Varieties.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 367, 21 May 1903, Page 2

Varieties.

3j»to fleen made by'a. physician iißffomP <gj£2B lately for the purpose of determining the so-called 'depth' of a person's sleep. He uses a specially designed instrument, which prods the sleeper at different stages of his Bleep, and a record is kep€? difficulty of rousing him. Carved lines • show the relative depth of the sleep in different subjects, and in the same; subject at different}times.': The experiments showtbat there are certain periods when it is suggested that the practical application jof this result may be made in adjusting the rising time to a natural period of minimum in the depth- o£ -the sleep.

NEW'AUTOMATIC MACHINES. Macbinps that handle 'ebihs is a wonderful way,. counting them and ' giving change automatically, are now coming on the 'market in the United States, says ‘lnvention.’, They are new inventions, and have just been patented. One of them has pieces of money arranged in separate compartments in trays, and on top is a series of keys. A purchase of 35 cents, |ay, being made, the key numbered 35 is struck, and instantly the apparatus throws out 55‘cents in change (supposing, that ?a dollar, has been received from the buyer), a tablet with the number 35 being uplifted at the same instant, and 35 cents added bn the register inside. A cashier is in charge of the machine, but the latter dobs ’ all the thinking. In another contrivance of the kind there is a separate receptacle for each, denomination of coin up to a dollar. The placing of a coin in its prqper place sets the mechanism, so that, when a key is pressed corresponding to the amount of the purchase, the differ-. ibnoe ia thrown out. ..Toefe is no bother abcut counting the change, which is always right.. Other machines, which are ’much more are* for thVsorting of coins, and are intended to be used where a . stream of small, change is contiually flowing in. The pieces of . money are thrown indiscriminately into a kind of hopper and sort themselves—a performance that saves the cashier an immense deal of trouble, In one or two cases the. mechanism : for automatically giving change is combined with the sorting device, reducing the labour of the person in charge very materially, and at the same time doing away with all possibility of mistakes in reckoning. Possibly American ingenuity will be equal to adapting these machines to : our coinage, t not, they constitute one more argument in favour of the adoption of the metric system.

.... _-,,.;; ; VABNISH.,: . n i | The varnish given below can be applied to any. surface, with good results. The varnish is a transparent amber colour, and can be made either (1) directly or (2) indirectly.. To make three gallons of pre,, pared Varnish. First method, from raw iriatjeiialav Gum I sandarao, I Jib, gum ccpal 3Jlb, orange shellac ljlb. Dissolve these "'ihgreldients ih~"two gallons s of; methylated spirits'or ifiQlsb,ewhi'ch can Ayj: -agitation. When the solution is complete the varnish ready, <oJ)e coloured. Aniline dyes and "colours' can""only "fie used fSr it/ : ali -they are completeTy--soTnble in spirit it they are pure.ifF.oi! jCPioui-ing one gallon of the above varnish take loz pi aniline dye, any colour, to it s 6ne pint of >pMjr *ijr finish; "Keep agitating for some timP, and then add the whole to one gallon of the varnish, and shake well. It is now ready for use, and is applied with >a soft camel hair brush. 2 Second method.—lf it is inconvenient to prepare the varnish as above a similar varnish can "be... prepared as follows. It will answer its purpose equally well, and'has the advantage of, being prepared .instantly. _ Obtain' the following 5 fromi the oil and colour shop. Tw6;quarts of white hard spirit varnish, "2 quart? of French polish, and mix these: two liquids together, and i then add the whole loz. of aniline .dissolved in one pint of spirit. T3y•. the above. two methods, wood, leather," bone, tin, or any other metal surfa'ce can be -dyed any required colour. Dries in 15 minutes.

A MECHANICAL MARYp. If we go into *'a modbrh battleship and go over her, there is no places in herwhich wuuld so fill us with wonder, apdf it may bo added, a certain amount of uneasiness. as : her engine-room and her gun turrets when in operation. In the latter, if Bhe ia a large ship, she will, carry 12inch oril3 inch > uus, probably, and these, weighing from 50 to 60 tons—about the weight of a fair-sized locomotive—will, when they are fired, be projected to the rear at the' rate of about 25 feet per second, or, say, 17 miles an hour. By their hydraulic recoil brakes, in which ; a resistance to the motion of a piston in' fluid filled cyclindar is by moans of a rod utilised to restrain the guns recoil, the' gun will be stopped in about 86 inches, and will be returned to its firing position by a'powerfal‘c6iled spring;' Bb'quick i§ the stroke of recoil and return that the' eye fails to appreciate it, and devices are used in gun turrets to prevent the gun from v beisg loaded twice,, from a mistake on the part of the gunners in supposing tbat the gun-had been fired when it had not. Nothing, perhaps, gives an id; aof ,the immensity of the forces in play so. >w-ell of a 50-tph'Weight itbL forward againt lo; quickly that the hunian eje.can hardly seeitJ On Lnd again, we haVe the so-aalledj disVappearing mountings,i on which a gim is carried ca a pair of long rocking levers Upon firing, the guhibf £o,or '6O tons is dropped behind a parapet, and, upon throwing a lever, after the gun has Been loaded infits lower position,,,the gun rises above the parapet again, and is once more ready to be fired.