THE MONTH: SCIENCE AND ARTS.

Near the village of Burgbrohl, on the Rhine, there is a cavity in the ground which has for a long time yielded a copious supply of carbonic acid gas. Apparatus has recently been erected close to this borehole by which the gas can be compressed to the liquid state, and one hundred and ten gallons of gas are so compressed into a pint and three-quarters of liquid every minute. Iron bottles holding about eight times that quantity are used for purposes of storage and transport.

It is reported that the Cowles Electric Smelting and Aluminium Company, whose works are at Cleveland, Ohio, have declared their ability to produce the valuable white metal known as aluminium at the price of half-a-crown a pound. If this report be true, we may look for a revolution in many branches of trade, for the metal is not alone useful as it is, but is almost more important by reason of the valuable alloys it forms with copper, &c. The Company reduce it from the ore by means of a modification of the electric furnace invented some years ago by the late Sir W. Siemens. It is probable that aluminium bronze will replace steel for many purposes where great tensile strength is required. The expense saved by substituting for steel, which has to be welded and built up coil by coil, a metal for heavy ordnance which can be simply cast and run into moulds, would be enormous.

The discovery of petroleum wells on the west coast of the Red Sea is both interesting and full of promise for a country such as Egypt, whose finances have for so long been in a deplorable condition. The yield of oil is at present but insignificant when compared with the enormous quantities which gush forth at Baku, and with the amount tapped from the American wells. But there is every indication that the yield will increase to a great deal more than two tons a day, the present output. There is little doubt that petroleum will form the fuel of the future for our steamships; and a station so near the great international highway of Suez where that fuel can be readily obtained, cannot fail to become a place of great importance. Already the oil is being used by certain ships instead of coal.

Once again has truth outrun fiction, for the camera in the hands of MM. Henry of Paris has accomplished a feat which no romance-writer would have dared to imagine. Most persons know by sight that beautiful group of stars called the Pleiades, and most people know, too, that this group attracted the attention of star-gazers in very early times. It is mentioned in the book of Job, and profane authors have also weaved many a pretty legend concerning this group of distant suns. In November last, the Messrs Henry photographed the Pleiades; and the picture showed the presence of a nebula of spiral form which no human eye had before seen. Another photograph taken in America showed the same appearance, though the largest telescopes in the Paris Observatory gave no evidence to corroborate the photographic appearances. But at the observatory of Pultova, where a gigantic instrument, possessing an object-glass thirty inches in diameter, has lately been erected, the nebula has been detected by the eye of M. Struve.

Professor Gerlach has devised a means whereby the embryo growth in a bird’s egg may be watched. The end of the egg has a round hole cut in it; and by means of a kind of putty made of gum-arabic and wool, a pane of glass is inserted in the opening. This pane consists of a small watchglass, which is further secured in its place by cementing the outside of the joint with a suitable varnish. The egg so treated is put into an incubator in the horizontal position, and it can be removed and turned up for examination when required.

A new kind of refrigerator has been devised, and is on sale in New York. The principle on which it acts is old enough, but the application of that principle is simple and interesting. An iron pipe two feet long and three and a half inches in diameter is filled with liquefied ammonia. To a stopcock at one end of this pipe is fitted a smaller pipe, which ultimately forms a coil within a cylinder about ten inches high and as many in diameter. This cylinder is made of wood and lined with hair-felt. The action of the apparatus is as follows: When the stopcock is turned on, the liquid ammonia rushes out in the form of gas, and absorbs so much heat that the temperature of surrounding bodies is immediately lowered. Any vessel placed within the coil inside the box can actually be lowered in temperature to sixty degrees of frost in a few minutes.

Mr Price Edwards’s paper on ‘The Experiments with Lighthouse Illuminants at the South Foreland,’ recently read before the Society of Arts, London, was full of interest. In these experiments, the relative advantages of electricity, gas, and oil were put to careful test, temporary lighthouses having been erected for comparative trials of each. In the result, it was shown that in clear weather each illuminant was actually more brilliant than necessary. In dull and foggy weather the electric light penetrated further into the murky atmosphere than either gas or oil. But this extra penetration—amounting to two hundred or three hundred feet—is not of any practical importance to navigation. The final conclusion of the Examining Committee was: ‘That for ordinary necessities of lighthouse illumination, mineral oil is the most suitable and economical illuminant; and that for salient headlands, important landfalls, and places where a powerful light is required, electricity offers the greatest advantages.’

It may be noted as a matter of interest in the above-mentioned trials that the electric arc-lights employed were furnished with a novel kind of carbon rods, called the Berlin core carbons, and furnished by Messrs Siemens. These rods were fully an inch and a half in diameter, and were provided with a core of plumbago, or graphite, running through the centre. They were found to burn with exceptional steadiness, a result due to the superior conducting power of the central core.

