Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1903-06-03
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

correct it. In one OF RoSsettiS pictures,
containing sun dial, the figure is put
duo east instead of south of the stylus.
A story is told of a modern artist who
through his excessive devotion to de-
tail and accuracy made curious mis-
take. He painted picture of some soap
bubbles. and on each bubble was q
black cross. He was asked about the
cross, and replied that all bubbles had
the cross. When the experiment was
tried, however, no cross appeared.
Much puzzled, the artist returned to
his studio, and upon blowing bubbles
here found that every one showed the
curious cross. He was much surprised
when it was explained to him that the
"holy symbol was simply the reflec-
tion of the crossbar in his skylight
Franz, the German astronomer, pub
lished two years ago an exhaustive
treatise on "The Mountains and Cra-
ters Of the Moon" In this work the
latitude and longitude OF each noun
tam and crater were worked out, and
since that time his bsel has been used
in all the observatories of the world
as the standard. Professor Pickering,
of Harvard, has been at work recently
on new atlas of the moon and dis
covered that no account has been taken
heretofore of the altitude of the
craters. He has discovered that the lat
itude and longitude measurements Of
each are greatly affected by the height.
All previous measurements used in the
study of the moon by astronomers will
have to be corrected by the new series
of tables, upon which Professor Pick
ering is still at work.
Ever since Professor Tyndall first
discovered the movement of glaciers,
attempts have been made by scientists
to ascertain the exact depths of these
natural phenomena by boring. Their
efforts, however, have not been attend
ed with very conspicuous success, ow-
ing to mechanical difficulties that have
been encountered. But Professors
Blumcke and Hess from Bavaria, who
are well known for their studies of
glaciers, have succeeded in boring
through the Hintereis glacier in the
Otzthal Alps, and found the ice to be
153 meters deep. The machine used for
boring was driven by hand, and some
what resembled that usually employed
for experimental boring in mines, bue
was fitted with special arrangements
for washing out fragments of ice form
the bore hole to prevent their freezing
together again. The expenses of the in
vesugation, which is of incalculable
benefit to science, were betrayed by the
German and Austrian Alpine clubs.
The Temple-Swift comet, which was
among those expected in 1902, did not
pass perihelion until the end of Jan
uary, 1903, so that it belongs to this
years flock. The most remarkable Of
the 1903 comets is the one discovered
by NJ. Faye in 1S43. 1t was last OBJ
served by M. Javelle at Nice in Sep
temtTr, 1895, nearly six months before
passing its perihelion. D'Arrests's pc
riodtcay comet is due this year. 1t was
last observed in 1897, its perihelon
date being May 21. A comet discovered
by DR.. Spitaler at Vienna in 1890 is
also due in 1903. Two comets, one dis
covered by Professor Perrne at Mount
Hamilton in February, 1896, and the
other by M. Giacobini at Nice in Sep
tember of the same year, may be back
this year, although their orbits are not
very accurately known. Another comet
which should appear this year is that
discovered by Mr. Brooks at the Smith
Observatory, Geneva, N. Y, in July,
1889. 1t was last observed in the sum-
nf lie
covered by Pons in 1919, is due late in
1903 or early in the following year
In one of his interesting notes in
Nature, w. f. Denning gives an alb
stract of the history of the famous red
spot of Jupiter. He tells us that ac-
celeration of the movement apparent
in this spot has been noticed for some
time past During last summer the
movement was especially intensified.
The rotation period for % years Of
the spot had shown an increasing re-
tardation, the period lengthening from
hours, 55 minutes, "a seconds to near
0 hours, 55 minutes. AZ seconds. Then,
in 1891, it declined by one second, and
in the present year its period is 8 hours,
55 minutes, 39 1-2 seconds. What is
highly interesting to astronomers is
the concurrent development of a big
marking, irregular in shape and of a
dusky hue in the same area of the
planet Mr. Denning suggests that this
second marking may have exerted an
influence on the rate of motion of the
red spot, which, in the present year, ap-
peared to be environed by the new spot.
The recounting of these and other de-
tails shows us the difficulties which at
tend the observation of a planet like
Jupiter We are also taught thereby
the need for the accumulation of ac-
curate details, from the mass of which
the astronomy of the future may be en-
abled to draw trustworthy conclusions
concerning the history of the orb.