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Show SCIENTIFIC TOPICS CUnnCNT NOTBB OF DISCOVERY AND INVENTION. A Tot Sprinkler Mad. l t An tmf llah lTalnet, Two llatal Nun, Two fttraa, Lark ami m Haiti l-orlabU lloel. A TBj "nrlnaler. Here Is a toy Winkler (hit sny bright boy or Blrl etn mike with th aid of a pocket knife and a gimlet. th ntnuirr materials are an llaglleh waln.il. to batel nun, two straws, a cork ml a bottle, following la a demist de-mist Ion of bow to make the sprinkler, llraott by the aid of a email aw nr a pocket knife about one-third of a walnut Then take out the kernel of the remaining larger part ami make It nice and iraoolh Inside with the knife. Now roti bore two hole In the aldee of the ihell, and Insert a straw In rath hole, the straws to to about two and one-half InebM long Then take two batel mile and make two holes In each, the holet being In right anile with each other and reaching the renter ren-ter of the kernel Now put the atrawa coming out of the, walnut In the top bole of the hasel nut. and In the elde bole- ou Introduce a abort pleeo of atraw Hue twoewax or sealing wax for eiopplng all leaka Now your eprlnkler Is ready for use. and all you have (o do U to plare the walnut on lie pointed end on the eork of an empty bottle and pour water In tho walnut basin The water will then run through the atrawa, and thereby cauie tbo Utile sprinkler to rovulv I Quickly. 1 . I Irrtrlrllr r All t'aea. I Thonus A. Kdlson la building a ' model town on a mountain top, it rili-brrhf'mm-rrninrmitile-nn anything the Inrentor haa ever done. It will be In the backwooda. yet aa finely appointed, aa far aa modern con-tenlences con-tenlences are concerned, aa the real- dcntlal portlona of the larger cities. In fact, It will be more advanced than f many of thete, for nothing that la ( not up to date will be allowed. Noth- I Ing aa alow as gaa, for Inatance, will be uted In the houiea. The village of lldlsou now oecuplee (he site, of the liropoaed town, but It Is Insignificant The plare la now only a group of shanties shan-ties rising Irregularly around the imoulh of Ihe groat rift known, as the 'Edison Iron mine This great hole which the strain ahorcls are eating Into tbe top of Mount Muaconetcong In Northern New Jersey yawns wider year by year and Is expected to becorao In time the center of great Industries. It may rival Niagara Falls as an Industrial In-dustrial center Kdlson, who found a greet deal of finely divided Iron ore In (he rocks about, has devised a method r- for extracting this ore To state It Imply he crushes the Iron-laden rocks between great steam roller aud then drops the resulting powder past the faces of big electro-magnets. The Iron ore clings to the insgnets and Is eared The broken-up rock drops past the magnets and Is carted away, just now the Iron dust Is shipped to the melting furnaces, but It Is probable ' the ore will be used eventually In fur- naces built near the mine Hut In the meantime the business haa outgrown the little nost of shanties which hang over the edge of the hole Thoao workmen work-men who have been pioneers In open Ing the mine feel that the camplng-out period of their existence Is over To begin with, fifty houses are being built on a hill top With one exception the point of land la the highest In New Jersey That exception la a great game preserve owned by a New York sport-Ing sport-Ing club Half-way down Mount Muaconetcong, Mua-conetcong, on the way to New York, lies Lake Hopatcong. lined with swell watering places. Ihe village of Edl-H Edl-H eon la already lighted by electricity, R haa telephone connection with the out- Wg aide world, a scboolhouae and steam J engines to carry freight. The new WR town will be lighted by electricity, Ml supplied with electric bells, have an UJE Improved system of sanitation, which Rjl. the ateep mountain aide will favor, and Bfll n water supply better than that of any Hra large city. The houiea are of the cot- h tage form, with roomy porches. B Cnuaea of r'arthquake, B The cause of earthquakes was the 8B subject chosen by M. Staulslae Meunler IB for a recent lecture at the Parle Mu- IHj seura of Natural History. Starting H from the received hypothesis that the H earth Is cooling, though slowly aud Wfl without condensation, that It Is formed BW by o liquid nucleus, surrounded by a H eolld crust, and that contraction due S to cooling causes