SCIENCE SIFTINGS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 161, 9 July 1910, Page 14

SCIENCE SIFTINGS.

Two choir boye in a reformatory at Eossenfeld, near Munich, have been sentenced by the Child Ten's Court to several years' imprisonment for poisoning sacramental wine. The elder boy stole some hydrochloric add, and the younger, who was assisting the priest at .Mass, poured the poison into tho .wine. The first person who tasted the wine, fortunately itta-t something was wrong, and % .strong emetic was administered- Ibjf. a Vjoctor in'..the-congrfigation.,

VALUATION , OF TEMPERATURE* A case of extraordinary, if iiosb unprecedented, horizontal temperature gradient is reported, on apparently trustworthy authority, in the "Meteoro-logisc-he Zbitechrift" for M&rch, 1910. With a temperature hanging between 0 deg. and plus:2 deg. C. at .Helsingfors, 'Finland, on November 18th, 1909, a temperature of 20 deg. C. was simultaneously recorded at a point only 10 kilometres dietant to tire north; a difference of about 20 deg. C. (08 deg. F.) in a distance of about six miles. While the climate at Helsingfors Iβ tempered by the Gulf of Knland, co remarkable a difference between tie temperature there and in the immediate hinterland is inexplicable, especially aa the two stations at which observations were made are of the came altitude. The strangest part of the story, however, remains to toe told, viz., that a little to the north of the place where the low temperature was reported, the weather wae almost as warm as in Helsingfors! THE TEME BY WIRELESS. The synchronisation of vessels fitted ■with wireless apparatus by a wireless signal flaehedt from the radiographic station on the summit of the Eiffel Tower has been inaugurated with complete success. The clock-room in the Paris Observatory had beeii connected by a special wiro with the wireless apparatus at the tower. On the stroke of midnight recently, the exact Palis time was flashed to every coastal and maritime station within a radius of from 2500 to 3000 miles. It is estimated that the signal "reached the coast of Weet Africa, the whole extent of the Mediterranean, almost all the Northern Atlantic, the English Channel, the North Sea, Great Britain, and practically the whole of Central and 'Western Europe. This system of synchronisation will be of inestimable service to navigation, as veseels will be able to ascertain their exact position immediately on receiving the time spark. MAGNETISED STEAMERS. The steel hull of a vessel in rendered anagnetac during construction iby the hammering of the metal, and every steel vessel has to have its compass Corrected ib counteract its own magnetic lines of force. The magnetic influence is further complicated by the load carried .by the vessel if this load is magnetic or capable of being magnetised. The ore-carrying vessels of the Great Lakes experience great difficulty on this account, and the United States HydTographic Bureau J3 endeavouring to teach pilots and captains of vessels plying in this trade how to check their course by means of tho pelorus. The pelorus. is an instrument similar to the sundial, being provided with a gnomon and a graduated arc on which a shadow of the gnomon is cast. The instrument is set in a north and south direction, as indicated by the compass, and then by noting the shadow on the graduated arc it is possible to tell by comparison with tables furnished by the Government just how far from the north and south position the gnomon really lies, thus showing the compass error. KEENFOBCED CONCRETE SIiEEPERS. An invention of a Swiss engineer, which claimed to cave much expense in railway maintenance, consists of an improved cross tie or sleeper for rails, con- , structed of reinforced concrete with supporting frames for the rails. In the application of concrete in general, and especially of ' reinforced concrete, it is essential that the securing of the rails, or, in other words, the connection between the rails and the concrete body, shall be a perfectly satisfactory cne, both from the technical standpoint as also from the standpoint of its suitability for tho traffic requirements and the maintenance of the line. The effects of the innumerable rolling blows which occur in the course of the service of the eleeper given by the trains passing over it on tho fastening of the rails to the concrete sleeper has, it is claimed, been overcome in the improved cross sleeper of reinforced concrete constructed according to the present system, by tho special combination of the reinforced concrete sleeper with the rail supporting frame already known elsewhere. In this arrangement, says the "Railway News," each rail support is brought firmly into connection with the iron or steel reinforcement of the sleeper by the arangement that the iron bare of the sleeper reinforcement are placed and fixed an openings on the side limbs of the support, whilst preserving uninterrupted their continuous arrangement, so that the rail-securing supports are combined nofc only with the concrete body, but are also fastened ]y to one another, and at the Santo time by means of their limbs itiey serve t<i assure tihe position of the rods of the reinforcement with regard to ono another, and act practicallyasa component of the reinforcement.

HYDROGEN IN A HOT-WiA.T!E3E 6YSUEM. The main building of our experiment station here (says a vrriter ia the "Scientific American") is heated with iiat water. It has been -one of my duties •to see that the system is -working pro perly, and in this Connection. I iave hdd to open the air vents on the radia--1 tors frequently. I was surprised to find .that the radiators on the top floor (a two-storey building) always'. seemed to have air in them, in spite of the fact that the system was fully charged and very little or no new "Water admitted. 1 began to suspect that this condition had to be accounted for in some other Way. Was -there not a possibility that .this gas could be hydrogen? For what other gas ■would -be likely to form "under those conditions, unless it be a trace of carbon monoxide? At any rate, when I applied a match the gas lighted -with the familiar pop of hydrogen, and .burned with its characteristic almost colourless flame* Assuming that the gas ds hydrogen (I bave no means of testing dt) the question suggests itself—ls this a case of oxidation of the ixon setting free hydrogen? Is it an electrolytic eftect, caused by galvanic coupled of either caaibon and iron or nron and the .brass connections in the system? Or is the gas methane? It may be noted further that the_gas does not seem to collect in the radaatoTS iii the lower floor to a great extent, if any* Of course f this may be due to the gas being dissolved under the increased static pressure. The Static pressure on the radiiitors of the top floor is not over ten feet of water at the present time. The -svatef is of exceptional purity, ■being supplied by a spring. ISle fact, howererj that small quantities of water havd to be added occasionally to replace the leaks in the System might suggest .rthe presence of methane,. ."Chat question eiut.onljr tbe settled >bj; cheinical_analysi3.