SCIENCE NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2978, 12 April 1911, Page 76

SCIENCE NOTES.

—A Wonderful Watch.— A : watch which shows Greenwich time on one dial, and indicates automatically tbe time at 41 different places all over the world on another dial, has been patented by Messrs Kendal and Dent, of Cheapsidc, London. —Automatic Photograph Printing Machine. — An automatic photograph printing machine, built on the lines of a job printing press, is one of the latest novelties 'in photography. The print is exposed by pressing down a handle, the time of exposure being regulated by an adjustable gauge, which allows an exposure from one second to as long as required. It is claimed that 1000 prints have been made from one negative in 45 minutes, or oven somewhat less. —Automatic Porridge Stirring.— Many people understand that the placing of a marbLe in u kettle prevents furring, but few seem to know that a large marble boiled in milk, porridge, custard, sauces, or stews will automatically do the stirring as tho liquid'cocks. Any chance of burning will bo prevented, and thus the fatigue of constant stirring and the cook's time can be saved, as by this means the cook can bo attending to several things at tho same time, instead of having to give her whole attention to one. —Solidifying Oxygen.— Sir James Dewar, tho wizard who both solidified and liquefied air, made an important announcement in a lecture on "Chemical and Ilhysical Changes at Low Pressure," at the Royal Institution. To his previous triumphs Sir James has added that of .solidifying oxygen by moans of its own evaporation. Oxygen has been solidified before by the evaporation of hydrogen, but never by itself. This is Sir James's great achievement, and he demonstrated his success before a distinguished, audience, which included many well-known scientists, who expressed their great deliglbt with the result. —Paralysis "Cure." — The Daily - Chronicle correspondent says a great sensation has been caused by the announcement at the Vienna University that a cure has been discovered for progressive paralysis caused by overwork of the brain, which hitherto has been considered absolutely incurable. Professor Wr.igner Jauregg, the discoverer of the cure, has" for tlhree years been administering tuberculin to patients in tbe lunatic department of the Vienna University, and tho result of his experiments is that 30 per cent, of the cases, among whom' were professors, chemists, physicians, and others, have been entirely cured, and have resumed their ordinary occupations. —Tortiseshell. — Tho finest tortoiseshell is said to that which comes from the Indian Archipelafo, although much of that obtained on tho Florida coast is of the very best quality. There are three rows of plates on the back of tbe animal, called "blades" by tho fishermen. In the central row are five platttf, and in each of the others four plates, the latter containing the best material. Besides these, there are 25 small plates round the edges of the shell, known as "feet" or "noses.'' The biggest turtle docs not furnish more than 161 b of shell. Formerly the undershell was discarded as worthless, but now it is much esteemed for its delicacy of colouring. Sometimes imitation of tortoiseshell is made of the horns of cows —A New Source of Paper.—

The discovery thait a good grade of paper -can be manufactured fiom yellow pine will probably lead to the establishment of a largo number of paper mills in those sections of America where that timber grows abundantly. At present the only yellow pino paper mill in tihe United States is situated at Orange, Texas. It was erected a few years ago, and the product which it turned out met with such favour among the paper trade that the mill has Just been enlarged, its capacity now being 33 tons of paper daily. It is situated in the midst of the yellow pine forests. The refuse of the lumber mills is easily available for the manufacture of paper pulp, from which, the finklhed product is made. The experiments in the manufacture of paper from yellow pine covered a period of several years before a process was finally disco verod that ensured the succss of the newindustry. —Nitrogen as a Motive Power.— A younj? 'Scottish engineer claims to have discovered what he styles/ commercialised nitrogen power. It has for its object the harnessing of waste products to utilise them for looomotion. Pure nitrogen is compressed for the purpose of this invention in cylinders up to 30001 b to the square inch. For the application to motor cars it is intended that theso vehicles shall carry two long cylinders; in place of the petrol tank, but, according to experiments, it will be necessary to alter tho engine and build it more on the principle of the steam engine. The nitrogen, compressed to some 30001 b per square inch, is released and allowed to pass into a small chamber, where it expands to 1651 b to the square inch, and at that power drives the piston. The inventor argues that it costs 5s per 80 miles to drive a cab with petrol fuel'; but contends that the same distance can be covered on a similar oab with nitrogen for is proposed (according to the report in Popular Science Sittings) to sell the nitrogen power equal in driving power to six gallons of petrol for half a crown, and to set up power retorts all over the country. —Growing Camphor in Texas.—

