NOTES ON SCIENCE, MECHANICAL INVENTIONS, ETC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 8082, 24 September 1887, Page 4 (Supplement)

NOTES ON SCIENCE, MECHANICAL INVENTIONS, ETC.

| • THE ELECTRO-MAGNETIC DRILL. During the construction of the Albania, steel sorew steamer, which has been launched at Dumbarton, the newly-invented electromagnetic drill was for tbe first time made practical nse of. This drill, which is somewhat light in weight, made to adhere to the ' plate in which the holes are to be drilled by magnetic attraction, the actuating power being, derived from powerful eleotro-maguets forming part of the drill. By this contrivance the machine can, at a moment's notice, be made either to adhere with enormous force to the plate or to remain on it by its own weight only. The drill itself is driven by electricity, and it is claimed that the work so performed is vastly superior to that performed in any other way. MULTIPLE WHITING BY ELECTRICITY.' Some few years ago, at a time when there was a rage for all kinds of apparatus for multiplying facsimile copies of handwriting, it will be remembered that Edison brought out an ingenious " eleotrio pen," in which a small needle darting to and fro at great speed • made minute perforations in the paper, the printing being effected by an inked roller, whioh was ran over the perforated paper like a stencil plate. The movement of the needle was produced by means of a tiny magnetomotor mounted upon the style, and driven by a couple of bichromate cells. The cells had, however, to be of large size, the motor requiring a good deal of current. Moreover, it was impossible to write very fast, with the pen in the first instance, owing to its weight and the necessity for holding it in a vertical position. Recently, M. Garel has succeeded in obtaining similar results by more simple meacs. He writes with an ordinary black lead pencil npon very thin paper, whioh is laid upon a smooth oarbon block. The lead of the pencil is connected to one terminal of a small induction coil, and the carbon blook to the other terminal. A spark then follows the pencil point, and the paper can be used as a stencil. - CAMERAS WITHOUT LENSES Cameras without lenses are becoming quite common in France, especially amongst amateurs and tourists. They have undoubted advantages, because there is no outlay for a lens, and no fear of breaking it or the groundglass, whioh is discarded as well. Independently of those considerations, photographs of objects can be readily obtained which few lenses take in, and they can moreover be taken more accurately. INCOMBUSTIBLE SCENERY. Experiments have been made at the Theatre Royal de la Monnaie, Brussels, which have demonstrated the incombustibility of certain scenery coated two years ago with a composition consisting of powdered alum and asbestos. This is the invention of M. V. Wybauw, the engineer of the town, and the process is likely to be generally adopted iu Brussels, especially as the flexibility of the canvas and the brightness of the colours are not affected by its application. A SOLITARY FLOWER. On Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in California, at a level of 14,000 feet above the sea, and 1500 feet above the timber line, where there is no soil, and no moisture save snow and hail and ice, there grows a flower shaped like a bell, gaudy in colours of red, purple, and blue. It is called Jacob's ladder, and its fragrance partakes of the white jasmine. It blooms alone, for it not only has no floral associates, but there is no creature, not even bird or insect, to keep it company. SMOKING MIXTURE FOR ASfHMA. Dr. Woodward, of Worcester, has suggested the following combination for asthma :— Take stramonium leaves, Latakia tobacco, and bird's-eye tobacco, of eaoh equal parts. Cut up the stramonium into fine shreds, and mix intimately with the tobaccos. Smoke in a pipe with a plug, to prevent clogging of the stem, the last thing at night. Supper should not ba taken ; only a small quantity of black coffee or glass of grog lis allowed. WARPING 0? WOOL', Thin boards are sometimes curved like a bow in their cross-sections. The first method to be tried to restore these to their original condition is to ranga them round the shop with the convex sides to the fire, or place them in the sun, when the evaporation of the moisture causes the wood to contract, and so bring it to its proper shape, but the wood must nit be too long exposed, as the board will become convex on the side next to the heat. This may be avoided by frequently changing the sides. If the wood is too much distorted to yield to this treatment, it is to be bent a3 straight as possible by the hands, and, if still retaining a warped form, must be placed between two stout planks drawn closely together by hand screws. Any after prominences must be removed by the plane. PITA FIBRE. The American Consul in Honduras (Mr. Burohard) gives some particulars of the pita plant. It grows spontaneously and in apparently inexhaustible quantities by the margin of the rivers and lagoons of that country at any point below an altitude of 2000 feet. The fibre is susceptible of a very large number of uses. The people of Honduras convert it into thread for sewing boots and shoes, and into nets, fish linos, and cordage. The finest hammocks are made from it.

