SCIENCE, MECHANICAL INVENTIONS, ETC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12818, 18 March 1905, Page 4 (Supplement)

SCIENCE, MECHANICAL INVENTIONS, ETC.

PHOTOGRAPHIC POWER OF WOOD. MsriiifekTS, by Dr. William J. Russell fcaie inoTrii that a section of a tree trunk, or of a branch, cut across the grain, possesses the power to impress upon a photographic plate in the dark a distinct image of itself, plainly showing the rings of growth. There is a great difference in the intensity of this power among different kinds of wood. The conifers—-the pines and firs •—possess it in a high degree.

ELECTRICITY CONQUERS MOUNTAINS.

The ability ol electrically-driven trains to surmount grades impracticable to steam engines is to be taken advantage of in constructing a new railway over the Alps, from Turin in Italy to Martigny in Switzerland. The maximum gradient is to be 1 in 20, and the motive power is to be derived from Alpine waterfalls. There will be one tunnel under the Paradis Mountain. The total length of the line will be 97J, miles, much shorter than any of the existing steam roads connecting central Europe with North-wcst-«ra Italy.

CANALS IN AGRICULTURE. A. good deal of interest seems to have been aroused by the discussion as to the greater' utilisation of canals for the conveyance of agricultural produce. The objection generally made to the conveyance of commercial stuff, that a canal is not sufficiently swift, does not apply to agriculture —at least in En gland. There is no reason; whatever why rapidity should be insisted upon in the carriage of such articles as grain, artificial manures, grass and other seeds, and the things ordinarily needed on a farm. They might be conveyed in a. leisurely fashion, and still no one be put to any inconvenience, while at the same time the general expenses are reduced.

ENGINEERING APPRENTICES. Two years ago Richardsons, Westgarth 'and Co., Limited, at their Hartlepool works, introduced a scheme with a view of encouraging deserving apprentices, whereby each apprentice on reaching a certain standard for timekeeping, perseverance, ability, rind good conduct in the shops, and for passing examinations at the evening classes, obtained' an increase in his weekly pay for the whole year. The scheme has given great satisfaction to all concerned, and last year Hie increase in the boys attaining the minimum standard was, for timekeeping, 27 per cent.; perseverance and good conduct, 31 per cent.: and for passing examinations, 48 per cent.

TO A UNIFORM SCALE. Geographers are beginning to hope that they may soon have maps of the different parts of the earth drawn to a uniform scale. The British War Office has begun the publication, of a map of Africa drawn to the scale of one to a million— is, about fifteen and four-fifths miles to the inch; the Royal Prussian Survey is publishing a map of Eastern China on the same scale, and the geographical service of the French tfnny is issuing similar mans of the Antilles, Persia, and China. At its recent meeting in , New York the International Geographical Congress asked the Government of the United States to prepare a map of America on the same scale.

ANIMAL WAVES. Br. E. Ray Lankester has investigated the peculiar wavy motion of centipedes and millipedes, with the view of determining the maimer in which these animals manage to use their superabundant pedal extremities so gracefully and harmoniously. He finds that the legs move in groups, or waves. each wave including a definite number of legs. The number of waves included in the length of the oody is constant for each Species. In millipedes the waves of each Side are synchronous; in centipedes they are Symmetrically alternate, giving rise to Jieautifulry accordant movements. The Inference may be' explained by suggesting the the millipede moves like a pacing horse, the centipede like a trotter.

LIVES SAVED AT SEA. ..- The year 1904, unlike its predecessor, has been by no means a. stormy one, although dnring the earlier months a fair amount of boisterous weather was experienced. The Royal.National. Lifeboat Institution's boats were launched 294 times on sen-ice, in addition, to which lifeboat crews were assembled in readiness for service 50 times, but their assistance was not needed. The number of lives saved by lifeboat? and other means ror which the institution granted rewards dnring the year was 519, and as many as 34 vessels and boats were also saved by the lifeboats from partial or total loss. The total number of lives for the saving of Which the institution has granted rewards since' its establishment in 1824 has been 44,880. ■ •

A DRAUGHT-EXCLUDER. Among the minor inventions which contribute towards comfort in the home may W5 favourably mentioned Smith's patent draught-excluder, which is easy to adapt to" doors and windows and has a neat appearance. l By its aid a strip of felt can Bte secured over a draughty crack without the" necessity of nailing, and the said strip can be removed with ease for cleaning or renewal. This is brought about by the use of Spring rosettes constructed of brass. wßlefi are affixed With a single pin to the woodwork at intervals of about nine inches. The felt strip slides into these little fixtures and closes the aperture from which the unwelcome draught comes.

WOODEN WATER-PIPES. It is by no means uncommon in the city of London when a street is "up" to see lying along the curb a few lengths of wooden water-pipes which have been unearthed by the excavators. These are simply trunks of tree*, generally about nine inches in external diameter, with the rough bark still visible on their surface, and with a bore of about four inches diameter. One end of e'&cb trunk is hollowed out. while the other ii pointed, so that they can lie fitted into one another it} a continuous length. These pipeS date back to the seventeenth century, when a water-supply was first brought to ♦•he metropolis from" Hertfordshire by the New River Company. It is interesting to not* that wooden pipes for the conveyance of water on a very large scale are in use to-day, not in our own country but on the Pacific sljpo. These pipes, some of which are many feet in diameter, are made of Californian redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), and are constructed with staves and hoops like an ordinary barrel. Where shifp turns are necessary an elbow-joint of cast-iron, or of steel in the case of the larger pipes, is introduced. These pipes s»rve many important industries, and one of !heir*nost valued features is that they can be t+%t»portcd piecemeal and put together Whetf they reaeh their destination. The wood h very light weight, and is exceedingly diir»b!c,

the COLUMBIA BOTTLE-STOPPER.

Ifc Would seem difficult to find a better substitute for cork as a stopper for bottles, although the glass-marble stopper, rubber, and paper-cork are used to some extent. Mr. Pi W. Menzies, Edinburgh, has given a demonstration with an American machine •which cuts metal corks from prepared strips of tin, inserts a tiny ring of ruOoer, and by a swift process on another machine fastens the tin stopper over the neck of the bottle so that all air is excluded, and it cannot be removed b* -hand. The infentors are Mr. Lewis "Kallltig and Mr. Albert Jones, and the machine is made in Baltimore; U.S.A. Strips of prepared tin rite fed below a punch, which stamps out rile discs. These travel round and receive a tiny ring of rubber inside, and are dropped out ready for insertion on the neck of the bottle. It is said that these stoppers ♦ill be sold at one shilling a gross, and th.it with (lie patent stoppiiiji-titiichine it will M possible to close from 1500 to 1800 bottles per lioi'i: