Vol. XXII. No. 4.] 



POPULAR SOIEITCE I^EWS. 



&7 



€f)C popular M>timte ^ttofi. 



Alloys, formed by melting two or more 

 metals together, present some verj' interesting 

 characteristics. One of the most curious is 

 the fact that the melting-point of the allo3- is 

 usually much lower than that of any of its com- 

 ponents. Wood's alloy, for instance, which 

 consists of lead, tin, cadmium, and bismuth, 

 melts at about 150° F. ; while the lowest 

 melting-point of any of the metals separatel}" is 

 that of tin, 446°. It has always been supposed 

 that this alio}- could onlj- be formed at a com- 

 paratively high temperature ; but Mr. William 

 Ilallock has recently shown that when the sev- 

 eral metals are mixed together in filings, and 

 exposed for twenty-four hours to the heat of 

 an ordinarj- water-bath (212°), the alloj' is 

 produced, and the mass becomes fluid, and 

 that the previous fusion of either constituent 

 is unnecessary-. This fact is of the highest 

 scientific importance, and it is rather remark- 

 able that it has never been observed before. 



Professor J. P. Cooke and Mr. T. W. 

 Richards of Harvard College have published 

 some of the results obtained bj' them in their 

 redetermination of the atomic weight of oxy- 

 gen, or, more strictlj- speaking, the ratio be- 

 tween the weights of equal volumes of hjdro- 

 gen and oxygen. The method adopted was to 

 pass a known weight of hydrogen over heated 

 copper oxide, and to weigh the amount of water 

 formed. The operations were conducted under 

 the strictest conditions, and with the use of 

 ever}' possible precaution ; and the ratio finally- 

 obtained wfis 15.953, which Professor Cooke 

 considers as nearl}- correct as the conditions 

 under which such work must be carried on 

 will allow. In E^ngland Lord Raj'leigh, by a 

 method of direct weighing, obtained the num- 

 ber 15.912. There are, however, so many 

 sources of error to be allowed for in the latter 

 process, that we arc inclined to consider the 

 number obtained bj- the American chemists as 

 more nearly correct. The correct determina- 

 tion of this atomic weight is not onlj- impor- 

 tant as affecting indirectly the atomic weights 

 of other elements, but as regards its bearing 

 on Prout's hypothesis, which holds that the 

 atomic weights are all whole numbers, or sim- 

 ple multiples of the weight of lij-drogen, — a 

 theory, it will be noticed, not very well sus- 

 tained by the results given above. 



"A subscriber" takes exception to the 

 term "agnostic belief," as applied to the re- 

 ligious opinions of Darwin, in an editorial of 

 the March number. We are willing to admit 

 that the phrase "agnostic belief" is perhaps a 

 contradiction of terms, as agnosticism is rather 

 a non-belief than a belief: but we have Dar- 

 win's own words in support of the opinion, we 

 expressed as to his position in that respect. 

 In a letter written to a correspondent on the 



subject, he says: " As far as regards myself, 

 I do not believe that there has ever taken 

 place any [supernatural] revelation. But re- 

 garding a future life, everybody has to decide 

 for himself between contradicting, uncertain 

 probabilities." This statement, it seems to 

 us, fixes his position upon theological points, 

 without in any way reflecting upon iiis moral 

 or intellectual sensibility. 



A short article recentlj- copied from an ex- 

 change, reflecting upon the intelligence of 

 horses, has stirred up considerable excitement 

 among our readers, and we have been over- 

 whelmed with letters giving instances of the 

 soundest kind of " horse sense." Although 

 we must confess that at the time we were 

 inclined to agree with the disparager of the 

 equine race, we are now somewhat in doubt 

 as to whether the most sensible horses are not 

 equal to the most stupid members of human- 

 ity. We at one time owned a horse which 

 practised a regular "confidence game" by 

 pretending to eat his breakfast out of an 

 empty manger, so that he could gain a few 

 moments' delay before being harnessed for the 

 morning's work. This brilliant idea was cer- 

 tainly closely allied to the reasoning faculty, 

 and worthy of an animal much higher in tiie 

 intellectual scale. 



