Scientific Notes [pp. 741-742]

1872.]
SCi~WiffIC J\rOJ'i%~
741
"For Conscience' Sake." By tile author
of "Alice Lee's Diselpilne," etc. New York:
Dodd & Mead
"What ICaty Did." A story: By Susan
Coolidge, author of "The New-Year's Bargain." With Illustrations by Addle Ledyard.
Boston: Roberts Brothers.
"Science for tile Young;~ ~i~~~~~~~~ By
Jacob Abbott, author of "Tile Franconia Steries," "Marco Paul Series," "Young Christian
Series," "Abbott's Illustrated llisteries " etc
With numerous Engraviugs. New York: liarper & Brothers.
"Our Young Yacbter's Series: Vol. i~., Left
on Labrador; or, The Cruise of the SchoonerYacht Curlew, as recorded by Wash." Edited by C. A. Stephens. Illustrated. Boston
James R. Osgood & Ce.
"Dr. \Vaiuwnght's Patient: A Novel."
By Edmund Yates, anther of "Black Sheep,"
"Wrecked iii Pert," "A Waiting Race," etc.
New York: harper & P roth era.
~cx~nti~c ~o~t~~.
llE preparations for the English circumnavi gating exploring expedition give premise
of results of great value to both science and civ ilization. Tl~e vessel set apart for tile purpose
is II. M. S. Challenger, a main-deck corvette
of two thousand three hundred tens. fler
commander is Captain G. S. Nares well
known as the author of a valuable work on
~seamanship. Second in command is Com mander J. P. Maclean, son of the late astron omer royal at the Cape of Good llepe, who
will have charge of the magnetic observations
which will form part of tlie work of the expe dition. The Challenger has been put in thor ough repair, and specially fitted out for the
occasion. Stages have been erected amidships,
from which the dredges will be worked; mid
immediately aft of these is the steam winding in apparatus. A chemical laboratory and nat uralist's we4-reem have been fitted up in the
after-part of tlie vessel; and the fore-magazine
is set aside fer the storage of the large quan tities of spirits required for tile preservatieu
of natural-history specimens, and of the many
thousaud steppered bottles which will contain
them. Among the stores are traps of various
forms, harpoons, a harpoon-gun, and fishing tackle of all kinds, including trawla, trammels,
a seine, shrimp-nets, fish-traps, and lobster pets. From the latter, used in deep water,
great results are expected; and it is net im probable that living specimens of nautilus may
thus be precured. The scientific staff under
the direction of Professor Wyville Thomson
numbers five able and experienced scientats.
The route to be followed by the Challenger,
though net yet fully determined, will be near ly as follows: Leaving Portsmouth about the
middle of November, she will sail for Gibral tar, the first haul of the dredge being made in
the Bay of Biscay. From Gibraltar slie will
proceed to Madeira; thence to St. Thomas the
Bahamas, Bermuda, aiid the Azores; thence
to Bahia, touching at Fernando de Nerenha
then across to the Cape of Good liepe; thence
southward to the Creset and ~L~ien Islands
continuing in this course until ice is reached.
Australia, New Zealand, the Campbell and
Auckland Groups, Terres Straits, New Guine~,
and New Ireland, will then be visited. ~ year
will be spent among tlie Pacific islands; Ja pan, Kamtchatka, and tise regions farther
north, thoroughly explored; the return being
made by the way of Cape Horn. Tlie ~veyage
is expected to take about three years and a
half; as the deep-sea work-the main object
of the expedition-is to ~e supplemented by
that of a general inland exploration with accurate investigations of many of those distant
and almost unknown islands of the sea. The
interest wftli which the public watched the
progress of the late Hassler expedition furnishes sufficient evidence that their sympathy
and well-wishes will be with the Challenger
and her gallant and learned officers, till they
have doubled the Horn, and are again safely
moored in Portsmouth ~arber.
At the first announcement of diamond discoveries in Arizona the Sau Francisco and
New York Commercial and Mining Company
engaged the professional services of Clarence King, the eminent geologist, who, with
an able corps of assistants, was to explore the
regions freus which the diamonds and precious
stones were said to have been obtained. From
tlie final report of Professor King, as lately
presented to the officers of the company, it is
evident that a gigantic fraud has been perpetrated; and, as the results prove, net without
gain to certain enterprising and ingenious rascals. In justice to the company above named,
it may be added fliat they seem to have acted
in good faith and with honest purpose. The
report of Clarence King gives the operations
of his survey in detail. Referring to the discovery of certain gems, it is stated that in the
vicinity of Table Reck, diamonds and rubies
were found on the surface and in the crevices;
but, in every instance of a "find," there was
evidence that the soil had been tampered with.