cracking. Assure and ES large faults the lectured pointed out H that these clefts and faults reottte H bydrued rocks VihUh through the ac tion of gravity nr surra,, gliding!, approach the roof of the underground excavations, and at last fall to the bottom bot-tom of these abysses, formed of hot and anhytfrou rocks On coming In contact with the burning mas at tbs botnm the local leuiperatnre of wbleb Is still furthar raised by Ihe Imps' t. the water of hydration contained In tee blocks Is Instantaneously eonrered Info slearn, producing dynamic effects of great Intensity The enormrtis mass of steam thus formed st a very high temperature eaiirea th- weaker portion of the earth's crust to fall In, opening the craters of extinct volcanoes or giving giv-ing them freah activity and drawing along Ihe lateral nr ub)rnt mattera. If the submarine bottom be thus raised, one of those terrible tide mane Is produced, pro-duced, which penetrate so far and so violently Inland, devastating ami carrying car-rying away with them all that they encounter en-counter In their sudden return The shock may be more or less Intense a ad extend to a greater nr less distance, according to the depth or fall and the amount of vaporisation, but, wherever these effects are felt, the surface undergoes under-goes changes of condition or position which afe registered by the selsmo; graph and other Ingenious Instruments An Illustration of Ihe lateral dlsplsre-ment dlsplsre-ment nf the surface was given by M Meunler. who showed, projected on a screen, photographs nf a railway train overturned laterally, and of a line of rails which had assumed a sinuous curve, In consequence of an earthquake earth-quake shock. Till! H.r.l llnl.rl.nn. Ilia llrnodlaa llri.te In the l'arls Mtiirum of Natural History His-tory at present Ihe center of Interest Is the only living captive specimen of what African explorers have called the "prison bird." The peculiarity of this feathered beauty Is that he Is the most tyrannical and Jealous nf husbands, Imprisoning his mate throughout her nesting time. Livingston watched th bird's habits while In Monpour. and In his subsequent observations referred to the neat as n prison and the female bird as a slat e. The r la built In the hollow of a tree ih, 4 an opening In Ihe hark As sou It Is completed the mother bird enters carefully and fearfully, and settlea down In It Then papa walls up tho opening, leaving only Just space enough for air and food to pass through lie keeps faithful guard and brings food at regular Intervals without with-out fall The female thrives under her enforced retirement Hut If the prison bird Is killed, or In any other way prevented pre-vented from fulfilling bis duties the mother and her little ones must die of start atlon. for she cannot frro herself her-self from bondage Normally the Imprisonment lasts until un-til tho chicks are old enough to fly. Then the mall bird destroys the barrier bar-rier wllh his beak and liberate bla family. "It la charming." write Uv Infalou. "lujaa IU)uy with willed Ilia little prlaonrr greet the light and tbo unknown world." 1'ortat.le Hint. A newly Invented portable boat, which seems to be a great Improvement Improve-ment over anything of the sort heretofore here-tofore known, la described In the lait Issuo of the Scientific American The Illustration shows the voat with Its folding aud removable parte In various positions The boat comprises oaacn-tlally oaacn-tlally two middle sections and two end sections The two middle sections are hinged together so hey may be folded together, one section being used as a cover for tho other Tho two ended sec tions are dslachably connected by bolts with the middle sections, so that they may bo placed within Ihe middle sections sec-tions v. hen not In uie. Its order to lock tho two middle sections together when ttiey aro extended bolts sre used, which are provided wltu wasticrs to prevent leakage. When the four sections are In position and bolted together a complete boat Is formed, having pointed ends constituting buoyant nlr chambers, The end sections, when not In use, are placed within the middle sections, ant strvo as storage compartments for provisions. pro-visions. Tho scats of tho boat are so hung that when the parts are folded they may swung out of the way. The curs, In order to be readily stored In transportation, aro mads In detachable sections. |