The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1885-11-14
Correspondence baltimore County Union.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
WHAT THE STAR TELLS

Proctor considers it a mistake to regard the
new star in the Andromeda nebua as supporting
the nebular hypothesis of Lapace, as that cele-
brated guess at world origins calls only for changes
in nebul0us matter so slow as to beimperceptibe.
The real truth taught by the sudden bursting
forth of this star is that the Andromedl nebua is
not, as many astronomers suppose, q vast galaxy
of brilliant suns so distant not to be receivable
by the most powerful telescopes, but that it is
simply star cloud forming part of our own
galaxy or universe. And what is true of the
Andromeda nebula is probably so of others, SO
that it may be concluded that none of the nebulae
or starclouds are external to our own galaxy, and
that the other galaxies Of which SO much has been
written do not exist
USE OF SOLAR POWER.
In new French apparatus the heat of the sun
falling upon metallic plates tightly covering
thin layer of a volatile liquid, like ammonia, is
combined with the natural GOODNESS of water to
generate power for pumping. With plates having
q surface of forty square yards such an apparatus
would hourly raise 1872 gallons of water IS feet in
warm climates, and at Auteuil raises over 300
gallons per hour.
TREE PREFERENCES OF LIGHTNING.
The curious question has been asked, why oaks
and ems are especially liable to be struck by light
ming. 1t was declared in 1887 that the elm chest
nut, oak and pine were the trees most often struck
in America; and in 1860 Mr.. G. j. Symons stated
that the elm, oak, ash and poplar were the most
frequently struck in England. A Madgeburg
record covering ten years reports injuries to 265
trees, 165 being oaks, "a Scotch frs 20 pines, and
20 beeches. 1t has been suggested that the fire.
quency with which oaks are struck is due to the
presence of iron in the wood
SUICIDE IN NATURE.
Man is not the only animal that suicides. Her
rings and other fishes have sought death by rush
ing ashore in myriads; regiments of ants, by
deliberately marching into streams; swarms of
rats by migrating in the face of their deadly foes
and even butterflies, by flying in immense clouds
straight out to sea- 1t would be interesting to
learn the causes of such cases of apparent whole
sale and deliberate self-destruction. Is the act
purely conscious one; or the creatures victims
of disease-mental or physical?
USING THE EARTH's HEAT.
There is abundant reason for believing that the
earths crust is very thin, asserts Mr.. j. Starkie
Gardner, and it seems not impossible that some
means may be devised for utilizing the intense
heat of the molten mass below. This is already
being done, in fact, to some extent, an artesian
well having been bored at Pesth to obtain warm
water for public baths, etc. From a depth of
about 3 900 feet large quantity of water heated
to 161 degrees Fahrenheit pours forth. and the
boring is to be continued until water at It's de-
grees is yielded
MOLECULAR MINUTENEss.
The odoriferous particles which affect the organs
is this true of musk, which constantly emits a
powerful odor for many years, and is said to show
no apparent loss Of weight Papers perfumed
with a single grain of ambergris were kept by
Halter for forty years, when the odor was as
strong ever. The molecule Of csInphor sensi-
BILE to the smell has been estimated by Bordenave
to weigh on. 1892, 5S4, 0O0th of grain. Keill
has concluded that drachm OF assafoctda ex-
posed to the open air loses one SO l2Oth of grain
in weight each minute one 2,SS0th Of its entire
weight in day.
THE cAMPHoR SUPPLY.
While only 225 miles long and So wide, the
island of Formosa, just conquered by the French
is very valuable for its richness in animal and
vegetable life. One of its products is camphor, Of
which it is the worlds chief of supply, al
though the Taurus cdmphora) also grows il
Borneo, Sumatra, Japan and China. The cam
phor is distilled from the finely cut wood in gently
heated crucibles, the vapors being condensed upor
| a network of rich stems.
HYDROPHoBIA MUST co.
Pasteur has long been experimenting with in
| oculation a means of preventing hydrophobia
and is now putting the final touches to a method
| which he is confident will assure to animals-in-
Guiding man-exemption from the terrible disease
| He intends to put his system in practice at once
and has already added to his many trials one upor
| q human subject-a little boy who had received
| sevnral bites from mad dog.
MISCELLANEOUS.
| Arsenic having been found to act as a proven
| tive of malarial fever, Mr.. W. Mattieu William
| has suggested that the General condemned arsen
| ical wall papers may be useful protection
against the dangers of regions subject to malaria
| bequest of $4,000 has been left to the Par
| Geographical Society for the purpose of provid
| ing an annual prize for the best geographical
work-either map or Book-pubished during tn
| year.
A singular case in charge of DR.. Strumpell, o
Leipzig, few years ago, was that of a younl
man in whom brain disease had destroyed all sen
sibity to touch, and also the functions of one ey
| and one ear. The youth was wide awake, con
| scious and inteigen when the remaining eye anC
| ear were open, but at once became unconsciou
when they were carefully closed.
| Carefully collected statistics show that sine
| 1859 the disasters from lightning in the kingdom
of Saxony have been becoming more numerous
| each year, from which it is inferred that SOM
| cause has increased the number or severity o
| thunder storms in that part of Europe.