Vol XXV. No. 3.] 
POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 
43 
this was the coldest day of the month, averaging 
17.66°. The highest point was 50°, on the 11th 
evening and 22d noon, the latter being the warm- 
est day, at 45.33°. The entire month was 5° 
above the mean of the last twenty-one Januarys. 
The month was more uniformly mild than any 
January during this period, as the January in 
1875 was the most uniformly cold, as indicated by 
the low range of these two months — 42° and 40°, 
respectively. The daily range on the 2d, 18th, 
and 19th was only 2°; the 10th and 11th it was 
23°; these were the extremes. The range indi- 
cates the degree of uniformity. 
SKV. 
The face of the sky, in 93 observations, gave 38 
fail', 13 cloudy, 23 overcast, 11 rainy, and 8 snowy, 
— a percentage of 40.9 fair, 'llie average fair the 
last twenty-one Januarys has been 53.0, with ex- 
tremes of 40.9 in 1891 and 1884, and 61.3 in 1888, 
— showing the present January to have been as 
cloudy as the cloudiest the last twenty-one years. 
The 2d was foggy all day, and the 22d in the 
morning, — both warm, rainy days. The 8th, 23d, 
and 24th were fine days— the latter very fine. 
PRECII'ITATIDN. 
The amount of precipitation — including 14.50 
inches of melted snow — was 9.63 inches, while 
the average for the last twenty-three Januarys 
has been 5.04 inches, with extremes of 1.80 in 
1871, and 9.63 in 1891, It is worth noting that 
. the first ten Januarys in my record average only 
3.82 inches, while the last eight average 7.08 
inches — nearly double the former period. The 
precipitation was well distributed through the 
month, three of the storms exceeding two inches 
each. The month began with fine sleighing, which 
three times alternated with wheeling, the ground 
being nearly bare at the close of the month. The 
storm on the 17th ended iff frozen rain, loading 
everything heavily with ice, imparting great 
beauty for three days to tree and shrub, but 
doing damage in some localities, 'i'he snow- 
storm of the 25th also loaded the trees, nearly 
equalling the ice in beauty and duration. 
PRESSURE. 
ITie average pressure the past month was 29.953 
inches, with extremes of 28.83 on the 12th, and 
30..50 on the 10th, — an unusual range of 1.67 
inches. My barometer has dropped below 29 
inches but seven times in eighteen years, at the 
hours of observation, twice being in January. 
The average for the last eighteen Januarys has 
been 29.978 inches, with extremes of 29.840 in 
1879, and 30.111 in 1890,— a range of .271 inch. 
The sum of the daily variations was 10.27 inches, 
giving a mean daily movement of .331 inch. This 
average the last eighteen Januarys has been .304, 
with extremes of .196 and .391. There were sev- 
eral large daily variations, as 1.17 inches on the 
12th, .97 on the 25th, .73 on the 3d, and on five 
other days over half an inch. 
WINDS. 
The average direction of the wind the last 
month was W. 25° 21' N., or a full W. N. W. The 
mean for the last twenty-two Januarys was W. 21° 
43' N., with exti ernes of W. 12° 40' S. in 1870, and 
W. 68° 23' X. in 1886,— a range of 81° 3'. TTie 
relative progressive distance travelled the past 
month was 42.05 units, and the last twenty-two 
Januarys 1,262 such units, a mean of 57..36, — 
showing much less easterly winds the last month 
than usual. Strong winds prevailed on the 22d 
and several other days. D. VV. 
Natick, Feb. 5, 1891. 
[Specially Computed for Popular Science News.] 
ASTROXOMIC.^L PHENOMEN.\ FOR MARCH, 
1891. 
The sun crosses the equator from south to north 
and spring begins March 20 about 4 P. M. Mer- 
cury will be out of sight during the month. It is 
a morning star until March 23. It passes superior 
conjunction with the sun on that date and becomes 
an evening star; but does not get far enough away 
to be easily seen until nearly the middle of April. 
Venus is still a morning star, not quite as con- 
spicuous as it was in January and February, and a 
little nearer the sun. It is quite a distance to the 
south of the sun, and by the end of the month 
rises not quite two hours before. Mars is still an 
evening star, and sets about three hours after the 
sun. It is a considerable distance north of the 
sun, and is moving somewhat rapidly northward 
and eastward — 23° or 24° during the month. It 
will be nearly 200,000,000 miles away from us and 
very much fainter than it was about the time of 
opposition, but it will still be l)right enough to be 
made out without much trouble if it is looked for 
in the early evening just at the end of twilight. 
Jupiter is a morning star, having passed conjunc- 
tion with the sun on February 12, but does not get 
far enough away to be seen easily until nearly the 
end of March. It will then rise a little more than 
an hour before the sun. The satellites cannot 
well be observed during the month. Saturn is in 
very good position for ot)servation during the 
month. It comes to opposition with the sun on 
the morning of March 4, and at the end of the 
month is on the meri<iian at about 10 P. M. It is 
in the constellation Leo, and moves about 2° west- 
ward during the month. As seen in the telescope, 
the rings are a little wider open than they were 
during February, the ratio of long to short axes 
being about eleven to one. ITranvis is in the east- 
ern part of the constellation Virgo, and comes to 
the meridian at about 2 A. M. in the middle of the 
month. It is moving slowly westward. Neptune 
is in the constellation Taurus, a little west of the 
group of the Ilyades. 
