Scientific and Useful.

Western Star, Issue 932, 21 March 1885, Page 1 (Supplement)

Scientific and Useful.

A plant removes (he carbonic anhydride from the air, returns the carbon and returns the oxygen. The deposits of suit in the Salt Range mountait s running through the provinces of Jhi'am and Shalipur, in the Punjab, aro equalled by none in the world for extent and purity. THE PLANETOIDS. Ten members (236 to 245 inc’udve) have been added to the group of pocket planets circulating between Mara and Jupiter during the past year. Palira, of Yienra, opened the hall by the discovery of (236) on April 26th, and added the last of the ten (237) to the group on October 27th. LENGTH OP SUBMAEINE CABLES. Kosmos puts the totai length of all the submarine cables at present laid at 68,352 miles, or nearly three times the circumference of the globe. Bach cable consists of forty wires, so that the total length of iron and copper wire used amounts to twenty-five millions of miles, or ten times the distance between the earth ard the moon. ABOUT MANUEE. Some heap manure around their trees; but, this is wrong and sometimes proves very injurious to the tree, especially if the manure be strong enough to brat. Only fresh earth should ever be piled around a tree. If manure is to be applied it should be spread outside the mound of earth. Manure, spread two or three inches deep as far as the roots of the tree extends, will loosen the soil and prepare it for plant food, thus causing the tree to grow rapidly during the next season. CUBING HAV IN NOBWAT. The method of curing hay in Norway is peculiar. In driving along the highway one notices out in the midst of a fiield ten or a dozen lengths of post and rail fence in a straight line.. What is the object of the fences P When the grass is cut it is laid over these rails, tier above tier, to dry. In the curing process it has the b.n p fit of the wind as well as sun j and in case of ruin the water runs iff steadily. The colour of the hay is nearly as bright a green as the standing grass. MOSS USED AS WOOD. In Norway and Sweden accumulations of moss, often more thin a foot thick, and half decomposed, serve to make paper and mill* board, as hard as wood, blocks of which, formed by the hydraulic pras-*, may even be turned in the lathe and polished. This-sub-stance is said to possess the good qualities of wood without the defects, such as warping and splitting, so that it is suitable for making doors and windows. Plant h is, it is Slid', been laid down in Sweden for working up these deposits of a hitherto waste substance into a useful material. AN INSECT SCAB®. According to the Colonial Mail a statement.comes from Gape Colony which is deserof the attention of botanists. It is alleged that insects shun the land on which tomatoes are grown} and the cultivation of the Lyopersicon esoulentum is accordingly recommended in all cases where it is possible to grow it—under fruit-trees for instance, since tbe tomato will thrive in the shade of other trees, which few other plants will do—for the sake of the virtues attributed to it as a prophylactic against the inroads of insect pests. It would be interesting to know whether tbe tomato has been observed to exercise any such effect on insects elsewhere—in Canada, for instance, where the fruit is so popular—or whether it is only in warmer climates, like that of the Cape, that its peculiar powers are brought into play. LAEGB METBOB. Mr E. J. Lowe, F.R.A.S., writing from Shirenewtown Hall, near Chepstow, gives an account of one of the large.-b meteors he has seen for some years. It was observed at 7h. 15m. 15s. on tbe evening of December 4 as a speck north of Vega, and descended perpendicularly ur. til it was lost below the horizon. I b was was fully a quarter the apparent size of the moon, of an intense blue colour, and left a streak of orange red elongated separate stars in its track, which increased in size and bril iarcy from mere points, and disappeared on attaining their maximum brightness. None of the stars were within half a degree of the meteor, and their ignition was confined to the centre of the meteor’s path. The meteor moved slowly, being visible for close upon six seconds. —English Me • ohanio, A BMOKB CONSUMING LOCOMOTIVE. A new locomotive, invented by Mr Charles B. Coventry, tried on the Chicago and NorthWestern Railway, has given great satisfaction. During two succeeding weeks it has been on trial on the suburban trains on the Chicago, Rock Island and the Pacific. The poorest quality of bituminous coal was used, and yet at no time, although at one point it ran 50 miles an hour, did any black smoke come out of the stack. Not a particle of cinders and dust was thrown out. The smoke that was emitted was thin and wbitedooking—much like escaping steam. There was no bad odour fiom escaping gas, as is the ease in ordinary engines Mr Coventry explained that the gases on ordinary engines are usually thrown out of the stack, which is the cause of the density of smoke. On his engine the gases are all burned, and that is what caused tbe absence of sm >ke, which results, of course, iu a saving of fuel. A WATEE-PIPB SHOOK. A singular occurence, which is stated to have recently taken place at Ithaca, N.Y., illUßtr.it s the dangers attendant upon the universal introduction of electricity. As a lady was taming on the water from (he faucet over the sink in her kitchen, using her right hand, her lift hand being in contact with tbe iron lining of the sink, she was suddenly prostrated by a severe shock. Her impr s ion was that she had been stricken with paralysis or apoplexy, but a physician who was summoned found that the inside of the thumb of .the left hand, had been blistered in several places. This ‘led him to Delieve that she had received a strong elettrio shook from some s.iurce. A few minutes subsequently, the lady’s daughter, in drawing water from the same faucet, was similarly affected though not so severely. The family then became convinced that the the trouble existed in the water-pipe and sink. The manager of tbe Telephone Exchai ge, after a brief examination of the premises, found the secret of the trouble. The residence was connected with the Ithaca Hotel by a “ dead ” private telegraph wire. This wire had been crossed with the electric light wire. The “dead” wire was connected with the metallic roof on the dwelling-house, which in turn was connected by a tin water conductor with the water pipe leading to the sink. When the dynamo machine of tbe eteotrio light company was in operation, (he current passed over the “ dead ” wire to the tin roof, and thence to the water pipe. It needed pnly the completion of the circuit by some person drawing wster.