SCIENCE NOTES.

Lake County Press, Issue 2788, 5 June 1919, Page 7

SCIENCE NOTES.

re:ht ies mmamm of MONEY IN REFUSE PRODUCTB. : ar >n. Tho report of the sanitary inspector in at Paisley, Scotland, for 1014 shows th that a revenue of over £416 has been th obtained from the sale of "residual es products." Some of these were as a follows:—Clinker, £217 125.; mortar, £46 125.; old tins and scrap metal, in £107; waste paper, £l4 125.; other refuse, £2l Bs. During the last two it years waste paper and broken glass so have increased in value, and by the ur use of the vertical shaft type of furlie naco tho working cost of the deli- structor has been reduced. The pros--3.V pects for remunerative working appear o, to bo greatly improved. iff _ T e of A "DAYLICHT" lAMP \v 3 * A New York concern is markethg , a new type of nitrogen filled blue v ' glass lamp that gives a white light , e of davlight quality. The daylight colour of the lamp is due to the special "; glass used. However, contrary to j expectations, the colour of the glass I only results in cutting down the j volume of light 8 per cent. At present the lamps are available in all sizes s from 100 up to 1000 watts. The current consumption is about one-half ?_ watt per candle-power. a : e NATURAL SOAP. t, " I The jaboncollo, or soapberry tree II I (Sapindus saponaria), grows in the II I humid parts of Western Ecuador. It ( attains a height of about 60ft., and '; has widesproading branches and irae mense quantities of fruit of the size s | and shape of cherries. The nearly ■ transparent yellowish skin and plup e surrounding the round black seeds are s so saponaceous as to be used instead 0 of soap by many people of Ecuador ~ being equivalent to moro than 50 timec ' their weight of that material. 1 DISCOVERY OF OIL WELLB IN THE EAST. i There is nothing unexpected in the discovery of important petroleum ' i springs on the shores of the Red Sea j (says a writer in the "Daily ' Chronicle"), for the whole of the coast of Asia Minor is believed to be very ': rich in oil. Indeed, it is regarded as ! probable that great oilfields underlie i the whole region and extend under the '. I Red Sea itself well into Africa. Egypt's I oil reserves, of course, have already ' I been tapped, and their discovery is the subject of a romantic story. A passenger on a vessel passing through the Red Sea observed oil floating on the water, and speculated as to its origin. Keeping his conclusions to himself, he returned home, formed a syndicate, instituted borings near the coast, and struck copious oil springs at 2000 feet. AUSTRALIA'S HUGE LOCOMO- \ TIVE. I The latest addition to the Victorian I iailways locomotive stock is an engine j of the 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type, dej signed specially to deal with the con-stantly-increasing freight traffic on Victorian main lines, writes C. F. Denny in the New South Wales Railway Magazine. In order to appreciate I the power and capacity of this giant engine, perhaps one or two compari- ' sons will not be amiss:— The Vic- ' torian DD class, 4-6-0 light lines, mixed and goods locomotive, with a tractive power of 20,0001b. is taken as 1 standard, rated at 100 per cent., and its load behind the tender up a 1 in So grade is 270 tons. The A2 class, ' 4-6-0 locomotive, is rated at 130 per : cent., having a tractive power of 25,0001b., and can haul a load of 350 : tons over a similar grade. The new ' Consolidation is rated at 205 per cent ! and has a tractive effort of 36,13810. It is capable of hauling 555tt 0 behind 5 the tender up a grade of 1 in 50; on a 1 flat or level stretch it will take 1600 \ tons, while on a fairly level track such 1 as that between Newport and Geelong, 5 the estimated load is 1350 tons. This J engine was built to the design of W. 1 M. Shannon, Esq., chief mechanical ' engineer of the Victorian system, and 1 the leading particulars are as under: >" —Diameter of driving wheels, 6oip.; diameter of cylinders. 22m.; stroke of " cvlinders, 28in.: tractive power, 9 36,1381b.; boiler pressure, 20olb. per e square inch; gate area, 32 square feet; • heating surface, firebox 173 square r feet, tubes 1870 ft.; super-heater 309 B square feet, total heating'surface 2421 (1 square feet; tender capacity, water - 4600 gallons, fuel 6i tons; total length s overall, 64ft. 4h'm.; total weight, road- '- worthv, 127 tons. It presents a hand- • some appearance, and is painted the usual Victorian colours, i.e., a rich chocolate brown, picked out with white i lines; the connecting-rods, crosshead, valve, gearing, etc., are bright steel; the smoke-box and funnel black, and the name and number-plates on the cab sides and headstock are white on a > blue. It is the largest and most powers ful in Australia, and is not outclassed 1 bv any locomotive of Great Britain s hj ! railwavs. If the monstrous Mallets and hj I latest 2-10-0 tvpes of the United States " j were excepted, this locomotive would I ' take its place in the front rank of any " country in the world. The construev tion of this locomotive incorporates all a the modern improvements adaptable to •a local conditions. It is fitted with a Robinson superheater, Detroit Bull s- „ eve lubricator, Flaman speed recorder. I and the Victorian railways standard £ injector (Newport make).. Other Improvements are the operation by compressed air of the ashpan door slides t and the cleaning of the smoke-box by 5 the driver turning on a jet of hot „ water from the boiler, which flushes ° out the ash chute and thoroughly empties the smoke-bc*. The monster , a was manufactured at the Victorian ' railwavs workshops at Newport All a the steel and iron castings, including £ wheel centres and cylinders, arc of 3° Australian manufacture. id ___ 1