The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-10-13


dance with what We see on the earth, !
nothing in them Of an extraordinary /
Chemical AGinitic-.
The changes which may be rung upon
peal of bells are absolutely insignificant in
comparison TO Ntbe number of bodies which
might be produced by the INSTRUMENTATION
of the known chemical elements. An al
chemist-o of the last of his race-after
contemplating the multitude of created
things, and Che discoveries of his still-imper-
feet science said:-"I marvel not that God
has created 50 many things, but rather that
He did not, from the materials at His com.
mand, create an infinitely greater number
Artificial stone.
NJ Coignet, in his report to the Society Of
Civil Engineers, shows to what perfection the
art OF manufacturing artificial stone has
reached in France. In the composition of
this stone the following indications are given:
for walls, four or five parts Of sand and one
of lime: line Of masonry one yard high can
be raised daily. For the lighthouse of Port
Said, with an elevation of fifty-fve yards, to
be finished within five months, the sand of
the desert will be used; it will be run up with
out any danger at the rate of half a yard
/ daily. For vaults, from quarter to a half
| part of cement is added to the above compo-
! siton, for the purpose of increasing security
For pavement, able to resist hard scrubbing,
the composition is four to five parts saud one
part lime, and one part cement Quarry sand
and ordinary lime may be safely ased; in the
forest cf Fontainebeau the stone is made with
sand Of almost impalpable ineness.
I'm constructing artificial stone the COM
preston Of the four sides of block is by no
means sufficient, for then the middle would
not be soidifed; the recent accidents that
happenedin America are more than sufficient to
prove this assertion: the composition must
be made in successive layers, each Of which
must be properly compressed. BY acting on
this principle N. Coignet has obtained pave
ments. hag-stones bricks, etc. the last,
made by an automatic machine, cost very
little. The maximum of hardness is OBJ
tained with a mixture of four to five parts
sand. one part lime-powder. and one part
cement. Artificial stones can he hewn like
pudding-stones and present then a wriukled
appearance.
Tropical Vegetation.
1t is a very prevalent opinion that tropical
countries far surpass temperate countries in
the abundance and brillancy of the flowers,
and in the magnificent appearance of hun
dreds of forest-trees covered with masses of
colored blossoms On this subject, Mr.
Wallace (than whom few have had better
means of judging) says;-''My whole expe-
rience in the equatorial regions of the West
and the East has convinced me that, in the
are less abundant, on the average less showy.
and are far less effective in adding color to
the landscape, than in temperate climates.
The erroneous view has arisen, he thinks.
from our gathering together into close
proximity in our lighthouses the finest flower
ing plants, which in nature are found widely
apart.
Theory Oftbe Seasons.
It is well understood that the cause of the
| phenomena of seasons is the inclination of the
earth's axis to the plane of its orbit; and the
, differences of terrestrial climate from the
present, which are believed to have existed in
1 Psychological times, are supposed to be con
I nected with a change of this inclination OF
3 the earth's axis. But what and whence are
I the causes which have changed it? The gene
, raj opinion has been that they are astronomi
4 cal, and due to the varying attractive in
g huences of the planets. But book has jus
e been published by Mr.. Samuel Mossman, il
n which the change is ascribed to geological
It causes. His theory is as follows:-"Th
: earth, in an early period of its history, hat
/ its axis of rotation at right angles to tn
: plane of it's orbit At this time its surfac
S was all water-no land had yet been ur
heaved. Volcanic agencies, acting then wit
greater violence than in recent times
( because of the less resistance of tn
s. earths crust, cast up in a successio
3 of upheavals the continents of the Norther
4 hemisphere. This upheaval of land in tn
l, Northern was accompanied by complement
L talY depression in the Southern hemisphere
70 the formation of the continents In the latte
IS hemisphere did not occur till much late
l. period in the earths history This disturb
q ance of the position of the solid portions {
'f the earth threw by degrees the axis of tn
+. earths rotation into obliquity with the plan
of of its orbit until this oblquity, by the succe
IS sion OF upheavals, became at least twice
ot great as it is at present. A transference
SIS volcanic activity from the Northern to I'll
is Southern hemisphere, producing there IL
IN Southern continents, but principally that {
N N South America, then took place giving ri'
al to gradual diminution of the obiquity
he the earths axis, still going on at the presel
'e time. This degree of obliquity was create
at the commencement of the older tertial
formation and e chat period, therefore, IL
q SsSSeninfRt Rte enjoyed by Europe began