The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1886-01-29
SCIENTIFIC MIsCELLANY.
Items which WIN Prove OF laterest to
Our Readers.

AANtAc " n-NM WI AANNN " ~-NN@NNN -
Our Readers.
An inch of rainfall is equal to IA, 500 /
coo gallons ger square mile.
A garnet crystal weighing nine and q I
half pounds was recently found eight /
feet below the surface of New York |
street.
An association at Bethlehem to en-
gage in the manufacture Of silk has
raised $50, 900 to engage in that impOr-
tant enterprise.
In a new process introduced at Frank.
fort, artificial llthographic stones are
made by COMPRISING finely powdered
cement or carbonate of lime.
. & A young Wilkesharre mechanic has
been experimenting for some time, with
prospect Of success in producing an illu-
minsut bg the decomposition Of water.
The singular report is made by two
French experimenters that silicon,
though unaffected by temperature of
2,57O degrees F., volatilizes at s24 de-
grees.
The New Zealand Government is
seeking to promote scientific mining by
sending a competent lecturer to the va
rious mining districts. The lectures
are we'll attended.
The finest lines separabIe under the
microscope, according to Mr.. Crisp, of
the Royal Microscopical Society, may
be taken az I48, SAB lines to the inch
with white light, but the use of mono
cbromatic light gives increase to 159,-
$40 lines to the inch, and 193,0 ,037 may
be photogrsphically recorded.
Reports concerning the meteoric
shower Of November q, 1885, place it
in the front rank among such phenoHo-
na At places favorable for observation
about one meteor per second, or $500
per hour were Obst rYed. The appear
ancs of the shower according TO the
prediction confirms the theory that a
dense stream of meteoric matter IS trav-
cling in the orbit of the lost BieIa's
comet.
A new Illuminating agent, which an
eminent Russian chemist predicts will
supersede kerosene, has been tried in St.
Petersburg. 1t is called pyronaphtha,
and is prepared from the waste product
Of the Baku distillery Of petroleum. 1t
burns with bright light. without smoke
or vspor and Is not liable to take fire
accidentally OF to explode.
A notable feature in the climate of
Southeastern India, according to Col
B. Brandt, of the London Geographical
Society, is the frequent lightning storms
which occur daily for two weeks to-
gether, before the setting in of the
southwest monsoon, unaccompanied by
rain OF any sound of thunder. This Gu
rious phenomenon is most frequent in
districts where the land and sea breezes
alternate with much regularity.
From English mortality statistics ex-
tending over a considerable period, DR..
VIM. Ogle finds that the death rate
among clergymen is lower than in any
other occupation. II the mortality foI
the three years 1880, '82 and 'e3 among
ministers be represented by $50, that
among farmers will be denoted by 631,
among lawyers by 841, and among ply
sicians 1l22. The high rate of mortal
ity among the doctors is a source of
alarm to an eminent authority, and is
regarded as demanding the most thor
ough investigation.
A new American process for rapidly
drying timber, hides, wool, grain, and
other substances charged with moisture,
aff
tion in England. 1t is called the cool
dry air process, and consists in passing
through the chamber containing the
moisture-laden material a continuous
current o. furnrce-dried air having a
temperature of between 80 and 80 de-
grees Fahrenheit. The moisture is ab.
sOrbed by the air in 60 remarkable a
manner that oak logs are reported tc
have been finished in nine days although
natural drying would have required
three or four years. The temperature
is 50 moderate that delicate hbres, fab.
RIGS and chemicals are not injured.
In late paper read before the Scotch
Institution Of Engineers, Mr.. Peter
Carmichael stated that all qualities OF
iron become hard and brittle after ser
vice in boilers for more than dozen
years, especially where exposed directly
20 the fire, In the furnaces even the
best Iron becomes as brittle as common
iron In that time, and great care has tc
be taken In making repairs to prevent
the plates from cracking. For this rea.
son sixteen to seventeen years is long
for boiler 70 be in use, at pressure oil
forty to fortyfi-ve pounds. II used lon
ger the pressure ought to be lowered
In two boilers that had been in use
nineteen years the riYets were so brittle
that their heads few off on being struck
Perhaps no more remarkable addi
tiORs to human knowledge have beer
made during the past twenty years thar
those pertaining to the ocean, who's,
dark abysses have become familiar re
gionS. The physical features have beer
quite clearly determined, while NOS
surprising and until recently unsupported
facts concerning the life forms of th,
depths have been revealed. The mos
extensive explorations were made b.
the British ship Challenger which re
turned home In 1876 after three and
half years of investigation in all tht
oceans. BY this famous expedition
thousands Of new organisms were dis