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Show SCIENTIFIC TOPICS. CURRENT NOTES OF DISCOVERY DISCOV-ERY AMD INVENTION. ilnw llio We.tUr Itureao. Conduct, heiem ijic Ol.s rvMilou IHsrh Abore the I: .rr.li lrp by Hi. Aid of Machinery 1 bv blu.tlii? fclilp. Juyd'4 TIi undwrbolts. I'ir.j aerial observers attached to the United Statc3 array weather bureau bu-reau have recently been unwittingly repeating Fianklin's historic kite experiment ex-periment of 17..2, with very startling effects; but, whereas the original experiment ex-periment was conducted with a mere tcy kite, the modern workers are employing em-ploying fcr their researches huge ma-(hir.es, ma-(hir.es, held by ten or twelve thousand feet cf steel wire; for the primary life of these kites is to carry to high altitudes meteoroiogical Instruments whe.se duty It 13 to make records of the state of the upper regions of the atmosphere. On the finest days sparks can be drawn from the sky by means of these kite wires; but It is when a storm approaches that things become serious for the operator engaged. One of these gentlemen reports that when he had Beven thousand five hundred feet of wire reeled out he heard distant dis-tant thunder, and Immediately began to turn the winch which hauled In the and In this position it rs drawn tack by the rod so ti to more or lees completely com-pletely cover the hole. Next a cellulose cellu-lose cushion Is placed upon the rod, and by the aid of a nut forced tightly against the Inner side of the ship over the hole, so as entirely to stop the leak. Stonier of various Blues are carried, to suit the size of the hole that may have to be dealt with. Propelled by the Wave. It In an ajciom in mechanics that you cannot get more out of a machine than you put into it, and that some of the energy put in must be lost In friction. fric-tion. But the little craft known as the autonaut, described In Pearson's, Is an exception to this rule, because she has no engines, doe6 not go by steam, electricity elec-tricity or man power. Curiously enough, too, the rougher the sea the faster she moves, which Is of Itself quite a contradiction of all the accepted conditions of navigation. The fact Is that the boat is propelled by the action of the waves; In perfectly per-fectly still water she would not move at all, unless she was caused to pitch artificially. The secret of her propulsion propul-sion lies in a couple of pieces of apparatus, ap-paratus, not unlike gridirons, fixed, one at the bow and one at the stern, about on a level with the keel. These are what the inventor, Mr. H. Linden of the zoological station at Naples, calls "feathering fins." They are bits of hardened steel, with their free ends pointing in the reverse direction to the course of the boat. Each frame hold? four of these. Power Expended In Cycling. At Bonne, in Germany, a series of experiments have been made with the bicycle. They show that for similar times about one-fifth more energy Is expended in propelling a bicycle than in walking. The observers went so far as to determine the amount of oxygen consumed per unit of distance riden., Doubling the speed required far more energy than was saved by halving the speed. Air resistance was found to be an all important factor. This coincides with results obtained in a similar investigation in-vestigation conducted on this side. wire. Suddenly came a flash which fused the wire; he saw a rope of smoke stretching away in its place, and he was for a moment stunned. Another observer had a similar experience when he had only five thousand feet of line out; in this case, too, the wire was suddenly fused and" the kite set free, the phenomenon being accompanied by an explosion which caused people to think that guns had been let off. These are by no means singular experiences, expe-riences, and the weather bureau authorities au-thorities see no way to get over the difficulty except by the avoidance of observations on uncertain days. Corloos Devices. To produce sleep by the aid of machinery ma-chinery is among the newest ideas. Sleep will sometimes result from fatigue fa-tigue of the eyes. Looking at trees or objects as we rush along in the train will frequently "send us off." An ingenious in-genious gentleman has produced a machine ma-chine for this purpose. It is a box surmounted by two fan-like panels, one above the other, revolving horizontally horizon-tally in opposite directions. These panels are studded with mirrors that throw upon the retina a vibrating flood of twinkling light. A similar effect is produced by staring at a bright ball placed high above the head, so that some light strain is caused by staring at it. Another apparatus for causing drowsiness is formed by clamps for squeezing the arteries leading to the brain. The clamps remain in position for less than half a minute, and by that time the sufferer from insomnia has been placed in a state of somnolence somno-lence by the decreased flow of blood to the brain. Still another method is to arrange an electric battery in the bed so that a mild electric current