Science Siftings

New Zealand Tablet, 17 June 1915, Page 47

Science Siftings

Bx 'Volt.'

Where Amber Comes From. Most of the world's supply of genuine amber comes from the strip of East Prussia lying between Memel and Cranz. At one time it was gathered only along the coast; but in 1883 a Junker owning land near Memel was induced to mine for amber on his estate, with such profitable results that six years later the Prussian Government bought his mine for £520,000. Subsequently amber was created a State monopoly; and every fragment found on the sands or dragged up in a fisherman's net must now be taken to the nearest Government depot if the finder wishes to avoid the risk of imprisonment. Whenever stormy weather is felt off Memel a posse of officials is dispatched post-haste to gather in the amber washed up on the beach.

Supply of Thymol.

i Thymol is an- important antiseptic. For years it has been manufactured almost exclusively in Germany, from a plant cultivated in India. At the beginning of the European war the price of this medicinal chemical rose from 8s to .£3 10s a pound. ‘ Yet during all these years,’ says Professor E. Kremers, of the University of Wisconsin, ‘ while we (that is, the United States) have been importing about ten thousand pounds of thymol annually, a weed growing on the sandy areas, along the lower course of the Wisconsin River has probably been producing enough thymol to have supplied the entire United States in the present crisis.’ Although attention has been directed again and again to this medicinal agent, this weed has been allowed to go to waste. Because of its thymol content it is not even touched by grazing cattle or sheep. Yet after the thymol has been removed the exhausted plant is eaten by animals, and may thus be converted into a useful agricultural product.

Does Wireless Cause Explosions?

A well-known scientist recently suggested that the mysterious explosion which destroyed the British battleship, the Bulwark, might have been duo to the influence of wireless waves.. The theory that wireless causes explosions was put forward some time ago by a French engineer. To prove his point, he called attention to the fact that the disaster to the British steamer, the Volturno, which was burnt in the Atlantic, took place just on the junction point where the wireless waves from the Eiffel Tower and Glace Bay meet. The French engineer also points out that in his opinion wireless has. a strange effect on the mind, -and he considers that it is for this reason that collisions between ships have greatly increased of recent years. Many of these mishaps have taken place at the junction of wireless wave routes, and it is said that the wireless so affected the brains of ships’ commanders that in critical moments they lost control of their vessels. This theory is confirmed by the fact that birds flying near wireless stations move in an uneasy, agitated fashion, as if their senses were under some, strange influence.

Clothing the British Army.

The manufacture of clothing for the new armies is proceeding in the West Riding of Yorkshire on a colossal scale. It is estimated that between 250 and 300 miles of khaki cloth and its substitutes, from 54in to 56in wide, are being woven every week, and that at least 80 per cent, of all textile machinery is engaged on the Army work. Over 12,000 looms are busy, working on an average nearly * time and a-half.’ One mill alone produces forty miles of cloth weekly. Some 50,000 tailors and tailoresses are making up the material into garments, working in most cases from 8 a.ra. to 9 or 9.30 p.m., the work as a whole being supervised by a committee of experts appointed by the War Office. In regard to Army boots, some 200 factories in the kingdom are devoting about 60 per cent, of their total output to their manufacture. About twenty factories in Leeds

alone produce some 40,000 pairs a ' week. ' Army contracts have been booked and will take from three to six months to complete., A Leeds firm was recently asked to tender for the supply, of 2,000,000 pairs for the Russian army, but the request had to be refused.