MISCELLANEOUS.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1670, 27 June 1879, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

The staff of the Austrian artillery have been for some time engaged in making experiments at tho arsenal of Zamky, says “Galignani’s Messenger,” on a material which is said to possess far greater explosive power than any other substance hitherto discovered. During a series of investigations relative to dynamite and compressed' gun cotton, M. Nobel found that the latter could bo prepared in such a way that it could be completely dissolved in nitroglycerine, The product is a gelatinous and gummy substance which, at the highest pressure, does not part with any of the nitro-glycerine. That explosive gelatine resists water, cannot be fired by any shock, but only goes off with difficulty and imperfectly when ignited. Further experiments showed, however, that with it a new compound could be formed, admirably adapted to all military purposes. This is prepared by simply adding a little camphor to the gelatine. The proportions are 4 per cent, of the former to 96 per cent, of the latter, which consist of 90 per cent, of nitroglycerine and 10 per cent, of fulmi-cotton. The gelatinous mass is elastic, transparent, of a pale yellow color, and can be cut with a knife. When set on fire in the open air it burns like dynamite or dry compressed guncotton, It only takes fire at a very high temperature, and the action of the camphor is very evident in that respect, for the ordinary gelatine by itself explodes at 200dcg. Centigrade (392 deg. Fahrenheit), while the heat required to produce that effect after the addition of the camphor cannot be tested by any of the apparatus usually applied to that purpose. The new compo sition cannot be fired by a blow, even from a projectile ; it shows no sign of alteration even after having been left in running water for forty-eight hours. When solidified by cold it forms a mass resembling sugarcaudy, and is then more sensitive to mechanical action, but as soon as it is thawed it resumes all its original properties. When exploded, however, it produces less smoke than dynamite or gun-cotton, with a clearer and more sonorous report, and has far greater force than either. The principal objection to its adoption was tho difficulty of igniting it, but that has been overcome. When cotton fibre is subjected to the action of sulphuric acid, a white pulverulent substance is obtained, which has received the name of hydro-cellulose, is easily soluble in nitric acid, when it becomes nitro hydrocellulose. This compound, mixed in the proportion of 40 per cent, with 60 per cent, of nitro-glycerine, forms the most powerful means of ignition ever hitherto discovered. By properly constructed firing cartridges of that substance the explosive gelatine becomes as manageable as ordinary powder, with leas danger and far greater expansive force. In a letter to the “Herald,” detailing some of his plans for the coming summer, Mr Samuel A, King, the aeronaut, says that during his thirty years’ study of aerial navigation, in the course of which he has made somewhat over two hundred ascensions, without injury to life and limb, he has steadily endeavoured to avail himself of whatever experience or suggestion might afford to make travelling in the air practical, definite, and useful. Numerous and often costly experiments have shown him that, with no mechanical appliance or power yet discovered, is it possible to journey definitely and with certitude through the air to any previously designated point, in opposition to tho direction of a prevailing wind. The balloon, therefore, remains to-day what it was in the days of the Montgolfiers, a machine that all the skill and ingenuity of man cannot prevent from floating with the wind, which controls and directs it absolutely from the moment it is launched. The application of any known mechanical power, to be of any use as against a wind directed upon the vast surface of a balloon, is entirely impracticable in consequence of the weight involved. Mr ’King is confident, however, that a great deal can be accomplished with the balloon, slave to the wind though it be, and that it is possible to operate them so as to greatly prolong their carrying ability. As the result of a long series of experiments Mr King speaks confidently of his ability to make a balloon voyage of a month’s duration, a time sufficient, with a thirty-five mile breeze, to circumnavigate the globe ; and he claims to have demonstrated to his own satisfaction that it is not only feasible to construct a balloon that will maintain the bulk of its lifting power, but that it is also easily practicable to keep it afloat and in transit for this length of time. Mr King proposes to operate during the coming summer a spheroidal (captive) balloon, having a diameter of 65 feet and a capacity of 150 000 cubic