The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1882-08-19
If not paid in advance, $1.2j
For the CARBON ADVOCATE
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

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" Recent finds" are thought to thro,
new light on the history of the Swis
4 lGke-dwellefs. Among the objects foun,
: are q wheel with an iron rim, iron sword
and many human bones.
a NJ. Brame has te ted the presetva
= tive property of bydfocyanic acid, Will
the result of finding the bodies of ami
i, mails poisoned with it to successfully re
sist decay fof year, although at time
exposed 10 heat of one hundred degrees
Fahrenheit.
The size of the rose-bush at Hides
helm, Hanovet. believed to be more thar
thousand years old, was erroneously
stated. Its height is about thirty
feet, and its branches extend to widtl
Of about thirty-four feet
: Measurements by Herren Hummer
and Helland of the m ivement of large
glacier in North Greenland show its pro.
gress at the middle 10 be about fifty feet
in twenty-four hours, the tste being
about the same in winter as in summer.
: 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 the earth. Part Of
a recent balloon trip across the English
Channel by Mr.. Simmons was accom-.
plished at the rate of 1870 miles an hour.
The abundance of remains of the
mammoth in Siberia is remarkable.
From the fact that at least hundred
pairs OF tusks are annually put upon the
market. NordenskiJfd infers Chat dur
ing the time that has elapsed since the
conquest of Siberia useful tusks from
more than 10000 of these animals have
been collected.
1T is stated that in the volcanic dis
tricts of Italy an ur8sually high barom-
eter is regarded as an indication Of the
approach of an earthqHske. II this be-
liefls shown by scientific investigation to
be weil.founded new field of uselulne IS
will be opened to the weather service in
countries liable to violent earthquakes.
Observations by Herr Pernter show
that the sun shone at Vienna last year
1858 hours out of a possible 4472 hours
or only thirty-seven per cent. During
the winter the greatest duration of sun
shine was at midday, but in the summer
1T was in the forenoon; in the winter
there was more sunshine in the afternoon
than in the forenoon. The clearest
month was July and the cloudiest was
October The observations were made
by means of the Campbell-Stokes sun.
shine recorder.
--"Oxygenized water" or hydrogen
dioxide is attracting attention in various
ways. cheap process for manufacturing
1T having been announced. This sub
stance is an oily liquid, having bitter
taste. and differing from water in com.
position only in containing twice as much
oxygen. tits powerful oxidizing agent
and is the only bleachingsubstance known
which does not injnre textile fabrics. |
Attempts have been made to utilize it on
large scale for bleaching purposes. but
the difficulty of preparing il has made it
so expensive that it has been but little |
known. II it can be made cheaply it
will doubtless be applied to MANY pur-
poses. Messrs. Bert and Regnard have
suggested its use in treating wounds. ns
it possesses advantages over carbolic acid !
in the absence of danger from poisoning
and freedom from bad smell.
Three kinds of light are produced
during thunder storms, and known as
forked lightning, sheet lightning and
ball lightning. MI. B. G. jenkins. F.
II. A. s., contends that only the first Of
these is true electricity-thunde storms,
according to his view, being manifesto.
tions of chemical rather than electrical
energy. He believes that hydrogen .x-
lists in the earth's upper atmosphere and
under certain conditions is drawn into
the mixture of nitrogen and Oxygen about
u.s. the chemical union OF She hydrogen
an oxygen causing the seeoud form of
lightning, which appears to be almost
wholly flame among the clouds, and is
the form most frequently seen. The tb nn-
der is not so much the Eoise of electric
discharge as the report of gas explosions.
Ball lightning is probably not cleo ticity
but gas in intense ignition. The harm
lessness Of the last two seems to indicate
their non-electric character.
The inventor of the "fnsing disc"
M. Jacob Reese, 10 credited with having
expressed the belief that if it were DOS.
sible to produce Aamsless combustion
the intensity and quantity of heat oh.
tained from given amount of fuel would
be very greatly increased thereby. Mr..
Thomas Fletcher of Warrington, Eng
land, has succeeded in producing com
bustion without fame, and lately gave ut
o Sen's College a striking practical illus
'ration of the new theory. He dir, cted
he fame of a simple gas blowpipe upon
- thrte-inch 'all OF iron wire for a few
seconds aud teen blew ont the flame
he beat rapidly increased and the IRON :
quickly mS lied and ran into drops. lie {
even succeeded in fusiop refractory fire.
clay, the intensity Of the heat b,ine much
g eater than ever before obtained With
Jhe incl used Even In the dark the burr-
ing of the gss vas shown 10 he euirel
Invisible. l. appears thar Aamr really
ndlcates an imprrf+c C, comhns ior.
THAT UMBRELLA.
During tue shower yesterday a ci,izsil