The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1882-09-15
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
Contributed weekly for the UNITED OPINION

fully resist decay for q year, although
at times expo.ed to Il heat OF one hun
dred degrees Fahrenheit.
Observations by Herr Pcrnter show
that tho sun shnne ut Vienna las
year 1868 hours out of possihl,
4472 hours, or only thir,y-scven pei
cent. Duing the winter the greatest
duration of sunshine was at midday
but in the summer it was in the fore
noon; in the winter there was more
sunshine in the afternoon than in the
forenoon. The clearcst month was
July amt the cloudiest was October.
The observations were made by means
of the Campbell-stokes sunshine re.
cOrder.
Measurements bv Herren Hammer
and Helland Of the movement of a
large glacier III North Greenland,
show its progress at the middle to be
about fifty feet in twenty four hours,
the rate being apparently about the
same in winter as in Summer.
The abunda &C of remains of the
mammoth in Siberia is remarkable.
From the fact that at least hundred
repairs of trsks are annually put up
on the market, NOrdenskiold iniers
that during the time that has elapsed
since the conquest of Siberia useful
tusks from more than 10000 Of these
l., h,x
Recent "fnds" are thought to
throw new light on the history OF
the Swiss lake-wheel with an iron
rim, iron swords and many human
bones.
The inventor of the "ftlsing disc,"
Mr.. Jacob Reese, is credited with
having expressed the belief ttat if it
were possible to produce hameless
combustion tie intensity and quantity
of heat obtained from a given amount
of fuel would be very greatly increased
thereby. Mr.. Thomas Fl, tcher, OF
Warrington, England, has succeeded
in producing combustion without
flame, and lately gave at Owens Col
lege u striking practical Illustration of
the new theory. He directed the
flame of a simple gas blowpipe upon a
three-inch ball Of iron wire for few
seconds and then blew out the flame.
The heat rapidly increased and the
iron quickly melted and ran into drops.
He even succeeded in filsing refrac-
tory fire-clay, the intensity of heat be-
ing much greater than even before OBJ.
tanned with the fuel used. Even IN
the dark the burning of the gas was
shown to be entirely invisible. 1t APP
pears that flame really indicates an
imperfect combustion.
Three kinds Of light are produced
during thunder-storms, and known as
forked lightning, sheet lightning and
ball lightning. Mr.. B. G.. jenkins,
F. R. A. S., contends that only the
first Of these is true electricity-thun-
der-storms, according to his view, be-
ing manifestations of chemical rather
than electrical energy. He believes
that hydrogen exists in the earths up
per atmosphere and under certain con-
ditions is drawn into the mixture of
nitrogen and oxygen about US, the
chemical union Of the hydrogen and
oxygen causing the second form of
lightning, which appears 40 be almost
wholly flame among the clouds, and is
the form most frequently seen. The
thunder is not so much the noise of
electric discharge as the report Of gas
explosions. Ball lightning is proba-
bly, not electricity, but gas in intense
ignition. The harmlessness of the
last two seems to indicate their non
electric character.
1t is stated that in the volcanic dis
trlcts of Italy an unusually high ba-
rometer is regarded as an indication
of the approach of an earthquake. If
this belief is shown by scientific in
vestigation to be well-founded new
field of usefulness will be opened to
the weather service in countries Ii
able to violent earthquakes.
The size OF the rose-bush at Hides
helm. Hanover, believed to be more
than thousand years old, was erron-
eously stated. Its height is about
thirty eight feet, and its branches ex-
tend to width of about thlrty-four
feet.
The velocity of the wind is much
greater at high attitudes than on the
earth, due probably to the resistance
Of the uneven surface of tire earth
Part of recent balloon trip across
the English Channel by Mr.. Slrmons
was accomplished at the rate of 1870
miles an hour.
"Oxygenized WATER" Or hydrogen
dioxide is attracting attention in va
rious ways, cheap process for man
it having been announced.
This substance is an oily liquid, hav-
ing bitter taste, and differing from
water in composition only in contain.
ing twice as much oxygen. 1t is a
powerful oxidizing agent, and is the
only bleaching substance known