Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/199

 FyBROAKT 27. 198S.I

��— At a united mcetitig uf the Victntia and New South Wftlea geographical societies it was resolr«d that the; ilioold iu future call Ibemselves 'The Aub- tnllan geographic conference,' for ilie purpose of dllCllMing (periodit^ally) important matters aflecUtig the Iniereat ot geographic science ol Australia. The govemmenta of Victoria and New Soutli Wales have eacfa placed a thousand pounds at the disposal of the general aociely, and it Is intended in the Grit place to BDderlftke a thorough exploration of New GulQca.

— The emperor of Germany has conferred the 'Ordre pour le m^rite' for science and arts oil Sir Jo»«ph Lister. Commeming on this recogoition of an KoglJsh surgeon whose name has furnished B, new verb tu ilie German language since the iieneSceiit results obtained by his antiseptic method during the Franco-German war, the Lancet observes, " Not only iM Sir Joseph Lister to be congratulated on this act of the venerable and most illuBIrious emperor, but the profwiioa of the United Kingdom will recog- niie in the act a generous recognition of the claims of British medical science, which, it is only fair to say. Is not new on the part of Germany. The dis- coverer of vaccination ha* been more honored in Germany than in his own country, in accordance witii the scripture that 'cannot be broken.' The quiet evolution in surgery, Involving the practical abolition of pyaemia, hospital erysipelas, and gan- grene, and an InSuite diminution In [he calamities of surgery, which we owe to Sir Joseph Lister more than to any other single man, is a service to mankind not quite on the same scale as the discovery of vaccination, but of very far-reaching consequence. Through the slighll; discordant Doles of diplomacy it Is refreshing to notice the harmony of internation- al grace in the higher ivgions »f science and of hu- manity."

— Some interesting experiments, according to the Journal of [he Iron and steel institute, have recently been made for the purpose of determining the respec- tive values of wet and dry coal for t be evaporation of water. The results showed that small coal, con- taining eigbleen per cent of water, and nine and nine-tenths per cent of coal-dust, evaporaled five and seven-tenths pounds of water per pound of fuel; while the same amount of coal, conlainiog three per cvnt of water, evaporated from eight to eight and a half pounds of water per pound of fuel. The figures showed that the employment of wet coal gave rise to a loss ot from fifteen to twenly-five per cent.

— The programme for the Sheffield scientific school lectures to mechanics for 1885 is as follows: Feb. J2, Norway and the midnight sun, liev. Dr. C. C. Tiffany ; Feb. 17, Science and the supernatural, Professor Dii- Doia; Feb. 10, The present commercial crisis, Mr. A.T. Hadlcy; Feb. 24,The Asialiccholera, Professor Brewer; Feb, 2(J, The sensation of color. Professor Hastings; March 8, Cobwebs, Mr. J. H. Emerton; March 5, Lafajrette. Prof. A. SI, Wheeler; March 10, The patent law of the United Stales. Professor Kob- inson; Marcb 12, Commemoration of Ibc birthday of Bishop Berkeley, President Porter; March 17, The

��surface life of the Gulf Streani, Professor Verrill ; March 10, Map projection. Professor Phillips ; Marcb 24, An hour at the Louvre, Prof. D. (Jady Eaton. This course has now been In exjst«nce twenty years. A fee of one dollar is cliarged, that the audiences niay be the better controlled.

— Sir John Lawes suggests {llealUii tbal It will be more profitable to throw sewage into the sea than lo apply it to the land. His grounds for saying this are that it will supply the enormous quantities ot phos- phate of lime, potash, ami nitrogen which are neces- aarj to the existence of fishes, but which exist in the nea only In small quantities. Tons of these com- pounds are taken from the ocean each year in our fisheries without due rctuni. If, then, enough or mora tbau enough to make up for that annually taken out could be relumed lo the sea in the form of sow- age, there la little doubt that Increased prosperity may accrue to the Hsheries. Even after defecation, much of the nitrogen and mineral constituents would remain; and, indeed, this defecation, or else greater dilution, is absolutely necessary. In order to prevent the destructive work which sewage naturally does In absorbing the oxygen which Is necessary to the ex. isience of fishes,

— Prom the Journal of the Iron and steel Institute we learn that Mr. Fayol concludes, from his experi- ments reported In the C<mi])teti rendut of the 8oci£[£ de rindnstriemln^rale, that the rise of temperature accompanying the absorption of atmospheric oxygen by finely powdered coal is the chief cause of its spon- taneous combustion, lie finds that only a low tern. perature is needed to Ignite powdered coal; lignite igniting at 150° C., and anthracite at 300" C, and the ordinary varieties of coal at inlerraediato tempera- tures. The avidity with which the oxygen Is ab- sorbed increases with the rise of temperature, which finally becomes snfflclently high for ignition. An Important part in spontaneous combustion has been ascribed by many authorities lo finely divided pyrites. The author, however, on suhjectlng this mineral lo the same experitnenlAl conditions as the coal speci- mens, found aless energetic action of the atmosphere. When gradually heated up to 300° C, pyrites and coal behaved exactly alike till a temperature of i3b° C. was reached : from this point the temperature of the pyrites remained the same, while the coal-powder rapidly became hotter till the Ignlting-tioint was reached.

— Dr. Harrison Allen has republished in a neal pamphlet (Philadelphia, Blakiilon) his essay on the palategrapb, a new and Ingenious Instrument of his own design, by which the motions of the soft palate may be recorded. The Instrument Is a straighl rod eight inches long, which is passed into the nose so that one end rests upon the upper surface of tlic palate : just in front of the nose a wire loop eoclosei the nxl, the wire being suspended from a hand passed araund the head ; the loop acts as a fulcrum, so that, when the palate is rahed, Ihe free end of the rod moies down, and Ihesi' movements are recorded upon a paper moved by clockwork (jT/mo^rijiftion). The

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