The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1880-02-17
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

Inc DeSeTU OIL sahara Is the SITE Oh {
once fertile region. 1t is supposed tt
have been reduced to its present state
by the removal of its forests-its clim
ate being greatly affected thereby.
The power of plants to force theil
way through a resisting medium is very
remarkable. A writer in a foreign
journal asserts that he has known a
dandelion to grow through two inches
of asphalt which had been spread over
it.
German philosopher has sought to
determine by experiment the amount of
carbonic acid exhaled from the lungs.
lie finds an adult man to exhale twelve
grammes per hour when in repose;
tw~enty-four grammes per hour when in
active excerise. From the lungs of u
tippler in repose but seven grammes
were thrown out, and eleven grammes
when in exercise.
Sir William Thompson latley suggest
ed that hot water might probably be
economically distributed through the
streets of a city in the copper tubes us
ed to convey electricity for power, the
heat being produced by the resistance
of the tube to the electric current. Prof.
Geo. f. Barker has made experiments
confirming the theory, and expresses
the belief that boiling water may be
distributed for heating purposes where
ever the electric light is in use, with
out interfering with the efficiency of
the latter or increasing materially the
expense.
"Are the oceans disappearing?' is,
doubtless, a rather surprising question
to most persons; but the question has
been asked and answered af1irmatively.
The studies of M. Trantschold, of Mos
cow, upon the matter leads him to these
conclusions: 1. In proportion as GER
tain parts of the earth's crust rise from
the bottom of the sea above its level,
the latter must be lowered. 2. The sur
face of nearly all the present continents
has been at one time the bottom of the
sea. 1t rises from the water partly by
reason of upheavais, partly because of
the retreat of the ocean. 3. As con-
tinents are formed, a part of the water
of seas is transported to them in the
form of lakes, rivers, eternal SHOWS,
glaciers, and organized substance. Ow-
ing to these actions the water of the
ocean has diminished in a constant
manner, and its level has been lowered.
A. In proportion as the earth cools, ice
accumulates near the poles and on
mountains, water is imbibed more deep
ly into the terrestrial crust, and the
fSfmation of hydrated minerals is mani
tested everywhere. 1t results from all
these facts that since water existed on
the earth's surface level of the sea has
been gradually lowered.
The weather is an ever-present topic
of interest, rendered unusually attrac-
tive by the anomalies of the present
season. Generally considered, the
earth's climate may be said to have two
sources-the heated belts of the equator
and the cold districts of the poles. Be-
tween these regions currents of air are
constantly circulating. The cold arctic
currents sweep to the tropics, chilling
the lands over which they pass, while
the mild winds from the equator exert
a corresponding influence upon local
temperatures. 1t has been claimed that
mild and cold winters may be directly
traced to the prevailing winds-it being
found that an air current once establish
ed in a general direction north or south
often continues during an entire season,
with brief variations. If this is the
case, the discovery of the laws govern
ing the circulation of the air currents
and their disturbance will be an import
ant advance in meteorology. Prof.
PiaZZi Smith, the eminent astronomer
of Scotland, believes mild seasons to be
due to solar influence. He supposes
| the heat wa yes to attain their greatest
| degree shortly after a minimum of spots
on the sur 1.-THE last sun-spot minimum
was passed some months ago); the cold
waves to be due to terrestrial causes.
Like other sun-spot theorists, Prof.
Smith points to remarkable condolences
| of the supposed cycle of warm and
cold seasons"