WORLD-WIDE NOTES.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 29, Issue 34, 4 May 1917, Page 2

WORLD-WIDE NOTES.

GA3 ENT. !'IS^AFFECTED BY ALTITUDE. I’lie curious fact has been demonstrated t!i...t high altitudes apparently have a marked effect on the power obtainable from a gas engine. Recently one was erected several thousand feet above the sea level, but upon testing, failed to give the desired power. An investigation followed, and the loss in power was attributed to the height at which the engine was operating. The general conclusion was reached that a gas engine loses about one per cent, of its indicated horse power per 1,000 feet of elevation.

SALT AND FRESH WATER FISH. When a crawfish or a frog is put into salt water it dies. When a jellyfish is put into fresh water it too dies. This is due to a familiar quality of liquids known as osmosis, i.e., the passage of fluids through membranes. A fresh water creature is full of liquid of a lower specific gravity than the salt water ; consequently when placed in salt water this draws the interior liquids out and leaves the creature shrivelled. On the contrary, when the salt water creature —jelly-fish, for instance is placed in fresh water-, the salty liquids in its tissues draw the fresu water to them and the creature swells until it is suffocated. sft.—l HOUR. Apropos of Britain’s efforts to save daylight and the consequent putting on of all clocks one hour, does anyone realise what the speeding-up of “Big Ben,” the great clock in the tower of the House of Parliament, by a single hour really mean ? The minute hand of this enormous timepiece is no less than 14ft. in length and weighs a couple of hundredweight. The minute spaces on the dial are each Ift. in length, so that the hour hand had to he pushed forward a distance of sft. WONDERS OP WATER. If you put your arm overboard from a hydroplane running fifty miles an hour and strike a wave crest the probability is that you will break your arm or wrist. The reason is that at such a speed the water has not time to give, or even to change shape, and striking it is like striking some metal. If a swordsman should enter one of the great hydraulic quarries where a stream of water, under enormous head, is used to washi down hillsides, and attempt to cut into one of these streams, his sword would fly in pieces without being able to penetrate the water. The stream is like a bar of iron.

TREASURE TROVE IN FLANDERS. When some Canadians were recently digging a new line of trenches behind their line in France, a jar was found in which were 200 silver crowns. The •oins, which were in a fine state of preservation, bore . dates between 1745 and 1747, a period in which heavy fighting was taking place over the same ground in Flanders. Bach member of the working party was given one of the coins, which are now worth eight pounds each. Some of the party not knowing their value, parted with them for 5/.

A WONDERFUL WATCH. ■ A watch, one of the most remarkable ever turned out by British workmen, has been made by Messrs. C. Frodsham & Co., the well-known watch and clock specialists, of London, who have had the honour of submitting it to the close and interesting inspection of their Majesties. The special features are not only its convenient size but the number of purposes it serves—showing days of the week, days of the month, and phases of the moon, and adjusting itself for long and short months and for leap year. It strikes and repeats quarters, hours, and minutes at will. Over a year’s work by various artificers is in the watch, which was made to an American order. CAN CATS HEAR ? The acuteness of the average cat’s sense of hearing is proverbial, but it is a proverb that needs qualifying. For example, many white cats are absolutely deaf, and though the idea may appear absurd at first sight, it is believed by some students that the colour of the cat is associated with its sense of hearing. Among several imported Persians, or long-eared cats from abroad, not one white one in the number has been able to hear the slightest sound. Of course, there are white cats that could hear, but they have been the exception, and that applies as much to the short-haired pets. of the fireside as to the aristocratic long-hair of the shows. Moreover, the white cats dullest of hearing are those with blue eyes.