The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1903-12-19
Correspondence Baltimore County Union.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

Correspondence Baltimore County Union.
SCIENTIFIC MIS- CELLANY.
Vanished Turopeans-A Handy Furnace
Hail Prevention In France-Powell-
lied Wood-Height of Sea Breezes-
An Improved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Toxin-Swimming Leaves-A New Skin
Infection.
PiRmies seem to have existed in Europe until
quite modern times, but the race is now known
only in the central part of Africa. A German
cthnologist, G. Thilenius, finds that some skele-
tons exhumed near Bresau. in silesia, show an
average height Of only feet inches. and Swiss
remains described by HOLMAN were but feet 8
inches in average height. Even smaller were
the remains recorded by Guttman from Lower
AIsace, near Colmar. some specimens measur-
ing not more than feet These pigmies were
well formed and fully developed, and 1t appears
that those of Silesia must have lived as recently
as 1000 A. D.
Not least in Importance among recent appa-
ratus is the oxygen-acetylene blowppe. As
source of high temperatures, it is much less ex-
pensiye and more convenient than the electric
furnace. and it yields greater heat than the oxy-
hydrogen blowpipe-from which 1t differs only
in the use Of acetylene instead of hydrogen
with no difficulty in obtaining the combustfble
gas. 1t can give temperature of more than
40O00C., fusing any of the ordinary metals, while
the highest limit Of the oxy-hydrogen blowpipe
is about 3,0OO0
aTA
The time-honored faith of French vine-grow-
ers in cannon-fring as a means of resolving hail
into rain. has been brought into discredit by re-
cent experience. They still cling to their RENE
nh, hoe hooo hat
the vortex rings of gas or smoke from the guns
used cannot reach higher than $50 feet. while
the hail clouds are about 1900 feet high. DR..
Vidal is making new experiments with gun
throwing rings to height of 1.5CO feet
Recruits for the British army show that the
working people are becoming smaller, lighter
and more narrow-chested.
-.
Filling the pores with sugar has somewhat
surprising effects upon wood. The process as
devised by W. Powell. of Liverpool, consists in
immersing the wood in heated sugar solution
for some hours, the time varying with the wood,
and then driving Off all moisture in oven.
No previous seasoning is necessary. The spongy
fiber is converted into compact ligenous sub
stance and it acquires greatly increased dura-
biity and strength. with resistance to changes
of temperature and moisture, and even to fire.
special advantage is that the softer and
cheaper-and even defectiye-woods can be
made to serve many purposes in place of ex-
pensive hard woods. The sugar does not dis
solve out, and it does not promote fermentation
and the growth Of destructive organisms, but
it produces some remarkable chemical or physi-
cal transformation in q manner not yet under
stood.
The breeze that daily sweeps landward from
the ocean has only moderate height. A British
meteorologist notes that very few measure
ments have been made. but that captive bal
loon used at Coney Island some years ago passed
from the cool inward current to the warm out
ward one at height of 500 to 800 feet, and that
at Toulon, in 1898, the sea breeze was found up
TO about 1900 feet, the off-shore current being
distinct at 1900 to 1000 feet. Last year, on the
west coast of Scotland, Dimes found that kites
would not rise above 1900 feet on sunny after
moons, when the on-shore breeze was blowing.
Pumice stone, which is the common abrasive
for soft materials, varies much in grain and
hardness. An artificial pumice stone is now
made from ground sandstone and clay by Schu-
macher, at Bietgheim, in the valley of the Emz,
and is being used ia place of the volcanic pro-
duct. In ten reliable grades of grain and hard
ness it is adapted for varied work in leather,
wax-cloth, felt, wood, metal and stone.
"a
a study of bird migration from the Kentish
Knock Lightship, at the mouth of the Thames
81 miles from land has been undertaken by w.
Eagle Clarke, of Edinburg.
-
Applying rye pollen to the nostriis, Prof. Dun
bar, of Hamburg. Germany, has produced symp-
toms of hay fever in persons liable to the mala-
dy, obtaining no effect in persons who were i'm
mune. Further experiment indicated that hay
fever poison is a soluble toxin contained in the
starch OF the pollen OF the grasses. Hypoder-
mic injections of the pollen produced hay fever
symptoms in fifteen minutes which increased
for four hours. with violent swelling about the
puncture on the forearm. In immune the
injection caused simply slight swelling. FL
nally rabbits were injected, and after several
weeks yielded serum that could neutralize the
toxin.
French botanists have been amusing them
selves by causing leaves to swim about in water
In very mysterious and anima-like way. The
Peruvian or false pear tree (Schinus molle) is a
tree much grown in France, and piece broken
from one of its leaves and thrown upon the
water soon began to glide over the surface.
The propeling force is the essential oil issuing
from the break. The phenomenon is shown
even more strikingly by Pittosporum Tobira,
q pretty Chinese shrub. and NJ. Lequet men
lions his delight at seeing these leaf fragments
glide about like water-bugs or spiders, turning
to and fro, pirouetting, and making continual
circuits. To ensure success, the water surface
must be free from oil.
-
A new English epidemic is characterized by
intolerable itching and the presence beneath the
skin Of nodular hardenings a little larger than
mustard seeds. The severe itching is increased
by heat, cold or scratching. One Birmingham
doctor thinks the infection is due to parasite
of milk and vegetables; another suggests that
it is the "Craw Craw" of West Africa.
A"A
The zebrula, the cross between the zebra and
the horse, has been under test in Germany, and
is claimed to be less liable to disease than the
mule, livelier, and better adapted to transport
work.