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Show I ! BRSEF SURVEY "OF THE FIELD OF SCIENCE C H l IF fj fh T I jTl F T GLEANINGS FROM SOENCE PUBLICATIONS 1 ,. THROUGHOUT- THE WORLD JLS LH IL L I 3 IL KJ 1 IN THBS AND OTHER. COUNTRIES & i " COPYRIGHT . 'II I THE EE All NORTH POLE. Tn connoction with (he controvtprs.y thai, is now beinji waged regard injr (lie norlk pole, it may be interesting fo remember, re-member, that (ho rrcncli and the Japanese Jap-anese will tell us that neither Peary nor Cook nor any one else has discovered the real north pole. They will insist that the pole which 1 be other nations call by dial name is in Tact, the south pole, ' And. scientifically and logically speaking, tbey are correct. For it is a well-known law of magnetism that, like poles repel and unlike poles attract each oilier. So that when tho north polo of the magnetic needle of a compass points in what wo usually call tho geographical geograph-ical north, it. is really pointing- to the- sonlh of tho earth. Owing to an early m misunderstanding, however, most na il tions call it (he north pole, because lhe so-called north pole or (ho magnet points JM in thai direction. But as tho matter M now .stands. Shackleton is in truth o'n- S deavoring to reach the actual north U ' pole, whilo Cook and Poary have di- fjn . recte.d their expeditions toward .what jjli eonsiscnth ought to be called the south WAVE POWER. In our search for means fo conserve our present sources of energy it was hoped that considerable power might be procured from lhe waves of the ocean, as distinct from the forcp obtainable from the tides. But Professor Ricardo-Salvadori, Ricardo-Salvadori, an Italian scientist, does not hold out much hope in this direction. As a result of a number of experiments he oilers many reasons why wave power pow-er cannot be utilized. One of the chief difficulties is the extreme, variability of (ho supply of energy; but even if thH were ove'rconio by accumulating the energy in reservoirs of compressed air for instance, the cost of apparatus would be prohibitive. Tho principal reason, however, whv wave power cannot be harnesFod is thai the mean horsepower is so small. On most coasts waves a yard high would furnish seven horsepower per yard of coast. Bui. tho mini her of days when theb" waves occur is comparatively small. The yard-high wave is the one that occurs on more than half the days of the year; and the cost of an installation installa-tion to ulili7.o it is calculated to be a thousand dollars per horsepower, which is of course simply prohibitory. H FINE WIRE. j ' "While man, in spite of his many won- j derful achievements, cannot often sur pass nature, he has nevertheless been able to inr outstrip her in man' physical phys-ical or mechanical process. Thus won- derfully fine screws are now made for use in watches; and the edge of a keen razor isan instance of the remarkable thinncss'to -which metal can be ground. But. tho greatest achievement in this line is probably the prodnction of extremely ex-tremely line metallic wire or threads for nee in astronomical instruments. The finest thread we know of in nature is undoubtedly a 4 spider's web as it is j spun out "on a singlo gland or spinneret, several of which threads are then twisted twist-ed together by the insect into the strands from which it weaves its not, Formerly tlieso fine natural threads were utilised in certain measuring instruments, instru-ments, but now far finer mclalliti threads arc manufactured for the same purpose. t This is done by first making a mold in the form of a hollow cylinder about eight inches in height and four inches in diameter. Through the exact axis of this form a platinum wire one-oight-hundredths of an inch thick- is fastened, and silver is cast into the mold. The cylinder of silver with its core of platinum plati-num wire is now drawn through a perforated per-forated diamond, until (he wire of a diameter of two one-thousandths of an inch is obtained. This is then submitted sub-mitted to the action of diluted nil ric acid. The silver isj dissolved, and there remains the fine central platinum wire, which is now but the four-hundredth part of the two one-thousandths, that is, five one-millionth of an inch in thickness. thick-ness. This artificial metallic thread therefore, far surpasses the spider's thread in fineness, ft is a truly wonderful won-derful exploit, in which the intellect and skill of man. combined with force and ductility, have really surpassed nature. I ELECTRICITY IN AGRICULTURE, i I I As a result of various investigations by many scientists, it. has been known for some time that the electrification of the air immediately aboe a plant will often stimulate tho latter to increased vitality and growth. Worncr Siemens., in ISSO, was the (irsl to announce this discovery, and many investigators have sinco then made experiments and observations ob-servations along similar lines. A Finnish scientist, for example, connected up the fact that polar plants mature so rapidly rapid-ly during the short northern summers and in the. great profusion noticed by Arctic explorers with tho aurora borealis. lie also considers that JLho ueedles of pines and tho "beards" of grain have their elongated shape for the purpose of sucki'ng in atmospheric electricity. Pottod planrs -were first; cx perimentcd upon, but in 1002 Ucbcr found that charged wire netting over fields caused the crops to grow more readily and to ripen quicker. So successful and practical has this application of electricity proven itself that there are now six farms in Germany, Ger-many, several in England, and one in Holland regularly using it. Widc-mesh