Vol. XXn. No. 11.] 



POPULAE SCIENCE NEWS. 



169 



IN REVIEW. 



It may be said the past month was very unusu- 

 ally cool, cloudy, and rainy, with excessive north- 

 erly and easterly winds, but medium pressure. 

 Such a remarkable combination of extremes gave 

 us a large amount of disagreeable, uncomfortable 

 weather, unfavorable to many crops and to vege- 

 tation in general, not to mention also the public 

 health and spirits. 



D. W. 



Natick, Oct. 5, 1888. 



[Specially computed for The Popular Science Neics.'] ' 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR 



NOVEMBER, 1888. 



The Planets. — Mercury is a morning star, and 

 comes to its greatest western elongation on the 

 morning of Nov. 17, when it rises about \h. 20m. 

 before the Sun. It may probably be seen for a 

 few days before and after that time in the early 

 morning twilight. Venus is an evening star, 

 and is slowly approaching its eastern elongation. 

 At the beginning of the month it sets about 

 two hours, and at the end of the month about 

 two hours and a half, after the Sun. Mars is 

 still an evening star, but is slowly approaching the 

 Sun. It sets at about half-past eight. It is in 

 the constellation Sagittarius, and is moving east- 

 ward toward Capricorn. Jupiter sets at about 

 7 P.M. at the beginning of the month, and a 

 little after 5 p.m. at the end of the month. It is 

 getting so close to the Sun, that it can be .seen only 

 during the first part of the momh. It will hardly 

 be possible to see any of the eclipses of his satel- 

 lites during the month, as the planet is too near 

 the Sun, and sets too early. Saturn rises at about 

 midnight on Nov. 1, and at 10 p.m. on Nov. 30. 

 It is in quadrature with the Sun on Nov. 11. It 

 moves slowly eastward during the month, and at 

 the end becomes stationary preparatory to begin- 

 ning its retrograde motion. It is about 8° west of 

 the first-magnitude star Regulus {Alpha Leonis). 

 Uranus is a morning star, rising at about 2h 30m. 

 A.M. on Nov. 30. It is then nearly due north of 

 Spica {Alpha Virginis) about 4°. Neptune comes 

 to opposition with the Sun on Nov. 22. It is 

 about 5° south of the Pleiades. 



The Constellations. — The positions given hold 

 good for latitudes differing not many degrees from 

 40° north, and for 10, 9, and 8 p.m. for the begin- 

 ning, middle, and end of the mouth respectively. 



Andromeda is in the zenith. Pisces is to the 

 south, high up. Cetus is just coming to the me- 

 ridian, low down. Aries is in the south-east, at 

 about 60° altitude. Taurus follows Aries, a little 

 south of east, at about 40° altitude. Orion has 

 just risen in the east. Perseus is high up, a little 

 north of east. Auriga is below Perseus; and Gem- 

 ini is on the horizon, a little north of east. Ursa 

 Major is below the pole star; and Cassiopeia is 

 above, toward the zenith. To the left of the pole 

 star are Cepheus above and Ursa Minor below. 

 Cygnus is about halfway up, a little north of 

 west; and Lyra is below it. Hercules is setting on 

 the north-west horizon. Aquila is low down near 

 the north-west horizon. Pegasus is south-west of 

 the zenith, high up; and Aquarius and Capricornus 

 are below it, the latter being just above the south- 

 west horizon. Piscis Australis is low down, a little 

 west of south. M. 



CorreBponUentt. 



A STILL body of water at a temperature of from 

 75° to 80°, which is about the ordinary summer 

 temperature, will evaporate about three-eighths of 

 an inch in twenty-four hours if there is no wind. 

 With the wind blowing at twenty miles an hour, 

 the evaporation will be about half an inch. 



Brief communications upon subjects of scientific interest 

 wilt be welcomed from any quarter. The editors do not neces- 

 sarily indorse all views and statements pretented by their cor- 

 respondents. 



