Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1890-03-07
POPULAR SCIENCE.

| The scintillometer, the invention Of n
Belgian scientist, which is,used for meas
uring the rehabilitation of y the STARE, is
now utilized by meteorologists as au aid
10 the prediction Of the weather.
Soap bubbles blown with newly ge,-
c:nted hydrogen gas have been found to
act as electrical condensers, the liquid of
which, when broken, exhibited "a mega
tive charge. 1t is suggested that this fact
explains the so.callcd Ereballs sometimes
seen during thunderstorms. ,r s-''
The statistics gathered by the United
States Sanitary Commission, concerning
the height and other proportions of yearly
a quarter OF million of soldiers, appear to
indicate that young men are not, ON the
average, physically adult until they attain
tie age of twenty-eighr years.
A Scottish mechanic has invented a new
lamp for ships, being cross between II
candle and II paraffine lamp, but posses
sing all the advantages and n,nc OF the
defects of either, there being no liability
of explosion or Of flooding the place with
oil, in case Of brcakayc, and there is no
waste
40 SShSi'ti iNiV, IL IL Ss.it 10 Ut II Nc"i
difficult matter To gage The speed of
fishes. The fast fishes are trim and
pointed in shape, with their fins close to
, their bodies. The dolphin and bonito are
thought to be the fastest, and, although
their speed is not known, thcy are fully
capable oil twenty miles III hour.
The use of luminous paint is ran;.'lv
growing in this country. England has
heretofore had the monopoly CT lun:-
nous paint, which it has sold at So per
pound. Other countries, however, have
entered into the competition, and Austria
is now producing :; paint which is placed
on the market at fifty ccrts per pound.
1t is said to be made from roasted oys.cr
shells and sulphur.
Late researches have sho that the
duration of lightning flash is not III
6nitesimal, us has been generally sup
posed, but that the flash lasts measure
able time. For instance: il Il camera is
set i'll rapid vibration aud IL, plate in il
| is exposed so as TO receive the impression
of the flash, it is found that the irrpres-
sions appear widcned ont Oh the negative,
showing that the negative has moved
uuilDS thC titiic TIC l6Su WiS Ill cAlS.-
cncc
A simple stove for warming rooms b.;
means Of solar heat has been cuntrived
by Professor Morse. 1t consists of u
shallow box, having bottom Of CORFU
gated iron and glass top. When
this device is placed outside a building,
where tho sun can shine directly irtc it,
the rays pass through the glass and are
absorbed by the metal. raising it to II high
temperature ard warming the air of the
box. The air thus heated is conveyed
into the room.
In the biological department of the
University of Pennsylvania experiments
are being condutcd in regard to the pro-
cesses Of the mind. Three of the prin-
cipal kinds of experiments now being
| made arc those to measure the memory OF
sensations of sight, sound and feeling;
those to measure the time taken to express
n sensation, and those 10 measure the time
taken to receive en- impression through
the eye, etc. The means used to make
these investigations are weighted wheels,
gibbet-shaped machines, pieces of iron
arranged TO fall upon touching Il leYcr,
| pivoted hammers, etc.