SCIENCE AND DISCOVERY

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXVI, Issue 8292, 30 November 1901, Page 1 (Supplement)

SCIENCE AND DISCOVERY

livery lover of animals must have commended the action of the society which has placed in the streets of the Metropolis water-troughs where horses can quench their thirst; bub it appears, according to the testimony of a correspondent of the Times, that- the troughs are a mistake, and should be replaced by simple sand-pipes from which water can be drawn for the

same purpose. The writer in question asserts that these public troughs have become centres of contagion, and that he himself has lost six valuable horses in as many months through infection, brought into his stables from this source. Other owners of 'horses, he tells us, have suffered in like manner. He now supplies each of his carmen with- a pail; and they have instructions to use no other means for watering the horses under their care.

At University College, London, there were exhibited in July last the most recent results of Egyptian exploration, some of the discoveries being of a most interesting and remarkable nature. At this exhibition we were able to look upon beautifully wrought jewellery and otihor objects which .have delighted the eyes of those who went down into silence more than six thousand years ago'. Tie search amid the royal tombs of the first Egyptian dynasties yielded nothing more astonishing than the foreaim of a queen, which had been broken off, thrown aside, and neglected by the numerous former plunderers of tie place. This arm was now for the first time relieved of its wrappings, and beneath them were found four splendid bracelets. These specimens of the jeweller's art are two thousand years older than the oldest be- | fore known. The materials used by those ancient workers do not comprise any of the more valuable precious stones as we know thm. to-day. There are beads of amethyst and turquoise, of lapis lazuli, and of garnet, whilst the connections are made of gold. There are also some stone vases j with gold covers fastened on with twisted gold wire, and a royal sceptre formed of cylinders of sard, with a. core of copper, and with separating bands of gold at intervals. It is curious to reflect that this exquisitely finished jewellery, indicating an advanced state of civilisation, was the product of a period far anterior to the date which used to be assigned to t'he creation of the world.

Professor Turner recently addressed the members of the Photographic Convention of the United Kingdom, who met at Oxford this year, upon a subject of extreme interest—viz., "Photography in Relation to Astronomy." In one important point, he said, the astronomer differed in his use of the camera from the ordinary photographer: directly a picture of the stars was taken the astronomer sat down to lirasure it. Taking as an example the little planet Eros, he showed how, from photographs taken from two different points in the earth's orbit, the distance of Eros could be deduced, and how at the same time the distance of the sun and of the other planets could be checked. The photograph had the advantages of both speed in the taking and accuracy; it yra-s a permanent Tlia

risitioiv of a, star was mtlic.xteil in it- by a ingle dot, whmws to repress its position a numbers as many as twvivo iigut\s might. necessary. liic professor also tiwolfc ipon the wonderful cumulative action of lie light from disuiu orbs, which onablod ;k,r iuugi-s to ho strur.d 011 ilu' pl;it-e bv icuiis oi "wry proirnciinl exjiosurcs. In this ■y they h:ui iiMi'Unl • i , u . existence of iirs which [lh> human eye had never defied, even when heip.'d by ihe most JoW-I'fllL telescopes. i A military otticer writDs in one of tlio • "'iinaii papers en |.fop iM-cri'sling subj vol '1 ilie improvements in weapons of warefare, .ml liis remarks .seem |o prove that, as pe.riect.ion in those weapons is gradually approached the fosses m killed and wounded decrease .in number. In two of the most, sanguinary battles wagi d by Frederick tlio Ireat the casualties amounted to >l3 per ent ; a.; Waterloo thev were 2-1 per cent, nd at Leipzic 21 percent of the men diag;'d. In llie l''raneo-t; t rinan struggle of 310-71 the greatest, Joss was at .Mars-la-■'our w it'll 16 per cent; ih is was reduced to 2 per cine at ISidan. and to 8 per cent, at •■ravel otte. 11l each case (lies,' iigures ro'l'tscut. tlio losses on both sides! It j s uo soon to give any (igims for the Tratis■aal war; but the writer remarks that {ho i-iiitish are disappointed wiln the eifects ob.ained by the use. ot lyddite and machine .! UIIS - He also gives carefully compiled igures showing ;hc hisses in various wars iioni ;illiß'ss and disease, and concludes -nat ill the wars of the future fair mors men will fall from these causes than from .rounds. , llie Dutch have alwaj's been famous gar.teners, and it is a matter of common know--eage how they ca,n turn the most unproniis■ng and swampy laud to valuable account. A colony of Dutch market-gardeners not ■ ong ago settled at Kalamazoo, Michigan, and took possession of what, would seem to most people. a. worthless and dismal swamp. They have drained and cultivated this land in such a manner that it. is now worth a large sum per acre. Their chief crop is celery, and from a total .area of live hundred acres, which is divided into small holdings of one acre or even less they send_ away annually from twelve to iifte>en million heads of lh.it succulonl vc' r oThe quality of the celery is so gmid that it is greatly sought after.' much of it, hading its way as far oast as Philadelphia.. The good ship Discovery, now on heir way to the South l/olc, carries provisions fin* oiiree yews, and, thanks to the advance of knowledge in the matter of tinned foods, ner crew will be able, to regale themselves upon such luxuries as "duck and green peas," "lamb and green peas," tinned fruits of various kinds, besides many other delicacies. Hw crew consists mainly of bluejackets from tie Koyal Navy, and everything 'has bee.ii done to make their life on board as- pleasant- .'is possible. An enormous metal windmill forms pa.rt. of the ship's equipment, its object being to work | a djoiamo for electric lighting. Much valuable information is wrapped up in the consular reports which Teach this country from various parts of the globe, and occasionally we meet with one which gives us food for reflection upon our own shortcomings. It is with such a feeling that we have real the report of Dr P. Kose, his Majesty's Consul at Stuttgart, who shows that Germany holds to-day tlio proud position of being the foremost country of the world in tJiose industries which depend upon the application of chemical principles to manufactures. In the year 1897 the product of these manufactures had a value of mor.e than. forty-seven millions sterling, and it is believed that for the past year the value must have been several miilions in excess of that huge sum. Dr Hose shows the dividends earned at thirtysix works. Very few are below 10 per cent, and some run up to 27 per cent. This splendid result has been brought about through the far-sighted policy of various German governments in encouraging a 'theoretic and practical education in; chemistry. The -ost has been, perhaps, a few hundred thousand pounds per annum, but the ultimate ?j»in is magnificent. It- is sad to think (hat ui'hougii th<3 firjjfc of the anilir.-s dyes was discovered in Englami, the huge industry which has since grown from the seed thus sown is to-day almost exclusively German. Even the .red color which is employed for the uniforms of the French infantry comes Irom a German dye. When the' British Government realises that encouragement of science is a. good investment something may be done for this country; but we have lost the position which we might have occu* pied.

