SCIENCE NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2389, 14 December 1899, Page 54

SCIENCE NOTES.

— According to Charles Richet, the struggle for existence is a contest for carbon. Tho activities of life depend upon the force &et free by the burning carbon and hydrogen in oxygen, these three elements being the essential foods, the oxygen being abundant for fell purposes, while .the available carbon is only one three-hundred-thousandth as much. li'ifo is a small quantity of carbon in very complex and unstable combination. This "Darboii is continually uniting with oxygen in slow combustion, passing from one form to another and ending in carbonic acid, which the sun's heat, through the chlorophyll of plants, decomposes, the carbon reappearing, €ret in the vegetable, then in the animal, and bo on. ' There is an incessant circulation of carbon, kept in motion by the sun's heat.

— The Funafuti Boring Expedition has ▼cry recently led to the rectification of a common ethnographical error, and tho discovery of an interesting fact in zoo-geography. •In the monograph on the Atoll of Funafuti published by the Australian Museum, Sydney <part iii, 1897, p. 199), Mr E. R. Waite referred to a large undetermined fish known to the natives as "Palu," and to traders as "oilSsh." According to Mr Louis ..ocko, a fullgrown Palu would weigh up to IJJib and be oft long; the average size is about oft or 4ft, and weight 401b to 601b. The natives have many superstitions in regard to Palu ; every. Tportion of it is' edible, even the head and bones, when cooked, turning into a, rich mass of jelly. The flesh of the Palu, if left trocooked, never putrefies; it simply .dissolves into a colourless and odourlecs oil. •Perhaps the great regard the natives have for it is due to the fact of its being a rapid and powerful purgative. It is a deep-water fiah, and is usually caught at a depth of from 120 fathoms down to 200 fathoms; the fishing iB only done at night. The Palu fishingjhook has been described by Mr C. Hedley '(I.e. part iv, 1897, p. 272), who points out that this large hook, which is widely distributed in tho Central Pacific, and may be Eeen in most ethnographical collections, has been described by all authors as a "shark-hook." Tho last expedition to Funafuti lias been fortunate enough to obtain a specimen of thib fish, and in an appendix (part ix, 1899, p. 539) Mr Waite has solved the riddle, and found that this mysterious fish is the wellknown Ruvettus pretiosus, which hitherto W&s known only from .the North Atlantic, and whose recorded range is now enormously increased. The Escolar (Atlantic name) has been taken at depths as great as 300 aud 400 fathoms, but can be taken only at night in September and the early part of October.— Natiire.

— The Journal of Geology announces the 'discovery of a new mineral which, as a fuel, is claimed to be superior to coal. The substance, which is of a lustrous black colour, is found on tho island of Barbadoes, and is railed by the natives ''manjak." It is thought that manjak is "petrified petroleum," quantities of petroleum being found on the same island. It contains only 2 per cent, of water and 27 per cent, of solid organic matter, thus surpassing in utility Trinidad asphalt, in ;which 30 per cent, of water is contained, and which has hitherto been classed as the finest fuel.

— There is, says a Home paper, an increasing tendency to introduce auxiliary machinery in mills and mines for special work. ■These machines are operated usually by electricity or compressed air. Mechanical haulage is also being introduced in large mines, it having been demonstrated that where large amounts of ore or other material have to be transported underground, it is cheaper to do fit by electricity, compressed air or rope haulage, than by the old methods of teaming with men or animals.

WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY. HANI HEBE, MORE TO COME.

An American paper publishes the following interesting interview with Mr Greeley, assistant commissioner of patents at Washington: — "The age of electricity is only jufifc dawning, and one advance in this direction which we are about to witness is the conversion of the steam railroads of this country into electric railroads — a change that would have been accomplished already, to a large extent but for the immense amount of money invested in locomotives and the first enormous expense of installing an electric plant. Cars'have already been run by electricity at a rate exceeding 60 miles ah hour, and electric .locomotives have proved themselves superior to those depending on steam power. One advantage of the electric locomotive engine is that it emits no smoke or cindprs, and the water power of any river within a few miles of the line may be utilised, instead of fuel, to run it.

"The first electric road for city or suburban traffic was put in operation a dozen years ago ; at present there are in the United States more than 15,000 miles of such roads, representing a total investment of 900,000,000d0l and (employing about 175,000 persons. In 1880 there were only three electric light and power establishments in this country; to-day there a«e more than 10,000 such establishments, employing 50,000 men aud 500,000,000d0l of capital. The telephone in 1880 was just beginning to be commercially known; now there are over 1000 exchanges, using 600,000 miles of wire, and employing 15,000 individuals and 85,000,000d0l of capital.

