NOTES AND QUERIES

Otago Witness, Issue 3292, 18 April 1917, Page 35

NOTES AND QUERIES

Questions for reply \n coming Issueto be received not later than SATURDAY 'njjjp'. Questions will NOT be replied to througfc the post. Astronomer, Westport, asks:—"How manylight years away are the following stars, and what are •their size and neat compared with the eun:—Beta Centauri, Ganopus, Sirius, Regulus, Deneboia, Procyon, Archenar, Rigel, BetelgeuXj Castor and Pollux? Which are the principal gems that adorn the evening sky?"——Mr Blair Mason,. C.E., who takes a keen interest in matters astronomical, has spared the time to supply the following information: "The distances of the stars are eo great that comparatively very few show any measurable parallax. Of the etars mentioned, Canopus, Denebola, and Rigel are so remote that no displacement due to # parallax can be detected, and it is safe to say that they are more than 3000 light years away, and in size and brightness surpass our sun by thousands, and perhaps tens or even hundreds of thousands, of times. Amongst stars whose parallaxes are known, Sirius and Procyon are binary systems, so that it has been possible to calculate with some approximation to exactitude their ma»3, and consequently their brightness as compared with the sain, It is reasonable to take brightness of the star as the measure of its heat. Sirius. whose mass or weight is 3.7 times that of the sun, is 82 times brighter and probably as many times hotter. Consequently, its density must bo much less than the sun, whilst the volume or size will be inversely proportional to the density. 'lt is agreed that Sirius is at least 20 times the volume of the sun. Procyon, whose mass Is sixtenths that of the sun and eight and a-half times brighter, moist be hotter even than Sirius, and consequently of greater proportionate volume*. As a rough indication of the comparative heat and volume, one may viae the brightness where the distances are known. The parallaxes of the several, stars mentioned, with the declared distances in light years and their brightness (i.e., the quantity of visible,light they emit, that of the sun being unity), is given hereunder. Those marked x show no measurable parallax, and must ho inconceivably remote:

For further information the inquirer is referred to the article 'Astronomy and Austro Physics,' in the Eiicyclopredio, Britannica, eleventh edition." A. Z., Balfour, writes desiring—(l) a remedy for removing warts from a cow's teats; (2) having some old pasture, he is desirous of top-dressing same with artificial manures, using different fertilisers—what quantity and kind to try; (3) recipe for making concrete. (1) The method to adopt depends a good deal on location or warts, whether deeply buried or not on the teat; but if an ordinary small thing, then snip off with clean, sharp, curved scissors, and apply to the wounds made ever so little nitrate of silver (lunar caustic). (2) Dress a portion of the land with, say, crushed limestone, at the rate of a ton to the acre, and dress a similar «irea with, say, an amount of ground lime costing the same as the limestone, and a third area- at the rate of lewt superphosphate; another area with super and lime, and leave one plot untreated. >7ote carefully the cost of each dressing. Any other phosphatic fertiliser, if convenient, might bo used, but it is as well to keen the cost of the various dressings used somewhat similar for comparison, etc. (3) As to a concrete mixture, there are many mixtures used; it depends to what use you intend to put the structure. For, say, read or pavement in barn, concrete floor, watering troughs, etc., you might use the 1,2, 3 mixture—that is, a mixture of one sack of cement, two cubic feet sand, and three

cubic feet of pebbles or broken stone. For finer work, facing, etc., the broken stone might be lessened or eliminated. J. C—Your cabbago plants are evidently affected by the disease known as clubfoot. The ground should bo well limed, and you should avoid planting any of the Brassica family in it for, say, two seasons.

Interested asks:—" (1) Have Women ever had the right to vote for a member of Parliament in Great Britain? (2) Under what qualification and age have men the right to vote in Great Britain?" (1) Tho granting of the parliamentary franchise to women in Great Britain has so far been withheld; but women may vote in county .council, municipal, poor law, and other elections. (2) Every man over 21 years of "age who has the right to the exclusive use of a room or rooms of the annual value of £lO.

0. T. wants to know if it is compulsory to attend every Territorial Camp. He has served nearly two years beyond the prescribed age, and has never missed a camp. ■ So long as you are a member of the Territorial Forces you must attend camp; but as you have reached the prescribed age you may withdraw and be placed on the Reserve.

