Scientific and Useful

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXVII, Issue 14, 6 October 1906, Page 31

Scientific and Useful

THINGS NOT WHAT THEY SEEM. You would not imagine that a factory could build up a profitable trade in pipes which could not be smoked, the stems being made solid instead of hollow, but there is a factory which makes hundreds of thousands of such pipes yearly. They are sold to the shooting galleries, where a pipe has always been found one of the cheapest and at the same time most satisfactory targets. One shrewd exporter found that he could make the goods more cheaply by not piercing the steins, and practically has that field all to himself. The manufacture of pasteboard safes is a thriving industry, while “ musical ” instruments are manufactured, outwardly exact reproductions of cornets and other brasses, but which are sold much more cheaply, since their use is merely to pad out big bands with men who cannot play. They are, therefore, not supplied with valves or reeds. One. band is said to boast one-third dummy players. Imitation soap, looking exactly like the real article, but made of clay, grease, seent, and a little pink dye, is of Chinese origin; and the native clerks in China and India carry their pencils liehiud their ears in imitation of their Caucasian bosses, yet the pencils contain no lead, since they are only carried for ornament, the brush being used for all actual work. ♦ ♦ A NEW BIRDHOUSE AT THE LONDON ZOO. After a. good deal of delay, work has been commenced on the new Bird House which is to be built near the Monkey House at the Zoological Society’s Gardens. This house is for the smaller birds in the collection, for which there has hitherto been no special accommodation. The site of the new building is between the Monkey House and the Bear Pit. When the house is completed there Will scarcely be a group of birds in the menagerie without accommodation specially suited to their requirements. In the case of the parrots,' the great open-air aviary has been a huge success. During the comparatively short time they nave been in residence on the eanal bank they have effected a great alteration in the look of their abode. This change cannot be termed an improvement, whatever the intentions of the parrot may have been. When they were turned into it, it was a pretty place, with pools, rivulets, grass, and shrubs. A number of tall trees are fitted with nestingboxes, it which it was hoped the birds would start housekeeping. Their great amusement, however, was to rip off the bark with their destructive beaks. As a consequence the trees have died, and the bare trunks upstanding do not enhance . the beauty of the aspect. But the parrots seem very happy, and their brilliant colours are shown to greater advantage against a dreary background. The cranes, on the other hand, seem fully to appreciate their artistic surroundings. In their paddock, on the other side of the canal, they do little or no damage. They dip their long beaks into the running, water in search of imaginary prey, and strut about among the evergreens and summerhouses with a distinct air of proprietorship. CENTENARY DE BELL RO( K LIGHTHOUSE. It is exactly one hundred years ago since Parliament passed an Act authorising the construction of the Bell Roek Lighthouse on the Ineheape Reef, -the foupdation-stone was laid in 1808, the last stone was lBlO, and the topaz and ruby interchange” was Brst sben by mariners in 1811. Tiieru “ tllei ’cforo, a choice of dates for the

celebration of a centenary. The reef was a dangerous one, lying in the course of vessels bound for the Forth and Tay, and had been strewn with wrecks “like ocean weeds heaved on the surf-beaten shore.” Tradition has it that in old times an Abbot of Aberbrothock —that is, Arbroath—fixed a l>ell upon the rock which was rung by the motion of the sea. A pirate, whom Southey in his ballad calls Sir Ralph the Rover, wantonly “cut the bell from the Inchcape float,” and then sailed away, to scour the seas for many a day.” Of course, Sir Ralph returned- in due time to the spot, and his vessel struck “with shivering shock” upon the hidden reef. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, two beacons were erected and immediately washed down, and a third only lasted for a few months. The present tower was planned and built by Robert Stevenson, the “lighthouse-engineer grandfather” of Robert Louis Stevenson. -♦- > 4A SELF-REPAIRING RAILWAY. The City of Philadelphia has one df the most remarkable street railways in the world, for the electric power which whirls the trolley ears upon it also furnishes the mechanical muscle by which it repairs itself and, when it desires, enlarges itself by the miles, says Henry Hale, in the “Technical World Magazine.” The term “trolley current” is often heard in this country because the electricity is usually generated merely to move the cars and occasionally to heat and light them. On the Philadelphia line jhowever, it melts iron and steel, cuts bars of steel in two, punches holes in rails, drives air-compres-sors, scours the rails with sand, does riveting and bolting, runs a drop-ham-mer, drives piling for bridges, and does it all just as the cobbler patches the shoe—while yon wait. And if any of the works is to be done at night, it throws in the light as well. The railway system is that controlled by the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company. THE HYGIENE OF CHURCHES. There is no doubt whatever that the hygienic condition of our churches leaves much to be desired. Fixed seats form dust-traps which it is practically impossible to cleanse; the weekly cleanings are often of a very' perfunctory nature; ventilation is a science which hitherto no one seems to have mastered; and, in short, no germ ought to complain that a fair field is not afforded it. So far, however, remarkably little attention has been given to the subject in this country, and it has been left, curiously enough, to l)r. Chateau, a Portuguese physician resident in Bahia, to treat of it in an “ouvrage couronne” by his Faculty. In the recommendations made by Dr. Chateau there is, in the opinion of our contemporary, much sound sense, lie would banish all fixed seats, and replace them by light iron or wooden chairs that can be easily washed. Curtains and hangings are similarly anathema, every door is to b; well provided with mats, gas is to be superseded by the electric light, and thorough ventilation is to be ensured by opening all doors and windows after the services. It is, however, with regard to the cleansing of the building that our ecclesiastical hygienist is most insistent. Dry sweeping is on no account to be permitted. Every day sawdust damped with antiseptic solution is to be freely scattered on the floor and then swept up, while the seats and easily reached parts of the building are to be cleaned with a sublimate solution As our churches arc no less responsible for the dissemination of catarrhs and other more serious maladies than are the theatres, it would be a good thing if more were done to cleanse and digin•„ect them.