Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1875-02-24
Scientific Notes.


ponds at Southington, Conn. Decom-
position OF vegetable matter on the
bottom is producing carburetted hydro
gen gas, which may be ignited at this
season by applying match at holes
made III the ice.
AT recent meeting of the Paris
Academy OF Sciences, NJ. de Les5eps
announced the capture, in the Suez
Canal OF a female shark, containing in
her abdomen twelve young sharks. all
living, and varying in length from four
to eight inches. This fact, in NJ. de
Lessep's opinion, tends to prove that
the shark is truly viviparous
ONE day last week wood-cutter en-
ployed on the farm Of Mr. Knowles. Of
Seneca Township, Canada West, dis
covered polished stone tOmahawk i'm
bedded in the wood Of an oak tree. Tt
Is supposed to have been accidentally
LETT in the side Of the oak when the lat
ter was sapling. and the increasing
fibre OF the tree finally covered the
weapon. Judging from therings count
ed on the tree, the tomahawk must have
been stuck in its odd position one hun
| dred and one years ago.
A MOVEMENT has been set on foot in
Germany to send out another expedi-
ton to the east coast of Greenland. It
is to consist of two steam vessels, of
three hundred tons burden, each manned
by thirty en-; one to explore Green
land, while the other advances to the
North Pole. The expense counted upon
will reach $3.50, 900, and the date of the
| expeditions departure will be deter
mined by the rapidity with which this
amount can be collected. Up to the
latest accounts, the government had
made no offers of assistance to the en-
terprise.
A VIRGINIA inventor has procured a
patent for an indicator" of stations.
streets, &c, for use on railroads. 1t is
said to be very simple in construction
and easily worked. It consists of box
containing two rollers, with a cogwheel
which works both, and lever and
bracket SO attached to the cogwheel
that when the lever is pulled it rolls
strip Of canvass, which tells the name
Of each station next to come, how long
the train stops for meals, and where pas
sengers should change cars for various
points. 1t is so arranged that the sim
pie turning Of key reverses the opera
ton OF the rollers and canvas: and it
indicates the stations at night by having
a light IN the back part of it.
TIE scientific results to be obtained
from Arctic exploration will be careful
ly attended to in making the arrange
nents for the forthcoming British Arc
tic expedition. Each officer will take
up Especial branch OF scientific investi-
cation, and will devote himself, during
the interval between his appointment
and the sailing Of the expedition, to ac-
quiring such knowledge as will enable
him to exert his energies most usefully.
There will also be a civilian naturalist
Or geologist in each ship, who will be
carefully selected with reference to
special knowledge and other qualifca-
tions. It is possible also that an en-
g1neer officer may accompany the expe-
dition, with charge of magnetic and
pendulum observations. Some of the
men forming the ships companies will
also be selected for their special qualiti-
cations. Among these, a dog driver,
named Carl Peterson, formerly cooper
at the Danish settlement of Upernavik,
has already been entered. There will
also be three ice quartermasters in
each ship, chosen with special reference
to their qualifications from The crews of
the whalers.
HERREN A. AND e. Helm have lately
been conducting some interesting ex-
periments to determine the tone of
waterfalls, and have communicated the
results to the Natural History Society
at Schaff hansen, Switzerland. They
say that a mass of falling water gives
the chord of G sharp CO, E, d. and
below these notes the non -accordant T.
When @ and D sound louder than the
middle notes, F is heard very fully. It
smothers the pure chord of @ sharp, SO
that it is no longer heard as a concord,
but as clear, rushing noise. The F is
a deep, dull, humming, far-resounding
tone, strong In proportion to the mass
of the falling water. It can be heard
round rocky corners or through thick
woods, and at distance at which the
other notes are imperceptible. Be
sides F, G and G are heard. E is
always weak, and the ear scarcely
recognizes it in small falls. The
notes G, E, G, F, belong to all rushing
water, and in great falls often in differ
*
same tones one, two Or three octaves
higher. No other tones can be found.
In strong falls F is the easiest to hear
in all weak ones, c.. On first attempts
to distinguish the notes, G is usually
most readily recognized, and as each
note is accompanied by it's octave, it is
often difficult to decide which G, G or
Els heard. Persons with musical ears,
attempting to sing near rushing
water, spontaneously use the key of G
sharp, or F sharp if near laundering
fall. Other keys give an ugly discord.
Experiments with other fluids will be
made to see whether they give notes
differing from those of water.
The Carapa Tree.
The attention OF commerce has been
lately attracted is the Carapa tree Gar
ana Guiaaaensis,) on account of the oil
which it produces. The tree abounds