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Otago Witness, Issue 2840, 19 August 1908, Page 80

SCIENCE NOTES.

— Professor C. 0. Trowbridge says that meteor trains . - are - the luminous clouds formed by< meteors -which persist lone after the, incandescent body has disappeared. The average.- ipt (the/ - heights* .above the earth's surface .of-'thev.sniddle portion of the trains is 54- miles, the- minimum being about 45 miles and the maximum, 65 miles. It would, thus appear that in, 'the .zone between 50 &nd 60 miles altitude there exist the special atmospheric- conditions 'necessary for tie production of 'these phenomena. , ' — During the long drought of last sprinjr in^ Mauritius a singular speotjaoie, amid the stretches of, dying and desiccated _plants, -was presented by the white flowed of giant aloe-j stems which , sprang up on the mountains ah<3 over the r . 'waste,! lands 'with J speecU; At the, time' of' 'flowering shafts as wiclc'as a man's 'aran : -shot up from. yfche heart or 'tine "plants, grew from 12in,io 18jn in. 24 htfurs, *-ahd're*«hes a height of'3off. \.A.-oliist&r-^df "albeg 'before £he appear,, resembles a gigantic asparagus plant. j^liiV€stigftpTij^'^h 1 e l effect ,of ogmpressed j 'a4r'o^ > 53iear^n» f^wb,'"Bri.tisJi .engineers have j atown Ttjhat pressure pf 92).b per square ;imah-jrinpr© than cix, ajnib&pheres — may be .eiftu!red<' without unple^&ni^ results. The j !pjM!sssu!re- {must' b«?. taken* off ,',at uniform ! irS'ie'j however,, &t-;Vf§sfc 20> mijnutes, Jieing, allowed for each" 151b 'of reduction, asd oapfll«iyy«irctdation 'in' the.'body .must be kept tfJTjby muscular exercise" during compression. - Slight-, temporary neuraigio pain in tEe -arms' was J 'ihe only ill effect M the j ■great pressure. 1 ' -"- ' - — laetttenaiftT^Oaniden, of the Re enue Service, - Ter^rta; from Alaska that M'Oul- j loch Peak, on Bo'goalov Island, whioh rose ! from the sea' in ''1796,, has now ? as a result c£ r '^olcanic "di^rbances,' entirely disap- ■ pceared'.^ JPpllowihg' the 'explosion which de-J sferOyed the^THi&k" have come remarkable changes in' thy '/profile' of Mount Makush ■ and the neighbouririjr inounfcains, in conse- \ qUenoe, of/ tn'e\c!spg«riipn won them of a ivisf 'quantity 01/latya'"^'^^', which "has reader:^ ffiem/&hno6t' unrecognisable. This maierlal,' J , £6 a .depth 'of liundreds of feet, ha 6 over , the -whole island., 1 to> recent' investigations, the umbfedia is undoubtedly of iugli antiquity, appearin.^ in, ijarious fofrn^ on jthe, aoulprtor^d. mjonumente of 3i^ypt^^Ase'y ( ria, GTeeoe, 'aid Ifoyjne^ an^d. in |iot 0 6o,urtiri|6 It has been u^;jsiiie^,r'jhe^ v daVtt oi history, as a sunsha«^r«.. use, ,^g%ii§f4 ff.9™ 1 name, ce'r^Jred' OjwJ|. Uie- Latin , ' umbra," a s^hade. ■ i Ip, -'ifa^TSßtyjJllQg, i} ypi pxel^,, 'has even^ . been a of l p.p4 ', royalty, rn&ny countries' it "..has" become , jgaii of religious as well aa ' royaF symbolism. The Chines©,, date the fireT; umbrella [back -to four pr ,fjve thousand years anterior to the,Mosai0 r d»teV of creation, which would make it about10 A OOff or 11, OOP years old. The- largest uinhMla, t^e wpxJd was made in Glaego^'forj a kinff^oiEaet Africa. It can be j opehed.jAw^, closed, jtp. '#i&( jobu^l , way," and ,wh,£n open, is. 21ft in r . diameter.!, The staff aJsp / 4^."2l?t"| ( bng; .'. /, \, "'.'