Scientific.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2137, 20 March 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

Scientific.

—The MitDOljiKTßß— she melitrimeter U the riaiye given by Professor Joly topn aopar^tus, that consists of.au adjunct to the tnineralogical 'microscope, whereby the mi'ltinjj-pomts of mineral:) be- compared mz approximately .de termincd and their behaviour watched it high temperatures, either alone dr iv the presence of reagents. It consists of a narrow ribbon of platinum, .2 mm. wide, j,nrrang"d to traverse the field of the microscope. The ribbon, clamped so as to bfi readily renewable, passes bridgewise over a little scooped-out hollow in a disk of ebony. The clamps also take wires from a battery, and an adjustable resist inue being placed in circuit, the strip can be thus raised in .temperature up to the melting point of platinum. The disk being placed on the stage of the microscope, the platinum strip is brought into the field on a one- inch objective, protected by a glass slip from the radiant heat. The observer is sheltered from the intense light at high temperatures by ,a wedge of tiutcd glass, which further can be used in photometrically estimating the , temperature by using it to obtain extinction of the field. — Manufacture of Russian ShebtIron. — The following method of manufacturing Russian, sheet-iron is given in Covert's Almanac. Selected iron is hammered into slabs of the right size, and to make a finished sheet the sl»b is, passed through roll*, making 75 or 80 revolutions J three or four times, after which it is hammered a>min. Several sheets are then healed to a full red beat, covered with charcoal 'shaken on to them from a bag made of coarse linen, and ara then piled with covering sheets of heavier iron top and bottom. The pile is then woikcd down under a heavy hammer until nearly of the finished size. When cool, the hammering cease*, the plates are separated, reheated, and piled again with cold plates interposed, the hot and cold sheets alternating in the pile. The hammering is then repeited until they' are cool, after which they are cut to size. — Influence of the Moos on a Magnetised NEEDLE. — N"T"G\ Ligner has nudo a remarkable communication to the Meteorological Sooioty. of Austria. He has ascertained, after a number of careful experiments, that the moon has an influence on a magnetised needle varying with its phases and its declination. The phenomenon is said to be more prominently noticeable when our satellite is near the earth, and to be very marked when she in passing from the full to her first or <>r second quarter. The disturbances are at their maximum when the moon is in the plane of the equator, and greater during the southern than the declination. —Wire Belts for Stoke -CoTTiNO.— The principle of continuous motion used in the belt saw for wood, has been applied, says Engineering, to stonecutting. Instead of a Sat metal band, three steel wires, twisted together and run at a very speed, form the nuttingsurface. Water and sand are applied in the usual manner with the ordinary flat saws for stone. It is claimed that such saws advance in marble at from 10 inches to 24 inches an hour, according to the hardness of the marble. It is also used for quarrying purposes, in dividing up masses of stone projecting between recesses in the quarry. — A New Ointment. — The purified fat of sheep's wool, which has been introduced into the drug market under the name of lanolin, is said to possess remarkable susceptibility to absorption of the *kin. 'When one thousand parts of it are mixed with one part of' a soluble metallic substance and applied to the soalp, a metallic taste is noticed in the mouth within a few minutes. It is thought the substance will be of great value for ointments. —Russian Manganese Mines. — The manganeße mines of the Charapau District, 26 miles from the nearest railroad station, at Kwirila, Southern Russia, are growing into importance. In 1884, the output was 12,050 tons, and it is expected that during 1885 it will increase to 27,550 tons, of which 16,400 ton 9 will be shipped from Batoutn, and 11,100 tons from Poti. The bulk of the ore goes to England.