Science.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XX, Issue 1416, 28 December 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

Science.

Fabrics of Fir Leaf Wool.— Fir wool is a textile fiber which in Saxony is manufactured out of the needles of the fir tree, the process being partly chemical and partly mechanical. For this purpose the needles are 'gathered in spring and summer, when they are young and green, old and withered ones being unsuitable. They are token into barns and -there dried in a current of air. When dried, they are subjected to a settling and fermenting process similar to that in use for flax. This softens the woody parts and loosens them from the fiber, but the complete separation is only obtained after lengthy boiling by steam. During the boiling a by-product is obtained in the shape of an oil (fir wood oil) which is gathered and sold to chemists as a remedy for rheumatism and gout, its properties being similar to tur. pentine. *

The complete separation of bast and fiber is produced exactly as with flax. The fiber is now passed thiough a- milling machine similar to that in use for woolen cloth, and is then carded and spun like cotton. Generally the carded fiber is mixed with a certain proportion of cotton or wool, and thus a kink of merino yarn is produced, which is worked in the hosiery frames into singlets, drawers and stockings, these fabrics being then sold as anti-rheumatica and as a preventive of gout. When examined under the microscope the fabric appears as a tu.be, and. striped, and as if covered by a fine net-work. Goods made with this fiber are sold to a considerable extent in Germany, though they are dearer than the ordinary merino goods. ~"

The Principles of Sea Bathing— Sea bathing, says a writer in Popular Science Monthly, when properly and carefully indulged in. is a most health-giving and enjoyable diversion. But a few broad principles should be remembered. Never bathe within two hours of a meal, never when overtired or exhausted, and never when overheated. At tho sama time the bod 7 should be warm, and not cold, when you plunge in. Do not remain in the water long enough to become tired or chilly, and when you come out dress quickly. It should also be remembered that bathing does not agree with everybody. Those who feel faint and giddy in the water, or whose heart begins to beat overmuch, should consult a doctor who is thoroughly acquainted with their constitutions before they enter the water again. Medical papers say that many of the bathing fatalities, which are generally attributed to " cramp," ars really due to the failure of the heart's action, induced by the plunge into cold water and aggravated by swimming. 'A good result of the bath ought to make the bather feel warm and fresh. If, instead, shivering and cold ensue, harm is being done. Children should not be forced into sea-baths, for their reluctance may be occasioned by some constitutional drawback, testifying that the process is. harmful to them.

Ice Lenses. — The London correspondent of Le Moniteur de la Photographic writes to that journal that in the middle of the winter which has just elapsed a student made a lens of ice, with which he lit the pipes of some of the skaters on the Serpentine by means of the solar rays, an experiment, he says, which was first performed in the Polar regions by Dr. Scoresby, to the creat astonishment of the sailors, for they could not understand why the ice did not freeze the beams of the sun. We may remark that Professor Tyndali at times would set fire, at the Royal Institution, to a little heap of gunpowder with rays from the electric are concentrated upon the powder by means of a lens of ice. His explanation was that, although ice absorbs rays of certain wave lengths, and is gradually melted thereby, other waves it does not absorb, and these latter produce the heating effect at the focus of the lens. It is wholly a question of the relative motions of the molecules of frozen water and the motions of the waves of light ; when there is discord between the two, the discordant waves pass through tha ice without absorption.

A New Proffess.— Photography in natural colors is a new process known as "The Cal-lerier-Parkes Process." Photographs have been colored for the last forty years, and the colors have been laid on sometimes on the back and sometimes on the front of the photograph. The novelty of -the Cellerier-Parices process is that the coloring is effected during the production of the picture, and thus the film or pellicle which carries the photograph, and through which the colors are seen, can be made much more transparent. So extremely simple is the Cellerier-Parkes coloring process that it ban be done by any ordinary person who can lay colors flatly ; it does not require any artistic training, *nd there can be no question that a given approach to perfection can, by the Cellewer-Parkes process, be produced by a les3.eompetentcolori9t and with greater rapidity and certainty. Commercially considered the process is exceedingly promising, and the Cellerier Syndicate may fairly be congratulated upon the excellent progress which has thus far been made.

The Moon and Lunatics.— Dr. Leslie gives us some new ideas relative to the moon question : Does the moon affect lunatics ? Modern science laughs at the idea, and draws the conclusion that the moon lyis no iufluence on mad or melancholic people, though such persons do undergo alterations every few weeks, which may happen to fit in with some change of the moon. On the other side, it must be statad that the belief is thousands of years old, the supposition being that lunatics were better at the new moon and worse at the full. The very word "lunatic" points to this, th»ugh Dr. Leslie arguea that the lunatics mentioned in tho Bible were so named by the Eastern folks because they had a propensity for wandering over the fiat roofs of the houses by moonlight. It is more unlikely that the moon should affect deranged persons than that its beams should be injurious to the lumanbody when they fall upon ifc during sleep, as it is admitted to be the case in tropical climates. The subject is one needing further investiagtion.

Utilization of Coke rfust.— Recently the gas company of Lyons, France, have introduced very successfully a system for the utilization of fine coke dust, by transforming it into briquettes, for which tbey have a great demand at the Perracbe works. These coke fines are first washed to separate from them all slate or other impurities ; they are then dried and heated to about 200 Fahrenheit, and are mixed with 150 pounds of coal-tar pitch, previously ground and heated, for every ton of coke fines. To this then is added 50 pounds of coal tar, and the whole mass is then fed to a compressing machine, which turns out the finished briquettes. The total cost of this work at Lyons amounts to I6s. a ton, and the product finds a ready market at« from £1 to £1. 45. per ton. The cost of the whole plant, having a capacity of 65 tons per day, only amounted to £2,000. ' .

The Theory of the Telephone.— M. Corun has presented to the French Academy a memoir by M. E. Mercadier, on the theory of the telephone. M. Mercadier maintains that the transmission of articulate speech is chiefly, if not solely, the result of molecular motion in tbe plate of the receiver. - Vibrations of the plate as a whole are only capable of yielding a Bingle tone and its, harmonies this tone remains unaltered when the plate is snpported at various points which are nodal points for this particular not . but under thesacircumstances the transmission o£ other tones is much enfeebled. Such an instrument M. Mercadier calls a mono-telephone. On the other band, a diaphragm supported in such a manner as to be incapable of performing transversal vibration is still able to transmit speech with perfect clearness, although with considerable diminution of intensity - \