The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1908-05-14
-, Science
q % 40
s [sN..IzI1lYentiOn


The Importance OF the charcoal IN
dustry IN the United States is described
in Popuiar Mechanics. Originally val
ued only as a heat producer, charcoal
is now used as an ingredient In the
manufacture Of gunpowder. a decoior-
izer OF solutions. a medicine for dyspeD-
tics and a purifier Of water. As an
antfseptfc and cleanser It's power Is
universally recognized In a hospital a
niece Of charcoal viii soon absorb and
decompose obnoxious gases and sweeten
the atmosphere. All these are but q
part OF It's uses
what man has learned by oint Of
thought and experiment some OF the
lower animals appear to know through
instinct. An instance Is furnished ny
the spiral swimming OF certain or
eanisms. such as the spherical-shapeo
volvox and several elongated infusor'
ians. AS they revolve about the axis
OF progression. as does a projectiis
fred from a rifed gun. the consequence
Is that they are able to travel IN :
straight line. as they could not DO otn
erwsse. the revolution compensatins
with absolute precision for any tenden
cx 10 deriate from straight course
without such a device many OF thes'
minute creatures would simply descriD'
circles. making no forward progress
The size OF the Sea.-This refers no
n The area OF the oceans only. but Z
their total cubic content, which Is reck
oned by Edward A Martin OF the Geo
logical Society at thirty times the cuoi'
content OF all the land lying above sea
level. In other words. II all the land o
the globe were scraped OF down to To-
level Of the sea and thrown into tn
ocean. Il would al only one-thirtieu
mart Of the enormous abyss which Is &C
r7,n,ed by the waters. According u
well the mean height Of the lan'
above sea-level is 1000 feet. where's
the mean depth OF the ocean is l2.Oo
feet. There are mountain peaks whlcl
rise as high above sea-level as the dc
nre~s,ons OF the ocean sink below II, ou
the average height OF the land is Sigh
compared with the average depth OF To
sea.
Many projects are now under way 0
under consideration. for the utilizatio
OF the numerous sources Of electri
nower that are furnished by tn
streams descending from the Andes !
chile. Everywhere in that countr
there Is an abundance OF water, sun
GENTLY constant In volume. and pr
.entinr almost any desired amount
fall The city Of Santiago is develoi
ing a scheme for supplying 10000 hors'
mower from a plant located between 81
teen and seventeen miles from Il
town. Engineers have recently repor
al IN favor OF the classification OF Il
now railroad which the Chilean an
Rol,vian governments have undertake
!, construct between africa and La Pa
ana which passes through the Ande
7-here il something stimulating to Il
imagination in the thought OF tho
r,sghtv mountains lending hand
help man surmount their slopes.
II was the invention Of the seisna
. rraph for the study Of earthquakes tn
led TO the discovery Of the surprisl'
eensltiveness Of the crust OF the glol
TO forces that might have been thoug
/ too Insignificant to cause distortio
/ Among these forces Is the alteration
the pressure OF the atmosphere duri'
, the passage OF storms causing perez
tsble fitting OF large areas OF groun
A curious case Of such fitting In an u
! expected direction has recently been
; corded By Prof. Omor In japan.
! storm passing over the sea east OF I
! lxlo caused the bordering land to {
: downward. Notwithstanding the 70
that the atmospheric pressure Is Il
sened within a storm area. This Is
planned BY the fact that the sea RS