ES WAR EINMAL
Wissenschaftliche Kurzberichte
Inhalt
1850
Awake and insane
1898
Spider Web Factory
1899
Sauerstoff für die Medicin
1899
X-rays and Military Surgery
1899
Radium entdeckt
1899
Luftleer mit flüssigem Wasserstoff
1899 Telegraphie
ohne Draht
1899
Attendants of the various planets
1899 Color of Sea
Water
1899 The Cancer
Microbe
1899
The Brain of Herrmann von Helmholtz
1899
Are we in advance of our forefathers?
1899
Malaria
1899 The action of Magnetism on the
Propagation of Light
1900
Magnetic Fields and Radiation
"Dr. Birmingham, of New York Asylum for the insane, expresses the opinion that the most frequent immediate cause of insanity is the want of sleep. ´Long continued wakefulness disorders the whole system. The appetite becomes impaired, the secretions diminished, the mind dejected, and soon waking dreams occur and strange phantoms appear, which at first may be transient; but ultimately take possession of the mind, and madness or death ensures." (From Scientific American, March 1850)
Some ten years ago a french missionary started the systematic rearing of two
kinds of spiders for their web, and the Board of Trade Journal states that a
spider net factory is now in succesful operation at Chalais-Meudon, near Paris,
where ropes are made of spider web intended for balloons for the French military
aeronautical section.
The spiders are arranged in groups of twelve above a reel, upon which the
threads are wound. It is by no means easy work for the spiders, for they are not
released until they have furnished from 30 to 40 yards of thread each. The web
is washed, and thus freed of the outer reddish and sticky cover.
Eight of the washed threads are then taken together, and of this, rather
stronger yarn cords are woven, which are stronger and much lighter than cords of
silk of the same thickness.
These spider weeb ropes are very much more expensive than silk ones, but it is
hoped to reduce their cost somewhat in the future. (From Nature, 24 November
1898.)
1899
Sauerstoff für die Medicin
In der medicinischen Praxis dürfte sich der Sauerstoff bald einbürgern.
Bei Vergiftungen durch Leuchtgas oder Kohlendioxydgas erweisen sich
Sauerstoffeinathmungen von grösstem Werthe. Man füllt das Sauerstoffgas aus
der Flasche in einen Gummibeutel mit Schlauch und Mundstück und giebt dem
Vergifteten das Mundstück aus Hartgummi in den Mund. Nöthigenfalls wird die
Nase durch eine Quetschvorrichtung geschlossen gehalten und künstliche Athmung
eingeleitet. Erfolgreich erweist sich auch die Sauerstoffinhalation nach der
Narkose. (Der Stein des Weisen, 21.Band, 1899, S.119)
1899 X-rays and Military Surgery
The present position of the Röntgen rays in the military surgery was
described by Mayor L. Battersby in a paper read before the Röntgen Society on
Tuesday.
… After the battle of Omdurman 121 British wounded were conveyed to the
surgical hospital at Aberdieh. Of that number there were 21 cases in which the
bullet could not be found, or its absence proved by ordinary methods. In 20 out
of these 21 cases an accurate diagnosis was arrived at with the help of the rays,
the odd case, who was suffering from a severe bullet wound in the loung, being
too ill for examination at the time. …in many cases the X-rays prevented much
suffering to the patient, which would have been caused by probing, the use of
the finger, or enlarging the wound in the ordinary search for the bullets, as
the skiagraph at once indicated the exact position of the bullet.
With regards to the apparatus, the most serious difficulty at present is the
best method of generating the primary electric current for charging the the
storage batteries…. In the Sudan a small dynamo, driven by means of a tandem
bicycle, answered admirably, and was readily transported by rail and river to
Abadieh; but as at present constructed, it is unsuitable for mule, camel, or
human transport. (From Nature 12. January 1899)
Aus der Pechblende hatten Herr und Frau P. Curie durch rein chemische
Verfahren eine Substanz extrahiert, welche sehr stark (Uran-)Strahlen aussandte,
durch ihre chemischen Charaktere dem Wismuth nahe zu stehen schien und als
wahrscheinlich neues Element mit dem Namen POLONIUM belegt wurde. Im Verein mit
Herrn G. Bemont diese Untersuchungen weiterführend, hat das Forscherpaar nun
einen zweiten stark strahlenden Stoff in der Pechblende gefunden, der sich von
dem ersten durch seine chemischen Eigenschaften wesentlich unterscheidet….
