Science.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1851, 17 May 1884, Page 2 (Supplement)

Science.

Glass Flooring. Gmss is taking the place of wood for flooring in many Paris shopa. At the Credit Lyonaise on the Boulevard dcs Italiens, the whole of the ground floor is paved with large squares of roughened glass, embedded in strong iron frames, and in the cellars beneath there is light enough for the clerks to work by. The central hall of the Comptoir d'Escompte has lately been similarly provided. The prime cost is more than boards, but the glass lasts much longer. The glass is cut in slabs eighteen inches square, and one and a half inches thick. The light it transmits is of a bluish tinge.

Leather Wheels. The wheels of railway and other cars are now made of leather in France by a process of M. de la Koohe. Untanned buffalo-skins are cut into strips, and these are built into solid discs, and strongly compressed by hydraulic presses, then bound with two iron rings. A wheel of this kind i 3 noiseless, resists shocks, and is not liable to fracture on a journey.

Fossil Meal. " Fossil meal " is the name given to a composition whioh is now being used for coating steam pipes and boilers, to prevent loss of heat by radiation. Kecent experiments show that of the whole quantity of steam condensed in a range of bare piping, as much as 70 per cent, was saved from condensation when the piping was coated with the nonconducting meal.

measuring the Speed of Bullets. At the recent Electrical Exhibition in Vienna, an ingenious device for measuring the speed of bullets was exhibited by Messrs. Siemens and Halske, the well-known German electricians. It consisted of a gun, having its barrel pierced in several places, and having metal wires passing through the holes. These wires connected with Leyden jars charged with electricity, and the connections were so made that the bullet in travelling along the barrel closed the circuit of the jars, thereby giving electric sparks. The interval between two successive sparks was measured by a spark-chronograph, consisting of a clockwork actuating a drum, on which was wound a paper band whereon the spark made a black spot. The distance between two consecutive spots was read off by a microscope, and corresponded to a given time shown by the speed of the clockwork. This time, taken with the distance between the two consecutive wires on the barrel, gave the speed of the bullet in traversing that distance. The apparatus is so sensitive that it can measure to l-60,000th of a second.