7 i8 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



a valuable fodder-yielding tree. The fruit 

 when ripe is a bright brown pod six to ten 

 inches long, about an inch wide, and a 

 quarter of an inch thick, the substance of 

 the pod consisting of a sugary, amber-col- 

 ored pulp. The pods are borne in great 

 profusion. As they ripen they drop to the 

 ground, and are picked up and eaten with 

 much relish by all kinds of stock. The 

 excellent quality of this fruit as a fodder is 

 evident from its fattening effect stock 

 having access to it improve markedly dur- 

 ing the time it is in season. The pods can 

 be stored for use in winter and spring. 



Another New Metal (?). We take from 

 "La Nature" a brief account of a new metal, 

 norwegium, lately discovered by Daffl in an 

 arseniuret of nickel, copper, and iron. Un- 

 like most of the new elements latterly dis- 

 covered, this new metal was not discovered 

 by the aid of the spectroscope ; indeed, Daffl 

 does not appear to have examined its spec- 

 trum. The oxide of norwegium is easily re- 

 duced by carbon or by hydrogen ; the metal 

 is white, malleable, of the hardness of cop- 

 per, and is fusible at a low red heat. Its 

 density is equal to 9'44. It dissolves readi- 

 ly in hydrochloric acid ; but nitric acid soon 

 forms a nitrate. The concentrated solution 

 is blue; on adding water it becomes green. 

 Its chemical equivalent is 196 if the oxide 

 is a protoxide. It is precipitated by potash, 

 ammonia, and carbonate of soda, and re- 

 dissolves in an excess of the precipitant. 

 Sulphuretted hydrogen gives an insoluble 

 brown precipitate in the sulpho-hydrate of 

 ammonia. At the blowpipe, with borax, it 

 forms a globule which is green .while hot, 

 but when cold, blue. The phosphorus salt 

 yields a yellow globule, which on cooling 

 becomes emerald green. 



The Flight and Fall of Meteors. Pro- 

 fessor C. U. Shepard, in a paper on " Me- 

 teorites," read before the Connecticut Acad- 

 emy of Sciences, states the number of sup- 

 posed independent falls of such bodies, 

 whereof specimens are preserved in mu- 

 seums, as about three hundred and fifty, 

 which number is increasing at the rate of 

 between three and four per year. In the 

 northern hemisphere there are two regions 

 where falls of meteorites have been most 



frequent. " These regions," says Professor 

 Shepard, "are apparently situated where 

 they have been similarly influenced by the 

 earth's magnetic polarity. The regions are 

 on opposite sides of the hemisphere, have 

 similar areas, and are in analogous direc- 

 tions and at similar distances from the two 

 terrestrial north magnetic poles." The au- 

 thor calls attention to the highly magnet- 

 ic constitution of nearly all meteorites, 

 and to the fact that each mass, whether" 

 large or small, of a detonating meteor, 

 maintains during its aerial flight a fixed 

 axial direction. He infers that " if a strong 

 magnetic force is found to attend these 

 bodies, the perplexing subject relating to 

 their high and variant velocities may receive 

 some elucidation." He thinks that the 

 great objection to the theory of the vol- 

 canic origin of meteorites, viz., that their 

 velocity is too great, may be obviated by 

 the hypothesis that acceleration may be 

 produced by the electro-magnetism of the 

 earth. 



A Xatnral Well. In March last a re- 

 markable " sink-hole " was discovered in 

 Meade County, Kansas. In May it was 

 visited by Professor B. F. Mudge, who gives 

 an interesting account of it in the " Kansas 

 City Review of Science and Industry." This 

 sink-hole made its appearance in a grassy 

 prairie at a point forty miles south of Dodge, 

 and its site was formerly crossed by a wag- 

 on-road. This road is little frequented, but 

 those who passed over it early in March 

 saw nothing new where now the sink-hole 

 exists. About March 18th the road had 

 disappeared, and in its place was a deep 

 cavity. As seen by Professor Mudge on 

 May 5th, it had the appearance of a gigan- 

 tic well, sixty feet deep and 610 feet in 

 circumference, being nearly circular. The 

 walls were perpendicular, or nearly so. The 

 material of the soil, at least to the depth of 

 seventeen feet, consisted of a firm clay shale 

 of reddish tinge. All around the cavity 

 were circular cracks parallel to the rim, 

 from five to fifteen feet deep, and from one 

 to ten inches wide. These had opened at 

 the time of the catastrophe, and appear as 

 though ready to cave in ; but one of the 

 party that accompanied Professor Mudge 

 had visited the spot a month earlier, and he 



