The Saint Paul globe., 1902-02-22
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

The electrograph of Prof Lancetta Is
now now at work in several Italian observa-
tories. 1t consists of an elevated wire
or antenna connected to earth throuen
coherer, which is affected by electric
disturbances in the air, and acts upon
d recording apparatus. A lightning flash.
Ior example, causes the coherer to ring
pell and make a pencil mark upon n
revolVlng clock DIAL With an antenna
10y AeeI nigh on an elevation without
surrounding obstacles, a thunder storm
can be detected more than sixtv miles
away, ana the apparatus is expected to
90 valuable service in signaling the hail
storms so much dreaded by Italian vina
growers.
For producing low temperatures down
to 60 degrees below zero M D. Arson
val recommends chloride of methyl evap-
Grated in porous case. To reach liz
or ll5 degrees below zero, liquid carbonic
aclo or acetylene may be used and may
De conveniently dissolved in acetone Iia-
ilid ARR offers the best means of obtain
ing greater cold. This should be SLOWLY
dropped from a silvered glass flask
through a rubber tube into a quart ues-
sci of silvered glass with double walls.
the vessel being placed in a bath Of
gasoline. A little more than an ounce of
liquid air sffices for giving 1874 degrees
below zero for an hour
While smokeless powder has been ex-
pected to give battle scenes in the fu-
ture greatly changed appearance,
new German shell is intended to reverse
tnem. The powder charge of this pro-
Jectile contains amorphous phosphorus.
ana when the shell bursts it emits a
thick white smoke that shows the gun
ner even at great distance how ac-
curate has been his aim The smoke
also tends to obstruct the enemy's view.
Australian bluegum timber has been
CHOSEN by British engineers for harbor
works because it will sink if washed
away, and will not endanger shipping. 4
A remarkable dependence of certain
plants upon others of different kind seems
70 nave been discovered by M Noel Rer
nard, a French botanist. The orchids
produce many seeds, some of them mil
hons TO the single plant, yet they are
very rare plants, and it was long suppos-
ed to be impossible to grow them in any
way except by transplanting the bulbs
success with the seeds was at last reacn-
ed by sowing them in soil that had con-
tanned the adult plant From his in
vesugation M. Bernard concludes that
the seeds germinate only after they have
oeen penetrated by a certain species of
fungus, and that infection of the soil.
which would result from the roots of the
older plants, is necessary for the cultiva-
tlon of the young plants
mysterious dark bodies have been seen
occasionally to cross the suns disc An
English astronomer has collected accurate
dates of nine of these transits the earli-
est being June s, 1761, and he finds that
these dates indicate the existence of two
unknown planets within the earth's orbit.
with periods of about TIA and 20 days re-
Specuyely. One of these bodies must be
nearer the sun than Mercury, with a
mean distance of about 13,009 900 miles
The other IS calculated to revolve be-
tween Mercury and Venus, at a distance
of about 51,000,0 600 miles, and should have
diameter of LOO to 1000 miles. At its
most favorable position for observation
it would appear as a third magnitude
star, 80 degrees from the sun
The protective vest of Jan Szcenkanik
the Polish schoolmaster inventor, is most
remarkable as a product of the weaver's
art The fabric is undyed silk, about as
thick as the material of winter over
coat and it is claimed that the extraor-
dinary thread combination gradually
worked out by weaving experiments, give
the elastic fiber the cohesion and resist
ence that make it proof against dagger
thrustS and revolver bullets fired at short
range. The silk. vest fully covering the
breast, weighs about three pounds.
A horn piercing the skull four and one
half inches was found on a nearly par
alyzed wild bullock lately shot in Aus
tralia.
There are cases of thought transfer and
like effects that puzzle even scientific stu
dents. In recent lecture, Sir Thomas
Lauder Brunton pointed out = at par
tfcular senses in some persons are ex-
tremely sensitive, and showed that slight
impressions may sometimes transfer
thought, and that impressions made upon
one sense may affect sNother. Unsound
senses also may account for much Wis
feet in the eye, and voices have been
heard through some defect in the ear, and
it is possible that some defect in the
nerve going from the eye to the brain
may cause hallucinations. But there are
other phenomena, impossible to explain at
present, that Sir Thomas suggests may
foreshadow the discovery of brain waves
similar to the waves in Marconi's wireless
telegraphy.
Electricity, aided by chemical action, is
looked upon by M. I. Skvortzow as the
chief Inolder of the earth, instead Of heat |
The earth's heat, which has increased in |
Importance as the earth has taken more |
material form, is attributed to electric |
currents which circulate near the sur |
face, the earth's interior being possibly |
as cold as the greatest depths of the |
ocean. Changes in the aspect of the |
earth, as well as meteorological phenom- /
ena, are supposed to be due to electric |
currents induced by solar influence. The !
temperatures of different planets depend |
less on their distance from the sun than
on their reserve of energy and on the |
currents induced by sun through their ak
ial and orbital motions.
Common salt, snuffed up the nose in
doses of four grains, has been reported
by DR.. George Leslie to have remark
able effects upon the nerves of .Ae face |
In thirty or forty cases of toothache,
facial and other neuralgia, the pain dis |
appeared almost instantly, and only two |
cases failed to yield to the treatment.
Sunfiower pith proves to have a specific |
gravity Of only OOPS, while that of elder
pith-hitherto thought the lightest solid
is 009 and that of cork is 024