acts upon the spine. A Xatnral Antidote for Poisons. The liver has long been recognized as a powerful annihilator of poisons. The digestive system of animals produces pro-duces ptomaines which would be deadly dead-ly in their effects except for the work of the liver. And now the bile of animals ani-mals has been tried as a direct antidote to snake venom with success. . It was mixed with the venom and the mixture was injected into the circulatory system sys-tem of rabbits. The bile of snakes was found most effective against their own venom. It is another instance of the antidote being found in company with the poison. Artificial Scotch Mist. Dwellers along the River Spey, in Scotland, complain of the killing of the fish, and other injurious effects, produced by effluents from the distilleries distil-leries along its banks. The question how the Spey, and other rivers similarly simi-larly situated, may be protected from such pollution is being discussed. One interesting suggestion is that the deleterious dele-terious products of the distilleries might be gotten rid of by being blown high in the air in the form of mist. It is asserted that the atmosphere would not be injuriously affected in this way, and that there would be no perceptible increase in its moisture if the mist were blown to a sufficiently great height. At a height of 200 feet, it is calculated, about eight gallons of the objectionable objection-able liquid might be sprayed into the air every minute without being noticed no-ticed by the inhabitants of the surrounding sur-rounding country. Metal Clothes Pin. A simple clothes pin is formed of a iece of tubing with a wire bent around it to make a clamp, the ends Manufacturing Sapphires. Arthur Schoenl, of Geneva, Switzerland, Switzer-land, claims to have succeeded in manufacturing man-ufacturing genuine sapphires, not imitation imi-tation stones of glass, but pure crystallized crys-tallized aluminum. He has been experimenting ex-perimenting on these for fourteen months, and also hopes to obtain similar sim-ilar production of emeralds and rubies. He asserts that the only difference between be-tween his products and those of nature is one of hardness, his sapphires having hav-ing only about two-thirds of the resisting re-sisting power of natural sapphires. Preserving Klnemetograph Records. The kinemetograph, which shows moving pictures on the magic lantern screen, may be regarded as something more than a plaything of modern science. sci-ence. Many Alms have now been produced, pro-duced, and it is obvious that many have a historical, and others a trua scientific, value, as for example in astronomical as-tronomical subjects. It is proposed that a government bureau should be provided for preservation of such films. The National Museum at Washington could fitly assume the office. A Universal Atmosphere. Mr. Rydberg, a Swedish savant, suggests sug-gests that the recent discovery of the new element, metargon, in the air, strengthens the theory of the existence exist-ence of a universal, atmosphere extending extend-ing between the planets and throughout through-out the solar system. This gas, he says, was already known to exist in the sun, in the immediate surroundings surround-ings of the sun, in all comets, and In meteorites, from which facts he infers that it constitutes a common atmosphere atmos-phere for our system. I "Little Peach." This is the name of a mysterious disease dis-ease at present affecting many peach orchards in southern Michigan. Its chief manifestation is the dwarfing of the peaches. Dr. E. F. Smith, of the department of agriculture, who has investigated in-vestigated the disease, thinks it is due to the shutting off of the water supply of the trees, but he is unable to say whether this arises front the condition of the soil and the weather, or is caused caus-ed by an undiscovered parasite. it the wire extending on one side and the central portion forming a U-shaped member on the other side. To Save Slnfelnff Ships. Among the inventions which had a practical trial during our war with Spain was a French device for stopping stop-ping shot holes, called the Colomes stopper. One of these was employed to close a rent made by a shell in the battleship Iowa. The hole was about a foot above the water line. As soon as the stopper was inserted, the inflow of water, which had begun to flood the deck, ceased. The stopper consists of a rod having at one end an iron plare, pivoted at the center so that It can te folded backward along the rod. To stop a leak, the rod carrying the plate is first thrust outward through the" hole: then a turn of the rod causes the plate, which is weighted at one end, to become parallel to the side of the ship, Americans the I.e:tst Degenerate. Dr. W.' C. Krauss, in discussing the question of degeneration, which has occupied so much attention in the past few years, answers the question, "Is the human race degenerating ?"in the negative. He also says that "as compared com-pared with foreigners, Americans exhibit ex-hibit the fewest signs of degeneracy." j |