Amador ledger. (Jackson, Amador County, Calif.) 1875-19??, 1908-12-18

transparent sheets OF gold and
silver we're formed by Faraday half
century ago by mounting thin films
of the metals on glass and heating.
Continuing the investigation, Prof.
Thomas Turner, a British physicist,
has now shown that a gold film
1900, 900 of an inch thick becomes
transparent in few moments at $50
degrees Z. in an oxidlzing or re-
ducing atm osphere, aggregation of
the gold permitting white light to
pass through the intermediate spaces.
With, silver the effect is different.
sheet 1-120, 900 of an inch thick
remains Opaque in a reducing atmos-
phere-llke hydrogen or coal-gas-o or
in vacuum, but IN air or one-6fth
Of an atm osphere of oxygen it be-
comes beautifully transparent in
few minutes at 800 degrees. The
transparent silver does not appear to
be oXidlzed, though oxygen seems
necessary to produce the change. A
thick becomes transparent in air or
oxygen when heated to 200 degrees,
showing brilliant emerald green tran
smitted light, which passes through
olive and dark red to black as the
temperature rises to 400 degrees. In
this case oxidation IS very evident.
Perfect organs of persons dying
without disease may coon be kept in
cold storage as a valuable asset of the
surgeon. DIR. Alexis Carrel of the
Rockefeller Institute, mentions the
recent replacing of al injured knee
joint with one from dead man, the
Interchange Of human artery and
jugular vein. the substitution of the
kidneys of one cat for those Of an
other, and the grating of a dead
dogs IegEupon living fox terrier.
lie has successfully used in animals
arteries that have been kept alive in
refrigerators for sixty days.
A special bird 's-eye map of France
is being prepared for air navigators,
and an air-ship compass is being
sought. The ordinary compass is
made useless by the effect on it of
the air-ship motor.
The rise of sap in plants is a per-
picking problem, but the novel theory
of DR. Gustav Clock is made plausible
by the action Of an Earticfiial plant
constructed to perform the one func-
tion of raising liquid The two nat
ural sources of energy known varia
tions in temperature and in atmos-
pheric pressure have been employed.
The imitation plant consists of an in
definite number of open and closed
vessels, with tube closed by valve
ataits top-runnIng downward from
the bottom OF each closed vessel al
most to the bottom Of the open vessel
beneath, and another tube-With an
upward opening valve at its bottom
rising from near the bottom of each
closed vessel and bending over the
top Of the open vessel above. With
water in the bottom open vessel, cool
ing at night contracts the air in the
closed vessel above and draws up
some water, part of which is forced
through the second tube into the next
open vessel above by the expansion of
day temperature. This process con
tinues indefinitely, and may raise
water even to the height of the Cali
fornia redwood trees, which are $50
feet tall. In nature the process may
be FASTENED by heat from the oxida
tion OF tho plants food, view that
is confirmed by the several daily
fluctuations In sap flow.
The curious feats of the trained
flies of f.. z. Smith, as shown the
other day to the Royal Photographic
Society Of London, give new inter
est 10 the troublesome companions Of
orr summer days. Files in a glass
case seemed to leArn, after repeatedly
flying against tho sides, that they
could not escape. Some flies had
been taught not to hg away when
opportunity was given, and some had
been trained to Ievolve wheels and
to roll balls and dumb,bells. Mr.
Smith believes that the fly performs
such WORK under the impression that
it is walking OK a continuous sur
| face.
OF tho ten or more described species
of fossil elephants, f.. A, Lucas finds
the tallest to have been the imperial
mammoth (Elephas imperator) OF
| l. -, soI, a