The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-04-22
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Uncle Sans most monumental publ
cation has now been practically completed.
| 1t is the official record of the Union and
| Confederate armies, and consists of 127
! thick volumes, index about TO be print
| ed and atlas of 17S plates, showing
| maps OF battlefeds, routes of marches,
| plans of forts etc. The books fill five
| big mail sacks. The government sells
single volumes or the complete sets at
cost Under the latest act of distribu-
| ton each senator. representative and del
| egate will receive one official set and two
additional sets for disposal as he may
| see fit.
| The Atomic Weights Committee of the
German Chemical Society has just issued
its report for 1901, in which it has drawn
| up two tables of atomic weights says
| Science Gossip. In one of these the values
are based upon oxygen, Is and hydrogen
OOS. and in the other upon H, l. and o,
1888. The committee suggests that the
former shall be termed international
atomic weights" and be used wherever
absolute values are required as in physi-
co-chemical researches. For the second
table III. y, which, on the whole, is more
convenient, especially for teaching pur-
poses, the title "didactic atomic weights
is proposed. Argon. helium. krypton
neon, thuium (171) and xenon find place
in these tables, which include in all rs
elements.
As a disinfectant we are told. ozone
has not become a practical success, as il
begins to kill germs only when it pre-
walls In the proportion of 1:1,e00 in the
air, and such air human beings cannot
breathe, says the Magdeburg Zeitung. Its
oxidizing power has, however, been espe-
cislly efficacious in purifying dirty water
1t not only kills all the harmful germs
inhabiting such water. and the results
of their change of matter, but it also
oxidizes all organic matter held in solu-
tion-burns it. might say, for in the
dark the process is attended with the
emission of light. Last year a plant
was esta bished in Lille for purifying the
water of the Seine with ozone and re-
Gently plant for the same purpose was
established in Paris. The ozone does not
diminish the proportion of salts in the
water.
Next Mays total eclipse of the sun,
longer than any eclipse hitherto, will be
observed from a track crossing Sumatra
Borneo. Celebes and Ceram. in regions
for the most part inhospitable and far
from accessible, says the New York
Evening Post. Not enheartening are the
prospects of the clearest skies in the
Dutch East Indies at noon on the 18th
of May, but the astronomers of many
ations will take the great and necessary
risk, and already their parties are en-
route. Besides the three English par
ties. under the Astronomer Royal Prof
Turner and Mr.. Maunder, the probable
French party led by NJ. Deslsndres and
several expeditions under the enlightened
| patronage of the Netherlands government
| there will be at least four American par
. =
| ganized by Prof. s. j. Brown, astronom-
| icai director of the Naval Observatory at
| Washington. AS invited members of the
| expedition go Prof. Barnard of the Yerkes
Observatory; DR.. Humphreys and DR..
| Curtis, of the University of Virginia; Dr.
| Gilbert, of the Johns Hopkins University
and DR.. Mitchell of Columbia.
DIR. Collier of Oxford advocates regu-
| lated exercise as opposed to strain, says
the Scotsman. But do not close my
eyes to the advantages gained by attn
| letic competitions as carried on at our
public schools. 1 hold that the advan-
tages to health are overwhelming. l be-
| lieve the physique and general health of
our public school boys owe an enormous
amount to school games and the taste
| for healthy open-air exercise these games
develop. l believe these tastes developed
| at school often stand man in good stead
| for the rest of his life. l am not going
| to morahZe on the beneficial influence of
| athletics in the building up of character
This influence has been described and
| dilated on by headmasters and laymen in
| better and more forcible language than
l can command, and, / may add, In very
| convincing and clearly written paper read
a few years ago by Dr. G. Fletcher. l
take ony the physical side of man, and I
hat
in the open air will do more than any
thing else to keep a man young in spite
| of his years. and able enjoy life in the
| best sense of the wol.
John Widgeon, the field collector of
| the Maryland Academy of Sciences. has
had many experiences while collecting the
| specimens for the museum, says the Bal
| timore Sun. He has captured almost
| every species of reptile, both poisonous
| and otherwise, to be found in the state
and in their pursuit has noticed many pc
| culiarities. 1T is remarkable" he says
| how some of the deadliest enemies live in
| close proximity to each other. Several
years ago while exploring Kent Island, |
| ventured up a 40-foot hickory tree to in
| spect large fishhawk's nest. When al
| most to the nest / was surprised to see
an enormous black snake wrapped around
I bulky nest. The snake, although at sutn
an immense distance from the ground
did not lose its presence of mind. but
dropped gracefully from limb to limb I'M
\ til it reached the ground. Continuing to
| the nest l found family of field mice
Above this was a nest full of little spar
rows, and upon the top of the hawks nest
were three young hawks just Matched
On the same island witnessed a charac-
| teristic capture of a fish from a fish
| hawk by an eagle. The hawk had Just
| risen from the water with a large fish
In its talons, when my attention was at
tracted by the cry of a bald-head eagle
| which was circling high in the air The
hawk saw him and also began to cry pa
| thetically. Suddenly the eagle folded its
| wings and like an arrow darted toward the
hawk. causing il in its fright to drop the
prey and the eagle continued its course
| until directly beneath the falling fish
when with an adept movement it turned
| upon Its back and caught the fish in it's
| talons, leaving the hawk to bewai it's
| loss"
The Department of Agriculture has