The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-09-08
Corrsspondencs Baltimore County linton.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.


SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
A Little Planet That struck the Earth
Stone Gongs-Future Fuel-Materials
Not Easily Melted-The Coming Fad
A Planet Beyond Neptune-Food Tor
Our Descendants-Blue-Li Anaes-
neutrality-suspicious. Pendulums.
For quarter Of a century museums and col
lectors throughout the world have eagerly
sought specimens of the meteoric iron from
Canon Diablo, in northern Arizona. This iron
has become famous from the number and size Of
the fragments, from the minute diamonds found
in some pieces, and from peculiarities Of the
locality. It now appears. from the recent work
Of Messrs. d. II. Barringer and B. G. Tilghman,
that the crater Of Coon Mountain, or Coon Butte,
must have been produced by collision with the
earth Of the very large meteorite, or possibly
small asteroid, which these fragments represent.
The investigations have shown that the forma-
ton of the crater and the deposition of the
meteoritic material were simultaneous, that
meteoritic material has been found 500 feet
below the surface of the craters center, and
that sandstone supposed to be in place exists at
depth of less than 1000 feet. The crater had
been previously attributed to volcanic steam
explosion.
Some fine specimens Of Chinese sounding
stones have been described by late visitor at
Ch'ufu, the birthplace and burial place of Con-
fucius. An incense dish of stone rang with the
bell-like tone of bronze on being struck with
stick two pillars gave out musical note on
being struck at any point, and large tablet
three by five feet In area and six inches thick
emitted note varying with the point struck.
These "stone gongs" are found throughout the
country, having been known for centuries. The
material is greyish oolitic limestone. and it Is
said to come only from occasional veins at a
quarry few miles from Ch'ufu.
srs
Peat covers one-seventh of Ireland, sometimes
reaching a depth of 80 feet; the United King
dom has 100000 acres, of an average depth of
IL feet Germany's peat covers 1900 square
miles; and scandinavias supply is thought to
equal 1900 million tons of coal.
-.
The extreme temperatures necessary in mod
ern industries have developed new kind of engi-
neering work in the selection of materials that
are adapted for containing vessels and utensils
by their resistance to both heat and chemical
action. Reviewing the refractory substances
available, Marie-Auguste Morel, q French engi-
neer, finds carbon In the form of graphite to be
especially valuable, as it resists almost all tenn
peratures, but it unites chemically with iron
and cannot be used in work with that metal.
Pure silica is very useful, though it softens in
the oxyhydrogen fame and unites with alkalies.
More resistant still is alumina, which fails only
in the electric furnace, and resists all such
corrosive actions as oxide of iron, to which
silica yields. Chalk though very subject to
chemical action, withstands heat wonderfully.
Magnesia, titanic acid and iron oxide are other
simple natural compounds; but the electric
tufed materials-like carborundum-that are
taking their place for practical purposes In
working with great heat the electric furnace
offers an enormous advantage, as the intensest
heating is internal, and substances can be acted
upon by temperatures that would destroy the
crucible walls If applied from the outside.
sss
Electric light baths will soon displace Turkish
baths, in the opinion of H. ]. Dowsing, the
English electrician. They have none of the
disadvantages of the latter, but act as tonic,
and lack most of the harmful rays Of sunlight.
They may be used at pleasure. The combined
electric heat and light treatment. applied under
medical supervision, is proving of great value
in certain diseased conditions, and also promises
to become popular.
The probable existence of a large planet be-
Forbes quarter of a century ago. His theory
was based on the orbits of comets, but he has
since noted perturbations of Neptune that seem
likely in a few years to give good idea of the
position Of this unknown body.
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Even If the world should not be fed on chemi-
cal products, there is every reason to believe
that the food of few generations hence will
differ greatly from that of today. AS popula-
tion grows we shall doubtless tend to become
vegetarians. for it has been found that % acres
Of land are necessary to sustain one man on
fresh meat, but that AZ people can be fed from
the same area devoted to wheat. One prophecy
is that the time is approaching when the human
race will live chiefly on the fruit of trees. Hum
b0ldt estimated that an acre banana plantation
will feed % human beings, while a potato field
of the same size would support only two, and a
wheat farm only one and he further discovered
that grove of full grown chestnut trees will
yield six times as much nourishment per acre
as any cereal crop. With the reclaiming of
desert areas by irrigation, the planting of date
palms, bananas and other fruit trees will result
in a vast new supply of palatable and nutritious
food.
-.
Colored light rays have been shown by Prof.
Redard, Of Geneva, to have varied physiological
enects which may become important in surgery
as well as medicine. The red acts as excitant
and irritant, and is known to have effect in
smallpox and other eruptions; the yellow seems
to have depressing action; and the blue Gains
and soothes the nerve centres to such degree
as to serve as an anaesthetic for many persons.
DIR. Willard, of London, has reported successful
anaesthesia in twenty cases and failure in eight.
The patient looks steadily at an incandescent
light with blue bulb, placed ten inches away,
and becomes unconscious in few minutes.
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Two weights suspended from bar form .
London scientific novelty. When one weight is
pulled down and released it vibrates up and
down for little time. when it suddenly stops
and the second weight begins to bob up and
down. This sooD stops. the first then resuming
its motion.
- "A e+N1HM