The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1904-11-26

Coy7sspond<ncs Baltimore County Uaion.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
Physiological influence Of Magnetism
An Attractive ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Of Metals-Iudustrial Alcohol-Cars FOR
Light Trafac-star Neighbors-Old Age
Microbes-An Ancient Timepiece-Ele-
plant Dwarfs.
The experiments Of @. Gutton, q French phys
icist, have shown that phosphorescence is In
creased by the action Of q magnetic field. Phos-
phoresccnt substances prove very sensitive to
magnetism, but only when the field is not uni
form. and an intense but uniform field has no
effect. The magnet has even been made to act
upon the eye. objects in an obscure chamber
were dimly seen, and they appeared to become
brighter when the magnet was brought near the
eye. The N-rays, which also have this effect,
were carefully screened Of BY lead foil. Earlier
attempts to find out whether strong magnetic
field affects the human body have given only
negative results, and even magnet large
enough to admit the head between the poles
showed no influence.
A simple and beautiful method Of showing
vortex rings Is described by Robert 3. Doran. Of
Cork. A bulb is blown at one end Of glass
tube, and the open end is contracted to the thir-
tieth or fortieth Of an inch in bore. Both bulb
and tube are then completely filed with a per
cent. solution Of common salt to which fluores-
cefn has been added. The tube is clamped YER
tIcally over the centre Of tall cylinder filed
with water, and when the water is at rest the
tube is lowered until it just touches the surface,
The vortex rings begin at once to descend.
~
A crystalline theory Of structure is offered by
G. T. BeiIby, q British experimenter, to explain
the hard and soft states of metals The ordina-
~ condition is crystalline, when the metal is
soft, but in sudden cooling there is no time for
the molecules to fall into regular Formation, and
the resulting solid is amorphous and hard. The
co-existence Of crystalline and amorphous layers
accounts for the variety of structure in mallea-
bic ana ductIe metals.
-
Germany's latest great national industry, now
IN its infancy, is the production OF alcohol for
technical purposes. In the worlds total pro-
duction Of spirit in 1903, DR.. A. Wiesler, of
Prague, finds that Germany led with 20 per cent,
the shares Of Russia andAustria- Hungary being
slightly less, while France and the United States
together furnished Is per cent. While technical
applications, however, absorbed 80 per cent. of
Germanyis product, they used but 16 per cent
1AASCf
Britain. Germany's technical consumption
reched 127OOOOOO liters, Of which 100000 liters
were applied for power, light and heat, and 81
100000 liters were used in the chemical indus
tries. and the demand is increasing at an extra
ordinary rate. One establishment in Berlinsup-
plies spirit for 1870 motors. The chief raw ma
sia rye in Great Britain, Italy and Spain, and
fruit and grapes In France; while molasscs is Of
some importance in France, Austria and Hun
gary.
Petroleum cars are being tested on portions of
the state railways Of Wurttemburg having a
light traffic. The latest model has four cylin-
ders, developing 3O-horse-power. and can take a
load Of "A passengers up grades of per cent. at
speed of 16 miles an hour. It carries 100 kilo-
grammes of petroleum, which is sufficient for
run Of 20 miles. The car weighs 1875 tons. and
its first cost is $500. the running expenses be-
ing SIS cents per car mile.
-
An attempt to calculate the probable actual
distances between stars Of known parallax has
been made by Mr.. ]. E. Gore. Eta and Mu Cas-
sicpei@, for example, appear to be separated by
about one-ffteenth of their distance from the
sun, increasing their apparent brilliancies 225
times; while the components of the double star
81 Cygnia are so near together-about So times the
distance Of the sun from the earth-that they
are IS million times as bright to each other as to
us.
Soft and malleable zinc, 90 per cent. pure, is
produced in France through a succession of
alloys of zinc and aluminium and aluminium and
bismuth.
Old age is an infectious disease. which we may
expect soon to be treated by preventive serum,
prolonging life. Such was the view expressed
in the late Paris lecture of DIR. Menchnikoff.
Senility. he explained, is produced by certain
physiological states which cause the ''macro-
phages." which are a beneicent species of mi
crobes, to increase too rapidly. when they be-
come injurious. These parasites flourish in the
large intestines, which is possessed by mammals
but is almost completely lacking in birds. The
result was illustrated in the doctors own dog
and parrot, the former being decrepit at eigh-
teen, while the latter was hale and lively at
seventy. While the serum is being awaited we
are advised to eat curdled milk
-
The clock of Peterborough Cathedral, of most
primitive design dates from 1920. and is the old
est now running in Great Britain. It's 800 feet
Of galvanized cable, supporting leaden weight
of 800 pounds is wound up daily over a wooden
wheel about IL feet in circumference. The gong,
which is the great tenor bell of the cathedral,
weighs $500 pounds. and is struck hourly by an
S0-pound hammer. There is no dial, but the time
is indicated on the main wheel of the escape
ment, revolving once in two hours.
81
Extinct pigmy elephants and hippotami have
been found in several large islands Of the Medi-
terranen. remains lately discovered seeming to
be those Of an elephant hardly three feet high.
Dwarfng Of these animals appears to have come
from restriction of the area over which they
could range.
Clothes washing by electricity. without soap,
is the idea of a Hungarian. The stream of cleo
trihed water is claimed to remove all spots and
dirt, and the 800, garments held by the machine
are washed in less than fifteen minutes.