SCIENCE AND INVENTIONS

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15175, 14 December 1912, Page 4 (Supplement)

SCIENCE AND INVENTIONS

MAKING HOLES IN RUBBER CORKS. Is making holes in rubber corks much ' annoyance is causcd by the punch making " taperinj?" holes and ■" running to the side." A little ammonia water poured on the rubber .and tha boring instrument causes the hole to.bccotnc of ' uniform size at every point-, and the operation is accomplished with much more ease; HOW TO CLEAN GAS MANTLES. A good way to clean gas mantles or gas burners that are blackened by carbon deposits is to. sprinkle sodium, chloride or salt" upon them while burning. This causes the carbon to burn away and prolong" the life of the mantle, and increase the' efficiency of f the light or burner. In laboratory combustion furnaces deposit* of carbon can thus be removed. ■ CORRUGATED SHIPS. " Anybody who has handled a sheet of corrugated iron knows that he may safely dance on it while it is supported only at the extreme ends, and that' the unconjugated sheet is very easily depressed. Working on this fact,' corrugated steamships are being built, and will shortly, be afloat, as cargo" vessels. Beneath ■- their loadline■ runs a double corrugation of plates. These ships will be', exceedingly strong, carry heavier cargoes, , and require less fuel than the present type. -- -. > . - A ■>>:'<'. •' •«-' ■ - PAINLESS CATTLE-KILLING. .. Tests have been made at Islington cattle ! market on a new airgun for the 1 painless j slaughtering of cattle. • A prize of £100 has , been offered by-the Council of Juistice to j Animals for the best killing- instrument. Mr. Ransom's ; airgun weighs . .about 61b. The barrel is* placed against the head of tho animal, a trigger is pulled, and a bolt is shot with lightning-like rapidity into the I brain and by an ingenious device is ■ drawn equally rapidly back into the barrel. The death ot the animal" is immediate. , i COST OF THE PYRAMIDS NOW. Mr. B. Fletcher, lecturing on the " TombPalaces of the Egyptians," said that Pyramids were-the most extravagant of all ancient buildings. The return they offered, either in - impressiveness or the higher, beauty of art, was comparatively poor in relation to the tremendous labour and expense incurred in' their construction. * The great pyramid of Cheops.was computed, to contain 85,000,000 cubic feet of stone. At tho present price of 2s per cubic feet .this would" cost' £8,500,000 to-day, and the ■ building took the labour of 100,000 men for 30 .years. ' It was 482 ft high, and covered an area of 13 acres, approximately that of Lincoln's Inn . Fields. ANIMAL ANALYSIS. A remarkable instance of animal endorsement of mankind's successful efforts to improve crops is instanced in the. following : A certain cultivator had been experimenting with various cross fertilisation of mangolds, and out of several very mixed rows of roots from one particular crossing it was noticed that one was particularly attacked by rabbits. In spite of wiring round, Master Bunny still elicited a decided preference ior this row as compared with ta<& others. Seed was therefore grown from it, and it was noticed, in the second generation, that the rabbits still showed a decided preference for the strain. 'On analysing the'growth, it was found that it possessed a -considerably higher proportion of sugar than any known mangold at that date.

COMBINED PEN AND CALENDAR.

An ingenious device, and one that will be useful to the forgetful business man,is the calendar pen invented by an Illinois man. If the user wants to know the date of the month, all he has to do is to consult the handle of the pen and find it there. The handle lias a barrel revolving on it, and a calendar in the barrel. 01 course it must bo set each day, but that can be done by the office boy, hose memory in some matters, notably batting averages, is marvellous. The dates of the j 31 days are mounted on a series of rings on the handle of the pen, and the barrel has openings tlirygh which the right date can be seen when the calendar is«set. By means of a locking device there is no possibility of tho barrel turning to show the j wrong figures. THEATRE FIRE EXPERIMENT. • A valuable experiment is to be carried out in the near luture by the chief of the Dusseldorf fire brigade. Its object is to determine " scientifically " the resistance of a theatre to fire and its resultant dangers. An exact scale model of the Municipal Theatre is to be constructed, and the only materials employed in the construction will be iron, reinforced, cement, and the fire-proofed wood. , A double steel safety curtain, one rising the other falling, will separate the stage fr> m the auditorium. As" the experiment progresses methods of imitating different aircurrents will be employed. Various kinds of fires will be lighted in the interior, and during the conflagration - the interior temperature will be recorded, ine cost of the experiment is stated to be £4500. • ■ 200 BODIES FOR SCIENCE. To educate the public to the value of post-mortem examinations, 200 members of the Associated Physicians 'of Long Island (U.S*A.) have decided to provide in their wills that their bodies shall undergo autopsies to make clear the causes of death. The physicians expressed their determination in resolutions adopted at a recent meeting, and one of their number said afterwards to a reporter: " I want to make plain this point: 'That the physicians are anxious that the practice of holding autopsies should become general Wo are trying to educate the public to the numerous advantages which may be derived from the spread of the practice. It will serve to protect the public from incompetent physicians by disclosing bad diagnoses, and will also reveal where the causes of death are suspicious, and whero there have been illegal practices."

RABBITS IN-AUSTRALIA. There is a growing feeling that the rabbit in Australia is not, after all, the curse it was represented to be, but rather that it is a huge asset. In this country today we see him in many disguises. Thousands of ladies are dependent upon him for cheap but handsome furs (under whatever name they may be sold) ; and equal number wear "* kid " gloves made up from his skin; and many others enjoy "game" for which he is entirely responsible. Ho is in strong and rapidly growing demand, and much of the objection to his existence is being broken down by'sheer weight of fact and merit. Last year the United Kingdom imported from New South Wales 5£ million pounds weight of rabbit. In fact, the rabbit gives lucrative employment to thousands of workers. He has passed the stage of fighting for his existence. He is an established "industry." TO CURE ELECTRIC SHOCK. • What may in emergency prove to be an invaluable pieec of apparatus has been installed at the Park Royal generating station,. says the Great Western Railway Magazine. This is the ""Svnchron" apparatus for performing artificial respiration for the restoration of animation in severe cases of electric shock. The " Svnchron" has been patented by Dr. K. A. Fries, of Stockholm, and consists of a wooden shield, with headpiece, attached to which is a light steel frame with crossbar, adjustable by automatic clamps for any length of arm. A canvas girdle or banc! for compressing • the chest is provided with eyelets for regulating it to any desired size. Artificial respiration is performed by moving the frame upwards and downwards, the upward movement compressing the chest a::d creating a vacuum, while the downward movement draws breath into the lungs and thus gradually restores animation. It is claimed that the apparatus can be brought into use in 10 seconds.