The Holbrook news., 1910-06-10
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 The boiling-points of metals have
 not hitherto been very accurately as-
 certained Recently H. c. Greenwood had undertaken a new investigation of this subject, and he gives the follow Ing results for certain well known
 metals: Aluminium. 1900 degrees C.; copper, 2.310 degrees C.; iron, 2.45O
 degrees C.: lead. 1895 degrees C.; sil- yer. 1855 degrees C.; tin. 2,27O de-
 gIees.
 Lord Dudley, the Governor-General of Australia, has headed a movement
 for persuading the federal government
 to establish in Australia a solar ob-
 seryatory to act in concert with those
 now In operation in England. India
 and America. It is pointed out that
 there is a great break in the chain of
 these observatories, extending between
 California and India. and covering
 The proposed observatory in Australia
 would serve to fill this gap. Moreover,
 it would possess special value from
 being located in the southern hemi-
 sphere. With it's aid continuous se-
 ries of observations of the sun. ex- tending throughout the "A hours, could be made.
 Among the most interesting of Amer ican birds is the great vulture called the California condor, which rivals the famous condor of the Andes in size, averaging AZ feet in length and 10 feet in spread of wings. It nests in wild and inaccessible places in the mountains Its eggs measure Az by 21a inches, and are very rare in col lections. Prof Vernon L. Kellogg calls attention to the fact that this bird car ries two mallophagan parasites which are common to 1t and to the two other great vultures of the American cor dilIera. the Andean condor and the king-vulture, whose combined range extends several thousand miles north md south But the parasites are wing less. whereas the vultures represent three separate genera, of which the l individuals are particularly non-grega- rious. How, then, have they come into | the possession of identical parasites? | Professor Kellogg believes that the ex- nlanation must be that the parasites i infested an extinct common ancestor Of | the three related types of birds, and | have persisted, practically unchanged, on it's now divergent descendants
 Invention during the next two or three centuries, says Prof. John G. will probably be in the direction of initiating the wonderful economy, and the simple, direct meth ods of nature. Take the electric eel. It's electric organ Is in no sense a but a contrivance by which electric energy Is liberated at the moment when 1t Is required. At rest. the organ shows so small an cleo tromotive force that a good galvano- meter is required to detect 1t. put sudden nervous impulse from the cells spinal cord raises a potential of many volts, with very litle heat. and so small an expenditure of matter as to defy the most expert chemist to weigh It. Fireflies, glowworms and many deep-sea fishes produce light without heat, "at a cost4whiehl hlwould make tha,E price of wax vesta an extravagant out lay" The organic chemist requires all the resources of his laboratory. with high temperatures and potent agencies, to produce alkaloidal substances which plants make at low temperature and by slow processes.
 Even the honest pretzel is crooked