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New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9154, 8 September 1888, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE DIRECTION OF SOUNDS.

The difficulty in determining the true and exact direction of the sounds we hear meets us in various ways. The hunter hears the note of a bird, the hiss or whistle of a deer, and the sound indicates identity and proximity, but not direction. The hunter waits tor repeated renewal of the sound to ascertain its exact position, and even then verifies his audition by his vision. The hunter by his camp fire may aim between the luminous dots of reflected light, which he knows to be the eyes of a wolf ; but he would scarcely be able to aim at or even near that spot on simply hearing the howl from the wolf that owns the eyes. The plainsman hears a shout in the distance. lie may recognise it as the voice of a comrade, and fix the general direction, as north, south, east, or west, but hardly more. He may shout back, and the two may come together ; but if it be dark, and there is no fire or other signal, the shouting back and forth must be frequently repeated and varied from a simple to a complex sound, that each may correct the error of his own audition, eliminate his personal equation, and the sound will appear to swing, pen-dulum-like, right and left, with shorter and shorter stroke, till the comrades come together. How many of us going to i.he next street, running at right angles to the car tracks, can tell from hearing the bell of the approaching street-car before the car comes in sight whether that car is going north or south? It does not. seem that animals can determine the direction of sound much better than man. The sleeping clog, roused by his master's call, is all abroad as to his master's location, and determines it by sight or scent, or both, frequently running in several different directions before hitting the right one. The deer, on being startled by the unseen hunter's tread, is not always right in his selection of the route to get out of harm's way. A llock of geese, ducks, or other birds, on hearing a gun, is as likely to fly toward as from the sportsman, if he has kept entirely out of sight, and the flash of his piece has not been seen. A NEW PROCESS FOR EXTRACTING QUININE. The Government of India have published for the information of the public, through the Bulletin of the Royal Gardens, Kew, some particulars of the new process of extracting quinine from the cinchona bark by means of oil. By the aid of this process, perfected lately by Mr. o amine, it is found possible to utilise the Cahsaya or yellow bark variety, and to extract from it the whole of its quinine in a form indistinguishable chemically or physically from the best brands of European manufacture, and this so cheaply that not merely in times like the present of depressed markets, but at all j>eqods, it would not cost the Government more than 2,"» rupees per pound. Should all the expectations which this important discovery has awakened be realised, it is believed that it will lead to the substitution of Indian-manufactured quinine for the febrifuge in the hospitals and dispensaries of India, and as a necessary consequence to the substitution of yellow bark for red bark in the Sikkim plantations.—Pall Mall Gazette. A SUN FURNACE. One of the most interesting and practical methods of utilising the heat of the sun is that recently invented by Professor Morse, of Salem, Massachusetts. The arrangement consists of a shallow box, the bottom of which is of corrugated iron, and the top of glass. This is placed out-side the building in such a position that the sun shines directly upon it ; the heat rays of the sun pass through the glass, and are absorbed by the iron, heating it to a high temperature, and by a system of ventilation a current of air is passed through the apparatus and into the room to be heated. By this means the air has been heated on sunny days to about 90deg. Fahr. by passing over the iron. — Iron.

THE NOVA SCOTIA SHIP RAILWAY. Mr. Benjamin Baker, one of England's most celebrated mechanical engineers, recently visited the Eastern States and Canada in the interest of the proposed ship railway across the northern portion of the peninsula of Nova Scotia. Air. Baker is an enthusiastic supporter of ship railways. While on a visit to Pittsburg, he met Col. James Andrews, the chief engineer of the Tehuantepec Ship Railway Co., to whom he remarked : " My visit to America is to submit the plans for a ship railway across the isthmus of Chignecto, in Nova Scotia, to the Minister of Public Works of Canadp. They have met with his entire approval, and I sail for London on Saturday to make a report to the syndicate of English capitalists who are backing this scheme. The work on this railway will likely be commenced in the coming month of July, and will be finished, it is expected, within two years' time. The total outlay will be ,000,000, all of which has already been subscribed, the Canadian Government guaranteeing in return an annual dividend of £35,000. The railway will be 17 miles long, and, owing to the heavy tide in the Bay of Fundy, which rises at times as high as 70 feet, ships will have to be raised 42 feet by hydraulic pressure. The largest vessel that we will be able to take across will be 2500 tons burden. The Tehuantepec Railway will endeavour to carry ships of 4000 tons burden, but they will have to be raised only 14 feet. In other respects the smaller railway in Canada will be similar to the one in which Col. Andrews is interested. This Canadian road will be of much benefit to the marine traffic between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and American ports. It will save a distance of 600 miles of ocean travel. I think that the ship railways will be a success."

MISCELLANEOUS. The Railway Age of Chicago reports that in the first five months of the current year 2270 miles of new railroad were constructed in the United States. The total for 1888 is likely to exceed 8000 miles, and will probably reach 10,000 miles, and perhaps even 12,000 miles. A company has been formed in Berlin to manufacture electrical watches. Two small cells and a small electric motor take the place of the ordinary movement. About 150 colours are now obtained from coal tar, which have almost supplanted vegetable and animal dyes. Indigo and logwood are the only two of the latter class considered of much importance. A steam winding screwdriver has been made in Philadelphia, with the handle in two parts, said parts being capable of rotating one upon the other. A stop-pin and pawl limit the movement of the shank in one direction, while the top of the handle will move backward without turning the shank. The mechanism appears to be very similar to the principal of a stem-winding watch.

The Edison Phonograph Company has been incorporated at Newark, New Jersey, with a capital of £(50,000. Ib is stated that the factory at Bloomfield, N.J., is turning out phonographs at the rate of twenty per day, and unless something unexpected occurs, the first order will be filled by the middle of June or sooner. The price of the commercial phonograph, which Mr. Edison expects will take the place of the shorthand clerk, is £17. Electric rifles are th a latest. Instead of the ordinary percussion firing device, a dry chloride of silver battery and a primary coil will, so it was lately stated before the American Institute, fire the rifle 30,000 times without recharging.