The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-10-21

What CONDITIONS are necessary Tor shs m!aRes
seen on the desert? A. @. W.
Enough of heat in the sand to rarely
the lower air and to effect condensation
Of the upper air, and SO little wind that
the different strata will mingle slowly.
What is meant by the deep seaf''
That portion Of the sea that has depth
OF 500 feet or more. The term isn't In
use with scientists. but has held for over
century with navigators. whose deep
sea lead" had a hundred fathom line.
Is there any mail service between the States
and Dawson and Nome, Alaska. during winterf
Yes; mail goes to Dawson by cog
sledges in winter almost as quickly as by
steamer when the rivers are open, and
winter routes are maintained to Nome.
To what is the color of human hair due9 Z
Do our nerves extend into the hairs? L. B.
To granules Of pigment in the substance
OF the hairs 2. Nerves are traced to what
is styled the hairs outer root sheath, but
not into the hair ITSELF though the exact
manner Of their termination is not known.
Is Sirius the centre of vast system like
solar system, and is it 2,sss times larger than
our sun? p. F.
With its ne-known satellite, Sirius is
estimated to be about three times the
mass of our sun. If it has surrounding
planets the fact probably never will be
known. planet of Jupiter's size would
not be visible here through the most
| powerful telescope.
What is the stone known as cairngorm, where
| is it found, and is it highly prized2 H.
1t is a brown or yellow quartz, the COLI
/ oring coming from the presence Of lit
tie magnanese or oxide Of iron. 1t is found
/ at Cairngorm Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Is
used as lesser gen. and is highly priced
| by Scotchmen. Some call yellow cairn-
germ topaz, but real topaz is harder and
more brilliant.
Is Macbeth an historical ch,racterf p. G. ".
| He was Macbeathad MacFinlegh, King
Of Scotland. in the eleventh century, but
| little is known Of him positively. Hector
| Boece, the Scottish historian, gathered
| many fabulous incidents concerning him
| from the early chronicles and some Of
| these were taken by Holinshed. The lat
/ ter lived Just previously to ShakeSpaare'8
time, and it probably was through him
that they were made known to the poet.
| Do the terms "machine gum and rapid FIRE
/ gum mean the same thing? II they two
| classes OF gun, to which do the Maxims belongf
| BOER.
| machine gun is one that is loaded and
| fired by machinery; rapid-hre gun is
loaded by hand. and fired by hand or by
machinery. Generally but not always, the
| latter class of gun is of larger calibre and
has but one barrel There is Maxim au-
tomato machine gun. and semi-auto-
matte Maxim rapid-fre gun.
Will you reprint the remarkable concise will Of
Roscoe Conkling? W.
II, Roscoe Conkling OF Utica. N. Y, do
make, publish, and declare my last will
and testament as follows: 1 give. devise,
and bequeath to my wife, Julia, and to her
heirs and assigns forever. all my property
and estate whether real, personal. or mix
ed. and I constitute and appoint my said
wife sole executrix Of this will. In testi-
mony whereof / hereunto sign my name
this 21st day of June A. D. 1861"
Why is it that an alloy o: nickel is used as the
! anode of nickel electro plating bath? 2. And
is the deposit on the work to be plated alloy
pure nickel? NOVICE.
Because pure nickel will not dissolve
freely enough. The result is that more
nickel goes on to the articles to be plated
than comes off the anode, and that in con-
sequence the bath soon becomes exhausted.
BY combining carbon with the nickel. the
metal is 1e0 10 tne SOLUTION as IaSt as III IS
deposited. 2. 1t is pure, or very nearly
that.
Is rain water chemically pure As it falls7
J. W. ".
No; in condensing and falling through
the air it dissoives and holds some of the
gases of which the air consists, also such
fine PARTICLES of soluble solid matter as
may be held in suspension in the air. Nj
trogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide are
thus collected. with much less of ammo
mia and nitrous salts. Near cities where
much coal is burned sulphur is washed
down, and by the seaside salt is traceable.
Dust and pollen of plants are other COM
mon impurities. The last rainfall Of
long storm is purer than the average,
since the air is then washed clean, and
winter rain is purer than that of summer.
Will you give some facts about feas? P.
They are notable for agility and hard
ness, and for complex structure of the
mouth, which the microscope shows as
verifable surgeons case of lancets, probes
and saws. While eager for blood, they
apparently can endure long fasts, for
rooms closed for long time and that
contain nothing known to nourish the ma
ture insects may be thick with lively
fleas. The chigoe, or jigger, of warm
climates is species that burrows in hu-
man flesh, usually of the feet. making Sc
rious sores. Other species attach them-
selves to the lower animals. By some en-
tomologists feas are regarded as of the
wingless creatures. while others place
them as a degraded form Of the two
winged insects.
What might cause well that has furnished the
best of water for many years to become unfit for
use? Three times the water has been drawn oil
and the well cleaned but still the water is foul.
The season has been very dry? C. G.
Contamination from sink drains and
outhouses. teaching from decaying matter
on the surface about the WELL and flow
into the well Of surface water are COM
mon causes of bad we'll water. In a very
dry season the flow of water into the we'll
might be SO slight as to cause stagnation
that frequent stirring would overcome.
More likely there Is contamination. With
a sample Of the water. a chemist could
ascertain the cause of the foulness and he
might suggest a simple remedy.
Who are the admirals OF our navy? 2.
What kind of vessels were the first British iron
clads? FOUR "
Frederick " McNair. John A. Howell,
Fl. Farquhar, John c. Watson Winfield
S. Schley. Silas Casey. William T Samp-
son, Bartlett J. Cromwell. Francis J. Hig-
ginson. Frederick Rodgers. Louis Kempff,
George W. Sumner. Albert S. Barker,
Charles s. Cotton, Silas ". Terry, and
Merrill Miller. 2. They were floating
batteries of slow speed for use in shall
low water. "Erebus' and Terror" were
the names OF the two COMPLETED October