Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1880-04-24
-. Ft"'A@ sARomE1ERs.

In this agsyyer 1nter-ocA fe
every week hera scientific pro, ess. when n
planet, or the in>the finding 6Na new II
cine, it is extremelyon Of q patenf\ ssdi- g 9
the discovery Of a notifying. to leafAe Z
Of practical Importance, ienti6c principaff r.
to the worlds notice by a as IVA brought =
college while spending his lsnt Of Yale =
Colorado. The discovery waacation in :
convenient, and comparatively cheap, !.
means of ascertaining the altitude ourate =
tains or any elevated portion of land. un. y
We all know that the ordinary metho. /
obtaining such information, when it is id !.
possible or inadvisable to use the engineers
level, is by means Of q mercurial or aneroid
barometer. Nov, no two barometers ever
agree-a defect produced, no doubt, BY their
close family connection with scientific ex-
perts-and the unpleasantnessT arising from
this cause between gentlemen of science,
each of whom is prepared to swear to the
accuracy of his particular instrument, and
the correctness of his own observations, are
innumerable.
Like the majority of great discoveries,
this n vas the result of pure accident.
When visiting Manitou one afternoon with
some friends the young student and a lady
companion separated from the others and
strolled slowly up the mountain. After
ascending a few hundred feet the student
noticed that his companion's pressure on
his arm visibly increased, and when nearly
to the snow line, became 80 great that it was
necessary for him to encircle her waist with
his arm to support her.
Bringing all his collegiate knowledge to
bear upon this slight hint, and experiment.
ing with q great variety Of girls under every
possible condition Of climate and tempera.
ture, he established the fact that the girl
pressure increased regularly at the rate of
one pound to every hundred feet of altitude,
and that above two thousand FIVE hundred
feet the arm-encircling method commenced.
While here his deductions were based and
his elevations calculated from the hotel
porch ut Manitou where the pressure was
zero, but on returning east he found that
the same relative rule held good. That is
to say, starting from any given base, or
zero point, as Newport, Long Braneh~6f
Saratoga, the pressure increased in the same
regular ratio - at Manitou. An exhaustive
series of experiments also showed him that
only girls between the ages of sixteen and
twenty-slx are reliable for this purpose,
Those below that limit being, except in q
few rare instances, entirely nonsensitive,
and those above so er.stic in their register
- to be useless-sometimes showing an
elevation of one thousand feet when Just out
of sight of the base and before any altitude
was attained, and Others. especially if of an
esthetic nature, showing no pressure what
ever he also found that the presence of a
third party entirely neutralised the girl
barometer, but that upon its removal the
correct pressure corresponding to the alti-
tude returned Immediately.
The great value of ibis discovery the
scientific world will not be Glow to recoe.
nize and avail itself Of. Choice lots Of as.
sorted girls can be easily kept in a neutral
condition at available points ready at n
time for the use of investigators, and pro-.
fessors can no longer plead the inaccuracy
of their barometers as an excuse for their
errors in regard to the heights of our noun.
tain peaks. It will also recommend itaelf
to the favor Of the political economist, OPEN
ing up, % it doe, anew field of industry for
woman.
Hereafter no expert should attempt to ex.
plore our mountains unproyided with n
the latest improved girl-barometers.