BOWLDER ROCKS. 



Editors Popular Science News: 



The article in your September issue on the sub- 

 ject of bowlders, and especially of a large one still 

 in motion on the glacier in Switzerland, prompts 

 me to send you a brief and imperfect description 

 of some travelled rocks in this vicinity. 



Washington Bowlder, situated a mile or more 

 from this village, has always been called the largest 

 in the world. Its dimensions are, roughly, 63 by 

 45 by 38 feet, estimated to contain 107,730 cubic 

 feet. 



The rock is practically altogether above the sur- 

 face of the ground, rests upon an acute angle or 

 point of its contour, making it look as if it could 

 easily be pushed over, and is surrounded by large 

 and small blocks of stone which have apparently 

 fallen from its sides through the action of frost and 

 other natural agencies. 



Within a few years a still larger bowlder has 

 been discovered about four miles in another direc- 

 tion, called Clark's Bowlder, from the name of 

 the man who first brought it to notice. This 

 bowlder is about the same in height as the other, 

 but much larger in other dimensions, making it 

 upwards of 300 feet in circumference. One side 

 of Clark's Bowlder is nearly perpendicular, and 

 almost as fiat and regular as the side of a house. 

 This side is about 38 feet in height and 75 feet 

 in length. This rock is shown to be a " traveller" 

 from the fact that it does not resemble in struc- 

 ture the surrounding ledges, and from the perfect 

 polish it has received on many of its surfaces from 

 attrition of other rocks as it was pushed along 

 from its original matrix to its present resting-place. 

 The human mind becomes bewildered in its attempt 

 to grasp the idea of the vast force required to 

 wrench this immense rock from its bed, and trans- 

 port it many miles over hill and valley. It would 

 seem to be desirable, and perhaps of value to sci- 

 ence, that some man interested in the subject of 

 glacial action, and sufficiently well informed to 

 make a satisfactory report, should make a thorough 

 examination of these bowlders, and place the results 

 on record ; especially as the Clark Bowlder has been 

 sold to quarry men and is sooner or later to be 

 broken up. 1 should be happy to give such aid as 

 I can to such an investigation. 



Very truly yours, 



S. A. Evans, M.D. 



Conway, N.H., Aug. 31. 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 



Letters of inquiry should enclose a two-cent stamp, 

 as well aa the name and address of the writer, whicli 

 will not be published. 



Questions regarding the treatment of diseases can- 

 not be answered in this column. 



E. M. W., California. — How much hyilroehloric- 

 acid gas by weight is there in oue liter of liquid hydro- 

 chloric acid of V^O specific gravity ? 



Answer. — The liquid acid at 1.20 contains 40.80 per 

 cent of HCl. Asa liter of this acid weighs 1,200 

 grams, it contains 489.0 grams of the pure hydrochlo- 

 ric-acid gas. A liter of the liquid acid entirely satu- 

 rated with tiie gas would liave the specific gravity 

 1.21, and contain 42.85 per cent, or 518.4 grams, of the 

 gas. 



C. E. B.> Hartford, writes that the figures in the 

 table on p. 150 of the October number represent the 

 nuniher of gallons for every ten inches in depth, in- 

 stead of every foot, as stated. 



II. N. E., Buffalo. — Why do we always see the same 

 face of the moon turned towards us V 



Answer. — As the moon revolves around the earth, 

 it also makes just one revolution on its axis, thus 

 keeping the same side always towards the earth. You 

 can easily illustrate this by placing an orange in the 

 centre of a table to represent the earth, and moving 

 another one around the edge of tlie table. You will 

 find, that, if you keep the same side always opposite 

 the central sphere, the moving one will turn once on 

 its own axis in making the journey around the table. 

 (2) Mercury and Venus show different phases, like the 

 moon. Those of Venus can easily be observed with a 

 small telescope or spy-glass. 



B. S. C, Wisconsin. — How does chloride of lime 

 (bleaching powder) differ from chloride of calcium, or 

 are they the same substance ? 



