The Washington herald., 1907-09-15

gentleman named ItampS4n mas got
out a book which he calls "Paradoxes Of
Nature and Science" Mr.. Hampson Is
entitled 20 add 20 his name the impress
sive ahbreviatioUs N. O. Oxon-. I. : A,
L0nd. He was formerly open scholar Of
Trinity College, oxford; lecturer under
the London County Council. at UniveT-
sity College, London. 19JO-l9C1, and is the
author Of "Radium Explained" This
last book Of his contains pearls OF sci
entifc wisdom IN q setting Of entertain
ing anomaly. Paradoxes he may well
name them. Everything which happens
10 contradict scientific principle OF settled
belief. Mr. Hampson sets forth with easy
explanation Of the why and the where
fore of these interesting contradictions,
says the Boston Transcript.
For example. when a train is going at
the rate Of sixty miles ,an hour, what
part Of # is moving backward? This IS
no trick. no "seI" The whole train IS
not going backward. and YOU are not the
innocent goat 10 be sacrificed upon It's
rails. The train is going forward at the
rate Of sixty miles an hour, and yet
portion of that same train is going in
a contrary direction az a pretty fair rate
Of speed. It is not going relatively. even;
Il IS actually and literally IN a hurry IN
that direction. You may prove this for
yourself with a bicycle Push its front
wheel up against a house wall. Make
chalk mark on the lowest part Of the
wheel and on the ground Immediately
beneath IL. Back the machine a little
from the wall, and when the wheel has
moved an inch the marked spot viii not
appear TO have moved at all. AS the ma
chine is slowly backed farther the first
visible movement Of the bottom OF the
wheel IS upward from the ground, while
II is impossible o see that the marked
spot has backed from the wall % the
smallest extent This means that all
wheels, travelling II any speed, have a
paTt-the part in immediate contact with
the ground-which has no movement at
all.
The Paradox Explained.
But the wheel Of a railroad car has a
fange. "a portion which juts down below
the WHEELS point Of contact on the rail
That point Of contact then becomes a CEN
ter; the whole wheel passes forward above
it, while the fauge beneath it passes
under it, going backward. That IS the
part Of the wheel that travels IN the
contrary direction. And by a simple
mathematical formula its rate OF speed
is caleuiabIe at about one-sixth of the
speed of the axle Of the wheel. which
represents the forward rate Of travel s.
that on every. express train going 1T six
L miles an hodr toward New York there
is a portion that is travelling toward Bos-
ton its humble ten.
The paradox that sail and ice boats
may fly faster than the wind which pro
pcls them IS obvious and commonplace II
the point Of boredom But consider the
intelligence Of the average billiard ball
Place three balls in a row along the
cushion. touching each other. Place an
other ball alongside the cushion. say eight
inches from This row Hit this lightly
and smoothly. SO that it strikes the row.
It viii come 70 rest at once on striking
the nearest ball The nearest bail and
the next one 10 il viii also remain sta
tionary. But the third ball viii start or
from the bunch al precisely the speed OF
the bal! you have struck. and il viii
quietly move off % the exact distance
from the row that you had placed the
ball which you struck. The balls will
then be in position exactly the reverse
Of the one at which you started. The ball
you struck with your cue VIII be the
third bali In the row, and the last bail
IN the original row win be at rest just
eight inches away from them. II you
had placed two balls eight inches from
your row Of three. and hit them with
your cue. so that they struck the row OF
three. then two balls would leave the
row Of three and retire 10 the eight-lnch
position occupied by your two cue balls.
Plainly the billiard ball is smart enough
20 come in out Of the rain. II can count
and add and subtract II probably has its
opinion Of the people who bat It about the
cushions, with not nearly so true an in
stinCt for angles and velocities as Il has
itself.
Zee Used for Heat.
Hereafter. when coal IS high we may
heat our houses with ice. For fee gives
out heat-not much. It would take a large
chunk TO heat the public library, but It
might be done Everything in nature has
some heat, every known object, even ice.
Ice Is cold TO us only because it has much
less heat than our bodies It hasn't much
heat, TO be sure, but still little You
may lower its melting point by mixing in
some salt a mixture Of water and salt
requires % degrees Of frost to freeze f.;
therefore, the mixture Of ice and salt
can be melted by the heat Of anything
Such thing as pure ice has been ex-
pOsd for some time 10 the air; il remains
at freezing, or melting, point, 81 degrees
Fahrenheit or zero on the centigrade
scale. At this temperature. then. it has
heat enough 10 melt g portion OF its own
substance that has been more easily melt
able by the addition Of salt. II proceeds
70 melt a part OF itself, devotng part
of its heat energy to this work That is
10 say, that, having used up some Of its
heat, Il has less heat left. And that IS
further 20 say that all the while the ice
was melting Il was growing colder.
We come now TO the ice furnace A
large mass Of pure ice is contained In a
galvanized receptacle having a flue lead
ing from the top. About this receptacle
IS placed ice mixed with salt The salted
ice melts. In melting it draws from the
pure ice its heat. Our patent flue con-
ducts this heat to all parts Of the house.
And there is a great saving In coal
Water may be made servicesbIe as a
fuel. Il is no mere TepOTtOrial hyperbole
10 say that the water which the fremen
turned upon q fire rather added to the
intensity Of the conhagration The heat
Of the flames Instantly disintegrated the
water, and. converting II into its con-
stituent gases, burned them. Let only
some inventive genius set himself 10 work
and apply this principle 70 the kitchen
range. and he shall have fame and for