Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1885-10-28
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
[Compiled for the SPECTATOR. ]

compiled for the SPECTATOR
ANTIQUITY OF BRIDaEs.-The frs
bridges we're of wood, and the earliest O.
| which we have any account was built II
ed by Julius Caesar for the passage of hi
bridge over the Danube, Alto feet long
was made of timber, with stone piers. The
Romans also built the first stone bridg-
which crossed the Tiber. Suspension
bridges are of remote origin. A Chinese one
mentioned by Kirchen was made of chains
supporting roadway $50 feet in length
Was built A. D. IS, aud is still to be seen
The first large iron bridge was erected ovel
the Severn in 1777. The age of railways
h S brought remarkable development in
this branch of engineering, especially i'll the
construction of bridges of iron and steel.
ANOTHER ALUMINIUM PRocEss.-In new
French process an electric current acts up
on saturated solution of sulphate of alu
minum in the presence of q solution of com
mon SALT the two solutions being separated
by porous vessel. A, double chloride o1
of aluminium and sodium is formed, which
is decomposd aud the aluminium set free Il
deposited on the negative electrods. 1t il
claimed that the important result of cheap
ening the manufacture of aluminium may
be accomplished by this method.
In recent experiments the average crush
ing force resisted by red bricks was $3.50
pounds per square inch. They were
slightly cracked. Bricks supporting about
one-seventh of this load-or 63 tons pei
square fOOt-Lave been accepted as safe
for high towers if still uncracked. At the
base of the tallest prick structure in exist
ence-the famous chimney Of 420 feet in
height at St. Rollox, Glasgow-the pres
sure is calculated at 6670 pounds per square
foot.
BRAINS IN TERTIARY TIMEs.-In pa.
per on the size of the brain in extinct ami
mals, Prof. Marsh, Of Yale College, has
brought forward the remarkable fact that
in the race for life during past ages tue
survival of any particular group of animals
depended ON the size of their brain as COM
pared with that of their contemporaries OF
the same class Brains won then, as now,
and the brain of animals ci ushed out of ex-
istence was always found to be relatively
smaller than that of those outliving them.
A fine skeleton of the sea-cow (Rhytina
giyas,) has just been procured from Behr-
ing's Island for the British Museum. As
recently as 1741 this large but harmless
animal, measuring some thirty five feet in
length aud weighing from three to four
tons, was quite abundant off the shores of
Alaska aud Kamschatka, but has now be-
come totally extinct.
An account of the "Anemogene, an ap-
paratus for initiating the great movements
of the earth's atmosphere, has been given
to the French Academy of Sciences
By means of this instrument, which takes
the form of miniature revolving globe
the trade winds, ascending and descending
currents, and other normal atmospheric
phenomena, are reproduced.
The thirty inch object-glass of the new
telescope at Pulkowa the greatest refrac.
tor in the world, has been carefully tested,
and SO excellent have been its performances
that the rarely bestowed tribute of the
honorary gold medal of the Russian Empire
has been conferred upon it's makers-the
Messrs. CLARK, of Cambridge, Mass.
Cases of lead-poisoning in Paris have
been traced to bread and flour, d miller
having filled up certain holes in his mill
stones with lead.
A favorite prehistoric unit of measure
ment, according to Mr.. R. P. Gray. was
eleven inches, and may have been derived
from the length of the human foot.
ARTIFICIAL PETRoLEUM.-The action OF
superheated steam on molten cast-iron,
rich in carbon, has yielded a product iden-
ticial with the hydrocarbons forming crude
petroleum. Berthelr thinks this discovery
offers possible explanation of the origin
of petroleum, viz: Sea- water penetates fis-
sures to depths where the earth is very hot,
forming superheated steam, which, coming
in contact with melted iron rich in Cal bon,
is decomposed into hydrogen and oxy Zen.
The oxygen unites with the iron to form
oxide of iron, and the hydrogen combines
with the carbon, the resulting hydrocar-
bons passing in gaseous state to rock
strata suitable for their condensation as
oil.
THE SOUND OF THE AURoRA.-In re.
sponse to some thousands of circulars, DR.
Sophus Tromholt has received the testimony
of IA persons in Norway concerning the
emission of sound by the northern lights
Of these persons 80 believe in the aurora
sound, and So assert that they have
neafQ III themselves. Inc SOunQ is various
ly described as sizzling, kissing, whizzing,
cracking, rushing, ripping, rolling, flap
ping, creaking, roaring, etc.
The best filtering agent, according to the
recent experiments of DR.. Percy Frank
land, is spongy iron. Powdered coke rank
next, and is very good; but animal char
coal soon becomes worse than useless, al
though excellent at first.
The water in the Gulf of Bothnia is re
ported to be falling quite rapidly. One proc
of this is the fact that large stone on tn,
Swedish coast now rises three feet abovt
water at mean tide while fifty years ago i
was barely visible at lowest tide.
An English astronomer considers tha
his fox terrier has the intellectual develop
ment of child two years old.