Small quantities which have been sent to the market have been manufactured into handkerchiefs, laces, ribbons, false hair, and wigs. The difficulty is to decorticate the plant without rotting or otherwise injuring the fibre. A NEW FIRE BOX. A recent engineering invention consists of a reversible rotative tire box—that is, a spherical chamber or box provided with perforated covers—and by rocking this lire box to and fro by means of a crank, ashes and clinkers may be easily removed; the apertures in the covers may be so small that very little coal can escape with the ashes, and the objectionable process of dumping is thus entirely avoided. In building a fire the box is nearly filled with coal, which is kindled at the top; the apparatus iB then reversed, bringing the fire under the coal, and in *he same way when the fire goes out, with the box nearly half full of coal, the above operation may be repeated without special inconvenience. By whirling the box around rapidly the ashes may be completely removed and the fire extinguished when desired, all the mechanism being such as to admit of the entire facility of working.

MISCELLANEOUS. Steam tricycles may shortly be expected to make their appearance on English roads, as a satisfactory machine has been invented by a Mr. Copeland, of Camden, New Jersey, which in propelled by means of oil. The backbone, or. tabular frame-piece of the machine, forms the support of the boiler and engine, water supply and exhaust steam pipes passing through the backbone; while other portions of the tubular frame hold the fuel oil.

The following is an excellent and cheap dark stain for deal pioture frames :—Water, 1 quart washing soda, l£oz; Vandyke brown, 2£oz; bi-chromate of potash, Joz. Boil for about ten minutes, and apply with a brush in either » hot or cold state. Cost, about 3d.

A gold colour stain for marble may be made of equal parts of zinc sulphate, ammonium chloride, and copper acetate (verdigris), all in fine powder ; it muut be carefully applied. A German patent soap for removing stains from clothing is composed of a mixture of soap, 1 part; hamatein, £ part; and Nullaja bark, i part. This mixture is boiled in water, cooled, and cast into moulds. The following is said to form a good application for scalds and burns :—Balsam fir, one ounce ; carbolic acid, two drachms ; olive oil, five ounces. Mix. To be applied with a feather or a saturated piece of lint, covering the part with ruled silk or cotton wool.

The fact Is suggestive of the intensity of the strain of city life that while from 1852 to 1868 the population of Chicago increased 5.1 times and the death rate 3.7 times, the deaths from n:Tou.i disorders increased 20.4 times.

The gr at value of nitrate of soda, a material o .- cultivators are only beginning to apprcci -e, is to h».iten the growth of plants early in the season, and for this purpose it has no equal. The foundation of the " Kaolotype" engraving process is a sheet of ironcoated with plaster of Par<e ; the lines of the drawing are soratohed doivn through the plaster to the plate, *nd the scratch mould so made is used as a matrix to cast, a stereo plate. It is found that when paraffin is thoroughly mixed with linseed oil, oast into small blooks, and cooled, it may be used to make any fabric, as cloth, felt, and leather, waterproof, by rubbing it with such a block and ironing tftorrard to equalise the distribution of the material in the pores. If too much is not put on, tfte material may be made to be only impervious to water, but not to air, the umall, greasy particles simply repelling water.