The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-06
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY
CHANGE on THE MOONLIGHT
 LOST TRoM GLOBES. z
Tie Diviuing Rod Mystery-A stEreexings, Salt- Finger Print Tdentihcatiun- How Radium <
 is obtained--Electrically
 Dried Peat. 7'.

k <f --N s4...s ..i Z. Merchandising evidence proves that the. moon is not the changeless body usually supposed Crater Lime. .charted, early in the last txcentury as a deep crater four or live miles across. now appears as q. white spot of varying size. Pickering +supposes ft to contain . frost deposit. which is partially melted during the lunar fore noon and again condensed as the day. wanes Hyginus N, near the. centre of the disc, was not mapped until 1Ss7, but 7las been a conspicuous object since then. Numerous cfaters contain variahle dark spote TThese darkens soon after sunrise, ina variable way, and fade toward sun set, and the belief seems to be strength ening that they represent some kind of vegetation. It is suggested that sufficient water vapor and carbonic acid gas to support vegetation may be emitted from the small crateriets and cracks in the surface.
 Tn a recent test of the loss of light due to globes. a naked Ncrnst lamp was com lamp variously Shielded. With a holo. pfane globe the loss of light was III per cent; prissnAtice glass, fs6: rose holophane, 2o:s; white opal, 5s.2; yellow opal. 5s.7; ruhy opal, 6k2; rose opal (groovedD, s722; rose opal QiehO. S5.s. and with green opal. Ciiehtl, TBS With amber chimneys tiles loss was n .s-per cent. white opal. 3s,7; and light blue. 54.s. &
 A Glasgow museum Is forming an i'm. portant collection of railway material. in- tended to cover the period from the time when the Romans brought over the sys- tenn of stone roads. Between sixty and seventy different exhibits will be included.
 The sense. of smell in the snail has been found by Emile Yung to be limited. as a rule, to distance of about an inch. rsi
 The mysterious working of the divinins ar dowsing rod has been made a psycho- logical, problem by Prof. W. F. Barrett an English. sinveetigaxor. He finds that the slight involuntary, and unconscious movemerts 50 marked, in some persons, and 60, strikinGiy shown by the dcwsins rod, can be cultivated, but that 1t is abs surd te attribute, the motion of, the rod Co special stimulus from the presence of underground water. He believes tho success of many ,dowsers may be explain cd by a trained keenness in detecting sur face signs of underground water or me- fallic ores. All successes. however. are aotlmade clear by this, nor by coincidence, and Prof. Barrett concludes that some persons have a mental power hitherto un-
 
 that receives an impression when an ob- 5ect sought Is approached. He suggests that the dowsing rod might be superseded by ian. apparatus for registering changes in the, blood circulation of the suscepti- bie person. '' .R
 Freezing mixtures, containing more than one ingredient, are etinconvenient, and A. DSsmarest, . French chemist has souehte'to overcome the disadvantage by produetng a single, salt of considerable cooling power by boiling sodium salt at 50 dekrees Fahrenheit. The crystalIized product, called "boreol,'' is odorless, and can be preserved indehniteTy. When mix ed with 50 per, cent of water 1t gives a ternperature about 30 degrees below that of the water. and a pound will cool three ptnts of water to about 50 degrees.
 The systems of lines on the finger-tips remain unchanged through life, and SC characteristic of the individual is each set that no duplicates have yet been found, although the police of Paris alone have preserved over million 1fnprints Not long ago the only trace of 8 .mur. derer found was faint thumb impression on a window sash. 'Bertillon photo, graphed and enlarged this, and 1t was compared with the recorded finger prints until a duplicate was discovered, Identify, ing the murderer. .-.
 The contested theory that pearls are due to a parasite In the oyster was first ad- vanced by Filippi in 1s52. Several recent observers have confirmed the view.
 The separation of radium from pitch biepde is a long and tedious process. The rare cre Is first crushed, and the powder is roasted with carbonate of soda. After washing the residue is treated with dilute sulphpric acid, the sulphates being then converted into csrbonates by boiling with strong carbonate of soda solution Ra. dium sulphate. an exceedingly insoluble salt. is contained in the residue. The soluble sulbhates are, washed out and from the residue hydrochloric acid dis solves out polonium, actiniun and other clements Radium sulphate remains with some bariunl sulphate. These sulphatea are converted iIfto carbonates by boiling with carbonate of soda solution, and the Carbonates are dissolved in hyrochloric acid, and precipitated again as sulphates by means of sulphuric acid. The sul- phates are further purifial and finally converted into chlorides. A ton of pitch- blende yields about fifteen pounds of the mixed chlorides of radium and barium, from which small fraction of radium chloride is separated by specialization.
 In a new peat-fuel process lately exhib- ited at Charlton. England, the water is removed by mechanical and electrical means. The freshly cut peat is packed into rotating cylinders and fans beat out part of the moisture, while an electric current is passed through the mass, heat ing it and aiding In expelling the water The material is finally pressed into bri- nuettes. The fuel Is claimed to be eco nomical, but nearly two pounds must be burned to give the effect of a pound oi steam coal.
 ID tres-felling by electricity in French -. .... . ,. |. =.