Brenham weekly banner. [volume] (Brenham, Tex.) 1877-1907, 1891-03-19
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
ARTIFICIAL RUBIEs.

i Since their discovery of artificial
rubies some years ago, Messrs.
Frenzy and Verneuil, the French
chemists, have striven to make crys
tails of sufficient size to be useful
Even now, however, their best crys
tails, though much larger than their
first, are barely large enough tc
mount. Their process has been con.
siderably changed, alumina aka
nized by potassium carbonate having
been substituted for pure alumina,
and the time of operating has been
extended from "a hours to several
months. In a recent trial seven
pounds of brilliant red gems were
turned out. Among the red crystals
is occasionally seen one of violet
or blue color, approaching. but not
yet equalling, the sapphire in ap-
pearance. These remarkable expert
ments are not without risk, for NJ.
Verneuii has narrowly escaped los
ing his sight as. an effect of the
great heat required for fusing the
chemicals.
In a recent lecture, Mr.. H. W.
Henshaw, Of the National Museum
at Washington, declared, concerning
the antiquity of the Indian, chat,
whether the Indian originated on
this continent, where he was found,
or elsewhere, it was in by-gone ages
lagos so far removed from our own
time that the internal is to be reck-
oned, not by the years of chronology
but by the epochs of geologic time.
PERIODS IN WEATHER.
A Swiss meteorological. Prof.
Bruckner, has demonstrated the ex-
istence of fairly regular periods of
about 35 years in the cSimite of the
whole earth. These are most marked
in the interior of continents. The
years 100, 1740, 1850, 1915, 1850
and 1880 seem to have been centres
of warm, dry periods; while the years
1920, 1850, 1875, 1880 and 1860
were centres of cold, wet periods.
The passage of oceanic air to the
continents was hindered in the warm
periods and favored in the cold, Civ
ing increased rainfall during the
latter
AN EVIL OF MODERN LIFE.
AT meeting of the Paris Academy
of Medicine, NJ. Motals commended
that myopia, or near-sightedness, is
a disease of civilization, induced by
articfcial conditions of living. He
supported this new view by an inves
tigatlon of the eyes of wild beasts in
captivity. Lions, tigers, ETC., which
had been captured after the age of
six or eight months were found to
be, and to continue, far-sighted;
while those which had been captured
earlier, and especially those born in
captivity, We're near-sighted.
| LIGHT-sENsITIvE CELLS.
In an experiment before the Lon
don Physical Society, Mr.. Shelford |
Bidwell, F. R. S., connected sele-
Mum cell with delicate relay, which |
in its turn caused circuit to be
established with an automatic switch |
and an electric lamp. While suf-
fcient light fell upon the seleniun,
the electric lamp did not act, but
when the light striking the selenium
fell to certain degree, the electric
light shone in full brilliancy. The
going out of any lamp could be
signalled to distance by similar
arrangement. Different colored glass
interposed beteen the light and the
cell showed peculiar properties in
The selenium, and suggested TO DR..
Thomson the probability that seeing
BY electricity will be accomplished
when we are able to transmit the eff
fects of the colors to distance.
ANCIENT GOLD MINES IN INDIA.
In gold mining in India, the
English appear to be not SO much
n advance of the ancients as we are
wont to believe. Wherever indica-
.iuns of gold are found in 3Iysore,
evidences have come to light of
skillful and Systematic mining at
some remote period. Shafts and
galleries were constructed in places
not easily worked even with modern
appliances. A mine in Kolar was
opened with great difficulty until
hydraulic drills were put in opera
ion, when, after penetrating 3OOI'
feet into the hard schist, the miners
we're astonished to find these re-
mains of old workings. ,
A firm of stone-cutters in Berlin
AVE introduced a pneumatic chisel
nto their establishment. The work
nan holds the syringe-like appara-
us with both hands, and, as he |
lides it over the surface of the stone /
)r metal, the chisel, mak1np 10000 {