The Princeton union., 1891-10-08
tried repeatedly with several different.
burners, all OF which operated per-
fonf X, {s53 8s#S$i = 5$& 2 =
Work Of a Camera.

fectly. i
Work Of Camera.
photography it has been said,
is one OF the three great discoveries Of
the age-the steam engine, the electric
telegraph and photography. No five
centuries in human progress can show
such strides as these" And photo
graphy, let us remember, is the young
est OF the three.
The pursuit OF photography gives
exercise to the body, while It diverts
the mind and delights with even a
higher JOY the sense for all things
beautiful, The amateur photograph
er IS shown things by the camera
which he never dreamed OF before, and
IS led by it to the secret haunts OF
nature. OF whose existence even he
was previously ignorant. Truly it is
a fascinating art and one that benefits
lnthe most vital and lasting ways,
while it gives pleasure to the devotee.
And wonderful have been the
achievements accomplished in less
than tifty years, for the daguerreotype
the method which underlies our
fmodern process-was not made public
until 1889. Dry plate photography is
about ten Years old, and most of the
process in this delightful art science
has, therefore,, been accomplished
within the past decade The dry
plate made possible instantaneous
photography and all the later ad-
vances, and sinlplifed the process to
such degree that any bright boy or
girl OF ten can easily master it in a
few days. For the older ones it is a
refining accomplishment that is easily
acquired, and affords no end Of
amusement and benefit. -. ".ss:
"A complete Photographic outfit,
according to Outing, can be purchased
from any reliable dealer for from $40
to $lO0, and the necessary instruc-
tlon can be obtained in one lesson
when the purchaser obtains his equip
ment, 1t is, then, merely question
OF practice and taste. In a short
time all the remarkable achievements
OF photography are as easy for the
new amateur as they were for the
experienced workers who first made
them possible. The latest conner has
the benefit OF all that has been ac-
complished before, as we'll as an
infinite field for progress. What
science, art or recreation offers so
much to the amateur?
Wrought by Pressure.
The enormous depth of the great
Comstock mines in Nevada and the gi-
gantic and incomprehensible weight Of
the mass Of stones and earth resting
upon the timbers (which actually
hold up the mountains that have lit
orally been honeycombed by the min
ers), have wrought wonders which
puzzle the deepest thinkers, says the
st. Louis Republican. For instance,
queer polished sticks, as smooth as
dressed mahogany and not any thick
er than your wrist, are often taken
out OF deserted portions of the mines.
They are as hard and as heavy as
iron, and a knife Of the best material
Will not make scratch on them. =:
DO you have any idea what they are?
Drill cores, you think, but they are not.
Originally they were solid oak timbers
12x12 inches square. But wi,y are
they no thicker than a walking stick
upon removal after having seen years
OF service? The weight of the noun
tain bearing upon them from all direc-
tlons, perpendicularly as we'll as late
rally for it is only in this way that
mines OF enormous depth can be safely
timbered) has wrought the wonders
seen in the polished stick. Sometimes
these transformed timbers are found
in small sections, sometimes in long
pieces, and are taken out where cave
ms have occurred and displaced the
workings. 1t is a well-knOWn fact that
paper can be compressed until it will
be SO hard that a diamond will hard
ly touch it, but no know mechanism
OF the present or the past has such
power to compress and work marvels
with wood.
Electricity In Agriculture.
Following the experiments of Fecht-
ner in applying electricity to vegeta-
tion, q Russian agriculturist, NJ.
Spechneff, is reported to have made a.
trial Of seeds which he electrified for
two minutes by means Of a current,
repeating the operation ten times up
on peas, beans, rye, etc. He found
that generally the electrilization of the
seeds nearly doubled the rapidly Of
their growth. He then tried to cleo
trilize the earth. He took two large
plates OF zinc and copper, ~ cent?
meters (28 inches) high and As cent?
meters (18inches) wide, which he sank
deep into the ground at the extremity
OF flat iron bars and connected above
the ground by an iron wire. The ef-
feet OF the continuous current is stated
to have been prodlgious, upon vege-
tables: A raddish grew A. centimeters
(17.3 inches) in length, with a diane
ter OF Ia centimeters (5h inches), and
q carrot 27 centlmeters (1O 6 inches)
In diameter weighed three Kilograms
(six and six-tenths pounds), nor did
this excess intsize detract from their
good quality.
Short Notes,
In the year 1890 the South pro
duced l,953, ,459 net tons out OF the
of ~ n0n s}.tt,