SCIENCE CLIPPINGS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1847, 31 July 1907, Page 10

SCIENCE CLIPPINGS.

A VERY ANCIENT QUEEN. A discovery of remarkable Egyptokgpal interest, has been made by Mr 1 dare M Davis at Thebes, by the excava-of-the tomb of. Queea the greatest names m ancient Egyptian historvT since she .was. the mother of the famous Amen-liotep IV., the heietvc hinp - of the eighteenth., dynasty. . The tomb of this royal parsonage was found to ■ bear the marks of the re < f lots, who carefully .removed every trace of the peculiar-, pantheistic monotheism she endeavoured to introduce into the country. -. The doorway, consisting of piled stones sealed with the royal seal, was found to have been broken down, the. huge wooden doors tom from their hinges, the cdalaique torn to pieces, and the mummied corpse itself.. turned over in order to erase; the name of Ainenßotep IV., which, was originally inscribed-on the sheet of gold npon which the body ■reposed. VV lien excavated the tomb was found- to •- stil bear all these traces of the zeal of die religionists, effected during 1 r‘- period in which the country was in tee thioes of a religious revolution long bet ere the time of Moses. The mummy itself was enwrapped from head to foot m sheets of "old, with bracelets on the. arms and a necklace of gold beads and other 'Ornaments executed in the same' metal, around "the neck, while the tead, was encircled by a priceless object—the imperial crown of the queens of ancient Egypt. This discovery is considered to be one of the most important from, an archaeological point of view that has been made in. Egypt during recent years, affording as it does a priceless relic ox the barbarous ornamentation and love of jewel embellishment which prevailed among the earliest Egyptians.

WHY ARE WE RIGHT-HANDED? Many theories are given by way of answer to the inquiry. Why are we righthanded? Some suppose it is because of long ages of heredity; that centuries upon centuries of merely partial employment, or none a/t all, has caused the neelected left hand to lose its natural cunning. Among biologists (says Mr O. Jr. Morris, writing in the New York tribune”) it is notorious that many animals, birds, and insects have had organs —both external and internal —tail into desuetude through disuse attendant upon changed conditions of environment or ways of living. One great physiologist points out that when m\L was a cave dweller, and had to fight with mammoth or mastodon for bare subsistence, stone axe or spear in hand, he probab y used the right hand m order to keep his heart—most vital of organs^—as far away as possible from an adversary s assault. And later, when tribe tough, tribe as common foes, it was found convenient to wield weapons in uniformity, leaving the other arm free for preserving balance and for holding a shield. In this way it is thought right-handed-ness was brought about and passed down from father to son for untold generations. CHINESE RELIGIONS. A lecture on “The Three Chinese Religions” was given at Manchester University by Professor E. H. Parker. The general characteristics of Chinese religions history were sketched, from the earliest times when a species of natural religion appears to . have prevailed, on to theteaching of Laotsze, and finally on to Confucianism. Of Confucianism Professor Parker said that it was aot properly a religion at all, but only a form of statesmanship to be compared with a political party or division of the present day. Religion iff the modern sense ;ot the word, which implied an .absorbing concern in the future life, was not found in China earlier than the. rise of Ruddhism. Tlie common element - m all the forms of rancient Chinese vreligiont’Professor Parker pointed out, was a desire to do good to the world'as it exists, and they were free from any inculcation of the dread of a. future life. They, taught reverence for ancestors, those who have gone before being the only persons whom we can, the Chinese thought, M said to understand. ... . CUTTING A STEEL BAR WITH A THREAD OF YARN. Yarn, with powdered stone, can cut a steel bar. Alajor McClaughry, warden of the Federal Prison at Fort Leavenworth once found a prisoner working away at one of. the bars to an outside window. ;A grating of the same der/ ij - _ tion was .placed in his cell, and a. tuai d stationed "over him to watch the Hitting process; With the limestone dust ana silicate' ftbfn The stone, pile, the, yarn from his sock and a little water, the man cut the bessemer, steel - bar m ip working hiours. With some., fine emery,, a chalk' line, and two wooden handholds to save his fingers, he made a clean. cut of the other, bes&emer bar in. five hours, —i“St6i£e,” THE VALUE OF THE SOLAR PARAL- ‘ LAX. ' The-discussion of the Greenwich photographs of Eros, the. results of which were communicated •to the Royal Astronomical Society at its April. meeting, rave 8.800 inches as the value ot the solar parallax. This result was obtained from the measurement of 151 plates taken with the Astrographic IS-mch redactor and 103 plates taken with the Tliompsou; 26-inch refractor, October- M, 1900, and January 15, 190|, and agrees very closely with The tame, 8.802 inches published by bir Dav id. Gi : in 1897 This makes the distance 6f the earth from tlie sun come very neiit the recently accepted .'distance© s ot - 93,000,000 WeS- ' '■■■’'’'-■"WAV..!.,!

CAUSE OF THE COLD WEATHER. Professor E. Stone Wiggins, the Canadian astronomer, declares, the “Tribune” says, that the continued cold weather is not due to any lack of heat from the sun, since no light nor heat from the latter passes to the earth or any other planet. The cold, lie asserts, i,s due to the planetary attraction of the second moon, which he claims to- have discovered in. 1882, and which having now reached a point in its orbit nearest to the earth, is producing all the phenomena in the earth's atmosphere.

THE STUDY OF HANDWRITING. In the Journal of the Franklin Institute Mr Per si for Fraser discusses the application of scientific methods to the study of handwriting, and shows that when' the province of this study is recognised as within that of experimental psychology, entirely capable of being conducted ■ like other investigations ot the human faculties by exact measurement and numerical statement, the shallow pretenders- who have from time immemorial infested it Will disappear. NEW MAUSER. Herr Mauser, of Oberndorf, in Wurtemberg, the well-known rifle manufacturer, has invented an improved mechanism for his repeating rifle. I he new repeater works automatically; as soon as a shot is fired, the gun loads itself from the cartridge chamber. Hen Mauser claims that his new rifle is bound to be utilised by all modern armies, and there is e ' ,er y . probability of its being adopted by the German army. LIQUID AIR FOR INDUSTRIAL USE. Liquid air is at last being manutactured on a commercial scale, a London firm having recently opened its worKs. It is claimed that this plant, which is driven by. a. 250-horse engine. is Hie, first in any country, to proauce Liquid air at such a price that it can be freely used in industrial enterprises. No chemicals of any kind are used m fhe nrodu'ction instead ot oxygen, w^ , formed such a large proportion ot liquid air In these two respects—the absence If chemicals in the process of manufacture and the great reduction in the Sst of production —the system adopted has created a revolution andMias the use of liquid air tor many purpose., the chief of which is the production ot low temperatures tor chemical woik. A MODERNISED SUN-DIAL. Sun-dials, in their day, furnished tbe best available means of finding Hie time, and, says “Engineering, before the axb vent'of railways were sufficient for most ordinary. local purposes. The sun-dial on Its pedestal in the churchyard, or affixed to the church-wall, served for our forefathers; but, later,, railway trams

timed to the minute, put an end to this peaceful state, and the sun-dial sandglass combination had to give way to pocket timepieces and “Grandfather clocks. Again the conditions have changed. Tlie, modern man of business in his Week-end retreat, as well as the owner cf a country estate, with his motor cans, wants to know the right time with some greater certainty than the ordinary clocks and watches can give it. Hundreds of modern reproductions of the various forms of sun-dials have been set, up partly for use and partly tor ornament, but their usefulness is materially reduced by the difficulty of setting such dials with sufficient accuracy, and by the cumbrous arithmetical figuring entailed before Greenwich time is found. The helio-chronometer recently exhibited at the Royal Society's soiree, and illustrated in “Engineering,” overcomes these difficulties.. A simple operation of levelling sets the instrument, which indicates Greenwich time with a direct simplicity only approached by a perteet.lv regulated clock. ~, The helio-chronometer consists cl tnree chief part©—a universal stand, an hour circle, and a year circle. The universal stand, by which the instrument m fixed in place, forms a simple and solid ball-and-socket device, by means ot which the makers effect the necessaiy ments in latitude and level. Hie uou circle or dje gn riide ‘J »£. pei part ot t eull which casts rS rfuSht thxm.gl, a small hole m ‘the scribed on a lower screen. When the spot of light ie.on hll rwS ivicli mean time is indicated, lhetnaid portion of the instrument consists ot the gun-metal disc or year circle on which Ire engraved the months. When this i© turned to indicate the current day and month, a cam or curved plate formed on its under side automatically applies the necessary corrections for making the instrument ©how Greenwich mean time. The idea; adds “Engineering, . .is that the helio-chronometer shall serve as a standard of reference for clocks and watches at convenient inteivals—say, once or twice a week—and the experience of the last two,. years proves that when once the clocks and watches have had their regulators set m accordance with the helio-chronometer observations their indications of time may Swelled on for the few days which may elapse between the observations. A.SHES-BURNING IS “ROT.” A BOSTON PROFESSOR EXPLAINS. Writing of the alleged discovery in America- S that by mixing with coal and ! certain chemicals ash, otherwise incom j bustible, produces a first-class fuel. Dr A 11. Gill, professor of chemistry at the Boston Institute of Technology, says:— ■ “A remarkable aehee-burning formula enabling big.mills to cut fuel expenses one-half by its use: , ~ • , , i “Common salt, one pound; oxalic acid, two ounces; water, one gallon. , c When such statements a© these are published. in reputable newspapers of out

large cities it would seem to be high, time that we had a scientific press censor to prevent the people from being fooled. Statements like that quoted above may perhaps be described as “pipe dreams,” fairy stories, etc., but it seems to me that the short word “rot”—and I use it advisedly—is the proper characterisation to be employed. 1 have seen a number of recipes similar to this, having, in addition, an ingredient like Cliili-saltpeter, which when heated hot enough will give off a little oxygen. None of these are of any value and all have been shown to be useless in a number of teste. This formula does not even have this advantage, as it contains. nothing, nor can it make anything, that in any way will aid combustion. Possibly the water used may be of advantage with certain c-oals, as it is in railroad use, but that is all the merit I can see in it.

The explanation given of its behaviour is utterly wrong and misleading, for soda lye cannot be produced by bringing common salt solution upon quick-lime even, much less upon coal ashes. It is difficult to see how by any possibility acetvlene could be formed, using this formula, and if it could, the quantity produced from two ouuces ot oxalic acid* supposing all the carbon contained in it to be changed to acetylene (which it cannot), would be about two-filths of an ounce, equal in heating value to a piece of coal the size of a hazel nut. When the mixture comes into the furnace the fire appears brighter from the volatilization of the salt, which colours all the flames intensely yellow; this salt condenses o' l * the cooler parts of tlic boiler and economiser and corrodes them The oxalic acid is broken up by the heat of the fire into steam, carbonic acid and carbonic oxide —all products of combustion, and, with the exception of the latter, valueless as fuel. The quantity of carbonic oxide produced is -about two-fifths of an ounce, equivalent ill heating value to a piece of coal the size of a pea. The effect of this can easily be imagined. Pmfess-or Fischer, the eminent German chemical engineer, said of all such formulas: “Such nonsense should not be patentable.” \