NEW LIQUID AIR MARVELS.

Mataura Ensign, Issue 1413, 19 November 1904, Page 6

NEW LIQUID AIR MARVELS.

When I'l-nfi-vsor Tiipli-i- was expel iliicnlinu with tlic wonderful substance which is iii,\v Known id scientists anil laymen as li.(iiid air, ]„■ iittlc thoui.Mil (lint one of ill'' rcsulls of his laiacs would lif tliiit of amusing mi audience. Till' scientist Worked for lllll'lV years before In> completed his invcsiinations, which uu\c to Miryi'i'v u ■ wonderful ally. Liquid air. on in- * rollnl of | In. e-rcat cost of production, lias not l»vn put to the .Me.nshc urn thai was at first aritii-iiiat.il it wou'd hi-. Sure-cons use it. however, as u "'last resort" treatment in cases of tin. eradication of birthmark", ran(lis, and similar uilmcuts which litivu proved too much for tin- kui"'.'oii'h knjle. At one lime it 'mis prophesied that li<|iiiil air would replace Hti'am, I.lit alllioiiiih tlic discovery -howii! VlAnival possibilities, its cost, us mi lia\c stated, is so meat that it c-in-llllt lII' |lllt to HMM'l'al Commercial 11-"'. Could tin- cost |h- reduced it »„:iM work a jii'ciit rovolulion in many branches of srii'iitilic busini-ss |i(e, f,- r il would do almost anctliiii!'. It is •In.' to this wonderful fncilitv with which apparently ini|iossilil.' feats can lie accomplished |, y t|„. u id of liquid air thai some caterers of public alllilsi lll.'lll have been iadlleed to make a study of it from a popular point of view . A representative was r.rently present at a wonderful perfoniuitioe by u wellknowii "magician," in .\ li'n-h li.plid air plays a very import.Lit pint. The slaee was I wire', save mi' a cars,, deal table on which stood a square block of i.e. There was ~olliiii'.:' very stranee alioiit that, hut imineiliateK the ina-ieians p!ae,-d a ken!,, on the ice it hc<.mn to lioil ami bubble over. Then followed a host of seeminely impossible and very amazing tricks. liorrowintf a hat. the performer proceed,,! t,, wash his handkerchief in the hat, usini/ the UUer as a wash-lull. The handkerchief was soaked in what was apparently in.ijl? inn wal.r (but reall.v liqtiid air), and-yel within a minute i( was rctiirncd In the owner perfii-lly dry and free from the least suspa-iou of moisture The explanation lies in the (net thai liquid air absorbs heat ul an extremely rapid rate, and, therd■>!•<«, soon disappears by evaporation. Jm Hv the aid of liquid air tlic Intliri C cian tinned oil into ice in a test tube, lie then upplii'd a lie;ht lo thcfro,e n oil. and it binned like a candle, beiiij? litilal'v burnina; n'-'c. Crape*, too, were fio/.-n into monster hailstones in a f. w seconds, and mercury, that evasive metal, was solidified into u Idoek in half a minute. In a chilini; dish, over a hot Haute, ice cream \vu* made in the same shoit space of lime. As a conclusion the musician burnt the ln, M e block „f ico on which the kettle had In en boiline;. by simplv pom-inn; tin- liquid air on to it. The discoverer of liquid nil'. Professor Triplet-, often admitted that it was a ureal mystery to him even after he had been experimentinjr wi'lli it for years. In some future time <ho cost, of product ion may possibly lie. lessened, and then the many uses, of liquid nil' will be put to practical line. As il is at present, it in li'th* wore than a scientific wonder, whoso nossihiiilic, are, howe\er, very ijr"M. When used ia conjunction with till! Rimini n rays, liijiaid air has j>r >vi--l very cllective in the treatment of cancer. ]( acts as a local anacstheiic. and is applied in (he form of a spray.