SCIENCE NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2456, 17 April 1901, Page 62

SCIENCE NOTES.

—On the Great Lakes has appeared a new Btyle of liteboat, invented by Captain Mayo, of the Life-saving Service. He has tested it Jiimself, and believes it to 1 be a success. He ,aa gone to Washington to present the model I his invention for the consideration of the ■Government. The new lifeboat is really a sort of "life car," the principles being much .the same as those embodied in the latter device. The life car is supposed to be Jiauled ashore by lines, while the Mayo lifejboat is intended to be blown or rowed 'ashore, according to circumstances. A line of steamers sailing out of Chicago has been equipped with the Mayo boats. It is coneBhaped. The newly-devised boat is a cone, rounded at both ends. It is intended to be BOft long and 7ft in diameter. It is perfectly around, there being projecting fins, or bilge keels, to keep it from rolling. The shell is fbuilt of 3in oak, covered with aluminium, or sheet eteel, as the builder desires, and is shaped on strong oak ribs on the inside. In th-3 s forward and after end of the boat are air chambers, built in such a way that crushing or puncturing is practically impossible. jßound the shell are openings filled with .•■heavy plate-glass, set in rubber and steel gaskets. On two sides are manholes set in {the same kind of gaskets, and on each side (two portholes large enough to push an oar .ithrough. The ports are closed with heavy fdoors of steel, and every opening is closed and locked from the inside. The only unjiprotected openings are at the ends of the cone. The forward one is a manhole large 'enough for a man to move about in easily, »nd at the other end is an opening designed Jor the lowering of an anchor. Inside there Is accommodation for 50 people and lookers Barge enough, to stow the food/ necessary for pheir sustenance for 30 day-eX; also watertanks with a supply of drinking water sufficient to last for that time. Revolving seats : The seats are so arranged that they revolve completely round no matter how often the boat turns over, and the paspenger is always kept upright. The interior is fitted

with two aluminium bulkheads, which swing about with the motion of the seats inside the boat, always keeping the ventilators a safe distance above water. To avoid filling thii ends cf the boat are fitted with water vents, and as the whole boat, loaded, draws less than 4in, there is enough of it always exposed to the influence^ of the wind to allow of its 'being driven ashore. A device for locking the swinging seat in position keeps them secure, and allows rowing when rowing i« practicable. — English Mechanic. —In the New Century Number of Feilden's Magazine, Mr Guetave Glaeer, Ph.D., passes in review the characteristic features of the progress of physical science during the nineteenth century. "If we try to find a formula," says the author, "characterising the nature cf the scientific achievements of mankind during the last 100 years, we might say that the tendency has been toward simplification, concentration, and unification. The connection established between physical and chemical process, the jnagneto-eleetric theory of light, the hypothesis of the conservation of energy, to mention a few of the landmarks at randdrn, clearly illustrate this tendency as far as theory is concerned ; and as regards tho practical applications, a moment's reflection shows that the vast majority of them have had for their object the breaking down of the barriers of gpace, and bringing closer together the distant portions of the globe. By the construction of railways and steamships, distant countries can be reached in less than "a tenth of the time that was necessary in previous centuries. The telegraph has rendered possible an almost instantaneous communication between the various parts of the globe, and "-the telephone has given wings to the human voice that carry it over hundreds of miles, and ultimately will carry it from one part of the earth to the other with a velocity equal to that of the telegraphic message. Even the gigantic distances of inter-stellar space no longer offer insurmountable impediments to man's curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Tho spectroscope permits us to study the material constitution of guns that are removed from our earth by billions of miles, and the photograph reveals to our eye numberless stars that it cannot see even with the aid of the most perfect telescope so far constructed." He then describes the brilliant achievement's of the leaders of gcipntific thought during""the period above mentioned, And adds : "A mere glance at the outline of progress in our knowledge . . . above given will show that almost every step in the direction of advance has been the result of painstaking and diligent research, and of a strong desire to obtain the most accurate results. Very little was tho result of accident, nothing almost v, as the outcome of mere guesswork. This conscientious reseal eh, caiefully guided by experiments and a constant appeal to objective reality, and tho results obtained, are directly attributable to the philosophic tendency pre\ ailing in the nineteenth century ; they are the fruits of the teachings of Kant, wl.o ronvmcdd most of those who studied his works of the truth that all mental efforts expended in attempts to find a reply to ultimate qMestions are vain, and t'lat the only knowledge within reach of Lhe human mind is to be looked for in the data of experience, classified and combined in agreement with the "Laws of Thought, or, as some call them, Laws of Nature, that rule our coiibcious universe. Thus the objective woid so long looked down upon and treated as hardly worth noticing by the wise, and as something to be phutmed by the pious, re-entered into its legitimate rights, and has within tho last hundred years been treated with the reppect that it deserves — as one of the given data of consciousness. "' — Although many accidents have ushered in the .increasing popularity of the motor car, all who have had a near acquaintance with this hew kind of carriage will fain admit that, in the elimination of the nervous an-1 spirited horse, it offers a measure of safety hithevto impossible with \ehicular | traffic. In order to show under what perfect control these motor carb can be opcratrdj the driver of one of them at a tournament at Ch'cago volunteered an extraordinary demonstration. He drove the carriage on a see-baw loadway. working it backwards and forwards from the balancing point =o that the road was kept rocking. Another successful feat was ;© jjlace an egg against