feet, inflated with hydrogen, maintaining a second balloon of like dimensions as a reserve in case of accident. If his experiments with these are satisfactory, he proposes to construct an air ship double the size of his captive balloon, for a transatlantic voyage, to be undertaken “in earnest,” some time in 1880, following tho well-esta-blished storm path on which the “ Herald ” bases its European weather forecast. Coral animals belong to the class familiarly called polyps, and they multiply themselves by eggs and also by budding, until there are countless numbers living together in one community. Different kinds of coral bud in different ways ; as some grow in bunches, others in round masses, and so forth. A piece of dead coral shows the spot where every animal has lived. As a mass of coral grows, tho lower creatures gradually die, but their hard skeletons, consisting mainly of carbonate of lime, remain and furnish a firm foundation for those that work above them. By the striking of the waves against this foundation, its interstices gradually become filled with mud, bits of shells, and other substances which sea water contains, so that it grows firmer and firmer. If such a foundation is laid upon an elevation of the ocean floor, it is likely to continue to increase in size ; but by the time it has reached the sealevel, tho whole community of coral animals has become lifeless, for these polyps cannot live out of water. Tho beating billows break off portions of the skeleton formation, which are soon worn into sand by the water, and afterwards, perhaps, thrown with other debris upon the surface of the mass, which is thus supplied with soil. Then perhaps seeds are scattered upon this soil, which give rise to vegetation, and so a pleasant home is prepared for man. These coral structures, called reefs, are often circular in form, and many of them enclose a lake or lagoon, whose waters furnish an excellent harbour for ships. These reef-builders have not only built up large islands, but also considerable portions of the continents of Europe and America ; and some of their structures must bo of great age, as remains of a prehistoric civilisation have been found upon them.— From a lecture delivered by Prof. B. F. Mudge in “Science Observer.” The question as to whether tho ration is inhabited by organic beings—if not like those that live on our own globe, at least of a kind specially adapted by their structure and nature for existing under tho very different physical conditions that obtain on our satellite—is one that has attracted attention for ages, and one, too, that has been argued pro and con with great ability by many learned and eminent men. The opinion of nearly all scientists of the present day, however, is that the moon is a “ dead planet;” and that, inasmuch as she has but a slight and very rare atmosphere, and that, as a consequence, no water exists on her surface, she is entirely unfitted to be tho dwelling place of any organic beings whatever—at least kinds

that our minds can form any conception of. On the other hand, those who take the opposite view srgue (to use the words of Dick) that “matter appears to have been created chiefly in subserviency to mind ; and it is highly improbable that the Creator would leave a globe containing a surface of 15,000,000 square miles altogether destitute of sensitive and intellectual beings, especially when we behold its surface diversified and adorned with such a vast assemblage of picturesque and sublime scenery, and when we consider that every department connected with our globe is peopled with sentient beings of every description. Although seas and rivers and a dense atmosphere are not to be found connected with the lunar orb, and although some of its arrangements are different from those of the earth, yet these circumstances form no valid objection to the moon being inhabited, for the Creator can in all cases adapt tho inhabitant to the nature of the habitation provided for him, as he has adapted tho birds for winging their flight through the air, the fishes for gliding in the water, and man and quadrupeds for travelling the dry land.” Among the noted scientists of the present day who hold this opinion, but who found it on (ho latest discoveries of science rather than on the wisdom of tho Creator, is tho celebrated French astronomer, M. Camille Flammarion, who is at present organizing a subscription for tho purpose of founding at Paris a free observatory created by private means. M. Flammarion not only believes that the moon is inhabited, but he believes that it will be possible to construct a telescope of such power as to bring the lunar orb so near our eyes that the question may be practically settled. In connection with this project he has recently written a long and interesting article entitled “ Is tho Moon Inhabited ?” in which he ably reviews all the facts bearing on the subject.