Amador ledger., 1910-12-09

Changes OF temperature ana naDltal
are found by Prof. Henri Douvile. of
the Paris school of mines, to offer a
plausible explanation of the evolution
of man from the lower animals. A
great and permanent fall of tempera-
ture at the close of Secondary times
seems to have ended the reign of
Reptiles, and favored the development
of animals, which are better organized
to resist cold. Then the Mammals
evolved in the two great classes of the
Eaters and the Eaten-those preyed
upon surviving and developing in
various branches, according to their
resisting powers. The Insectivora
divided into animals furnished with
special protection, like the hedgehog ;
burrowers, like the mole; and flying
creatures, like the bats. Of the Her.
bivora, some, like the rhinoceros,
were adapted for resistance by weight
and armor: others, like the horse and
the antelope, by their swiftness. One
group, the Primates, including the
apes and finally man, sought refuge in
the trees. Then came the temporary
chilling of the region of some of the
apes by the Glacial Epoch at the close
to the Pliocene period, and the tropical
forest became SO stunted as no longer
to support large tree-dwellers. Forced
to walk, the skeleton of the ANIMALS,
brain and intelligence, grew, and man
was born.
The curious gas lamp of a German
engineer is given extra draft by
means of an electric current generated
by the heated waste gases from the
lamp itself. A thermo- battery of
nickel, copper and aluminium is placed
over the lamp, and feeds small
electric motor that drives fan draw
ing air into the flame. The battery
can endure a temperature of IL deg.
c., which is about twice that to which
it is exposed.
A river flowing up stream was the
strange phenomenon witnessed in Up
per Dahomey by French geographer
during Is days of last May. The slope
of the bed is slight, the river is dry
several months in the year, and the
rainy season begins in the down
country, so that the water
runs both ways until the channel is
filled.
1t appears, that the no1siness of
the modern high-speed machi
merry may be avoided by the use of
cloth as a material for working parts
of the machines. In a paper lately
read in New York to the National
Machine Tool Builders Association,
John Riddell mentioned experience at
with gears and pinions
made from high grade muslin, which
had been applied to varied uses, and
had proven not only almost noiseless
but very strong. A plnion of muslin
that had been used two years on
boiler makers punch and shear, both
reduced the noise and remedied trouble
from the breaking of gears. On two
10foot planning machines, operated by
electric motors and compressed air
muslin intermediate pinions
were applied for the reverse motion.
and were found silent and durable in
place where bronze, rawhide and other
materials lasted not more than three
or four weeks, and steel made an i'll
tolerable noise. In special tests the
cloth pinionS resisted without injury
shocks so severe as to break nearly
half of the teeth in a gun-iron pinion.
This special dietary was arranged by
the medical officer of the workhouse:at
Keigley, Yorkshire, to reduce the
weight of two very heavy men. For
breakfast, porridge. skim milk, stewed
fruit, and watercress in season;
dinner, bread, lean meat or fish, and
veget: bles; supper, bread, tea, stewed
fruit, watercress and lettuce. Not
more than 20 ounces of solid food was
allowed on week days, and % ounces
on Sunday. The patients beween 60
and 10 years of age, strictly adhered
to the diet prescribed, and between
May and Christmas, 1909, their
weights fell from 256 to 1872 pounds
and 248 to 1879 pounds. Their health
and bodily:condltion have so improved
that they are able to walk about,
leaving the chairs to which they had
been confined for years.
Metals combining hghtness and
strength are in demand for aeroplanes
and other purposes. Many attempts
have been made to strengthen nssg-