Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1873-07-04


habitant could remember it; and young
Fahrenheit observed by mixing salt and
snow he could produce degree of cold
equal to that which prevailed on the cold
est day of that coolest weather. He con-
cludcd that that was the lowest degree OF
cold known In the world, and the lowest
also that could be produced arlifcially. 1t
was an unfortunate error for when, at a
later day, he arranged the scale OF his inn
proved thermometer, he called that degrt @
of cold zero, and fixed the boiling point at
2l2 degrees above it-a scale which is both
arbitrary and inconvenient. Zero should
have been the freezing point, and then the
boiling point might have been indicated by
either 100 or 200 which would have made
calculation easy. Such scale The whole
world would have finally adopted, and we
should have had one scale in use instead Of
four.
While still young man, Fahrenheit be-
came 80 interested in natural science that
he gave up his business in Dantzic and
went abroad in search of knowledge for,
in those days, If a man wanted knowledge
of that kind, he had to go and place him
self under the personal instruction of the
few men who possessed It, After residing
for while in the various parts of Germany,
France and England, he settled at Amster-
dan, then one of the most renowned cap
itals in Europe where he established HIM
self as a MAKER of philosophical instru-
ments.
But he was not content TO follow the es-
tablished patterns. The instrument which
we now call thermometer was an i'm
provement upon rude contrivance, in
vented about the year 1900, styled wealth
er-glass. This was merely glass bulb and
tube, from which the air had been partly
expelled, inserted in vessel of colored
liquid. When the air in the bulb was rar-
flied by heat, the liquid rose; but when il
was condensed by cold the liquid fell. This
was the beginning of it. The next i'm
provement was to fill the bulb with spirits
of wine, expel the air from it, and seal it,.
This was real thermometer; which was
further improved by coloring the spirits of
wine, and fastening the instrument to a
piece of wood or metal marked with scale
of degrees. This was the point of devel-
opment which the thermometer had reach
ed in 1920, when Fahrenheit directed his
attention to II in Amsterdam.
Two changes are attributed TO him First,
he substituted mercury for spirits of wine;
and secondly, he constructed the scale
which still passes by his name. Whether
he originated the substitution of mercury,
or whether he derived the idea from some
of the learned men with whom he associat-
ed, is not certainly known. The Roy al So
ciety at London at the time evidently re-
garded him as the originator; for in 1874,
two or three years after the introduction of
his thermometer into England, he was
elected member of the society. In the
Philosophical transactions for 1923 are sew
eral papers by Fahrenheit, which show him
10 have been a man capable of improving
the instrument without assistance.
The Fahrenheit scale has only been adopt
ed by three countries-Holland, Great Brit
ain and the United States. Various other
scales have been introduced, but the Their
mometer of the future has yet 10 be made,
the freezing point at zero, and the boiling
point fixed at the figure best adapted to
decimal subdivision and calculation. In
the meantime, as DR.. IRE suggests, por-
ton of Fahrenhets antiquated nonsense
might at least be omitted, such as the I'M
meaning words, summer heat, blood. heat,
fever heat. temperate, spirits boil, and 9TH
ers. Real information DIR. Ure thinks,
could well be substituted for such words as
these. The average temperature of winter.
of summer, and of the year, in the country
where the thermometer is to be used, might
be given.
The use of the thermometer has added
grea fly 10 our knowledge, and is doubtless
destined to play a still more important part
in the future. The following facts the read
err may find interesting: The lowest de-
gree of artificial cold that has yet been
produced is 1877 below zero. The hardest
thing to freeze is carbOic acid, which re-
quires temperature of l48 below zero.
AT 40 below zero mercury freezes; and
this is also the average winter temperature
at Nova Zembla. The average tempera-
ture of the year round at the North Pole is
ID below zero. Salt water freezes at II
above, wine at 20 above, blood at %, vine
gar at 81, milk at 30, water at 80. Alcohol
ills at 49, On the summit of Mt Blanc
water bols at 1872; on the summit of 1Itna,
1872; at the Catsk i'll Mountain house, at 2O6;
on the surface of the earth at 2l2 At o32
sal phur melts, and at 800 petroleum boils.
The temperature of the ocean at a few hun
DIR ed feet below the surface never changes,
but stands at about As all the year round.
..sN Al
warm as we descend. The temperature of
the bottom of an aitesan well 1900 feet
deep, is 70; but there are some mines not
more than 1000 feet deep, where the tenn
perature begins TO be oppressive, and the
thermometer marks IS. The animal heat
of various creatures varies lemark SADLY.
The maximum heat of a mans body is 100;
and If you wish to hatch hens eggs in an
| oven, the proper temperature is l05. The
highest point which the mercury reaches in
| an ordinary situation, in the hottest part o
the East Indies, is l54, at which point, also
the mercury occasionally stands in the en-
| gine-room of steamship.
Such are a few OF the facts which the
thermometer reveals. 1t has become one
! VI the Hiost indispensable anu uSelul oil all
instruments. There ARE even pocket Their
mometers, as well as thousand curious
varieties of mantel ornaments, for which a
thermometer furnishes the excuse.
Fahrenheit, besides improving the Their.
mometer, was a universal improver and
inventor, as every man Of his vocation
must be who has an intelligent mind. lie
died in the midst of his career, when he
was but fifly years of age, leavingsome i'm.
portant projects incomplete. -Jdmcs Par.
ton.