Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1876-03-29
MECHANICAL AND SCIENTIFIC.

M. Chatin has lately directed the at
tention of the French Academy To some
curious periodic movements in the leaves
of the fir tree known as .46ies nOrdmdnai-
ana, which are whitish on the lower and
dark green on the upper surface. If the
tree be observed early in the morning or
about sunset, the general effect of the
foliage is whitish whereas, in the course
of the day the green tint becomes very
general. This is found to result from an
alteration in the position OF the leaves, SO
that they present now their upper, now
their under surface to the observer, and =
diurnal position can thus be distinguished
from nocturnal one. M. Chatin has
been studying these movements, and
promises some further details regarding
them shortly.
A foreign inventor has contrived an
ingenious apparatus intended to replace
the jacquard loom, and which it Is
claimed is far more simple and more easy
to set up and to work. In this improved
device, the eccentrics, the bars, sectors,
gear, and all the pieces which work the
harness in the jacquard, are dispensed
with, the mechanism of the arrangement
being as follows; Ii consists of wooden
or iron frame, which may be applied to
any loom, and cIanked arbor receives a
to-and-fro motion by means of a lever
acted upon by a connecting rod, which is
moved by the main arbOr of the loom it.
self. The cranked arbor in question car
ries double lever, which, by means of
two rods, gives to the lever the to-andiro
motion, which lifts and lets fall the hooks
or crochets, the number Of these being
more or less, according to the work.
The interesting fact is mentioned
that the temperature of the Arctic seas
near Spitzbergen, sometimes increases
considerably at great depths. 1t appears,
from a communication by Capt. Welles,
to the Royal Society, London, that in the
middle OF July, when in latitude so II
north, the vessel being fixed in the ice,
the temperature actually increased to plus
ga of depth of 600 iathOms, proving,
in his opinion, the southwark flow OF 4
vast body of warm water This, 1t Is ar
gued, could not have been derived from
the Gulf Stream, because nowhere as high
AS latitude fifty or sixty degrees does 1t
have so high IA temperature at the surface.
Even if the whole of the water of the Cult
Stream were spread over the water OF the
north, its depth would not exceed ten
tathoms: whereas warm water of forty
two degrees, Fahrenheit, occurs to the
depth of 400 fathoms, and north Of Spitz-
bergen it is found AS high as sixty-four
degrees at 900 fathoms.
The science of adulteration has been
strikingly illustrated in the singular con-
lrovcrsy which arose some time since be
tween the wool manufacturers and the
Secretary of the Treasury. The wool
manufacturers complained that certain
class of goods were being imported at
low rate Of duty which should pay a
much higher rate-the allegation being
that these goods contained wool, whereas
they were imported as containing only
hair and vegetable fiber. The Treasury
Department was at loss what to do in
the matter, and the experts employed by
ii to examine the goods failed to decide
the questionable fact being that sheep
produce both hair and wool, and that it
is impossible to distinguish between the
hair of sheep and the hair OF certain
other animals further, the fine hair
found next to the skin Of many animals
closely resembles wool, 50 that the micro
scope fails to distinguish whether the
fabric is made OF hair or wool, and chem
stry is equally at loss, the ultimate
composition being the same.--N. J. sun.