According to Mr J. C. Clifford, who lately delivered a lecture before the Balloon Society of London, the art of dentistry in America is far in advance of the practice of the Old World. The dentists there are specialists. One will devote himself to extracting teeth, another to filing them, another to making artificial teeth, and so on. The lecturer also stated that these clever dentists had found out that if necessary, they could take a tooth out, cut off the diseased end, replace it, and it would grow firm again in a few days. Transplanting was also successfully carried on.

An interesting discussion has lately arisen concerning the deterioration of pictures by exposure to light and from other causes. There seems to be no doubt that in the case of water-colour pictures this deterioration is an undeniable fact. In oil-colours, the pigments being used in greater masses, and each particle of colour being inwrapped as it were in a protecting globule of oil, there is no perceptible change except a gradual darkening, due most probably to the oil and varnish. The number of organic substances upon which light will exert a bleaching action is far greater than is commonly supposed, and pigments of organic origin should always be regarded with suspicion. Luckily for our artists, there are pigments at their disposal which are permanent in character, and these alone should be used if they wish their works to remain ‘a joy for ever’ as well as ‘things of beauty.’

It seems a great pity that the art of producing pictures in far more permanent pigments, that of drawing in pastels or coloured chalks, should have been almost lost sight of, or at least relegated to the itinerant artist who decorates our pavements with impossible landscapes. In the middle of the last century, this art flourished in France; and works by its votaries, as fresh now as the day they were executed, are much sought after. In France, a Society has been formed for the revival of pastel-work, and its influence has been felt in London, where an excellent Exhibition of Coloured Chalk Drawings has lately been opened. We may hope that these efforts will lead to a revival of a lost art, which has other advantages besides permanence to recommend it.

In framing a picture covered with glass, be it a water-colour, a photograph, or an engraving, there is one precaution which should always be adopted, but is too often neglected—the glass should fit the frame exactly, and should be cemented to the wood inside by a slip of thick paper. This should be glued all round the frame; and if done properly, will exclude all dust, dirt, and undesirable vapours. The backboards, too, should be well papered, so that the picture may rest in a dust-proof and air-tight receptacle.

Our recent annexation of Burmah has had the effect of calling attention to the manners and customs of a very interesting people. Among the latest things noted is the fact that the Burmese and their neighbours the Shans are very expert blacksmiths, although the apparatus used is of a very crude description. The bellows employed for the forge curiously suggests in its construction a double cylinder steam-engine. The cylinders are represented by two bamboo trunks four inches in diameter, and about five feet long, standing upright on the ground. At their lower ends, a tube runs from each to the charcoal fire in which the iron to be wrought is heated. Piston rods also made of bamboo, and packed with bunches of feathers, are fitted within the cylinders. These, when forced downwards, cause the compressed air to be urged to the fire through the smaller tubes. A boy perched on a high seat works the bellows by depressing each piston rod alternately. The Burmese have also a primitive method of turning out brass and bronze castings. The article to be made is first of all modelled in clay; it is then covered with a layer of beeswax of the same thickness that it is desired the finished casting to be. An outer skin of clay two inches in thickness is laid above the wax. Funnel-shaped holes at frequent intervals in this outer crust afford a passage for the molten metal; and there are also straw-holes to let out the imprisoned air. As the hot metal melts out the wax, it occupies its place, solidifies, and forms a hollow casting.

In the metropolitan police district, there occurred last year three hundred and seventy-three cases of rabies in dogs, and twenty-six deaths from hydrophobia in man. This alarming and sudden increase in a most terrible disease led to stringent police regulations. All dogs, unless led by a string, had to be muzzled, and all stray dogs were destroyed. Although this order met with great opposition from lovers of dogs, who possibly forgot that a modern wire muzzle cannot be half so distressing to its wearer as a respirator is to a human being, its wisdom is seen in a return lately issued, which shows how rabies has decreased since it was put in force. In January last, the cases of rabies had fallen to twenty-seven, and there was only one death. In February, fourteen cases only were recorded, and there were no deaths. It is reported that our government, being fully alive to the importance of M. Pasteur’s discoveries with regard to the cause and prevention of hydrophobia, has appointed a Commission of eminent pathologists and physicians to inquire into the matter and to report thereon.

Mr Shirley Hibberd’s paper on the Protection of British Wild-flowers, recently read before the Horticultural Club, London, calls attention to the possible extinction of many of our wild plants. Many of these are in great demand for political as well as horticultural purposes, and the lecturer made special mention of the modest primrose. He petitioned all those who truly love the country to abstain from purchasing wild plants from travelling hucksters, whose baskets represent the half-way house for a plant on the road to extinction. He also strongly deprecated the practice of offering prizes for wild-flowers at flower-shows, as being another cause which must help extinction.