In crevices where there were no traces of the
work of man, no evidence of the existence of
precious stones was discovered. Some diamonds were found in what were evidently artificial holes. From further reports, as received
from San Francisco, it appears that Arnold,
the man who sold the original discovery, received for it from the Harp ending Company
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. New
that the swindle has been exposed, this prince
of impostors will doubtless return to the deserted fields, map10]in hand, to recover from the
cracks and crevices what stones yet remain
concealed in them.
The Chicago papers announce the successful t4al of a new pumping-engine, said to be
the largest in the world, which was designed
and constructed for the water-works of that
city. The steam cylinders-of which there are
two-have each an internal diameter of seventy
inches, and allow a twenty-foot stroke of piston; the fly-wheel is twenty-five feet in diameter, weighing thh~ty-three tens, and the castiron walking-beams, measuring twenty-s even
feet between the ends and centres, are seventyfive inches deep in the middle, and twentyfour inches at the ends. Mr. Cheabreugh,
under whose direction the lake-tunnel was constructed, estimates that this engine will be
capable of raising thirty-six million gallons of
water one hundred and fifty feet in twenty-four
hours. In addition to this, the main engine,
there are three others, with a capacity respectively of eighteen thousand, twelve thousand
and eight thousand gallons. An interesting
and significant fact, illustrating the rapidity
with which Chicago has recovered from the
disastrous fire, is that, during the past year,
there have been imi in that city twenty miles
mere of pipe than was ever laid before in that
length of time.
A most remarkable instance as illustrating
the powers of physical endurance is afibrded
by the terrible experience of four of the survivors from the wreck of the ocean-steamship
Missouri. Eight days at sea in an open beat,
with their bodies half immersed in salt-water,
and without a drop to drink, or a morsel of
feed, these four men yet live. The story of
these eight days, as narrated by Assistant-Engineer John Freaney, is substantially as follows:
Having remained near the burning vessel till
she sank, the small beat, containing eight
men, was put before the wind, her progress
toward land, wherever it might be, being aided
by the four remaining ears. "On the second
and third days," as the account reads, we
were still before the wind, and suffering terribly. On the fourth day one of our crew died,
and that night two others, having become
crazy, jumped overboard. The boat was always full of water, and ourselves sitting waistdeep. On the fifth morning another man died
On the sixth and seventh days our situation was unchanged. On the eighth day we
sighted land, and succeeded in landing at Peweli's Cay, near Abace, in the evening. On flie
ninth day we found a few tomatoes, which we
boiled, having found a few matches and a pet
in one of the beats." These tomatoes were
the first feed that they had tasted since leaving
the ship, eight days before, and the strength
thus feebly renewed sustained life till the following day, when a friendly hand rescued and
supplied them.
Soap-stone, or steatite, has recently found a
new application as a raw material for buttons
dominoes and other similar objects. Chips
and refuse pieces of the mineral are ground to
powder and mixed with silicate of soda water
glass; and, after a repose of some hours, dried
en a plate, and the mixture again pulverized.
The powder thus obtained is then subjected
to powerful pressure in suitable meulds and
afterward baked in air-tight crucibles. The
pressed objects are again soaked in a silicateof-soda bath, and again heated out of contact
with the air. The hardness of the product is
said to depend, in ~ great measure, upon the
number of times the heating is repeated. The
last stage in tlse process of manufacture consists in washing in water in a rotary tub, drying, and then agitating in a suitable vessel
with soap-stone powder, this last operation giving to the surface a bright polish.
A writer in Lea r~~J~~ describes an interesting and simple expen.ment by which it is
demonstrated that the light of the Geissler
tubes is intermittent. Take a diameleon topsuch as may be purchased from any dealer in
toys-and place upon the centre one of the
prismatic disks which accompany it. Instead
of producing the singular optical illusions usually obtained from these disks by stepping
their revolutions with tlie finger, simp~ illumine the table and disk with a large Geissler
tube. The result is described as beautiful.
The most varied combinations of colors and
designs succeed each other without any need
of touching the disks and thus checking the
movement of the top.
In the report of certain commercial analyses, as made by Professor Allen, of Sheffield,
England, is that of five samples of butter whid~
were purchased in that city, and submitted to
a careful examination. The results are as fellows. Ne. I contained eight per cent. of water,
with much salt and dripping; No. 2, seven
per cent. of water, a large quantity of salt, and
a little lard; Ne. 3, seven per cent. of water, a
very large quantity of salt, a considerable
quantity of lard, and some req pu~, the original fibres and colors of the rag being readily
visible under the microscope; Nos. 4 and 5,
water seven per cent., with salt and lard. The
presence2]of water and salt is not to be won