Amador ledger. (Jackson, Amador County, Calif.) 1875-19??, 1907-10-04

The size of the heart in different
animals is found by Prof. Hesse to
vary with the activity of the chemical
changes that supply the body with
nutrition and remove waste. 1t is
largest in birds, is larger among
young warm blooded animals than in
the mature, and is very small in
sluggish -blooded creatures
Stated in thousandths of the body
weight, the highest relative heart
weigh is 24.1, that of the sandpiper,
while among mammals the highest is
14.4 in a dwarf bat. Among fishes
the relative heart weight of a member
of the mackerel family is as high as
2. l, but the smallest relative heart
weights known are OILS and O32., in
Sphageobranchus and Ophisurus, two
eel-like sand fishes. The relative
heart weight of young Greenland
whale was 81, equal to that of the
camel, man and the mole. The re
lative heart weight of the blind worm
is Id; water frog 10; toad, 81.
The illuminating engineer is sci
entltic specialist whose early appear
ance is predicted by l.. Caster, an
English electrician. The production
of artificial light is wasteful, and
much of the light produced is lost
often one -half5or even -thirds-by
improper placing, rejecting and shad-
ing It is asserted that better illumi-
nation could be given, with saving
of at least ten per cent of the $3.50, =
600, 900 annually spent for lighting in
England.
Numerous outbreaks of typhoid
fever in the last five years have been
traced to a certain New York cook, a
healthy woman, who is not known to
have had the disease but whose
excreta are highly charged with
typhoid bacilli.
In research to determine accur-
ately the effect of sunlight on germs,
DIR. K. Wiesner, a German bacteri.
ologist, has made some important dis
coveries. He has found that the lis
ease germs and harmless parasites of
men and animals are weakened or
killed on exposure to sunlight, while
open-air bacteria are little affected :;
also that disease germs do not lose
their virulence until their dead
bodies are entirely destroyed. Ultra
red rays, like the ultraviolet, have
especially powerful germicidal effect.
The action of sunlight is in direct
proportion to its intensity, varies
with season and time of day, and is
lessered by moisture and cold, but at
midday during half of the year it
seems to be sufficient to destroy most
bacteria in two or three hours. Pneu-
monia, bronchitis and "coIds'' in
general are probably diminished il
summer by the greater power of sun
light. Ditfused in houses, the sun S
rays are enormously reduced in in
tensity and they lose all distinctive
power.
A curious mishap has given US a
very delicate test for hydrochloric
acid in the atmosphere. In north
of England locality many houses have
curtains of the cream color produced
by metanil yellow-popularly known
as dolly" cream dye, and to science
as 1.-THE sodium salt of meta-amido-
benzene sulphonic acid azo- diphenyl-
anime. y Some of these cream colored
curtains suddenly changed to hello
trope. Investigation showed that an
accidental escape of hydrochIoric acid
from a neighboring alkali plant had
discolored the curtains, and the dye
became most useful test.
A new safeguard for coIIieries is
offered by the discovery of Profs.
Elster and Geirel that firedamp con.
tains six or seven times as much
radlum emanation as the ordinary all
of coal mines. An aluminium foil
electroscope quickly shows the differ.
ence of electrical conductivity due tc
the emanation, and this simple appar
atus becomes an effective and import
ant means of detecting danger.
Iron being the most abundant meta.
of the basic rocks and constituting
nearly five per cent of the EARTH:
crust, it is difficult to realize how
rapidly the supply contained in The
ores now smelted is being exhausted
Mr. Bennett II. Brough, in his British
Association paper pointed out thai
every inhabitant of the United States
the United Kingdom and Germany
requires about quarter of a ton O.
iron yearly In 1905 the world pro
duced total of 60, ZOO, 900 tons from
100, 900, 600, tons of ore, the production
of Great Britain having been ii, $50,
703 tons, while that of the United
States exceeded AZ, 800, QUO tons, tn,
highest output ever recorded. Tn,
world known supply of iron ore We
to be mined is estimated at 10000,
900, 00O tons. Of this Germany ha
ZOO million tons; France, l,5O
millions; Russia, 1900 millions; tn
United States, LOO millions; Grea