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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 3, 1915)
TIIF, OMAHA SUNDAY HKK: OCTOHRr. 1I15. SCIENCE WRITTEN. IN POPULAR TERMS Report- of Smithsonian Institution TeJli of Recent Discoveries in Host Interesting Style, FIELD FOR APPLIED CHEMISTRY WASHINGTON. Sept. The Smith onlan Institution at Washington haa issued It alxty-ntnth annual report, deal ing with tha various actlvltlea of tha institution and Its branch, and Includ ing thirty-two timely articles on recent advances and developments In, astronomy. Keoloay, mathematics, mechanics, avia tion.' chemistry, geography. 'botany, so olosy and ethnology, all of which are prepared In a non-technical style making them of Interest" and yalua' to tha gen eral reader. These- articles are either written es pecially for Ihe report, or .are selected from, scientific Journals and publication from all over the world, which are not readily (obtainable by tha public. Tha whole report comprises a vo)uma of over 7u0 paxes, with 155 plates and many other illustrations, but tha Individual articles ara Issued in separate form for distribu tion to thosa Interested in particular sub jects treated. Hat a re of Latent Life. One of tha most faaclnatlns; articles in this report is written by a French scientist, Paul Becquerel, and concerns tha patura and relations of latent Ufa, one of the most remarkable phenomena of tha living kingdom. We meet latent lira everywhere that germs exist, and slnse germs ara continually emitted In a considerable quantity, even mora by plants than by animals, there is not a piece of ground on which wa tread, nor ' the smallest quantity of air that we breaths, which Is free from them. The spores of fungi, bacteria, algae, mosses and of ferns, the myriads of grains of pollen and seeds In flowers and plants, the cysts of certain minute protosoa, the eggs of soma crustaceans and Insects, pass into a state of latent life. So do animal tissues, and even some- perfectly developed forms of life, such as certain species of algae, mosses, lichens, rottfiera, artlsca and nematodes, called revlvisoenta. To Leeuwenhoek (1701), the founder of micrography, wa owe the first observa tions on revivlscent hnlioals, tha artlsca or water bears, and the rot triers of tha roofs and gutters. He obsorved 'with great astonishment that these llttle.be- ings may remain dried up for five months amid moss and dust without showing tha slightest trace of life, and, when moist ened, resume their vital functions. Baker ; experimenting with the nematodes, whose life aycle la only'ten months, succeeded In bringing them to life twenty-eight years after the deslcatlon, proving that , their life had been, greatly ; prolonged by this procedure;' Epallarutanl brought rotiflera to life by placing them, in water, after they had. been dried and' preserved for three years; another scientist eiprrl mented with rata' tails ant succeeded . in grafting them eucessfully after they - had been dried- eight 'days, and. heated two hours at a temperature of 99 degrees centigrade. The author' work has been applied mostly to seeds, soma of. which , he brought to life after twenty-eight to ? eighty-seven years had elapeed;he cm- v ployed great heat and cold, and experi mented with , dry and wet seeds, seeds in a vacuum and seeds submerged In ' liquids, and on the whole evolved much ''interesting Information- concerning this . subject, dealing literally with Ufa and ' death. - Industrial Chemistry. Soma aspects of industrial chemistry are discussed by Dr. L. IL Baekeland, who says that Industrial chemistry haa been defined as "the chemistry of. dol lars and cents," although It possesses far- reaching economic Influences, and Its endless ramifications have become Inter woven with the whole fabric- of modern civilization. Reviewing the early history of applied chemistry, beginning a lttle over a hundred years ago. the author showa the development of this branch of science and the many phases of manufac ture Into which it enters. Prof. Felix V. -tuachan of tha Uni versity of Berlin, contributes an article on tha early inhabitants of western Asia, which covers divers races found in that part of tha world, and give much eth nological data thereon. Standing on tha ew undue" in Constantinople, tha author atatea that-ha haa heard, over twenty different languagea spoken, and seen as many different types. Ha de scribe some of the apparent foreign ele ments, and then' takes up tha remaining tribes and groups' encountered, In' aa anthropological study of western Asia, a study pursued by the writer for thirty yeara Excavations la Esryst. -Recent excavations - at . tba ancient Egyptian city About." called by tha Greeks Abydos, are ' described by Ed ouard Navllle, Abydaa was primarily a lac for tha worship of Osiris, tba most human god of. tha Egyptian pantheon,' who was out Into place , by hi rival. Set, or Typhon. but brought back to life by hi son. Horua, Who reconstructed hla body. Bar was located his tomb,- al though w do not know whether It con tained tha god's body or Juat hla head, as the .Greek writers say. -. It was a noted burying ground from tha NeoUthlo age to tha Roman empire, and all about ara cemeteries filled with dead from tha inters vening epoch. Remains of tempi ara nearby, that of Setl I., father of Barneses II., being almost in it entirety. Between a doorway with enormous lintels and the temple of Setl I., the excavators un earthed a large edifice avtdently built at tna time of the pyramids; that Is, be longing to the first dynasties. It is a unique structure built of massive ma