Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1905-12-28
Ek8k$cience
NSslhventi0n'
~ONO>0~~~

| Recording bird migrations, Otto
Herman, Hungarian ornthologist,
Is surprised to find that swallows take
1O5 days to complete their passing
from Gibraltar to Lulea, in Sweden.
That electricity is soon to replace
the manual labor Of the housemaid is
the prediction Of Col r. e. Crompton,
the English electrician 1t Is capable
OF washing dishes, kneading dough,
chopping meat and even doing the
family washing, as well as many other
things The use of the motor to COM
press air may give cold storage
room for every mans house. Domes-
tic motors have been greatly cheap
ened and electric lighting companies
are profiting by selling current for day
use at reduced price
At recent meeting Of the Torrey
Botanical Club in New York, DR.. c. S.
eager reported the results Of expert
ments with the action Of radium on
growing seeds. 1t was found that the
rays act as stimulus, varying In in
tensity with their strength as well as
with the thickness Of the seed coats
and the amount Of intervening moist
soil. If the stimulus is not pushed
beyond certain limit, termination
and subsequent growth are accelerat-
ed. Above that limit the results are
unfavorable. The growth Of plants Is
retarded, and may be stopped, by pac-
Ing them In an atmosphere containing
the emanation of radium, such as may
be drawn from a cylinder lined with
Lieber's coating
Ingenuity was manifested to nOta-
BILE degree in Spain and France at the
time Of the solar eclipse Of Aug. 30.
The shop windows in Madrid Paris
and other towns We're filled with a
great variety of devices for viewing
the passage of the moon across the
suns disk without danger to the OBJ
servers eyes. There were black glass
spectacles, black glass monocles. black |
glasses set in pasteboard handles Of
20 different forms, and also devices
for viewing the phenomenon by re-
fection. But the people made many |
Of their own. such as pin
holes through paper, or through the |
tops Of Derby hats. Some viewed the |
eclipse in the streets or on the roofs |
by reflection from pals or pans Of |
water to reduce the glare, and some |
saw It through cambric handkerchiefs |
Or thin umbrella tops The book shops |
On eclipses.
Airship travel seems to be already
popular. w. de Fonvielle estimates
hat seven or eight hundred balloon
voyages are now made annually and
states that the members of the French
ero Club alone made more than two
hundred last year. The forms and
,olors of the clouds, the brightness and
he new views of the earth give Won
lerful charm to sky automObiing.
This is increased at night, and Camille
whose wedding trip was
made in balloon, has expressed his
surprise at the splendor Of the lights
If great city-in this case Parls-as
we'll as at the brilliancy of the con-
tellations. The number of the stars
8 unbelievable, the dog star becomes
Is bright as Venus. while some Of
he nebulae appear like gas Jets The
hooting stars are terrifying. Their
EXPLOSIONS seem to be heard, and this
nay be really true, as the balloon acts
Ike gigantic ear trumpet, and
atches such earthly sounds as the
vhistling Of locomotives and barking ,
t dogs. Hygienically the complete re- {
Iewal of the air in the lungs Is de-
lghtful sensation.