Show scientific miscellany while powders axe are made more or less smokeless it seems incredible that guns may be made noiseless as a well as but this Is abat col humbert seeks to accomplish he expects further a very material reduction in recoil hispran his Hi plan consists in screwing to the muzzle a block containing a shutter that olna rily falls inward to a horizontal position but which as the projectile is about to make its exit at a fun full velocity efty is ie forced upward against the opening by the pass passage age of some of the gases under it this prompt closing of the gun behind the projectile confines the gases still hlll at high pres i sure and prevents the sudden entrance of cir air that is one of the chief causes of detonation small holes iq in the rear of the block permit the gases to leak out slowly experiments through the aid of a french factory atory have shown the anticipated react re of flash and noise without much effect on recoil several successful oases cases of amputation by tahe natural method of allowing the injured or dead part to slough away from the living sawing through bone being the only cutting done have hare been reported by M reclus the wound is first injected with water jit at degrees F which arrests arresta bleeding and warms the collapsed patient then infected disinfected dis with a permanganate of af potash solution and finally embalmer embalmed ed in a dressing of several antiseptics the dead part is stated to become entirely separated from the living to three weeks A french physiologist has noted striking similarities between the healing bealing of a wound and the growth of a crystal in a solution A russian investigator vesti gator has found what he con considers more than a chance resemblance between the arrangements or of cells eells to ft sections of wood and those of tron iron filings under magnetic influence and he concludes that they are produced by actions that are analogous it if not identical A new catalogue of the higher plants of north america north of mexico has entries including 16 palms and orchids recent spectroscopic research indicates that the rarer metals are very widely distributed W N hartley and hugh ramage haslag found the extremely rare metal gallium in 31 out of 91 iron ores obtained from the royal dublin college of science while these ores neatly all hw hod unexpected constituents rubidium tum was present in most of them with indium in the si derites or iron carbonates the same chemists have now studied meteorites finding gallium in varying proportions in meteoric irons but not in all meteorites meteorite A little rubidium also exists in the irons the chief points of difference between the meteoric and terrestrial irons are found to be that the former contain much nickel and cobalt with only minute traces of manganese while the omin ary iron ores contain manganese with only traces of nickel and cobalt um and potassium occur in meteoric irons in small proportions meteoric Meteor tc irons like iron ores and manufactured irons contain copper copier lead and silver allva mete meteoric olle stones unlike meteoric iron contain chromium and manganese the west went indies are threatened with a physical as well as political convulsion sion prof milne has been advised that since the flood of UK 1896 earthquakes have been of daily mcew rence in the island of montserrat abar porto rico as many as thirty shooks often being felt in it a single eingle day cracks have appeared in the stone build it Is feared that the dastur disturbances culminate in a volcanic vole altic eruption scientific investigation is urged I 1 the sights eights and sounds of maritime life as experienced by a french com cm banys fleets are to be represented on a full scale atthe at the parts paris exhibition of MO 1900 by a of the cinematograph and the dussaud tussaud filp an A similar reproduction of naval engagement would be an q more striking and sensational joo to A natural bridge near moat b southeastern utah U to la eftim estimated i i about KM 00 feet jn in und feet an n height dr arthur ainslow baua this tails to be a monstrous product of erosion as it ii 1 in art aar arid and faglon whre where the windblown wind blown sands sand cut holig holes very ra in the friable sandstone it is a newfound new now found marvel of the areat west three kinds of electric tele across space are recognized by arf prof silvanus P thompson those depending respectively on conduction tion and wave methods the lat kentl has h been employed by saby af in sending morse monte signals 18 12 miles balloons being used to raise the end conductors 1000 feet in the air the signals were thus transmitted about 70 times the base line but marconi in experiments at spezia has sent them times the length of the base line prof oliver J lodge has taken the first steps toward synchronizing the transmitting and receiving instruments causing them to respond only to waves of the period to which they are tur turned rIed prof thompson believes we may develop the condition or induction methods so as to communicate between england and india or cape colony much more cheaply than by submarine cable but doubts whether on account of the earths curvature it would be practicable to cover such distances by any wave method promethey Pro methee devised by M theodore jewler is a new safety explosive consisting of two portions a solid and a liquid both of which are stable and non explosive and may be transported without danger the solid which is filled into permeable cartridge papers is made up of chlorate of potash manganese dioxide and ferric oxide when the cartridges are to be used they are steeped for ten or twelve minutes in a mixture of petroleum turpentine and bitter almond oils and they may then be exploded by an ordinary detonator on drying the unused cartridges become again non explosive it to is claimed that thal the disruptive effect in mines it at least equal to that of dynamite and that the new explosive may be used without risk of setting fire to inflammable gases the sole active agents are the oxygen of the solids and the hydrocarbons of the oils |