The sun., 1901-06-02
EVOLUTION op rHF THERMOMETER

EVOLUTION oP THF THERMOMETER
Tho tncts relating TO tho early history Of
tho thermometer are rivcn in a recent book
hy Dr Bolton Of the Smithsonian lnstitu-
ton II appears that Galileo in 1885 speaks
~ wa.er thermometer that was used by
him IN public lectures a. early as 1885,? Sane
tor.ps. a colleague Of Calico. f'Ned two points
Of reference on the tube. the temperature
Of snow and IN" heat Of p candle, and divided
the range be'v o"u them into degrees Tho
first thermometer with a sealed tube vas
made nv Ferdiuard H.. Grand Duke Of Tus-
canv Some time prior 10 iPJi one OF his
thermorneters IL now IN the Caveudsh Lab
uraturv 81 Cambridge, England About
the same time lloofe. In England constructed
thermometers about four feet long hiled
With winter The freezing point Of water
was taken "a IA zero point. and the range
between summer and winter temperature
lust about used M the length OF tho long
tube The Ne ~ the boiling point ot water
for an upper standard temperature was
suggested hy Carlo Eeulldiul IN 1894 Sir
Isaac Newton used llus"ed oil in the tube
instead Of water The temperature Of melt
Ing ice he called - and that OF the human
body VA lg' on hi- scale
The rr-t trustworthy thermometers fillAd
win quicksilver were not made until the
time Of Fahrenheit in l7li who marked tho
temperature Of melting lc" aS 20 and the Mp
p"r standard p Int of hi1 seal" was o., which
lN called IN" temperature OF tne huIhHn
body The point 2i.' was observed To agree
with tho temperature Of boiling water and
tho division uf the scale into $50 degrees
between 3.' and 2l2' was really quite acct
dental Tho recent history OF thermpme-
ter scales lRcaumer, Celsius or tentigradel
/, well known. hut the facts brought out by
Dr Bottoms history are new
Snow CRYSTALS
Mr. Bentley Of Nashville VT has made a
very extensive collection Of microscopic
slides Of snow cyrstals Perfect crystals are
by no means always common in snowstorms.
A whole winter may not yield more than a
dozen opportunities to photograph complete
md perfect crystals. These ara most COM
mon in widespread hli27ards. while local
storms often ppoduca imperfect granular
forms II l. very possible that III" cheracter
and cytcnt Of n storm may. eventually. be
uredirtad nv an examination OF the snow,
ond That n new MD In weather prediction IS
~ hnrl Astudv ~ such photographs j. there
fore vcrv desirable and IN this work every one
r9r aid who ha, the time ana incNltiHS Tor
collecting and photographng snow crystals
All result. Of Importance should he COM
municatet 10 tho United States Weather
Bureau at Washington
THE VIZ ,rHER SERVICE or rHE PHILIPPINES.
The Jesuit fathers of Manila have main
tanned a meteorological observatory for many
wears Since 1894 Father Alguh has made
spccial study Of the typhoon- of tho region.
His extensive report on the subject Il now
in course NJ publication ns a Congressional
document DS"nnt" nocuyrnt No US ,fu,tyoo u,toygoo
n phlippiur Weather Service dndepAndeut
Of the United states Weather bureau Tor
the presout wns organized and y - now IN
onar,,ion Some twoutv tclcrrnphic stations
nro eulupped and ~ c"rrc-pondsnce with
the central office AZ Manila. Ih" storm warn
IN - glrsady issued have been very vaManie
4. .tr,v,f md To "a
Orr navy
TIVE RADfo-ACrIviTT or MATTER.
" Henri Bccuusrel of Paris has recently
delivered lecture In Paris describing the
re.ulf. oi his latest experiments on the new
nropertv ~ matter which Is called radio
cetiyity Radiations Of phosphorescent sub
.tonce. have long been known Thcy ara
due to excitations previously received from
rays Of light and are. in effect trnnsforma-
tInp Of the energy received Some phosphor-
o-ce-t ruhstanccs continue To give out light
,orty-pight hours after the erciting cAus" has
cea-ad ac'ion t~Ilphst" Of calcium, for
eyamplnl while others persist for very short
times only
Ths rhenomens studied by NJ Bocquer.i
are very different. lie found, IA early a.
,sos that there were certain substances
"a hlth. IN tho lp'ul EbS'N'" ~ All KNOWN
e,"i,,tinn. gave out hEht steadily and with
"A crL-taut intensity Tn" rays from such
Go.E,s uranium. fpr "Nlnpl"i When they
tray,ra. ga-rs make them conductors Of
oi',fri.ttv The TOW IINS can be studied
cis.trtrlllv pr hv Photography
IN su. MIR aud Nm" turie discovered
other sub.tanco- having like properties
ub,riuru for example,, and hv new ethods
.yitr,tad from r'Chhlcnde two now sub
STANCES lpol"nnrl and radium which are
scyornl thousand times more aotyo than
ur,unlrn Tic emitted rays excite phos-
rt,,n-.nc. In other bodies. disoolor glass
n,d yIys hack 70 haa'sd fuor--par and glass
tLn pyoporty ~ becoming phos phorescent
nhsn heated The salts Of rldium arc spOn
tsraou-ly luminous. J. h" process of extract
IT,. raIiIm IL -p difficult that ia price Is very
Iiyh An ounc. of radium IL worth $3.50, 900
1ho radio-actiyity oi this auhstano. II
,oi slnlplo hut compound. IL sends ou. a
IN thnt'is stopped by glass and ALSO "A rada-
nnu that tmvrTscs glass and metals The
latter radiation y itef COMPOUND. Part II
~ rnn hr de-, hated by n ma Ruet. while another
r,rt cannot be- 80 deviRtrd, The rays that
r,n hn dry IAtsd by a magnet arc attracted
by bpdln, charged with positive electricity
AID brfivc a. II they we're thomscve, com
In.,d of masses charged negatively. moving
vIth zr.at yelocitirA. Experiment. have
.LoWu that the velocity Is about half the
,,In,ltv of lIght The masses moving are
.,tr.maly small lt may be said that from
"A .,.Irr. C.ntImctre OF tile surfac. Of radIlm
tbrrr IL a constant fiux oi matter who's. tot.d
Nr.Lht at the end Of billion years would be
no moro than a milligram! Yet the actiuy IL
thu. escapingp IL u not similar To the escape
OF odorferous particles from musk, Expert
msnt. prove this, but have not yet gone far
snouxh TO give the real explanation.