The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1886-01-21
THE WORLDS DUST.
What It Is, How 1t Is Made, and the Man
ufacturers That Make 1t.

Where the dust comes from is often 4
wonder to housekeeperS, who find that,
no matter how carefully the house be
kept, the dust will accumulate as mys-
teriously as fluff in vest pocket. 4
visible way of accounting for the dust
on furniture is to trace it TO the last
carpet sweeping, but this is only one of
the sources of house dust. 1t comes
from the ceilings, from the imperceptibly
slow disintegration of the walls, from
the decay of the furniture, from cloth
ing, from human bodies, from the plants
and trees outside, and even from be-
yond the orbit of the earth, so that
portion of the dust upon a ladys piano
may have Just arrived on the earth from
a distance of untold millions of miles.
Various estimates have been made of
the amount of meteoric dust daily de-
posted on the earth by the meteors
which are necessarily arriving, and the
total, while relatively small, is absolute
ly very large.
From dust to dustmakers the transit
ton is easy and natural. Dust is merely
matter OF any kind-mineral, animal,
or vegetable-in small particles and
dried, SO that it may be readily trans
ported by the wind from one point to
another. The two great dustmakers are
air and water. The action of the former
is exceedingly slow, SO that ages are re-
quired for the conversion of stone into
dust, but if time enough be allowed the
thing will be done, little by little the
particles of the stone separating one
from another, until finally the disinte-
grafton by the action of the air alone
Is complete, and the bit of flint or
granite is converted into little heap of
dust. But far more rapid is the disin-
tegration when the air is aided by
water. Water is chemically great
solvent. taking up a portion of each
substance placed in it, or over which it
passes. This solid matter it seldom re-
tains as permanent solution. but gen.
orally, by evaporation. deposits else
where in a fine powder, which needs
only little sun and wind to convert it
into dust.
Something more than three-fifths of
the rain which falls over England and
Wales sinks into the ground and goes to
feed the springs from which, in dry
weather, except in the neighborhood of
snow-clad mountains. all brooks.
streams, and rivers derive their whole
supply of water, and as these increase
in volume the farther they flow, it is
evident that they must receive their sup
plies not only at their source, but at
various points along their course. The
river Thurn, for instance, starts with a
flow of IL cubic feet of water per
minute; but a quarter of a mile from
the spring head, though it has not been
Joined by any visible tributary streams,
the flow has increased to 81 cubic feet,
at a distance of five miles and half it
has increased again to 800 cubic feet.
so that other, and perhaps many, small
springs must have been discharged in.o
it. Now. all running water, whether it
flows above OF below ground, has some
power of wearing away its channel
Flowing at the rate of about three inches
Il second, it will remove fine clay; at
double this speed it will remove fine
sand; at II inches it will sweep away
fine gravel. and at 3 feet ii will roll
along stones as big as an egg; while
mountain torrents which have dwindled
to mere threads. swell in few hours to
such size that they will carry before
them sand and rocks, and trees, will
sweep away bridges. and bury meadows
ten or fifteen feet deep in rubbish.
Then, again, mere dribble OF water
flowing perpatually over limestone rocks
will, in time. produce results snch as
seem quit, Out OF proportion to lis size;
and we may in fact safely affirm that
even the most sluggish stream wears its
bed more OF less. in one way or another,
either chemically or mechanically. 1t
is by gravel and sand. though they look
so much less important than the bowld-
ers, that the chief work is done; but
much depends upon the inclination and
consequent rapidity of the current, as
well as upon the nature OF the rocks
with which it has to deal Even a
rivulet when flooded. will transport
from !, 200 to 5000 tons of gravel in
day, and during the rainy season in In
dia, when every river and mountain
torrent are swollen, when for days and
nights together nothing is heard but the
crash of trees and bowlders and great
masses of earth and rock, 5000 to 1000
feet in length, fall from the mountain
side and are ground to sand and mud
in the boiling waters, the channel of
every stream, great and small, is en-
larged, and enormous quantities of min
eral matter are carried down to the
ocean. One river in Bengal removes
depth of ninety feet of stone and earth
from its bed every year, and the Ganges
brings down in the same time more than
enough solid material to build up forty
two great pyramids.
No small part of the worlds dust is
made by the winters cold. A rain falls,
the rocks are porous, and in every crack
and Granny the water penetrates, then
comes cold spell, the water IN the
rocks freezes, swells with irresistible
force, and in every direction thousand
tiny riffs are made, which are increased
in size and made more numerous by
subsequent winters until the solid rock
is blown away by the winds. Glaciers
are wonderful agents for transporting
earth and stone from place to place, and
not only do they carry huge masses of
matter about, but they also act as
grinders and polishers, thus converting
large quantities of the hardest stones
into fine dust Icebergs also act in the
same way and almost to the same eX-
tent. Plants contribute to the formation
OF dust by their power of disintegration.
All plants require more or less silica in
their composition, and when the sub
stance of the plant is again resolved in
to its original constituents the result is
silica in the dust The vegetable acids
of plants have also solvent power on
stone of any kind, so that if one spray
of moss or liehen can by any means
grow on surface of bare granite, where
not trace of earth appears, it will soon
prepare the soil for others of the same
kind, and no long time will elapse ere
the solid rock is covered with a living
mantle of moss. Other plants, and
finally trees, worms. beetles. and bur-
rowing animals contribute their share
To pulverize the earth and reduce it all
TO dust, bringing TO the surface portions
of soil that never before saw the light,
and leaving the sun, air and rain, TO do
their work in the manufacture of the
worlds dust. st LouiS Globe Democrat.
DIR. MorrelEMaekenzie. the famous
throat specialist, according to the Lon
l.. y 1, l.