wire is stretched over the field lo be treated, at a distance of about lo foot from tho ground, and charged with high . voltage direct cur- rent. The latter is run. through the wires during S-10 hours per day for 5-6 months. A total consumption of about 10 waits per aero is employed during a season, not a . very large amount considering tho results obtained. For in JOOfi it was found, for instance, that in one of the electrified fields wheat gave an increase in tho crop of from 10 to 45 per cent, while tho gluten in this electrically-treated wheat was 11.35 per eont, as against 10.34 por cent in untreated. Peas and lentils also grew tender and contained more sugar. Thus this method of stimulating plant growth promises to be quite useful in many instances. i j NEW LOCAL ANESTHETIC. Rcccn. scientific journals, as well as tho daily press, have much to say regarding the" new local anesthetic, known as stoveiue. And while some writers are Avarning us that the results obtained with it do not bear out all the claims made for this chemical, theso results arc, nevertheless, exceedingly in- tcresting. and may represent an important im-portant advancement in surgery. Ever since cocaine was found to be so useful use-ful as a local anesthetic, but also one often followed b3' grave consequences and - by pernicious intoxications, investigators in-vestigators havo sought, substitutes that should be less harmful. A number of them havo been, brought forth, among them being stovaine, which is chemically chemi-cally known as a dimcthylamino-benzoylpentanol, dimcthylamino-benzoylpentanol, and which is Ono of the man' newer remedies obtained from coal tar. Dr. Thomas .Tonncsco, dean of the University of Bucharest, is tho chief investigator of tho properties and applications ap-plications of this new agent, ho having mado over 100 operations involving its use. Ho is now visiting the. principal cities of ISuropc and of- this country, making demonstrations of his method of applying the anesthetic. He does not use stoveino alone, owing to its dangerous, danger-ous, depressing action, but adds to it a certain quantity of strychnine. This, being a poworful stimulant, overcomes over-comes the objections to the use of the former in its unmixed condition. Unlike cocaine, stoveino is not applied ap-plied directly to the part to.be rendered painless, but anesthesia is obtained ly injecting it through a. hypodermic noodlo into tho patient's spinal cord, or close to it. By this means, all parts of the body deriving their nerve supply from the portion of the spinal cord injected, as well as all of tho body below this point, are rendered painless. So that operations of the chest, arms and even of tho abdomen aro mado possible and safe. Tt is not deemed practical to produce anesthesia of the, neck and head by means of this spinal method, as tho movements of respiration respira-tion aro (hereby interfered with and serious results may ensue. So that cocaine or another truly local agent will have to be used in operations on these parts of the body. .On.o advantage of stoveino lies in the fact that beyond a moro or less severe se-vere headache, no bad after effects arc noticed from its use. Since a local anesthetic is far more advantageous to both the patient and the surgeon than a general one, wo must gladly welcome wel-come this new promising addition to our ever-growing list of remedial agents. TWO KINDS OF DEW. ' In looking up the French equivalent for our word ''dew" we find that in that language thcro arc two words corresponding cor-responding to our ono term, namely, "serein" and "rosee." This brings to mind that even the average well-informed person docs not realize that there aro in fnct two forms of dew, and that considerablo confusion of idoas( exists regarding tho subject. Both of these forms of dow depend, of course, upon tho fact that for any given temperature of tho atmosphere there- is a certain quantity of aqueous vapor which it is capable of holding' hold-ing' in suspension at a given pressure; and that when this temperature '. i f-lowered f-lowered the excess of moisturo rauj K1 separate out. This minimum tcmperi K-turc K-turc is known as the dew point. t Ji ii Now, 'during the daytime, cspeciall f. during sunny, warm; da3's, a good dea of aqueous vapor is taken into th f atmosphere. Then, wjen tho tempers I turc iu the. evening drops below tho tii) Ji poinl, as it oflcn does at about surtsq t after a, calm and hot day, the vnpQ l can no longer bo held in suspensioii but is deposited on tho surface of ih earth or alls as a fine mist. Thi C falling evening dew is known to th 1 French as "serein.'-' Tt affects "tlj s' whole atmosphere -over any given see p tion of tho country. ( !?, The other form of dew, winch is nibr f noticeable in the morning, is by their, tornicl "rouce.'' It is produced by tb( E radiation of the .heat from the onTtJl and all things .upon it, especially frioi u the smooth leaves of vcgotalion. vJ J the sky be ovorclouded, this rndiauc ft is sent back from the clouds, St thus any excessive loss of heat is pr vented. But if the sky be clear, tt radiated heat is not returned, aud til s. loss is so greal'that tho surface of .tt r earth becomes cooler than tho ,'a' f mosphcre. If the night be also ca'ln &. t"he smnll portion of tho air near 'tlj (l earth's surface may become chilla y below the dew point, and the moistni y. deposited in tho form of dew. Th & phenomenon, which involves only tl r-air r-air in immediate contact with il ;-cooled ;-cooled earth, is quite analogous to tl j( moisture, which condenses on the mi t side surface of pitchers or glasses'' c .. ice water. F- T. A.J r i , ; t. |