The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1859-07-09
A Chapter Of Curiosi.ies III science.

"a day, an hour OF vrtuous liberty
/, worth whole eternity of bondage"
A Chapter Of uriosi.ies III science.
The water which browns us as a fluent
stream, can be walked upon as ice The
builet which, when fred from a musket,
carries death, will be harmlcrs if ground
to dust before being fired. The crystal
lied part of the oil Of roses, SO grateful
in its fragrance-a solid at ordinary teni-
pcratures, though readily volatile-is a
compound substance, containing exactly
the same elements. and in exactly the same
proportions, as the gas with which we light
our streets. The tea which we daily drink
/ with benefit and pleasure, produces palpi-
tations, nervous tremblings, and even par
! alysis, ii taken TO excess; yet the peculiar
I organic agent called theme, TO which tea
owes its qualities, may he taken by itself
(as theme, not as tea,) without any appre-
cable effect The water which Will allay
our burning thirst, augments II when con
gealcd lnto snow So that Captain Ross
I declared the natives OF the a cite Regions
preferred cnduring the utmost extremity
? OF thirst rather than attempt 10 remove II
I by eating snow. But if the SNOW be lneltcd
I 1t becomes dIinkabie water. II fmclted be-
! fore entering the mouth. 1t assuages thirst
like water. but when melted u. the mouth
. It has the opposite eii:c; 70 render this
paradox the more striking. we have only
TO remember that ice, which melts more
slowly than snow in t!,a n outh, Is very ct-
iic.ent in allaying thirst
There are many other wonderful para
doXes and curiosities in science. = few more
OF these wc subjoin, IN the form Of ques-
ton and answer:
How much quicker vii! seeds germnate
4 l 81
the fail action OF the light? Seeds which
ordinarily require ten or twelve days for
. termination. will terminate under - blue
glass IN two or three.
/ Why Will seeds germinaie more readily
/ under blue glass than in any other CON
dition! Because the blue glass permits
/ the chemical principal Of Ii i-ht To pass
freely, and excludes Ia degree the heat
I and ilgE:
: Why j. it impcssi iJ,e to make seeds ger
inmate under yellow glass? Becanse :
yellow s'a-, excludes all the chemical III
( Tiucuce ct the sun rays.
B How do plants acquire the carbon OF which
/ their structure j. IN q great measure com
! posed They obtain il from carbonic acid.
which they abstract from the atmosphere
under the influence OF light.
/ By whom was the identity Of lightning
aud electricity first established? By Dr.
/ Franklin, at PhilaielIhia, IN 1852 The
manner in which the fact was delnon-tra
ted was - follows. Having made kite
OF large silk handkerchief stretched Ut
pom 4 frame, and placed upon /, = pointed
I ron wire connected with the string. h,.
raised It Oh the approach Of a thunder
+ storm A key was attached TO the lover
end oi the hcnpen str.ng holding tne kite,
aud - this one eLd Of silk ribbon was
| tied, the other end being fastened to a
Z post the kite was now insulated, and the
:.rerimenter awaited tor "A considerable
l'ite an, suit with great solicitude; final
. u, lndlCat!oAs Ur -t--.-'o'r3 ~,
pear on the string, and on franklin pre-
senting his knuclles to the key, he raised
an electric spark, the rain beginning 10
descend wet the string, Increased Is con
ducg!ng power, and vivid sparks II great
! abundance flashed from the key.
( Why was ;he kite ins ulatcd when Frank
! In fastened the key 10 the pos; 5y tie
silk r!LGon' Because the silk was nOu-
4 conductor and would not allow the cleo
( tric:ty received upon the kite 10 pass off
/ by means OF the string TO the ground
/ Was this experiment one of great danger
and risk IL was, because the whole amount
! of electricity contained in the thunder
! cloud was liable to pass from II by means
of the string TO the earth, Notwithstanding
/ the use OF the silk insulator
I What happened whea the experiment
4 was rcreated in France? Streams OF elcc-
trio fire, nine and ten feet in length and
/ an inch in thickness dsrted spontaneously
/ with loud reports from the e:ld OF the
/ string confnlng the kite. During the
! succeeding year, Professor Echman, of ST.
! Petersburg in making experiments some
I what similar, and having his apparatus en-
! tirety insulated. Was instantly killed.
/ Is building more or less liable TO be
: struck when iurnis he'd with good light
/ uinc conductor? Lightning conductors
do not, rs many suppose, conduct the
! lightning towards the building upon which
! they are placed; they simply direct its
! course and facilitate the passage of the
! fluid in the most direct way to the earth,
! when Only discharge must inevitably oc-
| cur; there is no attraction, but the light
! nina takes the road which oilers the least
RESISTANCE.
Are the lightning conductors protective
when even no visible discharge takes
| place? They are They possess very
| great preventive power, and gradually and
| silently disarm the clouds by drawing the
electric tuid from them, and this process
commences as soon as the clouds have ap-
preached position vertically over the rod.
Professor Farady recomends the location
! of lightning conductors inside rather than
| on the outside Of buildings, and says that
/ the lower end should be set into powdered
| charcoal
What is the cause Of red sunset >
| The yapor of the air not being actually
condensed into clouds. but only on point
of being condensed. In the same manner,
if light be transmitted through steam
| mingled with air, and therefore on the
verge of condensation, 1t assumes deep
orange or red color.
! What is the cause of 4 red sunrise? The
vapor in the upper regions of the ar is
| lust on the point of being condensed.
= Why is a red sunset an indication of a
fine day tomorrow Because, although
watery vapor Is In the air 1T Is probably
only on the verge of incipient condensa-
ton. and not sufficiently SO to form rain
clouds; and this slowly progressive transit
ton of vast volumes of the air through
the temperature of the dew point, can on
| not at sunrise.
Why is a red and lowering sky at sunrise
an indication of wet day? The red and
lowering appearance Of the morning sky,
which indicates foul weather, probably In
dicates such an excess of vapor being pres
ent in the whole atmosphere, that clouds
are actually forming in the higher regions
or upon the point OF condensation, which zen
the rising sun cannot uisperse.-oetene.ee
american.
/ Sc,rvcE OF MILKING COws-lt is a matter
of great Importance that the milk should
all be drawn from the cows udder Care
full experiments made in England show,
according to report recently published,
that "the quantity Of cream obtained from
the last drawn cup from most COWS, ex-