The herald., 1898-02-27

"
FLOATING bogs' arc found in the Lake
OF the Woods and other waters of Mime
sofa. The bogs rourish Il large number of
plants, shrubs, and even small trees. as well
as little animals. They drift about with
the winds, and sometimes get caught in
sheltered coves, where they remain and be-
come fixed to the bottom.
The radiance from the heat of the sun is
not eternal; 1t had its beginning and will
have its end. If the sun radiates light and
heat In all directions, it cannot be more
than lOO,OOO,OOO years old. This is Lord kel-
wins estimate. At the present rate, the
sun will continue from 1000 900 to Is 900 900
of years, but the end will surely come
The nervous system, says Prof. w. II.
Thomson, has greater store Of reserve
vitality than all the other bodily system
together, and Is the only texture that does
not lose weight in death by starvation or
other cause 1t Is the last to grow old. AS to
the mind, it need not grow old at all provid
ed 1t be supplied with the mighty stimulus
called interest, by which 1t will grow stead
lily, even while bone and sinew are wasting
through age.
ACcOTulIS 10 IL 1tTnldn DlDHCdtlOn, d
chemist of that country has prepared a fluid
that has the power when injected into the
tissues of plant near it's roots of anes-
thetizing the plant. The plant does not die,
but stops growing, maintaining Its fresh
green appearance, though its vitality is ap
parently suspended. 1t Is also independ-
ent of the changes of temperature. the
most delicate hothousc plants continuing
to bloom in the open. The composition of
bo HIith 10 oh nd In, zoe
crecy, but is said to have q pungent odor
and to be colorless.
The ingenuity of inventors has been ex-
ercised to the utmost on bicycle tires that
cannot be punctured in the ordinary way.
Various combinations of springs. plates
and rubber have been made, and the num-
Der of devices registered in the patent Of
flee in this line runs far up into the thou
sands. One of the latest shows a series of
springs placed underneath small metal
plates and covered with a heavy rubber
casing. 1t is claimed that a greater amount
of elasticity is secured with much less
danger of injury to the rubber In passing
over very rough surfaces the springs
yield to sudden pressure, and thus insure
more safety to the more fragile outer por-
ton.
A chronograph for recording exceedingly
small intervals of time, such as mil
lonth of second or less, has been used
to record autographically the compression
by a blow of a cylindrical piece of copper.
In one case a 33-pound weight fell 10
inches and produced permanent compress
sion of 0.165S of an inch in copper cylinder,
the time consumed in producing the COM
preston being 0.0030317 of a second. The
machine produces by photography curve
showing the progress of the compression.
The chronograph consists of a rotating cyl
inder, with surface velocity of about 100
feet per second, on which is photographed
a pencil of light, which is passed through
a hole in the end of a rapidly vibrating
tuning fork.
The ground currents from the electric
car and light wires are disintegrating the
iron gas and water pipes in our streets,
says the Salt Lake Tribune. The disease
is called "electrolysis." Would 1t not be
good idea to bury a light iron rod or small
gas pipe in the ground close beside the
railroad tracks, or between them, where
there are double tracks? Would not the
current take to this rod or pipe and follow
1t, rather than to go off through the soil
to lind and follow a water main? We
should be glad to obtain and publiyh some
electricians ideas on this subject. And If
there is 10 known objection, why would it
not De BOOQ lOea 10 Try the experiment
along some street and watch the result? A
disintegrated water main might, in fire,
play smash.
According to DIR. Bell, in the Scottish
Geographical Magazine, the forest fires of
Canada are usually caused by lightning.
In the great forests between Alaska and
the straits of Bellisle the portions recently
burned are easily recognized by the ten
la ORG Oft hot fnli ~.
which have been longer spared. The fire
rushes along with the speed of galloping
horse. The branches and dead leaves on
the ground burn like tinder, and the flames
rise to nearly 200 feet. Resinous pine woods
burn fastest. One of them extended 100
miles in ten hours. The traces of fire
remain for nearly a century. Birds and
beasts are stifled or burned. Beavers and
muskrats. which are amphibious, have
chance of saving their lives. After the
fire a few trunks of the largest trees are
left. Next spring roots begin to sprout
and seeds to grow. In fifteen or twenty
years the soil is covered with poplars, will