, 1877-03-11
HONOR TO WHOM HONOR Is DIE.

| IL eAe !atcs1 uuuoer Oh A0FpeT'5 -UoHEtlR
Prof j. W. DRAPER gives description Of soma
experiments performed BY him in the years
Z, with the results obtained; his object be-
ing to correct some points in current scientific
history. He first ascertaincd that each of a
great variety OF substances examined becomes
lncandesceut at the same temperature, and in
ferrei that the statement holds true With re-
gard to all substances, if care be taken to cini-
nate the phenomenon known as phosphores-
cencc. He PLACED number Of substances, in
succession, in the breech end OF gun-bar7cl,
placed that end in stove, and, looking
through the muzzlc, observed that all became
self-uminous at the same instant IS the contain
ing metal. lie then, by means OF au electric
! current caused to travel along strip of plati-
| mum, asccrtained that the thermal point
| ut which this change occurs, In perfectly
dark room, Is 9771cgrees of the Fahrenheit scale.
His next step was an endeayor to ascertain tho
klad Of light emitted or excited at this mini
mum limit Of .seIf-fuminosity. He passed the
light through tnt-glass prism, and expected
to see (sotne OF the .well-known Frauuhofer
lines, but WAS surprised to find that they ara
not to be seen in the spectrum OF ignitcd solid
bodies+ He thus discovered one OF the fuud7-
mental facts 1n spectrum analysis, as it fur
n'shes the means of determining the physical
condition OF star, and also gives test for tho
nebular hypothesis. An ignited gas gives dis
continuous spectrum,-one broken up bT lines,
bands, or spaces.
As There were no lines in the spectrum Of tho
1ncandescent solids examined, Prof. DRAPER
previously determined the position of the fixed
lines in the spectrum Of the sunlgh.,-the ray
passing through 4 slit, occupying exactly tho
position to be afterwards occupied by tile in-
candescent platinum employed in the expert
ment- This reference spectrum" as It is
called, is now adopted in all spectroscopic OBJ
serTat1ons. He found that the spectrum did
not regularly increase in length rs the tempera-
ture rises, but that at the moment the light Is
nrst visible it extends over nearly one-haH Of
the prisHetic spectrum. He found, however,
that this is largely due to optical effects, and
that, as the temperature of an fncaudescent
body rises, it cmits rays Of an increasing re-
tranquility. The light Is first red, then orange,
and SO on to the violet, after which it becomes
OF pure white as the temperature is carried be-
EEond that needed to produce the violet ray.
Further experiments showed that the radiation
Of both light and heat increases more rapid1y
than the increase Of temperature Of the radiating
bodv. II tho quantity of heat zadiated by
platinum at $50 degrees be taken as unity, then
it will be 2.5 at i 40 degrees. and rs at 1896.
degrees. The heat radiatea by the platinum in
passing from 1000 to 1900 degrees is nearly
equal to the quantity given out in passing from
common temperatures up to 1000 degrees
All OF these deductions arc usually attributed
to NJ. htRcuoFF, though bis memoirs we're not
published till QS6V thirteen years after the
work OF Prot. DRAPER had been given to tho
world through the scientific publications Of the
United States and of Europe. In 1867, some
twenty years utter the publication Of the oHgi-
nal memoirs, u. BECquEKzL also presented as
bis own deductions almost precisely the sama
IS those noted above.
We esteem 1t a duty to aid in calling public,
attention to these facts, and claiming for dis
American Investigator the honor
which is his due. It is undeniab1e that, til.
Fithin very few years past, American scientific
"ork has been sighted By Europeans; !; and this
S lar from being the only case In which tho IT.
uits Of Western labor have been unblushingly
appropriated By the Eastern Hemisphere Very
ecently the Old World has admitted TINT there
IRE brains, as well as muscle, in this part Of the
'looe; and there Is now tardy disposition to
'e just, when the facts are known.
The Milwaukee Sentsnz thinks that LAuAs,
be new pale-taced Senator from Mississippi,
ost an opportunity for d1amatic effect th1t
'ould have typified the era Of conciIiation and
GOODWILL that the country has entered upon.
says:
II as the nnsaryins custom that, when Senator.
lect Is 70 be sworn in, he shall be escorted II tne
ssS an. p by hs col &colleague Or Tuesday, ths obtsst
ne oath be administered to Nr. LAMAR There
pom be should have taken the arm Of the
:n'9s senator from Mississippi: the Bon. y.
- BRUCE, and advanced to the bar. It ap~
ears that Bruce is 4 ful1- -b1ooded negro, shade
!acker as to his cuticle than q lump of coal: but
course that could have made no difference, now
'at the co'os-line is wholly obtiterated with ~;
a, Mes Ia. expressed assent STILL III. LAxAn dIo
2 old Bourbon from West Virginia. So that
Ibleau was sacrificed.
The st. Louis G.-D> has IN idea that Chicago,
u amortgaged, bankrupt, and played-out town,
IS way Of picking up business that would
:nedt st. Louis to initiate. Thus:
While St. Louis has been sitting down pitJins .
e condition Of the nortgage-.tncken Chicago,
llc&x0 has built railroads aYnund st T.oui5 In