terials, rectangular in shape, and enclosed by two-layer walls six meters thick, bound together by dovetails. The area enclosed measure thirty by twenty meter and wa separated into three parallel naves by enormous monolithic 'pillar of granite. The two side naves had a celling of granite monoliths about five meters l-jng and more than two meter thick. The central section Compoes a Brent reservoir or pool surrounding which are eventeen cell, connected by a nar row footpath. Through tha rear of one of the cell located la tha center of the back wail, tha entrance to the tomb of Osiris, was found. It seem ourtoua that this ancient Egyptian structure, which may be on of the oldest, should be tielther a temple nor a tomb, but a reservoir, fed by subterranean waters. It was probably connected in soma way with tha worship of Osiris. Tha cell ara possibly thosa mentioned In tha famous Book of tha Dead, and It may be that tha water had eurative proparttas. Other aubjecte of general Interest in clude radiation of tha sun. lth wim astonishing facts concerning the same, as well a muoh Information relative to tha physical properties of the sun. written by Dr. Charlea O. Abbot, director of the Smithsonian astro-physical observatory; gyrostats and gyrostatlo action from the spinning top. to the later develop ments for steadying trains and ships, are ably et forth by Prof. Andrew Gray; under botany, torn prebleme of plsnt pathology ara discussed by Prof, L. R. Jones; R. M. Frong reports on the habits of tha herring gull aa observed near Green Bay and Lake Michigan, Wisconsin; tha regeneration of tho horns or feelers and legs, after amputation, of tha eurtous Insect known as Me walklng-atlck. Is strikingly related by It. O. Sclynlt-Jen-sen, of Copenhagen; ancient Chinese bronsea, dating from 2205 B. C. are de scribed and identified In an Interesting and well Illustrated article by John C. Fergnson, who also Offer advice for the detection of counterfeits; recent develop ment in the art of electrical Illumine tlon are explained by Preston S. Millar of New York, and many other instruct ing and entertaining articles, some of which have been reviewed separately by the press. To tonfer Fourth Degree to Knights of Columbus Here Four bishops of the Cathollo church, Bishop Richard Scannell of Omaha, Pat rick McOovern, Cheyenne; J. II. Tihen, Lincoln, and James A. Duffy, Kearney, and John H. Reddln of Denver, supreme master of the Knights of Columbus' fourth or patriotic degree, will attend the exemplification of this degree for a class of 150 candidates in Omaha on Oc tober 11 The event will be held at the Fontenello hotel and will be followed by a banquet. Tha drill team to put on the work will consist of Prof. C. F. Crowley. John Rush, Father P. A. Flanlgan. John A. Fennowltht. Paul Martin. W. C. Fraser and A. E. Hensley. Chief Justice Mor- rlssey of the Nebraska supreme court will be toastmaater at tha banquet and E. W. Slmeral, master of the fourth de gree for Nebraska and South Dakota, will be master of ceremonies. . 20 Years Old THE OLD LINE BANKER.- LSFS OF LINCOLN - . Has Over. 08,900,000.00 Assets Farm Ylortgacos LARGEST DIVIDENDS LOWEST PREMIUM RATES Killy, Ellis 6 Thompson General Agents 918-914 City National Dank Duildlng. Tel. Douglas 2819. 1 "e'l'Uas.'sv gss sag nn '"jfj TUH Mr' cBv,yerjr itonm'''"' tf VAJ iln ILLINOIS STEEL County Highway Bridges . - ' i 627 City National Bank Building i i?. & HARRIS, Central Agent GERMANS PLAN TO OPEN . UNIVERSITY IN POLAND (Correspondence of the Associated Press.) WARSAW, Poland. Sept. 20. Less than a month after the occupation- of Waraaw by th, Germans, plans have been all but completed for tha creation of a-Polish university, designed to attract the young Pole who heretofore have always sought foreign 'Institutions of learning because they would not orcould not attend the old Russian university here. Tha German authorities - hav readily agreed to the Proposal of the citizens' committee which now Is conducting th city's affairs, allowing tha return to War saw of Poles who now are in foreign countries'. ' This include scholars ef all ages. Meanwhile It la arranged for all educational Institutions up to tho univer sity to open on schedule time. . ... ONLY ONE LIFE MEMBER IS LEFT IN FRENCH SENATE i lfjpTji ji (Correspondence of The Associated Press.) PARIS. Sept 20. With the recent death of Senator Rane Berenger, there is now left only one life member of tha senate. When this body was created by the national assembly -at the time " of the adoption of tha constitution of February 25, 1876, provision waa made for seventy five life senators and 225 to be elected. In the revision of 1884, the suppression of Ufa senators by extinction and the trans formation of thert- sent into elective seats was decided upon. The last sur vivor of the life senators is -Monsieur Marcere, who was elected by the senato February 28. 1884, only a few months be fore the measure for suppression of Ufa senators went into effect. Established 1891. Incorporated 1900. B. L. Baldwin Company GENERAL INSURANCE ,: ' W. A. Y0NSON, President. 510 First National Bank Bid;., Omaha. REPRESENTING: ''' ' Assets. German-American Insurance Company of N New York . $21,724,918 Fire Association of Philadelphia 1 0,091,141 Palatine Insurance Company of England. . . . 3,250,576 United States Fidelity and Guaranty Com pany 8,626,893- A MlPft A P in. THV fl Bll c Manufacturers and Build or s of Bridges and Metal Structures: 1302-12 City National Bank Building OMAHA, NEB. r CANTON BRIDGE CO. FRED R. HOOVER, General Agent W. O. W. Bldg., N. Y. Life Bldg. Omaha. , Kansas City ? . .... r . . m 71