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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1881)
March; 1881. THE WEST. SHORE. 61 UNRECOGNIZED QUALITIES IN CHAR COAL, Among tha numerous tad varied properties pMSCMcd by uLuuual, Uwrtt is ouu oua, loo, uf tha most wonderful whioh doe not teem to be adequately recognised, probably from ita being imperfectly known axoept to physicist. It ia that of being able to oondenae and etora away in ita pores many times its own bulk of oertain gaseous bodies, whioh it retains, thus com pressed in an otherwise unaltered oondition, and from whioh they oan be withdrawn, as re quired, as from a reservoir. That eminent scientist, M. Sansaure, under took tha tut of a systematio examination of this subject, with a result whioh will pr.ve sur prising to tha general reader. Operating with blocks of fine boxwood oharooal, freshly burnt, ha found that by simply placing auoh blocks in oontaot with oertain gases they absorbed them in tha following proportions: Volumes. Ammonia Hydrochloric add gas Hulnhurous add Hiilhuretl hydrogen Nllrous oilde (laughing gas) Oarhon le acid Oarbonlo ox Ids , Oxygen Nitrogen Carbureted hydrogen Hydrogen i M HI Of. M , 0 U , . . 6.6V , 1.76 It is this enormous absorptive power that renders of so much Talus a comparatively slight sprinkling of oharooal over dead animal matter as a preventive of the escape of tha odors aris ing from decomposition, A dead dog having been plaoed in a box in tha warm lalwratory of an eminent ohemiat and ooverod with oharooal to the depth of between two and three inches, could not be discovered to have emitted any smell during several months, after whioh time an examination showed that nothing of the ani mal remained but tha bones aud a small por tion of the skin. To tha large axoeas of oxygen over tha nitrogen in the atmosphere, which, ac cording to the above table, was absorbed by the oharooal, and whioh thus rendered harmless the noxions vapors given off by the oaroass as thoy were being absorbed, is doubtless owing the fact above stated and tha further fact of the oharooal never becoming saturated. A reader of the Seienliie Anrriean, who has been trying oertain experiments on tha value of oharooal as a convenient means of storing oxy- gen, reports favorably as to the results. In a ox or oasa containing one oubio foot of ohar ooal, may be stored, without mechanical com pression, a little over nine oubio ft. of oiygen, representing a mechanical pressure of I'M lbs. on the square inch. From tha store thus pre served, the oxygen oan be drawn by a email hand pump. from tha fact of tha oharooal absorbing oxy gen in so much greater proportion than nitro gen, wa have here a means uf utilising its dis criminative powers of selection in obtaining un limited supplies of oxygen from tha atmosphere, whioh oontains nitrogen Hva times in exosss of its oxygen, ottU .i whereas, by tha separating or selective powers of tha oharooal, ths mixed gases oapable of being extracted from it oontain over 60 i of oxygen, It only tulliooa to with draw this now highly oxygaaiaed air into another veeesl of oharooal, by tha further ex posure to whioh tha proportion of oxygen will be iooraased to a still grrster extant This In dicates a most feasible means by which atmos pheric air oan be deoomposed in snob a wsy as tojprovids a cheap supply of oxygon. One can Dot readily recognise tha fact, which is nsvsrtbeleas true, that the ooodensiog power of charcoal, as applied to ammonia, is equal to what would be obtained by subjecting this gas to a pressure of nearly 1,!W0 the, on tha square Inch. lUutraUd SdntiU Arte. Ncmbm or Plait 8rx is, Tha total Bom ber of plant specie existing oa ths globe, ac cording to raosot ealoulations mads by Dr. Mul lar, of Genera, ia 8M.0U0. TKUAZOTIC ACID. The discovery of a new oompound of oxygen aud mtrogon has been anuounoed by MM. Ilau tefeuille and Chapuis. It oontaini mora oxygen than asotio acid, and has been named by the rrenoh oliemiita persaotto aciiL It is well known that on passing an electrio current through oxygen a portion of the oxygen ia trans formed into oxone. If the oxone be mixed with nitrogen, tha apeotrum indiostos ths preeenoe of a body oharauterited by black bands. The bands disappear when the gaseous oompound is mixed with wster, and the latter is auidilied. The application of red heat to the gaseous mix ture also oauaes the black bands to riisap)iear. Tha experimenters are now endeavoring to iso late the new acid in order to study its proierties. M. llerthe lot soms time sinoe suspected ths ex iateno of the body in question during soms ex periments whioh he has not published. Its pree enoe was indioated to him, however, merely by Shenoment of coloration which appeared and isappeared during the passage of an electric current through a mixture of oxygen and hypo asotio acid. His observations were oommuni oated to Messrs. llautefeuille and Chapuis, who, by obtaining ths apeotrum, have plaoed the ex istence of the new acid beyond doubt Ths dis covery is ths more turpriaing, as oxygon and nitrogen, being constituents of ths atmosphere, have so long been tha objects of what might hava been oonsidered sxhsustivs study. Dttian ami Work. Usui or Ciikmiktky. Let us give chemistry its true plaoe. It has led ths World's progreas for half a century, and it will lead it with still more rapid strides during ths next half oentury, It has prooeded the praotioal man, lantern in hand, along all the untrodden paths of inven tion snd discovery. It hss become to every progressive industry what a cane is to ths blinil man. It does not follow, however, that we oan depend upon it alone, nor that ws oan rely on every analysis banded us. Ilecsus tha bliud man linda a cans helpful, no one with