Science/Nature Books

An officer of the Special Patrol Service dropped in to see me the other day. He was a young fellow, very sure of himself, and very kindly towards an old man. He was doing a monograph, he said, for his own amusement, upon the early forms of our present offensive and defensive weapons. Could I tell him about the first Deuber spheres and the earlier disintegrator rays and the crude atomic bombs we tried... more...

SUGAR MAKING IN LOUISIANA. The New Orleans Times contains, in a late number, an account of the manufacture of sugar as conducted on the Poychas estate, from which we extract portions containing the essential particulars of cane sugar making as conducted in the southern portions of the United States. "Reaching the Cane shed, the crop, dumped into piles, is received by a crowd of feeders, who place... more...

DR. MORELL MACKENZIE. The name of the great English laryngologist, which has long been honored by scientists of England and the Continent, has lately become familar to everyone, even in unprofessional circles, in Germany because of his operations on the Crown Prince's throat. If his wide experience and great skill enable him to permanently remove the growth from the throat of his royal patient, if... more...

THE NAVAL FORGES AND STEEL WORKS AT ST. CHAMOND. With the idyls and historic or picturesque subjects that the Universal Exposition gives us the occasion to publish, we thought we would make a happy contrast by selecting a subject of a different kind, by presenting to our readers Mr. Layraud's fine picture, which represents the gigantic power hammer used at the St. Chamond Forges and Steel Works in... more...

The Introduction. Whereas there is nothing more necessary for promoting the improvement of Philosophical Matters, than the communicating to such, as apply their Studies and Endeavours that way, such things as are discovered or put in practise by others, it is therefore thought fit to employ the Press, as the most proper way to gratifie those, whose engagement in such Studies, and delight in the... more...

The use of electricity in the reduction of metals from their ores is extending so rapidly, and the methods of its generation and application have been so greatly improved within a few years, that the possibility of its becoming the chief agent in the metallurgy of the future may now be admitted, even in cases where the present cost of treatment is too high to be commercially advantageous. The refining... more...

batalões turned from the open waters of the lower Tapajos River into the igarapé, the lily-smothered shallows that often mark an Indian settlement in the jungles of Brazil. One of the two half-breed rubber-gatherers suddenly stopped his batalõe by thrusting a paddle against a giant clump of lilies. In a corruption of the Tupi dialect, he called over to the white man occupying the other frail craft.... more...

THE FRANKFORT AND OFFENBACH ELECTRIC RAILWAY. The electric railway recently set in operation between Frankfort and Offenbach furnishes an occasion for studying the question of such roads anew and from a practical standpoint. For elevated railways Messrs. Siemens and Halske a long time ago chose rails as current conductors. The electric railway from Berlin to Lichterfelde and the one at Vienna are in... more...

IS THE SINNER A MORAL AGENT IN HIS CONVERSION? There are a great many questions asked upon the subject of conversion, and as many answers given as there are theories of religion, and many persons listening to men's theories upon this subject are left in doubt and darkness in reference to what is and is not conversion. You ask the Mormons, who fully believe their theory of conversion, and they will... more...

IMPROVED FIFTEEN TON CRANE. IMPROVED FIFTEEN TON TRAVELING CRANE.The machine illustrated on first page has been constructed for Port Alfred Harbor, this being one of several harbors now being made by Sir J. Coode in South Africa. The pier for the construction of which the crane will be employed will consist of concrete blocks laid on what is known as the "overend system." The blocks, being... more...