The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1903-02-21
Correspondence Baltimore County Union.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

correspondence bUtttUbOT6
SCIENTIFIC MIS- CELLANY.
Mechanics of Growth-Effective Disin-
fectants--Paired ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Rays to Date-Loss of Hair-Pioneer
Quartz-Blowing-A Book for the Cam
erist-A Miniature Magnetic Pole.
Growth is found by NJ. Maurice Springer to be
closely associated with electricity. and he thinks
the time may come when it will be possible both
to measure the energy of growth and to regu-
late to some extent the growth and size of indi-
viduals. Potash, water lecithins and Eyeglasses
are the chief substances concerned in growth
The lecithins control the formation of phos-
phorous compounds in plants as well as ami
mails, the eyeglasses fix atmospheric oxygen. and
potash and water are necessary. The exchange
of molecules in growth depends much upon the
pressure of liquids, which is increased by cleo
tricity. Living organisms are generators of
electricity, the activity of lprotoplasm and the
action of the eyeglasses are accompanied by it,
the weight of animals and children has been in
creased by artificial identification, and plants
have been dwarfed by isolation from atmos-
pheric electricity in wire cages.
-.
A one-tenth per cent. solution of corrosi We
sublimate has proven, in the London County
Council experiments, to be the only disinfect-
microbes upon cloth, wood, etc. A five per
cent. solution of carbolic acid killed all except
anthrax spores. Condy's fluid and bleaching
powder were practically worthless The ty-
phoid bacillus was killed by all disinfectants
tried except these two; the diphtheria bacillus
by formalin and sulphur dioxide; anthrax
spores, only by corrosive sublimate tubercle
bacilli, by carboic acid and corrosive sublimate,
neither formalin nor sulphur dioxide being eff
fective
~
In Greenwich records for 81 years. a warm
summer has been followed by severe winter in
cases, and by mild one in 10 a cold summer,
by severe winter in II cases, and by mild one
in IL. OF summers both wet and cold the mean
temperature being below 6O.50 F.. Q were fol-
lowed by severe winters and only by mild
winters.
The radioactive substances, or those which
emit Becquerel rays. are classed by T. Giesel in
these three groups Substances intensely and
permanently active, such as radium, actnium
and an unknown material associated with lead
in the radium mother-liquors substances only
slightly but permanently active, such as urani-
UNI and thorium and substances either strongly
or slightly active which gradually lose their ac-
tivity Substances of the second group NAV
owe their apparent activity to impurities from
the first group; those of the third group may
become active through Induction. These radia-
tions give the wel-known yelowish phosphor-
escence to uranium glass, they rapidly dis
charge charged eectroscope, they have been
made to form nuclei for fog condensation, and |
they can be detected by the electromagnetic.
Their power is marvellous. One square cent? |
meter of radium, says Prof. ]. J. Thomson could
q mi
than thousandth of milligramme of its sub
stance, yet the energy thrown off in that time
would melta LAYER of ice a quarter of mile |
~ the energy is still mys-
9cggested that radium may be able
transform surrounding heat into electric
energy: but the problem is made more puzzling
by the infection of whole laboratories, like that
of Curie's, with activity due to the presence of
radium compounds
Badness begins in youth, states late work
by DIR. Sabourand, and increases slowly or rap
idly, up to the age of fifty. 1t is a contagious
disease due to a specific microbe that multi
plies in the sebaceous or lubricating glands of
the skin and produces also the skin affection
known as seborrhea. 1t is aided by sanitary
neglect, intellectual overwork, and lack of
physical exercise No means of restoring lost
hair is yet known. and remedies can only lessen
or check the progress of the disease.
-.
The most surprising property of aluminium is
its newly discovered power of giving fine, |
razor-like edge to steel cutlery Magnihed a |
thousand times, the knife-edge produced on the |
ordinary milestone appears rough and jagged |
while that welded by the aluminium sharpener |
is straight and smooth.
+s*
With improvement in processes for fusing, the |
manufacture Of TASKS and other vessels from |
quartz is likely to become an important indus |
try Two enterprising German firms are already |
supplying such vessels. an oxyhydrogen furnace |
being used, and the melted material worked and |
blown into shape. The product is still expen-
sive and less perfect in finish than apparatus |
blown from glass. 1t has the very important |
advantages of resisting very high temperature
and of being practically unbreakable by sudden |
heating or cooling In laboratory experiments
the electric furnace has been applied to melting
quartz
Celluoid has many limitations. A German one
is made by dissolving 1.8 parts of nitro-celulose
in is parts by weight of glacial acetic acid, and
adding parts of gelatine, thorough solution be-
ing effected with gentle heating and stirring. |
After swelling, the mass is mixed with rs of |
alcohol, with continued stirring. The product |
is poured into moulds, or it may be further d. |
luted and spread in thin layers ON glass. As an |
underlay for Photographic films. its special adj |
vantages include the property of remaining fiat |
in developing.
A remarkable magnetic focus in the Hebrides, |
at the entrance of Loeb Roag, Lewis, has been |
surveyed by Capt. A. M. Field. The area of dis |
turbance is small, and the maximum deviation |
of the compass needle is 11o west, over 100 feet
of water. Contrary to what is usually true in |
northern ATTITUDES, moreover, the north point of |
the needle is repealed from the apparent mag |
netic line instead of being attracted towards it.
-.
Tested under an air-pressure reduced to about |
one-fourth of the normal, plants have been
found by Schaible to grow more slowly. and to
terminate more slowly, and to excrete water in
drops from their leaves.
-.
Two French engineers report having heard
heavy cannonading while tunneling in an ex-
tinct volcano at an altitude of 3,400 feet, the
sound having been transmitted more that 100
miles through the earth.
PanoramicPhotograp of Harper's Ferry
The January number. Book of the Royal
Blue" published by the Passenger Department
of the Baltimore q Onlo RAILROAD gives an III
teresting article on the recent advances made in
panoramic photography, illustrating same with
half-tone reproductions of the most remarkable
photographs ever taken of Harper's Ferry. Each
of the original photographs taken from opposite
points of view, represent 1S0degrees of the hori-
zon, showing for the first time the magnificent
distances in the scenery at this historic point.
One of the photos is taken at an altitude of $50
feet, on Maryland Heights, looking down upon
the village 1t not only takes in the whole viii
lage but includes the Potomac and Shenandoah
rivers, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and por-
lions of Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia.
The other is taken from Bolivar Heights, look
ing eastward, showing the great gap which is the
eastern gateway of the Allegheny Mountains.
The photographs are panels "a inches long by
7inches wide. and are among the most artistic of
the many photographs of the famous Baltimore
& Ohio scenery Copies of the pictures will be