SCIENCE, MECHANICAL INVENTIONS, ETC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11986, 7 June 1902, Page 6 (Supplement)

SCIENCE, MECHANICAL INVENTIONS, ETC.

.'.. . * —— - MASS ' FOB PRINTING HOLLERS. Soak best Cologne glue 5000 thoroughly in water, pour off the * superfluous water j and melt in a kettle together with glycerine 5000. The finished rollers are rendered more resisting by coating them with a solution of potassium dichromate 50 and water 950. —Farben Zeitung. PERPETUAL MOTION. The latest inventor of perpetual motion hails from Chicago. His idea, briefly stated, is that there is a natural draught in every tall chimney, independent of any furnace or other source of heat at its base, and this the inventor utilises to drive a windmill. He proposes to build a steel stack 1050 feet high, and. estimates the power obtainable from it at 50 horse-power. . OIL FUEL 10R STEAMERS. From an article in Transport it appears that oil has been very successfully used as fuel for steamers. An inspection of the Clam steamer, belonging to the Shell Transport Company, was recently made prior to her departure from the Thames for Philadelphia. It was shown from the vessel's log that for two years the steamer has been using oil instead* of coal, and that it was found that eighteen tons ot oil gave off more heat than twenty-eight tons of coal, and with improvements recently made it was expected that still better results would be obtained. The employment of liquid fuel also led to a considerable economy of labour, got rid of many of the difficulties attending the stokehold, and allowed a considerable addition to the space available for cargo. The Clam has relied solely upon obtaining a supply of oil from Borneo, and the company claim that from their wells in that country they can supply 100,000 tons of oil a day.' The company are so satisfied with the results obtained that they intend to send to sea a fleet of eighteen steamers burning oil as fuel. In the United States oil is very largely superseding coal for locomotive engines, especially for street railways. In England the Great Eastern Railway Company have many of their engines fitted for using oil as fuel, the advantage of which was found very great during the late high price of coal. MARCONI MESSAGES. The captain of the TJmbria has made an interesting report on the working of the Marconi wireless telegraphy during his last voyage. Whilst messages were being transmitted between his ship and the Campania the poles to which the Marconi apparatus is attached gave way, and were carried overboard, trailing for some distance astern. To the surprise of those on board the apparatus was unaffected, receiving its messages as before the accident. This is held to demonstrate that the electrical waves will travel on the water as well as in the air. A RACE OK GIANTS. Owing to the discovery of the remains of a race of giants in Guadalupe, N.M., antiquarians and archaeologists are preparing an expedition further to explore' that region. Luciana Quintana, on whose ranch the ancient burial plot is located, discovered two stones that bore curious inscriptions, and beneath these were found in shallow excavations the bones of a frame that could not have been less than twelve feet in length. INJURY OF COAL BY-EXPOSURE TO. THE WEATHER. Coal exposed to the open air loses its heating power slowly. This loss, according to an editorial on the subject in the Engineer, is due to a slow combustion or union of the coal with the oxygen of the air. which differs from ordinary combustion only by its slowness, ami the small part of the coal which is liable to combustion under such circumstances. The author goes on to say : "Owing to the slowness of the operation the heat generated has an opportunity of escaping, and thus there is no marked rise of temperature. If, however, the heat thus generated is prevented from escaping it may become banked up, so to speak, in the coal pile ,and a rise of temperature may follow which will tend to accelerate the combustion, and thus these two conditions will progress, each tending to increase the other until finally active combustion bursts out, and spontaneous combustion is said to result. In general, however, danger of spontaneous combustion is not likely to arise under the conditions affecting the stationary engineer, and he is chiefly concerned with this slow combustion as an influence which may affect the quality of his coal.. . . . The chief external conditions which may affect weathering are moisture and temperature. With a coal free from iron pyrites the presence of moisture is believed to slightly retard the operation, of slow combustion, and thus to exercise a beneficial influence. On the other hand, with a coal rich in iron pyrites the conditions are reversed. This substance readily oxidises at ordinary temperature, the operation being aided by. moisture. As a result of the operation, heat is developed and the pyrites is destroyed, in consequence of which the lump of coal tends to break up into small bits, thus exposing fresh surfaces to the air." HAIR WASHES. As the name implies, these washes serve for cleansing the scalp of dust and other impurities adhering to it. A large number of them are offered for sale as nostrums and specialities under high-sounding names, although they are often declared to be worthless by experts, some of these remedies being so injurious that their use is not advisable without previous consultation of an expert. Following are some formulas of hair washes, which may be employed without hesitation :—Flower Hair Wash : Spirit of wine (85 degrees), 1 kilo; jasmine pomade extract, 100 grammes ; rose pomade extract, 100 grammes ; tuberose pomade extract, 75 grammes; vanilla tincture. 5G grammes; rose water, 1 kilo. Bay Rum : Tincture of bay leaves, 150 grammes; ' bay oil. 5 grammes ; ammonium bicarbonate, 30 grammes ; borax, 30 grammes ; rose water. 1000 grammes. Dissolve the bay oil in the tincture, the ammonia and the borax in the rose watei, mix both solutions and filter. Eau de Cologne Hair Wash : Rose water. 1000 grammes ; glycerine. 360 grammes ; eau de Cologne, 300 grammes; borax, 50 grammes. Frothing Hair Wash: Spirit of wine (85 degrees), 500 grammes: rose water, 1000 grammes ; prime white grain soap or transparent soap, 30 grammes. Finely scrape the soap, dissolve it at moderate heat in the spirit id wine and mix with the rose water.—Original recipes of A)win Engelhardt, in Neueste Erfindungen mid Erfahruugeii. WIRELESS ADVERTISING.' Wireless electricity is being used for advertising purposes now. The distance traversed is not exactly the Atlantic Ocean, but the principle is the same. Two contrivances are erected in different, positions in public places, such as the bar of a hotel or it public-house, and by putting a penny into one of them an advertisement is displayed forthwith in the other, there being no material contact or connection between the two parts of the apparatus, which is worked entirely by means of electricity without wires. „ PICRIC ACID IN MOTORS. Picric acid is being mixed with petrol in France for motor-car purposes. Although its use is attended with considerable danger to life the consumption of spirit is said to be reduced by more than bC per cent. owing to the highei explosive lorce obtained. A French chemist states that the use of this high explosive for motive purposes will be attended by a deposit, of a by-product in the combustion chamber and exhaust pipes,: which will have the same explosive torce as dynamite, and that, if heated by the rays of the sun or otherwise,. a further and. unwelcome explosion will occur. Experiments in this direction would appear to be suited for the laboratory only. DIRIGIBLE AIRSHIPS. The great obstacle which has militated against the success of the dirigible airships has been, says Feildeu's Magazine, the want of a motor sufficiently light to enable a gas- | balloon to sustain its weight and that of the operator with anything like stability, or an aeroplane to sustain the necessary weight of all. To-day it is possible to build steam motors weighing only 101b to i the horse-power, and gas engines 12J,1b to ' 151b. When a still lighter motor is avail- i able, or, perhaps, when the direct produc- I lion of electricity from carbon becomes a ' "fait accompli"— chief difficulty enIcouuterer in the problem of flying through the air may be reckoned to have been solved, i ' I