SCIENCE AND INVENTIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 1514, 9 November 1912, Page 4 (Supplement)

SCIENCE AND INVENTIONS.

CLEANING COPPER-PLATE. Wash the sheet on .the front and back sides, by means of a soft sponge or brush, with water, to every 1000 parts of which 40 parts of carbonate of ammonia have been added, and rinse the sheet off with water. Then moisten it with water, to which a little wine-vinegar has been added, rinse again with water in which a little chloride of lime has been dissolved, and dry in the air, preferably in the sun. The sheet will be perfectly clear, without- injury to the print.

SINGLE-PHASE LOCOMOTIVES.

The most powerful single-unit electric locomotives that have been designed up to the present time are now being built for a Swiss railway. These locomotives, ten in number, weigh 108 tons each, total, and have a weight on their ten drivers (adhesive weight) of 85 tons. They are capable of developing 2500 horse-power at a speed of fifty miles per hour, with a possible increase of speed of seventy-five miles per hour, for an uninterrupted run of li hours, and can exert a drawbar pull of 18, COO kilogrammes from the standstill.

THE LONGEST TRAIN ON RECORD.

America remains the home of the record. This time it is the longest .train: on record which must go to tho credit of America. Recently a train of 133 trucks in length was despatched from PerthAmbroy docks to the goods station at Mahon. Thus the train was over a milo and a-quarter long. In order to draw it two locomotives were necessary in front and a -third behind. The train, though of record length, must have been extremely cumbersome to manage, it must nevertheless bo acknowledged that this 'portentous train was not due to any devotion to "tho cult of the record," but to tho fact that there is at present an embarrassing shortage of railway employees in Pennsylvania.

OZONISED AIR, Electrical machinery for changing a, part of the oxygen' in the air into ozone is now generally employed for deodorising and sterilising the atmosphere in offices, theatres, banks, schools, subways, tunnels, and other public places. It is said that ozonised air promotes deep breathing, and as a result, strengthens the' lungs and increases tho weight. 1 o test the matter, the First National Bank of Chicago made an interesting experiment a short time ago on six clerks employed in one of the rooms of the auditing department. The individual weights and chest measurements of the men were taken just before an apparatus for ozonising the air was installed ir: the room, and again at the end of two months. It was found that every one of the men had gained both in weight and in chest measurement.

SKINLESS FURS. A'French chemist has recently patented an ingenious process for making furs mothproof. First, or. a frame in a shallow pan, he stretches the skin with the fur up, and pours in enough water to cover it. He puts the pan in a refrigerating chamber, and keeps it there until the water is frozen solid. Next, he takes out the cake of ice, and from the bottom saws the layer that contains the 6kin. Then lie melts the bottom of the cake that is left, and when the lower ends of the fur protrude a little, he pours on a solution of rubber, layer by layer, until the coating is of the required thickness. The coating is flexible. When the rest of the ice has melted, the fur is practically finished. The inventor says that, except for the fact that it is proof against the attacks of insects, it js exactly like natural fur. The skin is sold us leather.

PALM ALCOHOL AND SUGAR. Alcohol as well as sugar can be obtained from some of the palm trees in the extreme Orient. One of these is the palm known as Nipa fruticar.s, and there are three others growing in the Philippines which can be used, the Cocos liucifera, Corypha data, and another variety. The first of these is very abundant and its sap serves to produce " a drink which the natives appreciate on account of its agreeable flavour. This is called cocoa wine, and it has 20 to 50 per cer.t. alcohol. During 1909 there were 28 distilleries engaged in treating 150,000 gallons of sap, which gave 20,000 gallons of a cocoa wine containing 37 per cent. alcohoL This was entirely consumed in the country. The Corvpha or Buri palm is very abundant at low altitudes, and the sap, which is rich in saccharose, is utilised by the natives in a fermented drink containing 10 to 16 per cent, alcohol. Sugar is also made with the sap, as it has about 9 per cent, sugar. From the same plant the natives extract starch as well. The Arenga is the well-known sugar palm of Java and India, but it is mainly used for producing a beverage from the cap, as this contains 17 ]>er cent, saccharose. The sap is used either fresh or after fermentation. From the pith of the palm the natives also extract a starch which is always more or less impure.

A SUBSTITUTE FOR WOOD. The steadily increasing price of timber in Europe has caused interest to be centred in a French invention for preparing a substitute for this article. Tho process is very simple and inexpensive, the whole process of manufacture being carried out by a single machine. Tho inventor, Monsieur Carre, associated with tho champagne industry, embarked upon this task with a view to preparing an efficient and cheap substitute for packing the bottles of wine, as well as the cases which at present are made of wood, and the cost of which is persistently rising. The first experiments were made about five years ago, and recently some excellent specimens of the substitute have been produced. The material used in this process is straw. The waste is first split longitudinally by a special cutting device to destroy the resiliency in the stalk. The ripped material is then placed in the machine, together with certain ingredients, being laid upon a travelling plate. The latter is kept at a certain uniform temperature by means of steam, so as to cook the straw and the substances associated therewith. When this stage has been carried to the requisite degree intense pressure is applied, the results of which arc to knit or compress the fibres of straw very closely and tightly together, to form a homogeneous mas 6. A pressure of between two and three tons per square inch is required in order to produce the best results, and. the fabric issues from the machine in continuous lengths of the required thickness and width to bo sawn as desired. In general appearance (says the Scientific American, the material resembles whit a wood, the compressed straw imparting a straight grain-like effect. It works fairly easily, and when sawn' leaves a clean cut. Its strength is comparable with the ordinary whitewood, and it can be applied to all purposes for which the latter is fitted. In the preparation of the greater thicknesses, such as for joists or posts, the better practice is to build up tho baulk with layers about a quarter of an inch in thickness laid transversely. Tests with the material have shown that when the cooking and pressing operations have been carried out accurately, the fabric will not disintegrate, and responds readily to the application of tools, though, being' somewhat denser than whitewood, it is harder to work across the grain. It does not split readily when nailed, and should, therefore, prove highly serviceable for making packing cases. One highly useful application of the invention has been found. This is the production of eordwood for burning purposes. Efforts are being made to introduce it into the Canadian West on the wheat-fields, of which the straw at present is a waste product, while wood and other fuel are expensive. By .means of this machine rough wood suited to burning purposes could be prepared very cheaply. The artificial wood burns with a Wight, long flame, is practically free from smoke, and gives intense heat, so that it is well suited to steam-raising purposes