The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1874-07-02
Nlsc6n!Mgg. 4. !
Reoent seisntiao pisooverie..

a. O'SActJ OuIlnB the present seSSlOu are
some, which, if popularized, would attract
numerous readers, SO pregnant are they
with important facts. One OF these by
Mr.. W. Croekes, T. R. S., treats of the ac-
tlon Of heat on grsvitating masses, and in
its details Of highly refined and accurate
experiments demonstrates that substan-
ees are repelled by heat and attracted by
Geld. The, experiments were made with a
balance formed of beam of straw, with a
plth-ball at each end. A lighter balance
could hardly be devised. 1t was tried IN
common air and in a vacuum, and from its
behavior certain conclusions were drawn.
A similar series of experiments were made
with brass beam bearing two brass balls
and with coroborative results. 1t is there
fore clear that density and temperature
play an important part in the production
OF the phenomena. And if they do, what
then may be asked. The answer con-
meets itself with one of the grandest prob
lens of science. Nature offers. evidence
Of the repulsive action of heat and the at
tractive action of cold on the grandest
scale. By the radiation of heat from the
sun may be explained the phenomena of
comets, and the shape and changes oil
nebul@. And, as Mr.. Crookes re
marks:
to argue from pieces of straw up to heav-
enly bodies, it is not improbable that the
attraction, now shown to exist between e
cold and warm body, will equally pre-
vail wher, for the temperature of melting
ice Is substituted the cold of space, for
pith ball a celestial sphere, and for an ar
I titieial vacuum steller void. In the "a
dlAnt molecular energy of cosmical mas
ses may at last be found that "agent act
ing constantly according to certa n
| laws" which Newton held TO De the
cause of gravity"
From this it will be seen that Mr..
Crookes has started al investigation which
! in its results may explain the theory Of
the universe. Another paper, "On the
Atmosphere as a Vehicle of Sound" by
| DR.. Tyndall, +. R. S, gives the result of
an inquiry undertaken at the instance OF
the Trinity House, to aecertain the dis
| tances at which sounds could be heard in
foggy weather. Lighthouses are compar-
atively useless during fogs, and ship in
the fog is helpless. Hence If q sound
could be produced which could be heard
miles from the shore, mariners, hlndered
from using their eyes, might be warned
through their ears. The experiments were
made off the South Foreland with trum-
pets blown by powerfully compressed air,
with steam whistle, guns, and steam
syren attached to q trumpet sixteen Ieet
long. From two to three miles was the
limit at which the whistles could be
heard, the trumpets from three to four
miles; but the lS-pound gun excelled them
all, and seemed to settle the question
when one day on which angry clouds dar-
kened the sky the sounds were heard TO q
distance Of nine miles. On a subsequent
day the syren made itself heard at ten
miles-a distance far enough, If 1t could
be maintained under all circumstances
But there is the difficulty. The. atmos-
phere varies sometimes as 1t seems Ca
priciously, and On bright days when al
nature smiles, sounds travel to q shorter
distance throagh the air than on days
which look very unfaVorable. In thost
very bright days when distant objects ara
seen with unusual distinetness, the air Ii
filled with Watery Vapor, and this invIsi
BILE vapor is, as DR.. fyndall states, "tht
real enemy to the Transmission Of sounC
through the atmosphere. Neither hail mo-
rain, nor haze, nor fog, nor snow prevents
the passage of sound: but invisible watery
vapOr does.
The solution of the difficulty is, "t'
make the source OF sound 30 powerful a
to endure loss by partial absorption
(among the watery vapoIs,) and still re
tain sufficient residue for transmission
OF all the instruments yet tried, the syrel
blown by steam at 3 pressure Of sevent.
pounds to the inch, best answers the pur
pose and if once were established at escl
light house station round cur coast, navl
cation in thick weather would be free
from one of its most threatening dan
gers.
(The principle of the syren is a movabl
disc with radial silts, centered on a ike
disc with similar slits. A blast Of stean
| makes the loose disc spin round with grea
velocity, the steam flies through the slit
and produces a continuous and vehemen
scresm.)
We learn from another paper that Pro
. fessor Abel Is still carrying on his lnvestl
CATION of gun-cotton and other explosives
= Some of his results are surprising.
loose yarn of gun-cotton, if gentley set o
fire by a spark, shoulders slowly away
but burns rapidly if lit by a flame.
charge of cotton in blasting a nine @
quarry or in rifle, ,explodes after the man
ner of gunpoWder; but if fred by fe
grains Of illuminate of mercury it "goe
Off with terrific violence, and can there
fore be applied for blasti ng purposes on
> | tremendous scale.
Another remarkable fact is that guI
cotton can be as advantageously explode
when dump as when dry, and yet whe
wet it resists FIRE as Q vet blanket woul
But place 1t with cake OF dry cotto
and fire by means of the illuminate, and Il
shock would be as terrific as that abo'
mentioned. Moreover, the same etfe
can be produced under water, with ii
/ hot fIrrtaf 70 hr.
the material is not required. And, as r,
CARDS speed, 1t appears that an eZplosic
of gun-cotton travels nearly 10000 feet
q a second.
m In particulars recently published of Il
production of salt in Cheshire we leal
,e that in 1871 million and half of to
a. OF salt were sent out Of that country
foreign lands and the home market. II
20 demand increases, and the supply as y
n shows no sign of failure, for the salt d
trict occupies about twenty.six squs
miles, of which not more than five ha
al hitherto been worked, As 8 sins
Sc square yard Of surface is reckoned
cover l20 tons Of salt, it will be u
e derstood that the total quantity is anna
r. ing
nj A rem arkably interesting report on
voyage of the Challenger discovery st
n up to the time of her arrival at the Ca
he OF Good Hope has been published by
ok Admiralty: To all who desire furtt
go knowledge of physical geology and ocea
vii ic phenomena, it will be especially acee
It's table. The particulars are furnished
lei Capt. Mares, commander OF the ves
r. They comprise the temperature Of the s
in different laIitudes, The extent of wa
nd and cold areas, the depth, the nature, a
bv the form of the bottom; and these bel
n" represented IN colored diagrams, can
n easily understood. By little study
of these diagrams any one may see that
OIL Atlantic Is, so to speak, cut up into 8
he mes of basins, among which three are VI
o. remarkable: From New York to Bermu
IN from Halifax to Bermuda, and from B
muda to ST. Thomas. Soundings taken
ACT the neIghborhood of Bermuda prove it
I'd be solitary peak in the midst of the 8
igs having a base Of not more than l20 mi
oI IN diameter
IN The Southern and Eastern boundary
-, the Gulf Stream was determined wit
~ 800 miles OF the Azores, :, $50 miles fr
: - the source of the great sire am, which,
~ Capt. Mares remarks, has not one pal
E -,