SCIENCE AND INVENTIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13583, 12 September 1908, Page 4 (Supplement)

SCIENCE AND INVENTIONS.

TELESCOPIC FUNNELS.

Telescopic funnels are one of the improvements which are projected by the designers of the new Dreadnoughts. The idea of these is that a ship, upon getting into close touch with the enemy, should be able to lower the upper section of her funnels, and thus have as little top-hamper as possible for shell to make havoc amongst. INCOMBUSTIBLE LAMP WICKS. The so-called incombustible wicks are those that are treated with a. chemical substance that prevents charring. Boric acid and ammonia are used, one recipe being as follows:—-To half a gallon of water add l-7oz of boric acid and l-6oz of strong liquor ammonia. Soak the wicks in this and then dry them. To distinguish soaked from tinsoaked wicks a little dye can be put in the solution. SOLIDIFYING POWDERED LEATHER. Mix the powdered leather with chalk or whiting in the proportion of about 10 parts of the former to one part of the latter, then add sufficient silicate of soda (soda water glass) to form a stiff paste. The silicate of soda should previously have been mixed with an equal weight of water. If the material is to be moulded it should be filled into the moulds as soon as possible, as it sets very rapidly. This mixture in a short time becomes as hard as stone, and is unaffected by water.

TO MAKE MATCHES. Matches without phosphorus may be made with the following composition: Potassium chlorate, 30 parts; sulphur. 10 parts; sugar, 8 parts; gum arabic, 5 parte; colour with vermilion. The gum should first be made into solution with about twice its weicht of water: the sugar and chlorate of potash, each in fine powder, should then be carefully added, and lastly the sulphur. The whole should then bo well stirred, and the matches dipped in. Another composition consists of powdered glass, 20 parts; glue, 16 parts ; bi-chromate of potash, 15 parts; potassium chlorate, 108 parts; red oxide of iron, 8 parts: oxide of manganese, 32 parts, and sulphur 16 parts. The clue is first dissolved in warm water, and the other ingredients stirred in. POWDERED EGGS. A process of preserving eggs by desiccation, invented by an Australian chemist, has proved most satisfactory. The eggs, freed from the shells, are dried at the relatively low temperature of 130 degrees F. The operation can be rapidlv executed in containers kept at this temperature, from which the air has been exhausted, and from which likewise the moist vapour is withdrawn as fast as given off bv the evaporation from the eggs. There is no alteration in the chemical composition of the eggs'— a loss of the greater part of the water. When thoroughly desiccated and pulverised into a state of coarse powder, the ecsr material can be preserved for an indefinite period in ordinary packages if kept in a dry place. The eggs are " reconstituted " by the simple addition of water to the dry powder, the resultant mass being quite indistinguishable from newly beaten-up eggs. NEW TELEPHONE MARVEL. The marvel of the telephone has become commonplace through daily usage. Fresh interest, however, is likely to be aroused in its wonderful possibilities by a new invention, of which a demonstration hag just been witnessed The inventor is a German, Herr Gustav Grzanna, and his mission to this country is an outcome of tho new Patent Laws. His marvellous apparatus has already been exhibited in Germany, where it has aroused profound interest. Herr Grzanna can transmit handwriting, sketches, etc., over an ordinary telephone wire for very considerable distances and within the period of a few seconds-, thus making a considerable advance on the old system of electric writing at a distance. He uses a low tension current, viz., 12 volts, in the transmitting and receiving boxes, and his apparatus can be made an auxiliary of common telephonic communication, and, therefore, its commercial utilisa- , tion is ready to hand. A NOVEL MILITARY WAGGON. An invention of motoring interest has recently been perfected at the Elswick works. This is the evolution of a new type of heavy motor-waggon. The vehicle is primarily for military transport—the conveyance of troops or passengers, but is equally useful for the carriage of baggage or goods in bulk, conversion from one purpose to the other being easily effected in about two minutes. Also, if necessary, it can be adapted to mixed traffic, the front half beim? available for passengers, with the second and rear half devoted to freight. Moreover, this combination system has been ingeniously effected without the necessity of carrying any extra parts. To convert the vehicle from a freight conveyance into a passenger waggon the sides are merely lifted out, the fastenings for securing the sections in their correct positions being attached. The waggon sides, divided into four equal distinct parts, together with a similar section forming the tail-board, are sufficient to make five garden seats. When utilised for passenger purposes exclusively there is seating accommodation for twentyfive persons, while in its composite form ten passengers can be carried. On the back of each seat suitable clips are fitted for housing rifles. The commanding officer's seat is arranged beside the driver and to the dashboard a folding table is attached, so that ue can consult maps and so forth while travelling Moreover, beneath the floor of the waggon is a locker in which 6000 rounds of ammunition can be stowed. Apart from its utility for military purposes, this type of convertible waggon should be of great service in rural districts for the mixed class of traffic between railway and market centres, and straggling, outlying residential districts, where the exigencies for either an exclusive passenger or goods service are inadequate to render either financially remunerative, though, on the other hand, there are great opportunities forj a mixed traffic.

. THE SCIENCE OF COLOUR. "A well-known naturalist once said: "We may have a yellow rose, but it is pretty well agreed that if we ever see a blue one it will be by a process of continuous variation and selection. By thi« it is meant that if a blue rose is ever produced from a red variety, for instance, the change will not be a 6udden one, a leap from one colour to the other, but the result of a gradual progression through a scries of steps leading regularly from red to blue. In fact, it has been found that both plants and animals exhibit a tendency toward a definite succession of colours, and certain colours have been regarded as representing 'higher stages of evolution than others. The changes toward these "higher" colours are usually continuous, and require a series of variations, while, on the other hand, instances of sudden reversion to " lower " colours are not uncommon. Red is regarded as a higher colour, in this sense, than yellow. The yellow primrose sometimes varies to red, but the chancre is never sudden or discontinuous, because it is a chance in the direction of progression. But red to yellow the change somctmes occurs by a jump, so to speak, because it is going backward. The same tiling seems to apply in the case of virds. Red and green species of birds may vary to yellow, but the utmost efforts of breeders to produce red canaries from yellow ones have resulted only in an orange hue. A well-known florist recently startled the world by offering hundreds of green carnations for sale. After a great deal of discussion had been aroused, he confessed that he created them by sticking them, when cut, in a pot of green dye and lotting them absorb the colour through their stems. Although there is no relation apparent between, the two phenomena, yet it is interesting, in connection with this subject, to recall the fact that among the stars certain colours appear to characterise different stages of change, or evolution. Red stars, according to the testimony of the spectroscope, differ widely irk, their constitution from white or yellow ones, and it has been thought that varying colour may give a clue to progressive changes in the heavenly bodies Sirius, for instance, is said to have changed from red to white, and some have suspected that Arcturus is fading from red toward yellow. Thus science, as it clears up one mystery, reveals another.