SCIENCE NOTES.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 931, 10 June 1914, Page 7

SCIENCE NOTES.

LIMIT OF UNAIDED VISION. The ability to discern the star Alcol at the tail of the Great Bear, has been iield to be the test of the limit of Human vision unaided by any glass. Very rarely is the eye of such power as to see the satellites of Jupiter, though there are on record two or three instances, the third satellite being the most .distinct of those seen. It is said that Peruvians are the "longestsighted" race of all. There is recorded by Humboldt, the case of Indians in that country who perceived a human figure 18 miles away, being able to recognise it as a human being and clad in white. INLAND WATER STEAMER. i lie Seeandbee, a new side-wheel passonger steamer, recently placed in serice between Cleveland and Buffalo, is ihe largest side-wheel steamer in existence. Five hundred feet in length jverall, she has an extreme beam over :he guards of 98.6 and a depth of hull at the stern of 30ft. 4in. The "Seeindbee" has six decks, and provides ;ver 500 staterooms. She is driven by mgines of 12,000-h.p. at a speed of 22 miles an hour. The crank shaft of her inclined reciprocating engine weighs 120: tons. She has stateroom accommodations for 1500 people, and carries a permit for 6000 people. Her freight capacity is 1500 tons.

FURS PRESERVED BY COLD. When the "life" of a fur garment is considered in relation to its cost, the economical quality is a high one, particularly to-day, when science has effected so perfect a preserver as cold storage. This development of preservation, which actually arrests natural deterioration caused by evaporation of the natural oils in the leather and hair of iurs in temperate and hot atmospheres, apart from the immunity it provides -.gainst ravages by moth, prolongs the •life" of the commodity m a, wonderful degree. This advantage alone compensates for a great deal of ' the recent rise in values. Further, the depth of colour and gloss in the fur is more enduring by many years than it was under the warehousing conditions of bygone days. NEW DESERT BEAN. Professor B. W. Clothier, of the University of Arizona, has discovered a new variety of bean, well adapted for cultivation in dry climates. During a 1300-mile journey" over the deserts and mountains of Arizona, he visited the t'apago Indians, and got from them several hundred brownish-yellow beans of an unknown variety. These he t > anted on experimental plots at the Arizona Experimental Station for four jars before the discovery was anlounced. It appears that the new jean, which had been named ■ the •'tepary" bean, is more prolific under dry conditions than any other known variety. It yields between 7001b. and JOOlb. to the acre, with no more water" :han the scanty' rainfall of; Arizona ves. Under the same conditions, ordinary beans yield only from' 661b. to 1401b..t0 the acre.

AUTOMATIC SHUT-OFF MEASURE

A combination measure and funnel, designed primarily for the automobile jwner or the garage man', but useful ilso in many other ways, has been placed upon the market. The device ;s an ordinary metal measure with • a tunnel attached to the top. The most important feature, however, is the shutoff arrangement, consisting of a ballvalvVand push-rod located in the lower ;nd of .the funnel. Oil or any other liquid can be very easily directed into a small-necked bottle or other vessel and by means of the ball-valve, the Jow can be stopped instantaneously by releasing the pressure on the thumb jlate on the upper end of the valve rod. The valve is held tightly oh its oat by means of a spring. With this measure, a tank or other receptacle may be filled to any desired height and shut off without danger of overflowing. Jn placing the measure in an upright position after the filling, any liquid remaining in the funnel will run back nto the measure without dripping on ;ho outside.

PSEUDO-LANGUAGE OF MONKEYS. Concerning the supposed language of anthropoid apes, Professor Boutan lias recently taken up the question and arrives at a negative result. It will be ;emembered that Dr. Gamier came to lie conclusion that monkeys have a 'language analogous to human language and express themselves by signs as well as by sounds which they emit. According to Professor Boutan, there is" jnly a difference of degree between this and human speech and not one of kind. <s observed the sounds made by a gibbon which he had captured when young, and his experiments cover more | shaft five years. He finds that the animal can produce only spontaneous and instinctive sounds corresponding to -. state of satisfaction or tho like, or again to a state of uneasiness or fear, ilso great excitement, and the sounds -) not appear to correspond to a real language, but rather to what he calls

"pseudo-language." While sounds of real language are acquired by; educa-j V fcion,. .-'• those of pseudo-language are "purely spontaneous, and he thus differs' j from Dr. Qarnier's conclusions. ,i