Amador ledger. (Jackson, Amador County, Calif.) 1875-19??, 1910-12-02

Tropical Timber.
That comets may serve the astro-
homer as explorers of unknown space
is the conclusion that Prof. Geo.
Forbes, F. r. S., finds to have been
recently justified. Perturbations of
the outer planets caused the existence
of an unknown planet to be suspected
for a quarter of century, and a cal
cuation made-inexact as it proved
led to the discovery of Neptune in
1916. Comets may have their orbits
changed by the attraction of unknown
bodies or may be accelerated or re-
tarded in their movements. Prof.
Fenton has noted disturbances of the
movements and aphelion position OF
certain comets, and has decided that
there is a yet undiscovered planet,
which must be about los times as far
away from the sun as the earth, and
more than three times as far as Nep-
JuilG. OuGADldlllCd OlObul UcillSOO VI
the outer planets observed by Prof.
Todd the American astronomer, have
given curiously similar results. Still
more striking confirmation of the view
or Prof. Fenton is pointed out in the
investigation by Cowell and Crommel
in Halleys Comet, which, after being
rs years, brought back information of
some retarding influence that delayed
the perlhelion passage by two days.
The assumed position of the hypothe-
tical planet was just right to explain
this retarding.
The new serum test for blood
brought into a recent criminal trial in
England is based on the curious fact
that serum from a rabbit or mouse in
to which human serum has been in
lected gives precipitate with human
serum, but not with that of the blood
of other animals. When first tried in
a French court, about five years ago,
the test disproved the prisoners state
ment that certain stain was rabbits
blood.
In a recent English medical exhibit
ton, moving pictures were shown of
sleeping sickness in rat, various or
ganlsms in the blood of rats and mice,
the life history of the Mexican axolotl
from the first movement Of the embryo
in the egg, and an ex-ray examination
of an liberated stomach.
In what seems to be Its most pro-
missing form, the new "stellite" of
Elwood Hayes contains about rs per
cent of cobalt and 25 per cent of chro
MUM. In strength and elasticity it is
claimed to equal good steel, it is non
takes high polish and has
extraordinary resistance TO furnishing,
and is very hard, yet not only FORCES
readily at red heat but even in cast
ings-if not too thick-it can be bent
cold to right angle. In color it is
between silver and steel. 1t takes a
fine cutting edge-a razor used two
years having proven nearly equal to
one of shetland is believed to furnish
a superior metal for pocket and table
knives and other small cutlery, for
surgical, chemical and physical uten-
sis. Experiments have shown that
the alloy can be greatly varied by
changing the proportions of the con-
stituents or by adding small amounts
of other substances. Non oxidizable
notifications so soft as to be easily
filed have been produced, and others
have been made so hard as readily to
scratch glass and even quartz, the
hardest being rather brittle. A mix
ture of cobalt and chromium with as
much as 20 per cent of platinum was
found to resist chemical action much
less than the alloy with no platinum.
Power stations that do not exhaust
their fuel supply have been considered
in the peat-using plans of Frank and
Caro-, German chemists. By their pro-
cess, peat containing as much as GO per
cent of water can be used on a COM
mercial scale, and power-gas yielding
up to 900 horse per hours per long ton
of dried peat substance can be OBJ
tanned the nitrogen up to IS per cent
being utilized as ammonium sulphate.
A 1000 horsepower station is now
power to Osna bruck from
the peat of Dammer Moor, Hanover.
The fuel material to depth of 10 feet
is removed each year from 40 acres,
and 800 acres of moorland are ex-
pected to give this station permanent
supply, as 1t is believed the peat can
be renewed in 20 years.