SCIENCE AND INVENTIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 13948, 2 January 1909, Page 4 (Supplement)

SCIENCE AND INVENTIONS.

CULTIVATING WILD FRUITS. Seeds of wild fruits and vegetation growing in Central China are to be forwarded to Luther Burbaiik to see if he can cultivate them and produce luscious fruit and useful trees and foliage in places rarely penetrated by white people. ' LIFE OF A TROLLEY WHEEL. The life of a 4in trolley wheel averages between 8000 and 10.000 miles, while a sin wheel will run between 20,000 and 25,000 miles, as shown by extensive tests with trolley wheels in Baltimore. The results of these tests were reported by H. H. Adams before the Interurban Railway Engineering Association. A BOW RUDDER. The bow- rudder, giving increased manoeuvring power to river and other lightdraught steamers, is the invention of Alfred F. \ arrow, of the famous Glasgow firm t.f shipbuilders. The rudder is quickly put in place or removed. It slides on a vertical shaft in front of the bow, and is raised or lowered bv a tackle. When in use a steering tiller is fitted to the head of tire pivot shaft. USING UP SCRAP GUTTAPERCHA. " Scrap gutta-percha can be worked up again by heating it to the softening point, that is, "to about the temperature of boiling water, and working it into a ball, which should subsequently be rolled into a sheet by passing between rollers. The rollers should preferably be of smooth iron, out an ordinary mangle would serve as a substitute if the rollers were wetted with hot water. ELECTRIC GLUE POT. The value of electricity for heating purposes is a now electric glue pot which has recently been placed on the market. The economy of the device lies in the fact that the maximum amount of heat may be applied instantly when needed, while the glue may be kept warm at all times by a reduced flow of current through the heating coils. The glue pot consists of a cup in which the glue is placed, and which is set in a casing filled with water. The electric heater is attached to the pot immediately below the water. A hot water receptacle is provided in which the brushes may be kept. AN AUTOMOBILE FOR HORSES. The automobile has surely been placed to no more ironical purpose than the above. A French manufacturer has devised a conveyance which is actually intended fr»ir the transportation of the very animals rhich the automobile is intended to supplant. Seriously considered the vehicle has certainly much to commend it. As the reader no doubt suspects, it is primarily designed for the conveyance of valuable racing horses, that cannot be entrusted to a railway without some anxiety. An accident might mean a heavy financial loss to the owner of a horse. In an automobile such as that a thoroughbred can be transported with considerable safety, and besides, with far more convenience and comfort. The interior of the vehicle is fitted up as a stable with all the requisites to which the pampered horse is accustomed.

REMARKABLE SHIP. A ship of an extraordinary character has just been placed in commission for the German navy, at Kiel. The distinguishing Mature of "the Vulkan is its peculiar form. The vessel consists primarily of two hulls, linked together fore and aft above the water-line by steel girders. This linking or joining together is clone in such a manner that a torpedo-boat or submarine riding at the surface can steam betwen the two hulls. When the small craft is in this position tackles and crane hooks can be lowered from the Vulkan, and the little vessel can be lifted out of the water as far as may be desirable for repairs, or for docking. The means of propulsion of the vessel are interesting, for neither reciprocating engines nor turbines, but electric motors, are employed for driving the two propeller shafts. Current is delivered to the motors by two :n----dependent turbine generator sets. If ilie vessel is to steam slowly one generator set only is run. All the switches and controlling mechanism for the entire machinery are operated from the bridge, so that no inter-communication between the commanding officer and the engine-room is necessary. One of the purposes for which the vessel is destined is to serve in salvage operations for sunken submarines, the necessity for such a salvage ship having become more and more apparent as the development of submarine practice has progressed. INDOOR PHOTOGRAPHY. It is now possible to take photographic snapshots indoors with ordinary apparatus, owing to recent improvements in the rapidity of plates. Most men of 50 can remember when " instantaneous photographs'' were wonderful and rare. The most blundering amateur takes them by hundreds now, but only in bright sunlight, especially if his shutter is a quick one. Shutters, lenses, and plates have been improved little by little during the last 25 years until, ■with such apparatus as that invented by Guido Sigristi, it has been for some rAmo possible to take portraits in the ordinary studio light without posing. Recent plates made in Paris have now cut the necessary time of exposure down to about one-seventh of what used to be the minimum, so that quickly moving objects may be snapshotted in a, studio as well as in the brightest sunlight, with a shutter speed of about 0.004 second. One of the chief results of these improvements will be that the lenses found in ordinary low priced portable cameras may be made to produce results that have hitherto been possible only to the fortunate possessor of an expensive anastigmatio lens of large aperture. The new rapid plates are as easy to use as the older forms, except that unusual precautions must be taken to exclude traces of light. Development, for instance, is always begun at a distance from the lantern, in a covered tray, and the plates must be placed in the frames in total darkness. j WATER STERILISED AT THE TAP. Ozone is one of our most powerful oxidis- : ers, and advantage has been taken of this fact in a novel manner in France. Drinking water, though passed through a lengthy cycle of filtering and purifying operations, may be extensively contaminated by microorganisms. The latest development is the introduction of a certain quantity of the gas into the water at the tap, so that when drawn the liquid is to all intents and imrposes perfectly sterile. The apparatus is very simple and inexpensive to instal. Mounted on a small panel some 15in sonars is a small ozoniser, comprising sheets of glass covered with tinfoil on one side, and freely perforated. A current of air is drawn through these plates, which is ionised un- : der the influence of the electric current. The ionised air passes into an inverted glaes blub, into which the water ij thrown by the main pressure in the form of a spray, and accordingly it combines with the gas, which immediately seizes upon all bacteria present, oxidising or despatching them immediately. The water drawn from the tap is quite germproof, while the addition of the ozone imparts a delightful sparkle and an invigorating taste to the liquid. The apparatus is very economical in operation, the ozoniser merely being connected to the holder of an electric lamp, while the simple task of turning "the tap sets the ozoniser in action, switching off the current when the supply is arrested. The electrical consumption is very small, one unit sufficing for the sterilising of a thousand gallons of water. Over a thousand of these sterilisers have been installed in private houses in Paris, and recently they have been introduced into America. The system lias also been ■extended to the purification of public supply installations, a huge plant having recently been completed for the sterilisation of the minking water ot Nice before its entry into the distributing mains, a plan capable of treating over 5,000,000 gallons of water per day.