The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-09-17
SCIENTIFIC FRAGMENTS.

THE French bishop of Canton has
presented to the Jardin d'Acclimation
in Paris curious Chinese plant, which
changes it's color three times a day.
EARTH decomposes heterogeneous sub
stances, and for that reason should
never be mixed with manures until they
are about TO be applied. The manure
from earth closets turns ont to be I'M
expectedly poor, and contains only one
fifth of the nitrogen which has been
placed in it, the loss being due TO the
decomposition of the heterogeneous sub
stances by the earth.
NJ. VICAIRE communicates to the
French Academy some observations on
the probable duration of the suns heat.
He thinks that what is ordinarily con
sidered to be the mass of the sun is
really very much below the truth. Con
sldering the enormous pressure at the
centre of the luminary, he thinks there
IS nothing unreasonable in supposing a
mean density amounting TO ten or TWEEN
ty times the received figure. This would
multiply the duration of the sun as a
luminary by just SO much.
AT distance of 80 miles south of the
Union end Pacific railroad, and 900 west
of Omaha, gEeat hill of almost pure
sulphur was diagvered about two years
ago. This is onszof the most remarka-
BILE deposits of native sulphur in the
world. 1t contains only 10 per cent. of
impurities. In the sulphur deposits of
Sicily, says the Scientific American, the
pure sulphur is only 65 per cent, and
hence our western sulphur is much the
more valuable, and promises to become
ere long of great Importance to the
country.
M. BURoUE publishes in Complies Rem
dus "a new method OF measuring the
velocity of light. If a disk is made to
revolve very rapidly, and at each turn
Is illuminated by an instantaneous ray
of light, "a radial line placed on the
disk will appear to be stationary. If
then the source of light be withdrawn
and placed at distance, the instant of
illumination being unaltered, the great
err time of flight of the light ray will
allow the radial line before illuminated
TO pass beyond the line of vision. A
new radius will be illuminated, and the
angle between the two will be the meas
IRE of the time of the lights passage.
A PROCESS for the manufacture of iron
direct from the ore, the use of the blast
furnace being dispensed with, has bEen
invented by Il. w. Gerhard. Instead
OF DIg-lrOn THIS process employs COM
pound called iron coke" which con-
sists of n mixture of ore Cor any sub.
stance containing iron), the necessary
fuxes, and the equivalent of carbon. A
lump of this compound is put into The
furnace, and by the single process known
as balling" cheat" may he obtained
In considerably less time and with CON
siderably less labor than under the old
method, the process of melting" and
boiling" being entirely dispeIs ed
with. The most important feature, Of
the invention is the great saving which
it Effects in fuel.
NEARLY every season a paragraph
goes the round of the newsI lers as
sorting that the movements of a tide
have been noticed in the great lakes. It
is well known, however, that such is not
tho case. In order to establish the fact.
however. one way or the other, one of
the ablest officers connected with the
United States lake survey, at Detroit,
Mich, for several seasons carried out a
series of observations at several points
upon the lakes, the effect of which would
be TO show that there was tide, pro-
vidiug such flow of waters existed.
The result, however, was established
without q doubt that no tide was per
ceptible at any of the points, or if 50
not to exceed Que or two inches, which
was practically no tide at-all.