unim paired vision would be wise in shutting his eves and walking with ths aid of a cans, Htill less would ths blind man be wise to throw his cans away became it sometimes fails to ds toot sn obit mot ion in his psth. We have a right to distrust an analysis when it points to conclusions which cannot be safely eosepted un proven, but the man who looks to tha ohemiat lor all ths informstioa which an intelligent atudy of the cotnpoaition of matter oan give him, will know more and act mors wisely than the man who depends upon his praotioal knowledge or his general intelligence. When wa are will ing to psy fur oars, skill snd experience in labo ratory work, and tha profession offers oarear for ambitious young men who are driven from it by the lack of promising opportunities in this Held, the general standing of chemical work will be raised, and there will be a longer list of names whioh, appended to analyses, will com mand oonfldeooe. Meanwhile, bo ons who spends money Judiciously in learning all that the ohemiat can tell him will waste it, whits ths owner or manager of works who feels that he oan diapenas with tha chemist's services, will make a mistake Iron Ayt. An AnJMmuM IUttxrt. Lioheg'c Alt deeoribes a novel and curious voltaic oell. whioh hss recently been devised by llerr Wohler. Tha chief peculiarity is that both plates are of ths same metal aluminum and a tolerably strong current is supplied. Ths osll consists of a glass vassal six inches high, filled with very dilute hydrochloric acid, or oaustis soda, and containing an inner porous pot filled with coo. centra ted nitric acid, la each oompartment is plaoed a cylinder of aluminum provided with a projecting lug which paseea through tha cover of the vessel, aod acts as a contact pieoe for tha electrodes or eond acting wire. As soon as tha aluminum cylinders are plunged into tha acids, s current is gives) off tufueienlly powerful to beat a plationm wira red hot MININO ALTITUDES. 8oientiflo men hava proved by actual measure ment that moat of tha g-eat silver mines lis 10, CCO IL above Uie pnweut sea level, aud aiuoug ths richest are soma which lie 2,000 ft higher still. Very rich mines hsva been found as high sa 10,000 ft It is a notable fact that as a rule the richest silver mines lie over 10,0(10 ft above the sea level. The mines on Iluhy Hill are be tween 8,000 and ,000 ft ahoy the level of the sea. Afiiny Hill tlmmg AVws. According to tha above Item Nevada Is a not side eioeptiou to that 10,000 ft rule, her rich est mines, Including those of Ituhy Hill or Eu reka mining district lying considerably below that level. The AVirs says that the general surface of ths Comatook lode, whioh must h. clsaaed as among tha most (smous and richest ol the silver mines of tha world, is about 0,000 it, aoova ins lovel 01 the sea. The Hiilro tun nel, whioh intersects the Comatouk 1,1100 ft below the surface, la 4,400 ft above tha level of tha tea, - Tha rich hooanaaa of ths Crown 1'olnt and tha Consolidated Virginia sections, which hava yielded t'.HK).O0).OUO. were nearly or quite down to the Kutro tunnel level. In point of fsot, ths deepest workings of the Corn stock tre less than 3,000 ft above tha sea level. There are no large bimauttaof or found at that depth as yet but there la no reason to believe that there will not be, extendiug perhaps far below ths sea level. . Si ixNTirH! rHMiKKiM.-Tho recognised and fr. quently applauded tendency of modern Investi gation In natural sciences, has been toward an accumulation of facts, rather than toward any sllort to generalise (rum them. At a reaction against the mania of emulation prevailing In the earlier stages of the development of modern chemistry, geology, etc, ths direction taken has produced highly salutary results. Ths founda tions thus laid have been broad and sulwtantial, and ths hsxs of doubt and uncertainty hss been swept away in many departments of science, while new Holds of research are constantly open ing to a large number of intelligent anil aotiv workers. No ons will be inclined to underrate the vslus of their labors, and yet It Is dllltoult to escape the feeling that, notably In chemistry, this search fur nsw facta is conducted without the proper discrimination. A mass of data is piled up without order or connection. It would Is vsluable material in Hie hauds of those skilled in grouping and arranging it In tuoh a manner as 10 seour a basis lor lurther work, la its preeent shee, however, it ia only raw material, and w tills a great deal of oredit uroiv. erly attaches to original Invsstigstion, it should ue remembered that It is as great a thing to make a fact useful as to Hud It out Tht Iron A j. A PowgMrut, LluliT. The Mrueh Electrical Manufacturing Company at Cleveland, Ohio, has recently manufactured (or use In the llrit ish nsvy an electric light, which hss been tested and found to have a 100,000-oaudle Illuminat ing power a power SO timet greater than tha ordinary electrio lamp fur street lighting. This is believed to be the largest and most power ful light aver mails with human hands. It I designed to b nasd in Bight attacks, anil to scrutiuiss ths sea for torpedoes. A 40-horse power engine is required to produce tha light. The carbons need are two inohea and a half thick. Tha Intense heat generated between the carbon point it half a million d gree, one. ninetieth the estimated hsat of the sun. It ia calculated that with an ordinary reflector oeain ot ngni win ue oast so powerful that a parson 15 mils away aaa as to read by It MalXtAM.a laoN la said bv Porculimna in be Intermediate) between steel and gray pig Iron, diffsriag from tha latter by tha special salur of its amorphous graphite and Its greater tenacity, and from steel by its small elongation aod Urge proportion of graphite.