Answer. — Chloride of lime is, chemically speaking, 

 a misnomer. Bleacliing powder is really an impure 

 hypochlorite of calcium, Ca CI2O3, while chloride of 

 calcium has the composition indicated by its name, 

 CaCl,. 



G. B. A., Minnesota. — Is the vacuum in the incan- 

 descent electric lamps a perfect one 1 



Answer. — A perfect vacuum has never l>een pro- 

 duced; and although the vacuum in the lamps is 

 almost perfect, it is not quite so, and contains an ap- 

 preciable quantity of air — probably many trillions of 

 molecules. The space above the mercury in a barom- 

 eter is tlie most perfect vacuum ever produced, but 

 even that contains a small quantity of vapor of mer- 

 cury. 



B. C. K., New York. -— Butter of antimony is antl- 

 monious chloride, Sb CI3. It is very deliquescent, and 

 quickly absorbs water, forming a soft, greasy sub- 

 stance, whence its name. 



LITERARY NOTES. 



Inductive Lanf/uape Lessons ond Elementary Grammar. 



By Harris K. Greene, A.M. A. Lovell & Co., New 



York, publishers. Pri'e 54 cents. 



This excellent text-book is written on a very differ- 

 ent plan from the old-fashioned works upon grammar 

 and composition. It is the result of the author's ex- 

 perience of twenty years in the study and teaching of 

 English, and is well adapted to give to the pupil a 

 clear conception of the form and composition of lan- 

 guage. Teachers and school superintendents will do 

 well to examine it. 



The same firm publish a Note-Book of Astronomy, by 

 Marion L. lierneike, M D. (40 cents). It gives a con- 

 densed but complete statement of the chief facts of 

 descriptive astronomy, with interleaved blank pages 

 for the diagrams and notes of the student himself. 



Researches 07i Diamaf/netism and Magne-crystallic 

 Action, including Diamagnetic Polarity. By Professor 

 Jolin Tyndall. ' D. Appleton & Co., New York. 

 This work treats of a most interesting and important 

 subject, and one which has not been very generally 

 studied. It is based upon some of the earliest re- 

 searches of the author, which were suggested by the 

 well-known e.Nperiments of Faraday. The work will 

 be of the greatest value to students of electricity and 

 magnetism, and all such should give it a perusal. 



The Modern Treatment of Diseases of the Liver, by 

 Professor Duiardin-Beaumetz of Paris, has been trans- 

 lated by Dr. E. P. Hurd of Newburyport, Mass., and 

 published by George S. Davis of Detroit, Mich., at 

 25 cents in paper, and 50 cents in cloth. The author 

 is well known as an eminent physician and a leader 

 in therapeutics, and the low price at which his work 

 is published renders it available to every physician. 



Dr. David Starr Jordan, president of the University 

 of Indiana, has written a lirief Account of the Darwin- 

 ian Theory, which is published by A. B. Gehman & 

 Co. of Chicago at 25 cents. This essay is written 

 in a simple, popular style, and should lie read by 

 every one who desires to know what " Darwinism " 

 really is, and to obtain a clear understanding of this 

 much-abused theory. 



• 



The Proceedings of the Society of Arts of the Mas- 

 sachusetts Institute of Technology for the year 1887-88 

 contains, as usual, a large number of scientific papers 

 of the highest value and importance. Copies can be 

 obtained of the secretary of the society at Boston. 



Pamphlets, etc., received: Notes on the Literature of 

 Explosives, by Professor Charles E. Mnnroe, Govern- 

 ment Torpedo Station, Newport, R.I.; Vying at 

 the Top, by Rev. J. W. Clokey, D.D., New Albany, 

 Ind. (lOcents); Our Bandanna, Rand Avery Company, 

 Boston; and the Reports of the United mates Commis- 

 sioner of Pensions, aod the Division of Forestry of the 

 Agricultural Department. 



