Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1893-10-17
POPULAR SCIENCE NOTES.

10 lake THE PLACE OF LEATHER
A new material is proposed as substi-
tute for leather. 1t is called ''feXus
libra" and is derived from flax, suitably
prepared and oiled. 1t has the same APP
pearance as leather. is particularly
supple, and takes polish eqally well
with the best kinds Of calf The ma
terial is said to possess great tenacity.
while affording great ease and comfort
to the foot when made into shoes.
Flexus libra. being of vegetable origin,
is calculated also to facilitate free ven
tilation, and thereby to obviate the dis
comfort arising from what is called
''drawing''the feet.
The INTER RELATION OF FoRCEs.-
Water freezes and becomes ice at SO de-
grees of Fahrenheit, whereas mercury
freezes at 80 degrees below zero of Fab
renheit; olive oil, on the contrary shows
grces of Fahrenheit. The three sub
stances quoted being all liquids the diff
ference in the loss of heat requisite to
bring them to qualification is very great
indeed. The action of heat on fluids or
solids is equally various. Water boils
at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, lead melts at
6l2 degrees; the fusing point of gold is
2.Ol6 degrees, and of iron J, 1000 degrees.
We give these particulars in order to
show what enormous changes can be eff
fected by cold in the transmutation of
substance from liquid to solid, or by
heat from solid to liquid state.
Ether boils at SO degrees Fahrenheit, but
has never been frozen by the
severest cold. The forces exerted by the
action and reaction of heat and cold are
best exempliied under the head of steam,
which has only been called forth and
made use of by man since about the
middle of the eighteenth century,
but it has been in action on
gigantic scale in nature for probably
hundreds Of thousands of years, it being
the opinion of many biologists, including
Lyell, that it is the generation of steam.
whether developed by the internal heat
of the earth in state of fusion, or
whether by that of the chemical action
of the elements in the bowels of the
earth developing heat, which, acting on
water and thus generating steam, is the
great force that throws up such enormous
rocks and masses of lava as Etna has
been doing. The rocks and lava thus
thrown up are in a state of fusion by heat;
but they gradually cool by exposure to
the air and form solid rocks aud noun
tains. This action and reaction has been
going on for thousands of years with
little cessation. Heat and cold, again,
cause the oceanic currents on our earth
between the equator and the poles, and
vice versa, and thereby affect the earth's
magnetism or polarity, not only on our
globe, but probably all throughout the
universe. This is borne out by the fact
that "the aurora borealis is decidedly an
electrical phenomenon, which takes
place in the highest regions of the atmos-
phere, since it is visible at the same time
at places very distant from each other.
DR.. Faraday conjectures that the electric
equilibrium of the earth is restored by
aurora conveying the electricity from the
poles 20 the equator ~ Westminster Re-
view.
THE ORDINARY THERMoMETER.-O
nary thermometers are generally defoc-
tive, says a scientific writer, because of
slovenly work in making them; The
testing, pointing and sealing being care
lcssly done. Tests should only be made
by comparison with standard thermo-
meter, placed with the instrument to be
tested under water. But in the cheap
shop the water used is often allowed to
grow cool, and is then suddenly warmed
by an addition of hot water The test
ing accordingly is inaccurate. In these
shops also the zero point is determined
simply by placing the bulb in snow, and
when the mercury has become stationary
the thumb is placed on the point where
this is shown aud file makes the mark.
The initial point is usually thus mis-
placed from sixteenth to an eighth of
an inch, and the whole scale is rendered
wrong. Thermometers with metallic
plates are sometimes incorrect. The
degrees on them are marked by means
of dies, which cause a warping or
curling of the plates. These have to
be rolled to hatten them again, aud
both Of the plates and the degrees.
making the dies, but the result is usually
unsatisfactory. A further source of err
ror in this kind of thermometer comes
from the fact that most of them are test
ed at one point. The manufacturer re-
lies on scale of degrees that is very
nearly true, and uses it for all instru-
ments having bulb of like size. The
result is that the thermometers are in
error at certain points. 1t is for this
reason also that glass thermometers,
which have degrees marked upon the
glass with type, are apt to be incorrect.
The type used is the same for all glass of
similar kind, notwithstanding tn, the
bulbs may vary in size. Scientific Their
mometers are usually tested as to their
accuracy before they are used at some
authoritative observatory. In England
this is done at the government station at
Kew; in this country at the physical Ia
boratory at Yale and Harvard Universe.
ties, and at the Smithsonian Institution.
Certificates are granted showing the
L ~ Il