The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1909-03-20
Correspondence Baltimore County linton.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

Correspondence Baltimore County linton.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
Birth of the Solar System-Sugar Cured
Wood-A Metal for High Speeds-Dis
/ lance Signals in Fogs-A Crooked Par
allel-Precious Ore In a Dump-Im.
proved Picture Telegraphy-Eye Saw
ing Moderation in Light-Volcano Ge-
ology, Etc.
In the new nebular hypothesis of Prof. I. j. j.
See, it is assumed that a spiral nebula was
formed by two or more streams of cosmic dust,
which met In such way as to produce whirl-
ing motion about central vortex. This nebula
was much larger than the present solar system,
and as it coiled up under its own gravitation.
the spirals were gradually drawn nearer to-
gether, and the nuclei formed in the coils gath
cred more cosmic dust. beginning the planets,
which at first moved in elliptic paths of great &C.
centricity. The resistance of the nebula re-
duced the orbits in size, giving their present re
markable roundness The limits of the Solar
System may be still unknown. for the orbit of
Neptune is almost circular, and this indicates
that, even at this great distance from the center,
the nebula offered much resistance to moving
bodies. and must have had sufficient density to
form several large planets beyond those now
known.
aSs
The new process announced by Consul OH
wares, of Managua, is designed to make soft
wood proof against the ravages of the termtes,
or white ants,-which In the tropics often de-
stroy the finest buildings in six months.-and is
specially recommended to makers of furniture
and woodenware intended for use in tropical
countries. OF untreated woods only eucalyptus
and teak resist the termites. The treatment
nkaor in
saccharine solution. which extracts the air and
coagulates the albumen in the sap, and then
rapidly drying at fairly high temperature. The
hard, homogeneous product-which does not
shrink. warp or split-resists.th the dry rot of
temperate lands as well as the tropic termites.
srs
Titanium is said to be the only metal suitable
for the bearings and axles of certain modern
gasoline motors, which run at speeds as high as
5000 revolutions per minute. The metal is OBJ
tanned from rutile. or titanium dioxide, a min
eral Of little commercial Importance hitherto.
-.
The fogphone of r. H. Marriott, of Brooklyn,
is designed to prevent collisions at sea by COM
bination of wireless telephony and the ordinary
fog bell or the submarine bell, and its action de-
ponds upon the fact that the sound of the bell
travels in air about 1000 feet per second, or
slightly faster in water while the transmission
of the same sound by the. wireless telephone Is
practically instantaneous, or at the rate of light
about $4,000 miles second. AS the man In
the pilot-house catches the sound of the bell In
the telephone receiver, he presses the button
that starts an instrument resembling stop
watch. When the sound of the bell arrives by
air or water waves he stops the instrument, and
the dial-instead of indicating seconds like the
kI,1v nsloc aud fonf z Ho hoa
travelled. at the distance of two miles the air
sound would be heard about ten seconds after
that of the telephone. When the bell is next
heard, the indicator shows whether the distance
has increased or diminished, and thus the navi-
gator is notified if there is danger of collision.
s*s
1t was decreed by the Convention of 1918 and
the Treaty of Washington of 1916 that the boun-
Diary between the United States and Canada
from the Lake of the Woods to the Pacihc-a
distance of 127O miles-should follow the forty
ninth parallel The surveyors who have lately
completed the location of the boundary have
found that the astronomical parallel varies from
direct circle around the earth, and Prof. Otto
Klotz explains the curious fact that the line, in
stead of being straight, is at one point 800 feet
south of the direct circle and at the other place
600 feet north. 1t was decided that the astro-
nomical parallel-or line through places where
the Pole is 4lo from the zenith-should be the
accepted boundary. This decision was followed,
but local attraction in some places defects the
plumb line and therefore the zenith, and the
astronomical forty ninth parallel proves to be
quite irregular line.
s's
The most valuable pile of waste known Is
that lately discovered at the Wheal Trenwth
mine near St. Ives, Eng. The Cornish miners 80
years ago used only simple ores, rejecting COM
pick ores as refractory, and uranium ore sent to
the smelter as black copper was returned as rub
bish. The dump heap of some 10000 tons thus
collected now seems to be ten per cent. pitch
blende. estimated to be worth $3.50 pound.
s+s
In DIR. Korn's system of transmitting pictures
by wire,-which has been under test for some
time at stations in Paris, Berlin and London
greatly improved results have been obtained.
with more rapid transmission, by the late plan
of using line drawings instead of photographs
at the sending station. A photograph drawing
published in LIE Matin, the Paris daily, showed
aeronaut Zippel on his aeroplane. At the Ber-
lin station the paragraph had been prepared by
linking its principal lines. when halftone was
made from it for transmission, and the picture
printed in the Paris paper showed some of the
shades and tints as well as the drawn lines For
transmission, the half-tone was rolled in the
form of cylinder, which was revolved with
small contact wire resting against it to send the
impulses of current. The receiving end had the
usual apparatus, Photographic film being
wound on cylinder rotating in agreement with
the transmitting one, and point of light varied
in brightness by the current giving the impress
sion on the film. The picture was received in
ten minutes, while photograph from Berlin by
mail would have taken eighteen hours.
"a
The daylight brightness of an ordinary room
into which the sum is not directly shining, is
found by ]. E. MCDOWELL to be commonly not
more than ITO candle power and sometimes as
low as l-100 candle power per square inch. Most
artificial lights have a much greater intrinsic
brightness, and this accounts for their injurious
effects when the eyes are not shielded from their
full glare. He concludes that diffused light of
of 1-5 to Ito candle-power per square inch is
best. Strain and injury to the eye have been
attributed to ultra violet light, but such light is
less in various incandescent iluminants than in
direct or even reflected sunlight.
sfs
The volcanoes of Hawaii have been a subject
of study since 1888 by Prof. C. H. Hitchcock,
formerly of Dartmouth College, N. H., but now
with his family making home in Honolulu. A
better acquaintance with Mauna Loa and Kill
auea, the worlds most wonderful craters, is to
be expected from the book soon to be issued
giving the results of this investigation.
CAS7ORIA
For Infants and Children.
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