Science Siftings

New Zealand Tablet, 13 September 1906, Page 35

Science Siftings

v A New Disinfectant. . , . * Soap to which from one to five percent, of .naphtha acids have been added is recommended by a German chemist as a ready destroyer of virulent disease- germs; Roller Bearings for Street Cars. A street car equipped with roller bearings, first adjusted" and 'graphited, has been run in Hanover without* , further attention for six months. The bearings have shown .no perceptible wear, and test's indicate an economy in power of 23 per cent.', while the actual saving includes the .usual cost of oiling and attendance. A Medicinal Spring. A singular _ spring lately discovered in New" Mexico discharges a saturated solution of sodium sulphate -at a temperature of 110 F. The weight of the. liquid is 10 two-thirds pounds per gallon, that of distilled" water beitfg only 8 one-third pounds.- TheY overflow * from the spring has solidified into a perfectly level, snow-white bed of sodium salts, miles in extent. . ' Hard and Soft Wood. " - v Soft wood becomes stronger than hard wood und-, er pressure. The.. case j)f a block of Oregon ■"- pine, "' taken from the middle' of an upright which formed a part of the timber support in the Oomstock mines for ■ twelve years, gives an example of the effect of heavy pressure on wood fibre. It is so hard that it cannot be cut with a knife ; and one of its sides is polished from the squeezing it has undergone. Yellow pine from the lower levels of the Comstock has been so compressed by the enormous weight that -its density exceeds that of lignum-vitae. Greenland's Glory. - -. The largest mass jof ice in the world is ■ probably the one which fills- up nearly the whole of the interior of Greenland, where it . has accumulated since before the dawn of history: It is believed now to form a block about tioo,ooo square miles in area, and averaging a mile and a. half in thickness. According to these statistics .the lump of ice is' larger in volume than the' whole body of water in the Mediterranean, and there is enough of it to cover the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland with a layer about seven miles thick. The Origin of the Diamond. The origin of the diamond has been long in dis-' pute. When the .stones of South Africa were traced from the river gravels .to the ' blue ground '—-an agglomerate filling of. pipes of old volcanoes— it was . supposed that the ' real matrix had been discovered, but it has since appeared that the "diamonds were picked up by this rock" from an .older rock pierced by the volcanic .eruptions. The Government Geologist of New South Wales has now described a small -diamond, . from ■ a dolerite dyke, . finding the assumption justified that - the crystal was actually formed in this igneous rock as it cooled or solidified from a molten state. Night and Disease. . Medical treatment almost wholly confined to the daytime is thought by Dr, Lauder, a French physician, to be a serious mistake. Disease is most active at night —■asthma, "epilepsy, and -other attacks coming then 'almost entirely — and observations have shown that mcdi-" — cine administered in, the night hours, or Both night and - day, acts better- and with greater effect- than an equaL dose all given in the daytime. It is explained that in the nocturnal fasting state the body absorbs remedies with greater energy, while they are -eliminated . less '- quickly. In many instances "disease has resisted all medication by day, but has yielded to night treatment; A. Novel Timepiece. The. latest novelty in timekeepers will probably appeal to lazy and forgetful people. It consists of a watch which ; does not require stny winding. Aft that is necessary _ for its owner to do, in "order, to " have the time "with him always, is to walk -half a mile a day. The watch does the rest. The winding mechanism' consists - of an ingenious contrivance by which a small weight is raised and lowered by the jar. of walking. The motion, of- the weight works a small -ratchet arrangement, which winds the spring' to "' • its lull tension^ and then is • -'automatically held until more winding is necessary. "A course, of shaking up- v and down for v a few minutes will answer the. "same purpose as a, stroll afoot, while all . the •' jolts and rjars^.of -ordinary existence are likewise made useful as^ 1 a means, .of winding.