The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1904-09-17

Stone Calendars-Not Heard as Others
Hear Us-Roeet Moth Genius-Me
urement Of Dew-An Unknown Sense
Varieties Of Memory-Tree Diseaees-A
Radium Ailoy-A Star Enumeration.
Ancient tlme-keeping has received new light
from two remarkable stones lately unearthed
BY the German explorers on the site Of the old
Ionic port Of Miletus. These stones are the re-
mains Of calendars. Of which one Is shown to
date from 100 A. d. The year was divided into
twelve zodiacal signs. and against each month
the motion Of the remaining signs was given.
with note predicting the weather. On eleft
side were thirty holes. q wooden peg being moved
fegzaza enc hole each day. thus giEins the a.
the meaning Of parapegma. or peg calendar,
name By which other stones have been rather
myatoriousIy known.
To prove that mans voice does not sound
the same to himself as to others, Or. l.. Laloy
causes several persons to speak into phono-
graph, and after few days reproduces the SEN
fences. Each person recognizes the voices Of
his friends but not his own. Prof. Exner ex-
plains that passage through solids augments the
intensity. and the sound Of ones own voice Is
given different timbre by reaching the ear
through the air alone.
IN tuo mountains OF fan8y ana other islands
OF the Philippines moths can be scraped up by
the quart and barrel soon filed. The natives
bake them in the ground, causing heads, wings
aud legs tc drop on. and leaving dainty morsel
that Is much priced as an article Of food.
The narcotic bomb Of an Austrian surgeon can
be fred from any gun, and is claimed to give on
powerful narcotic gas enough to render 1000
men unconscious for several hours.
In his study Of British genius, Havelock Ellis
has considered 1000 persons including IS wo-
men-of the highest intellectual ability. He
finds that inheritance has come as often through
one parent as the other, and that the fathers
have been usually middle aged or even elderly.
while the mothers have been at the period Of
greatest vIgor. Genius tends to come from large
families and from families containing only boys,
and the eldest in the family Is most likely to be
gifted. The chief feature in childhood Is pre-
cocity. It Is concluded that genius cannot be
regarded either as purely healthy variation
nor yet as q really diseased condition or kind OF
insanity, but that 1t Is highly sensitive and
complex adjustment Of the nervous system
along special lines. with tendency to defect
along other lines. The real affinity Of genius Is
with congenited imbeciIicy rather than with in
sanity.
Accurate measurement of dew has always
been impossible. A new German drosometer,
reported 70 give excellent results. Is sheet Of
specially prepared paper soaked In chemical
solution, and the amount Of dew falling In q
night can be closely estimated from the degree
Of discoloration Of this paper. Experiment has
given scale Of discoloration. Paper Of three
degrees Of constituencies is provided ana It is
advised that two kinds be exposed together, in
order that when the amount Of dew is too great
for one Il may be indicated BY the other
Human senses vary greatly in acuteness, 80
that, for instance, fow individuals hear the
shrill cry Of the bat. which Is inaudible to moet
ears. e Is more than probable that the senses
there are even kinds Of perceptions unknoWnto
US. Mr.. ". Wesche. T. R. n. s.. reports the dis
eovery on the femora Of many flies Of curious
organ that seems to represent some sense alto
gether unlike any known.
discussion of the great dust storm Of Feb
ruary. 1903. estimates that 1t covered 10000
square miles Of England and Wales with de-
posit of at least 100000 tons. The dust seems
to have been brought from Africa.
Considering the kinds Of memory. NJ Menard
states that some persons best remember i'm
pressions received through the eyes; others.
those coming through the ears and still other
persons. best keep in mind what they have writ
ten out. We are all more or less endowed with
auditive and visual memory. while the former is
specially developed in musicians and the latter
In painters. The three classes-visual, auditive
and motor-are illustrated in the methods Of
study BY children, some Of whom learn their
lessons by reading number Of times, others
only hearing them recited. and still others must
repeat the lessons TO themselves in high voice,
have auditive motor memory, while those who
must copy the lesson number Of times have
visual-motor memory. The student adopts in
stinctively the methods his memory requires.
Most diseases Of trees are due to fungi, which
attack roots or trunk, and sometimes branches
or leaves. The older the tree the more liable it
is to be attacked, while wounds open the way
for infection. NJ Schrenck, a French forester,
has been studying these fungous diseases and
their remedies. and has learned many important
facts. The forcing Of antiseptic salts by fungi
In great numbers is the best method of preser-
Walton yet known.
On the aluminium cover of capsule contain
ing radium bromide, small drops that appear to
be q radium- aluminium alloy of stable kind have
been found by N. Orion, Russian chemist. The
drops have continued radioactive, with no APP
preciable weakening, for six months.
On chart of the Pieiades, covering three
square degrees, Mr.. J. &. Gore has counted 1881
stars Of the third to the sixteenth magnitude.
If the distribution were even. the total num-
Der Of stars in the sky at this rate would be IT.
el5O81