Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1885-04-30
POPULAR SCIENCE.

Under electric illumination, DR.. Theo-
aore Stein finds himself able to photo
graph the throat and larynx in health or
disease.
An opportunity Of studying case Of
eprosy has been afforded DR.. Guttmann,
who assures the Berlin Medical society
that there can be no doubt that the iv-
ing bacilli found in the system Of leprous
patients are really the cause Of the dis.
ease.
Several pots of hyacinths having been
placed in circle around the pipe of a
stove, Mons. G. Barthelemy found that
the roots were drawn to the source Of
heat, taking an almost horizontal direc-
tion toward the pipe as common centre
Of attraction.
A collection Of skulls from the South
ern Hemisphere has been studied in Eng
land, the most notable conclusion reached
being that some Of the races Of South
Africa, Australia and the southernmost
part Of South America are remarkable
for the smallness of their heads.
In recent experiments Mons. Reinau
found that iron reaches its greatest
strength at temperature of 554 degrees
Fahrenheit, when it is thirty per cent.
stronger than at sixty-eight degrees.
Beyond 626 degrees the strength rapidly
diminishes, and at SOC degrees is only
thirty per cent. as great as at sixty eight
degrees.
In Japan earthquakes have had very
noticeable influence in determining the
nature of the buildings. Architecture,
as understood in other parts Of the world,
may be said to have hardly any existence
there In consequence of the frequent
shakings to which the houses are sub
jected it is said that the great city Of
Yeddo has to be practically rebuilt on
an average every seven years. Fire al
most invariably follows great earth.
quake in Japan.
A German physicist attributes the
well known phenomenon Of the apparent
enlargement of the sun and moon, whe1
rising or setting, to two physiological
causes. One is the greater sensitiveness
of the eye to angular magnitudes wher
seen horizontally; and the other is al
effect of dilation of the pupil under th'
feebler light reaching us from the heav
enly bodies when near the horizon, sucl
dilation tending to magnify the images
received. He finds experimental proc
Of these theories, and shows the absurdit.
OF the common explanation that inter
vening objects enable US better to esti
mate the real size Of the sun and moon
The most impressive feature Of total
eclipse of the sun is the corona, tht
aureole of light, at other times invisible
which surrounds the hidden disc and
sends out rays far into space. DR.. w
Huggins, who has succeeded in photo
graphing the corona without the aid Of
an eclipse, remarks that it is variously
explained as coming froma a gaseous sola
atmosphere, from matter elected by th'
sun, from a ring Of meteoric matter, from
comets tails, and from meteor streams
travelling at distance from the sun bu
illuminated by it. He concludes, how
ever, that the phenomenon is conplel
one, in the production of which each 0
the suggested causes may play som,
part. A very thin gaseous atmospher
probably surrounds the solar globe, bu
the coronal light must be reflected from
solid particles in that atmosphere. Tn
existence of one particle in a cubic mil
would account for the corona.