Scientific.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 2352, 6 August 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

Scientific.

Tim Ltvinh Earth —ln a paper published in the Indian Engineer an illustration is given of tho life that dwells in nature, the phenomenon of earthquakes being cited. The peculiar terror of an earthquake lies mainly in the suddenness of its approach. Volcanic eruptions are usually preceded by vast rumblings or jets of steam, or other unmistakable tokens. Hurricanes and cyclones, in like manner, have heralds that announce their coming. But with an earthquake there are no premonitory symptoms The great earthquake which took place at Lisbon in 1755 found the people engaged in their ordinary occupations. All the shocks were over in about five minutes. The first shock lasted about six seconds. In that brief space of time most of the houses had been thrown down, and thousands of men, women and children crushed beneath the ruins. At times tho ocean lends fresh terrors to tho scene. Thus, at Lisbon, a wave of water over fifty feet high rushed in among the houses and covered what still remained. In the Island of Jamaica on a similar occasion 2,500 houses were buried in three minutes under thirty feet of water. Recent delicate scientific experiments have disclosed the fact that the surface of the land is never absolutely at rest for more thay thirty hours at a time. Thus those great earthquakes which make epochs in history are merely extreme cases of forces that seldom sleep.

Preserving Dead Bodies. The following discovery by Dr. Bouchard, of Bordeaux, for preserving' dead bodies is important to medical students and artists engaged in anatomical studies. According to a paper read in the Academy of Medicine, Paris, the tissues of corpses prepared after this method remain unaltered for upwards of two months. The ingredients are2olbs. of hydrated sodium borate, containing 10 equivalents of water, and 34 lbs. of glycerine at 30 deg. Rbaumur. The borate is reduced to fine powder and shaken through a hair sieve. The glycerine is added little by little in such a manner as not to make lumps. The mixture is then brought up to a temperature of SOdeg. Centigrade (176deg. Fahr.), being meanwhile well stii red to dissolve the borate. The solution is finally allowed to drip through a woolen cloth. It is of the consistency of glycerine, but can be made of the required thinness by addition of alcohol. It is injected in the carotid or the femoral artery.—Public Opinion. The Need of a Portable Electric Lamp. —The fatal colliery explosions in England and Scotland have led Mr Ellis Lever, of Manchester and Colwin Bay, to renew his offer of £SOO for the production of a portable electric miners lamp within the Jubilee year. More than 50,000 miners have lost their lives by accidents in coal mines during the half century of the Queen’s reign. On the same subject a correspondent writes to us from Belgium : —“ A lamp giving the light of from 50 to 100 candles, for a period of five hours, and not weighing more than 10 or 121b5., with self-contained battery, is in request by the engineers of the Prince Henry Railway Company, Luxemburg, for permitting the inspection of the roof of mine workings. The lamp should be provided with a strong lens and reflector, so that the rays may pierce the dense smoke caused by blasting.’’—Electrician.

A New Use tor Borax.— Here is another use for borax. The new method of curing herrings by the application of boraoic acid lias proved extremely successful in Norway, and called into life quite a new industry at Bergen. There is no doubt that this discovery will in future be greatly developed.—Chemical Trade Journal. The Photography of Projectiles.— A photographer at Pcsth has succeeded in taking photographs of projectiles, fired from a Werendler gun, whilst having a velocity of 1,300 feet per second. The projectiles appeared on the impressions enveloped in a layer of air hyperbolic in form.