_. J>.” - 1 --^jSinoe-'itne first visit to the ioe cap of the ; ;Sou{,h JPolet was mad«, some 50 yeats ; ,h»3tbG©n au steady recession of tEe belt of 50me. ,30 milea,' and it is argued 1 ■that (a- the course-. of time it will be possible to make approach to the Pole itself, ejocx that, .the lanid'.m that vicinity axiay even I become inhabited. It is now believed that J the ice cap is but the remains of the glacial period,, and .that -when the ice shall finally i rhave meltodi it.cw.ill not form again, the ■waters; then. ibeing'csubjeot to only such ice ; foaswfrtions a» i occuc in.' ,'any sea in wintry ' 'wewther. dt is/.p'ossible, therefdre, that jn I spit© of -the f«w,-at6empts to reach tho South I |Boi9 J ljjrti'Oomq(jaEison."wi'th the many enjdieftTstmrs sirifide^to^reach the North Pole, | the JEofimer. i will- 'be -the sooner discovered. iTtbare-ifl believed' to be .plenty of land about the* South Pole, and in the ccairee of time 'this may become the ruling country. — A:' •prominent German constructing engineer has devieed a novel and 1 somewhat reniarkabl© scheme of fire protection for theatres which he proposes to demonstrate by the building of a theatre, and then iEs destruction by fire to prove the complete .availability of the system. lif case of a jfire an eleetrio button is pressed, and the (whole floor of the theatre, together with the jauidEienoe, • is automaticajly sunk a distance J 'of'iTft. "Asbestos flooring then shoots out jfrom. different parts of the theatre, making j ,a fireproof covering over the heads of the people Q4 they make their way to the .starlets i*hrough -m'Utfferous ' e'sits;' •At the same 'timenthe' : autßenco mother parts of 'the house "i» protected by steel curtains which drop in front of the 'boxes and balIconics. '>' it- ,—, — Some infereetirig '•oxperlmen't's in tho' direction of 'vegetarianism in regaid to soldiers' diet are being mado by the Ausixi&n military authorities. ' Tho various .oominiasariat ■ depaVotnenk; havo received forderi 15 (sfcys th© 1 VieMxa, correspondent, of [thA Patf Mali Gazette) to test the velu 9 of ;milk J 'and r^llk^o^iiifibs, "espeeial !y oheefie, rttt %4[ '#J 'a&te£ro£ tii^' troops.' Skitn •milk^-'iWhich fa .'Us^Lily lather dc&pised. is (also to ps~' taken 'tyso aocbuDt. Tt' is eug'ge^fiea'tiiat'Veor^its would form a very good subjept 185, experifn^M, jma that they jniphi »W given/ small'ei 1 'ratjoas of wioat, -irijh ia■creased allowances 1 of vegetables and pa^tiy timcf'' pudding*,' composed of milk 'and !o»ea!e. - ' The Weir OiHoe ia especially !ari*i6us,^6b; asdarfain ho%v euch a reformed soato ot '<lieV •\Vb'u!a'iiidet 'the j-equiremente :of $he troops pn'' pxxt^oSiaw&i ano field excrcisei. 'W'l^ uiidor?tod ;Urat 'the private solidieTs are 'by' 'ix6'"ind£Tis ,onf3iusiast;c about !',h£'neHr d^ary'. ";/"-' ,',' -,' ' ry Ships remote .'iro^J- tl^e laud are seldom t^camaged by lightning, .flesjjiLe the-fact that jsonie of the mosf a-we-inspiring displays, of atmospheric, electricity arc. frequently wiincesad by those on^ board .of .th.em. Standing ( yjggiag, and, oven par,ts .of the running gear, is no,w tnado of steel wire, and t thi« subsL't xxite for the oldl-faahioned hemp, serves the. pis^posd of a lightning conductor when^fchp elrlp is not fitted with such an aid to safe.ty. 