Ihe wonders wrought by wirelesß telegrfapliy continue to excite the admiration 01 all; but the experience gained by its use on our battleships during the recent naval manccvres, seems to show tihat for purposes of warfare the system is at present far from perfect, It is true that two snips can talk to one another at five or six times the distance possible with the old system of flag-signals. But the messages cannot be regarded as being private so long as any other ships within range, with the necessary apparatus on board, can 'interpret them. The Times special correspondent, in pointing out this obvious dnnvbuck, suggests that it remedy miglit be found in the employment of cipher; but even then an enemy's ship, by putting her own apparatus to work, could render the message unintelligible. The same authority considers that the wireless system will not be quite satisfactory for war'purposes until tie transmitting instrument can be so adjusted as to emit vibrations of different pitch at the will of the operator, and the receiving instrument rendered sensitive only to vibrations of a given pitch nit a given moment. According to recent reports Marconi has fair hopes of surmounting these Qiniculties.

llie mosquito has always been a source of intense annoyance in countries where his unwelcome presence ilias manifested itself, and since it has been shown thait (he insect is the active agent in propagating fevers of the mala-rial and yellow varieties, he must be regarded with the terror inspired by the approach of an irresponsible assassin. Mosquitoes are often prevalent in France, afld in the southern parts of our own country ; and in, I 1 ranee they are increasing in numbers year by year. Professor Blanchard of Paris has recently made a» communicatkm to the Academy of Medicine upon the subject. He tells us that tlhe mosquito which is now troubling the Parisians belongs to the culex species, and is innocent of being the carrier of the deadlv fevers already mentioned; but he seriously believes that it may have the power of transmitting leprosy. He considers tlhait the Academy should demand of the public authorities that- a panlphlet should be issued broadcast warning the people of the dangers incurred by the presence of mosquitoes in their midst, and pointing out how the insects can be exterminated by the use of petroleum on the stagnant pools where tlio creatures are reared.

One of the London gas companies has obtained parliamentary power to lower their standard from asixteen-cajidle power to fourteen-eandles. It has always been a very expensive proceeding to keen gas up co the first-mentioned standard, for the reason that Newcastle coal will not produce such gas, and a certain quantity of 'Cannel' coal had to be provided to enrich it. But Canmel coal cannot- now be obtained except at a prohibitive price, and the companies have for some time been enriching their gas with petroleum vapour. This vapour, however, has a trick of divorcing itself from the gas in the pipes after a com- ! para-tively short journey, with the result that distant consumers have had to pay for a standard of illumination which they did wot get. The fourteen-candle gas will give a little less light, but it wiil not blacken tha ceilings so much as the richer compound; its hea ! t-giying powers will not be in tho least curtailed, so that users of gas-stoves and cookers will not suffer by the alterallon ' incandescent gas-lights will be j lB brilliant as ever. The London householder will therefore incur hardly any loss, and when lie iinds that he is paying a reduc?d gas bill, he will only rejoice at the change which has been effected.