The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1880-01-16
SCIENTIFIC NOTES.

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During the past year the German arm,
has successfully employed the eleciri,
light in operations under water.
The practiaI experiments of a German
scientific agrieulturist show thatpotatoe.
require large amount Of heterogeneous
manuung, with much smaller quantity
of phosphoric acid.
: II has been calculated that the hea
! diffused into the atmosphere by The
: Gulf stream would, if converted into
working power, be equal TO 400,O00,0O
times the horsepower of the largest iron
clad man-of-war.
One of the most delicate instruments
known TO science is Edison's tasimeter
or heat measurer. The rapid passage OF
the hand before il at distance of thirty.
four feet. causes a detection Of the
needle of two hundred degrees.
A wick for petroleum and spirit lamps
is now manufactured entirely of glass
by German firm. 1t is SAID TO produce
"a more brilliant light than the cotton
wick. 1t is not consumed in the flame
but wastes away slowly by fusion.
1t has long been suspected that milk
often serves as carrier of dihptheritic
poison, and numerous recent cases IN
Great Britain tend TO confirm this sup
position. The matter is being invcsti-
| gated by Il London medical committee.
Experiments made in France show
that the amount of sugar in beet-root
varies in direct proportion to the size of
the leaves; thal is. the larger the leaves
the more sugar in the roots. Sugar exists
in The leaves, bun only in small guam
tity.
! EdisWu's ncw lamp consists simply of
Il horseshoe shaped thread of carbnnized
1 paper, ia Tie electric clrcuit, enclosed in
| a glass globe from which the air has been
( exhausted. The passage OF electricity
through tie slender strip of carbon heats
| il TO incandcscence.
The tremendous energy concentrated
in flash of lightning is shown by Prof
Mayer, of the Stevens Institute, in an
observation from which he concludes that
at least five hundred square miles of the
earth's surface has its electrical condi-
ton changed at each flash OF the light
ming.
! In the peninsula of Taman, in Russia,
u tomb dating from the third century
| before the Christian era has been dis
covered. In it were found a gold collar
ornamcntcd with lions heads; crown
of the same metal adorned with precious
stones, having IL lie center "a swan with
Il cupid on its wings; round gold
brooch with a pin representing Venus
holding cupid in her arms; collar of
pearls, earrings, chains, rings, bracelets
gold, and vases of silver. The tomb is
supposed to he that of a young girl.
\ novel method Of treatment of the in
sane has been adopted at IN asylum in
Vienna: The director has established Il
Autographed journal for circulation in
the asylum,a and he induces the patients
10 contribute to it, He especially en-
couragcs them TO refute the manias of
their companions. The man who be-
lieves his nose 70 be made orsugarcan
and liable to dissolve can argue with cx-
cellcnt logic against his friends pet
theory that his heard IS Il londer plant
and needs frequent watering. As a rule,
they are able to discuss with good sense
all subjects except those which concern
their peculiar deiusi0n.
Experiments in tht>arIiiicial coloring
of the corolla Of flowers have been, for
some time, conducted by Prof Sachartle,
of Padna The idea is not new, but the
methods employed are original. He
simply causes the flower to drink certain
colored solutions - chiefly aniline-
which, penetrating the tissue, modify !
color, or, in fact, dye the neryelets and !
veins of tie corolla. 1t is known by |
gardeners that hor;cnsias receive blue |
tint from tine mixture of iron filings with |
the soil around The plants Pansies and |
stocks have their flowers colored in fit |
teen minutes ifthcir roots are immersed |
in solution Of green aniliue The
plant, however dies within week when |
thus treated. Watering the soil with a
colorcd solution produces no effect. as
the coloring matter is absorbed by the
earth.
Various savants have tried to apply to
The color sense the principles of the cvo--
luton theory. They represent that our
ancestors of prehistoric and even of his
toric times had but AN imperfect sense of
colors, similar to that of the color-blind
of the present day; the latter being re-
garded as cases Of atavism, or dcgenera-
ton to Il primitive state Arguments il
favor of this view are drawn from the
designation of colors in very old books,
such as Homer, the Bible, etc DIR. Dor
of Lyons, combats this theory, contend
ing that cOlor-blindncss Is largely due to
a lack of proper training and education,
and that Aristotle was able to distinguish
rainbow colors as readily as the average
Of our contemporaries. He shows from
lie very writings upon which the new
theory was based numerous passages in.
licaling very highly developed ideas of
,olor, while modern literature abounds
n inaccurate color designations. In
DIR. Dor brings facts from the |
most early historic times, those of the
and ancient Assyrians, TO !
prove that the color-scnse was developed
Is much as to-day, even at that distant
,eriod.
The attention of sightseekers has for
Al |. ! I
Kane Geyser or spouting-watcrwell, sit. !
lated in the valley OF Wilson's run, near l
he line of the Philadelphia and Erie
ailway, and four miles from Kane. 1t {
vas drilled in the spring of 1878, to a c
Iepth Of J, 000feet, but petroleum not be t
ne found in paying quantities, the cas-
ng was drawn and the hole abandoned.
II drilling, fresh water veins were met
With 10 a depth of 1854 feet, which was 3
he Limit of the casing. At ,4i5 feet a !,
eavy gas vein" was struck, and the Gas +
vas allowed free escape while drilling +
vas continued. When the well was =
the fresh water flowed in. /
nd the conflict between the water &
nd gas commenced. The water 2
lows into the well until the pressure of :
he confined gas becomes greater than \
he weight of the superintendent water, "
'hen an expulsion takes place, and a
oiumn OF water and gas is thrown up TO :
great height This occurs at present r
I regular intervals of thirteen minutes. n
nd the spOuting continues for one and Q
Measurements have shown y
ne column to vary in height from los to n
5S feet. The gas of the mixture can be o