The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1886-05-01
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
ORIGIN OF THE DANUBE.

ORIGIN OF THE DANUBE.
French geographer, Mons. De Wogan, has
madethesurprising intimation that the true source
of the Danube is not yet generally known. He
has found, by means of canoe voyage that the
great river is formed by the junction at Donau-
schingen of two small streams, the Brig or Brigach
aud the Breg or Bregack. The former rises about
a mile from the of the Neckar, whose waters
flow into the Rhine. o
ARTIFICIAL IRON ORE.
A curious phenomenon has just been brought to
light by the removal of lightning rod. To the
end of the rod, which had been imbedded in fer
ruginous earth for about fifteen years, was found
attached lump of iron ore, weighing ninety-si
pounds, supposed to have been aggregated by the
action of electricity from the surrounding earth.
CAMERA ASTRONOMY.
A remarkable discovery, illustrating the value
of photography in the study of solar physics, has
been communicated to the Paris Academy of
Sciences by Mons. Jansen. On June I'D, 1888.
there appeared on the SUMS disc of the largest
spots detected there, which would hardly
have been perceived, however, if its occurrence
had not been recorded by Photographic apparatus.
MARVELLOUS MINUTENEss.
A microscopic slide in the possession of the
Manchester Philosophical and Literary Society, in
England contains the Lords prayer written with
in the space of the 406 000th part of an inch The
minute speck can be found with powerful micro
scopes only with great difficulty, as the focus
point of the lens must be made to cover the exact
spot bearing the object. 1t was engraved by Mr..
Webb some years ago by the aid of an instrument
=. now held by the society.
BLACK SNOW.
"black snow" which fell in 1875 over an area
of about fifteen by twenty miles in the vicinity of
Holland Mich, was found to contain o consider
able proportion of dark earthly matter. This was
subjected to elaborate scientific examination and
pronounced volcanic dust from some far distant
crater. A dissenter from this view has sought a
simpler explanation, and has since proven that
the dust came from the prairie soil hundred
miles to the southwark.
NoN-LocALIzATIoN IN THE BRAIN.
Says Mr.. Grant Allen: "To sum it all up it is
the brain whole that thinks, and feels, and
desires, and imagines, just as it is the body as
whole that walks, and digs, and dances. To locate
say, the faculty of language in particular con
volution of particular hemisphere is almost a.
absurd, it seems to me, to locate say, the facu
ty of waiting in the last joint of the right fore
finger. Convolution and forefnger may be abso
lutely essential indispensable for the proper
performance of speech or writing; but to say thai
is not to say that the function in question is there
localized. The brain whole is the organ O.
mind, but there is no organ for the word Canon
bury or for the proper perception of Mrs. Pol
lock geranium."
GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS.
The advancement of geographical knowledge il
now encouraged by 81 geographical societies, will
nearly $4,000 MEMBERS and total income o
more than quarter of million dollars annually
OF these societies France has 26, with member
ship of1S,OOO Germany, "a, with 5000 members
Italy and Switzerland, each, with 5000 mem
bers: Great Britain and her colonies, 5, will
5000 members; the United States 2, with ,50'
members There are 1875 periodicals devoted t.
geography, of which AZ are published in French
80 in German 8 in Russian in Italian; + eaet
in English, Spanish and Portuguese and each il
Danish, Hungarian, Swedish, Roumanian ant
japanese.