Evening star., 1915-01-31
SMITHSONIAN REPORT
IALREADY EXHAUSTED
Special Edition of Scientific Ar.
ticles, Contained in the Report,
Printed to Meet Demand.

The recent issue of the Smithsonian n
annual report has already been eN-
hausted, owing to the great demand
from individuals for this volume, which
is regularly distributed to public IL
braries. scientific societies and periodi-
cals. A special edition of the popular
iy written scientific articles contained
in this report is, however, printed to
meet the demand of specialists and
students of the various subjects treat
ed. Some of these articles are men,
toned in the following resume.
Prof. Jaumann, in an article on the
modern ideas on the end of me worlu.
presents new and more reassurlnG
views which predict a future of limit
less extent. He assures US that the
sun will not cool off and thus bring
the development of civilization 10 a
stop, but that. since the radiation from
the sun is stable, the intellectual and
physical evolution of humanity VIII
continue for immeasurable time. and
eventually may reach heights hitherto
untmagined.
Oil Films on Water.
\ paper by Prof. Henri DevauX OF
Bordeaux contributes much Information
on the peculiar action of oil films on
water and mercury, which forms a
connection since 1903, including the
study Of the limit of the expansion of
oil over water. the thickness of the
oil film, the evolution of large drops
of oil on water and various other fea-
lures. The thinnest film of oil which
can exist was found TO be one and one
tenth millionths of a millimeter. at
least one-half the thickness of the
wall of the thinnest soap bubble.
Another scientist. Monsieur Ch. Epry.
reports on some interesting researches
conducted in an endeavor to ascertain
the cause of the well known ripple
marks left on every beach by the ebb-
ing tide. Unlike earlier students of
th's phenomenon. NJ: Epry attributes the
cause of these depreSsions to the
action of the water alone, explaining
tIat they always appear on sandy bot
toms where a transverse current cuts
across the normal current of the ebb.
The article is illustrated by several
photographs taken at different points
alonS the French coast, and by dia-
grams showing the action of the tide.
Water Present in Lava.
Arthur L. Day and f. S. Shepard re-
port their investigation in the crater
of the kilauea volcano on the Island
% Hawaii, stating that water is pres
ent in hot liquid lava and is responsible
for volcanic activity. which statement
goes to prove the old theory of vol
canic action. supposedly refuted some
time ago by Albert Brun of Geneva.
They secured specimens of lava, and
samples of the volcanic gases before
they reached the air, in order to OBJ
serve the character of the chemical re-
actions which take place in an active
volcano, and in particular to determine
the role played by important gaseous
compounds.
The analysis of both the old and new
lava showed it to be composed essen
TALLY of glass. with large crystals OF
olivine and feldspar and wide
variety of other minerals and minute
crystals. Their gas analysis showed
the presence of nitrogen, carbon dioN-
ide and monoxide, sulphur, sulphur
dioxide. hydrogen and water. with
traces of fuorine. and chlorine. The
report explains the presence of the
formation as an original component
of liquid lava, and contains much in
formation concerning water and vol
canic activity. The edition of this
paper in separate form has already
been exhausted.