Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1858-11-11

reverence. Tnrniug himself towards Mecca. !
Mahomet and Islam rise before him, and his |
heart and mind centre upon Mecca and
Medina; but when these holy cites are left
behind, and in the arid plains of these lone
some levels which the Ostrich and the Dodo
alone inhalft, lost and out of reckoning, he /
forgets for the time his Koran, and turning
to his orie,tGt t0L,sBldn with JOY. as he sees il
betokening rain. he invckes blessing upon
himself, aud thanks Mahomet the Prophet,
that instilled into his children love Of the
and true
Prot. Riddlll of New Orl ans says in q
letter to Mr.. UIInan concerning this plant,
at is wond rfully d~licate, and | believe
Dr. Owen, late professor of Ge-
ology and Chemistry in the University of
Nashville, says, After carefully adjusting
six Of the seed vessels of your plant in their
boxes, and making the induces agree with
each other at given point ('change' of the
adil. on day of average moisture in the at
mosphcre, found them during many months
peculiarly sensitive to all Hygrometrical
changes and acquired confidence in their in
dcations because they agreed. / furthermore
compared them for the same period with a
hair hygrometer, and part of the time with
Mason's hygrometer (the wet and dry bulbs,)
aud found the plants gave the same indica-
tiOns as those instruments" Prof }. Lawrence
Smith says, Il have your beautiful little in
strument and have been regarding it with
Interest. 1t makes a remarkably sensitive
hygrometer, and is more convenient for this
purpose than any artificial arrangement l
know OG' Prof. Henry, of the Smithsonian
Institute says. 1T appears TO be peculiarly
sensitive, and gives greater range of motion
than either the animated oat or ordinary
cat-gut." Prof. Draper. of the New York
University Medical College says, 81 have had
the hygrometer hung up in my laboratory
since it arrived, and found it to move in the
manner you expressed
As for Ourself, we have been closely watch
ing one of Mr.. Ullman's instruments for
more than a year, and are convinced that 1T is
in every way altogether superior to any con-
trivance for hygrOmetrical observations
known. Daniel in his meteorological essays
says, "The expansion Of thin cross-sections of
box and other hard wood. the elOngatiOn of
the human hair, or a slice of whale-bOne and
the untwisting of the wildcat. of cat gut. of
a cord of linen thread, and a species of grass
brought from India, have at different times
been used with variou, success. But the in
strumcnts so formed are either extremely dull
in their motions, or if they acquire greater
sensiblity from the attenuation of their sub
stance, they are likewise rendered the more
subject to accidental injury and arrangement,
and all of them appear to lose in time, insen-
sibly, their tone and proper action" Lieu
tenant Maury thinks the India grass mention
ed by Mr. Daniel is the plant of Mr.. Ullman.
Letter to Mr.. Ullman) This is very great
mistake. 1t is no more like the India grass
than it is like a section of lockwood, human
hair, or whalc-bOne. Nor do we, after a num-
Der of experiments, believe that it is subject
TO the objections urged by Daniel against
these organic hygrometeTs. The one IN our
study is as sensitive now as il was more than
a aor Tho moisture from infant
breath will instantly put the index in motion.
Mr.. Ullman has one that he has watched for
eighteen years, and it is as sensitive now as
those mounted on yesterday.
They have been subjected to long boiling.
and then hastily dried on a stove. without
suffering the slightest loss of that peculiar
sensitveness which characteriZes them. They
have been placed in nitric and sulphuric acid
after which they would gradually assume
their original shape. and being placed in the
box with the index fitted on, keep time" pre-
csely with those that had not been subjected
TO such experiments. There is no apparent
reason why such an instrument should not
last thousand years. 1t is the most simple
of all imaginable contrivances capable of Sc
curing important ends The seed vessels of
plant, remarkably delicate. twisted so as to
make two revolutions and IA half. are fastened
at one end TO the bottom of little circular
box of wood turned out of a solid piece, and
about the size of a large pill box,
The other end projects perpcndicularly
from the centre of the bottom of the box. and
several lines above the upper edge of the box.
A beautifully Autographed dial plate, quite
tasteful and ornamental. having a hole in the
centre. is permanently adjusted to the top of
the box, the perpendicular end OF the plant
projecting through the perioration in the dial
plate. Upon this projected end is fixed a
+n indy Of rnpyn1 Tho Ii ,ybt-
est increase of moisture in the atmosphere
induces the plant to uncoil, thus putting the
index in motion.
The aqueous vapor of the atmosphere is the
result Of evaporation. and rising and being
difiused in the air. is necessarily lighter than
that medium. The specific gravity of the at
mosphere as compared to that of aqueous
vapor, is as 1000 to 0.625. As evaporation
is alone the result of heat. the temperature of
the air will always determine the capacity of
the atmosphere for aqueous vapor. When
this capacity at any temperature is exhausted,
when the air can hold no more, if evapora-
ton continue the excess must appear as fog,
or partially condensed steam. or finally he
deposited as dew This when it occurs is the
dew-point, and is marked by the thermometer.
The greater the temperature of the air the
greater its capacity for aqueous moisture, and
when the dew-point occurs at very high
temperature, the atmosphere is almost unfit
for respiration. The weather is said to he
sutry. The light dews of spring and the
heavy dews of autumn are explained by the
difference in the hygrometrical states of the
atmosphere at these seasons. For hygrometric
observations Mason's hygrometer has super
seized all others. All scientific men are ia
miliar with it. 1t indicates at once the tenn
perature of the atmosphere and its hygro-
metrical condition. For the purposes of
scientific men it answers admirably. But it
can never become popular instrument with
farmers, mechanics and artisans. In the first
place it is expensive Again it is liable to
get out of repair. The silk which covers the
wet bulb requires frequent renewing, and the
same Is true of the water thread. Distilled
water is necessary to replenish the fountain
from time to time. The fountain lis often
broken by the freezing of the water.
With an ordinary thermometer and Mr.. Ull-
mans beautiful little instrument the farmer
wonld have but little difficulty in anticipating
storm. rain or sunshine. The two, a common
thermometer and Ullman's hygrometer, would
enable the farmer far better to anticipate the
weather. than he could by any familiarity
with the best barometer. The sudden fall of
the mercury in the barometer will foretell
wind or rain. but no one can tell which until
he ascertains the hygrometric state of the
moSphcre is damp, there will be rain. So the
farmer noticing the mercury high in the Their
and turning to his hygrometer per-
ceives "A large amount of aqueous vapor indi-
Gated, will know that rain is at hand; while
upon the contrary, however hot the weather,
if the air is dry, he will not look for rain Mr..
Ullman's little instrument requires no care
or attention. Hang ii up on nail in a We
randall or hall. and we believe il would run
one hundred years with the greatest accuracy.
II costs only one doliari For two dollars in
postage stamps he will send il by mail, per-
( city secure, to any part of the United
States. His address is, l.. ). Uilman, Colum-
bia, Tenn.
DoUGLAsisM SPEAKING OUT.-Inspired by
the probability OF Douglas success in Illinois,
the Hartford Pos names hin as the inevitable
candidate for the Presidency In