Brenham weekly banner. [volume] (Brenham, Tex.) 1877-1907, 1891-03-05
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
SOURCE OF DEW.

SOURCE OF DEW.
Whether dew is all or chiefly de-
] posted from the air is a welI-worn
topic of discussion among meteorolo-
gists. Some observations to settle
the question have been made by Col.
W. F. Badgley, whose conclusions
are reported to the Royal Meteorole-
gical Society. He finds that the
earth always exhales water vapor
by night, and probably a greater
quantity by day; that this quantity
is always considerable, and variation
in it is mainly due to the season of
the year; that the greater part of the
dew comes from the earth vapor;
and that plants exhale water vapor
and do not exude moisture. The
total quantity of dew collected on
glass plates in the year was 1, 6147
inches.
BABY SERPENTS.
The first sign of the Matching of
snake, according to DIR. Walter
Sibley, is the appearance of slit at
the part of the egg shell which hap
pens to be uppermost The young
reptiles snout appears at the crack,
and after time the head protrudes,
and may remain thus several hours
before the body and tail are Matched.
If disturbed, the head is Withdrawn
into the shell, while fully Matched
snakes often seek their shells as a
safe retreat. These infants are
smooth and velvety to the touch,
with eyes open from the first, and
begin to hiss at the age of a few
days.
MOSS AND HISTORY.
In a recent lecture at the Royal
Institution, London, Lord Justice
Fry, F. R. S., said that to the pecu-
liar structure of the turf moss great !
results in the history of the world
were to be attributed. This is as
true of Great Britain as of any other
country. But for the moss the
forests that once covered the land
might still he standing; but for it
large tracts of country would still
be lake or sea; but for it every
freshet in highland river would be
a food.
TELEGRAPHING WITHOUT WIRES
In considering the possibility of
transmitting electric signals to dis
lance without wires, Prof. John
Trowbridge states that the chief ad-
advantage of such system would
probably be the protection of steam
srs during fog. In telegraphy by
electromagnetic induction from NOV
ng trains the signals are made to
PASS through the air for ten or twelve
eet, and between two circuits tuned
n unison-or having the same capa-
ity-signals might be exchanged at
It few hundred feet, while by static
induction an enormous plate, highly
harged and carefully insulated, :
night be made to give from a hill :
fleets, perceptible to the horizon.
these methods could not be used : :
Or a distance of half mile, how !,
yer, without apparatus of great size =
nd power. By another method, q >
uoyed wire trailed for half mile =
rom dynamo on shipboard might : !
eceive telephone messages from a
lmilsr arrangement on another YES
81 perhaps half a mile away, but
UGH signals would at best be very
hint. Cloud reflections from cleo
nc search lights might be seen at q
ONE distance in a medium fog, and
,ud sounds-which can be heard I,
luch farther through water than Il
trough air-might be received by
slephone at a distance of mile.
mt at present Prof. Trowbridge re- 81
ards the use of small patrol boats F
the only practicable means of Civ
lg communications to increase the
lfety of steamers. These little ~
oats could be made to carry cleo "
ic lights, could be kept at any de-
red distance ahead by electric mo- 10
RS, and would give prompt warning 10
Instructions.
STORED COLD.
The storage of cold, as Mr.. Chas. Fl
-orris remarks, is q negative pro-
'ss which may be treated as a pos -
i've one III considering its apparent "
ruggle with the beter-known pro- st
'ss of heat-storage. The source of tn
ored cold is the upper atmos-