Amador ledger., 1910-10-28

| MOSJ NOVel observatory natural ana
Artificial Fertilizers The New Fly.
Killer Medicines of Ancient Egypt
New Stars-Magnetic Alloys OF
Non Magnetic Metals--A Walking
Staging Another Smoke Burner
Caterpillar Ophthalmia.
The unique solar observatory that is
being developed by the Carnegie In
stitution on Mount Wilson, Cal, at a
height of 5000 feet, already has tele-
scopes with horizontal fixed tubes, a
vertical telescope with no tube at all,
with elaborate spectroscoplc and
Photographic apparatus in special
underground chambers, and is to
have the huge 100-inch rejecting
telescope from j. D. Hooker. the Los
Angeles manufacturer. A French as
tronomer who visited the observatory
in August, with the International Con-
gress of Solar Research, finds the
tower telescope the most curious of
the apparatus. At the top of vertl-
cal steel tower 65 feet high, 17-inch
mirror is mounted as a collostat, and
is turned by clockwork to follow the
apparent path of the sun. The rays of
light are reflected to a second mir
ror-elliptical in form-which sends
them downward through lens of 60
feet focal length. The slit of spec
trograph 5 feet above ground level
receives the image of the sun thus
formed, and passes the rays to a
second lens and a Rowland grating
in an underground chamber 80 feet
below the surface. The light finally
reaches an object-glass, forming an
image of the solar spectrum, which
is photographed. Another tuheless
telescope is being erected, and will
have fixed steel tower 165 feet
high. protected from the wind by an
enclosing tower, with an underground
chamber 78 feet Deep the whole be-
ing more than 24O feet high.
Trying various nltrogenous tertili-
zers, and rating the results with So
dunn nitrate at 100. some German
exper1menters have obtained these
relative ratios of increase in crop :
Ammonium sulphate, SO; Norwegian
calcium nitrate, So; crude calcium
cyanamide, 85; animal guano, 81;
fish meal, 73; blood meal, So; leather
meal, Is.
The ants of the Philippines that
feed on fly larvae, and are thought
by DR.. P. l.. Jones, U. S. A, to ex-
plain the rarity OF flies there, seem to
be of unknown species. Better ac
quaintance is advised before importing
them as fly -catchers. as they may
have bad habits.
The Oldest medical work known is
the Ebers papyrus, discovered by
Georg Ebers in his journey to Egypt
in 1928. 1t is a scroll 20 yards long
and foot wide, and has been studied
and translated by Won Oefele, and re-
Gently reviewed by Won Lippmann.
1t was written about 1850 B. c.,
though some of the material of which
it is compilation dates back to about
3700 B. G. The medical substances
mentioned include copper-the oldest
metal and once more costly than gold
and siIver-lead, iron, antimony, car
bon, sulphur, salt, soda, gypsum, and
other minerals; milk, fats from many
animals, wax, and the horn, blood and
other portions of domestic and wild
animals; castor and other oils, honey,
raisins, grapes, figs, dates, wine,
beer, linen, flax, lanolin, papyrus,
numerous resins, carawav, fennel, dill,
melliot, water-cress, pepperment,
coriander, lettuce, endive, absinthe,
pomegranate, calanus, aloes, safflower,
crocus, indigo, henbane, mandrake,
opium, and other plants and vegetable
products. In preparing drugs. solids
were grated or powdered in a stone
mortar. There were many processes
of treating them, such as roasting,
baking, pressing, stepping, warming,
boiling in various substances, macera-
ting with lye, evaporating, and fer
menting with yeast. Liquids were
filtered and clarified. Some recipes
include 2 or ingredients, but others
range up to as many as z different
materials.
The latest new star, discovered at
the Harvard College Observatory on
Oct /, is growing fainter, without