Science Sittings

New Zealand Tablet, 27 December 1906, Page 35

Science Sittings

By • Volt '

Connecting Four Continents. "'By ihe construction of three short .tunnels, (says •Civil Engineering J ), one from Gibraltar to- the Mor-/. occo coast, another beneath - the Behring Strait, also the Channel tunnel which is -at present being projected, and by linking up- these tunnels with- existing railway ■ systems, London would - be In direct communication with • * the four continents— Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. - " . Wireless Telegraphy . - " " - , . It ts/annjbunced in Berlin from New York that the North German Lloyd's steamer 'Bremen' received from the station of Naven, near" Berlin, -clearly, trans± J mitted news -telegrams -by ' wireless telegraphy every «clay for four days after "'her departure Jrom Bremen, . the messages successfully reaching her even at*a distance---of about 1550 miles.' - . .. ; Match Statistics. „' It is estimated, that' the United Kingdom manages to consume 500,000,000 a day, which comes out at about twelve lor every man, woman, and child. Smokers probably account for' the greater number, so that they will 'be invterested"^ to know that about ninety tons of wood are -used up in the form of matches every day,. or about 30,1)00 tons a year. - If one day's consumption of - matches Were placed end to end, they would . extend for a distance of about 15,000 miles. Sweden and Norway, where matches made in enormous quantities^ export over 25,000 tons of wooden matches every year. In France, where* the tax on -matches averages fourpence per inhabitant, the consumption is . comparatively small. Early Advertisements. - . - The first newspaper -aiiverAisement appeared in Great." Britain in 1642. "in Greece, advertising was done by.criers. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans were the first to use billposters, some -of which were found - on the walls and - buildings of Pompeii. It was not until the eighteenth century that magazine and newspaper advertisements became a recognised medium.' between manufacturer and buyer. The First Coal in England-. It was to supply the wants of smiths an ; :l lime burners that English coal_ began to be systematically dug about A.D. 120 U. This mineral fuel suited the requirements* of their crafts even better than wood. An unwonted and widespread for fuel for these v purposes sprang up at this period in connection with the numerous feudal castles and ecclesiastical buildings which were being erected throughout the -kingdom. Not only were the smiths and lime burners the sole patrons of -coal at this early stage, bub for a long time sub-, sequeritly they- continued io be. its principal consumers. , Lava Lfrom Vesuvius. ' Lava fronr~ the recent, eruption of Vesuvius has -been carefully examined by T. Tomm>as*ina-. The samples-ex-amined included a piece taken warm from the summit of ; the crater and four pieces from the Valle d'lnferno, each containing a "coin or medal v The lumps produced a dissipation of charge amounting, to fortytwo volts per hour. Getting ;Oiit of a Difficulty. • ' **' To build a ship and not be able to get her out to sea is a somewhat unlucky experience. A firm— -of Amsterdam shipbuilders have just narrowly" escaped that misfortune. The correspondent of the London ' Daily Telegraph ' in the Dutch port, states that a new liner built for the Java trade, when launched, a few* days ago, proved too L*ig for the available depth of water, and stuck fast after she left the ways. Fortunate it was "that the mishap occurred in Holland. That country, as most people know-, lies for the,, niost part below the level of -the sea, and thiis depressed condition in the present instance' enabled the shipbuilders to solve the diUlcult situation of peace, just as in former days it enabled the hardy Hollanders to solve some difficult^ problems of war. The simple "expedient was adopted of opening the sea sluices^ at Ymuidenj and allowing - the - water to. rise sufficiently to float the stranded liner. , It was a mere detail 'that in floating the ship a "number of houses in the lowerlying parts of the town were partly submerged. One wonders what would have been said on the Clyde if Messrs.. Brown had : been obliged to--. ask the corporation to allow them to inundate Glasgow in order to get the ' Lusitania ' afloat.