Scientific and Useful.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 1521, 26 February 1886, Page 4

Scientific and Useful.

AN ANT CrOl D. During tlie month of March onormous swarms of ants passed over the town of Solothurn in Switzerland. They came from the Jura mountains, and formed a cloud consisting of 73 perprndieular colums, in which tlie ants circ'ed around in spiral form. The swarm lasted for twenty minutes, tho height of the cluud being upwards o( 1)0 ft. Millions of them fell to fhei round, however, without making any visible change in the phenomenon.

IISII CTLTXRK.

The National Fish Culture Association, with a view to studying the habits of marine tislies, and the »fleet of certain influences upon them, have arranged for observations to be made from three li«ht-hip std/ons—viz., the Seven Stones, oil' Land's End ; the Roy:il Sovereign, near Eastbourne; and the outer Dowsing, otT the mouth of the Number. Surface and bottom temperature of the sea will be rec >rded, with the d> nsity nnd trinsparency of the water, &c., and special efforts will be made to solve the problem why wellknown fisheries have declined.

NEW CANALS

The North Sea Canal, to conrcet the Hal lic with the Elbe nnd the German ocean, will probably be commcnc d before lon •, < a

bill is to be laid before the German Parliament to sanction the rxp< nditure, £7,500,000 ; and the G veri.nient, as well as the leading merchants, are guti-lietl as to its great military and com nercHl value. Another threat ship canal will also probably be made, m order to r«ducc the distance by water betwem Baltimore and New York by more than -00 miles. It will be cut from the mouth of the Sarsifra/.in in Chesapeake Bay to a point in Delaware Bay, and the money, a million and a half, his been subscribed, a contract signed, a'id tho works begun.

MINING IMFKOYKMENT3

A new c mi-cut ling machine has bee i tested in the Alhrton collieriis, near Woodlrsford. All the coal was at one time hauled by h irses to the bottom of the shaft ; now that work is done by end'ess wire ropes driven by steam ]j 'wer. IheCutt.rif thti m ichine i< a disc IS in in diameter, and it is ft ited ill it i f will cut 2o*i tons in a night wi'h the help of two turn i.n 1a I ov. The c it' i- gis done .it night, ttii* machine b°ing dr.veil hytl-eliauli gripes whuh in the daytim>' are u<ed to draw the eoal to the shaft. The Mrssrs liowr have had thr-e oi these macbiies at work f'rabmt a month, anil they say that the m ichine reduces the cost ot bringing coal to hank 10 pi r cent., and by diminishing the quantity of small enhances the value of the mineral sent up by about 30 per cent. English Mechanic. A sTEAM 81l Vl'I.E. According to Ihe Sew York Turf,, Field, mid Fitfui ol Hi t'ber 23, u steam bicycle is the latest nove.ty invented by L. 1). Copeland, of Arizona. It is of the slur pattern, with a small wheel in front, and attached to ilie front bar is a vertical brass boder heated with gasoline. A dainty engn nmu ite I on the liar above the boier has a stroke of three inches, with a cylinder of one and one fixteeiith inches in uianuter. Below the engine is a spherical reservuir holding a quart of water, and above it a cylinder holding a< mu' li gasoline. A round belt communicates the power of the engine to a oil in. wheel attached to the wheel of ttie bicyle. The engine, man exhibition at >"ew«rk recently, male revolutions of the ljin. crank in a minute, and nine of these revolutions turned the large wheel once. A little steam-gauge showed •iUlb pressure a few minutes after the tire had been started, and, leaping into the saddle, Mr Copeland rode swiftly round the rink for twenty minutes. The inventor said the engine would run for an hour without renewal of water or gasoline, and that engine, toiler, a:;d fuel did not add more than lUlb to the weight of the bicycle, lie has retained the pedals on the muchine, and he used them as an auxiliary to the engine when he pleased.

Llgl'lD 1 I*EL IK IALIIOBMA

A few months we gave un account of tlie experiments which jwere being made by the Central l'aciiic Alail Company With petroleum as fuel on some of their steam boats. At that time they had tried it upon the freight steamer Thoroughfare, plying between Oakland and San Francisco, and on the transfer boat Solano —the largest ferryboat in the world —on Carquinez Straits, running between Benicia and i'ort Costa. Since that time lhey have been able to determine more in detail concerning the results. Un the Thoroughfare they saved 7000 dollars in t ie ..•o-t of fuel iu the live months they were using oil a? compared with the five months of ihe same season las: year, when they were turning coal. Besides saving 1(• per iei.t. in M -tu.il fuel, they got rid ct four firemen, winch makes an alditional saving of 2KJd jls. p-r month. On the Solano there is not so much saving, the cost being lessened but 17 per cent. She makes short trips, and they burn the fuel while she is 111 the slip, to givera'e the necessary steam. The oil costs 1 dol. 70 cents per ill gallon barrel, or about four cents a gallon. It is estimated by the engineer of the big WaUr Witch, which is also using oil, though a somewhat different kind from that used by the railroad company, that lU" gallons of oil is equal to a ton ol coal, which lat'er costs about 7 do.lars per ton. — Set?»llJic Amencan.

RMTATOKY IKON' JAIL.

The new jail just completed cost 3<VMO dollar*. Its peculiar feature is that the evils are arranged in tne form of a gr<.at iron rilinder, which revolves about, so that only one cell is at the opening at any one time. 11. is cylinder is three stor.es high, theie being ten cell" on each Uoor. Its weight is fo tuns, hi,d this ponderous weight is hung (rum above instead of turning on a track below. Tne strangest part of the arrangement is that the great cylinder can be turned by a simple crunk with yery little force—a man with his left hand moving it reudily. When all is complete, it is the intention to have a little water motor in the basement, and then by simply moving a lever, the cylinder will be set to rotating. It is siggejted that when tln-re are prisoners who it is feared may be trvmtf to cut out, the cylinder can by a motor be easily kept moving aU i.igtit, bo tlut the prisoners do not rcmiun long enough in one place to do any mischief, or even to crawl out if they had made a partial break. It seems that prisoners have little chance for escape from this nc#jail. A cage of iron bars completely surrounds the cylinder in which the cells are. The entrance on each door is guarded by two door?. The officer standing out'ide does not have to unlock even the first door, but can swing the cylinder round until the cell appears in which is the desired prisoner, and then by a simple movement the inner door is opened, and the prisoner can step out of his cell. Then the officer can open the other door and let the man out, but the other prisoners are away beyond auy possible reach of the officer, and it is impossible for them to make any break on him while he is taking a man out or putting one in lie can handle auy number of men in the tame way, and'tiny cannot get within reacli of him until be choobei to let them.— Omaha Bet.