SCIENCE NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 11 August 1909, Page 76

SCIENCE NOTES.

-A Great Traveller.— A new comet has been discovered by Professor_ Brooks, of Hobart College, XJ.S.A. It is now visible in New" York at dawn and twilight towards the north, and is expected soon to be discernible in Europe. It is travelling towards the earth at the rate of a mere million miles a minute. —The Rain Tree.— A tree known as the rain tree is found in the drier parts of South A.merica. This tree grows to a height of 60ft, and its leaves have the peculiar property of condensing the moisture from the atmosphere. So copious is this condensation that a continual shower falls from the leaves and branches until the surrounding soil is converted into a veritable marsh. Places that ■would otherwise be barren desert are by j this means covered with the most luxuriant growths. — Anti-toxin for Blood Poisoning. — • [ The Boston correspondent of the New , York Tribune states that a leading physi- j oien of that city has succeeded in making an exceedingly important medical die- ; oovery in the shape of an anti-toxin which ] is claimed as an infallible cure for blood j poisoning. The anti-toxin has just proved j successful in curing a ease whidh was re- , •garded by doctors as a quite hopeless one. — Radium to be Cheaper. — ' ■ A discovery which promises to cheapen j radium by one-half and provide a valuable new «>urce of supply has been made | in Portugal. Seame of quartz encrusted | with 'crystals of uranite phosphate contain-. | ing over 50 per cent, of oxide of uranium j Slave been found, and M. Barboni, formerly j Professor of Chemistry in Paris, one of the experts who have examined! specimens, , states that the mineral, by reason of its greater facility of treatment, ought to be at least three times superior for radiumiproducing purposes to pitchblende. —Colour Photography Plates.— - Photographs taken direct in their natural colours are familiar now owing to the comparative ease with which they can .be produced with the autoebTome plates, invented by the French scientists the liumiere brothers. Another type of plate for the same purpose is now announced — the joint invention of Herr Szczepanik and Dr Hollborn. The plate contains a screen between the glass and the sensitive film, i consisting ox exceedingly srr&aH-colourod i particles of gelatine or gum in the three primary colours — violet, green, and orange —and the colours of the grains diffluse slightly, filling up the intervening spaces. This will probably enable more brilliant pictures to be obtained with shorter exposures in the camera. — History's Dawn. — A rare Chaldean tablet, said to indicate civilisation older than that of Egypt, has just been unearthed.' It is held by no less an authority than Professor Friedrich de ILitszech, the famous German Assyriologist, to belong to the oldest hieroglyphic period, j and is -taken as an indication that Chaldean | civilisation may have preceded the earliest Egyptian. On the stone are a number of pietographs — writings by means of pictures. Ji celebrated student of Assyriology. Father V. Schell, says: "It is one of the rarest finds of recent years, and opens up a much-mooted question concerning the earliest civilisation of man. Several millenniums must have elapeed before the ipictograph gradually developed into tho cuneiform (wedge-shaped or arrow-headed) characters." — A Rival of Divining-rods. — Persons are occasionally met with who we so sensitive to the neighbourhood of water that they can tell when they are passing over it, even though blindfolded. It has been suggested that extra, acute hearing may have something to do with it, and possibly account for successes with the divining-rod. A curious apparatus designed to facilitate hearing underground water was recently shown at the French 'Academy, designed by an engineer of the Pa) - waier *upply depart m- nr It ■« a modification of an ear tnimi''-t <>'i -l 'ai'-'s sc.ily, v-ita two ear piece* s r.ui.'i to U:< ■ „i '«.oh<'d to- electrophones One test m.i I > ■vw- ii -. ■ a reservoir 230fi 1.1/ki irro> >t1 Th- ruuninst nf a <*prmg uf.o sin- rc.-erwi> <o-ild l>.» di-uii-tly heard ai -1 the -t>nml ■ a- .^ai'i tj r'-«-- > ml)lo wind ii: 'ling in trcs | .A i,olo -. ''"R , bou* a f<«'t ; ! <h>[> »nd th<- j surface flattened 1 so that the moutti of the trumpet can be firmly planted. The earth is then lightly filled in. It is said that the contrivance is likely to be of practical use in locating bidden water. — Hydrophobia Decreases. — The number of inoculations for hydrophobia at the Pasteur Institute of France has pretty steadily decreased since the ser- i vice was started, 20 years ago. In 1886 2671 persons were treated; in 1907, 786. The smallest number, 628, was treated in 1903. This decrease, of course, might mean a lessening belief in the efficacy of the treatment or a decrease in the prevalence of rabies ir France. An examination of the percentage of fatal cases treated re- , yeals that this also has been decreasing, showing improvement in efficacy, acd indicating that the treatment has probably foeen effective in checking the malady. At mo time during the existence of the institute ha* the number of fatal cases reached a per cent of the total treated, but in QBB6 it wiis 0.94 per cent., while in 1907 at was only 0.38. In 1906 it fell as low as 0.13, there baing only one death out of |772 cases treated. —A Use for the Surplus Capital of Multi-millionaires. — Engineers have probed the earth only to to, depth of about 6500 ft below the surface, and M. Oamille Flammerion, the famous astronomer and geologist, has just renewed his old suggestion that & great exploration shaft should be sunk to the utmost possible depth in a thorough investigation of the crust of our planet. This pit dhould be 200 or 300 yards in diameter, cased with a massive iron ring. The heat increases at *n average rate of one centigrade degree for every 108H, and the temperature of foiling water might be expected at a little j Hese than two miles, but the boring should i Ibe iwuoli deeper The land in France, as , 3Pell aa certain plains of Belgium. Holland, J fend RoumaiiJa, should have favourable ' Spots for excavation. Such an undertaking ftfould offer uritnown possibilities of practical and scientific results, geological and curiosities, iron mince. j popper sninCe, precious metals, veins of