Sir Joseph Fayrer, in a recent lecture delivered in London on Cholera, said that contagion by personal intercourse was a theory of the disease which was no longer tenable. The British and Indian governments, who were in possession of well-ascertained facts concerning this subject, had discontinued all quarantine measures, and relied solely upon sanitary laws. In perfect sanitation resided the sole means of preventing the disease; and every individual should be scrupulously careful in his living and clothing as the best means of prevention. Care in diet, avoidance of all depressing influences, precautions against chills, violent alternations of temperature, impure water, unripe fruit, were the main considerations for those who wished to be safe from cholera. In addition to these precautions, the dwellers in every town and village in the country should do their best to secure good ventilation, perfect drainage, and should avoid overcrowding. Many of these safeguards are unfortunately beyond the scope of individual effort, especially in our crowded cities; but much good could be done if public bodies would only do their duty.

One of the London vestry clerks has proposed a comprehensive scheme for getting rid of and utilising the contents of the London dustbins. On the banks of the Thames between Tilbury and Southend there is an expanse of useless, marshy land which only waits the process of reclamation. The proposal is to convey the refuse of London to this land and to turn it into profitable terra-firma. It is calculated that the metropolis pays at present one hundred and twenty thousand pounds annually for the removal of dust and road-sweepings, which go to the farmers and brickmakers. If the new scheme could be carried out at the same or less cost, Londoners would be glad to adopt it. At present, householders are entirely at the mercy of the contractor, who undertakes to remove the dust regularly, but does not do so.

In a recent article in the Century magazine, there are some interesting particulars concerning the cultivation of wheat and rye. The former is one of the oldest of cultivated plants, and figured in prehistoric times, for remains of wheat-seeds have been found in the ruined habitations of the lake-dwellers. Compared with wheat, rye is of modern origin, and although for many centuries the two plants have been cultivated side by side, the first plants appearing to be true hybrids between them bore seeds this year in the United States. Although it may be possible that wheat and rye have been crossed in former times, there seems to be no record of such a circumstance.

Archæological interest just now centres at Assouan on the Nile, which our readers will remember is the site of the first cataract, and may be regarded as the place where Lower Egypt ends and Upper Egypt begins. General Grenfell has discovered in the Libyan Desert, opposite Assouan, an ancient necropolis. Several of the tombs already opened date apparently from the twelfth dynasty, which would be about 3000 B.C. But many tombs are of far later date. Our soldiers are busily engaged in the work of discovery under General Grenfell, and their labours are likely to lead to important results, for the necropolis is a very extensive one.

Professor Newton, late keeper of the Greek and Roman Antiquities in the British Museum, has just concluded a course of lectures at the Royal Institution, on the unexhibited Greek and Roman sculptures in the national collection. Let us quote some of his concluding words: ‘Here are a number of sculptures which have been buried in a cellar since the year 1852, which are defaced and begrimed with dirt, and utterly useless to anybody, for in their present position they cannot be seen unless by the light of a lantern.’ Might we suggest to the trustees of the Museum that if they cannot find better accommodation for these treasures—which have been purchased with grants of public money—they might be handed over to our provincial museums, where they would once more see the light of day and be appreciated by art students? Enterprising curators might try the experiment of asking for them.

The success of some experiments in the neighbourhood of Moscow having for their object the artificial reproduction and culture of trout, has negatived the formerly accepted theory that the propagation of that fish in Central Russia was an impossibility. It was thought that the trout could only live in streams which were both cold and rapid. But this view is incorrect, for trout have now been reared in ponds, the water of which have a summer heat as high as fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit. There are many pieces of water in Central Russia which fulfil this condition, and pisciculture will no doubt now assume the position of an important industry, as it has in many other countries.

All visitors to the New Forest are familiar with the very ugly monument which marks the place where the Red King met his death. The inscription on that monument tells how Sir Walter Tyrrell’s arrow glanced from a tree and slew Rufus, whose body was conveyed by one Purkess, a charcoal-burner, to Winchester Cathedral, where it was buried. Until fifteen years ago the body of the king rested in a tomb in front of the altar; but it was removed on the score of convenience. It is satisfactory to note that the marble sarcophagus is now to be replaced in its old position of honour, hard by the memorials which cover the dust of Saxon and Danish monarchs.

The Silvertown Submarine Cable Company are at present engaged in surveying a route for the prolongation of one of their cables in the South Atlantic, and their sounding ship the Buccaneer is employed in the work. With an enlightened regard for science which cannot be too highly extolled, Mr Buchanan of the Challenger expedition, who has charge of the soundings, has permission from the Company to make soundings and observations for scientific purposes. He is to make use of the ship on its return voyage in any way that may seem good to him for purely scientific work. If other Cable Companies will imitate this public-spirited conduct, we shall gain a knowledge of the depths of the sea which would be perhaps unattainable in any other way.