Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1903-06-19
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Prof. J. R. Green, president of the
botanical section of the British AS
sociation, in his address at Belfast re-
marked that we are face to face with
the possibility of treating some of the
diseases Of plants in way similar to
that in which animals are rendered
immune to attacks of illness. He cited
the recent experiments of Beauveri,
who allowed cuttings of begonia to
grow in earth impregnated with
species of fungus which is an atten-
uated form Of the Botrytis clnerea,
destructive parasite of plants. After
impregnation the begonia plants were
subjected to attack by the parasite,
and resisted it perfectly. Similar re-
suits have been obtained by Prof.
Marshall Ward.
There are still mysteries connected
with the trade and antitrade winds
which A. L. Rotch, Of the Blue Hill
Observatory, thinks can best be solved
by sending up exploring kites, with
self-recording instruments, from a
steamer navigating between the Azores
and Ascension Island. One Of the
puZzling facts to be investigated is
that the behavior of volcanic dust and
clouds shows strong easterly wind
blowing above the equator, which
wind suddenly shifts at about twenty
degrees north and south latitude to
southwest and west. This is not in
accord with the generally accepted
hypothesis Of the movements of the
antitrade winds, and Mr.. Rotch thinks
an important discovery may be made.
The aurora borealis is initiated on a
small scale by Prof. w. Ramsay, whose
experiment has been exhibited to the
London Royal Society. A powerful
electro o-magnate, placed vertically, has
pole pieces extending horizontally from
both the upper and lower ends, and
between these pole pieces Is an ex-
hausted glass globe containing in its
upper part metallic ring. A power
full alternating current passed through
this ring produces an annular glow
discharge. On passing current
through the coils of the magnate, the
glow discharge is detected downward,
producing streamers closely resem-
bling those Of the sky, and highly
rarefied air in the globe gave the lines
of krypton that appear in the spec
trum of the aurora.
An attempt is being made by the
Academy Of Sciences of Vienna to
turn the phonograph to account as an
important registering instrument for
science. One intended application is
in the study Of various languages and
dialects which are now in the course
of development or Of extinction. Three
scientific expeditions recently sent out
by the academy have been equipped
with specially designed monographs
intended for the investigation of Ian
guages, and other phenomena depend
ing upon sound-waves. In order to
secure permanent records the academy
has devised method of metal-plating
the wax records so that they will
serve as phonotypes from which fresh
wax plates may be cast at any time.
Similar efforts to utilize the phono-
graph for scientific purposes have been
made elsewhere, but the Vienna
scheme is on a larger scale.
Prof. e. L. Nichols and G. F.. Hull
of Cornell University, have obtained a
very accurate reproduction of
comets tail while experimenting with
the pressure Of light upon floating par
ticles of extreme minuteness. A
powder consisting of emery and the
spores of puffballs was put in va
cuum tube from which the air was
exhausted as completely as possible.
When the rays from an arc-light were
concentrated upon the powder the
lighter particles were seen to be blown
out as If repelled by the light, pre-
senting a striking resemblance to a
comets tail. According to Arrhenius
and others, this is analogous to the
way III which the sun actually pro-
duces the tails of comets. The ex-
perimenters found that the effect upon
the powder was of the same order of
magnitude as would be expected from
the value of the pressure Of light de.
Quoted by them from other expert
ments.