SCIENCE NOTES.

Evening Star, Issue 12883, 4 August 1906, Page 12

SCIENCE NOTES.

In. the district of Stavanger, m the southwest part of Norway, there is'a place called Jaederen, a fla,t strip of coast less than a mile long, which is notorious for shipwreck?. Now a Norwegian physicist has discovered that the sand of Jaederen is strongly magnetic, owing to an admixture of magnetic iron ore. He found, also, that at a distance of three miles from the shore a ahip's compass showed a deviation of a whole degree from its true position. The the numerous shipwrecks, therefore, is obvious.

Speaking before the members of the Bradford Scientific Society on 'The Eye,' Dr G. H. Oliver dealt with the injurious effect of tobacco upon the sight. The part of the eye affected bv the excessive use of tobneco is the '• yellow spot"—the most sensitive part of *the retina of the eve. It is curions, he said, that this tobnecoblindness should be so prevalent in England. He had hinv-elf seen hundreds of eases, some pc- b?<l thot they had not got better. _ But tobacco-blindness was hardly known in Germany, though the German's were heavy smokers. Why this difference should exist was not known. —Bladder Trouble and Suicide.— Some remarkable medical evidence was given at Boston Spa, (England) at a.n inquiry into the circums-tances attending the death of Alfred Duvnes, a Leeds retired butcher, who was found in a loose box in a stable at Boston Spa with his throat cut. Dr Sydney Rumboll, of Leeds, said that during the last four years deceased had Mift'ered acutely from * a growth in the bladder. It had caused him great Buffering, and considerable mental depression. He, however, improved so much in health that he went to reside at Boston Spa two years ago, an."l witness only saw Kim once or twice until February 7 last, when he became acutely ill again. What then struck him particularly was the decided mental degeneration that had taken place, due probably to wnility and the. constant worry of tho bladder trouble. Witnee was so impressed with, his mental condition that he told doeased'a friends to watch him, and to see that he was not left aione. To the best cf his recollection he said •. "He is so depressed that at the moment when the impulse oomcß ho might jump into the river if he is near it. I do not think he will hurt himself—l don't think he will cut his throat." He meant that be had the suicidal tendency, but he thought that if he did make away with himself it would have been in a, less- terrible manner. A large number of people suffering from Wadder complaints did commit suicide. The celebrated Dt Bolla-nd, who had probably been before more coroners tlian anybody in London, jumped out of a bedroom window and killed himself while suffering from bladder trouble.

The jnry rotemed a verdict to the effect that the deceased kfiled himself by cutting his throat, not being c-f ecund mind at the time.

—l'fte 3Tew Yarrow Works.— ■Messrs Yarrow have let the contract) for the erection of their new shipbuilding and aisrm-Mjring works at, Scotetoun, on the Clyde. The whole of (be work is to be carried out (says the 'Glasgow HeraJd') by Sir Wilikm Arrol and Co., who liarc decided to sub-let the making of tie dock basin and the building of the walls of the various shops to Messrs Morrison • and Mar-on, ;>3«> of Glasgow. It is frilly cxpectied thstf the obiafblislraient will be Veady for occupation within the minhnnm of time —probably by the end of tbis year; but. the work to be done is very extensive, and will involve the use of some thousands of tons of steel. The engine sliop is to ho 210 ft long and over 150 ft wide, and the boiler shop 300 ft long and of the same widlh as the engine department. They will be on the landward boundary—the former weft of the entrance, and the" latter to the east. There will also !>e large ship platers' sheds, smithies, and carpenters' and rMttemmaken;' departments. The feature is the roof covering of the dock, which is to be 520 ft long and 85ft wide* The roof will be 140 ft wide, so that work on board may progress in the worst of weather. The columns for the roofs will also carry rails, on which will run a powerful electric crane of 90ft span ; and to enable the same crane to travel to the boiler nnd engine shops a .gantry is to.' be constructed through the works on steel columns, with overhead bracing, so that the crane may pick up a boiler or a large part of an engine and travel with it to the dock, depositing it in . its place on board the ship. This arrangement, which is novel, will minrmise the handling of heavy loads' —a cause of delay and of expense in other work?.

—A Sbrteen-wbeded Locomotive..—. A monster locomotive designed by M. Do Bousquet has been put on tie rails by the Trench "Compagnie du Nord." It is made especially for drawing heavy loads over tha* steep inclines of certain parts of the system. "It may toe said to be double, for the axles of ite drivers are divided into two groups, forming what are technically known as two motor bogies. The driving wheels a,re bulkier (about 4ft 9m in diameter) than in thepTesemt models, and are .twelve in number.' B « des tbcee, there arc four smaller wheels between the two bogies ■which prevent sagging and give stability to the whole.. The high-pressure cylinders arc. placed at the rear of the locomotive. Trhile the low-pressure Qstuwienr and the

two side tenia containing the supply of water for the engine are in front. The entire length of the locomotive is about 16 metres (about 52£ ft). It gives a force of traction of 18,607 kilogrammes (nearly 20J tons), being able to reach 24,064 kilogrammes . (nearly 26£ tons) when running wkh open throttle, which is less economical and is only done for short periods. In spito of its great length, its large wheels enable the locomotive to travel around pretty sharp curves, of 90 metres (about 395 ft), for example, although at reduced «peed. Still, on the easy parts of the run it makes 60 kilometres (a. little over 37J miles) an hour—a good speed for a heavy-weight' of such imposing dimensions."—Pons 'L'Dlmiration.'