TTie Constellations. — The positions given are for 
the latitude of the northern part of the United 
States, and for 10 P. M. on March 1, 9 P. M. on 
Maich 16, and 8 P. M. on March 31. Cancer is not 
far from the zenith, a little to the south. Leo lies 
east of Cancer, and Virgo lies below Leo, reaching 
to the horizon on the east. Between these con- 
stellations and the southern meridian are Hydra 
and one or two other constellations. On the 
northeast are Ursa Major, well up toward the 
zenith, and Bootes and Corona low down. Draco 
and Ursa Minor lie mainly to the east of the pole 
star, while Cepheus is just below it. Andromeda 
is just setting in the northwest, and Cassiopea lies 
between it and the pole star. Perseus is al)ove 
Andromeda, and Auriga above and to the south of 
Perseus. Gemini is west of the zenith, high up ; 
and Taurus is low down in the west, just above 
Aries, which is setting. Orion is to the left of 
Taurus, a little lower down. Canis Minor is about 
half-way from the zenith to the southwest hori- 
zon, and Canis Major is below, between Orion and 
the southern horizon. M. 
Lake Forest, III., Feb. 3, 1891. 
Economy of Compound Locomotives.— The 
Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad Company lately 
ran their compound engine for ten days against a 
lot of the best simple locomotives on the road. 
The coal used was all weighed. At the finish of 
the test the compound was found to have effected 
a saving of 23% per cent, compared with the aver- 
age coal consumed bv tJbie other engines. 
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 
Letters of inquiry should enclose a two-cent 
stamp, as well as the name and address of the 
writer, wliicli will not be published. 
Questions regarding the treatment of diseases 
cannot be answered in this column. 
Subscriber, California. — Is it true that old rags 
can be made into sugary 
Answer. — Old cotton oi' linen rags are nearly 
pure cellulose, or ^^ody fibre, (C^ H,„ Oj). By 
boiling them with dilute sulphuric acid, the cellu- 
lose takes up one molecide of water (IT, f)) and is 
converted into dextrose, or grape sugar, <J.\ H,, 
Og). The process is only a chemical curiosity and 
has no industrial value, but immense (juantities of 
glucose are made from starch by a similar reac- 
tion. 
SUBSCUIBKK, Illinois. — What is the chemical 
composition of the explosive gas known to min- 
ers as "fire-dam))':'" 
Answer. — Kire-<lamp is principally methane, or 
marsli-gas, (CH,), the simplest of all the hydro- 
carbon compounds. It is supposed to have l)eeu 
produced dining the decomjiositiou of the vege- 
table remains from which the coal was formed. 
"Choke-damp '■ is simply carl)onic dioxide (CO.;), 
and when formed, as it uecessaiily is, by an ex- 
plosion of lire-danip, is called by the miners 
"after-ilainp." 
P. S. G., riiila. — The name "galvanized iron" 
is a misnomer. It is simply iron covered! witli 
zinc, and electricity or galvanism is not used in 
the process at all. 
S. .V. C, Maine. — Chemically pure iron, like 
nearly all otlier metals, is extremely soft, so that 
it can be readily cut with a knile. An ahuost 
infinitesimal amount of impurity, or alloy, will 
often completely change the physical nature of a 
metal. 
LITERARY NOTES. 
Tales from Shakespeare's Comedies, liy Charles and 
Marv Lamb. Prejiared lor school reading, and 
edited with notes by William J. Rolfe, Ph. D. 
New York : llai per & Bi others. Publishers. 
Lamb's delightful tales from Shakespeare were 
(u-iginally wiilten with the si)i'eial puipose of in- 
troducing children to the s'.uciy ot the greatest 
English dramatic poet, and for this reason are 
particularly well adapted for reading in schools 
of the intermediate grade. They are valual)le 
both for their own literary merit and tlie sul)jects 
they treat of; and Dr. Roife"s carefid editing, and 
scholarly comments and explanations render the 
present edition especially useful, both for the 
above purpose and for the perusal of "children 
of a larger growth" as well. 
Examination of Water for Sanitary and Technical 
Purposes, bv Henry Leffman and William Bean. 
Philadelphia : P. Blakiston, Son & Co. ' 
This second edition of tli<! above work has been 
completely revised, and many changes and addi- 
tions have been made, especially in the determi- 
nation of organic nitrogen, biological examina- 
tions, and the purification of water. The appear- 
ance of a second edition is proof of the scientific 
value of the work, a copy of'which should be in 
the library of every chemist. 
The American Patent System, by D. Walter 
Brown, 31 Nassau street, New York. Price, 25 
cents. It does not aim to make an inventor a 
patent lawyer, but to enlighten him as to the na- 
ture of his rights, and what is needed to secure 
them, so that he may proceed intelligently in 
obtaining them, and that he and the investor may 
avoid some of the dangers which so often deprive 
them of the just return for their labor and outlay. 
Pamphlets, etc., received : Notes Upon the Cra- 
nia of North American Indians, by R. W. Shufeldt, 
M. I). ; Galvanism in the Treatment of Corneal 
Opacities, by L. A. W. Allemau, M. D. ; Special 
Experiments with Cylinder Lubricants, by Prof. J. 
E.Denton; Harvard University Catalogue ; Publi- 
cations of the Illinois State Hoard of Health, and 
the Proceedings of the Michigan State Pharmaceuti- 
cal Association. 