gold, platinum, silver, radium, etc., and multi-millionaires with a dread of dyingrich have here an opportunity of acquiring fame and adding to human* knowledge. — Popular Science Sittings. — Latest About Plants. — The recent statement that a professor of , botany hs6 -discovered " that plants see ' may be reir-aaded as true or not, depending on oni/e definition of " sighs " ; but in any event no new discovery has been made. That plants are sensitive to light and adjust themselves so as to receive it to the best advantage everyone knows who has ever tended growing things. We may, if we like, say that the plant "sees" tho light, and turns toward it. The connection between the stimulation of the light and its results in the plant's movement '3 greatly aided by th;?. existence in the leaf surface, which is the prinoipal " seeing " part of the plant, of cells the outer walls of which are curved, making them into lenses. These converge the rays upon the inner cell walls, whence they are transmitted to the sensitive cells beneath. The similarity of these cells to eyes, in both j form and function; would naturally strike j anyone, and those who choose to assert | that " plants see " may derive additional j comfort and satisfaction from it. — Power of Dreadnoughts. — ' With a speed of 21. £5 knots per hour it is possible for a vessel of the Dreadnought type stationed at the mouth of the , Thames to strike a blow within 24 hours ' on the southern coasts of Norway, or at | any point thence along the seaboards of 1 Germany, Holland, Belgium, or Northern I France, and even a considerable distance | south of Cape Ushant on the Bay of Bis- | cay. The great factor in the fighting value ! of the Dreadnought, though her range of j action is important, is, of course (writes ! a correspondent of the Daily News), her , armour and her huge guns. No fewer than 10 breech-loading 12in guns are mounted in her armoured turrets formed of 12in thick steel plates. Imagination almost bogjries at the death-dealing capacity of a Dreadnought gun. Weighing almost as much as two express passenger trains, these successors of the " Woolwich! Infant " fire a projectile weighing 8501b, or nearly 7Jcwt. The cordite charge weighs a further 2251b — just over 2cwt. The shot leaves the gun at the rate of 2900 ft per esoond, and to so great perfection has the automatic loading of the guns been | brought that two rounds per minute can be fired from each gun. As each shot fired costs in round figures £150, to work her guns at top speed -would cost £5000 per minute. — Ar- Australian Inventor. — Mr William Price, a young man, 24 years of age. the inventor of the automatic railway coupler, which has aroused such interest in engineering circles in Sydney, has left Narrabri, en route for England and the Continent. Mr Price's invention (says the Sydney Mail) lias boon formed into a company of 50,000 shares, and it is anticipated within a very short time the patent will be used all over the world 1 . The invention of this young man, who has 1 been working at his calling in Narrabri of tinsmithing, meets the requirements of the Bailway ■Commissioners for a device to do away with the present clumsy method of coupling rolling stock, and for wlhich £5000 has been a long-standing reward. Price's method consists of coupling a whole string of carriages in the space of a couple of minutes by the simple pulling down of a lever. Not only are the couplings operated, but the air brake is also "worked, which is a still more remarkable achievement. Many devices have during the past few years been submitted to the commissioners to meet the long-felt want in this matter, but the majority were found to be unworkable when put to the test. Tho engineering staff of the Department of Bailways write of Price's invention in the highest terms, acknowledging that nothing approaching it has yet been submitted. Another matter to which the young man is giving his attention is that of reversible turbines.