Medal asks:—"Can you give me information regarding the Military Medal? Does it come before the D.C.M. oar the D. 5.0.? Is it awarded to non-coms, and privates in order of merit, the same as the Military Cross is awarded to officers, and are . the recipients entitled to carry the letters after their names, and what is it awarded for?" We can best answer your question by placing the decorations and ciders in the order of merit:—-Officers: Victoria Cross, Dtsting-uished Service Order, Military Cross. "Warrant officers: Military Cross, Military Medal. Non-commissioned officers and privates: Distinguished Conduct Medal, Military Medal. From this you will see that the 1 D.S.O. and the D.C.M. takes precedence of the M.M. No; the Military Medal does not entitle the recipient to carry the letters after his name,. Previously the V.C. and D.S.O. alone carried the privilege, but a Royal Warrant has since been issued authorising recipients of the Military Cross to use the letters M.C. after their names. The Military Medal is awarded for individual ot associated acts of bravery on the recommendation of. the commander-in-chief in the field. The medal bears the inscription t "For bravery on the field."

Constant Reader asks for a recipe for hop beert To lOgal of rain water add Jib of hops and Jib bruised (not ground) ginger; let it come to the boil, stirring occasionally. Mark the time it commences to boil, and when 20 minutes have elapsed add 9lb of sugar (light brown), stir till dissolved, and immediately take up without its boiling' again. (It is in the long boiling of hops that all their delicate aroma escapes, while all the bitterness is brought out; hoiling the sugar causes muddiness,.) Strain into an open wooden ■ vessel, and leave until milk warm, then add a quart of yeast, and cover it with a thick woollen cloth and let it work for 24 hours. In the meantime, an ounce of tartaric acid and an ounce of brewers' isinglas3 should be soaking in a quart of cold water, and at the end of the 24 hours should be added to the beer to clear it. It will bo ready to bottle the next day, and will be fit to drink in two days, but is much nicer if left for a week. The bottles should be washed at least _ a day before, and left upside down to drain, and any corks inside them should be extracted; they must be perfectly dry before being used. The corks should be soaked in some of the hop beer and left •with a weight on them until wanted. The brewing tub should be used for no other purpose, but should be kept filled with water from one brewing till another. If isinglass used by brewers cannot readily bo obtained, save up the egg-shells used a week before for custards, puddings, and cakes, and take the whites and shells of two fresh eggs, beat them all together, and add with the ounce of aoid. Tie the corks down tightly, and when the beer is put away throw a damp blanket over and around the bottles to ensure a cool and pleasant drink. "Water. —Mr H. M. Davey, consulting engineer, replies:—(l) Your tank, you say, is 500 ft away, and the difference in level between the bottom of the tank and top of the dip is 12ft. It would he a slight advantage, if not too much trouble, to let the pipe enter the dip at the bottom, as the fall would be that much more. A pipe-line such as you first describe—if the internal diameter wereJlJin and the bore smooth inside —should deliver about fully 12gal per minute, and one of 2in Internal diameter should deliver very slightly over double that quantity, or, say, nearly 2-sgal per minute. Probably you may think it curious that the difference of the lin should make all that difference in the flow, but so it is. Many pipes, as now made and sold, have a rough burred edge at each end, and often what are . called "rags" (which are rough scraps of metal), projecting' inwards, so it would bo well to have a new large round or half-round bastard file, as these are then easily filed away with three or four strokes. (2) Now you emit the all-important thing when you ask about the syphon and its action. If it lifts the Water 6ft above the level of the tank water, then it is really a syphon ; bait if it occurs lower down the line, and merely rises Gft above the pipe-line, but not above the level of the tank water; then it may be regarded as merely a few easy bends. I would like to know which of these two it is. I may .add, however, that in neither case would it interfere with the flow of the water to any appreciable extent unless such as elbows or bends were introduced, and if they were, then these bends eoujd be bought the next size larger with diminishinar sockets at each end to the pipe-line. But if the rise is a real syphon, it might cause trouble by losing water if either the end were uncovered or if there was the slightest leak, and such lonk would not, perhaps, show, as most likely it would bo inwards, not outwards, but sucking ' nir in, and so breaking the column of water in <■ the svphon. If, therefore, it is a syphon, you should nlace a tee piece, looking upward and ending in a. stop cock, ana a large funnel, n+ the highest point, with a tap at the inlet and another a few yards down for refilling if necessary. Have a good bell-mouthed inlet and a good rose strainer to prevent obstructions getting into the pipes. I would send you a sketch of the- filling requirements if you want one. and, anyhow, would be pleased to hear how you get on. A lin internal diameter pipe passes only a little lefs than 4 1 .tr"il per minute; remember, any pipe double the diameter of another passes five and a-half times the water under similar conditions.

