SCIENCE NOTES AND CUTTINGS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 144, 11 February 1916, Page 3 (Supplement)

SCIENCE NOTES AND CUTTINGS.

THE CANALS Or MAUB

According to the report on the VJ'JJ opposition of Mar*, just published by Uio "action lor uie observation or Mars' - ' ui tne Brit-sh Astronomical Association, under the direction of E. M. Antoniaai, "tlie ailoged existence of a geometrical network of canals on .Mars nas recC'Vea a lasting and unanswerable confutation.'' Mr. Antouiadi had fcho advantage oc using en Mars tlie great Meudon retractor, the most powerful telescope in the Old World. In working with smaller instruments hj« himself had, like other observers, obtained frequent glimpses of narrow, straight lines, but in the Meudon instrument these lines were seen only when the definition was bad and the. iinag© of the planet "liaring." With good seeing a complex natural structure of the so-called "continental" regions of the planet were revealed, a variety of irregular bauds aud shadings, replacing the sharp, narrow iines drawn by Schiaparelli, Lowell, and others. Mr. Antoniadi pronounces the gen metrical lines, anad also the doiiu iing of the lines, mere optical illusions, and presents a large number of his own drawings side by side with those made of the same regions by Schiaparelli and Lowell in support of this contention. Ho notes that the markings which Schiaparelli only glimpsed with niR modest Si-inch refractor were held quite steadily in the 323-inch refractor at Meudon.

STEEL RINGS IX SEAMEN'S CAPS. The Mercantile Marine Service Association are in receipt of the following notice from the Board of Trade:—"it has come to the notice of the Board of Trade that steel rings are sometimes used inside officers' caps and become magnetised. Owing to their close proximity to the compass needle, when worn by an observer taking compass bearings, such rings are liab'e to cause considerable deviat'on and render the observation unreliable. The Board of Trade are of opinion that the use of steei rings for tins purpose should bo discontinued, and that rings made of t non-magnetic substance should he substituted. Cai'e should also be taker, that no article; of steel that may, ti,v becoming magnetised, deflect a "omtv.ss needle are worn or carried by blips' officers when trik ; ng compass bearings. SNOW IN" SOUTH AFRICA. During the past winter the people of Rimber'ey, South Africa, enjoyed r.ho unusual experiene of a A correspondent of the "Symons' ."feterological Magazine" writes that "people 'nil turned out to snowball. ..p<l the natives, many of whom had :10 -.-er seen such a s : ght before, were most excited. My nativo ciiarwoman told me when she woke in the mornnig she thought someone had been oreaking into the shops and had scattered flour all over the place!" RAD FOR THE EYESIGHT. Tht- decision of the education autb.nriliM of Geneva to discontinue the teaching of German handwriting in their schools, on tlie ground that it is injurious to the eyesight. is a reminder that Germany nas a bigger proportion of its people wearing spectacles than any other nation. It has. indeed, neen instanced as a proof of tlie superior "knltur" of Germans that so many are he-spectacled. For some years before the war, however, the use of plain Roman type was becoming general throughout the Germany, but since the war this reform ha" been oppo-ed .is unpatriotic. Count Revcntlow recently denounced the Roman characters n t.weal'y English. OCR LATEST ANIISEPTIC. fjJnrlic, which r reach medical officers -re preserving among their antireptics m the present war, performed a similar omce for our ancestors during epidemics oi the piague (says the ''Westminster Gazette.'') This malodorous native or the Kirghis Desert came to us aoout ;."48, and was sold at Garlick Hill in Glasgow. It proved too pungent for our national palate, ana soon lost here :he popularity -ti ; l retained on the Continent, but especially in Spa : n. Garlic is near akin to the romantic lily. <M\YAGE FAT FOR SOAP AND PAYING Even the grease tfr.biaiiiabic from •ewage now receives the attention of ."he German chemist. says "Science liftings,"' The sewage of Gcrmaan ••ities i- estimated, by Dr. H. Bechuold. of Frankfort, to contain at least a third of an ounce of grease per cap'ta per dav, and if extracted this would have a totn' value of about I'SOOO.OOQ ,ht annum. An experimental plant at Frankfurt has a daily output of feu,' or nve tons of solids reclaimed from sewage. The cost of evaporating 90 or J.) per cent, of water is serious, hut under present conditions may not he oroiiibitive. The fat-, extracted from tne solid- are distilled for soap, cari- •;.<■>, and other industrial purposes,

v. niie the residue from d : -til!ation, a Kind of Irird pitch, may be used fiv paving. The fat-free solid product ma> •erve various uses. Mixed with on • part of coal in four, it i»rms an industrial fuel; it is a good fertiliser, containing •"} per cent, of nitrogen: and ammonia may lie extracted from it. 'he novel idea of I)r. Hofer, of Miiiiich, is that in ponds it would cause the growth of abundant organisms for nsh trod. TO KEEP s.il'T THE COLD. The set ret of keeping out the ■ old 's not i'' warm om >«.•!! too luu-h. A moderate amount of rothing, plenty of •leat-giving food, and exert-'.-: these art the three e.-sentials for the avoidance of shivers. According to Ar--tii •"xpiorers. anything containing fat, such as chocolate, butter, or bat on. s a fine heat promote r. Alcohol is a snare and :i delusion.