The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1866-11-15
WHAT ID "A LYTrLHp"


WHAT ID "A LITTLIp"
In one Of those scientific periodicals.,
. correspondent embarrassed by the In
for preparing certain expert
ment, and for adding ~ little" Of some
particular chemical substance to solu-
ton asked the editor: Elbow much Is =
llttle:" 1t was good question; for
there Is often too much vagueness In this
kind Of language, although in most cas-
es 1t Is inferred that an exrerimcnter
knows sufficient Of his subject to keep
clear Of any grave miscalculation. The
question is, moreover, useful In another
way, drawing our attention to the mi
nuteness of some Of the operations Of
nature, and to the increasing power of
ingenious men to measure the degree Of
that minuteness. We know that gold,
for instance, may be beaten into leaves,
which two hundred thousand would go
to make up an inch In thickness; that
slip Of this leaf, II It could he cut one
hundreth Of an inch wide, and then one
OF this slip in length, would
still be visible; and thus we should rem
der visible Observation-Disclosures millionth of
a cubic inch Of gold.
with the microscope, and its teachings
In regard to organized structure, claim
to know better than the rest of US what
Is that wonderful thing, "a little" The
white cliffs Of Albion, that poets and
tourists say 80 much about, and which
girt that island so remarkably on the
are composed Of chalk, which
runs inland through many counties;
and the microscope tells US that this
chalk Is composed almost wholly of
shells aud corals. The waters which
sweep round from Margate to Folkestone
are whitened with the remains Of these
shells and corals; and the ceilings of
London are white-washed-nay, II COM
mon report Is to be believed, London
milk is whitened also-by this agency.
Certain little tiny beings called
Diatomace1 which biologists and bota-
nists are quarreling about leach claim
Ing them as belonging to their depart
ment of science), arc of . marine origin,
and formed chiefly of silica. OF these
creatures, DIR. Hooker says: "These
waters, and even the ice Of the Antartic
Ocean, between the parallels Of 60 deg.
and 80 deg, abound in them in such
countless myriads, that they every
where stain the surface of pale ochre-
JUS brown color; and they are gradually
submarine deposit or bank
If vast dimensions, which fianks the
whole length Of Victoria Barrier IA gla-
,ier of ice some four hundred miles in
ength); and the deposit occupies an area
our hundred miles long by hundred
md twenty broad. All the soundings
n this dcposit-and the lead sometimes
'ank two feet in it-brought up scarce
y anything but diatomace,e. The
reader will, Of course, understand that
.hese little creatures are mere atoms of
mud or dust, until examined very close
y. p.
DR.. Rymer Jones tells us that, few
years ago, the inhabitants of certain
1istrist In Sweden, possessing but a scan
y stock of corn, were in the habit of
mixing with their meal portion of the
earth to supply the deficiency, and that
this earth was found to he nutritive.
Now, 1t has long been an acknowledge
ed fact, that animal life can not be sus-
tained by inorganic matter, but how,
then, In this case, could such be employ
ed IS = nutriment? Many microscopes
were speedily directed to this inquiry;
and on examination, to the astonish-
ment Of an admiring world, this earth
was found to consist entirely of shells of
creatures; shells as perfect
in their construction as they were var
led in their beauty. Even particles
which can not be seen at all by the ma
ked eye, are sometimes found, on exam
ination, to be beautifully organized
plants or animals, as complete in their
a. universe Is in its vast
ness.
A Noble Boy.
The following incident, in the fatal
collision Of the Niagra with the Postboy
ov, tho Misofacs,,VS xn,oa ~olo<ol l., -,