The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1888-12-13
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

'NNA' iAiANA NAS'AiN'NA VI Ava ~ ' Ivy
thermoelectric circuit suspended by n
torsion fibre in magnetic field
shows a temperature change of one
ten-millionth Of Contigrade degree.
FUTURE SCIENCE" What would
one not give" asks Lubbock, "for a
science primer Of tic next century?
for, to paraphase a well-known saying,
even the boy at the plough will then
know more Of science than the wisest
of philosophers do now"
PHoToGRAPHIc PRoGREss.-Among
recent comera Achievements is a por.
trait copy taken by the light Of Gu
ban freely in thirty seconds, and a
photograph Of the aurora borealis.
To obtain the latter had been declair-
ed an utter impossibility.
WASTE OF ENERGY.-In the ordina-
ry sixteen candle power incandescent
lamp, according to Prof. f. Merritt,
only from four to six per cent of the
energy actually expended is available
as light, the remainder being wasted
rs heat. To lessen this loss is one of
the greatest electrical problems now
awaiting solution.
ONE YEAR CLoCKs.-An important
improvementin clocks has been shown
the British Association for the ad.
vancement of science by Mr.. w. H.
Douglass. The new feature is the
torsion pendulum, which, with lever
and escapement, may be applied to or
dinary works, and by its slow rate of
vibration makes practically the con
version of an eight-day clock into one
requiring winding only once year.
BOILERS EXPLODED BY GAs.-After
prolonged official investigation, the
most extensive and complete destruc-
ton OF steam boilers on record has
been attributed to the sudden ignition
OF coal gas, mixed with air, that had
accumulated in the Aues. The ex-
plosion occurred July 25, 1887, in Up
per Silesia, Germany. Twenty-Five
boilers, each with more than 1000
square feet OF heating surface, We're
instantly blown to pieces, buildings
covering half an acre we're destroyed,
and three men we're killed
The ELECTRIC AGE.-Prof. Elisha
Gray remarks that electrical science
has made greater advance in the
last twenty years than in all the 6000
historic years preceding. More is
discovered in one day now than in a
thousand years of the middle ages.
We find all sorts of work for electric
ity to do. We make it carry our
messages. drive our engine, ring our
door bell and scare the burglar; we
take it as medicine, light our gas
with it, see by it, hear from it, talk
with It, and now we are beginning to
teach it to write.
A MECHANICAL NovELTY.-The
Mannesmann process of making seam.
less tubes is described by Mr.. F. Sic.
t mems as consisting in passing the Ied
) hot bar Of solid metal or glass between
revolving conoidal rolls. These rolls
are SO arranged that the varying We
: lOcities Of revolution with which thu
! the different parts Of the bar are
brought into contact cause the forma
t tion Of hollow through the bars cen
t tire. Tubes Il foot in diameter, with
! shell only quarter OF an inch thick
8 may be produced in this way, ant
: great strength is claimed for them
!, Tubes with sealed ends may be made
the hollow center being vacuum.
A New FLORA The luxuriant veg
% citation of Krakotoa was totally de
10 stroyed by the eruption in 1888 not
% living germ being left, Three year
% later the island was visited by DR.. NJ
% Trueb, who now reports having foun
10 six species Of microscopic al lgea, whic
70 coated the rock and seemed to hav
% formed the soil on which eleven spt
% cies OF ferns had taken root. A con
% mon grass OF Java was growing, an
there were quite number of sue
20 species Of Towering plants as first az
> pear on coral islands. Seeds or frut
a Of several coral island trees were toun
;. on the shore. Krakatoa is ten mile
M from the island of Sibesie, contaiLin
10 the nearest terrestrial vegetation
70 twenty miles from Sumatra, an
"a twenty-one from Java.
A man always thinks his love lie
ters models Of composition till the
y come mn in a breach of nrOmjse -Bo