The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1902-10-30
POPULAR SCIENCE.

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Is 1t merely electrified matter. asts
the London Electrician. or is It somo.
thing essentially different from ord,
nary matter and of separate and in.
dependent substance from atomic suh
stances? Are we In the electron. faco
to face with electricity itself as a tblpo
apart from matter chat is, is an eloc.
tron simply an atom of electricity, or
have we therein simply minute, ma.
terial chip of an atom, electrified to an
enormous degree In proportion to its
mass? When these questions are an.
swered they will solve many funda.
mental problems in dynamical science
Inertia may be discovered to he electf.
cal in its essential nature, and even
matter itself may prove to be nothing
but electric whorls.
DIR. Deslandres. of Paris, has applied
\ fertile spectroscopic method to the
determination of the rotation times of
the superior planets. AS the planet 70.
tates one end of its equatorial diameter
moves toward us, the other away from
us. The rotation will produce, instead
Of circular image of the planet in
the spectroscope, an elliptical one DIR
Deslandres uses q spectroscope of mod
crate dispersion with a wide slit and
therefore employs a great part of the
light of the planet. The method has
been applied TO Uranus, regarding
whose rotation little is known, and the
observations show that the rotation is
retrograde, as was to be expected. Its
velocity will be determined by later
observations. The velocity of Jup.
ter's rotation agrees with the results
from observation by other methods.
The possibility of melting carbon and
maintaining it in the liquid condition
has been demonstrated by Dr. A. Lud
wig. The heating was effected under
great pressure in the electric furnace
and a curious phenomenon noticed at
1900 atmospheres was very brief fail
ure of the electric arc, the current re.
fusing to pass, even when the voltage
was much increased. 1t is supposed
that as the carbon passed into the
liquid and transparent state it assumed
rare allotropic form. becoming non.
conductor. The experiment was too
brief for a study of this condition, but
was made to include a sudden cooling
of the molten carbon by flooding with
water of the interior of the pressure
vessel. Though minute diamonds were
recognized in the gray powder thus OBJ.
tained, the result was not wholly salts,
factory
Sir Joseph Hooker. the famous bot
anist and director of Kew Gardens,
has devised an ingenious and useful
new pocket micrometer. BY the sim.
pie adjustment of a scale TO one arm
of the micrometer the length of an oh.
ject is recorded up to a fraction, and
can be read off at leisure. One side of
the scale is graduated to inches, the
other to millimeters. For microscopic
work there is obviously great advan.
tage in the use of such an instrument
MS measurement can be made with.
out moving the specimen or removing
of the arm of the micrometer is exactly
four inches, and this is graduated to
tenths of inches and can therefore be
used for larger measurements. The
instrument, says Nature, from which
the foregoing description is taken, is
small and handy, and can be easily
carried in the waistcoat pocket.
A dispatch from Geneva to the Lon.
don Chronicle says: A Swiss amateur
photographer NJ. Adolphe Gartner, re.
siding at Berne, has, 1t is said. discov.
cred the secret Of color photography
after a number of years of expert.
ments. The inventor takes his photo.
graphs on glass, porcelain and paper,
and In any color the best results, how.
ever, being obtained from blue red and
yellow. His productions on glass are
veritable pictures, being true to nature
in every detail. Even the shades of
coloring in rose are easily distin.
guished in the photograph. The photo.
graph of a landscape, viewed from a
distance, resembles n painting. Some
of the bolder colors give better results
than the quieter ones, and M. Gartner
is at present occupied in remedying
this partial defect. The secret lies in
the bath and in the developing pro.
cess, for the photos, it is stated. are
taken with an ordinary camera. Many
Continental firms are taking a great in.
terest in the discovery.