The Red Cloud chief., 1878-09-12
The WORLD Of SCIENCE
l:rIuLiUc l:Ius..

S.rindiWg >.Ins-.
Prof Elihu Johnson. in the Johrudi
Of he Franklin HySttiuic, describes "A
method oi grinding glass opcculn, with
ont the use of metal tools. |, u based
on the fact tina, when two pieces OF
glass, or other material, III the form Of
equal disks are ground together, one
above another, the under one always
becomes convex while III" upper one
becomes concaN".
~ 81 miIc.
a cnu-r Of the dangerous and irrcg-
ular action of dynamite, when exposed
IA the influence of damp or moisture.
has been disclosed by Major Ford. by
Mantle is just porous silica saturated
with ni,ro-glycrrinr, and ii il il poured
into water. the earthly substance falls to
the bottom, bu, the ni,r"-gl, ccrinc
floats ,o the top, and there rxplodcs
with It's usual violence.
I.ssaino-iay at Mercury.
In n paper on the transit oi Mercury,
Ma, , o., this year. Mr.. !. Trouyclo',
speaking Of the ring observed around
the planet. does not believe that the
horizontal refraction undergone by the
rays II the sun. in passing through the
dcns" atmosphere which is supposed to
cnvclop the planet, is of Itself, sufficient
a. account for the luminosity. Some.
thing else, he says, Is necessary. lie
submits tina, the sun, having u vastly
greater diameter than that planet. must
al all times light up NOR" than half of
Mercury, and that the surplus of illu-
Mination must be- visible during trans
its as u thin. luminous ring
Coal Consumption.
In n paper read before the society Of
Arts, London. James Mac,rar estimated
the coal consumption Of the British me-
trOPOlis III over 5000. 900 tons a year.
Al one per cen this would give 80, 600
tons VI sulphur. or pa. 900 tons of oil
Of vitriol more that five times the
amoun, given of by all the sulphuric
acid works in the country, The wear
ly consumption Of coal in Grca, Britain
and Ireland is llt.OEj.?iO tons. which
produces |, liO, i39 tons of sulphur, or
$500, 900 tons of oil of v%itriol. Some
idea may thus bc formed Of the vast
amount of Sulphuric acid gas in the at.
mosphcre of thickly populated or large
coal-con>uming districts OF a country.
singing Telephone.
Prof. Henry Morton has published an
account, of II singing telephone arrange.
mcnt capable Of being for purposes
of illustration in lectures before large
audiences. The transmittcr i, "A hollow
iruncatcd cone, the smaller cnd'of whi.h
is covered with II thin diaphragm.
Against this diaphragm an adjustable
platinum pointed screw presses and
forms contact. The centre of the din.
phragm is also provided with "A small
platinum plate, which may be- connected,
if necessary. with ahinding pos, Tn,
receiver consists of Il powerful horse.
shoe magnet. having On the ends ,of,
iron caps terminating in poles, on which
are Hat spools of tine wire. This mag
net is supported horizontally on an al
Unstable block. \ guitar with IN,
strings removed is placed iirml, al
right angles to the magnet. and so tha,
u plate Of soft iron at the bridge is op
positc the poles of the magnet. Will
this apparatus any musical sound sem
into the hollow cOne is reproduced will
great distinctness and intensity by III,
guitar.
Science.
Americans think that n love of sci
once is one of the leading characters,
tics of our people. and attention is Iii,
rected to u large attendance on lecture.
OF this character rs Il very pointed de,
monstration of the fact.
The truth is that we are not scientific
in II instincts in the best sense. Mer
whose bent is to pursue abstract inQui,
ries, the successful result of which is tc
extend our knowledge and elevate civ.
ilization to II still higher plane, are no,
in the least encouraged, while wealth |.
expended in endowmcntS of Il less
important kind.
The only science that is appreciated
is of the kind that has money in IT,
whose application directly increases
wealth in commercial channels. This
fact is d~isgraceful to u culture, and
SO patent is it that in Europe the dcba-
sing result has coined Il term-Amcri-
canization-that has the force of u stig-
ma among scientific men.
Prof. Tyndall gave the proceeds of his
lectures in this country as an endow-
Ment for the encouragement Of pure
science. The fund is in itself INSULT
to accomplish the purpose, but
not a dollar has been added to it by an
American! We have numbers Of veal
farmers, but who among them has
shown u willingness to devote his time
md fortune to the science of agricul-
,ure rs has Mr.. j. b. Lawes, of Eng
and, solely that the science of agricul-