Scientific.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2209, 4 September 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

Scientific.

r\ . t A Fos.srL Truxk.— ln the collieries of St. Etienne a remarkable fossil tree has been discovered n.enr the Chateau of Meons in a woi king quarry. The trunk is three metres high, the diameter about half a.metre, spreading out at the roots to a meti;e thick. The tree belongs to the Si/rtiif/odjiulron altomaun ; but it is chiefty,/, interesting- io a geological sense by the roots being of the stigmaria type, whilst the sigillaria type is seen in the upper part. The stem, which has been broken. ,ott short, has a channeled aspect, and was once surmounted by a great bouquet of leaves, The growth of sitch trees is very rapid, and! they are known to have had a height of ' from 30 to 40 metres. • One more thani 30 metres long j has been found in the coalfields of Eseorpelle (Nord). Beside the trunk discovered at Meons the summit of a similar, but separate tree has also been iound. A Machine for Siiearjxg Sheep. — Such a machine is said to be in successful operation in Victoria. It is made of brass, in the shape of a email trowel. The motion is actuated by a small turbine- I wheel, about 3 inches in diameter, geared into another wheel, on which is fixed a cutter. In front is a comb, serving as a guard against cutting the skin. The steam is conveyed from the boiler by an india-rubber tube, which is double, having one inside the other. The inner- one is" the injection/and the space between the two the ejection. The; machine is used in the same fashion as the shears, but cuts, it is stated, much', quicker- and far cleaner, without the leaßt danger ',df injuring the fleece or the sheep. Protection to Iron. — Experiments made under the direction of the administration of the Dutch State Railroads with various paints on iron -plates are reported to have proved that the red-lead paints resist atmospheric influences much better than those of brown-red and iron oxides. The red-lead paints adhered closer to the metal, and possessed greater elasticity than the others. It was also found that better results were attained if, before the paints were applied, the plates were pickled, instead 6t bcine; merely scraped and brushed. The test-plates were pickled in muriatic acid, washed with water, thoroughly dried, and while warm, carefully oiled. Earth Tmii'EßAturek.— According to a paper recently read on Earth Temperatures, 1881-1802, by Mr W. Marriott, the temperature of the soil at one foot at nearly all the stations of the Meteorological Society in the winter months is almost the same as that of the air ; while in the other months of the year, the temperature of the soil is higher than that of the air at all except that of the London stations.