Morris tribune., 1883-06-06
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

Records of the New York MeteOro-
logical Observatory for the last six
years show that New York has en-
ioyed an average Of 2,917 hours of
sunshine per amnunl out of possible
4,450. The record at Greenwich in
1879 was 977 hours Of sunshine out of
a possible + ~, willie at New York
in the same Yea there were 3,l0l
cut OF the possible ~.
Mcssrs Wroblcws ii and Olszewski,
two Polish eXperimentcrs, have sue
ceeded in obtaining both Oxygen and
nitrogen in perfectly liquid form.
The liquids are c"loriess and trans
parent, resembling carbouic acid.
The IiquefactiOn WAS produced under
the combined action Of intense cold
and great pressure. At temperature
OF 212, s degrees below zero Fahrenheit.
"a pressure OF about . atmosphcres-oT
$50 pounds Ia the square illch-reHdily
liquitici oxygen i'll glass tubes. At
the saline temperature nitrogen It'll
retained its gaseo%> form when ii
pressure Of 10 atDlo~pheres had been
reached but a gradual diniEutiOn Ct
the pressure to about 50 atmosphere,
yielded the liquid, which quickly
evaporated.
Even the feeble rays of the moon
have an influence upon plants. In 8
paper read to the Paris Academy a
Sciences Mons. Musset states thai
plants very sensitive to light and heat
were grown from seeds in pots oc-
cupying a very dark place. They were
then on three nights exposed to direct
moonlight, when the stems bent oyeF
toward the moon and followed it il.
its course.
Solar eruptions or prominenceS,
hitherto seen only at suns edge, have
been observed by Mons. Tacchini on
its very disk.
Mons. Foussereau has proven thai
the tempering Of glass diminishes the
resistance of that substance to cleo
tricty. and consequently lessons its
for insulating purposes. On
the other hand, annealing tempered
glass restorers its higher resistance.
The Importance to tree-growth Of
all abundance of water is well illus- |
trated 10y an observation Of Mons. |
Capus. In the botanic garden at |
Samarcande, Turkestan, an Ailanthu> |
glandulosus grew about eight inches |
during the first year, thirteen inches |
in the second, aud tbirty-tiye inches |
in the third. The soil was not irTiga
ted during these three years, bat iii |
the fourth year, when iTrigation-watCT /
was supplied. the growth of the tree !
was over thirty feet.
Drs. Sitherwood and HanIan have
the belief that excessive /
mental work produces a rapid decay |
of the teeth. AS an explanation OF !
the alleged fact another writer /
suggests that the over-worked brain /
steals all the phosphates and leaves |
none for the teeth, or else that toe /
much study causes the general health |
to deterierate. The Sancet doubts if |
excessive mental work can of itself in |
duce serious disease, but thinks it |
more probable that i'll effects result |
from the worry-which wears upon
the system like friction upon the en-
Understanding such WORK
Mons. Angot has been investigat-
ing the influence of altitude upon
vegetation. He finds that the harvest
time for winter wheat is retarded in
France four days, on an average, for
every increase of about $50 feet in
the hight of the land above the level
of the sea.
''Can pigs swim ?" is a question
which certain European savants have
been discussing. 1t is established by
several observations reported that
these animals sometimes make very
successful swimmers. .,...
An interesting InouRtain szl sseE-el
alton Is being attempted .tni India /
Two mountaineers, one SAcxperieneed I
Swiss guide have leff DaTjeeling with
the purpose of TeasHiisG: tie highest
possible point ON the great Kinclf4