The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1907-10-05
Cbrsspondencs Baltimore County Union,
>SETRNTrV1C MISCELLANY.


SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
Activity and size Of Heart-waste in
Lighting-A Typhoid Incubator-Sun-
ietry-Radium In Coal Mining-The Iron
supply-pisease Near the Ground.
The size Of tho 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 thar n the mature, and it is very small
in sluggish cold-bIooded creatures. Stated in
thousandths OF the body weight. the highest
rela1 lnWeight is al. that of the sand
LIT A1Eone mammals the highest Is IA
IWhrf bat. Among fishes the relative heart
weifrt Of member OF the mackerel family is as
high - FL. but the smallest relative heart
weighs known are OILS and 0.ss IN Sphageo-
bfancius and Ophisurus. two eel like sand fishes.
The relative heart weight Of a young Greelaud
whale vas 81. equal to that of the camel, man
and fhe mole. The re1atsve heart weight of the
BAND worm islb; water frog. re, -tGad,S 81.
The illuminating engineer q a scient,ec sr,.o-
ailpk whose early appearance Is predicted bv
Caster, an English electrician. The produc-
Of ARTIFICIAL light is wastefuI, and much of
light produced is lost-often one-haIf or
even Two thirds-by improper placing, rehecting
apq shading. 1t is asserted that better ilIumi-
nation could be given, with saving Of at least
ten per cent. Of the s18O, 900 900 annually spent
for lighting In England.
h sss
Numerous outbreaks of typhoid fever in the
last ive years have been traced Id q carta,n New
York cook. healthy woman who 4 NOT known
90 have had the disease bu whose excreta are
mighty charged with typhoid bacilli.
~ research 70 determine accurately the ef-
szsSp2k sunlie5t On germs, DR.. r. wiesner.
SeFman b4eseriologist, has made some impor-
discoveries. He has found that the disease
ure and harmless parasites OF men and ami
mails are weakened or killed on exposure to sun
light, while open-air bacteria are little affected
also that disease germs do not lose their viru-
leuco until their dead bodies are entirely de-
etroyed. UItra-red rays, like the ultra violet.
have especially powerful germicidal effect. The
action Of sunlight Is In direct proportion to its
intensity, varies with season and time of day.
and Ia lessened BY moisture and cold, but at
midday during half Of the year It seems to be
sufnoient 70 destroy most bacteria In two or
three hours. Pneumonia bronchitis and .scolds,,
IN general are probably diminished in summer
By the greater power of sunlight. Diffused in
houses. the suns rays are enormously reduced
In intensity, and they lose all distinctive power
w sa =.
A curious mishap has given us very delicate
!. fapt for hydrochloric acid in the atmosphere
. north OF England locality many houses
We curtains Of the cream color produced by
}etanil yell0w-pOpularly known az ..dolv,'
4team dye, and to science as .the sodium salt
Of meta-amido- benzene sulphonic acid-azo-di-
phenylamine." Some Of these cream-colored
oErtains suddenly changed to helIotrope. In
vestigation showed that an accidental escape of
hydrochioric acid from neighboring alkali
plant had discclored the curtains, and the I've
became most useful test.
a M sss
new safeguard for collieries is offered bv
the discovery Of Profs EIster and Geite that
nrcdamp contains six or seven times "a mucb
radium emanation as the ordinary air or coal
mines An aluminium foil electroscope quickly
shows the difference of electrical conductivitv
due 20 the emanation, and this simple apparatus
becomes an effective and important means of
detecting danger.
Iron being the most abundant metal of the
nasic rocEs and constituting nearly five per
esnt VI the earths crust, it Is difficult TO real
-aAe now rapidly the supply contained in the
ores now smeited Is being exhausted Mr.. Rem
nett h. Brough In his British Association paner
pointed out that every inhabitant of the United
pMtee, the United Kingdom and Germany re
quires about quarter of a ton of iron yearly.
In lSn the world produced a total of 6lOO0Mo.
tons from lsO,OO0.OOO tons of ore, the production
Of Great Britain having been IA boo ma +ors
= while that OF the United States exceeded 40 soo'
w tons. the highest output ever recorded. The
worlds known supply of iron ore yet to be
fineo is estimated at 10 900 900 900 tons. OF This
sermany has 200 million tons; France 1.6OO
millions; Russia. 1900 millions: the limited
Estates, LOO millions Great Britain. LON mil
lions: Spain. 500 millions, and the rest balonoe
% the nom producing countries. There ara stilI
{normous stores, OF unknown extent. In Austra-
-. 1917. Africa and elsewhere. Ere these arc
exhausted, Improved processes will work mn
pooer ores. and in the electric furnace the blact
sands and other titaniferous ores oar, ~ ,a,,
20 s'eio an enormous product from sources not
now considered.
Tall people may derive muoh comfor+ tnor,
tne mover germ theory of DIR. N. Friedrich. OF
twenty-six victims Of cerebro-spinal meningitis
snat came under his notice all were children
anq ne believes that the germs-stirred IN
from the ground by passing pedestrians
rise aooVe TWO or three feet and are Thus in
naied oy children and others with noses near
the ground. -'o"-
Inc largest insect yet discovered IL supposed
70 p Tasshopper Of the Karoo desert in South
AAsaca. Its spread of wings is ten inches.
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