The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1900-05-01
The Posts Popular Reading Cours
RECENT SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES

OF water II Is not by thu a.
OF the water itself. Each nsr.tard noi,,
oscillates up and down cue q xls
Its motion to the next ana - aaead.I
causing the wave form "a ~ ms ",
until 1t breaks upon the sbnra ase tnsui
cred out by the friction n ~ ~ 'taos.
sen: IN Just TINS way wave ps, ~sr 4
heid OF standing grain. rs sss o'.l
Keeps its place, but the wave form FORM i'l
onward. A wave nay be made !, = ac's
rope or a long spiral spring; n y t''a
any substance which, for any reaa = g, y
to resume its original shape n kata
A sourd-producing wave IN air i. yoaas
the same character. although Il. y MI
OF the air particles is to 1na !. man
the direction of motion Of ths ~ aats
stead OF across 1t; for air bs, ssYs b
of volume but not OF shape ry,,,asusg
waves are ordinarily invisible AausN d
the effect of sound within csrts IVY p'edt
rapidly, if the receiver is An a nniss
hearing o'sN
A single sharp disturbance :, a,
like an explosion, starts an .N
which travels outward In Al, ~. mss
from the source; or a ree,,lar - ~ wlqr
Of impulses. like the souns !, epeal'i
whistle or of bell, causes mn
waves. These Disturbance ~, s''.u y
formed BY the ear upon which x. lals'
strikes into the sensation M ~. tH
of the explosion or the musical ro,a i,leF
bell, reduced in loudness in $500. Y
with the distance. For the wavo !, s ...--0
ing out into greater and greater 49, 49,
and the proportion OF the who,s ,p. III
which Is received is Correspondence.
duced as it recedes from ina 49,, =.
point. '''''s
II. instead OF falling upon an oar III
responds to wide range OF yibr,ss.s.
the waves are received by some aan,,,..'
which responds to but one de6nits M
or rapidity of vibration, little or u NJ \,
feet is produced unless the waves =,
the same pitch as that of the receisn,,
strument. Such an instrument il XII
'resonator" and the action is a1ovs |.
sympathetic, resonating or syntomic :.
fiors The resonator selects onlv \.
waves of its natural period. =
To account for the known phenors.r
OF light 1t has been found necessary 10 i
sumo the existence of an all-perysda,
substance called the ether N,rgI
can see or feel the ether, but there II
few, If any, who doubt its existencs i
must be endowed with very remprs,.
properties; a rightly great enough \ |
transmit waves with velocity Of i1ss
miles a second; lightness SO incupuS.
able that all forms of matter pass thro,I
II with little or no resistance; filling 4
space, even that between the moesSs |
OF every body. In the ether are passi,
at all times and always with this inmrs
speed of 10000 miles second wave,
all freqLences and OF all lengths. m
producing waves lie within compr
lively narrow limits, from about lO00l p
about 10000 to the inch Shorter TN
these are the ultra violet waves, vhA
affect Photographic plates strongly, vim.
ing about 10000, 600, goo, 900 times a ~
don, aud the X rays nobody knows tn |
many billions of times a second Beyc
the visible rays at the other end the wils
of 1000 600, 000, 900 TO 10000, 900, 0Oq.oM ii
brations a second produce the effect chs
ly of heat, and still lower in the s.a
como waves Of all frequencies down isi
comparatively few thousands q secc,'
and Of all lengths, from a quarter Of d
inch to many miles. The effects Of th,a
long waves are chiefly electrical 50
as vet known, and they are genera
called Hartigan waves, from the name
the man who first investigated then y
tematically.
All other waves, however, are Of
same general electro-magnety chsracS
and our classification into ; rays "
Rontgen rays, light. dark heat, Is only
evidence of our limitations In recsvi'
apparatus. With new methods OIL reet'
ing and detecting such waves new su''
may be produced.