The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1897-07-23
written for the Citizen,

as source OF power, NJ. MaXlmlllan
Plesseur has reached the conclusion
that the old windmill and the aeolian
wheel are not suitable motors, but that
this energy can best be utilized by
means of vehicles driven by sails on
circular railways, the sails to be kept
trimmed automatically, and the power
to he transmitted to an axle and thence
to machinery. Where the wind is fairly
constant, such an apparatus, especially
If used to drive dynamos and charge
electrical accumulators, should prove
serviceable and economical A similar
arrangement could be established on
water, boats being used instead of cars,
and the power-of which considerable
could be kept in reserve-could be
transmitted TO distance.
On observing an explosing of 100
pounds of nitro-compuund from dis
tance of 800 yards, Mr.. T.. }. Ryves
lately saw what he supposed to have
been the shadow of the sound wave
start from the point of defamation and
travel in the bright sunlight for at
least half mile down the valley. This
led to camera experiments by Prof. &.
v. Boys, the result being series of
pictures 10y an animatograph, showing
the wave as a complete circle instead
of semi-ellipse as it should be on the
sound shadow theory. The "Ryves
ring" is astonishingly black to the eye,
though appearing as circular light
shading in the photographs. What is
the cause Is still uncertain, but it is
pointed out that the explanation given
may be tested by noting whether the
phenomenon appears when the sun is
clouded.
Veneer-cutting has reached such per-
lection that single elephants trunk
80 inches long is now cut in London
into a sheet of ivory $50 inches long
and 20 inches wide and some sheets of
rosewood and mahogany are only
about tiftieth of an inch thick.
An interesting review of the meteor
Ology of London from l7l3 TO 1896 was
given by Mr.. r. G. Mossman AT a late
meeting of the Royal Meteorological
Society. In this long period the aver
age number of thunterstorms was 81
per annum, the maximum occurring
in July aud the minimum in February.
The average number of fogs was 244
and of ''dense' fogs 5.S, comparison
of decades showing steady aud unin-
terrupted increase of fog since lS4l.
The average number of days with snow
was 1876 per annum. The snowiest
U'nter was that of lSS7-S with AZ days;
Va in the winter of 1928 there was
single fall of snow. The mean
-, of first snowfall was November
Va, and of last snowfall March 30th.
Hail is essentially a spring pnenom-
enon, reaching maximum in March |
and April, the minimum being in July |
and August The days with hail aver
aged SO per annum.
A striking feature of modern science
Is the rapidity with which the posi-
bilities eiered bN,any new discovery
are followed up. The ROentgen rays ,
have been known but a year and a half,
yet they have taken prominent place
in the hospitals of the world, vast i'm
provements have been made in appar-
atus for producing them, and it is i'm
possible to say that they will not soon
become necessity of our daily life. In
England Roentgen Society has been
formed, with Prof S. p. Thompson as
president. Some of the members will
study the sources of the rays, others
the applications; some the induction
coils, others the tubes and other appar-
atus. These systematic efforts can
hardly fail to result in a speedy increase
of the efficiency and applications of this
epoch-making discovery.
Felt seems to antedate weaving This
material, Prof. Beekman points out, is
the principal substance of the clothing
and even the habitations of the Tar
tars and other nations inhabiting mid
die and northern Asia, where manners
and customs appear TO have remained
unchanged from the most remote anti
guilty.
At q recent conference of engineers
in London, the advantages of nickel
steel for shlp-building were urged, and
the necessity was pointed out of find
ing new deposits of nickel anu reducing
the cost of its metallurgy.
Students are cautioned by Prof. o.
T. Mason against confoundiug the mi
grafton of ideas with the migration of
tribes. In investigating the origin of
industrial forms in America, it should
be remembered that daily mails have
been delivered Oh shore from the East
ern Continent since the remotest anti
guilty. The United States Navy has
dropped bottles into the Atlantic at the
Azores, along the coast of Spain, and
southwark along the coast of Afrl-
ca. The recovered bottles have been
found on the coast of South America,
from which it can be inferred that
every buoyant object which has been
dropped into the ocean during the
present geological epoch by prehistoric
or historic Spaniards, Portuguese or At
ricans has found its way to America
and been stranded somewhere between
the tenth parallel south and the thir-
tieth parallel north. In the northern
part of the Atlantic the currents run
the other way, and the daily mails
have been taken from America to Eu-
rope In the Pacific, the daily mail
received on the American coast started
near the Malay Peninsula aud passed
through the China and Japan seas;
while further south the current travels
the other way. taking materials to be
delivered upon Easter Island and the
various groups of Polynesia. There Is
.'also counter current" between the
equator and the tenth parallel north.
which delivers articles on the west
coast of Central America. In the Arc
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