We doubt verj- much, also, if any horse, or 

 even his illegitimate descendant, who. as Dr. 

 Holmes remarks, " has no pride of ancestry 

 nor hope of posterity," could have been guilty 

 of such an absurditj- as was recentl}- perpe- 

 trated by the Iowa Legislature. It seems that 

 man}- Western farmers have been swindled by 

 parties who sold them worthless seed at a high 

 price, under the name of " Bohemian oats." 

 The ii'ate farmers, following a rapidly growing 

 fashion, appealed to the Legislature for protec- 

 tion against these ver}- bad men ; and the wise 

 men of the West promptly responded by pass- 

 ing a law which makes it a penal offence for 

 any one to buy an}- cereal at more than four 

 times the regular market price for the same 

 kind of grain. The extreme penalty is three 

 years in the penitentiary. It has alwaj-s been 

 a favorite occupation of legislatures to make 

 men moral by laws, but this is the first in- 

 stance we have noticed of an attempt to con- 

 fer common sense by the same agenc}-. 



The patent system of this country is at 

 present in a very unsatisfactory condition, as 

 it neither protects the inventor against in- 

 fringement, nor the bu3-er of patented articles 

 against annoying and expensive lawsuits. The 

 history of the Bell telephone is a notable in- 

 stance of the constant fight which everj- owner 

 of a valuable patent must make against in- 

 fringers and " prior inventors " on ever}' 

 hand. Two methods of relief have been sug- 

 gested ; one is, that a patent siiall be granted 

 to ever}' applicant, leaving the courts to decide 

 upon its validity. The opposite plan, which 

 we are inclined to favor, would make the offi- 

 cials of the Patent Offlce the sole judges of 



the originality of the invention, and only issue 

 patents after a most thorough investigation. 

 Once issued, a patent should be incontestable. 

 This plan would amply protect the rights of 

 inventors, and do away with the innumerable 

 minor patents, which are of no real value 

 whatever, and only serve as a basis for annoy- 

 ing lawsuits and petty blackmailing. Under 

 such a system, it is doubtful if a patent would 

 be issued for the right to tie a knot in a 

 thread, as was done not man}' years ago. 



AN ANCIENT JAPANESE FORT. 



We copy from La Nature the plan of an 

 ancient Japanese fort, or citadel, as shown by 

 a model cast in bronze which is in a European 

 collection of Japanese curiosities. The re- 

 mains of similar structures still exist in many 

 Japanese cities, of which, like the Greek 

 Acropolis, the siro, as it is called in the native 

 tongue, was the beginning or nucleus. 



An examination of the engraving will show 

 the ingenuity with which the central and high- 



est part is guarded against a sudden attack 

 by the numerous turns and angles in the paths 

 leading up to it, and the ease with which a 

 large force could sally out from its walls to 

 make an attack upon a besieging army. 



The general plan of the fort recalls to mind 

 the towers represented on old Assyrian tablets, 

 where the high central tower is approached by 

 an external spiral path ; but there is little pos- 

 sibility of the two nations having been in com- 

 munication with each otlier. 



It is to be noted that the model represented 

 is on a greatly reduced scale. In times of 

 peace the lower terraces of the citadel were 

 probably covered with houses and gardens 

 guarded by the central siro. It was, in fact, 

 at such times rather a fortified city than a 

 military fort. 



The walls were strongly constructed of im- 

 mense blocks of stones. Some have been 

 discovered at Osaka, nearly thirty feet in 

 length. The ancient Japanese, like the Egyp- 

 tians, seemed to have but little trouble in 

 handling, with their rude contrivances, blocks 

 of stone of a size which would tax the power 

 and skill of modern workmen. 



Although a fort of this kind could stand but 

 a few hours before modern artillerv, it must 



