The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1904-01-30

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Correspondence baltimore County Union.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
Thought Waves-Poisoning by Tin-The
Sea Claiming France-Height of the
Blue Sky-Sterilized Thermometer
Panoraunas from the Invisible-Depend-
emit Plants-Density Of Our Bodies
Rotating Houses-In Earthquake Cities
The idea Of brain-waves meets with little ia
vor from the Psychologist, and DR.. salecby, Of
London. finds nothing to justify the theory OF
thought transference by waves of any kind.
Electric waves pass between less and more ex-
cited portions Of the brain, as they do in muscle,
<0F cvcnlu I'M 1nr1r re1atIOn 70 Thought Is en-
tirely accidental. Hertzian waves have been
recently shown to affect the brain Of a cat-it
would be surprising If they did not-and the
effects OF thunderous weather in causing head
ache may be so explained. These waves have
nothing to do with the normal action of the
brain. There are. however, changes in the
nerve cells. especially in their nuclei, that are
associated with thought, with fatigue and with
sleep, and these require further study.
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An extended Investigation has convinced Prof.
K 3. lehman that most cases of reported
"acute tin poisoning" are due to spoiled food
instead of contamination from the metal Of
cans. Few undoubted cases of poisoning from
the latter source are known. It is true, how
ever, that, while ordinary canned meats and
vegetables rarely cause such poisoning, old
preserves containing malic and tartaric acids
may have sufficient tin to produce light acute
disturbances Of digestion. and it is advised that
foods containing much of these acids, be put
up in glass, porcelain or wood.
ays
About q square mile of France has been worn
away by the English Channel in the last five
years. In North Brittany has been noted d
gradual subsistence Of the land which has been
IN progress since zoe. at which time the Channel
Islands were Joined to the coast by an isthmus.
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Out Of s0l cases of lupus, or skin tuberculosis,
treated by the Finsen light cure. 4l2 have been
pronounced cured.
Meteors, or shooting stars, flash into light on
striking the earth's atmosphere. and measure
ment Of the height at which this light begins
has given an idea Of the outer limit Of the gas
eous sea surrounding our globe. From such
measurements Prof. Newcomb has estimated
the depth of the atmosphere to be between 100
and no miles. Lord Rayleigh hasattributed the
blue Of the sky to sunlight reflected from mi
mute particles of oxygen and nitrogen in the
upper layers of the air. and Prof T. j. j. See, of
Washington. now suggests that observations of
the disappearance Of this blue color after sun
set give another method of determining the at
mosphere's depth. The height of the fading
blue is calculated from the SUMS depression at
the instant. Several observations have given
an average of 131 miles. and DR.. See believes
that this estimate is accurate within or 10
miles.
The thermometer used by physicians is not
free from the risk of conveying germs, which
may lodge ia the graduations on the glass and
escape removal by the usual washing and wip-
ing. A French physician has devised pocket
case for carving the clinical thermometer con
outer tube, fitted with fiuid-tight cap, is par
TALLY filed with any suitable liquid antiseptic,
and the Thermometer is carried in perforated
metallic holder fitting into this tube.
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One of the most interesting applications of
moving pictures consists in showing the life Of
microscopic creatures in views magnifed 10 to
10000 times on screen. An exhibition of micro
photographs by a French cinematograph has
brought out with wonderful clearness such
features as the phases of life of bees in colony
the fauna and flora of drop of river water,the
movements of mites in a bit of cheese. and the
circulation of blood in frogs foot.
-
Certain orchids are known to be usually asso-
ciated with the flaments of certain micro
scopic mushroom and NJ. Bernard. a French OBJ
server, has now demonstrated by experiment
that orchids cannot thrive unless the micro
scopic fungi are present.
~
Specific gravity is determined by comparing
the weight Of the object with that of an equal
volume Of water. In laborous study of the
specific gravity Of the human body, Jamin and
Muller, at Erlangen, have found it inconvenient
to immense the entire body, and have made ap-
proximate calculations from the water displaced
when the subject was seated in the water and
caused to lean backward or forward until the
head was submerged to a line from the chin to
the roots Of the hair. Tests were made on 11S
individuals. The specific gravity was shown to
be highest in youth, gradually declining from
1lSO at years to O61 between so and so in males,
and from 1,l00 between 10 and 10 to LOGS be-
between so and 90 in females. The average for
all ages and both sexes is 1,O8S in health and
1,O74 in disease. These determinations are of
great value in estimating the composition of the
body, and win be specially useful in cases Of
obesity and dropsy.
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The novel house of Eugene Petit. French
architect, turns to the at the will of its oc-
cupants It is mounted on a steel platform,
which is rotated on ball bearings by pinion
geared in a circular set of teeth. An ordinary
three story dwelling can be turned by two men.
Water, gas and electricity are brought in
through central passage, and sewage finds its
exit in a similar way. Houses of this kind, cost
ing not more than ten per cent. above the ordi-
nary, are required for the patients of DR.. Pelle-
grin, the advocate of heliotherapy.
"a
From records of 1892 to 1897, it appears that
the city of Agama, Guam, has an average of ID
earthquake days per year, and the average for
Manila for the same period was 124. Statistics
for Toxic show an annual average of l29 earth
QuaKes. Many OF these, however, are register
ed only by very sensitive apparatus, and the
days of earthquakes strong enough to be felt
average 80 year.
To render newborn animals immune against
tuberculosis is the hope of Prof Won Behring,
whose plan is to supply suitable solution of tu-
berculous virus In the food. He contends that
the disease is conveyed by milk, and that the
milk of immune COWS might have preventive
and curative effect on human subjects.
~ "A @-AHRA