Endlich hat Herr Demarçay die Substanz der Spektralanalyse unterworfen und hat
neben dem Spektrum des Bariums…. eine Linie mit der Wellenlänge 3814,8
gefunden, die stärker war als die Bariumlinien und keinem bekannten Elemente
zugeschrieben werden kann. Als die Masse bei ihrer Reinigung etwa 60 mal so
stark strahlte als Uran, war die neue Linie kaum sichtbar, als aber dann das
Strahlungsvermögen nach weiteren Reinigungen 900 mal so gross war als des
Urans, war die Linie sehr leicht wahrnehmbar.
Die Verfasser glauben daher ein neues Element, wenn auch nicht isoliert, so doch
nachgewiesen zu haben und nennen dasselbe RADIUM. (Naturwissenschaftliche
Rundschau, XIV, Jg.Nr.7, 18. Februar 1899, S. 91-92)
1899 Luftleer mit flüssigem Wasserstoff
Zunächst zeigte Professor James Dewar, wie es mittels flüssigem Wasserstoff, der eine Temperatur von etwa -240 Grad besitzt, möglich ist, eine Glasröhre in einem bisher unerreichten Grade luftleer zu machen. Wenn man nämlich eine Glasröhre, deren Luftgehalt mittels einer Luftpumpe vorher stark verdünnt worden ist, in flüssigen Wasserstoff hineinhält, so verwandelt sich infolge der ausserordentlichen Temperaturerniedrigung in der Röhre noch vorhandene Luft in einen festen Körper, d.h. sie wird nicht nur flüssig, sondern sie gefriert. Die so gefrorene Luft sammelt sich an dem in den flüssigen Wasserstoff getauchten Ende der Röhre. Man kann nun durch Anwendung einer Stichflamme das Gas dicht oberhalb soweit erhitzen, dass man die Röhre ausziehen und so von dem mit fester Luft gefüllten Theile völlig abtrennen kann. Der Rest der Röhre ist dann in bisher unerreichtem Maasse luftleer, so dass ein elektrischer Strom kaum mehr durch ihr inneres hindurchschlägt. (Zeitschrift für die gesammte Kohlensäure-Industrie, V Jg., Nr.6, 25. März 1899, S.137)
Marconis Experiment, den Kanal mit seinen Depeschen durch die Luft zu
überfliegen, ist am 29. März des Jahres völlig gelungen. Der Apparat befand
sich in einem Gebäude, aus welchem der Leuchtturm von South Foreland (Dover)
sein elektrisches Licht erhält.
Kurze Zeit, nachdem die Funken gespielt hatten, meldete das Klick-Klack der
Maschine die Ankunft einer Meldung von drüben, also aus einer Entfernung von 35
Kilometern. Der Bandstreifen rollte aus dem Apparate und die Nachricht erschien
gedruckt auf dem Streifen. In der Minute wurden etwa 15 Worte übermittelt. Eine
Glocke zeigte die Ankunft oder das Ende einer Botschaft an. Die französische
Küste antwortete prompt und es kamen keine Störungen vor. (Gewerbeblatt aus
Württemberg, 51.Jg, Nr.16, S. 125)
1899 Attendants of the various planets
It is interesting to note how the gradual discovery of the attandants of the
various planets has influenced the compounding of the "laws" which
from time to time have been found to approximately represent the positions of
these bodies in the solar system. From the first discovery of Jupiter’s four
satellites by Galileo in 1610, Huyghens, Cassini, and Sir W. Herschel, no
regular relationship was perceived. When however, in August 1877, Prof. Asaph
Hall discovered the two moons of Mars, Deimos and Phobos, it was seen, that all
the then known satelites were grouped in a geometrical progression, reckoning
outwards from the Earth.
Thus the Earth had one, Mars two, Jupiter four and saturn eight. This
seeming regularity was broken by the discovery on September 9, 1892, of a fifth
satellite to Jupiter.
This last discovery of a ninth satellite for Saturn will furnish a
reason for a new series being formed, as counting from the earth outward from
the Sun, the numbers of satellites to the planets Earth, Mars, Jupiter and
Saturn are now 1,2,5 and 9 respectively, and these numbers are very nearly
proportional to the distances of those planets from the Sun. (Nature 23, March
1899)
Aitken has given a complete theory of the color of sea water as observed at
various places, based upon the principle that sea water is a blue liquid.
According to this view, the green tint often observed in sea water, especially
near land, is to be explained by the presence of fine yellow particles. During a
recent voyage by the Messageries steamer "Polynesien", I was permitted,
through the kindness of the commandant Bullard, to erect a tube 736 cm long
against a rail of the after-deck, and to pass through it a continous stream of
water from the ship’s salt water service….it is useless to comment on most of
the results obtained, except in so far as they give a means of easily
reproducing the exact tint of pure sea water as seen through a column 736 cm
long.