The United States may within the next few years become a competitor with Japan in the production of camphor.. Experiments have proved beyond question that it can bo made a highly profitable industry. On the demonstration • farm camphor seeds wero planted several years ago, and they scon germinated, tho trees having a remarkable growth. In one year's time the plants reached a health of 18m, which is said to bo more rapid growth than they have in the camphor-producing regions of the world. The seeds were planted in rows, and were not fertilised, nor did they receive unusual attention,. It is believed that a regular annual profit of £6O to £9O an aero niAy bo obtained from a camphor farm in tho guif coast territory by cutting tho camphor plants with a mowing machine when they reach a height of about. 12in from the ground, instead of waiting until the .trees are of full-grown sizo and then outting thorn, as is done on the island of Formosa, from which tho bulk of tho

world's output of camphor comes. The stubble loft by the cutting of the plants soon sends up new sprouts, and in 12 months it is again ready for another cutting. The camphor is obtained by putting the plants through the distilling process. --Five Times in Four Hundred Years.— ' With the beginning of the second decade of the twentieth century (1911) some very strange and interesting facts are deduced. That the beginning of 1911 being on bunday, the first day of the week the first day of the month, and the first day ot the year is not so strange as that the first dav of the decades are very few that start <n Sunday. This singular coincidence in the decodes has occurred before only five tunes in just 400 years, when in 1511, according to the Gregorian Calendar (new style), it was the same as now, 1911. Again it >courred in 1561, then again in 1741, and then the last before now was the beginning ot the decade 1871, 40 years ago, The next time tihflt it will occur will be 1961, or 50 years hence, and the next time after that will be 2051; then again in 2141 the nextm 2271, and then again in 2311, or 4UU years from now, and so along down through the ages at periods of 400 years from each of tho years given above. It is also very interesting to note that since the beginning of the Christian era,, according to Julian Old Stvlo Calendar, that the seventh and fourteenth centuries—that is, 601 and 1301—are the only centuries up to tho nresen/t time that have started off on Sunday (the first of the week, month, and year), " and accordins: to the present calculating of time it will never occur again. —A Vibration-proof Metallic Filament Electric Lamp. — One of the drawbacks to the metallic filament incandescent electric lamp is the extreme fragility of the filament. The average lamp, if submitted to a jar or vibration such as occurs in a large manufactory where maohinory is running, is apt to break down. This disadvantage counteracts tho many attractive features which the lamp possesses. A recent invention seeks to obviate this defect. In this case tho strand? of the filament, instead of being looped over hooks, as is the usual practice, are passed through small rings whicn are carried on the "hooks, but in such a manner as to have a little free play. By this arrangement tho filaments are not held so rigidly, and the effect of vibration is not so forcibly conveyed thereto. It may be pointed out that a lamp which suddenly gives out can often be given a litt'e longer life by turning on the switch and giving the bulb a few taps to cause tho broken ends to come together or fall across another strand, when, immediately lighting up and becoming incandescent', they fuse together. —A Census of the Stare.— Mr F. W. Dyson, the Astronomer-Royal, speaking recently on a census of the stars, said that great as was the value of the census of the stellar population, it would be of far greater value when additional details were given with it. To what questions could they reasonably expect answers were a census to be taken? They could ask in what part of the sky a star was situated. That could be clearly answered of every star that they could see or photograph. They might ask how bright a star was, and an accurate answer could be given of every bright star and an approximate ono of all other sorts. In what direction was a star's proper movement? The proper motion of thousands of stare could be given. How fast was a star moving in miles per second towards or away from the sun? The number of stars in respect of which that question could be answered hail been rapidly increasing in the last few years, and had reached some thousands. They could also ascertain whether a star was double or single. In 1885 it was calculated that there were 300,000 stare, down to a masnitudio of 9i- Now, more than a million for the whole sky had been definitely ascertained as regards their positions and magnitudes, and the number of stars approximately, in the sky down to the 14th magnitude was 24 miliums. The_ star with the largest proper motion was quite a faint one. It was discovered in 1897, and it moved B.7sec. a vear. To make a complete circuit of the 'sky it would take 150.000 years. In-the constellation of Orion there were eight brierht. stars that moved less than one second in a century.