Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1900-08-10
POPULAR SCIENCE.

"A youl1ss IhIfSu tESlHetT HdS C0l.
structed phonograph which will
take telephone messages. 1t is much
simpler than the Edison phonograph,
and instead of q wax roller has a steel
band from which the message can be
wiped OFF after it has been delivered.
/ The practicabllity of using electric
light for the forcing Of vegetation is
maintained by writer in Science.
who claims to have been quite sue
cessful in applying it for raising lii
les. He finds that the arc light should
not be used until the lily-buds are an
inch long, and that il should then be
passed through glass to screen out
the ultraviolet rays. In his eXperi-
ments dark brown burn appeared
on the plants under the naked Light.
The light was continued nightly for
four months and the plants were taller
and earlier in blossoming, but less 70
bust and with shorter-lived ftoSpens
than those grown in the dark.
Those who speculate upon the In
habitants of other planets usually fop-
get how slight a chang; of present
conditions on earth would suffice to
eXtinguish the forms of life we know.
Mr.. Lowell has suggested that the
canals" of Mars may be the stupen-
dous works of beings akin to the hu-
man race, but an English astronomer
points out that the force of gravity is
only about tenth as great as on
| lnrfh hot -
this must be a failure to retain the
lighter gasses and probably even wa
ter. In waterleSs world, under an
atmosphere of nitrogen, argon and
carbonic acid, life must be very differ
ent from anything we can imagine.
The sand dunes of the Gascony coast
are stated by r. LeMang to occupy a
belt four or five miles wide and 100
long in which area they frequently
rise to a height of 125 feet, and in one
case reach 300 feet The shifting sand
has been that along the shore. Bar
ren of vegetatioH this has been blown
about by every wind and has buried
fields, forests and villages, and has
caused disastrous inundations by
blocking the mouths of the streams
The evil has been finally remedied b..
long experiment and nearly a century
of systematic work. A gently slopinS
half artificial dyke runs along the
beach, next to which is strip quar-
ter of a mile or more wide, which has
been covered with stunted frs and
bushes, and behind this is a great art
whole effectually checking the sand
iticial forest of frs and oaks, the
Invasion.
New Zealand fS distinguished for its
fightless birds The Takahe, which
was first captured in 1S49, and of
which the fourth and best specimen
was taken two years ago, has now
been described by Sir W. L. Butler
as handsome bird of the rail family,
about as large as goose, blue-breast-
ed having a heavy gait, and with n
very noticeable beak in the form of
large eQui-lateral triangle of pink
horn, one angle being directed for
ward. Its most remarkable character
istic is that it is absolutely unable
to use its wings for flying The first
two specimens obtained of this flight
less rail are in the British Museum,
the third was purchased by the Dr,s-
den Museum for $500, and as much
as $1,000 has been offered for this
fourth specimen.
The mystery of the 'wabbling" of
the earth's axis may be explained, in
the opinion of DIR. ]. Hahn. German
astronomer, by assuming that the ro-
tation of our planet is Effected by
changes In the magnetic influence of
the sun. He publishes comparison
of observations on sun-spots and on
the irregular motions of the north
pole, which appears to show a coinci-
dence between the two phenomena.
During g maximum OF sun.spots the
magnetic influence of the sun seems !
to be greatest, and after the passage
Of such 8 maximqm TIE disturbance
of the eartlfs axis diminishes. The f,
fact that the earth's poles of magnet
ism do not correspond in location with
its geographical poles may, Doctor
Hahn suggests. indicate how the suns
disturbing action Is applied. When
the magnetism of our globe Is most
powerfully excited then the strain
along its magnetic axis may cause
distortion of the figure of the earth.
which becomes less as the strain di.
minishes.