The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1907-06-15
Correspondence Baltimore County linton.
sOIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

Co-@pondmcs Baltimore County linton.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
The Metal Age at It's Height-A New San
itary Discovery-AR Remedy for the Roll
ing Of snips-Art in Aeronautics-pro-
poner-D Driving for Bicycles-A New MIN
eral Water Test-Our Light from Stars
Cancer Increase.
The increase In the production Of metals
especially in the United States-has been most
remarkable feature in the industrial evolution
Of the last quarter-century. The output Of pig
iron in the United States has trebled in ten years
and reached A.lSS. Jos tons in 1905. which was
about equal to the total production for the rest
Of the world. The per capita consumption Of
pig iron in 1905 reached go pounds in the United
States and was only 6spounds in the whole world.
The production of copper in the United States
increased from 5000 tons in 1880 to l13.O70 tons
in 1905. or from q sixth Of the worlds output to
one-half. The annual yield Of gold has quadru-
pied in twenty years. The output for 1905 is
given by n. de LAuney as 1908 millions Of francs,
of which the Transvaal furnished 524 millions,
the United States 1876 millions and Australia 432
millions The production of aluminium has
grown from few pounds ten years ago to 5000
tons In 1906.
-
Illness or sudden death from entering long
closed holds of ships have been attributed to the
presence of carbon monoxide or an excess Of
carbonic acid. Late experiments have convinc-
ed g. Giemsa that lack Of oxygen is more often
the cause, as many stored substances absorb this
gas rapidly, while air containing less than Is per
cent. must soon prove fatal. He concludes fur
Their that such processes as the drying of floor
varnish may absorb oxygen to an unsafe extent
IN closed rooms.
Fitting turbine vertically to the keel is Otto
Schlick's method Of preventing the violent mo-
ton Of ship at sea. Tested in an old torpedo
boat ct the mouth Of the Elbe in rough weather,
the roll was reduced from nine degrees to one
degree.
The "Orthoptera,' y of which a half sized model
has been exhibited at Brussels, is pointed out as
probably the most grotesque of the many pro-
5ected flying machines. It is the invention of
Capt. Marga, n. de Ia Hault and NJ. Jansen, it
belongs to the class of machines that are slightly
heavier than the air and are to be raised by
planes, propellers or wings; and it resembles a
gigantic bee or wasp. It has head and six legs,
which seem to serve for balancing. while the
body is an enclosed cabin with two windows on
each side. The action depends upon the oiled
silk wings and the aluminium propellers, and
the latter are driven by sixty-horse power
Buchet motor at the enormous velocity of 10000
revolutions per minute. The body of the appa-
ratus has q double skin Of cloth, with an air
space between. while the tail is provided with
three great air-cushions to lessen the shock on
descending.
TO determine the effect upon a bicycle of a
well-designed propeller. driven by a six-horse
power motor. has been the purpose of the expe-
riments Of n. Archdeacon. The motor bicycle
il provided with propeller shaft carried in a
frame supplying bearing just in front of the
drivers seat and another in front of the front
wheel. Power is furnished by two-cylinder
Buchet motor. The propeller has two sheet
aluminium blades. and their inner portion is per-
forated and covered with gold beaters' skin.
The machine weighs about 154 pounds. Carry
ing the famous bicyclist Anzani, the total weight
smoothly, and ultimately developed the fair
speed Of 1927 miles an hour.
s*s
The new electrical test of d. Negreano, q
French electrician. distinguishes between differ
emit mineral waters and detects limitations. 1t
consists simply In measuring the electrical re-
sistance, which proves to be very constant for
the water Of any spring at given temperature,
but varies greatly for different springs. Sam
pies from the leading Continental springs, for
instance, gave resistances per cubic centimeter
ranging from 27.5 to 1880 ohms.
AsA
Various attempts have been made to estimate
the light Of the stars. In the northern hemi-
sphere Highlander has registered $4,000 stars
down to the OK magnitude. and, with the aid of
the best photometric data, Agnes NJ. Clerke's
new system of the Stars" gives the sum of the
light Of these northern stars as equivalent to
lao Of full moonlight; and the total light of all
stars similarly enumerated in both hemispheres,
to the number of about 100000. is roughly placed
at 1-10O Of the lunar brightness. The scattered
light Of still fainter celestial bodies is difficult to
evaluate. BY Photographic method Sir,Wm.
Abney, in 1895. rated the total starlight of both
hemispheres at 1-1O0 of full moonlight: and
Prof. Newcomb. in 1901, from visual observa-
tons of diffused sky-radiance, fixed the light
power Of all stars at just 2S times that of Capel-
Ia or 1e0 of the light of the full moon. Its not
certain, however, that the sky would be totally
dark If all stars were blotted out. Certain pro-
cesses make the upper atmosphere strongly lu-
minous at times. and we can never be sure that
this light Is absent
While cancer mortality is increasing still, in
England and Wales it is at diminishing rate.
In the i've years ending with 1905 the death rate
for both sexes showed an increase of eight per
cent, which was about half as great as the in
crease for the five years ending with 1890. The
deaths in 1904 were al per 100000 among males
Of all ages and 1.OO6 among females. In nearly
all comparable cases the rate is greater among
females. A remarkable exception is cancer of
the mouth, for in the four years ending with 1904
this caused the death of 7,246 males and only
1857 females. Whether this is an effect of nico-
tine poisoning remains to be shown.
sfs
In new method the velocity Of a stream is
determined chemically. A certain quantity Of
brine is added to the water and samples after
ward taken further down are carefully analysed.