SCIENCE SIFTINGS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 293, 10 December 1910, Page 16

SCIENCE SIFTINGS.

AfTLK QUiJNdHES OIL FIR& , !■ ;>.; An Italian medical journal states that while water will not; quench...the ftaane of ■burning petroleum in.: - a limited - -.-space, milk acomplishes the object by forming an emulsion with the oil, disturbing , its cohesion, and thus attenuating the combustible elements. • •■■... AUTOMATIC BOTTLE-kAETNG. A newly-developed machine for automatically making bottles is reported as giving excellent results. A molten mass of glass is taken from the furnace on 'the end of an iron rod. Instead of "shaping" the glase on a flat surface and Wowing through the rod,, the first operator puts the molted glass into a straight cylindrical mould. A ''neck shaper" 13 placed around the neck of the mould, and a plunger shoved into ihe soft glass by a second man. The blank, with the "neck shaper" etill attached, is placed in a second mould of the size required for the bottle, and compression, turned on by a third man, does the rest. As the impression made in the "blank" is the same, size throughout, the pressure of the air is equally distributed, and an absolutely uniform bottle is the result.

DEFORMED NOSE: REMARKABLE TREATMENT. Dr. D. Crosby Greeha wa3 consulted by a young man on account of a deformity of the nose received in a football accident. There was an ugly flattening' of the organ at the bridge. The gristle of the nose was gone, and it .was decided to replace.it with a piece of the man's rib. Under ether the Space for the im-

plantation of the rib was prepared, while at the same time the latter was carefully dissected from ite muscles. When the nose had teen suitably prepared toy the surgeon, the size and shape of -cartilage to 'be need Were determined by fitting a piece of sterilised leather in tic space prepared. A piece of rib cartilage was then -fashioned' according to t)ii3 pattern and inserted into its new position, the -wound closed by a single catgut sutuTo, and both nostrils lightly packed with gauzo. Healing took place very rapidly, and there was only moderate swelling of the nose following the operation. The rib wound really caused more discomfort than the nose wound, tout in two -weeks even this wound had 'healed, and the man was all right. WHAT THE WAR-AEROPLAKE COULD DROP. A correspondent of "Science Sittings" suggests that perhaps the capabilities of the "plane" in warfare are not so greatly exaggerated as suggested. "To drop and bit an object from a flyer overhead is a difficult task. Yes, at the present. But this is practically a new 'art/ this dropping of explosives; like every other it would have to be developed and practised; and if the iistoiy of an ancient catapult or the modern gun, is traced you will notice how clumsy the firat attempts were. It is true to aim a missile from a thousand feet above would involve a knowledg£.,pf jinany., conditions, but this knowledge" can be -acquired, and it would not require too much ingenuity to evolve an instrument equal to a modern rangefinder that would minimise the chances of a miss, or make them at least equal to modern gun fire in accuracy. The bomtw need not be 'little' by" any means, and in economy each shot or 'drop' would surpass any of the present shells. Then, explosives of 'high power and destructiveness have not, as yet, been developed for that particular purpose. Military authorities 'have been prompt to suggest the ■vertical gun, or one that fires projectiles in a nearly verticle line, as a remedy •gainst the planes. They all seem to overlook the fact that all projectiles, unless of a nature that actually vapouriee, would eventually return to Mother Earth, and the more powerful the_ gun the more disastrous the shot when it comes down. Those defending an aeroplane attack are, therefore, placed in the anomalous position of aiming their missiles at themselves, and, unless their force be small and confined to a small aera, this makes that kind of defence impractical. Furthermore, even the object accomplished, a plane crippled and wrecked, have they realised that they are bringing downseveral hundred pounds of Violent explosives npcm their own devoted heads, wme serving the very purpose of the attacking |force? A flock of twenty or thirty planes, each equipped with large quantities of especially powerful explosives hovering over a fleet or over an army spread over a large area startles the imagination With its possibilities." ARTIFICIAL LIGHT THEORIES. It is usually supposed, says "Engineering," that a white light, approximating to daylight, should be aimed at in illuminants. Lamps, however, giving a light of this kind cannot be the most efficient, since the light of one part of the spectis always most efficient foi , - any specific purpose. Further, it is doubtful if the public really desire a white light; they are used to artificial lights of the yellowish variety, and, tot indoor %htiiig, especially when the feminine part of the population have to be pleased, it ia probable that "warmer" light* of the yellowish-red variety will always be preferred above any approximati-oa to daylight.

None the less, extreme colour, as in the knercury-vapour lamp, is objectionable. Owing to the almost complete absence of low-periodicity radiations of. little illuminating power in this lamp, it is the most efficient light we have, but its colour, or rather its absence of colour, renders it unsuitable for most purposes. It is valuable for situations in Which light, and light only, is Wanted, or for places in which its peculiar appearance is'an advantage, such as the outside of a music-hall} but one has only to conceive the effect of such a light funning amok in a ball-room, to realise its limitations. Although the mercury arc is the extreme case, the comparatively limited dolour range of the flame are"' is sometimes a disadvantage. We r&mcmber a case in which a flame ahc, deficient in reds, placed in a green-grocer's shop was ultimately rejected owing to the unripe appearance of tomatoes in its lfght. JNo doubt there are other similar eases.

All incandescent 3olid bodies give Continuous spectra, so that for selective radiation in the extreme sfense we must look to vapour lamps of one sort Or another. Tlio commbn examples are the mercury and flume arcs. Up to the present no success" lias attehded efforts to modify the colour of' the former. By combining the light given by a mercury vapour lamp with that given by a metal filament, a fair approximation to White light is obtained; biit such combinations are inconvenient, and have been little used. The flame arc Offers a more hopeful field. By varying the impregnating material, a fair range of colour may be obtained, and it is quite possible, Within, limits, to select a composition giving a continuous spectrum over a isefnl part of the white-light range, with compara~ve darkness above and bdow.