Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-11-15
HOW TO COMBAT
ICEBERG MENACE
Prof. H. 7. Barnes Discusses
Subject in Smithsonian
Report for 1912.
"HOLES IN THE AIR" ALSO
ARE DESCRIBED IN PAPER
Thirty-Six Other Scientific Topics
Handled in Interesting Manner
in Year Book.

Among the important papers included in
the Smithsonian report for 1912, just is
sued by the government printing office,
IS discussion Of icebergs and their To-
cation in navigation
The paper is the contribution of Prof
Howard T. Barnes of the faculty of Nc
Gill University. Montreal Canada, the
author describing the sources of orig n
Of the north Atlantic ice. the menace to
navigation constituted by the floating
bergs. and presenting a system whereby
the presence of icebergs may be deter
mined by the use of an extremely sensi-
tive microthermometer, which records
temperature variations as small as IL 900
OF degree as readily as an ordinary in
strument of this kind indicates varia-
tons of one-tenth of a degree
Soap Bubbles His Topic.
One of the most entertaining OF the
thirtyeight papers included in the
volume is BY c. Y. Boys who writes of
experiments with soap bubbles the un-
usual subject heing treated both from
an artistic and a scientific point of view
The original article was a lecture deliy-
cred before the French Physical Society
and was given with some hesitation by
ten author, who feared that its seemingly
sllght scientific value rendered it scarce
~ presentable before so learned body
Nevertheless. Mr.. Boys succeeds in dem
onstrating several physical laws and
principles by his bubbles; namely, ten
sion. capillarity, rgidity. viscosity. mo-
bility, reflection, etc Methods are ex-
planned for making large bubbles in
which Plateaus liquid is used, consist
ing OF a solution in WATER of oleate OF
soda with glycerin. Several remarka-
Die feats are related. including the blow
ing OF one bubble within another. Great
ing bubbles of gas which float and ex-
piode when brought in contact with fire,
and demonstrating electrolytic action.
Penguins Are Described.
Those singular birds of the antarctic
region, the penguins are described and
depicted by DR.. L. Gain Of the Charcot
expedition. Some of the peculiarities of
these birds are surprising. DR. Gain
cites the following description.
Imagine a little old man, standing
erect provided with two broad paddles
instead of arms, with a head small in
comparison with the plump. stout body
imagine TINS creature with his back COW
ered with dark coat spotted with blue
raperlns behind to a pointed tail that
dFags on the ground, and adorned in
front with glossy white breastplate.
fave this creature walk on his two feet
ana give him at the same time a droll
little wadde and a continual movement
OF the head; you have something ire
sistlbly attractive and comcaI"
An article OF interest to another cir
Gle OF readers is one by Willy Pastor
on the music of primitive peoples and the
beginnings of European music He shows
what a world of meaning a savage can
put into the simple beating of a drum.
ana explains the difference betWea, the
music OF the orient, which is most CON
cefHed with the quality of a tone and
very small intervals, and EurOpeau mn
sic, which gets its effect from a success
sion of tones and the use of yerv barge
intervals He also deals with the origin
or European polyphonic music
Ancient Greece's Slaves.
, AaboroWski of the School of Authro-
polosy. In Paris. writes of the slave nom
ulation III ancient Greece From II ON. *
enabled to obtain a very good idea of the
social and economic conditions which IRE
vailed in ancient Greece during the height
OF the slave traffic which was instru-
mental III effecting a decline in the eff
ciency ana pfoductlVeness of her citizens
slaves were employed at such low
rates and We're obtained in SO many
ways that every one owned at least one
or TWO, who We're made TO perform all the
household and industrial work. leaving
the citizen owners to spend their time
III Idleness and luxury 1t was for this
reason that nearly all Greeks maintained
an aristocratic attitude toward life The
prevailing economic conditions and Gus
toms tended to lower the morale of
families and reduce their numbers
Enriched by slave labor and enter
tanned by the doings of men and women
purchased from abroad. the Greeks be-
came spectators of life and practically
renowned the raising of children. From
the facts and statistics furnished bv the
author one can readily find "a useful
standard for comparison with the social
phenomena of TO-DAY
Dow.