Science/Nature Books

The Viol Seraphine. Introduction.--The clear tones of a viol or bass viol are generally admitted to be more melodious than those produced by other kinds of instruments, and many have expressed a desire to see an instrument so constructed as to be played with keys, like the organ or piano forte, and give the tones of the violin. This is the character of the instrument here introduced. It is elegant in... more...

ZANZIBAR. The sudden death on August 25 of Sultan Hamid bin Thwain, the ruler of Zanzibar, the attempted usurpation by Seyyid Khalid, and the bombardment of the palace by the British warships, have directed public attention to this comparatively little known but important city on the east coast of Africa. The Zanzibar dominions achieved their independence some forty years ago under Seyyid Majid, whose... more...

The New Roman Road. [The present Pope has given his consent to build railroads in his dominions, which the former Pope was averse to. The following lines are predicated on his consent.]Ancient Romans, ancient Romans—Cato, Scipio Africanus,Ye whose fame's eclips'd by no man's,Publius Æmilianus,Sylla, Marius, Pompey, Cæsar,Fabius, dilatory teaser,Coriolanus, and ye GracchiWho gave so... more...

In consequence of the interest that has been recently excited on the subject of bread reform, we have, says the London Miller, translated the interesting contribution of H. Mège-Mouriès to the Imperial and Central Society of Agriculture of France, and subsequently published in a separate form in 1860, on "Wheat and Wheat Bread," with the illustration prepared by the author for the... more...

The death of this distinguished man must be recorded. An interesting résumé of his labors by M. Daubree has appeared, from which we take the following facts. After a training in his native town at the Lyceum of Metz, which furnished so many scholars to the Polytechnic school, Delesse was admitted at the age of twenty to this school. In 1839 he left to enter the Corps des Mines. From the beginning of... more...

NEW EIGHTY TON STEAM HAMMER AT THE SAINT CHAMOND WORKS Ever since the improvements that have been introduced into the manufacture of steel, and especially into the erection of works for its production, have made it possible to obtain this metal in very large masses, it has necessarily been preferred to iron for all pieces of large dimensions, inasmuch as it possesses in the highest degree that... more...

A Chemist of merit, Mr. A. Müntz, who has already made himself known by important labors and by analytical researches of great precision, has been led to a very curious and totally unexpected discovery, on the subject of which he has kindly given us information in detail, which we place before our readers.[1] Mr. Müntz has discovered that arable soil, waters of the ocean and streams, and the... more...

MR. E. H. PLUMACHER, U. S. Consul at Maracaibo, sends to the State Department the following information touching the wealth of coal and petroleum probable in Venezuela: The asphalt mines and petroleum fountains are most abundant in that part of the country lying between the River Zulia and the River Catatumbo, and the Cordilleras. The wonderful sand-bank is about seven kilometers from the confluence of... 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...

In admiring the recent developments of electric science as evidenced by the number of important inventions which have during the past few years been given to the world, especially in those branches of applied science which deal more particularly with the generation of electricity and the production of the electric light, there is often too great a tendency to forget, or, at least, to pass over in... more...