Make up the following solution: Water, 500 c.c.; Soluble prussian blue, 001
gram; Saturated lime-water just precipitated by the smallest excess of
bicarbonate of soda, 5 c.c..This mixture, when viewed through a tube 18 cm long,
will show with considerabe precision the color of sample water from the
Mediterranean, lat. 36°24’N., long. 17°51E. of Paris. (Nature 16, March 1899)
The Paris Figaro has announced that Dr.Bra has found the microbe of cancer, and that there is a reason to hope that the discovery may soon lead to a certain cure of that dread disease. Dr.Bra is modest and cautious in his statement, saying that it must be months before a definite announcement is possible. What he has succeded in doing, however, is to isolate and cultivate a parasite from cancerous tumors and to produce therefrom cancer in animals. The parasite is fungus-like and is certainly the specific agent of cancer. Dr. Bra has spent four years researching the origin of cancer. (Scientific American, April 1899)
1899 The Brain of Herrmann von Helmholtz
A report by Prof. David Hansemann, of Berlin, on the brain of Hermann von Helmholtz, is referred to the British Medical Journal. The great physicist died of apoplexy on September 8, 1894, at the age of 73. The circumference of the head was 59 centimetres, that of the skull 55 centimetres. The breadth of the skull was 15.5 and its length 18.3 centimetres. The cephalic index was therefore 85.25, showing a broad head. Helmholtz’s head was about equal in size so that Bismarck, and rather smaller than that of Wagner, both of whom had big heads. On the other hand, Darwin’s head was only 56.3 centimetres in circumference. The weight of the brain with its blood was 1700 g, without the blood 1440 g, being about 100 g heavier than the average human brain. (From Nature 18 May 2025)
1899 Are we in advance of our forefathers?
So far as the details of practical cultivation are concerned, we are not so much in advance of our forefathers. We have infinitely greater advantages, and we have made use of them, but if they had them they would have done the same. We are able to bring to bear on our art not only the "resources of civilization" to a degree impossible to our predecessors, but can avail ourselves also of the teachings of science and endeavour to apply them for the benefit of practical gardening. We are mere infants in this matter at present, and we can only dimly preceive the enormous strides that gardening will make when more fully guided and directed by scientific investigations. One object of this conference is to show that cultural excellence by itself will not secure progress, and to forward this progress by discussing the subject of cross-breeding and hybridisation in all their degrees, alike in their practical and in their scientific aspects. To appreciate the importance of cross-breeding and hybridisation we have only to look round our gardens and our exhibition-tents, or to scan the catalogues of our nurserymen. (from Nature 20 July 1899)
Many observers in different countries, noticing the fact that malaria is most
prevalent at the most active period of mosquito life, have attributed malaria to
the agency of this insect.
Dr. Patrick Manson, in 1894, first brought the subject forward in England….
Bignami and Bastianelli, who had been trying unsuccessfully to infect a man by
allowing mosquitos to bite him, attributing their want of success to the use of
the wrong kind of mosquito, and, acting on the observations of Grassi, tried
again with some mosquitos imported from the malarious district. This time they
succeeded in infecting the man with malaria of the same type that prevailed in
the district from which the mosquitos came….
Whether the Anopheles can be extirpated from a locality, and by what means, will
be the problem for scientic workers resident abroad to settle; fortunately they
seem to be confined to small areas, so the suggestion of Ross to draw off the
water from stagnant pools may not be so hopeless a task as it would at first
appear. (from Nature 7 September 2024)
1899 The action of Magnetism on the Propagation of Light
The action of magnetism on the propagation of light in a transparent medium has been rightly regarded as one of the most beautiful of Faraday´s great scientific discoveries. Like most important discoveries it was not result od accidental observation, but was the outcome of long and patient inquiry. Guided by a conviction that (to quote his own words) "the various forms under which forces of matter are made manifest have one common origin", he made many attempts to discover a relation between light and electricity, but for very long with negative results. Still however, retaining a strong persuasion that this view was correct, and that some such relation must exist, he was undiscouraged, and only proceeded to search for it more strictly and carefully than ever. At last, as he himself says, he "succeeded in magnetising and electrifying a ray of light, and in illuminating a magnetic line of force. (from Nature 17 August 2024)
1900 Magnetic Fields and Radiation
"M. Becquerel has given an account to the Academie des Sciences of a remarkable phenomenon. He finds that when radio-active matter is placed between the poles of a powerful electro-magnet, the radiation, which it emits is changed in direction. In one experiment, between the pole pieces of an electro-magnet were placed two soft iron disks. Near the center of one disk was disposed the radioctive matter, containing the supposed new element, radium. Against the other was placed a fluorescent screen. Upon exciting the electro-magnet, the phosphorescence excited in the screen contracted into luminous spot and became more intense."
