SCIENCE NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3292, 18 April 1917, Page 55

SCIENCE NOTES.

How to See the Sun.— A better idea of the elevations and depressions of the sun's surface is being sought by Professor Hale, of the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory, through a novel us-j of the stereoscope. With the spectroheliograph a photograph was taken of tufts of hydrogen surrounding a spot near the edge of the solar disc, and a second plate was exposed seven minutes later. This interval gave practically the minimum angular separation of v views necessary for stereoscopic vision. The pictures were looked at through the stereoscope in the usual way, and the effect of relief was distinctly seen. Energy Running to Waste.— It is claimed, according to Mr Hugh L. Cooper, an eminent engineer, in a Scientific American report, that the United States has more than 40,000,000 hqrsc-power of undeveloped water-power within its boundaries. If this is true, it represents an amount of power corresponding to the amount of energy that would be derived from about 300,000,000 tons of coal, worth about £1,200,000,000 a year, in the boiler furnaces.. To convert this vast amount of coal into energy would require about 600,000 more men than would be necessary for the production of the same amount of energy by water-power. Smokeless Furnace.— A novel method of saving the chimney by-products of fuel has been adopted in the boiler lately patented by the borough electrical engineer of Harrogate. As the coal is fed automatically to the boiler,' gas, tar, and ammoniacal liquor are separated by distillation, and the coke produced, still white hot. is dumped into the furnace, where it burns without smoke. The gas, first separated from the by-products, is passed with air under considerable pressure into the furnace. This burns with a smokeless flame until it reaches the retort flue, where it is transformed into radiant heat, absorbed partly by the retort and partly by the water of the boiler. Great efficiency is claimed, as active steaming surfaces are produced not only' in the furnace but throughout the boiler. Bread From -Unground Wheat.— An ingenious method of dispensing with a large part of the labour, hitherto considered necessary, before grain can appear in the form of bread upon the table, has been invented in Italy. The result, we are assured, is an excellent "bread, not only highly nutritious, but delicious in flavour and appetising of taste, while the wheat has necessitated no labour for milling. It is important that the grain should be of good quality and free from foreign material. It is first carefully washed and sifted and then placed in tepid water to soak for a period of about 60 hours. At the end of this time it has become "vitalised"—i.e., it has begun to germinate, and has therefore become quite soft and tender, and has undergone profound chemical modifications. When tho proper degree of vitalisation has been attained, the grain is. fed directly into a kneading machine, where it is ground down and kneaded till it is ready to be moulded into loaves. It is then allowed to ferment or " rise" for the proper length of time, whereupon it is placed in the oven. Tho bread is. groy in colour, and, being made of the whole grain, is much richer in food value than bread from flour, containing a higher percentage of mineral salts, lecithin, and vegetable pepsin. There is a saving not only in manual labour, but in wastage, so that a given weight of grain yields a considerably larger number of loaves when unground than when converted into flour. Another advantago is that there is less risk of adulteration than when flour is. used. In other parts of Italy some observers have complained that such bread was very dark and unpleasant in taste. Such results are, doubtless, duo to tho use of inferior or adulterated grain, or to lack of care in baking.