Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-05-08
SCIENCE NOTES.
Electricity,

rapid succession of discoveries has
shown that a wire bearing this subtle
influence may be made the instrument
for nearly al human needs, but no
one knows yet what takes place in the
wire OF what electricity really is.
About the year 1870 a new view began
to grow in the minds Of advanced
workers. Great discoveries in phil
osophy are commonly due, not so
much to an expeTimenter, as to
deep penetrating mind almost inspired
with an unerring imagination. Such
was Professor Clerk Maxwell, of Cam
bridge. In his work on electricity pub
Eshed at Oxford in 1873 he forecasts
the operation of ether in transmitting
electricity across space. Professor
) Hertz, of Carlsruhe, disciplined him
| self in Clerk-MaXwell's abstruse trains
of thought and in 1889 justified by
! experiment his teachers clear prophe-
| cies.
Bad Effect of the x-Ray
Kienbock. of Vienna, in experiment.
| ing on pigeons WITH the X-ray found
| that the effects on the skin were not
! immediate, but showed themselves
after several days or weeks. Two
weeks after the last exposure all the
/ feathers Of the back fell out, and later
those of the breast, neck and Uranium.
! The feathers of the wings, side and
rump were only slightly affected.
! The downy feathers and the minute
! hairs of the skin were also lost. A
| fresh crop of feathers began to show
! itself in two days. The remarkable
! thing was that the X-ray was effective
not only where it impinged directly
upon the skin, but also at the place of
! it's exit on the under side of the birds
body. This high degree of penetra-
ton does not obtain in man and
mammalia generally, and is accounted
/ for in birds by the existence of air
| spaces in their anatomy. KienbOck
cautions physicians that severe burns
and ulcers are caused alone by over
exposure, and that the operator can
no longer shield himself behind
supposed idosyncrasy of the patient.
Experiments in Wheat Cultivation.
! The National Association OF Millers
has concluded arrangements with an
agricultural college at Wye, Kent, for
a number of experiments with the
view of improving the strength of Eng
| liSh wheat and bringing il up to the
| standard of some classes of American
wheat For the Investigations to be
| ms 10 u-bn ic hniTC orr m a ri
lege farm in Kent. at two other sta
| lions in Kent. one place in Surrey and
| three places in the eastern counties.
| Special spring wheats are being OBJ
| tanned from Minnesota and Canada and
will be grown at Wye and in Surrey,
Efforts will be made to select and
improve some of the foreign wheats
that are to be grown.
| Fewer Ships.
The total number of ships in the
world grows less as the size increases.
| The British list is shorter than it has
| been during the past half century,
| but its carrying power has increased
| enormously-24,00 100000 tons in 1900 as
against 1S,006,j0O in 1890. While in
! 1890 there were 32,29S British ships
Of 100 tons and over, there were only
28,422 in 1900. But the total tonnage
had increased from II $50 900 to 20
100000 The United Kingdom and the
colonies owned 1901 of those ships,
Of 100000 tons, in 1890, and 1888
of $500, 900, in 1900, or nearly half the
worlds total. In 1890 COS OF British
ships were steamers; in the course OF
10 years the proportion rose to 77.9,
which is considerably above the
worlds average.
Ether Waves.
Let a Leyden jar or condenser be
kept sparkling with an abundant sup
ply of electricity. At some distance
another Leyden jar of identical dimeh-
sions, by suitable arrangement, be-
gins to emit three-inch sparks. The
second system is il exact tune, so
to speak, with the first; sliding bar
enables the tuning to be adjusted.
Twenty years ago an electrician would
have been filled with amazement with
the sight of a Leyden jar, standing in
space, apart from any direct supply
OF electricity, emitting series of long
sparks This is now understood as a
consequence of the new knowledge
which Clerk-Maxwell and Hertz had
the mental foresight to conceive as to
the influence Of ether in electrical
operations.
Where Gas is Explosive.
Coal gas is explosive when mixed
with air in the proportion of one
volume Of gas to 16 of air, this being
the inferior limit at which combus-
ton will take place when the gases
are fired at atmospheric pressure. ANY
between this and one vol
ume of gas to four of air may be
igrited at atmospheric pressure. The
best mixture to use in an engine ia
about 10 to L of gas, though this Is
necessarily subject to variation or
account of the different qualities of
gas produced from Goals of different
grades.