SCIENCE AND INVENTION.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1262, 7 May 1896, Page 11

SCIENCE AND INVENTION.

VIVISECTION IN SWITZERLAND. Recently the people of tho Swiss canton of Schwyz voted by referendum on the question whether vivisection should be permitted in the canton or not, A motion to prohibit vivisection entirely was rejected by 39,476 votes, against 17,297 ; and a proposal of the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to allow the practice of vivisection for bona-fide scientific purposes was adopted by 35,191 against 19,554 votes. ARCTIC BALLOONING. Mr Berson, a balloonist connected with tho Berlin Meteorological Office, condemns M. Andree's project of going north In a free balloon as highly dangerous, and almost certain to end in disaster. Ho thinks, however, that a captivo balloon might be very useful in Arctic exploration. When the furthest possible advance had been made by ship or sledge, an ascent to some height in a captivo balloon might enable an observer, with the help of a good glass, to ascertain tho naturo of tho country a considerable way further to the north. THE CONSUMPTION CUKE. It is reported from Berlin that Professor Koch intends to publish an article shortly on tho use of tuberculin. At the Balneological Congress l)r Kaatzor spoke very highly of tho value of tuberculin in phthisis, stating that his twenty-ono cures out of seventy-one cases had all been repeatedly tested, and found indisputable. There was a good deal of scepticism at the Congress, however, and Professor Liebroich asserted that the alleged cure of lupus by tuberculin was more apparent than real.

THE DECIMAL SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES.

The secretary of the New Decimal Association has received information from America that a Committee of Congress has under serious consideration a bill to render the metric weights and measures compulsory in all official transactions, and It is reported that the majority of the committee are disposed to take somo action. It is proposed to make the system compulsory in all Government departments on July Ist, 1597, and after the Ist July, 1899, tho only legal system of weights and measures recognised In the United States. FLAMELESS EXPLOSIVES. A committoo In connection with the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers has reported unfavourably of tho preparations they havo been testing in their search after a flameless explosive. Tho explosives tested were bellito, securito, ammonite, roburito, carbonite, Ardoor powder, and j westfalit. Tho experiments wero made with coal-dust, air, and pit-gas, and, so I far, tho committeo conclude that no exj plosive yet known is quite flameless, but | all aro capable of igniting gaseous and j coal-dust mixtures. The invention of a real flameless explosive would bo of great vrlue for uso in mining operations. VERY FINE MEASUREMENT. It is now possible, by means of j scientifically-constructed instruments, to i measure the almost infinitely small. An J angle can be measured of 1 -300th of a second, about the angular measure of a penny piece at the distance of 1000 miles. An attractive force so weak as tho 20,000 millionth of a grain can be detected by the torsional balance and mirror. In spectrum analysis fractional wave lengths are measured to the 2509-millionth of an inch. It is difficult, says a scientific publication, to realise the minuteness of such measurements. If tho gold in a half-sovereign wero drawn out into a wire l-2500th-millionth of an inch in diameter, it would be long enough to stretch to the sua and back again ten thousand times. HIGH SPEED PROPULSION. Few people realise tho iuitnunso power that is required to propel a vessel of any kind when a speed above 20 knots is required. Take, for instance, the British torpedo boat chasers, which aro mere racing machines, even from a naval point of view. The most perfect specimens of vessels of this class, which have attained 30 knots speed, carry GO tons of coal, which is full one-quarter of their entiro seogoing displacement. They burn 3.J tens of coal per hour. To attain the 3 knots over 26, which is tho highest speed of ordinary torpedo boats, it was necessary to increase tho fuel expenditure fully 50 per cent. — Marine Review. THE PROPER MOTION OF THE SUN. The rate at which the sun, carrying his planetary system along with him, is moving through space is now calculated to bo nearly 10 miles per second. This is only half the speed with which tho earth flies around the sun; but it carries us through space at the rate of 268 millions of miles per annum, which makes 26,800,000,000 miles in a century. It gives a vivid idea of tho vast scale on which tho universe is constructed that so tremendous a shift in our position should make no appreciable change in the apparent arrangement of tho fixed stars. Whence have we come, and whither are wo going ? Are wo speeding straight forward in space toward some unknown goal, or describing a segment of somo immense eliptic course? If tho latter, round what mighty central influence, are we revolving ?