scale in the Caucasus.
sra
In the ideal town of the future, as pictured
by Sir Oliver Lodge the houses will have gas for
heating by open fires and for cooking. and cleo
tricity for lighting. The gas. produced from the
coal al bu0 Luluce Will uC oCht tOhB oAot0h~So
through pipes as water is now distributed. 1t
is hoped that the experiment will be tried soon.
the burning of crude coal in town being abso-
lutely forbidden, and at least two English towns
are already considering the plan. The puriica.
ton of the air is one of the greatest needs in the
improvement of the conditions of city life.
A new German horse shoe, designed to pre-
vent slipping on asphalt and wood block pave
ments, has a countersunk groove, in which is
inserted piece of hemp rope. The rope can
be readily replaced. and as 1t alone comes into
contact with the slippery pavement. the horse
secures a very sure footing. Consul General r.
p Skinner reports that the shoe is making con-
siderable Roadway in Hamburg.
Re
If airships are to come into common use, one
of the first considerations must be provided
suitable shelter for them when not in use and In
storms, for their fragility and large size make
them especially liable to damage by the wind.
German author suggests a simple earth har-
Dor as the most practicable refuge. This would
be an excavation in the earth, somewhat larger
than the airship in length, breadth and depth
and by means of extra ropes it would be posi-
BILE to haul the vessel from the air down into 1t
even 10 storm, for there would be no dangerous
narrow passage to traverse, as In entering the
iron shed now used by Count Zeppelin on Lake
Constance. A light, fiat roof, easily moved on
wheels along rails, would close the pit. For oc-
casional use in danger, trench with earth walls
held up by growing vegetation would sufice;
but for regular use as station there should be
walls of masonry or cement, with stairs eleva-
tors electric light and power, searchlight, and
a strong roof of iron and glass, moved by an
electric motor. The earth harbor and station
will cost many times less than any structure
above ground.
Stimulating the appetite is one of the strangest
uses to which artificial lighting is put. At the
London Geological Gardens, small birds are
called to breakfast two hours ahead of their
usual time by the turning on of the electric
lights; and quails are fattened for the London
markets in underground cellars, which are
lighted up many times day to induce the birds
to feed often and abundantly. At the Berlin
Geological Gardens similar plan is adopted to
make certain bears hibernate. For several
weeks in fall their dens are brightly illuminated,
they have plentiful supply of their favorite
food, and they eat and grow very fat, so that.
when winter comes and their dens are barri-
caded, they quietly go to sleep for two or three
months, just as in their native haunts. In
spring they awaken, lean, hungry and healthy.
Ass
In telephone receiver having no diaphragm,
the poles of permanent magnet are connected
by soft core, In a continuous magnetic circuit.
The core is surrounded by coil that connects
to the transmitter and suitable battery. The
undulatory current from the transmitter at
fects the entire magnetic circuit. reproducing
the voice distinctly, without the disturbances
from the diaphragm. Sounds reproduced have
filled large hail.
Silundum, the new material for industrial and
domestic apparatus made in the electric fur
mace by F. Boiling, a German engineer, is now
being supplied commercially by special fac
tory in Switzerland. It is form of silicon car
bide produced by saturating carbon with silicon,
which is a vapor at about l,6000 c., and the pro-
duct differs from carborundum, the anonymous
or crystalline silicon carbide, in being very
hard and resistant mass retaining the shape
originally given the carbon. That is. the car
bon, as bricks, rods or utensils, may be coated
with or entirely converted into silundum by
heating in silicon vapor. Below 1902 c.. silun-
dunn does not melt or oxidize, and it is expected
| to find large field as a cheap, resisting and
durable substance for the heating rods or grids
| of electric kitchen ranges. As it can be given
high temperature without risk of overheating
the ranges may have the glowing heat of coal
| fire. As silundum is not affected by acids or
chemicals, it may take the place of platinum for
many uses, especially in apparatus for melting
brass, aluminium lead and other metals, and for
laboratory ovens requiring high temperature.
1t is attacked by very hot molten metals, from
which it may be protected by a thin coating Of
platinum.
novel material for flying machines and air.
ships is a kind of reinforced paper and is claim
ed by the German inventors, DIR. Wagner and
Herr Won Radinger. to be exceptionally light and
strong. 1t is made of paper, raw silk and other
fabric bound up with steel wire. The product
is stated to be inexpensive, proof against fire and
damp, and is expected to prove serviceable for
variety of purposes. A test of it is being made
in an airship now being built at Stettin.
srs
TIE latest coffee rooster has stationary in
ner cylinder aud rotating outer one of perfor-
ated steel. with space between for the coffee
beans. and blades to ensure thorough mixing and
even roasting Heat is applied to the inner cyl
inder by electric current. For sampling the
roasting, a small cup is so arranged that on
pressing a knob three or four beans are thrown
out without stopping the cylinder.
CAS- ORA
For Infants and Children.
The Kind You Have Always Bought
Bears the n umE