Scientific.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2224, 9 October 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

Scientific.

Prehistoric JDkntistrv. — Doctor Marter, of Rdniei' hai hr some time past been devoting - considerable time to examining the skulls in the various museums in Italy, and in Etruscan and Roman tombs ; and fie has given an ao» count of his investigations in the Independent Practitioner. In the ruins of one of the Etruscan 'tombs, about the date 500 b. c, he found a partial denture. It was an arrangement for holding in position three upper artificial teeth by band ing them to the adjoining natural teeth. These teeth were carved out of some largo animal's tooth. Another denture found in an old Roman tomb consists of two natural teeth fastened by meant of soft gold bands to the contiguous teeth. The most recently opened and oldest Etruscan tomb yet discovered in Italy was recently excavated at Capadimonti ; this tomb belongs to the sixth centurf B. c, and amongst several articles of jewellery a denture very similar to those above described, was found. Mr Marter "was unable to discover any stopped teeth, although many cases of caries and other dental diseases presented themselves. It is certain that dentistry must have been extensively practised' in the early history of the world and that gold must have been used largely; otherwise the early Greek 'or Roman legislators would Dot have mentioned the matter' in the celebrated laws of the twelve tables. Law sth, de Jure Sacrornm, isasfolloWs-; " Quoi auro dentes vincti stcut in cum olio sepolire, se fraude esto." Spontaneous Combustion. — Spontaneous combustion is 'said to be an impossibility, but a phenomenon that at oite' time would be ascribed to that cause has lately been observed in the suburbs of Paris. In 1871 a fire occurred in a villa. The reparation was carried out under the direction of an architect, and the house lias since been occupied by the same ovvner. One day he observed that the ceiling of the dining-room appeared as if some of the plaster was about to give way, and as the bulging increased, he called in an architect. He concluded that a beam must somehow have grv'en way, and workmen were employed to make a more close examination. It was then discovered that the wood was almost entirely consumed. Some spark may have remained^ and during fifteen years the destruction must have gone on by inches, for no other hypothesis was brought forward than one of very slow combustion. The circumstance ii so remarkable as to appear almost incredible, although firemen, can relate stories of a similar kind. Dynamite Pile-Driver. — Mr. Pradanovic, of Pesth, has been using dynamite for driving piles. He places an iron plate 15 inches diameter and Z% inches thick in a perfectly horizontal position on the pile to be driven. A dynamite cartridge in the form of a disk, containing 17^- ounces of dynamite, is placed on the iron plate and exploded by electricity. It is stated that the pile is driven by each explosion to the depth equal to five blows of a pile-engine weighing 14f Vienna cwt, falling 9 feet 10 inches. The iron plate on the average resists twenty-five explosions. Poisonous Honey. — II Morgagrni reports that at the last meeting of the Agricultural Society of Dresden, M. Bley made a communication on the poisoned honey frequently imported from Trebizond. Stramonium grows there spontaneously, and, being taken up by the bees, poisons the honey, which is afterwards exported. Resultiug eases of disease — some with fatal is?ue— have been officially certified. In American honey, also, some poisonous principles have been found, gelseminum especially. To Remove Rust. —Tire Chronique Industrielle gives the following recipe for a paste that will remove the rust, and not scratch the finest polished surface : Cyanide of potassium, I!) grams ; soap, 15 grams ; chalk (blano de Meudon), 30 grams ; water, sufficient to make a thick paste. Something New. — A pocket sewing- ! machine at two dollars and six bits, and without wheels to get out of order, is the latest novelty in London. It is said to be a very clever little invention, and should prove a great boon to the working man's wife or the poor seamstress. Intoxication and Hydrophobia. — M. Pasteur says that men who habitually use intoxicating spirits are more difficult to cure if bitten by a mad dog than temperate men.