I8sr> 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE- 



125 



is the single brood-comb attuched to the limb. 

 IJy referring to the former article mentioned 

 aliove, we lind that this honey-chattie is 

 sometimes as much as six inches in thick- 

 ness, making the cells on each side three 

 inches in depth, properly sloped to prevent 

 the honey from running out. Fig. 1 gives 

 the size of the cells for the brood-comb, be- 

 ing about like our drone-comb. Pig. 2 shows 

 the size of cells of this strange honey-chattie. 

 By the way. friends, woukurt it be a curi- 

 osity indeed, if it were possible to get one of 

 these greatcliunks of honey across the ocean, 

 to be shown at some of our national conven- 

 tions? Wliat ci crowd it would bring ! 

 Friend B., don't you think it possible? We 

 are anxiously awaiting the result of your 

 experiments in trying to domesticate ^Ipfs 

 dorsa((t. 



THE TEMPEKATUHE OF THE EAHTH. 



SOME VALUABLE F.i^CTS, FUKNISIIED BY FRIEND S. 

 COKNEIL. 



JN view of recent references to the temperature 

 of the earth, the following- facts ma3' bo of in- 

 terest to the readers of Gleanings. As re- 

 gards temperature, the crust of the earlh, down 

 to the point where the internal heat is met 

 with, may be divided into three strata. In temper- 

 ate climates, the limit of the first stratum is reached 

 when the thermometer ceases to indicate the diur- 

 nal changes of temperature at the surface. This is 

 at a depth of three to live feet, depending- to some 

 e.vteut upon the nature of the soil. From this point 

 down to 40 ft., and in some cases to 100 or l;-0 ft., 

 according as the mateiial passed through is solid 

 rock, claj', sand, or water, there is a stratum, the 

 temperature of which is affected by the changes in 

 temperature of the seasons only. Delow this there 

 is a stratum having a constant temperatuie, but 

 whose degree of heat depends upon the mean annu- 

 al temperature of the localit3'. After this stratum, 

 having an "invariable temperature," is passed, the 

 temperature of the earlh Increases 1° for every 50 

 to 75 ft. in depth. The lollowing quotations from 

 authorities on the subject will perhaps be appre- 

 ciated by the i-eader: 



In temperate climates the temperature remains 

 unchanged at a depth of 3 ft. from the surface, 

 from day to night. At 30 ft. the annual temper- 

 ature varies but a degree or two. At 75 ft. below 

 the surface the thermometer is perfectly stationary. 

 In the vaults of Paris observatory, 80 ft. deep, the 

 temperature is 5j°. In tropical regions the point of 

 unvarying temperature is reached at a dejith of 

 one foot.— Johnston's "How Crop.s Feed." 



It is well known, that there is a limit of depth 

 Avithin which the variations in the temperature of 

 the air make themselves felt. In temperate cli- 

 mates this is from 8U to 13J ft. Springs whicii rise 

 at a lesser depth than lOJ ft. have a temperature 

 which varies with the seasons, whilst waters rising 

 from a greater depth have a constant temperature, 

 depending only on the heat existing at their source. 

 Springs whose temjjeriiture is above the mean an- 

 nual temperature of the locality, are called hot 

 springs.— F»-o(n Hie Gcniian o/ Fkanz ScunackhoI'"- 

 Ei{, Professor at Imperial ami Royal School of Agricul- 

 ture, Vieitna, quoted in "Fuclaiul U'afcr." 



When the bed which forms the reservoir for 

 springs is at such a distance from the surface as to 

 be beyond the zone of season changes, and yet 

 within that which is influenced by the climate, the 

 water has a teniperature equal to the mean annual 

 temperature of the locality where it rises. In 

 Britain this zone of constant heat is from 200 to ;I00 

 ft. deep. After this is passed, the temp.erature in- 



Boston, Mass 



Cleveland, O 



Columbus, O 



Cincinnati, O 



l>etroit. Mich 



Erie, Pa 



Philadelphia, Pa... 



(Jhieago, HI 



Des Moines, la 



Leavenworth, Kan. 



