The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1900-06-26
SCIENTIFIC
MISCELLANY. Nj
A Long Lost Bird---A Modern
Furnace.
THE LONGEST SOLAR ECLIPSE.
For Man to Lift Himself In Air-The Long
est Solar Eclipse Wave -subduing
without OLA Future
Mine of Wealth.

without OLA Future
Mine of Wealth.
An ornithological specimen of extra
ordinary interest has turned up III a
Florence museum. A French expedi-
tion in 1903 visited the vicinity of South
Australia, and explored Kangaroo Is
land, finding thereon no human inhab-
itants but an abundance of kangaroos
and emus. Three of the emus were taxi
en- alive to Paris. Iwo of these lived
until 1922, after which they were noun
ted for the Paris museum, but no record
of their third specimen is now known.
The first settlers on Kangaroo Island
quickly exterminated the small emus,
when it was discovered that the species
Dromaius ater-was quite distinct from
any other. This left the species repre-
sented by only two known specimens
until 1t was lately proven that a puz-
zling skeleton in Florence is really the
missing third specimen.
A new British crucible furnace for
making calcium carbide and the like,
and for melting bars of steel and other
metals, is expected TO prove of great
utility. 1t is heated by oil gas, which is
fired in the first of the series of cham
bers, the heat circulating through the
other chambers, while the air enters
as natural blast from the side Every
thing is automatic and the heat is
sufficient to melt any metal except
platinum.
Human evolution is not likely to make
flight practicable by means of a verti-
cal screw. Lord Rayleigh calculates
that to support his own weight a man,
working at the average power to be
maintained for eight hours day, would
require screw about 300 feet in dame
ter, and it would be necessary that this
screw itself should have no weight and
Should be workable without loss from
friction.
A late report of the work now obtain
ed from the waste gases of blast fur
naces is the following: In Germany Al
engines are run, yielding a total of 22,-
900 horse power; in Luxembourg, IL en-
gines of $3.50 horse power; Belgium, 5
of 300 horse power; France s, of $3.50
horse power; Great Britain 6, of 206O
horse power. This is a general total Of
"a engines and 4O,72O horse power.
The greatest possible duration of
total eclipse of the sun has been accu-
rately computed by the president of the
Leeds Astronomical society, whose de- |
termination Will succeed more imper-
feet one made 123 years ago. Five con- |
ditions are necessary to give the longest !
totality. The new moon, at or very
near the point where the orbit crosses |
that of the earth, must also be at it's |
nearest approach to the earth; the sun |
must be at It's greatest distance away; |
totality should occur at local noon, with |
the shadow moving along a parallel of |
latitude, in order that the diurnal mo-
tion Of the observer may have it's full |
effect Of OBTAINING him within the shad
ow; the sun and moon should be in the
zenith so that the shadow may be as
large as possible; the observer should
be on the equator, so that his motion
may be as rapid as possible. The fourth
and fifth conditions cannot occur stimuli
taneously, the fifth being the more fav-
orable. The earth's radius, or semi di-
ameter, being taken as S,963.296 miles,
and the moons radius at 1850 miles, it
is found that the maximum totaliry will
be about minutes 40 seconds. and the
eclipse should be observed at noon near
the fifth parallel Of north latitude about
the beginning of July. The longest
eclipse of the Goth century will occur
June 20, 1855, and will have totality of
Z minutes 245 seconds, the noon point
being at III degrees east longitude and
Is degrees north latitude.
The plan Of using floating nets to re-
duce the force of waves at sea or at the
mouths of harbors Is being tested by
Baron Benvenuto d'Alessandro, an Ital-
ian living at Paris. Such nets form
crust over which waves cannot climb
and under which they become much
fiatened out. A net lately made Is 800
feet long and so feet wide with square
meshes of 11a inches, the material being
waterproofed hemp, and the weight less
than half an ounce per square foot.
This was anchored at the port of Havre
to protect some unfinished hydraulic
works from a heavy surf, but the effect
could not be favorably observed.
l.
The detection of silicon in one of the
fixed stars Is reported by j. Lunt. Three
unknown lines have been previously no.
ted in the spectrum of this star (Beta
Crucis), and while examining the spec
ira Of tubes of carbonic oxide and argon
this observer discovered the same lines.
AS strong electric discharge was pass
ing through the tubes and the lines did
not appear with a weak discharge, it
was suspected that they were effected by
disintegration Of the glass. Further in
vestigation proved this conclusion cor
rect, and that the three lines were due
TO silicon.
From the experiments at Sassari, it
is estimated that town Of so, 900 inhab-
itants may be kept free from mosquitoes
for $3.50 a year. The swamps and other
breeding spots are covered with petro-
leum to kill the larvae and the mosqui-
toes are exterminated by means of chlo-
rine and other powerful chemicals.