The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-06-10
SCRAPS OF SCIENCE.

A NEW form of thermometer indicates
the temperature of any place at con-
siderable distance through the agency OF
electricity.
THE Uranium in giants is usually small
in relation to their stature, but enormous
in absolute measure. although their IN
telligence is generally small. An exam
pie was Brocas giant Joachim, credited
with a very slight amount of sense. Yet
this great imbecile had huge Uranium,
and his brain weighed nearly as much as
that of Cuvier.
THE drawings of the planet Mars,
made by Prof. Hardness IN 1877, have
been transformed from the photographic
representation to Mercators projection,
and a map of the planet has been con-
structed. General tables have been
computed which give directly the areo-
graphic latitude and longitude of the
center of the disc of Mars and the posi-
ton angle of its axis as seen from the
earth.
The value of spongy iron upon large
scale in the filters of water works Is be-
ing tested at Antwerp. The water Is
first allowed to pass through a mixture
of iron and gravel covered with sand, and
then it goes into a second basin, the bot
tom of which is covered with sand. The
experimental results have been more
satisfactory than those from ordinary
filters, and there are no indications of
of any necessity for renewing the iron,
which serves to oxydize the organic mat
tiers suspended in the water.
DIR. SIEsrENs has lately experimental
on the fusion of metals by means of cleo
tricity and has succeeded in melting
/ 40 pounds into compact ingot in Al
minutes. In melting large quantities this
electrical method Is rather more than
twice as costly as the ordinary furnace.
but for the fusion of precious or refrac-
tory metals, for chemical purposes, and
for other applications where the question
of economy is secondary, the new method
Is convenient and practical. In melting
small quantities 1t may even prove eco
nomical.
A STEAM carriage has been used for
some time in Berlin. The Leipzig Ga
-ette mentions that another German city.
Chemnitz, the manufacturing center of
SaXony, with population of about 3d.
600, is also using a steam car for the
transport of merchandise through the
streets without the use of rails. In two
months it made forty-four trips, carrying
406, 800 pounds, which were easily dis
tributed in all parts of the city, ON grades
and curves as well as on levels, without
causing any accident TO vehicles or pc
destrians.
THE earth's eastward rotation, together
with the increase in rate from the poles
TO the equator, has tendency to throw
the waters of streams against their west
ern banks sufficient to produce quite
marked effects in many parts of the
world It is noticeable in large rivers
where the deposits are earthly, and the
pitch of the water is small and In the
direction of the stream, the bank against
which the water strikes the more forcibly
being high and steep while the other is
low. The effect has been observed in
many streams of Europe and Asia, and
ON the rivers intersecting the low land of
the Atlantic border of the United
States.
A COMPARISON of the principal expend-
lures for lighthouse service in France
and the United States has recently been
published by Emile Allard He finds
the average annual cost of light to be
SIG in France and g., 35S in the United
States. A large part of the saving in the
French service is undoubtedly due to the
difference in the cost of labor; but he
thinks that much of it is owing TO the
vigorous economy which the engineer
of the department of bridges and high
ways bring to the execution of their la
bors, and to their careful avoidance of
introducing luxurious arrangements
which do not contribute to manifest
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