Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1901-07-25
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

When the sun is pouring down its
rays upon the ocean at MONDAY none
of them penetrate to depth of over
200 feet. Could diver descend to
that depth he would find himself
shrouded in darkness as profound as
though he were immersed in a sea
Of ink.
One of the difficulties in operating
the arc light is the necessary renewal
Of the carbonrods. A substitute for
them has lately been invented, which
consists of two aluminium arms point
ed with platinum. The arms are l.
shaped, and are operated by simple
pendulum arrangement, which, with
the arms themselves is enclosed with
in a vacuum bulb. The lamp is to be
used in horizontal position and casts
no shadow. 1t is claimed that there
will be no wear of the incandescent
parts.
The British Museum has recently
received specimen of the rarely
seen "whale-headed stork," which was
first found on the White Nile in 1849,
and which until now had been sup
posed to be confined to that locality.
The specimen referred to was shot on
the north shore of Lake Victoria 1t
Is described as distinctly weird
looking bird, having a gaunt. gray
body, long legs, and a head surmount-
ed by little curled tuft and scowl-
ing expression of the eyes," But its
most remarkable popularity is it's
enormous bill, which is shaped like
the head of a whale.
An interesting theory has been ad-
vanced to account for the phenomena
Of the Aurora Borealis, which takes
into account the most recent scientific
contributions Of our knowledge Of the
composition of matter. This theory
attributes the remarkable play of
lights to be due to streams of Thomp-
sons recently y-discovered corpuscles
which are supposed to be emitted
from the sun. AS these approach the
| magnetic field Of the earth says the
Electrical Review, they are detected
toward the poles, and when they FINAL
ly reach level of the air of the prop
er density they give rise to light phe-
nomenon similar to those obtained
with cathode rays in vacuum tubes.
In the Interstate park. near Tay-
lor's Falls, Minnesota, has been dis
covered a singular group of giants
kettles" or pot-holes, covering an area
of two or three acres and ranging in
| diameter from less than foot to 25
| feet, and in depth from one foot to
! "a feet. They have been bored in ex-
ceedingly hard rock. and in many
| eases they are like wells in shape,
the ratio of width to depth varying
from one to ave up to one, to seven.
Mr.. Warren Upham ascribes their or1-
| gin to torrents falling through glacial
'moulins" at the time when the north
ern territory of the United states was
| buried under ice. AS with similar pot
holes elsewhere, rounded boulders are
occasionally found at the bottom Of
the cavities.
The continued experiments Of Prof.
F. E. Nipher, of St. Louis, Mo-, with
positive photography" have produced
some very interesting results. He says
that the plates may be separately
wrapped in black paper at night, or in
a dark room, and all the remaining
work can be done in the light. A
plate is taken from its wrapper in the
light and placed in the slide holder,
and an exposure long one-is
made. After exposure the plate is
taken out in the light again, and
placed in the developing BATH and the
picture is developed, and may be fixed
in the light. The result is a positive.
Fine pictures are thus obtained. While
1t is desirable to shield the plate from
the light as much as possible during
the changes, yet, Prof. Nipher says,
all Of the operations may be carried
on without any darkroom conven-
fences that may not be secured even