New-York tribune., 1878-04-13
depend upon the exaggerated statements and ad-
yertisements of individuals who have land to sell.
SCIENCE FOR THE PEOPLE.

theory with WHICH his Hdue ID HOsb phoiniS"SJ w.
nected that the weather Of the earth has relation 10
the display of spots on the sum- He now offers two
tables one based on 81 from Great Britain AZ
from Continental Europe, and 80 from America; the
other from stations returns III each or the foregong'
Edinburgh Paris and NewB being selected In all
these the period embraced Is from 1924 to 1867
The general correspondence of the rainfall cycle with
the 11year sunspot period very sringly shown by
the total averages the first table showing that the rain
fall gradually increased from the first to the seventh
year. and then decreased to the telth the second table,
that the rainfall gradually increased from the first to the
sixth year. and then decreased to the tenth both tables
that the rainfall Jagged behind the sunspOts about one
year The present time is near the minimum OF snnspo
State, writes to THE TRIBUNE that he observed on Jan
uary % and "a, two small groups OF spots apparently
connected by IA narrow band OF penumba; on the 20th
they mad disappeared Their place was near the centre
Of the disk FEBRUARY 81 three groups were observed
apparently connected Changes took place from duy
10 day, making sometimes one and sometimes another
group the most distinct. BY the I'm all were fadng
they were not near the edge OF the disk Two small
spots seen March one OF these bad dsappearcu
on the next day and the other tie day following. on
March Is, three wedelned spots were seen near the
centre on the day OF these appeared in the
shape OF composed Of very small spots ON the
whole there is not yet apparent wc-lnarked renewal
OF this form solar activity. The observations were
made with short focus telescope, 4iOnch object glass
A GREAT EXHIBITION IN 1S79.-England has
decided to have great show next year. 1t will be an
agricultural exhibition. The expense is estimated at
$IJOO00 The Lord Mayor Of London has appealed TO
the British public for the support of the projected enter
prise il ia to be under the auspices Of the Royal Agr
cultural Society Agriculture is declining in Great
Britain and there hope that the exhibition may
arrest its downward course The number OF cattle and
the acreage of wheat and other crops decreasing
and very nearly Ouchalf the population OF the United
Kingdom is now dependent for susseuancc upon i'm
ported food
PoIsoN IN SEwING-SILK.-A startling para
tIo ~ tln
poison by the of sewingsilk The victims wO-
employed in large establishments where much hand
sewing was required. The poison introduced into
the human system by the mouth, the women being in
the habit Of biting the thread and Of Wirng it between
their lips when threading needle. The symptoms OF
the sufferers Indicated lead poisoning: painters collie
being frequently occasoned. This story comes from
France and has recently taken definite shape in com
munication to the Montte dHygicHG. II has appli
cation TO the sewing-silk used iu this country our
manufacturers of that article pride themselves upon the
purity its dyes The French skmakers have not been
so fastdiOus and by weghting their goods have hnrt
their sales 1t Is to be said however that the weightng
of silk IN European dyeng is usually done with the salts
of iron hut the Asacs, both Chinese and japanese,
have trick Of weighing SILKS with salts OF lead
dingncss Is impaired to the finished goods II me lead
remains IN then, ana the american ndhuldctSlci 20
obliged TO extract that metal II he mas been so unIOr %
ate as TO buy raw SILK containing IT, SINS onai
inferior III any respect have telr eA3seH
in this market by Ingenious system OF testing which
Is III general use III wholesale DlslnCss.
HEAT OF FLAME.-Chemists have for many
years struggled with the problem OF asceraining the
exact heat OF flame. NJ Rosett, OF Venice has recently
contributed some experiments to determine this point
which may prove nearer the truth than has hitherto
been reached. He a thermoeectrc apparatus
Ills estimate Of the heat OF Bunsen burner is as fol-
lows: Exterior namc 1,35Oo diminishing to 1,2OOo at
the dark central cone interior OF cone, top 650o bot
tom 2JOo Theee figures are OF the centgrade tnefmO
aud 4s5o Fahr The method of obtaining the estimates
can, however, give only proxmate results
CAMELs IN ARIzoNA.-In 1S54-'55 Congress
appropriated $4,000 the importation of sames to
this country and the storeshp supply under Command
Lieutenant David d. Porter. sent to the Mediter-
ranean obtain them in Africa and the Leyant. Fine
specimens thrtythree in all, were selected one died
during the voyage this country the rest were landed
in Texas In years little has been heard Of these
animals The Arizona Miner states that four camels,
three old and young all quite tame, have been run
ming at large near Mineral Park One OF these is old
that supposed to belong to the stock originally i'm
ported. The Hon. George p Marsh wrote small volume
the camel showing its probable usefulness II intro
uced into this country shortly after the animals were
brought to Texas Camels now bred in that State,
and the Is SAID to be profitable They feed on
which ordinary cattle require. Texas cameLbreeder
says that any OF them II well broken Tor service can
travel 100 miles a day, and one in his herd has gone
over $50 miles in twenty-fo hours. They to be
fully acclimated and are represented as docie.
THE DATE OF EAsTER.-The following cal
culatlons appear in Nature Easter Sunday falling on
April o. is considered late this year, and 1t is thir
teen days after the date, but 1t is to be remarked
that in no year since the introduction OF the Gregoran
calendar into England has the festival occurred on the
latest possible date. April %, though in two years 176l
and 1875 1t fell March D. which is the other limit
In 1856 Easter Sunday will fall April 25 in the
or GrcgOran STYLE for the first time since the year 1884
eighteen years before this style was accepted In Eng
land The only other occasion since the reformation OF
the calendar by Pope Gregory Al upon which Easter
has fallen the latest possible date was in 1866, and
after 1856 this will not again occur TIL 1913
TELEPHONE IMPRovEMENTS.--Many devices
have been suggested to supply call for the telephone
or these the simplest and easily managed is the
temporary attachment OF tuninGtork at each end OF
the ne so that sound in the sending instrument is
the receiving station further improve
ment makes the tunngfork that finally receives the i'm
pulse ring bell In introducing the telephone into
SPAIN contrvance has been arranged to isolate the
person who is using the telephone from noise around
him. 1t il very desirable to secure this object
I'm the present condition OF tho instrument The
result attained by what called telephone cham
her into which the operator enters il is a small apart
ment, with glass windows tor light, and doors fitted
close by india rubber pads The device seems from the
description TO be too elaborate for popular use Per
haps the result could be attained by some kind OF
Ntllfe NnlCH WOulu envelope
srument and the head OF the operator such mOdi-
tlcatlon OF the upper portion OF a diving SUIT
ROBERT julius Won MAYER.-The death of
Dr. Mayer, of Helbronn Wurtenburg, took PLACE on the
goth uIt He held position in the front rank of modern
discoveries, and his name will always be coupled with
that of Dr. Joue in the history OF the mechanical theory
of heat No farreachng hypothesis has been
introduced into science and it Is to be said for Dr.
Mayer that his large share in developing it the more
crcditabe because his work done under great dis
advantages. His merits not fully recognized, and
his views and experiments the occasion OF bitter
controversies The period OF his discoveries Is from
1912 TO 1851 shortly aiterward. disappointment In
obtaining fair recognition for his aDOrs, combined
with the OyeIsran OF work and study, injured
his mental powers and though he recovered his reasOn