The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-05-22
NOTES ON SCIENCE.

ANOA AAo YIN OOAENANIa
-e---- Nt'r
M. ReDou, in a paper on rain, read before the
Paris Academy, says:--
In order that this phen6menon maybe dsye,
loped In its full intensity, there lpIst be, Two
strata at least OF clouds, the uppefnios 0f which
must be composed Of cirri at "A Atemp perattire OF
forty OF hfty degrees Centgradcl lbeloF zero and
the lower one consisting of cumult which are
cooledby the tall ofcrystal of ice from the upper
stratum. There should also be the highest pos
sible temperature AT the surface of the earth,
much lower atmospheric pressure than in the
neighboring regions, regular and horizontal cur.
rents Of air allowing of the atmosphere remain
ing for sufficient time in state of unstable
equilibrium, and, lastly, rapid motion to re-
store the balance of temperature and pressure
by mixing together the different atmospheric
strata. The distribution of rain on the surface
OF the Globe Is regulated by the five follow
ing conditions;-Temperature, moisture, baro-
metric depression, variations of temperature
and constitution of the soil.
THE MOONS SPEED.
NJ. Ch. Duiour, discussing the alleged secular
acceleratlon OF the moon, states the question
whether the attractive torce OF the earth has
always remained the sameY He thinks there IL
acause tending continually to increase the mass
OF our globe, viz: the fall Of the erQliths. 1t
certainly does seen at first sight that these
extraneous masses can add, bat littleoto that
OF the EARTH even IL 1t be admitted that the
latter receives many more than we are aware of,
there being no record OF those which NAV
nave fallen into the sea, or In deserts, Or un-
civilized countries. But, on the other hand,
Nj. Dutour contends, and not without reason,
that secular acceleration of twelve seconds is
also exceedingly small, and only half OF that
amount has to be accounted for. He shows by
calculation that In order to accelerate the
moons motion by seconds in the course of
century, the mass of the earth must be increased
by one l44, 400, ,0O0th part, a result which re-
quiIes an amount Of ll,000 cubic kilometres of
@roliths TO fall in the course OF o century, of
ITO CnDiC kilOmptrna ER1tI n 10 nOa
OF this Is not necessary, because theremust be a
deduction made from the six seconds in regard
to the action of the tides, so that the ITO cubic
kilometres may dwindle to q much smaller
figure. - 3. ~ tA " A
AN ANCIENT CREATUBEIrs
At late sitting of the Paris Academy of
Sciences, let ,er was received from All de Baer,
OF st. Petersburg, Announcing TN Al, ,a' 'manmo 9th
still covered with its skin and haIr, had been dis
covered in the frozen soil of Arctic Siberia. ,
This discovery had been made in 1864 by
Samoyede in the environs of Taz Bay, the
eastern branch of the Gulf OF Obi Tie news
only reached st. Petersburg towards the end of
1865; but as the bodies of large animals will
keep long while in those regions, If they are
not completely uncovered, and as this mammoth
was still enclosed in the frozen soil, the Academy
OF st. Petersburg has, with the aid Of the Rus
sian Government, sent M. Schmidt, o distin-
guisbed pa@ontologist, to examine the animal
and its position in the locality. II lis hoped
NJ. Schmidt will arrive before the deeomposi
tion is too far advanced, and that correct
notion may be obtained of the outer appear
ance OF the animal, and also, from the contents
OF the stomach, OF its natural, food. The
pre-hlstoIical figure of the mammoth drawn on
piece of ivory, found in a cavern OF ePergord
by M. Lartet, will then admit of yerihcation.
DIssoLvIEG GOLD. . aa4rTtlJ
From paper recently addressed to the Aca-
deny of Sciences by M. NicLtes, il appears that
gold Is soluble in the etherized perchlorides and
perbromides. As the dissolutionI proceeds. and
1t does rather rapidly in the case OF gold leaf
when the perbronide OF manganese is employed
the green color of the latter becomes paler and
paler, because the perbromide becomes q proto-
bromide, which is insolube in ether; so that the
experiment may be considered terminated as
soon as the liquid has exchanged its green color
for the yellow or red one peculiar to gold solu-
tons. II the liquid does not contain any other
hxed substances, it will, when evaporated, leave
the gold strongly adhering to the glass tube in
which the operation has been performed, so that
the process may lead to a new method OF gliding
glass. When heated with nitric acid, the gold
will go off very easily. Sulphate of IRON will
precipitate the gold from the above solution.
Many sesquichlorides and sesquibromides also
dissolve gold; those for instance, of manganese,
nickel, and cobalt. gIgig 10
PERUVIAN BARK. 1ra Tf
At late sitting of the Paris Academy of Sci
ences Nj. Decaisne laid before that body sam.
pie OF seeds OF the OinohOaa oticihdiiS, or Peru
wan bark tree received from DIR. Hooker
Director OF the Royal Gardens at Kew. These
eeeus were peculiarly interesting as having been
produced by the trees grown at Ceylon through
the care of the British Government. The pro.
duction OF these seeds is proof of the complete
success of this experiment of administration,
which may be considered one of the most re-
markable In the annals of colonial agriculture.
N. Decaisne remarked on the occasion that
great fears having long been entertained as to
the probable failure of the supply of bark in
consequence OF the unreasonable greed of specu-
lators, Holland and England had endeavored TO
obtain seeds of Clnchona, in order to SOW them
in Java and Ceylon, and at last, after much OPP
position from the local authorities in South Arne-
rica, succeeded in their object. Experiments
show, in fact, that wherever the Peruvian bark
tree has been planted, it has prospered; and
chemical analysis has shown that the new stock,
though grown in countries widely different from
the original one, is quite as rich as the American
IN those valuable alkaloids which have rendered
the tree an object OF speculation.
SAXoNY THE BATTLE-FIEID OF GERMAHV The