Science/Nature Books

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...

THE NEW LABOR EXCHANGE AT PARIS. NEW LABOR EXCHANGE, PARIS. There will soon be inaugurated (probably about the 14th of July) a new establishment that has long been demanded by the laboring population, that is to say, a new labor exchange, the buildings of which, situated on Chateau d'Eau Street, are to succeed the provisional exchange installed in the vicinity of Le Louvre Street. The new... more...

FOUNDATIONS IN QUICKSAND. Foundations in quicksand often have to be built in places where least expected, and sometimes the writer has been able to conveniently span the vein with an arch and avoid trouble; but where it cannot be conveniently arched over, it will be necessary to sheath pile for a trench and lay in broad sections of concrete until the space is crossed, the sheath piling being drawn and... more...

COCOS PYNAERTI. This is an acquisition to the dwarf growing palms, and a graceful table plant. It first appeared in the nurseries of M. Pynaert, Ghent, and is evidently a form of C. Weddelliana, having similar character, though, as shown by the accompanying illustration, it is quite distinct. The leaves are gracefully arched, the pinnules rather broader than in the type, more closely arranged, and of a... more...

STEAM ENGINE VALVES. By THOMAS HAWLEY. In considering the slide valve in its simple form with or without lap, we find there are certain limitations to its use as a valve that would give the best results. The limitation of most importance is that its construction will not allow of the proper cut off to obtain all the benefits of expansion without hindering the perfect action of the valve in other... more...

ROMAN REMAINS AT LEICESTER, ENGLAND. The Roman tessellated pavement in Jewry Wall Street, Leicester, discovered in the year 1832, is well known to archaeologists; it has also been known as difficult of access, and hardly to be seen in a dark cellar, and, in fact, it has not been seen or visited, except by very few persons. Some time ago the Town Council resolved to purchase the house and premises, with... more...

TURPENTINE AND ITS PRODUCTS. By Edward Davies, F.C.S., F.I.C. In treating this subject it is necessary to limit it within comparatively narrow bounds, for bodies of the turpentine class are exceedingly numerous and not well understood. In this definite class turpentine means the exudation from various trees of the natural order Coniferæ, consisting of a hydrocarbon, CH, and a resin. The constitution... more...

THEODOR BILLROTH, PROFESSOR OF SURGERY AT VIENNA. The well known surgeon, Theodor Billroth, was born on the island of Rügen in 1829. He showed great talent and liking for music, and it was the wish of his father, who was a minister, that he should cultivate this taste and become an artist; but the great masters of medicine, Johannes Mueller, Meckel v. Hemsbach, R. Wagner, Traube, and Schönlein, who... more...

THE RIGHI RAILROAD. In the year 1864, the well-known geographer, Heinrich Keller, from Zurich, on ascending to the summit of the Righi Mountain, in the heart of Switzerland, discovered one of the finest panoramic displays of mountain scenery that he had ever witnessed. To his enthusiastic descriptions some lovers of nature in Zurich and Berne listened with much interest, and in the year 1865, Dr. Abel,... more...

EMPEROR WILLIAM II. OF GERMANY. Since William II. of Germany ascended the throne as German Emperor and King of Prussia, on June 15, 1888, the eyes of Europe have been fixed on him. He has always been rather an unknown quantity, and he is regarded by the powers as an enfant terrible. The press of the world delights in showing up his weak points, and the "war lord" undoubtedly has them, but, at... more...