Amador ledger., 1910-10-21

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| In the aeroplane of Paul Regnard,
French engineer, the gyroscope is ap.
piled indirectly to give automatic sta
bility. The fy-wheel is mounted in a
gimbal frame, and an electric battery
of eight or ten cells keeps 1T in motion
in horizontal plane at the rate of
about 10000 revolutions per minute.
AS the aeroplane is tipped, the gyros-
cope continues to rotate in the hori-
zontal plane. The vertical shaft, how
ever, makes one of four electrical
contacts, and this sets in operation the
righting mechanism, two of the con-
facts controlling the longitudinal
balance, and two the lateral balance
The action promptly restores the
machine to its normal position. A
gust of wind, for example, may in
cline the front of the aeroplane down
ward, but the prompt closing of the
electric circuit tips the rear wings for
ward, and equilibrium is recovered.
The new beginning of life on an
isolated island is eagerly watched by
naturalists, and now the Selborne
Society has been able to study the
new flora of building site near the
center of London. The lot was cleared
about two years ago. Since then %
species of Towering plants and ferns
have established themselves on it, and
MOSES, liverworts and other simple
plants have appeared. Besides plants
commonly distributed by the wind, the
bracken-a fern difficult to transplant
has sprung up, presenting new
problem for botanists.
A novel use has been found for the
famous speech records of the Vienna
Academy of Sciences. This great col
lection of phonograms was designed to
preserve the spoken languages of all
lands, with the idioms and variations
of dialect, but on magnifying sections
of record, 1000 times, additional value
was brought out in new light on the
theory of sound. The IA" of the
man voice was shown to be differently
formed from that of the frogs croak,
while new revelations are expected
from the study of the voice in disease
and of minute variations of dialect.
That the method of taking food, as
we'll as the food itself, has a great
effect on the teeth has been pointed
out by DIR. j. Sim Wallace IN paper
to British dentists. Dental carries re-
suit from the action of bacteria that
rapidly multiply in starch. sugar and
other fermentable carbohydrates in
contact with the teeth and the dentist
may divide food into two classes-one
tending to leave viscous and ferment-
able carbohydrates about the teeth,
and the other acting to brush them
away. This suggests that food may
be so chosen and eaten as to prevent
teeth decay. Each meal should have
sufficient hard food to stimulate mastl-
cation, with it's excellent effect on
gums, jaws, teeth and alimentary
canal generally, and should end with
some article tending to remove the
sticky carbohydrates from teeth and
mouth. The pap-feeding of children IS
to be condemned. 1t is suggested that
for breakfast fish, bacon, toast, butter,
coffee and tea should take the place of
the customary milk, porrldge. bread
and marmalade; and that other meals
should have large proportion of hard
foods.
The new bean described by Aug.
Chevalier grows underground to the
size of very small pea in a small
region of central Dahomey, western
Africa. 1t proves to be a species of
Voandzeia, a genus hitherto repre-
sented by only one species, which pro-
duces single seeded underground pods,
both pod and seed being edible. and IS
cultivated in Brazil and Surinam as
we'll as over much of Africa. The new
species has been grown and sold local
ly under the name of "doi. The pod
produced at the root of the plant has
the form of small American peanut,
and has but one or two seeds usually
white, though sometimes black, red
or variegated. They have an agree
able taste.
Hardened steel dies are produced by
electrolytic etching in recently
patented German process. A die
block of hard steel is first made, and
this is placed in contact with a plas-