Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1905-05-19

populed: Sienoe'


From experiments In Belgium, Leon
Thomas gives reinsurance to jewellers
a few miles away from stores OF h1gh
explosives. Various quantities OF dy-
Mantle up to ton were exploded, ana
the destructive effects were confined
to radii of fifty to four hundred teet'
leading to the conclusion that the
greatest store of explosives that could
be collected would not endanger Ire
or substantial buildings beyond one
hundred to five hundred yards Fur
Their away, up to three thousand yards
an explosion would give return shock,
with no more serious injury than bro
ken windows or dislodged tiles.
The novel theory that the difference
in the color of peoples eyes is pro
tective adaptation to surroundings
comes from Professor Wallace, OF
Kimberley, South Africa. Natives of
regions where blue light is predomi-
nant-Swedes, Norwegians and sail
ors, for instance,-have blue eyes,
while near the equator, or in sandy
lands like South Africa, where intense
yellow light is experienced, the eyes
take a rich dark yellow hue, as those
Of the Kaffirs and Malays, Italians
and Spaniards Generally speaking,
the Scotch have blue, the English gray
and the French dark eyes.
In the new process of D. Engels,
carbon for hardening iron and steel is
obtained from carbides and certain
fiuxes. A mixture of silicium carbide
and sodium sulphate, for example, is
applied to the cold metal, and then
heated to redness with it, the reaction
being so rapid that an eight-inch steel
plate is made to resist the best tenn
pered steel tools on one side, while
the other side remains wholly soft
Last years hydrophobia statistics
at the Berlin Institute show that of
2S1 persons inOculated at once on be-
ing bitten by mad dog, IL per cent |
died; of those treated medically, 6 per
cent, and of those not treated II per
cent.
With the aid of $4,000 granted by
the Carnegie Institution the Yerkes |
Observatory has sent an expedition
to Mount Wilson near Pasadena, Cal, |
for special investigations of the sun,
under the personal direction of Pro-
lessor George e. Hale. A horizontal
rejecting telescope Of 145 feet focal
length is to be employed to produce to
an image of the sun 16 inches in diam
eter, which will be investigated with
a spectroheliograph of 80 feet focus
length. The spectroheliograph is an
instrument with which it is possible
to study the solar surface in light of
certain selected wave-lengths, the
'ther light being shut out. Thus a
photograph of the sun taken with the
light emanating only from the calcium
'apor in the phOtOsphere presents a
'ery different aspect from that of a
photograph taken with the light of the
hydrogen vapOr.
An interesting parallel is drawn in
ANAI " Inc department Oh Agricul-
ure between the different varieties of
grown in the tropics and
hose of maple-trees in this country.
)ut of about 1000 varieties of trees
II OF which produce more or less rub-
er sap, only 40 or 80 have been found
Ehose product is commercially vain
Die When would-b cultivator Of
uDber goes to tropical country and
cts out a plantation of rubber-trees
'hlch the natives know do not belong
the right variety, he causes amused
such as would be excited nv
South American who came to tho
nlted States and bored holes in soft
naples with the expectation of Oh /
aiming sugar sap. Rubber-culture ro-
lures great expert knowledge. Nv
erience has shown that excellent rnh.
er trees transplanted from their ma 6
We habitat to other regions having :
pparPEtly identical soil and climate
lay flourish in growth yet lose their
reducing power.