Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1890-10-04
POPULAR SCIENCE.

Two heavenly bodies are in conjunc-
lion when they have the same right ascen-
sion. or are on the same meridian; that
is, when one is due north or south of the
other.
Experiments with brake shoes for the
purpose of doing away with the disagree
able noise made when train IS being
checked show that gun-netal shoes are
the most satisfactory.
DR.. Koch read before the Medical Con-
gress in Berlin paper in which he is
said to have declared that he had dis
covered a way of killing the tuberculosis
bacillus and Of curing tuberculosis dis
ease.
Water has been found in tie Desert of
Sahara in such vast quantities, by means
of artesian wells, that French engineers
are confident of being able to extend
their railroad TO a distance of week 5
journey from Algeria right through the
desert.
The heat produced from the light of
FREELY is only one per cent. of an equal
amount of candle light. The bugs light
is produced by q chemical action, as it
was increased by putting the fly in oxy-
gen and diminished in an atmosphere
of nitrogen.
The length of the tel phersge line be-
tween Buenos Ayres and Montevideo is
1856 miles, and it is designed to carry
electrically driven letter boxes, which
may be dispatched every two hours.
The two wires cross the La Plata estuary
at point where it is nineteen miles
wide.
Captain Noble, of Elswick, has, it is
stated, succeeded in preparing really
smokeless gunpowder. The material is
grayish in color and in the shape of cords
or threads. Its constitution is not made
public, but its smokeless character is we'll
attested and the bullets can be seen to
strike the target.
The old idea that the latitude of places
may vary was first confirmed last year by
observations in Central Europe. In Ber-
lin and Potsdam, according to Professor
Helmert, no perceptible change occurred
during the first half of 1899, but in the
third quarter the ATTITUDES increased at
first and then diminished, the move.
ment continuing until the close of the
year. Similar variations were detected
in Prague and Strasbourg.
Somebody has been collecting figures
giving the distance to which sound is
conveyed under favorable atmospheric
conditions. J. S. Stranahan states that
the whistle and the noise of the train on
the trestle at Erie were formerly heard
at a distance of nineteen miles. w. J.
McC., of San Pablo, Cal, writes that on
calm, clear days, especially in the fall,
they hear the rumble of the cars on q
trestle located eighteen miles distant.
j. H. s. says that he has frequently
heard the railroad shop whistle at Grand
Island, while living at Orville, a dis
lance of twenty eight miles. C. V.
Swarthout, Cape Vincent, N, Y, FIRE.
quently hears the whistle at Kingston,
Ont, twenty miles.
Darwin estimated that worms, by swal
lowing earth for the sake of the vege-
table matter it contains, aad forming
castings, bring to the surface as much as
ten tons of earth per annLm on an acre.
Worms are great promoters of vegeta-
ton by boring, perforating and loosen.
ing the soil, and rendering it perviou;
to rains and the fbres of plants, by
drawing straws and stalks OF leaves and
twigs into it, and most of all, by throw
ing up such infinite numbers OF lump
of earth called worm casts, which form
fine manure for grain and grass. The
The earth without worms would soon
become cold, hard bound, void of fer
mentaion, and consequently sterile; thii
has occurred in many cases where the
worms have been either accidentally OF
Intentionally destroyed, and the fertility
of the soil thus lost has only been re
stored when the worms had again col
lected and resumed their fertilizing
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