The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1884-04-11
THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE;
rs THERE A SEVENTH SENSE OF MAG
NETlSM:

THE PROGRESS OF SClENCE:
IS THERE A SEVENTH SENSE OF MAG
NETlsM:
Tho pcwitderments Of Electrical Invention
VIVA it is That yours MIX IN q nun
der Storm-The P~h0nOgrnph xor ihlioA-
ical Study-Electric Railways to be OPP
nnrated from the A~Ips-CDoud PhotOgra-
phy-Disease Germs in Bogus. Butter
Systematic Study Of Consumption.
It is next to impossible to keep up with the
progress of electrical inv entlon. Whlle we are
wondering at the produt of ono clever. brain
another produces results still more unlocked
for, and as Edison has said, so we believe:
"The practical application OF elcctriclty Is Lhe u
to this time, men have succeeded only III peer
ing through a few small cracks"
But there are many contriyances which IN
eeniously take advantage OF what Is now
knwn of electricity, In ways which promise 70 De
of much utility. In one issue OF the Scientlnc
American, we find a number OF these DESCRIBED.
One is a movable ~electrict light, designed for
Illuminating streets, parks, wnarves' e.c;. wnei ~
II becomes necessary to work at night. An
engine and dynamo are mounted on one truck
while on another is a "towcr," which can De
easily raised or lowered, and at the top OF which
is placed the lamp.
Then there is an electro-dynamic motor,
which, although far from being perfect, IN.
doubtedly has in it the germ OF a valuable
machine. In its present state OF perfection,
it is readily applied to apparatus for driving
sewing machines, for propclling boats, for put
ting ventilation fans in motion, Tor running var
ious surgical and dental Instruments, and for
many other purposes which readily suggest
themselves. In this case the electricits is gener-
ated by a battery. As a motive power, 1t IN too
expensive to compete with steam In mantiacto-
ries, but it is well adapted to. many domestic
uses, and to purposes for which a small power
ia required, The same paper describes a new
electric fire alarm, an electric railway, an elec-
trio launch, a recording telephone. and an
electric cane. And those only begin q lst
which may be extended almost indefinitely.
DR. Love the chemist, testified recently before
O New York legislative committee investigating
the bogus butter business that he could not as
tinguish the spurious butter from the genuine
so as 20 swear to it, by its outward appearance
but he had no doubt of the accuracy OF MS
chemical analysis. He said that in the manu-
tacture of butterine and oleomargar'ne, 10
chemical change takes place, but simply q
mechnical mixture, and that ali the substance
used in the mixture have the same properties
after the mixture as before, so that the lara,
fat and oils used in the bogus butter are no
more Injurious to health in the bogus butter
than out of it. He had found no trace OF nitric
acid in his analysis and would have noticed 1t
if it had been present. He was OF OPINION
that impure SUBSTANCES could be deodorized SO
that they could not be distinguished. Even
dead animals could be SO deodorized, but II
diseased germs were not destroyed they w0ulo
prove deleterious to health. He knew OF nothing
in the process of manufacture of bogus butter
that would be likely to kill disease germs. lie
could not say that he knew OF any authentic
case of injury to health by eating the bogus
butter.
Prof Harrison Allen has exhibited to the col
lege of Physicians at Philadelphia a discovery
by which spoken language can be represented
BY a series of curved lines on q receiving sur
face composed of white paper covered with
SCOT. The discovery Is regarded as one OF i'm
~portance in diagnosing diseases of the palate, in
the study of stamraering and in the comparative
study of the languages OF civilized nations with
those of the most primitive races. Many Of the
sounds which have long been considered by elo-
cutionists to be formed by the direct action of
the lips, teeth or tongue are shown by Prof
Allen to he in reality formed by the action OF
the palate.
Ar interesting experiment is to be made by
DR. Zintgratf, who, in company with DIR Cha
yanne. is about to visit the Congo and the inte-
rior of Africa. He takes with him a phono-
graph wherewith to fix the speech and melodies
of hitherto unknown tribes, which, thus re-
ceived by the instrument, will be forwarded to
SClentlllC lucu III OtIulduy'
TIL plan of using the enormous water power
of the Alps for working electric railways in
Switzerland appears to have taken a definity
shape, the idea being to connect the towns OF st
Moritz and Pontresnia by an electric railway
four and three-fourths miles long, the motive
power to be supplied by the mountain streams
the line, in case the plan proven a success, to be
extended a considerable distance.
A. new theory of evolution is advanced. A
celebrated German professor, Gherke has put
forward a new origin of the human race. He
saws that the aboriginal Americans and the peo-
pie of the north OF Europe are descended from
bears. Toward the end of the glacial season
these bears foated south on icebergs. They could
not return, and were forced to make the best of
their quarters. Gradually they shed their furry
coat, and in order to keep one pair of feet dry
they walked on their hind legs. After the lapse
of innumerable years these bears, undergoing
the process of modification, ultimately were de-
veleped in the form of man. The professor
bases his theory or argument on structural sim
i~larities between the man and the baar. It is
time something of this sort was suggested. The
racket has had the floor long enough.
One of the results of Koch's great discovery
of parasites of tuberculosis or consumption is
the determined effort which is now being made
to cope with this dread disease. The question
as to its c~ontagiousness and heredity are being
systematically studied in Austria, as well as in
Germany and England. A circular has been
sent to 5000 physicians of Austria, requesting
them to give particulars of any cases they con-
slider to have proved the cOntagiousness of the
particulars of cases of supposed hered-
iiy, and of cases believed to have been complete
Iy cured.
Experiments in determining the height and
of clouds by means of photography,
nave been made at Kew, England, under the d.
rection of Capt Abney. The apparatus employ
I'd consists of two similar cameras, stationed at
4 distance of about six hundred feet apart, and
apart, and provided with instantaneous shutters
o he simultaneously released by electricity.
The observer measures the angle of inclination
If the cameras and the position of the cloud as
photographed on the two plates, and from these
lata a trigonometric calculation gives the dis
sance Of the cloud with great accuracy.
Sir Vim. Thompson, professor of mathema-
les in the University of Glasgow, in a recent
address, preached the idea of the existence of a
magnetic sense. This sense he called the sew
sense, to distinguish it from our other six
senses. The effects of magnetism on metals are
veil known, and he believed that the Quality of
natter in the air which produces such prodig-
Gus effects on metals must have its influence
lpon a living body.
The brief dispatch from London announces
he discovery of a process for the cheap pro-
luction of aluminium is most important if true.
Aluminium is a metal nearly as strong as iron
nd only one-third as heavy, while a great ad-
'antage consists in the fact til at it will not rust
II tarnish, no matter what may be the atmos-
,heric conditions to which it is exposed. Could
t be produced cheaply enough it might be used
or many purposes to which iron and steel are
put. Its strength combined with lightness