Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1903-09-17
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A new French life preserver Is
belt filled with calcium carbide. IL IS
quickly inflated by acetylene on being
wet.
Great mountains on Venus are sup
posed discovery of Herr Arendt, OF
Posen. These elevations appear to pro-
feet through the clouds from time 10
time. and the observations thus far
made tend to prove rapid rotation III
about twentyfour hours.
The magnetic pole in Northwestern
America is supposed to have shifted
considerably since its discovery by
Ross in 1881. Taking with him seven
companions In small schooner,
Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer,
expects TO make observations on the
present site Of this pole from 1893 to
1895.
Adding fine sulphur to the dissolved
material. then heating, preferably with
pressure, is found by Isidor k1tsee to
more than double the resistance OF eel
lulose as an insulator for electric
wires. Flexibillty varies with the per-
centage of sulphur, and resistance to
acids and moisture Is increased.
In the Smithsonian report on scien-
tiflc work for 1902 Prof. Langley re-
marks that when the bolometer was
invented, some twenty years ago. 1t
was able to measure temperature to
about one-one- hundred housandth Of
degree. Since then the instrument and
Its adjuncts have been SO far improved
that temperature can now be meas
ured to less than one-one- hundred mil
lionth of degree readily and with
precision.
The Italian government Is awaking
to the necessity of protecting what re-
mains of its forests and to replanting
devastated areas. The most valuable
tree Is the cork tree, which now
abounds most In Sicily and Sardinia,
the cork forests Of Calabria having
been almost wholly destroyed for char
coal. The present use Of vast quaint
ties of cork in the manufacture Of
linoleum and for shipbuilding empha-
sizes the Importance Of preserving and
extending the cork forests. Spain also
possesses great cork forests, and few
years ago the expectation Of wine bot
tie corks from that country amounted
in value to $5,OO0,OOO.
The weights Of LIB human brains
have been collected by NJ. Marchand.
Of Marbourg. At birth the average
weight Is found to be 0.S ounces in
boys and 9.5 ounces in girls at the
age Of one year, 2 pounds 1.5 ounces
and l pound 11.5 ounces, respectively;
and at the end of three years the
weight has trebled. Increase Is then
slow. Full growth Is attained at nine
teen to twenty years In men and six
teen to eighteen In women, the mean
adult weight being pounds 1 ounce
In males and 2 pounds 10 ounces In
females. Loss by senile atrophy be-
gins in man at about forty-eight years
and in women at about seventy. Tur-
geneff. the Russian author, had one Of
the heaviest brains on record, weigh
ing A. pounds; and Gambetta's,
scarcely 90 pounds. was one Of the
llghtest.
The first butterfly farm" Is said to
have been established only a year or
two ago by the English entomologist,
William Watkins, at Eastbourne, but
already several similar farms have
come into existence in France. The
object Is to rear rare genera Of the
Bombycidae, the silkworm family.
They have, by crossing obtained some
new varieties, which are sought after
by museums Of natural history. They
are also endeavoring to acclimate in
France species Of silkworms indigen-
GUS to other countries. The farms con-
tain oaks, ailanthus trees, pines, plum
trees, castor oil plants and other
plants the leaves Of which serve as
food for the caterpillars. CocoOns
are Matched on branches protected by
gauze, and. for the sake of uniform
temperature. the insects are often kept
In room until after the first molting.
when they are placed on bushes In the
open air. and protected from birds
by coverings Of muslin or tulle.