Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/89

 Popular Science MonfJili/

��73

��What? A Poisoned Sea in the Atlantic Ocean?

FOR the eighth time since 1844 fish have been killed along the west coast of Florida in an area of poisoned water. Not only the water, but the air has been charged with a suffocating gas, odorless but irritating to the air-passages. The last mortality was reported in October and November of 191G. The Bureau of Fisheries sent experts to the spot but they were obliged to admit, after a care- ful investigation, that the cause of the strange occurrence is a mystery. One explanation advanced is that earth- quake shocks, possibly due to West Indian hurricanes, released poisonous gases from the sea-bottom.

��Using the Exhaust Gas to Make the Engine Start Easily in Cold Weather

A SIMPLE device to make your automobile engine start easily in cold weather and to prevent it from sputtering before it gets warmed up, is shown in the accompanying illustration. It consists of a length of one-quarter-inch brass gas pipe screwed into the exhaust manifold and then wound around the in- take manifold between the carbureter and the cylinders. The free end of the pipe is then bent downward and backward under the car, so that the small amount of exhaust gas passing out of it will not be disagreea- ble to the driver or to the passengers. It takes about six feet of pipe to make the device. The heat of the gas in the pipe warms the intake manifold so that the incoming fuel is heated and more completely vapor- ized. This gives additional power because of the greater heat and ef- fects a considerable saving in gasoline. It also prevents carbon deposits.

����The heat of the exhaust gas warms the intake manifold, vaporizing the fuel

��An ice formation resembling a giant cauli- flower. It remained solid for several weeks

A Giant Cauliflower of Solid Ice. It Was Twenty Feet Tall

DURING some freezing weather in Alberta, Canada, the device which takes care of the overflow from the oil w el 1 , shown above, was out of order, and the gas and water squirted high in the air, freezing as it fell. In about a week's time, a beautiful ice for- mation resembling a giant cauliflower ornamented the side of the build- ing, and reached twenty feet in the air. Its beauty was augmented when the sun shone.

�� �