10 Conservative *
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
A pine and a cypress lately brought
from Japan to England are 30 and 40
years old respectivelj * , but are only G
and 9 inches high. They were artific
ially dwarfed.
The cooling of the earth is calculat
ed by Sir. R. S. Woodward to bo
shortening our day not more than half
a second in ten million years ; falls of
meteorites , vastly less.
A durable transparent coating for
wood is obtained , according to a Ger
man process , by digesting coarsely
powdered petroleum apshalt in ben
zine for one or two days , the well-
closed vessel to bo in a warm place.
A yellowish-brown dye is extracted ,
which penetrates the wood deeply ,
protecting it from weather and other
destroyers , and which may bo washed.
While in South Atrica Maj. H. A.
Cummiugs found that the air of the
Pretoria valley becomes very hot and
dry , and the severe storms generated
include whirlwinds carrying dustpa
per , leaves , etc. Prom a gelatine
plate exposed one second to a dust
storm thousands of colonies of bacteria
wore developed. It is believed that
fevers are spread in this way , and
the possiole distribution of tropical
epidemics is appalling.
A step toward the direct , conversion
of heat into electricity seems to have
been taken in recent German experi
ments. Accumulators were charged ,
then heated from 14 degrees C to 46
degrees 0 (57 ( degrees to 118 degrees
F. ) , and the result was an increase
in their output of 50 per cent. It is
evident that the discharge of more
current than was received must have
been duo to change of the heat energy -
orgy into electrical energy.
The new nebula in Perseus is re
garded by Sir Norman Lockyer as con
firming his "meteoric theory" of the
origin of worlds. Instead of account
ing for the observed changes by suppos
ing that a gaseous mass is spreading
outward from the central star at the
inconceivable velocity of 2,000 miles
or more a second , ho assumes that the
nebula existed before it was seen ,
and that it is a vast swarm of meteor
ites , or system of such swarms , of
which parts have been made success
ively visible by collisions with other
swarms of fragments. The effect of
such collisions would be a flashing in
to light of the previously invisible
masses. The most violent of these
collisions brought the "now star" to
our notice some mouths ago , the less
violent have produced very faint light ,
and probably much of the nebula ex
tending over distances hundreds of
times as great as that of the sun from
the earth is still dark.
The heights of appearance and dis
appearance of eight meteors were
measured 'last August at two French
observatories , the highest record be
ing 74 miles and lowest 10 miles.
Certain nervous persons are sup
posed by F. Larroquo to act as receiv
ers for Hertzian waves , which cause
them to feel the approach of a storm
nvoii under a clear sky. On two oc
casions last June , instrumental tests
proved the presence of such waves
while the storm was raging at a dis
tance.
The whitening of hair , so familiar
to us , has not been easy to explain.
In a recent study of the subject , E.
Metchuikoff has found that pigment
atrophy of the hair is duo to action of
phagocytes , or white blood corpuscles ,
which absorb the pigment and transfer
it elsewhere. In whitening hair and
its roots the phagocytes filled with
pigment are numerous , while they
gradually disappear as the process
progresses , and arc almost complete
ly absent in perfectly white hair.
This discovery of the part played by
phagocytes shows , for instance , that
the sudden turning white of hair in
a single night , or in a few days , is
a result of increased activity set up
in the phagocytes of the hair.
To utilize the vast energy of the
earth's motion is now a dream of
science. The late Prof. G. F. FitzGerald -
Gerald supposed that the magnetic
field of a charged condenser , with
plates edgewise to the motion through
the ether , might bo traced to the
earh's motion , and an experiment has
been made by Dr. F. T. Troutmau , F.
R. S. , to settle this point. The re
sults have been negative. It is now
pointed out that if the charging bat
tery is responsible for the energy of
the magnetic field , there are reasons
for believing that the earth's motion
tends to turn a charged condenser at
right angles to itself , and a test is
proposed with a delicately suspended
condenser charged to a high voltage.
If the expected result is obtained ,
continuous rotation will bo possible
from the power of the earth.
A new process recovers tin from
waste tin-plate , and at the same time
supplies an inexpensive electric bat
tery. A suitable containing vessel is
divided by a porous partition which
for cheapness may even bo made of
wicker-work. One siae is filled with
coal , which acts as cathode , the other
side with the waste tin-plate , to servo
as anode , and sea water or salt solu
tion is used as charging liquid. The
current from a number of such cells
may be made to work an electric bath.
The iron of the plates dissolves to
ferric chloride , and the tin partly falls
to the bottom and partly passes to the
cathode.
In the odinary are lamp the carbons
are heated to about 8,000 degrees , but
in the new lamp of Dr. Bang , the
Danish physician , they are kept so
cool that they can bo touched with
the fingers virile the lamp is burning. " 1
The cooling is due to the use of hollow
carbons , through which a strong cur
rent of water is kept passing. The
effect is remarkable , nearly the entire
energy of the electric current being
removed to the light are between the
two electrodes , while the latter are
consumed so slowly that the usual au
tomatic adjustment is unnecessary. ,
For ' advantages
physicians' use numerous
ages are claimed. The cold light kills
bacteria in one-eighteenth of the time
required by the ordinary arc lamp , the
patients can be placed much nearer
the light than hitherto , and metallic
electrodes silver , iron , etc. , can be
employed without risk of melting.
The lamp being small and handy and
consuming little electricity , it is ex
pected to prove specially useful in
other fields.
VIEWS OF A RAILROAD MAN.
Paul Morton , vice-president of the
Atohison , Topeka and Santa Fe Rail
way , in a recent address before one of
the departments of the University of
Chicago , discussing railway rates , ar
gued for pooling privileges. The prohi
bition of pooling under the Interstate
Commerce law , Mr. Morton said , "has
resulted in a continuation of preferen
tial rates , mostly of a secret nature ,
which are a menace to justice and fair
play , and which ought to be obliterat
ed. " He thought that one of three con
tingencies faces the railways :
" (1. ( ) The legalization of pooling ,
whereby the railroads may make en-
forcible contracts between themselves
for a division of the business based on
reasonable rates ; or ,
" (2. ( ) The unification of ownership ,
which , in the absence of the first propo
sition , is making rapid strides ; or ,
" (8. ( ) The taking over of the rail
roads by the government to own and
operate them as is done in Germany and
some other European countries.
"I have always been an advocate of
legalized pooling , because I believe it
will go a long way toward insuring a
maintenance of tariffs and thereby pre
vent favoritism and inside rates to
large shippers and great cities. I be
lieve that the very foundation of the
state itself is threatened by any long-
continued discrimination against the
small shipper and the small town. " In
arguing for pooling , Mr. Morton said :
"I can see no good reason why Congress
should not legalize pooling , as long as
rates are reasonable. Rates can become
unreasonable , and there is as much to
fear from their being unreasonably low
as unreasonably high. They can be so
low ns to bo unreniuuerativo ; thereby