Scientific.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2107, 9 January 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

Scientific.

A I'*oli>ino Raft —By oider of the British Admir.ilty a highly successful pr.iciio.il tria has been made at Portsmout.li U'skyanl of a folding laft. the j mil mention of Mr Hall, of Southampton. an<l Coni'iia .der Cl inchy, of the Royal Xi\y. 1 hese raft-) are so constructed tv to be coim niently eariied on the ontBnlf of a \cBsel's bulwarks, fiow which position ttiey can be launched in half a miuutts in all respects ready to accommodatt a load of fiom thirty to forty persons. The uifts are t-aaily adapt'd foi .-ieiviee as military pontoons l>y attaching under them flexible airtight lugs, which, on being inflated, give a lai go amount rf buoyancy. Four of the nfts when connected together form a substantial military pontoon, equivalent ■n cliim nsions to those at piesent supplied fo |

troopships. Actiov or Light on Glass. — The Pharmacist says :— " Many vegetable powders adhere to the sides of the glass jars in which they are kept. H. Hager explains this phenomenon to be caused by an electric state of the glass caused by sunlight. When a perfectly dry test glass kept in a dark room for some time, is partly filled with tannin or powdered gum guaiacum, closed with a cork, and then placed in sunlight in such a manner as to expose the glass and not the powder, the latter will, when being shaken, stick closely to the exposed parts, leaving free the others. With essential oils this "lectnc action appears to be very strong. The oils are predisposed to oxidation and the generation of ozone.

Poisonous Honey. — Trebisond has long been known to produce honey of a very doubtful and even poisonous nature, and it has been lately reported that a number of persons were poisoned and three have died from eating wild honey found to be contaminated with or giving evidence of containing gelsemium. It appears that shortly after having partaken of the honey they complained of giddiness and dimness of sight, and tut tor the prompt assistance they received the deths might have been more numerous.—Medical Press.

A New Use for Sclpqurous Acid. — A new process for preparing chemical fibre by the use of sulphurous acid has been patented. It is intended also to prepare vegetable fibre for spinning and other uses, eliminating the silica and other incrustating snbstances that bind the fibre together. The principal feature of this process is the treatment of vegetable fibre with a solvent containing hydrofluoric acid and sulphurous acid.

MANUFACTaRE OF AUJMfVIUM BY Electrolysis. — La Lumiere Eleetnque says that Mr L. Senet his devised n, new process that permits of obtaining aluminium, as well as copper, silver, etc., by electrolysis. A current of from 6to 7 volts and 4 amperes is nude to act upon a saturated Bolution of mlphate of aluminium in the presence of a solution of chloride of sodium, the two snlutious being irated by a porus vessel. There forms i double chloride of aluminium and -odium, which is d< composed; and the aluminium that is *>et free deposits upon rhe negative electrode. The pmce-s may •>c applied either for obtiininv deposits of aluminium upon any object whatever, or, wh »t is more important, for the cheap manufacture of the metal.

Economical Use op Coal.—The steamer Burgos, built especially to carry nargoe* cheaply at low speed, recently left England for China with a cargo weighing 5,600,00') pounds. During the first part of her voyage, from Plymouth to Alexandria the consump ion of coal wan '282,210 pounds, the dUtanco being 3,330 miles; the consumption per mile was, therefore, only 83.5 pounds, and the consumption pev ton of cirgo per mile. 0 028 pound; in other word*, half an ounce of coil propelled one tou of cargo 1 mile. It ib further stated that the hest locoiuotive performance in thin country shows a consumption of about two ounces of coal per ton of freight hauled one milo, at the rate of 13 miles an hour, inoludmg stoppages; on lines having grades of from 53 to 70 feet per mile, the consumption often rises to five or more ounces—Mining and Engineering Journal,

A, New Explosive.—A new chlorate powder called vril, for which great quali* ties are claimed by its inventors, will shortly, it is said, be introduced to the public. The particular features and advantages of this new powder are :—(1) That 55 grains of vril gives, as regards strength, superior results to 85 grains of black Government powder; (2) very slight recoil; (3) absence of heating of barrel; (4) almost total absence of smoke ; (5) fouling done away with, each shot tired causing greater lubrication in the barrel. Farther, the shooting is wonderfully regular, bullets having been placed one on top of the other when fiied from a rifle. Blasting results have also, it is stated, been of a most satisfactory character, more especially in coal mines, where abnenoe of smoke or gas is no inconaidorable element.

Hpman Electrotypes.—M. Korgovntz, a chemist of Biest, has proposed a method of disposing of the human body after death, which ho consider* preferablo in every way to either burial or cremation. His system is an antiseptic one, much simpler and less expensive than the old process of embalming, and is nothing more than a new galvanoplastic application. The body is coated with a conducting substance, such as plumbago, or is bathed with a notation of nitrate of silver, the after decomposition of whioh, under the influence of sunlight, leaves a finely divided deposit of metallic silver. It is then placed in a bath of copper sulphate, and connected for electrolysis with several cells of a gravity or other battery of constant current. The result is that the body is encased in a skin of copper, which prevents further change or chemical action. If de-ired, this may be again plated with gold or silver, according to the taste or wealth of the friends of the dead. M. Kergovatz has employed the process eleven times on human subjects, and on many animals, and states that in ,ill cases it was perfectly satisfactory. In Hf.ite, however, of his warm recommendation, the iaea is repulsive. It seems a •nockery to >»ive permanence to the temple when all that once made it valuable is gone.—Si ientifie American.