'The eleobrie current is conveyed down, the wire rigging, end reaches the sea through the vessel's metal hull. Damage only occurs" if tile current be interrupted on its way to earth. In a comparatively large proportion of instances the fore-royal irucK is struck by lightning, that of the main Jess fremiently, and the inizen Jcast of the three. Very sorious casualties under this head oc cui-red to row-ships' ancV 'merchant vessels in pus days ofivoodten hulls ftnd hempen rigging., ' Many xessek are' now fitted Avith .Trg-btnang- opnßuctors of apprfavc^ 1 types, lost, the- wi'jre rigging should fail to carry off -die- "eleotrio .current, — Knowledge. • ' -"- During the last few- years tho great' jr.evea.se in tho price of "hard vrooda hfts creaiod ft Btrotisr ' dema-mi for wood which I can 'b« used in imitation. Tho two woods iß»t' «£p J^pst sucos3Bfully imitated' axe- ma-

hogany and oak. Almost without excep- j tion the manufacturer "sells these imitations | either as imitations or under some registered trade, name, and does not attempt to , deceive his customers. For imitating m,§- j hogany, cherry was formerly used almost 1 entirely, but the diminished supply and the increased price of this wood have led manufacturers to seek a substitute which would lend itself more readily to the stain . than cherry, and, at the same time, show . tho gna-in and. hold the gloss. For theee 1 refi&oris' birch, esn«oially curly birch, maple, and beech are extensively used, for all parts of- furniture. Even, in the better grades of mahogany furniture, birch and maple stained' to 1 -a mahogany finish are often, used for -posts- and frames, while genuine mahogany, 'inifthe form of Veaeter, is used for panels and pther-' prominent In making, imitation oak, ;. almost any wood can be used", ' since in this casa the original grain of the wood is first covered with a "filler" and then the figuring is printed on in dark ink by the impression of. actual oak rolls, T or "by 1 a &ansieif "from oak prepared bya special processes. ' Birch, maple, poplar, -vend plait* sawed oak are commonly used for ■ this work. After the wood has been finished and polished, the imitation, appears co real that only an expert can detect the difference.

— Here (says an English scientific journal) is the last cry of the twentieth century — the fox-bunting 1 motor car. It will rise in the air, take- a fence or a ditch, a brook or a hurdle with ' the same > ease that it skims' along; ijh«e highway or' -v^hfsks over' country roaicls. It: -is The invention. o,f Mr Ernest Carleton Wfebb, and is little different from the qrdinary oar, but the difference is everything. , It is equipped with self-acting mechanism, -, -power of motion in. itself. All,, the chauffeur has 'to do is to pttll a lever. ' The mechanism is started and the motor will instantly rear on its hind wheels. A fence ot a 6tone wall means nothing — the machine will take it without a quiver. Of course, any motor oar that jumps in the air comes down P£®tty hard. But that is all provided for. When he has taken hie jump — hurdle, ditch, brook, or" stone wajl— the chauffeur reverses the lever, which expands springs under the body of the machine. These give an elastio or cushioning effect when the car hits the ground a'gafn after the jump, ' and completely t»ke up the jar and shock. Nobody is hjurt, ftnd the car hurries along th"c roadway as if nothing had happened. The frame of the fox-hunting motor ifl very light, but strongly constructed. It is built of steel- tubes with longitudinal seams, shaped outwardly from the body of the machine. The jumping mechanism consists of a series of powerful springs, each on© secured at the inner' end "by af' tubular 'bracket, mounted on a rod, which"-' is fixed!"' to the front -axle. *->-:b<r . "> &■%:•>• > '-■>- an*