The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1884-03-06
Se1nntlne MiseeIIanv-

In Berlin electricity has been ap
piled to the Matching of chickens
The eggs are placed in circular box
or incubator, over col of wire, and
the wire is heated by the electric cur
rent. A thermometer automatically
regulates the temperature by cutting
the wire coil out of circuit when the
heat becomes too great.
In view of the liability Of steam
ships TO collisions with icebergs in
crossing the Arctic, Mr. r. A. Proctor
suggests the use of the sensitive heat
measureres of Edison or Langley, for
giving warning of the proximity OF
ice at night. or in fogs. One of these
instruments in the bow of vessel
would indicate change Of tempera-
ture of q mile or more away, and
might be made to attract attention to
the presence of invisible danger by
causing fog-horn to be sounded, or
otherwise, as might be necessary. The
keen perception of science, Mr.. Proc
tor thinks, may thus be put on guard
over our safety when our natural
senses fail.
Lieut.. Julius Won Payer, one of the
discoveries of Franz Josef Land, has
given up Arctic exploration for art,
and has just completed series of
four paintings illustrating the last
polar expedition of Sir John Frank
lin.
A recent calculation shows that a
man weighing one hundred and forty
pounds, aud running q mile in six
minutes, performs work about equal
to that of half-horse engine; while
walker sustaining five miles an hour
for long day, does work equal to that
of quarter-horse engine, consuming
only one-twelfth of the weight of food
or fuel.
The relative efficiency of electricity.
gas and oil for lighthouses. is to
be thoroughly tested in England.
Changes nave been observed IN the
spectrum OF Sirius which indicates
that the star is moving away from the
earth much less rapidly than former
ly, and that it must therefore be
travelling in a closed and comparative
ly small orbit. Forty-five stars were
studied with the spectroscope last year
at the Gree nwich observatory, for the
purpose Of detecting any changes
which may occur in theic apparent
RATES of movement.
Well may we doubt the success of
the alchemists of old in their search
for the "elixir of life" but, if the
views published in England by Mr..
w. o. Dawson are correct, modern
science al least appears to be able to
retard the progress of old age. Mr..
Dawson tells us that the
changes which produce old age are
due TO an excessive action of the OK
ygen we breathe and to the accumu-
lation of lime salts in the body. He
does not state whether the oxygen
effects may be 10 any degree counter
acted, but he believes that life may be
prolonged by reducing the calcareous
deposits to a minimum. This he would
accomplish by a plan suggested by
Mr.. de Lacy Evans. TIE plan is to
avoid food containing large proper
tion of earth salts--such as the meat
from old animals-and to use daily,
after middle life, several glasses of
distilled water containing few drops
of phosphOric acid. Distilled water is
necessary on account of its great sol
vent power.
The number of volcanic vents in ex-
istence on the globe was p aced by
Humboldt at 407, of which 225 had
been active within O century. The
Asiatic islands were supposed to con-
tain about half of the latter. More
recent estims ties allow over 900 hun
dred volcanoes to the Indian Archi-
pelago alone.
DR.. KONG has attempted to show
that the first real observation of case
of color-blindness was made by Goethe
Several accurate photographs of
lightning flashes have been secured by
Mons. Robert Haensel, of Reichen-
berg, Bohemia. The flashes are shown
as long, continuous sparks, and in one
of the pictures the point where the
spark met the earth may be seen. The
landscape is clearly defined in the pho
tographs, affording a means for calcu-
latiug the length of the lightning's
path through the air, which, in one
instance, was estimated at more than
mile
A British scientific expedition is
about to undertake the exploration Of
New Guin@, which, although the larg-
est island on the globe except Aus
tralia and possibly Borneo, is one of
the earth's little known regions. A
route of 1909 or 1900 miles has been
mapped out across the island by the
party, and it is expected that the trip
will occupy morethan year. Places
which have already been visited by
Europeans will be avoided.
The italian government offers g.
600 to the inventor of the best meth
cd of transmitting electricity to dis
lance.