The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1905-04-29

Moon Weather Problem. Curious Home
Sharing-Moes on Trees-Electric FISH
Hunting--A Motor phibian-The
New Insulator.
The rich copper mines of Chile have been little
worked on account Of the scarcity of fuel and
the cost of transporting the ore. Water-p0wer
is abundant and for several years an electrician
has been employed in Paris to devise an electric
furnace for smelling the ore at the mines. thus
reducing the quantity Of material to be carried.
After making and demolishing 9S furnaces, I'M
bert de vanoy, who has had charge of the work,
believes he has produced practical type. He
uses two arcs between two pairs of four-inch
carbons obtaining an easily-regulated heat up
to 3O00 O., and the mixture of ore and fiux is
brought under the action Of this heat without
direct contact with the electrodes. Two feeders
empty buckets of mixture into hoppers at the
ends of the furnace, while the fused copper
matte is drawn OF into ingots about once an
hour. For ton of mixed ore and fux, a current
of ITO volts and 1000 amperes is needed, and the
cost of treating this amount per hour is less
than 81. The furnace is expected to work in
cessantly for year before wearing out.
Ass
The proposed bore-hole twelve miles deep has
brought out the objection that the great pres
sure of 40 tons per square inch would cause q
viscous flow Of rock material making the feat
impossible. The Hon. G. A. Parsons replies
that this idea can be tested by subjecting a
piece of quartz rock to pressure of 100 tons per
square inch in close-fttiDg cylinder having a
small hole through its center. This pressure is
that expected at depth of 80 miles.
"a
The perfection of pharmaceutical products
and the prevention Of the great waste of food
materials are the two lines which J. F. Moulton.
FIR. S..hndslthe chemical invention of the day
to be following.
A marked influence Of the moon on the weather
is easily shown. in the opinion of g. Lamprecht
a German astronomer, when rainfall is con-
sldered In relation to the moons phase at
perigee. In his investigation he has used the
monthly data of rainfalls at forty North German
stations for the years 1857 to 1894 and of about
ninety-eight stations in Java and MADEIRA for
1879 to 1902, and it appears that dry period is
likely to result when both moon and sun are
upon the same side of the earth at the moons
nearest approach. That's. both North Germany
and Java drouth has appeared when perigee
was nearer to new moon than to full moon. The
rule applies to all countries where the greatest
rainfals occur with the highest position of the
sun. New moon last July fell near perigee. and
dry weather was predicted. the forecast prov
ing remarkably accurate.
sTs
An extraordinary use of the same sleeping
quarters by dlurnal and nocturnal animals is re-
corded by a naturalist of Ceylon. Barberyn
Lighthouse Island. IS miles south of Colombo, is
inhabited by day by fruit bats or flying foxes
and at night by crows. and at sunrise and sum
set may be seen the curious spectacle of two
immense focks flying in opposite directions
across the strait separating the island from the
mainland, the flying foxes at greater eleva-
ton than the crows. The cross migration, last
ing about half an hour, is attended by great
chattering Of flying foxes and cawing of crows.
sSs
The idea that moss grows thickest on the
north or east side of trees seems to have been
disproved. A French botanist, Leon Bedel,
now concludes that MOSES prefer the parts of
the tree that retain most moisture, being thus
more abundant on rough or cracked parts, on
the upper part of a branch or inclined trunk, on
knots or bosses, at the fork of branches, and at
the base of the trunk.
The cat. besides its liking for valerian. has
shown taste for caffeine, which brings painful
and fatal results.
~
Electricity is now made to serve the fisherman
by showing the presence and extent of shoals of
fishes. The apparatus is a subject Of a German
patent. and it consists Of microphone, which is
enclosed in a water-tight case and connected
with an electric battery and telephone. As long
as the microphone hangs free on being lowered
into the water, no sound is heard, When fishes
strike against the case, however. their presence
is revealed by tappings, and the length of the
rope supporting the microphone gives the exact
depth at which the shoal is encountered.
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The novel automobile of Russian engineer is
combination of sleigh and boat. 1t is in the
form of a boat with two bars or runners beneath
and it is intended for the use of Prince Khilhoff
in crossing Lake Baikal. A gasoline motor
supplies power. A wheel with points to grip on
the ice propels the sleigh, and when the boat is
in water clutch connects the motor to pro-
peller.
Liconite, the new substitute for gutta percha.
is mixture of asphaltum. petroleum and gum.
Dissolved in turpentine, it is used for insulat-
ing electric wires, and costs less than twentieth
as much as gutta percha. It can be mixed with
either caoutchouc or gutta percha. The material
is expected to serve important uses, but its du-
rability in exposed places remains to be shown.
"a
The ordinary burglar alarm is liable to be
thrown out of action by cutting Of the wires.
In the new wireless system of English makers,
any tampering with safe puts in action asmall
transmitter, which emits Hertzian waves sufh-
cient to operate coherer-controlled alarms in
any part of the building.
~
In tests Of the durability of woods. beech and
hoxxo daoo od In will nd
chestnut in four years, maple and birch in FIVE
wears elm and asl In aavan uaara