Scintillations Of Science

Thorium is alkged to have been prcpared by M. Njïson in considerable quantity, ana he ís said to have deternimod ilio atomic weight to be 232.35, the specitic grivity to'bo aout 11, and the atomie volume about 21. Metallic iridium is very hard. It c:iily ents or marks steel. It can be ent by a copper disk revolving at a very high velocity, if the surfaces in contact aro treated with conundum and oil and lili itnillliil BllGULQ aiu n-ij uum Lescarbault, in observing the late transit oí Venus, saw, as lio tkought, a grayish, yellowish fringe all around the planet whcn it was three-fouTths on the sun, and that this phenomenon contínued until the entrance, so to epeak, was completed. Dr. Efenley and HetT L. von Frutzscliicr-Falkcnstoin liave made a new compound wliicli burns slowly undor ordinary pressure, biit devolves extraordinary cnergy when confincd. It consists of a mixture of saltpetre, ohlorate of potash, and a solid liydro i Noar ïabiana, Italy, the remanís of a fossil clcphant have Deen fonnd. The tuskg measuro 3.2 metres in length and 0.28 metres where they are the narro west. The íind has caused quite a sensation, and tliere will likely be a careful excavation made when the winter is ove]-. Mr. Routledge hekl lately at a scientilie meeting that the paper trade .vas probably the one which turned to immediate use more waste producís than any othcr. In il was utilized cotton, flax, hemp and jute waste, and oíd ropes and canvas rags. In fact, (he paper manufacturar could turn to proiitable purpose any vegetable fibre A Provisional Committee, the President of which is M Charles Boysset,has been formed for organizing an internaíinnnl pvhibition of íimíliíineos lr insnre the safety of railway passengers. It is intended that the display of the various deviceS will lake place some time this year in tlie Pahiis de 'Industrie, Paris. It onght to do much good to inventora and the public. There ís much nonsense talked regarding the value of foods. Chemically considered it is wcll knovvn what the constituents or ordinary diet are, and it is no secret that the values of different articles vary grcally. But it is too frequenüy.overlooked that the food which a hunter or a plowman can not onh' relish and assimulatc would cause ure of the most acute kmd to a person compelled to purgue a sedentary life. On what the former would starvo the latter would live nobly. A mixture of 20 parta of hard soap, 40 . parts of kerosene, and one part of fir balsam has been found very effective in destroying the insects whicndamage the oran ge tree. Prof. C. V. Riploy is the authority. Other valuable plants, notably the vine, might be similarly protected by a spray from an application of the same recipe. It can be diluted at will with water so as not to interiore with the constitution of the plant. When, saj's Dr. Sqiub, the iixecl stopper of a glass bottle resists all management- such as warming the neck with a cloth wet with warm water, by tapping, and by the wrench, or by all these in combination- there is anothcr means which will almost always snceeed. Let the bottle be inverted so as to stand on the stopper in a vessel of water so lilled that the water reaehes up to the shoulder of the bottle bilt not to the label. Two or thrce nights of this treatment may bc required sometimes before the stopper will yield. From Dr. W. G. Parker we learn that the various dialects of the Malayo-Polynosian group were originally one language, and that from the soft, musical and phonetic character of the present tongue, so to speak, no difficulty is pi'esented to the European in acquiring the speech of the nativos. Until the present century the lang'uage was ouly spoken, bul the English missionaries reduced it lo its present form and adopted lliL'ir own alphabet, with the exception of the iive letters, c, q, u, w, and x, for whioh there are no Malagasy sounds. In the Journal of the Society of Arts, it is stated that M. Marcy has made a cominunication as to the ncw process of M. Charles Petitcalled "Similigravure" for reproducing photographs on rnetals, so asto print from them in the ordinary way and at the same time surrounded with explanatory type. Two specimens of the proofs obtained, one representing the attitudes of a man walking at the parade step, and the other a white horse teaping, were eonsidered very satisfactory. [t was Ihought, however, by the speeialists of the Fren'jh Aeademy of Sciences, that the process admitted of much improvement. To prevent the escape of soot into the atmosphero in places where bituminous noal ia burned. Mr. Albert I'etzold slrucls two cylinders, ono abovo the other, having a space between them rat her greater than their diameter. They ave placed either in the chimney or iii a place above tlie grate, having communication with the smoke flue. The upper cylinder rests on a plañe, o1osídL the chamber, except inside the cylinder, so that the air around it is not in circulation. A band of sheet brass is wound spirally inside both of thé cylinders, giving the smoke a rotary motion. which forcea the partidos of soot to fall down to a chamber outside the lower cylinder, wlience it may be removed trom time to triné. _b_