The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1905-07-22

SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
Insect Heat@Twin earthquakes Carlo
lineum-S ea-Sounding by Sound-Ero-
sion In Observation-Disclosures for Ships
The New Life-PreBerver StufnnS-Mlm.
icry That Does Not Tmitate-aeuius NOT
Waneed-A Longitude Standard Set
tied, etc.
growing idea is that all living forms-eyen
plants, fishes and insects-nust develop some
bodily heat, even though the amount be very
small. Bringing together various observations,
a French entomologist. a. Acloque, finds that
thermometer thrust into an anthill has shown
rise Of i've degrees, that beehives are warmer
than the outer air in winter, and that when the
bees were agitated the hives have grown SO hot
as to melt the wax. One observer has noted that
creatures giving of the least heat have greatest
resistance. CaterpiIlars may be frozen to brit
tleness and may exist for weeks in cake OF ice,
yet may become active again on thawing out.
On the other hand, insects may live in intense
heat, termites and others In Brazil and elsewhere
being active on the burning sand under verti-
cal sun. This resistance to great heat and cold
is not understood, and is fact, 1t may be added,
that should be kept in mind by those who spec
ulate on the possible life of other worlds.
~
Earthquakes often have moro than one focus
or apparent source. Pointing this out, DIR. @.
Davidson notes that in Great Britain one earth
quake in every twenty is a twin, with two dis
tinct foci, and that the strongest shocks have
had this character The distance between the
epicenters varies from four to twenty-three
miles. the average for seven recent earthquakes
being between ten and eleven miles. The foci
seem to be at different points on the same fault,
and the phenomenon Is evidently not due to re-
fraction reflection or division of the earth
waves.
~
Heating together and mixing thoroughly 95
parts of coal-tar oil and parts of asphalt from
coal-tar is Recommended by German authority
for reliable liquid to preserve wood from mold
and dry rot. It gives fine brown color and is
waterproof.
An important advance in deep-sea surveying,
saving much of the labor Of present methods,
is claimed for the acoustic sounding of H. Berg
graf, Norwegian engineer. The depth is esti-
mated from the time taken by sound to travel
10 the bottom and back, the echo from 1000 feet
being received in one second, and the apparatus
consists of a transmitter. an acoustic receiver
and chronometer. The transmitter Is slowly
revolving disc which at each revolution closes
an electric circuit and energies magnet oper-
ating vibrating armature. at each contact
vibrations are tuned to the only pitch to which
the specially constructed receiving microphone
will respond. In accurate work the time of con-
tact and that of the return Of the sound are reg
istered with great precision on the revolving
drum of chronograph.
-
Recent gales and high tides have reminded the
Englishman that his little island is being gradu-
ally swallowed up by the sea. Ithas been found
that Great Britain lost 148906 acres between 1867
and 1880, and go los acres between 1880 and 1890.
A survey in the reign of Edward 1. gave the
Duchy Of Cornwall 100000 acres, but the Ord
nance survey some years ago showed that this
had been reduced to e29. 500 acres. Villages have
disappeared in the ocean, as in the case of Dun
witch, of which nothing remains but a ruined
church on the edge of cliff.
-
pneumatic fabrication is what DR.. Carlo Del
Lungo, of Genoa, calls his new plan for increas-
ing the speed of ships. 1t consists in reducing
the density of the surrounding water by pump
ing air into it. creating foamy stratum in
which the vessel slips forward against greatly
lessened resistance.
Ball playing seems to be physologically be-
yond feminine powers. After careful investi-
CATION the principal Of girls college finds that
larger and lower-setting collar-b bone makes the
movement of the girls arm less free than that
of the boys, SO that she cannot hope to throw
well.
Half ton of the curious vegetable product
known as kapok reaches Amsterdam yearly from
Java. 1t is a yellow, wadding like material.
which covers the seeds of the Eriodendron, a
rapid growing tree of the Malaccas, and its fiber
is remarkable as being much lighter than cork,
SO that it will support in the water thirty-hve
times its own weight. The fiber, however, re-
sists all attempts at spinning or weaving. 1t is
silky, only about an inch long, and is made into
thin rings. The claim is made that kapok never
decays. A ten-ounce moss will support man
in water, and the substance is expected to be-
come useful for life-saving apparatus and is
even looked upon as the probable future stufhng
for all ships beds.
Speaking to British students on 'Mimicry" in
animals, DIR. W. E. Hoyle the other day pointed
out the appropriateness of the term. The pc
culiarity described is protective resemblance
and not a conscious imitation. Butterflies of
different species that resemble each other can
not be said to be aware of the fact Various
theories have been offered to account for these
resemblances of creatures to others and to their
surroundings, but the simplest explanation is
that it is due to natural selection Forms less
disguised have been weeded out by enemies in
the struggle for existence.
~
OF all desperately dangerous persons the bril-
liant surgeon is the most lamentable, declares
Sir Frederick Treves. Genius is some sort of
uncalculated nervous disease. and the usual men
of genius are quite impossible persons and en-
tirely out of place in the medical profession,
where even cleverness is not to be encouraged.
~
The latest and most elaborate determination
of the difference in longitude between the great
observatories at Greenwich and Paris has just |
been completed by two French astronomers.
The result is minutes 20.974 seconds, which is
only the thrtieth of secondfn time more than
the best independent English determination.
Niagara Falls Excursions.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Company has Sc
lected the following dates for its popular tenday
and Baltimore: July Fl, August Il and rs, Sep
TENDER and %. and October ID. On these dates |
the special train will leave Washington at 755 A.
NJ Baltimore 900 A. NJ, York 1910 A. NJ, Harris
burg 11.40 A. NJ Millersburg 1920 P. NJ, Sunbury |
5s SS P NJ. Williamsport s5q P: NJ. Lock Haven
sos p. NJ arriving at Niagara Falls at 9.35 p NJ.
Excursion tickets, good for return passage on
trains, within ten days. will be sold at $40 from
Washington and Baltimore 1895 from York;
STU from I1CCieSCOWn, STU from OXIOrQ. Ia;
$9.35 from Columbia; $3.50 from Harrisburg; $40
from Winchester, Va; $3.50 from Altoona; $740
from Tyrone $6.45 from Bellefonte $50 from
Ridgway; $3.50 from Sunbury and Wilkesbarre;
$5.75 from Williamsport and at proportfonate
rates from principal points. A stop-over will be
allowed at Buffalo within limit of ticket return
ing. The special trains of Pullman parlor cars
and day coaches will be run with each excursion
running through to Niagara Falls. An extra
charge will be made for parlor-car Seats. An
experienced tourist agent and chaperon will ac-
company each excursion.
For descriptive pamphlet, time of connecting
trains and further information apply to nearest |
ticket agent, or address Geo. w. Boyd, General |
Passenger Agent, Broad Street Station. Phila- |
delphia.
miscellaneous.