Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1906-04-17
Science Notes.

A little more IMAM year ago there
died in Jena, that world-famous town,
Prof Ernest Able, who has had no
small share in making Jena so well
known to the entire civilized world.
At the time of his death, papers and
magazines contained full accounts OF
the life and work of this truly remark
able man, reciting in detail his num-
erous contributions to science and
his successful experiment in organlz-
ing an industrial enterprise upon dis
tinctively new lines. Since that time
the feeling that here was man
whose work has been for the good or
mankind and whose memory should
be fttingly honored, gathered strength
until there was appointed commit
tee to take charge of soliciting funds
for the purpose of erecting in his ma
tive town, between the Volkshaus
erected by him and the Zeiss works, a
statute as memorial. The names OF
a number of American scientists and
business men who had had dealings
with the Zeiss works were included
in the committee named. We in
America seem very far off from the
| little German town where the statue
to Able is to be placed; and one might
think it of little account whether we
help to erect the statue or not. But
this is a unique occasion, as Able was
unique man, and most of us who
| know anything at all about him will
consider it privilege to be able to
contribute, be it ever so small sum,
to the statue that is to perpetuate his
form to posterity.
In the course of their researches
upon spring water, Messrs. Dienert
and Bouquet had occasion to make
number of measurements as to the
radio-activity of several springs which
go to form the Avre, one of the
streams serving for the water supply
, of Paris. To carry out the measure
ments they used an elctroscope ap-
paratus of the Elster and Geitel type.
First. they determined the fall of po-
tential which is obtained by a certain
. quantity of distilled water after one
hour, thus giving the normal activity.
In the second place they replaced the
distilled water by an equal amount of
spring water and made the same
reading. Subtracting from the latter
the normal activity we have the figure
which is due to the spring water in
l question. The results which they OBJ
j tanned show that the water of the
: Avre is slightly radioactive. and the
q Breull spring is stronger than the
, others. On coming out Of the ground
! it seems that the water of the spring
L contains the emanation which it dis
T. solved out Of the soil in the most con
u centrated state. Around the springs
II has been built a masonry vault, and
y it is to be supposed that the air within
e such chambers is strongly radio-ac
tive They found this to DE true
e and in the case of the Breull spring
u the air was over seven times as radio
II active as the air of the laboratory
II comparing by the electrscope method
u Seeing that at certain points, as fol
l. instance when coming out of the soil
ST the springs seem to concentrate the
t. emanation which they have collected
Is from the soil, we may be able to ust
. this method for revealing the pres
n. ence of underground springs, an(
III the authors are now engaged in max
u ing researches to this end.
A curious effect was noticed in coli
S nection with photograph view which
was taken in Germany not long ago
1t was obtained at the time OF the Wis
it of the King of Spain to Berlin AM
lie represented the entrance of the pre-
OF cesion into the city. The horse guard
re led off, then a line of carriages an
e. lastly a line of mounted cavaliers
p What was surprising about this viey
n was that while the carriages move
It. in the line of march as they shout
IN do, the wheels appeared to revolv
ut slowly in the contrary direction, an
es thus the spectators had the impress
n sion that the vehicles were about t
NJ be dislocated and torn apart. In anotf
it. err view of the same scene the wheel
did not turn at all, or else swaye
n slightly to and fro about the center
NJ. This phenomenon is easily explained
t., though at first it puzzled nearly ever!
III. one. To take the views we photograp
the objects successfully within a
least one-tenth of a second and the
project them in the same order on tn
- screen. In the case of moving ca
w riase wheel the rotation is suggeste
80 to the eye entirely by the displac'
:" ment of the spokes. But here the kim
i' tograph may be completely at faul
Z" For instance, in one of the views
rs spoke of the wheel occupies a we
'' defined position. In the followin
views if the second, third, and fOurt
spokes are made to occupy exactly tn
,st place OF the first in their turn, In
IN. successive images of the wheel wi
i'll not differ from each other. The spe
rv tator will therefore not have the Sc
re- sation OF the wheels movement. A
cordlng to the relative speed of II