Barbour County index., 1882-05-04
SCIENCE.

LIT. ". William SlemeHS suggests q
theory concerning the suns heat, sac
cording. to which the radiant energy
which is now supposed to be dissipated
into space and irrecoverably lost to our
solar system, could be arrested and
brought back in another form to the
sun itself, there to continue the work
of radiation" The idea of the dis
tinguished author seems to be that the
products of combustion on the suns
surface find their way into space in
gaseous form, and are subsequently
taken up by the sun as fresh fuel.
The paper is evidently the result of
careful thought and investigation, and
will certainly excite attention and COM
ment on the part of other eminent
physicists.
Constant difficulty is experienced in
ventilating the great Alpine tunnels
under Mont Gents and the st. Gothard,
so as to clear them of the smoke of
the trains. 1t has been proposed to
produce a difference in the density Of
the air at the extremities, and thus a
current through the tunnel, by keeping
large fires burning at one end; but the
cost Of carrying out this plan is pro-
nounced excessive. Mons. Pressel, a
French engineer, suggests that the
same object may be attained by cooling
the air at some point in the tunnel
with water, instead of heating it with
fire. Cool mountain torrents are nu-
merous in the Alps and could easily be
applied to the purpose.
Among the important remedies in
mo1ern medicine which have been
introduced by means Of experiments
on animals, DIR. 7. Lauder Brunton
mentions carbolic acid, chloral hydrate,
digitalis, nitrite of amyl, and strychnia.
According to the same high authority,
practically every important addition
since 1864 to the remedies used to
prolong human life and alleviate hu-
man suffering has been made by the
help Of experiments" such expert
ments, that is to say, as are denounced
under the name of vivisection, term,
however, which the progress of con-
troversy has extended far beyond its
real meaning.
The codling moth is well known to
fruit-growers as one of the most de-
structive enemies of the apple. A cor
respondent of the Country Gentleman
has observed that the European spar
row carefully abstains from eating
these moths, though it will pick out
grains of wheat lying near them with
great avidity. The common bluebird,
however, when introduced to the same
feast, ate up the moth cocoons and left
the wheat. AS the writer well re-
marks, one pair of our little insectivor
Gus birds is worth mare to the fruit.
grower than all the imported sparrows
The meaning Of the term lipotype,
which is comparatively new to science,
was recently explained by Mr.. p. L.
Sclater, Z. r. s., in lecture at the
Royal Institution, as indicating animals
which we should naturally expect to
find but do not find in certain regions
of the earth. Thus Australian lipo-
types are monkeys, woodpeckers and
vultures.
A movement is on foot in England
for the establishment of the state
schools of forestry in that country. a
constant demand for trained foresters
exist in India and other British colo
nies, which can be supplied at present
only by sending students to the conti-
mental schools Of forestry for the re-
quisit scientific and practical instruc-
tion.
Mr.. Edward Atkinson, in the course
Of his investigation inte the dangers
of electric lighting, made at the in
stance of the Boston fire insurance
companies, has noticed that the vigor
and activity of operatives in establish
ments lighted by electricity remain less
impaired at the end of a days work
than in factories illuminated by gas.
We learn from Nature that large au-
diences at Peking are attending the
scientific lectures in the Chinese tongue
to the Chinese schools, begun under the
auspices of the American mission.
Astronomy and physiology have sup
Piled the subjects Of dircourse, and the
magic lantern is constantly employed
by way of explanation and illustration.
Immense tracts of sheep pasture in
Australia are covered at certain seasons
with vast crops of the common mush.
room. A sheep farmer Of that country
informed the editor of the Garden
that they sometimes whiten the ground
for miles; and the information suggests
asking why Australia should not ex.
port mushrooms as we'll as mutton?
A German chemist named Setterberp
has obtained the element c@Sium in an
isolated condition. 1t is a white metal
or silvery appearance, and in its gen.
eral behavior resembles potassium and
sodium. Heretofore it has been found
impossible to separate Ce5ium from OK.
ygen.
Professor G. F. Wright, says the
American Journal of Science, estimates
that the area of the Delaware valley
which was covered by ice during the
glacial period was not far from 5000
square mics, and that the thickness
of the ice was probably about 800
feet.
Greece Is to have n Congress at Ath-