an obstruct ion on tho rojci and to urge the wheel of the autocar against it so as to crack but not crush it. Finally, the vehicle was driven up an inclined plane with a gradient of 3in 10. It is also interesting to note that wonders are being done by trickliders on these vehicles at various places of entertainment; thus a German juggler steers one round the ring with his feet while he is busily engaged with hi« hands in tossing balls, bottles, etc., into the air. — Sir Norman Lockyer eaid to an interviewer: — "I began work on Mars in 1862, bo that I have long been mterebted in the planet, and I have quite come to the conclusion that it ib very like the earth. I ha\e seen clouds traversing its surface, and I thought it was possible to determine when its seas were smoother than usual by their dark appearance. This, one could see, was not due to the transit of the clouds, but was to be attributed to the winds, and the heavier the winds the less daik the water surface appeared. It must not be forgotten, however, when looking at Mars, that we are never nearer than 20 million miles, while we are within a quarter of a million miles of the moon, i HMr Lassell told me that, when his big telescope was in the most perfect order at Malta, he thought that if the Lunarians were shaking a carpet as big as Lincoln's Inn Fields, he could find out if it were round or square, but he could not go farther than that. That is to say, with the power of a thousand, one brings two hundred and forty thousand miles down to two hundred and forty, so that, assuming one had a power of a thousand, one could see the moon as one could see York from London. When, howe\cr, one has to consider the 25,000,000 miles separating v* from Mars, it is a different story." There is hardly an opeiation which takes place in the process of which electricity is not generated in some form or other. A belt running over a pulley— 3ay, driving a dynamo or any other machine — generates electricity as well as heat and sound. In dry and dusty factories, as, ib well known, sparks of considerable magnitude may often be taken either from the pulley or the belt. All this reduces the efficiency of the transmission or distribution plant. Evciy flap of the belt, every unit of electricity, cvr-ry unit of heat, and every tuiit of sound generated by a moving belt has to be provided by the driving apparatus, over and above the energy required to drive the machine it is turning, whatever that may be ; therefore everything that can be done to reduce these generations, these losses as they are with reference to the work in hand, increases the efficiency of the plant and leduces the fuel bill and other working costs. — A lecture on "The Rontgcn Rays' was delivered at Yeadon on January 22 by Mr John H. Gash, of Leeds, one of the Yorkshire Photographic Union lecturers. Mr Gash commenced by observing that, al- - though the Rontgm or "X" Rays were- a new discovery, and one of the most important of the last century, the actual discovery was not so accidental as appeared at first sight. It was really due to long and careful research on the part of thp many scientific j men, extending over the whole of the last ! century, end it was whilst experimenting with one of Sir William Crookes's air-ex- I haunted (vacuum) tube? th.it Professor Eon.- : gen made the discovery which was likely to | prove of such great utility— rays that would j nenetratc substances which to any known light were impervious. Mr Gash explained j and demonstrated the various stages through ■which what he termed '"radiant matter had rapped, right up to rhe production of the Rontgen Rays themselves, and by means of I which he conducted several experiments '•howing, amongst other things, the penetrating power of tbe rays through carbon, charcoal, boots, Bible (in which a penny was placed), and concluded by producing a photographic negative of one of the chairman's hands.