The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1903-06-13
Correspondence Baltimore County Union.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

Correspondence Baltimore County Union.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
A Parrot at School-A Unique Star In
Ursa Major-Forgotten Planets-A King
of Comets Tails-Ozone Therapeutics
The Best Rudder-LaboratoryR esur-
rection-A Great Dust Storm-Man's
Original Home.
The lesson in associating ideas that Pierre
Hachet Souplet has taught parrot opens wide
vista of possibilities in animal instruction Pol
~ was brought daily into the laboratory, ana
soon learned to name cupboard" and lad
der'' and to say s'climb" when her master went
up ladder. The reward Of correctness was
the opening of the cupboard to allow the bird
to help herself to hempseed therein. One day,
when Polly was brought in, the cupboard was
near the ceiling and the ladder stood with other
articles in a corner, the purpose being to test
her ability to put together the words she knew.
The experiment was failure. The next day
Polly, in furious temper, struggled to break
from her cage, but at last espied the CUPBOARD
near the ceiling, when she instantly exclaimed,
er-climb-cupboard." This remarkable
sentence-making was promptly rewarded.
~
A new variable star which has been under OBJ
bGTVdIlOu dD Ju0 fOcJudu ODcCINdOONy AOA AANAO
than a year, proves to be of extraordinary in
terest on account of its short PERIOD its cycle Of
light changes being completed in hours-more
than hours less than that of any other known
star. The magnitude varies from S.5S to 10, and
it is supposed that the changes must be due to
the revolution Of two bright bodies at short dis
lance around their centre of gravity.
-.
Some of the 500 asteroids 80 laboriously found
within the last century are liable to become
lost. Prof. E. c. Pickering points out that 6S
of them have not been observed within five
years, while about 25 have escaped notice for
ven SoUHfrUy ufiefr 0rDfts are Dut
imperfectly known, there is risk that when next
seen these little planetary companions will not
be recognized.
Recent observers have found that plumb lines
Cor accurate work should be of copper on bronze.
A steel wire in deep shaft was slightly defec-
ted by the earth magnetism.
-
Comets shed portion of their tails, Prof.
Lewis Swift tells us, and, as they have been do
ing this since creation, the probable result is a
ring of nebulous matter surrounding the earth
and possibly extending to Neptune's orbit. Re
Election Of sunlight from these cast-off tails of
comets is Prof. Swift's explanation of the zodi-
acal light. This light. which is just beginning to
attract the serious attention of astronomers, is
faint glow seen in the west after sunset and
In the east before sunrise, and it takes the form
of a cone % degrees wide at the base and often
extending nearly TO the zenith. While in some
countries or places 1t is seen only in spring and
autumn, in the west in the former season and
In the east in the latter, it is visible through
out the year from the Lowe Observatory in
southern California. Even more mysterious is
the Gegenschein, family shining circle in the
midnight sky exactly opposite the sun, and
sometimes Joined to the zodiacal cones by broad
bands of scarcely peceptible light. While max
ing his guess, Prof. Swift doubts whether the
cause of these phenomena will ever be proven.
~
Ozonizing apparatus, for vitalizing the atmos-
phere Of the sick-chamber, may become a ne
cessary part of the physicians outfit. DIR. ]. E.
s. Barnes, an English medical man, reports
having used the ozonizer in severe case of
pneumonia complicated with pleurisy, and the
result was an immediate and important change
in the air of the room, which was followed by
rapid improvement of the patients condition.
Ozonizers are being used also for lettering the
air of factories.
The shape of the rudder of a vessel seems to
be of more Importance than has been generally
supposed. Experiments in Scotland by ]. Eos
ter King indicate that the rectangular form has
decided adva ntages, as it presents large sur
face at the load line under all conditions and
requires smaller stock and working gear than
curved shapes. With sufficient area, the mar
row blade is as effective as the broad one while
it can be set more rapidly.
-
The 60 mastodons found in New York have
been along well-marked belts, the feeding places
having been old river banks.
-.
The Russian feat of terminating the heart of
The heart Is not the delicate organ generally
supposed. and for a long time psychologists have
understood the possibility that it could be re-
stored to action, the effect being of shorter du-
ration in the human heart than in that of lower
animals. A current of arterial blood, or a So
luton of salt charged with oxygen, is a common
means of restoring the beating to dead hearts.
BY massage, the exposed heart being rythmical-
" rubbed with the right hand, Prof. Prus. of
Lemberg, has succeeded in terminating So hearts
out of 100; and by combining massage with
electrization. M. Batelli, of Geneva, has re-
vived dead dogs and kept them alive as much as
twenty-four hours. Human beings have been
revived by the latter method though only for a
short time
"a
dust fall of February has been traced over
"a counties in England, s in Wales and in Ire
land, and it has been reported from numerous
places on the Continent. The dust overspread
the land like smoke, while near SOUTHAMPTON
the cloud was 80 dense that person could not
see to read at noon. Like the falls of 1901 and
l9O2, the dust is supposed to be of desert origin
probably from Northern Africa, and does not
appear to be volcanic.
-
The cradle of the human race is still being
sought. The widely accepted theory of Max
Muller, based on language, teaches that mans
early home was in India but some ethmolo-
gists are now inclined to agree with Prof. Hirt
that the Aryans first lived in the territory north
of the Carpathian Mountains, near the boun-
dairy line between Austria Hungary and Russia
now occupied by Let's and Lithuanians.
80
In his latest researches, Prof. Curie has found
that radium keeps its own temperature at 1.5oC.
above that of the atmosphere. This paradox
cal substance emits more than enough heat to
melt its own weight of ice, yet there is no COM
bustion, nor chemical nor molecular change.