The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-03-02
SCIENTIFIC.

atmospheric Circulation.-At the last
meeting Of the French Academy of
Science, M. l.. Brault read n memoir on
two phases of the annual circulation of
air. The study of bar0mctric pressure
over the entire globe had led to two
important results: ]. III Summer the
lowest pressures on the continent arc
in the northern hemisphere, and the
highest continental prcssurcs in the
southern hemisphere: in Winter, on
the contrary, the lowest continental
prcsaures are in the southern hcmis-
phere and the highestin the northern.
Thus Summer exists In the north when
the great minimum prcsSurcs Of
Central Asia and of North America,
and the maximum prcssurcs of South
America, Australia and South Africa
are established. 2. On the whole
surface Of the earth the lowest contI-
mental prcssures of the Summer
months become in Winter the highest,
the lowest. Between tho two seasons
the pressure is greatest in the North
Atlantic and South Pacific Oceans.
TO make shoe pegs enough for Amer
lean use consumes annually 1000, 600
cords of timber, and to make our lucifcr
matches 800, 600 cubic feet of the best
pine are required every year. Lasts
ana boot trees take 10000 cords of
birch, beech and maple, and the handles
Of tools 5000 more. Tho baking OF
our bricks consumes 1000, 900 cords OF
wood, or what would cover with forests
about $4,000 acres Of land. Telegraph
poles already uprepresent 800 900 trees,
and their annual repairs consume 300,-
600 more. The ties of our railroads
consume annually thirty years growth
Of II 600 acres, and then to fence all our
railroads would cost $40 ,000, 900, with Il
yearly expenditure OF $15,00U.000 fol
repairs. These are some of the ways
In which American forests are going
There are others. Our packing boxes
for instance, cost In 1871, $l2 ,000, 900
while the timber used in each year III
making wagons and agricultural i'm
plcmcnts Is valued at more than 81 ,000
On0,O0O.
o Distance Of the ,SH".-Mr. David Gill
the english astronomer, who went II
1878 to The island of hScOntiOn for the
purpose of using the favorable ODposi
ton Of Mars to ascertain the distance O
that planet from the earth, and indi
rcetly tho distance Of the Sun, has in
formed the Royal Astronomical So"ict,
that tho reduction of his observation
OF Mars have been so far completed tha
he Is able to give the resulting sola
parallax. I1o finds that TO be SIS sec.
which being Interpreted on the basi
OF Colonel Clarkc's last determination
of the earth q equatorial Scmi-diamctcI
implies that the mean distance of tn
eartn from the sun is 03, l0l, 600 miles
This is smaller parallaX than wa
generally looked for, though not differ
Ing materially from several other
which have been worked out recently
Professor Ncwcomb's determination O
the parallaX was 8. 43 Sec; Lcvcrricr'
later result was s SO sec.
Furihcr studies on the asserted valu
Of glyccrinc as a food have beer
prosecuted at Berlin by DR.. Emanuc
Munk. lie finds that glyccrine possess
es no nutritive value, under tho lciini
alton Of food rs ordinarily accepted
Ills researches, however, nlso cstablisI
the fact that the lactic ncid Fermentation
OF milk can be delayed between eight
teen and twcnty-four hours by the atl
dition Of only two or three per cent. O