Amador ledger., 1909-07-23

been put to use IN recent years,
Geissen, German metallurgist,
mentions that thorIum, employed for
incandesoent gas burners. chiefly
comes from Brazil, little being
obtained in the United States. The
tantalum minerals, tantaJite and
columbite, supplying filaments for
electric lamps, are obtained in the
United States and Australia. Zir-
oonium, in zirconia and gadolinite,
is also used in the Nernst and Wed
ding lamps. Vanadium, from the
United States and Mexico, enters in
to the steel frames of motor cars.
Uranium ores, yielding radium, are
derived from Joachimsthal IN Bohe-
mia, Molly bednum, from queensland
andCanada. is used in line steel for
tools or arms and for alleging with
nickel. Tungsten, of Importance in
certain ste9ls, is furnished by Queens
land in woltramite, mineral found
also in Cornwall, the United States,
Canada and Bolivia.
In the warm bath method OF tore
Ing plants, as proposed by Prof Ii.
Molisoh, the stems of the dormant
plant are soaked ten to fifteen hours
in water at ID deg to 30 deg {. I59
deg to So deg f. }, aud the plant Is
then placed in a warm, moist cham
Der, and eventually transferred to a
greenhouse. The stimulation OF some
plants seems to be much like that
produced by ether vapor. Forsythia,
Spiraeas, Syringas and other plants
that are usually forced gave very
favorable results; Azaea mollis and
Camel]ia japonica we're but little
affected; and no practical benefit was
eXerted on Marcssus bulbs.
The stamping out OF tropical dis
eases ranks among the most remark
able of recent achievements. At the
first annual dinner of the Society of
Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, held
in London, it was stated that sleeping
sickness alone has caused half mil
lion deaths in Uganda; but since
the discovery OF the way it is spread
the ravages have been reduced 80 per
cent. Yellow fever has disappear ed
from the West Indies. In the lsthm
ian zone, $4,000 employees of M, de
Lesseps died, but no case of yellow
fever has occurred on the canal IN the
last three years.
Since the days OF Leonardo da VIM.
four centuries ago, it has been recog
nized that the light seen on the por
tion of the moon turned away from
the sun is "earth- shine," hut it is
only recently that observers have
begun to take notice of the iLnage re-
Elected in this most gigantic mirror
known to man. From this reflection
ii is now being seen that the earth as
viewed from the moon must be
gorgeously colored object of marvel
GUS and ever-changing beauty. A
study of the earth-shine has convinc-
ed Wilhelm krebs, German astron-
omer. that variations of its brightness
at different seasons are due to
changes in the cloudiness and snow
fall on the rejecting surface of the
earth, and this suggests an explana-
tioD of the various pale tlnts some
| 4 inn in tnh a
blue, green and yellow are evident
due to reflections of the suns ligth
from oceans foliage and deserts re-
spectively. Ia the early part of last
year Herr Krebs detected another
color-that seemed to him reddish
but to others was violet or lllao,-
and at the same Ttime an unusual
prevalence of cirrus clouds and bril-
liant red sunsets was noticed on the
earth. 1t was concluded that the
red reflections came from the red
zone of twilight eneiroling the "fuli
Garth" la the full moon We see the
cold billlant glare OF dead, change
less globe; but to the lunarans-real
or imaginary is presented the con-
trasting picture of a great living
world, OF four times the diameter
shown by the moon to us, with slowly
altering land and moving water aud
an inoessant changing panorama Of
cloud and snowheld and vegetation,
flooded inlan atmosphere of constant
ly varying refraction OF the suns
rays. 49,. s4
Paper il now used for roots, cloth
ing, water bottles, grain bags and