The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1902-03-13
ElaNwScience7
|Nsez1aiveSStion

AS the ice grows colder it gets hard
er and more brittle. There can be no
hickory bend on skating pond on
zero day, for the ice then is too brittle.
Slivers of ice dipped into liquid air be-
come so hard that they will cut glass.
Water thrown on ice in the Arctic re-
gions will shiver it like pouring boiling
water upon cold glass. This is because
the ice Is so much colder than the
water.
According to the Lancet the essential
oil which forms the basis Of all per-
fumes is powerful antiseptic, and
possesses disinfecting properties equal
to those Of carbOlic acid. For this rea
son a scented handkerchief may not
only please the sense Of smell, but
prove guard against infection, and
1t Is suggested that this fact may tend
to reconcile those who do not like per-
fumes to their free use by those who
do like them.
The new light-ship for Diamond
electric apparatus designed to send
perpendicular pillar Of light high into
the sky directly over the vessel. 1t is
hoped that this light may be visible
from the decks Of ships thirty or forty
miles away at sea, whereas the mast
miles away. If this form Of beacon
proves successful, 1t will be adopted
for other signal-stations.
Ice will cool down with everything
else on a cold night to zero or below.
What should prevent it? On a day
when it is just freezing block Of iron,
block of ice, outdoors will stay at
thirty-two degrees. If the weather
grows warmer the iron will warm up
with the weather, but the ice will stay
at thirty-two degrees and melt away.
But If the weather grows colder the
iron and the ice will cool off. and one
just as much as the other.
The bee lives by its tongue, with
which organ it is able to extract the
honey from flowers. Now, a bees
tongue is naturally about a twenty-fifth
of an inch long. Clever bee-keepers, by
keeping only those bees with naturally
long tongues, have succeeded in length.
ening the tongues Of number Of bee
colonies to the extent of another hun
dredth of an inch. It does not sound
much, but it enables those insects to
do quarter as much work again in
the same time
In the opinion Of William l.. Hall Of
the Division of Forestry, the time has
come for an extensive development of
forest plantations in the Middle West.
1t is now known that the area for prof
liable tree-planting is much larger
than, 10 years ago, 1t was thought to
be. The demand for timber has also
increased, owing to the rapid diminu-
ton Of the supply Of natural timber in
the Mississippi valley. Mr.. Hall be-
lieves that 100000 acres Of timber. an
nually planted, would be inadequate to
meet the demand.
The biOscope Is proving itself to be
an instrument Of some value in scien-
tific investigation. At Harvard Uni
versity Professor Richards and Mr..
Archibald have made series of instan-
taneous acknowledgements of growing
crystals, their object being to deter
mine the manner in which crystalliza-
ton begins. With high microscopic
powers some observers have thought
that they could detect the formation
Of minute globules Immediately preced-
ing the appearance Of crystal forms.
But the new bioscopic pictures Of form
Ing and growing crystals show only
crystalline shapes from the beginning.
They also reveal the fact that the
growth in diameter In the first second
of crystals existence is vastly more
rapid than during the subsequent
period, and it is thought that this
swift growth at the start is the cause
Of lack Of definition which deceives
the eyes, but not the Photographic film.