Amador ledger., 1907-03-22

Biologists having fai led to prove
any case of spontaneous generation.
Prof. Svante Arrhenius is attracted
by the idea that all lie has had q
common origin, and has spread from
the single source TO many worlds.
The discovery of the pressure of light
has added probability TO panspermy.
which teaches that life germs are con
veyed through interstellar space. At
the railway speed of Z miles an hour,
a body would occupy l50 years in
going from the earth to Mars and
10, 600 million years In tIaverslng the
distance to the neal est liked star, but
with the pressure of radiation as
motive power the journeys might be-
reduced to % days and 5000 years
respectively. Even these seerG long
intervals for germs and spores to sur
vive the dryness, cold and light. Re-
cent Investigations indicate, however,
that some germs are proof against any
cold, that the action of light Is
oxidation and is absent in a vacuum,
that the loss of vitality in the cold
of space would be 1000 million times
less IapId than at SO degrees F., and
that dessication would be no greater
in millions of years than in one day
at 80 degrees. Hence it may be that
Interstellar space is traversed at
enormous speed by living germs that
develop life on reaching favorable
planets.
Animals born in darkness or red
light are found by DR.. Oerum. of The
FInsen Institute at Copenhagen, to
he heavier but to have only halt as
much blood as those born under
normal conditions. Living in dark
ness few weeks reduces the blood
thu ee per cent or more, while blue
light tends to give an excess of Il e
to- al amount and that in the heart.
Vshaped troughs from the new Ice
quarries in Swiss glaciers have given
engineers peculiar problem, as trey
have required many curves, to act as
brakes and ensure the safe delivery of
the ice blocks at the railroad at the
foot OF the mountain.
Experiments reported TO the French
Physical Society by NJ MaIfge show
that it is practicable to gauge the
acoustic properties of any public
hall, and to direct each speaker how
to use the voice to the best advant-
age. 1t was found that in a hall
where a regular continued sound is
produced, there may be heard the
primary wave from the source; many
dIffuse waves returned from the walls,
producing resonance; and waves re-
gularly reflected, giving distinct
echoes. The duration OF the reson-
ance sound determines whether the
acoustic properties are good or bad,
the satisfactory condition being
where the resonance Is sufficiently
short to reinforce the sound that
produces it without interfering with
the following one. His "voweI siren"
has been used by Marage in studying
the resonance sound, and the natuIal
voice has heen thus replaced by a
synthetic vibration whose pitch.
intensity and quality can be deter
mined exactly. Tests in six halls OF
Paris have brought out the conditions
for making an audience understand
where acoustics are defective. Fer
example, at the Trocaderu hall, ac-
commodatlng 4,500 persons in a space
of 63,000 cubic meters. it is not
necessary to speak louder than in a
Sorbonne lecture-room of 500 cubic
meters, but the orator must go very
slowly, spacing his words.
A special Inflammation of the eyes
-ophthalmia electrica-seems to have
become common among workers with
electric light apparatus, and now DIR.
Cnellitzer has pointed out to the
Berlin Medical Society that the
trouble may result flom very brief
exposure to strong glare. In an cleo
tic melting of iron at an engine
factory an enormous arc of 50,0t0
candle-poWer was produced. Work
men passing within six or eight yards
we're warned not to linger, yet on
the next day twelve of the men