Cairo, 111 



New Orleans, La . . . 

 .St. Paul, Minn 



creases 1° for every 50 or (X) it.—Cha)nher's Encyclo- 

 padia. 



If tlie thermometer bo placed in a deep cavern, 

 the variations disappear, and one uniform tempera- 

 ture is registered under all circumstances. What 

 that temperature is, will depend principally on the 

 climate of the locality, the constant temperature 

 being nearly the mean annual temi)erature of the 

 surface.— Hex LEV, in " Plnjsivgraijliy." 



It has been stated, that the temperature of the 

 peculiai- caves beneath the citj- of Paris, in one of 

 which the great clock of the observatory is kept, 

 some 80 or 90 ft. below the surface, is 50^. The mean 

 annual temperature of the city is 57°. As we ascend 

 mountains, the temperature decreases 1° for every 

 ;J34 ft. The King's Chamber, in the Great Pyramid 

 in Egypt, is about 150^ ft. above the level of the adja- 

 cent plains, and is protected on all sides by ISO ft. of 

 solid masonry. Its temperature is 68°. The mean 

 annual temperature of Cairo is a little below 70°. 

 Since the degree of heat in the stratum of "invari- 

 able temperature " so nearly agrees with the mean 

 annual temperature of the locality, the following 

 list may be interesting. The figures indicate the 

 mean annual temperature in degrees Fahrenheit: 



Toronto, Ont., Canada ' 4t 



Qufbec, Qnt-hec 41 



Kastij.at, .Me : 41 



Fciiiliina, Dak 3^ 



Port Iiuron, Mich i 45 



tirand Haven. Mich ' 47 



Hurlineti.n, Vt 4B 



MilwaukiM', Wis... ' 45 



Buffalo, N. Y 47 



Poitl.nnd, Jle \ 47 



Newport. R. I : 5i) 



Osweg-o, N. Y ' 48 



Albany, •' 48 



Oiihuh, 5Iinn.... 40 



Of course, Avithin a few feet of the surface the 

 temperature will be higher than tlio above figures 

 in summer, and lower in winter. On one occasion, 

 when the outside temperature was 41' below zero, 

 the air came in through my sub-earth pipe at 3S" 

 above ; that is, in passing through 170 ft. of 9 inch 

 sewer-pipe, laid about 5 ft. below the surface, the 

 air acquired 79' of heat. I have observed that the 

 air is not warmed quite so much toward the close of 

 a cold winter, owing, I suppose, to the gradual cool- 

 in ; of the earth around the pipe. 



Thei"e is an atmosphere circulating below the sur- 

 face of the earth, as well as above it. This "ground 

 air" extends down to the "ground water," the level 

 of which is indicated by the level of the water in 

 wells. The nature of " ground air" has been exam- 

 ined by Prof. Nicholls (see Sixth Report of Board of 

 Health, for Massachusetts, for 1875) and others, and 

 it is found to be so very rich in carbonic acid that, 

 at a depth of 13 ft., it is sometimes irrespirable, and 

 will extinguish a light. The amount of ox3-gen is 

 found to be in a measure inversely as that of the 

 carbonic acid. It is this soil air which sometimes 

 proves fatal in deep wells, and not carbonic acid 

 separated from the air above, and sinking into the 

 well by its superior weight, as is often supposed. 

 Intelligent bee-keepers will at once see that, in 

 order to bring pure air into the cellars, it will not do 

 to use drain-tile for sub-earth pipes. Cast-iron 

 water-pipes, or sewer-pipes cemented at the joints, 

 should be used. A nine-inch pipe of the latter, 170 

 feet long, cost me about .-SllO when finished. 



Ernest's experiments are watched with interest; 

 but if he will look up Joule's experiments in deter- 

 mining the mechanical equivalent of heat, he will 

 see that the temperature of the water in the pail, 

 after being pumped up, was not exactly the temper- 

 ature at the bottom of the well, 97. ft deep. 



Lindsay, Ont„ Canada, Feb. I, '86. S. Corxeil. 



