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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



The Coat of the Rocky Mount a in Sheep. 



Western huntsmen who have chased the 

 Rocky Mountain sheep, or big-horn (Ovis 

 montana), generally believe that the animal 

 wears only a coating of hair, never wool ; 

 but, in a communication to the American 

 Naturalist, Dr. F. M. Endlich shows that 

 this is an error, and that the big-horn varies 

 in the nature of its covering according to 

 the seasons, being clothed with hair in sum- 

 mer, and with wool in winter. On July 1*7, 

 1877, Dr. Endlich, while engaged in work 

 connected with the survey of the Territories, 

 found himself among the Wind River Moun- 

 tains, at an elevation of 12,000 feet above 

 sea-level, and amid large fields of snow. 

 While contemplating the scenery around, 

 he heard the sound of tramping feet, and, 

 looking up, saw four mountain-sheep ap- 

 proaching, though at first he scarcely rec- 

 ognized the species. They were of a totally 

 different color from any he had seen before, 

 and seemed to have a very rough skin. 

 Eight days later Dr. Endlich ascended a 

 high peak in the same range, and, as he 

 reached the timber-line, he saw a band of 

 over a hundred big-horns. Some of these he 

 shot and killed. The "hair" was shorter 

 than usual. It was apparently growing 

 rapidly, and pushing before it a layer of 

 very fine wool, about half an inch in thick- 

 ness. In other words, the sheep were shed- 

 ding their wool, which is exceedingly fine, 

 and of a light-gray color. Some portions 

 of the body were already clear of it. This 

 explained the peculiar color and appearance 

 of the sheep seen a week previously. 



New Method of annealing Glass. A new 



method of annealing glass is proposed by 

 Messrs. Albert and Weyer, of Paris. It 

 consists in burying the articles to be an- 

 nealed in powdered stone, plaster, lime, etc., 

 or in grease, oil, melted nitrates of potash 

 and soda, in short, in any liquid or solid capa- 

 ble of receiving the required heat, and re- 

 maining in a condition suitable for the pro- 

 cess. By imbedding the articles in powder, 

 they can be annealed at a very high tempera- 

 ture a thing impossible unless some means 

 are provided for supporting the objects and 

 maintaining their shape when reduced to the 

 softened state necessary to secure perfect 

 annealing. By the new process the articles 



are filled with the powdered stone or other 

 substance, and are then placed in crucibles 

 and completely surrounded with the pul- 

 verized substance employed. They are then 

 subjected to a heat gradually increasing to 

 200 Cent., or even 1,000 C. from four to 

 six hours, and are then slowly cooled. When 

 there is little danger of spoiling the shape 

 of the articles, they can be annealed by the 

 use of liquids and at less cost. In this case 

 two boilers are employed, so placed that the 

 liquid can be run from the upper into the 

 lower. If nitrate of soda is employed, the 

 temperature will be over 260 C. before the 

 salt is melted, and the articles are then im- 

 mersed in the cold state, and the tempera- 

 ture raised to 800 C. Then they are al- 

 lowed to cool slowly, and when the tem- 

 perature has fallen to nearly 260 C. the 

 solidification point the nitrate is run off 

 into the lower boiler, and a small fire is 

 maintained beneath the upper boiler to pre- 

 vent the too rapid cooling of the glass. 



Influence of Chemical Research on Char- 

 acter. Prof. Maxwell Simpson, President 

 of Section B of the British Association, in 

 his address makes some very judicious re- 

 marks on the influence of chemistry upon 

 the intellectual habits and moral character 

 of its cultivators. He first notes how the 

 study of chemistry, or rather original chem- 

 ical work, promotes accuracy, thoroughness, 

 and circumspection. An organic analysis 

 requires six weighings ; if any one of these 

 is inaccurate, the results are worthless. 

 Unless the analyst is sure of every step in 

 his research, his results are doubtful, and 

 therefore of no value. Again, the original 

 worker must be ever on his guard against 

 error, and laboratory-work teaches us to 

 use our senses aright, sharpens our powers 

 of observation, and prevents us from rea- 

 soning rashly from appearances. Then, as 

 regards the effect of original work on the 

 character, in developing the virtues of cour- 

 age, resolution, truthfulness, and patience : 

 the chemist is often obliged to perform ex- 

 periments which are attended with great 

 danger, and no man can hope to fight long 

 with the elements without carrying away 

 many a scar. Sometimes fatal accidents 

 oecur. But the chemist must not be dis- 

 couraged by fear of accident, neither must 