"These few fie^ires give a notion of the wonderful progress made by the electrical art during the laet few years of the nineteenth century. It has extended itself over the industrial field to such an extent as largely to modify social and economic conditions, incidentally giving gainful occupation to a vast number of persons. To-day the support of considerably over 1,000,000 people in this country is derived from enterprises which depend upon electricity, and <»o this number there will be an enormous addition when electricity is substituted for steam as motive power on the railways.

"Electricity is invading all the arts and industries. The manufacturer finds it more economical to attach a motor to each of his machines, distributing power through his factory by means, of wives. Coal i 3 noV cut in the mines by electric power, carried to the pit's mouth by the same agency, and loaded upon electric cars for transportation. The demand for copper for electrical uses is mainly accountable for the fact that the output of this metal in the United States has been multiplied by six since 1880. To make a telephone circuit from Boston to Chicago requires over 1,000,0001b weight of copper.

j "Already we have learned how to send 72 ; messages simultaneously over a single wire. We can transmit the handwriting of an individual by telegraph, and in the same way we can actually reproduce half-tone pictures at long distance. Before long we shall Le j able to reproduce full typewritten passages by I telegraph, just as we now Bond words on a 1 paper ribbon, and wireless telegraphy seems to be in sight. When the proposed Pacific cable ia laid, it will be practicable to send a message around the world in three seconds. . and it is promised that a method will be found j for telegraphing between ships many miles ; apart at sea. Even now it no longer seems | so very wonderful tha-t, by the touch of a button at the Naval Observatory in WashingI'ton each day at noon, 100,000 clock 6 all over j the United States should be 6et to the true i time, while time-balls are dropped at the same [ instant at all seaports on the Atlantic and i Pacific coasts, for the benefit of mariners.

"The great problem likely to be solved in the twentieth century is the transformation of neat into electricity direct. When this is accomplished, Biddy in tho morning will start a fire, the heat of which will fill a series of 6torage batteries that will do most 'of the work of the household during the day, illuminating the dwelling, propelling the machine fans, „ running the sewing machine, operating the dumb waiter, and co forth. This, however, ia only a faint suggestion of the advantages to be gained by the discovery I speak of. Electricity will then become an exceedingly cheap source of energy, and tho sun's rays may even be employed to manufacture tho fluid. If, as does not soem unlikely, a twentieth century in- : ventor finds a practical way of harnessing the tides, the latter will produce at very slight oxper.Fe all the electricity required to run all the machinery and to heat and illuminate all the houses in the United States.

"Electricity is now recognised as a most useful agent in medicine, being employed in a variety of ways. In some complaints it has a remarkable power of stimulating function, and it has been found that certain drugs put on a moistened electrode- can be carried into the body with the current, so as to benefit directly a diseased part. Various kinds of morbid growths are removed instantaneously by electro-cautery, and the only successful method for getting rid of superfluous hair is that of the electric needle, which is gently introduced into tho hair follicle and kills the rools. Nowadays operative instruments for the nose, mouth, and throat, whether drills, saws, or wliiit not, are controlled by electricity, while tiny incandescent lamps, swallowed by the patient cr otherwise manipulated, are utilised to illuminate the cavities of body and head, so as to reveal conditions to the physician.

"Street cars are no^ only run by electricity, but are illuminated and heated by the same agency. The heaters used for this purpose require^ no attention, regulate the temperature exactly as it may be wanted, and, when used on railway trains, do not endanger the safety of passengers. One of the latest improvements is to provide each berth in a sleeping car with an incandescent light, so that anyone maysread if slumber comes not. Similarly, incandescent lights are now provided for carriages, and they are even coming into ute for cabs. Tho Emperor of Germany has his closed carriages lighted in this way, and, in addition, the harnesses ot bj^ ]iqx*ci> are co-

vered with small glowlights of different colours, so as to ' produce a very beautiful effect.

" Electric boats are now plying on. the canals of Venice, and launches similarly propelled are being made for American warships, the power being derived from storage batteries beneath the seats. Tho trolly, meanwhile, threatens to supplant the industrious but uncertain mule for the propulsion of canal boats. In the cities canned electricity, as it might be termed, is now delivered to the consumers, the emptied batteries being taken away every day and leplaced full ones. At the same time agricultural machines run by electricity are being introduced to the farmers, and there is even a device for the wholesale electrocution of weeds. Among recent inventions are an electric churn and an electric incubator, and experts are making experiments in the forcing of the growth of plants by electric lights and by currents put through wires underground."