SCIENCE, MECHANICAL INVENTIONS, ETC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12260, 2 May 1903, Page 4 (Supplement)

SCIENCE, MECHANICAL INVENTIONS, ETC.

A USEFUX INVENTION'.

It is stated that a Canadian gentleman has invented a device for stopping the progress of ships. It consists of fins attached to the Side of the vessel, and operated from the ivheelhouse. A novel feature is the water cushions at the back of each, which completely do away with a shock when the fins are thrown open to stop the vessel. This device has been tested, and it is said that it was found possible to stop the vessel in its own length with the fins alone, and in half its length if, in addition, the engine was reversed. By the use of this device. collisions, with loss of life and properly, may. be greatly reduced.

WOXUKIU'UL LIGHT rKOMKT.P 15V MICfiOBKS.

ViBXXA, March 15.—Professor Hans Molisch, of Prague, has repotted to the Vienna Aeademv of Sciences I lie discovery of a lamp lighted by means of bacteria, which he claims will give a powerful light and be fre*- from danger, thus hjinj, valuable for work in mines and powder magazines. the lamp consists of a glass jar. in which a lining of saltpetre and. gelatine inoculated with bacteria is placed. Two days after inoculation the jar becomes illuminated with a wonderful bluish green light, caused by the innumerable bacteria which have developed in that time. The light will burn brilliantlv' for from two to three weeks, afterwards diminishing i" brightness. It lenders faces recognisable at a distance of two yards, and large type is easily legible by it. Professor Moliseh asserts that the lamp yields a cold light which i* entirely safe. WIRELESS TRANSATLANTIC TKLKIi.R.U'HY. It was a- proud moment for Mr. Marconi when he was able to scud a message to King Edward VII. by his wireless method from Newfoundland, a distance of over two thousand miles. This remarkable achievement has. had the natural result of lowering the value of submarine cable shares, for the uninitiated arc apt to jump to the conclusion that the new method, on account of its cheapness, is bound to oust the old one. According to the views of experts this is not likely to re the case, and certainly not under present conditions. They hold that there is a want of reliability in the new system ; that it is possible to ' tap' the messages sent, with the consequent loss of secrecy: that the rate of transmission is too slow for commercial purposes: and .that, taken as a whole, the wireless method labours under inherent and inseparable disadvantages compared will) cable telegraphy. It has been asserted by a representative*of the Anglo-American Telegraph Comnauv that it- is a. daily practice to send messages'from the London Stock Exchange to tltat of New York within one minute, and in that shoit spice of time a hundred words can be transmitted. It was not an uncommon thing for a London stockbroker to be reading a message which hart been handed in at the American office only ten minutes previously, It is for the Marconi Coraroanv to show that they can send messages with this astonishing speed, and at the same time guarantee bath accuracy arid secrecy. In the opinion of one expert the Marconi apparatus ntav be regarded as a valuable supplement to the methods m use, but not more. When all is said and done, everyone must agree that the Marconi system* is most useful for communication between moving ships and between ships and the shore. Circumstances might easily arise under which such a mode of communication would be of priceless value. EUCCTIUFICATION OK RAILWAYS. The directors of the Great Western Railway Company have, the Railway News understands, appointed a committee of their number to investigate the question of the electrification of portions of their system, and that this committee has called in liofessor Kennedy to advise them, in conjunction with Mr." Churchward. • FRESH AIR TABLETS. . " Fre*h air tablets are. a preparation discovered bv a French scientist," says the Medical Times. "It was while investigating acetylene that he discovered that, be Eould combine certain chemicals into a tablet which, on being dropped into water, dissolved and gave forth pure oxygen, these, tablets will be -exceedingly useful in a closed, carriao*, a submarine boat, a mine, or anywhere 0 else where the' air has become vitiated." ELECTRICAL WAGGONS. ■ Both in France and Germany waggons and omnibuses run by electric trolley-wires tire now in use in at least two places, at Konigstein, Germany, and between Dontainebleau and Samois, France. The plan differs from thtt of ordinary trolley-cars mainly in the absence of rails carrying the wheels of the vehicle. The waggons can be run over a street pavement or a country road and can turn out to a lateral distance of about 10 feet in order to pass other vehicles. In the French system tlie waggons are towed along by a self -propelled motor trolley running upon the wires alongside the road. In the German system trams composed of several caw, or waggons, can be used, the steering being eftected with the front' wheels of the hauling car. BOXTOEX HAYS ASH WSB.YSK: IfOI'KFUL OUTLOOK. The applications of electricity in the treatment of disease tut now being carefully studied, and almost every hospital has its X-ray department. Introduced originally for diagnostic and localising purposes, I'ont<?en rays have been found to possess properties which may in the future revolutionise the treatment of certain diseases. Carelessly applied," the rays may set up considerable inflammation of the skin exposed to Their action, while lupus and, malignant growths mav be considerably benefited, or even be cured bv a number of exposures to these remarkable simulations. The rays seem to possess a selective action, destroying diseased tissues and bringing about reparative action, but leaving the healthy ones untouched. In cases ol cancer hopeful results have been obtained ; the treatment is painless, and it seems to relieve pain and to inhibit progress of the disease. The mode of: action of Kontgen rays is doubtful; by some it is believed to be a bactericidal one, but more probably an inflammatory reaction is set up, leading to phagocytosis and leucocytosis, whereby the wandering "scavenger" cells of the body accumulate, attack and destroy the morbid tissues.

THK CUBE OF TU!!KIICr. T : ViKX.NA EXi'EItIILK.VK.

A Renter's report state-si that Professor Behring, the discoverer of the diphtheria serum, lectuieil before the Vienna Medical 'society upon the resides of hi.-; experiments with tuberculosis seium, which have so far been confined to animal:-, and have proved entirely successful. The pioi'essor at picsent, however,' considers •', inadvisable to experiment on human beings, lii.- - . serum is produced by cultivation of the bacillus of human tuberculosis, vhieh is dried in a vacuum in order to prevent loss of virulence. An ordinary dose consists of four centigrammes of bacilli mixed villi water. It is injected subcutaneous'.}- into the veins. In very few cases, said the lecturer, did the experiments prove unsatisfactory on account of fever, difficulty in breathing, and accelerated pulse, but even in these cases the animals proved immune against animal tuberculosis. Professor Bearing found that with younger animals the reaction Mas less than in the case of older animals, which suffered from severe reaction, besides losing their immunity quicker. He thought, therefore, that in the event of the serum proving a success persons should be inoculated in their earliest childhood. Professor Behring admitted that' he was unable to tell how soon people might expect to be able to protect themselves against tuberculosis by the injection of the serum. Incidentally the lecturer declared that the question of •heredity was far less important than many people believed. He attached great importance to. contagion.