Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1889-08-23
SCIENTIFIC GLEANIN6S.

unit of heat is the amount of heat
required to raise the temperature of one
pound OF water degree, or from 30 de-
grees to 33 degrees F.
Fifteen cubic feet of gas will give as
much heat as one pound of bituminous
coal. Ten cubic feet of air are reQuirsd
for the perfect combustion of one cubic
foot of gas.
The experience of the Los Angeles,
CAL, lighting station with crude oil in
stead of coal under the boilers, but cor
roborates what was long since proved
OIL gives an intenser and, above all, a
more even heat than coal, not to speak
of its convenience.
Carpets and upholstery fade when ex-
posed to the sun, because of the actinic
or chemical power of the suns rays
which decOm pose the dive stuffs. The
process is closely aualsgoos TO that
which occurs in ths taking of photo
graphs.
Oil collects on the outside Of lamps,
because of the capillary attraction OF the
wick, which draws it up from the inside,
and ailow' Is to run over the top of the
tube IN which the wick is placed. To
prevent this turn the wick down below
the top of the wick tube when the lamp
Is not in use.
Baking powders are mixtures of chem
lcals which, when moistened, Iiberate car.
bonic acid gas. They are added to the
-four used in breadmaking, so that the
gas, as 1t escapes, may puff up the dough,
| rendering 1T spongy and light. Yeast
serves the same purpose by causing a
fermentation in the -four, which also de-
| velops oarbOnio acid gas.
Recent experiments to ascertain with
IN what limits the ear can distinguish
the difference in the pitch of two sounds
show that the smallest difference percep-
tible by unframed or only slightly
I trained ears appears 30 be from one-sixth
to one-fortieth of a semitone. 1t is said
that popularity that seems to apply
alike to trained and unframed ears is
that they detect upward differences
more easily than downward.
Cider is turned into vinegar upon ex-
p0srre to the air, by the oxygen gas in
the air, which unites with, or oxidizes
the alcohol, changing Is into acetio acid.
of which vinegar is weak solution.
Pickles are oolored green by boiling in a
copper kettle, because the vinegar unites
with the copper, forming a green colored
salt, similar to verdigris. As this color
ing matter is unwh lesome and poison
Gus, the practice is not one to be recon-
mended.
At recent meeting of the London
Meteorological Society, paper was read
on the deaths caused by lightning in
England and Wales from 1852 to 1880, as
recorded in the returns of the Registrar
General. 1t was stated that the total
number of deaths from lightning 0urinp
the twentY-niue years amounted to $40.
of which 442 were of males and lO4 of
females. 1t is also stated that in con-
sequence of their greater exposure the
inhabitants of rural districts suffer n>ore
from lightning than those of towns. 1t
was shown, likewise, that nearpess TO
the west and soutb coasts reduced the
liability to injury by lightning and that
distance from the coast and high land
seemed 80 increase it.
Not only are human beings black
in hot climates, but other animals vary
in like manner. Pigs are usually
black in hot climates. The carbon Iaver
in the skin of the negro, being Opaque,
ike other forms of carbon, must form an
effectual veil, and thus protect that most
important organ below, the true skin;
bodily envelope of tissue presenting a
vast surface of circulating blood, which
is certainly subjec to brilliant illumina-
tion when only protected from sunlight
by the thin translucent cuticle. Hence
as we know that sunlight has consider
able chemical energy, and also that sun
stroke, to which light-cOmplexioned peO-
pie are especially liable, is more depend
ent on light than on mere temperature.