The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1904-05-28
Correspondence baltimore County Union.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
TO Change Britain's Climate-Heat Insu-
Iation-Tobacco's Poison-The Worlds |
Observation-Disclosures Photographed
Number and Distribution OF the stars
A New Dust-Fixer-The Latest Tele-
graph.
British farmers having suffered from excessive
rainfall. Mr. ]. Fl. knight, of Barfeld. suggest q
plan for changing the climate. He would have
trees planted in all available spaces in the west
and south Of Ireland and in parts of Cornwall,
and he believes that in fifteen or twenty years
these trees would draw much of the rain from
the clouds coming from the Atlantic, causing
the interior Of the country to become drier.
The winter would perhaps become little cold
or. though not with the present damp cold. A
similar forest was planted $50 or 200 years ago
along the coast OF France to stop the inroads OF
sand. and now serves as an effective barrier for
more than 100 miles.
So
The heat lost by radiation from bare pipes con-
tanning steam at 100 pounds pressure has been es-
timated by Prof. s. P. Thompson to be that OF
about two tons of coal year for each ten
square feet of pipe surface. Another expert
menter has found that SO per cent Of the loss Is
prevented by the best mica covering. but that
ASBESTOS covering - LuCu W AAAiS"s 1A~-
cements are less effective still
-
Carbon monoxide has been recently found to
plav q more important part in poisoning by to-
bacco smoke than nicotine. This poisonous gas
forms a considerable part Of the smoke, and, as
much Of the smoke from cigaretts is inhaled. It
Is thought to explain the harmfulness Of this use
Of tobacco.
Thunder clouds sometime reach thickness OF
eight miles, with varying strata of damp mist
and frozen snow and ice particles.
-
IN to 1903 total Of e34 meteorites was known,
of which 182irons and only "a stones were from
the Western Hemisphere and 200 stones and
only 70 irons were from the Eastern Hemis-
phere. The falls of only about $50 OF these
meteorites have been recorded, the records
dating back to the fifteenth century. Despite
this small number of known specimens, Prof.
Berwerth, of Vienna, has calculated that about
disappear in the atmosphere-must fall upon
the earth each year. and that at least IS of these
should come under observation. Prof. Ber-
werth has noted some interesting facts con-
corning the distribution of the known falls. He
finds that meteorites have been chiefly recorded
IN civilized countries, but that they are some
times more numerous in thinly settled than in
thickly populated areas, and that they seem to
be specially attracted to mountainous regions.
80
The camera records of human emotions OBJ
tanned at Geneva by DR.. E. Magnin and NJ Ed
ward Flegenheimer are of remarkable artistic
and scientific value. The experiments have
been made upon very susceptible hypnotic
subject, who has been Influenced by both musi-
cal and oral suggestion, and the entire range of
human passions-joy, anger, fear. sadness, glut-
tony, greed, etc.-have been recorded in about
BOO photographs Of the woman under the vari-
GUS forms Of suggestion. The intensity of the
expressions is said to have been rarely equalled
by the great artists.
curious effect of the Ismailia Canal in
Egypt has been the making of a desert of GER
tain lands formerly fertile. The canal has not
only raised the general level Of the subsoi water.
but it has brought to the surface more or less
injurious salts Of soda.
-
The wanderings and migrations of insects is
new subject of study. which has been begun
at the Eddystone Lighthouse by Mr.. w. e..
Clarke.
An investigation at Harvard College Observa-
tory has shown that the Milky Way has about
twice as many stars as any other equal area OF
the sky. This ratio does not increase for faint
stars down to the twelfth magnitude, but the
same as in other regions. The Milky Way COW
ers about one-third of the sky, containing about
one-half Of the stars. About 10000 stars are of
magnitude 66 or brighter. 100000 of magnitude
81, 100000 of magnitude II. and 100000 of
magnitude 11.9. while it is thought-but not
certainly known-that about 100000 stars are
visible in a telescope of 10 inches aperature,
increase becomes less for each successive mag
nitude.
"a
Westrumite, the invention of Herr van West
rum, Is a mixture of oil, which may be diluted
as desired and sprinked over a road with an or
binary watering cart. The water evaporates,
leaving the westrumite as a moist film, which
absolutely prevents the rising of dust. Tested
in London on dry roadway where every
vehicle raised clouds of dust, the material so
affected the surface that several automobiles at
highest speed raised no dust whatever.
-.
A new system of wireless telegraphy is based
on detector of electric waves described by W.
Schloemilch, a German. The detector depends
on the property that when electric waves fall on
polarized electrolytic cell placed in circuit
with source of current of slightly higher
electro-motive force. the current in the circuit
is increased from some cause.
sc
While rays emitted by muscles appear to be
the N-rays of Blondlot, A. Carpenter finds
that those from nerves differ in being arrested
by aluminium.