Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1906-01-27
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

That electricity is soon 10 replace the
manual labor OF the house, maid IS the
prediction OF Col. K. r. Crompton, the
English electrician. II Is capable OF
washing dishes, kneading dough, chop
ping meat, and even doing the family
washing as well as many other things.
The use OF the motor TO compress air
may give cold storage room for every
mans house. Domestic motors have
been greatly chcapened, and electric
lighting companies are proftlng by SELL
ing current for day use at reduced
price
The strange home OF pair OF swal-
lows IS ander the awning Of steamer
making trips along the coast OF Trini-
dad. The birds are seen going ashore,
but evidently have no home except
their floating one.
Russian war equipment includes a
number Of sets OF special apparatus,
provided BY the Topographic institute
OF 81. Petersburg, for the automatic
taking OF photographs from balloons or
kites. Each set Is expected TO give
pictures Of the entire landscape 10 the
horizon on ali sides. and consists OF one
camera covering what is directly be-
meath and six others arranged IN a cir.
Gle around the central one with their
axes Inclined az an agile Of 30 degrees.
The seven shutters are operated stimuli
taneously by the electric current A
leyeling device Is ingtniously inserted
in the circuit. with a clockwork for
closing the contact al any desired time,
and these ensure that the automatic ex-
posture shall take place only when the
apparatus has reached sufficient
height and is quite horizontal.
Acetylene lighting Is quietly gaining
favor, and the German Acetylene assoc
citation finds that the gas Is supplied the
public b. Is places In Germany, 202 In
the United States, IS in the United
Kingdom. and 10 IN the British colonies
while Germany alone has $4,000 private
installations,
Recording bird mlgrations, Otto Her.
man. Hungarian ornithologist. Is sur
prised to find that swallows take l05
days 10 complete their passing from Gil
braltar TO Lulea, in sweden.
A popularity OF nearly or quite all
OF the fishes allied 10 the celebrated
climbing perch (anabas scandensJ Is
that they place their eggs in nests or
floats OF bubbles. These fishes are all
brilliantly Colored. and all are natives
Of the IndO- Malayau rivers except one
African species. Among the species
making these nests are the gourami
renowned for is excellent flesh. the
paradise iish. ana the fighting fish. the
hast sO-callei on account OF q domestic
Gated breed kept by the Siamese for
fighting. Specimens OF the two latter
recently studied by an English natural
list, have built their bubble RATS. Of
dome shape, IN an aquarium. The
paradise-ash gradually Increases the
layers OK bubhles--which IRE blown by
the mals-uutll the eggs are raised
above the water and are SO Matched.
The alpha rays OF radium have been
found by Prof Rutherford 20 have one
eleventh as great velocity as light.
The duration Of sunshine IN German
and other European cities has been
compared by Prof Eichhorn. a meteor
ologist Of Jena. Jena and Wiesbaden
are the brightest places In Germany,
the former averaging as hours Of sun
shine daily. and the glo0mlest places
are AiX-la. ChHpcllc ana Hamburg, the
latter having "a daily average Of only
as hours. I'm England and Denmark
the average sinks ~ 3.3 hours The
Swiss average Is Al hours. in Padua e
r. Sc, In Rome nearly z. IN Pola and
Abazzia Il IS rs Madrid with an aver
age Of S hours OF sunshine daily, Il the
cheeriest city In Europe,
In the two new electric FIRE engines
OF the Vienna FIRE brigade. the nccu-
mulators are designed 20 propel the car
about 2S miles an 1919 miles an hour.
They are placed IN front Of the drly-
ers seat over the front wheels. The
wheels are "a. feet in diameter. with s.
inch rubber tires and each front wheel
has 35-hOFse-power L.ohner-Porsc he
hub motor Five speeds-from SO 70
g. miles per hour-are available.
From photographs OF the spectra OF
Uranus and Neptune, the ou;ermost Of
the suns family OF planets. II IL in
ferred that free hydrogen Is abundant,
especially on Neptune, and that helium
L., T..