The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1905-12-09

OOyrsqeadnes Balgimors 0oanty Uason.
sCtMNTIEIC MISCELLANY.
Ultra Violet Light from Metals Climate
Cure The Great World Map More
Light That We Lighter Wnen
6eaeed-SearWeter Gold - Alcohol IN
Observation-Disclosures Mner9y-A Novel
Fieh-Dam.
The brightness Of the Arctic landscape even
on cloudy winter night has suggested to Prof.
Melander. Of Helsingfors. that the snow has
some luminosity Of It's own. Testing this with
camera buried in the snow, no satisfactory re-
suits were reached at first, but striking photo
graphic effect appeared later. As the sensitive
plates had been covered with sheets Of metal, 1t
was thought necessary to determine the innu-
enee Of these sheets. The experiments have
proven that radiations from metals-so evident
&c white heat-are still emitted in cold, and that
ell metals give OF violet and ultraviolet rays
even at ordinary temperatures. Chemical ac-
ton ct the surface Of the metal Is q possible
cnuse. IL is suggested that the ionizing power
Of these rays play an unconsidered part IN na-
ture, and that they may specially AFFECT the eyes
OF animals that see in the dark.
-
Medical climatology. medical writer tells US.
is developing into science. It is an American
science, for it IL IN America, where the many
types Of men are out Of their natural habitat,
that the habit Of seeking change Of climate as
general cure-all has become almost universal.
The kind Of change needed ls gradually becom-
ing understood. A dry and bracing climate is
not adapted to all persons. and sunshine Is too
stimulating for many. while damp and fog seem
TO be necessary for certain nervous people and
perhaps all blondes An equable, relaxing eli
mate acts &c . sedative in disease OF heart and
kidneys.
The projected map OF the whole world on
scale Of to 100000. or about one-sixteenth Of
an inch to Q mile, will embrace 49, sheets, Of
which 90 are reported to have been finished mp
20 last March. On this map the United States
will have length Of 10 feet.
sss
One Of the scientific surprises of recent years
ID the discovery that we are often surrounded
with MISUNDERSTANDING meat, fish or wood
that may be shining with faint. ghostly light
from q covering Of minute self-luminous plants.
So generally overlooked 10 the phenomenon that
one Of the latest students Of the subject, DR..
Hans Molisch. for two years vainly inquired Of
dealers for luminous meat. but on beginning in
vestigation ct home found that 81 per cent. Of
beef and other aesh glowed spontaneously after
The luminous meat seems to be everywhere
present, due in all cases to . single species OF
bacteria. The same investigator has found Luz
minous decaying leaves in tropical forests, and
has proven that many fallen leaves of oak and
beech in Europe shine with soft, white. steady
light, the luminous fungus in this case being I'M
known. With ono or two possible exceptions.
all luminous plants are now known to belong to
two species Of fungi. fiIamentous and bacteria
about thirty species Of bacteria and half as many
Of other fungi having been recognized as lumi-
nous. The luminosity diners from that of ami
mails IN persisting for days. months or even
years instead OF lasting not more than few
seconds or minutes. but modern theory is that
in both cases the light is due to chemical action
Of oxygen and moisture upon q hypothetical
substance named photogen.
sss
whether q body gains or loses weight on heat
ing. or neither. Is problem Of possible import
ance. A comparison Of the attraction Of two
bodies at different temperatures can hardly be
made, and Poynting, an English physicist. has
tried the plan Of weighing body when cold and
again when heated. With great care it was
shown that the solid body weighing eos grammes
lost 00Oo Of milligramme on being heated from
15s to lOOs @.
In recent experiment. the addition of one
per cent. Of vanadium increased the tensile
strength Of steel from 81 to 80 tons per square
inch.
In the new Belgian process for extracting gold
from the ocean. ton OF the water is treated
with spoonful Of concentrated aqueous solu-
ton Of chloride of tin, when the gold Is CONVEX
ted into purple of Cassius. and may be precipi-
tated, together with hydrate Of magnesium and
the excess of tin, by adding a pound Of slaked
lime. When this prccipitate is dissolved in
dilute solution Of cyanide Of potassium. the gold
may be precipitated with zinc or other reagent.
This process showed no gold in the Mediterra-
mean and the English channel. but traces were
found in water from the Atlantic.
-
Alcohol in some form was formerly the main
dependence in severe injury and disease. Medi-
cal men have been gradually proving 1t to be Of
less value as a healing agent than was so long
believed, and DR.. Dawson Burns has now cited
London statistics showing that there are quite
as many recoveries without 1t as with ii. In one
hospital where alcohol has been practically dis
carded. for instance. the mortality from typhoid
fever for ten years has been but 1877 per cent,
while in other metropolitan hospitals the death
rate for 1904 was A.5s per cent.
sss
Only small portion Of the extraordinary en-
ergy of radium proves to be that of the alpha,
beta and gamma rays. Recent experiments have
been made by K. Angstrom with calorimeters
OF lead, copper and aluminium, and the results
indicate that most Of the energy must be given
out 10 the form of radiant heat.
80
The nsh Of Little Belt in Denmark, being very
shy Of light. move about only on dark nights.
and this has suggested the curious experiment
Of lighting the channel bottom with incandes-
cent lamps to prevent migration Of the fish to
the larger seas.
A temperature Of about 1000 +. in the gaso-
line engine has been recorded for the hottest
part OF the exploding mixture.