The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1881-07-08
SCRAPS OF SCIENCE.

"A new form Of thermometer indicates
the temperature Of my place 1T d con
siderable distance through the agency Of
electricity.
TnE Uranium in giants is usually smRll
in relation To otheir stature, but enormous
iii absolute measure, although their in
telhgenee is generally small. An exam
pie was Brocn's giant Joachim, credited
with very slight amount Of sense. Yet
this great imbecile had 4 huge Uranium,
and his brain weighed nearly as much as
that of CuYier.
THE drawings Of the planet Mars,
made by Prof. Hardness in 1871, have
been transformed from the photographic
representation TO Mercator's projection,
and map Of the planet has been con
smucted. General tables have boon
computed which give directly the areo-
graphic latitude and longitude of the
center Of the disc of Mars and the posi-
ton angle 81 its axis as seen from the
4 earth.
THE value Of spongy iron upon n large
scale in the filters Of water works Is be
ing tested at Antwerp. The water ii
4 first allowed 70 pass through mixture
of IRON and gravel covered with sand and
4 thcn il goes into a second basin, the bot
| tom Of which is covered with sand, Tho
experimental results have been more
| satisfactory than those from ordinary
filters. and there are no indications oil
Of any necessity for renewing tho iron,
which serves to oxydize tho organic mat
ters suspended in the water.
DIR. SIEMESs has lately experimental
on the fusion nf metals by means Of cleo
tricity and has succeeded in melting
/ 1-l0 pounds into compact lngot ln4l
minutes. In melting large quantities tins
electrical method is rather more than
twice as costly as the ordinary furnace,
but for the fusion Of precious or refrae-
tory metals, for chemical purposes, and
for other applications whore tho question
Of economy is secondary, the new method
is convenient and practical. In melting
small quantities it may even prove eco
nomical
A STEAM carriage has been used foI
some time III Berlin. The Leipzig Ga
gofte mentions that another German city,
Chemnitz. the manufacturing center o.
Saxony. with population of about 3d.
600. Is also using steam car for tile
transport Of merchandise through th6
!
months it made forty-four trips, carrying
4O6. 800 pounds, which were easily dis
tributed III all parts Of the city, ongrndo
and curves as well as on levels, withol
causing any accident TO vehicles or PC
destrians.
The eartl's eastward rotation, togetbe
with the increase in rate from the pole
to the equator Inns tendency 10 throN
the waters Of streams against their west
ern banks sufficient 10 produce quit
marked effects in many parts Of th
world. IL ID noticeable in large river
where the deposits are earthly, and th
pitch Of the water is small and in tn
direction Of the stream, the bank againf
i which thewater strikes the more forcibl
! being high and steep while the other
, low. The effect has been observed
many streams Of Europe and Asia, an
on the rivers intersecting the low land {
I the Atlantic border Of the Unite
i States.
I a COMPARISON Of the principal expon'
a itures for lighthouse service in Franc
and tho United States hus recently bee
n published by Emile Allard He fint
A the average annual cost Of light to !
\ S7l6 in France and 81, 1858 in the Unite
States. A large part Of the saving in T.
French service is undoubtedly due TO y
difference in the cost Of labor; but
d thinks that much Of it is owing to Il
/, vigorous economy which the engine
d Of the department Of bridges and hig
a. ways bring to the execution Of their
N bofs. and to their careful avoidance
N introducing luxurious arrangement
10 which do not contribute to mamie
Is utility.
is l