The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1879-10-24
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4 Az 3Wfresting fpaIeRraph JIM the
carly history of Tho electric tclegfaph
IN England Is given In connection with
a sketch ct its first engincors IAN ex-
pefihdntat inc was run on AtiYe Great
Western Railway from London to Slough
but yas,ittle nsed a. The foil soope of
the te1egfaph's utility was then hardly
dreamed of, its practical use being con-
finfds klmpeti entirely TO railway sig
mailing. The signals 10 be transmitted
were few in plumber, and the old system
of semabhores was preferred to the
electric innovation. The line proved
Of SO little service, in fsct that the
company Actually ordered lie, removal
as an iiic,imbrnnce. just atithis time a
murder was committed at Slough. A
police agent, starting for sLopdon 2 sent
q message over the wire instructing the
authorities to take note of man in
Quaker dress. The man was seeil and
watched until warrant could be pro-
cured. lie was then arrested, and sub
seqpenQy. tried, convicted rand hung.
This lpfhctichl illustration df lis great
value gave the electric telegraph in
England an impetus which made its for
tune, and from that time its adoption
and extension were rapid. -
The tpfopagdtion of sponges On the
Florida coast has,been sugaested. = 40
eording to tho plan proposed, live.
sponges. will be cut into small pieces
and sunk In localities favorable to their
growth. Prof. Schmidt, who has been
experimenting in this direction, reports
that each sfaail piece will attain a re-
markabie size ia three years. ''',f "
The, Russian astronomer, Professor
Strive, has concluded contract with
Alvan Clark 4 Sons, of Cambridge
port, for making the obicctlslass for the
great telescope with which The Pull
kowa Observatory, is to be provided.
The lens will be thirty inches in diam
eter, which is the largest size the max
ers would, undertake.. The price to be
paid for the object-glass alone is 1872, 900,
and period of three and one half years
isiallowed for making 1t. nSSh 500
., In experiments with underground
telegraph cables at Philadelphia, paraf-
fine oil has been shown to be tlie best
material known for the Insulation Of
the wires. 3 .iii a'f ,r9,d- f9''is ''' tF
Until recently, quarry of litho-
graphic steie id Bal6ria hSs1 been1 The
only one in the woodland that has been
nearly exhausted. A very valuable de-
posit Of stone of fine quality has, how
ever, been lately, discovered. inY X en-
tacky, Upon which operate hs have com.
menced. From this source the future
supply must come.
A novel plan has been tried exper.
mentally in lake near Berlin. In an
empty balloon was placed jar of sui
phuric acid, around which was laid a
/ quantity of a, carbopatersalt. The bal
4 lopn was sunk 10 The Nater, when, by
means Of a SCREW; sthe, far containing
the acid was broken. The salt was de-
composed by the acid and large
amount Of carbonic acid gas was evoiv-
ed, initiating the balloon, wbieh when
thus rendered 50 much Hghtert Than the
same volume of water, quickly rose to
the surface. A supken boat weighing
several hundred pounds was l eadily
iified from the bottom of the hkeghy
being attached TO balloon operated in
this Imannefl iHIc w ,.5llnh z,
The great avalat16t bees at to agrhieuul I
tpre has hitheto Cbeen entirely over
looked. a society, of Saxony has COZ
lected some very important statistics
upon this subject,i which are now made
public. The sOciet y0Gontrols seye nteen
thousand hives, from each of which ten
thousand bees fly out daily. This
makes atofal Of 40, O0O, 600 bees. If il
y supposed that each bee undertakes
put ionr Journeys per day, and thai
tms'takes place dpon only one hundred
days Of the year, then an annual total
Of Ct, 100000, 900 bee Journeys is OBJ
tained. AS the lowest, limit probable
the society -Oohsidefs' that fifty flowers
are visited on, each journey, and. thai
five out OF the'fifty are fortified. -Thi,
gives. a grand total Jofl $40 900, 900 ,OOt
ferilized flowers Der year,r, If thu
value of fertilizing twenty thousand
blOssomslbe one cent, then a value o
O,0C9 Is lrepidsentedy by tho wort
done, by, the bees of this society, or 4
benefit to- agriculture by. each hlSe q.
$40 perahhumc s uIUS sDoo1 III
esonndihas an Lake5 Baikal, Siberia
have shown an nast olishiDg depth Of
about L, 300 feet. The deepest, part o.
the Mediterranean sea measures BIZ
about 300 feet. How such an extra
ordinary depression as, that of, Baika
could have occurred in the midst OF 6
continent is problem very perplexins
to biologists, but the generally accepted
idea is that-it was the result of some
volcanic action in past ages, and q. sub
s &c ssst saeE|SseS' the earth. rgs
M. Montigny concludes that an ex.
cess or predomipance of blue in the
twinkling 2 stars which show. colored
rays, indicates fdn, lift has not already
fallen. The more Predominant the
blue the greater is the probability that
the raiu will be long-continued and
p6ntihl. HE Sine tint is supposed 10
be due TO the absorption of other col
ored rays in passing through moist lay
ers of the atmosphere. If this theory
be correct, the blue. Of distant noun
tains must, in like manner, denote ap-
preaching rain.
A deaf Yankee, happening one "a dav
70 hold watch between his teeth, at
once became aware that he could hear
its ticking, although when the watch
was held to his ear no sound was audi.
bio! This fireumstaBce led hin, to be.
ieve thats3upds mightbS received.nnd
transmitted to the auditory nerve With.
out aid from the outer ear. He Accord
ingly endeavored to apply the principle
revealed by the ticking of his watch
and devised simple INSTRUMENT called
s Ss sn u 9sibissts At ,Iy thin d,
tn 0had IN q hor1la &c