Inquiber, Win toil .—Mr H. M. Davey,_ consulting engineer, Princes street, replies: (1) On ordinary ground—and by- that i 3 meant ground not too far above the sea level—the air presses upon everything roughly about 15lb per square inch at about the usual low levels. (2'/ Xow, as it presses in every direction it presses on

the surface of water, and any action that withdraws pressure from water in a pipe, for instance, allows the air to press tho water up that pipe to a height of, eay, 28ft io SOft, more or less, as tho weather is flno or wet; (3) and always less the higher tho apparatus is above sea level, as the air is lighter the higher up you go, and so the pressure is less. (4) All pipes that water runs through had better nave a bell or wide mouthed entrance for the water, called the intake, as the water can get into tho pipe more easily that way; also it is advisable to have a perforated plate or _fine netting at the entrance to keep out solid matter, etc. (5) This is answered after looking at the end of your letter. You say you are about 1000 ft above sea level, and "also that your syphon lifts the water 30ft above the level of the water in the intake. I should be inclined to doubt that this could be done; but, from your letter, it seems it works. That it won loses the flow can only_ be attributed to two things: either the joints do leak or else the intake water gets lower as the pipe empties' it away. Now, seeing that you are lifting the water .to the utmost limit possible, I incline to the belief that the slight lowering of the intake water supply is the cause. However, the slightest, leak would cause the syphon to act in this way; and I suppose you are aware that you would find such a

leak very difficult to find, as it would be an inward leak of air, not an outward one of either air or water. Would it be possible to lower the top ot the lift so a.s to lift a few feet less than now? (6) There is no use in the outer or longer leg being more than, say, a 84ft in perpendicular height, so that a reply to this question is this:—ln a short lift the long leg Would be of great advantage, as itwould give a pull due to the difference in length of the water levels. But in a long lift, such as yours, you must see thai the legs, being nearly equal in effective length, you only get a sluggish flow at best. You put your questions very well, and_ I would be glad to hear from you again, and to know how you have got on nnd what you have found. New-chum Pumping, Gimmerburn.—'Mr H. M. Davey replies:—l wish you had told me a little more, and fear I must ask you for more particulars before I can give you any reply worth giving. You ask if your wheel would give you sufficient power to work a 2-3dn diameter pump. You, and yeii only, should be able io know and judge as to whether a light wind drives the water up properly, or if the wheel seems too weak and scarcely able to work till a gale comes along. I do not know whether tho wheel is placed to good advantage, and whether you get much wind, or whether the wheel i>s a good one, etc., etc., etc. You will know all this. Prom your sketch your pipeline has elbows; these are bad. Please write again with tho following information: —(1) Does the wheel work freely, as if it could bear a _ greater load ? (2) At an ordinary light wind how much water in gallons, do you get per minute? (3) How much do you want? I suppose it would be a difficult matter to place the pump in the well so as not to have to lift the water, and save some bad elbows as well. (4) What is the depth of the top tank, and what is it made of? I can reply better when you give the above information.. Wakeiob,. St. Kilda,—Mr H. M. Davey replies : —(1) As far as is generally known here the board in question is for the purpose of considering schemes or inventions that may be of real use, primarily in the war, and, secondarily, those that may be of industrial importance during or after the same. Necessarily very complete and well-thought-out -schemes or inventions only stand a chance of being considered; it would be of little use sending hazy ideas incompletely worked out. (2) No; he could communicate direct. (8) He can if he can. Presumably you meant to ask. May a person, etc.? If you consider a person may do all sorts of things for himself—manufacture his own clothes and food, build his -house, etc.; but it may not always be wise io attempt what he knows little or nothing about, leaving what he knows about to do so. (4) Either £3 or £3 10s, depending on how he goes about it, plus the work involved. In this last reply I am alluding to New Zealand only; you omit to say what, country you ask about.

Stars. c3 S 3 B 1 Jxd Or 6 " -< Ph Psf Beta Centami .. .03sec 108 220. Canopus .. .OOsec * * Sirius (binary) .. .38sec 8£ 80 R-eguhis .. .. .0*2soc 162 1000 Denebola .. .OOsec * * Procyon .. .. ,. .SOsec 11 8 Archenar .. .. .. ,0'lsec 81 600 liige-1 .. .. .. .OOsec * * Betelgcux .. .02sec 1G3 variable Oastor .. .20sec 16 7 Pollux .. .O&sec 54 100