The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1903-03-26
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Tho smallest bone in the human body
:. IN the lenticular, seated in the hui
man ear.
Tho ants of South America have been
,,o,,n TO construct q tunnel three
miles in length.
Poisoning by sailed raw fish is SO
froouent and little understood that
nrizes Of $500, $1,000 and $500 have
bopn offered in Russia for papers indi-
eating the signs, character and action
~ the poison, with methods of prevent
ing its formation and antidOtes.
An article in the Electrical Review
discusses the size Of an atom Of hydro
geu. and arrives at the conclusion that
These particles Of matter are 30 small
that it would take 115 100000 Of them,
laid In a line, to extend distance OF
one centimeter-that is, an atom Is
about one-third of billionth Of an inch
In size.
The term Indian summer became es-
tablished about twenty years after its
first appearance, which was In Western
Pennsylvania, and spread to New Eng
land by 1898, to New York by 1893, to
Canada by 1921 and to England by
1890. The term is, then, not an Ameri-
canism; to write In praise Of Indian
summer is now a literary convention Of
three continents.
An estimate of the water-power used
for generating electricity has been
made by a German engineer. Ger
many and Austria thus utilize 10000
horse power. Switzerland about $780,
600, Sweden 100000 and the United
States 100000. The total available pow
er in Sweden Is placed at 100000
horse power, that Of France at 10000
900, that Of Germany, Austria, Switzer-
land and Italy together at 10,OOO,OOO,
while in the United States, Niagara
alone could furnish 100000.
Gustave lie Bon, who has made many
experiments with cathode rays, X-rays
and the various forms of radio-activity,
and whose investigations Of such sub
jects are well known, expresses, in the
Revue Scientifique, the opinion that all
these phenomena are particular aspects
Of a new form Of energy which, al
though it's manifestations have but re-
Gently been recognized, is as common
In nature as electricity or heat. He
also thinks that closer study along
these lines may reveal to us a connect
ing link between matter and energy.
A scientific examination Of the oil
deposits in the great coast prairie ex-
tending from Louisiana through Texas
to Mexico, distance Of several hun
dred miles, has recently been made by
Prof. r. T. Hill, who describes his re-
suits In the Journal Of the Franklin
Institute. The oil was first struck in
1901 by a drill hole driven LOO feet
deep, through clay and Quicksand. More
than 200 wells are now in operation,
more than 1900 feet. Sometimes hot
water is struck below the oil, and some
times the oil itself is hot. The deeper
1t is found the more salt the water is.
How high do birds fly? This is still
an unsettled question in ornithology,
and recently the German Pathological
Society requested aeronauts engaged In
meteorological exploration, with the
aid Of balloons, to observe the various
heights at which birds are found. 1t
Is not to satisfy mere curiosity that
the information is desired. for the ques-
ton Of the elevation Of the tracks pur-
sued by birds when migrating has an
important bearing upon other scientific
problems concerning the feathered in
habitants of the air. At present 1t is
believed that birds generally do not rise
more than about 1900 feet above the
ground, although occasionally they at
tain an elevation of between 5000 and
1000 feet.