VOL. XXITT. No. I.] 



POPULAR SCIENCE ITEWS. 



9 



Sl?(5 Popular Scieijce I^ews 



BOSTON, JANUARY i, 1889. 



AUSTIX P. NICHOLS, S.B Editor, i 



\VII,I,l.\>r 1. liOI.Fi;. I.irr.D., . Associiite Editor. 



Commencing with the present number, 

 the Popui.AK SciKNCE Xkws will be printed 

 in an e.stablishnient directly controlled by its 

 proprietor.s. A new press anil an entire outfit 

 of new type have Iwen purchased expressly 

 for it. and, as is tittinj^ lor a scientific joiunal, 

 the force of electricity will be used to do the 

 necessary work. Tlie success which has 

 attended the paper, and the increasing lunnber 

 of subscribers, has rendered this step neces- 

 sary, and the publishers hope not only to ini- 

 pro\e its ap])ear;Mice. but to have it issued 

 promptly and rej^ularly, in season for mailiuLi 

 on the 2^th of each month. Our readers are 

 rec[uested to overlook .uiy t\po<rraphical errors, 

 or delay in publishinj^the present issue, which 

 are unaxoidable under the circumstances, but 

 we h<jpe to ha\ e everythin<; runninjj; smoothly 

 by the time the February number is reads for 

 the press. 



TiiK total eclipse of the sun whicli occurs 

 on the first day of January is especially im- 

 portant in that the belt of totality crosses the 

 State of California in a rcghm readily accessi- 

 ble to astronomers. Several expeditions will 

 be sent out to observe it, one yer\ com])lete 

 one being under the direction of the Harvard 

 College observatory. It i.s to be hoped tliat 

 the disap])ointment caused by cloudy weather 

 in Russia last year may not be again repeated, 

 but, as winter is the rainy season in Califor- 

 nia, there may be some danger of" such a mis- 

 fortune. We shall keep our readers informed 

 of the results of the different observations, if 

 the meteorological conditions are favorable. 



News will not need to be told that all such 



devices are equally worthless, and none ol 



them possess as much medicinal \alue as a 



( piece of red fiannel. 



t^t- 



TnK eminent astronomer, M. Janssen, 



has been investigating the question of the ex- 

 istence of ()x\gen in llie sun's atmosphere. 

 The question to be decided was. \\ hethel the 

 oxygen lines in the solar spectrum were due 

 to the earth's atmosphere or were realh caused 

 by the presence of that element in the sun. 

 He ascended to the Grand Mulcts on Mont 

 Blanc, and at an elevation of 9000 feet, where 

 the air was comparatively rarefied and nearly- 

 free from aqueous vapor, found that the oxy- 

 gen lines were almost entirely absent from 

 the solar spectrum. Hence he infers that 

 these groups would entirely disap])ear from 

 the spectrum if it could be observed at the 

 limits of the earth's atmosphere, and the rays 

 and bands due to oxygen which we find in 

 the spectrum are exclusively due to the earth's 

 atmosphere. We are not, however, entitled 

 to assume the absence oi oxsgen in the sun. 

 We can mereh' sav that oxygen does not exist 

 in the sun's atmosphere in a condition capa- 

 l)le of producing the spectral manilestations 

 which it gives to the earth's atmosphere. 



.\lTEu obsersing the eclipse, the Harvard 

 astronomers will proceed to Peru and found 

 an observatory at some point upon the An<les 

 range of mountains. This location will be 

 most favorable, not only on account of the 

 jiuritv of the air and freedom Irom clouds in 

 that locality, but, as the observatory will be 

 situated in the southern hemisphere, there 

 will be opportunity for observing and map- 

 ping stars which in the northern latitudes 

 never appear above the horizon. 



It has recently been found that at every 

 beat of the heart a \ery weak current of 

 electricity is generated, which passes through 

 it. This discovery is of great theoretical 

 importance, although, as far as we at present 

 know, it is of no practical \alue. We sup- 

 pose, however, that the makers of tiie innu- 

 merable "'electric" belts, disks, and bands 

 will improve the opportunity and herald the 

 discovery as an additional confirmation of the 

 \alue of their goods. Ki-aik is uf I Ik- S( ii;n(.i-: 



Tiirc atomic weight of tin has recently 

 been determined by Ci.assex and Bongah rz. 

 From tbrtv-seven ex|5erimenls they obtain a 

 mean of 1 18.77. oxsgen I'eing taken as 1^96. 

 This is tjuite difierent from the usually ac- 

 cepted value obtained b\ Dl.MAs, 117.8, but 

 it is undoiibtedK more accurate, as e\ery 

 possible |jrecaution was taken, and all of 

 their forty-seven determinations agreed \\ ilh- 

 in less than one-half of one per cent. If oxy- 

 gen be taken as 16, tin becijmes 1 19.1, which 

 is nearh a whole number, and the metal can 

 be atkled to those elements which agree with 

 Pkoit.s' hypothesis. 



The question whether chemical reactions 

 can take place directly between solids w ith- 

 out previous solution or fusion, is attracting 

 considerable attention at present. The weight 

 of evidence seems very strongly to faxor the 

 affirmative side. A correspondent of Science 

 points out that the reactions between silica 

 and the metallic oxides at temperatures far 

 below the melting point, not .only of both 

 components but even of the silicate itself, can 

 be regarded as occurring directly between 

 solids. When certain mixtures of lime and 

 silica are strongly heated, though there be 

 not the slightest indication of fusion, vet some 

 chemical action seems to occur, for the silica 

 now separates in the gelatinous state when 

 acted on by Jiydrochloric acid. The question 

 though unseltled is of great theoretical inter- 

 est. 



the Britisii Association, by which, witii bin 

 slight alteration of the works, any ordinar\ 

 eight-day clock ma\ be made to run for a 

 year without re-winding. The jn incipal 

 change consists in substituting a iiorizontal 

 torsion pendulum tor the usual swinging one. 

 This pendulum consists of a heavy disk of 

 metal suspended horizontalh by a steel wire, 

 and connected witii the esca]5einent of the 

 clock. ,\ motion of twisting and untwisting 

 is imparted to the wire, causing the disk to 

 slowly revolve alternately in opposite direc- 

 tions. This principle of the torsion pendu- 

 lum as a regulator for clocks is not new, but 

 its inexpensive application to ordinary eight- 

 day clocks is a most inqiortant and useful in- 

 vention. 



The system ot compulsory insurance lor 

 workingmen, recently introduced by the (ier- 

 man government, is a remarkable instance of 

 the socialistic tendencies of the time. The 

 necessary premiums are deducted from their 

 wages, and insurance is given them against 

 sickness or death. This practically amounts 

 to a reduction of wages, although it is jiroba- 

 ble that a large proportion of the amount 

 must be ])aid by the manufacturers out of 

 their )nollts. Such an interference with per- 

 sonal lilierty on the part of a government is 

 unjust and unwarranted by the«somidest prin- 

 ciple ol' political economy. We think the 

 plan must necessarily fail an'd be abandoned, 

 and we are not surprised to learn that the re- 

 sults of the lirst year show that the cost of 

 collecting the premiums was nearly <jne-half 

 of the total amount received. 



A Mkchanrae discovery of some impor- 

 tance was descrilied at the recent meetini>- of 



Tin: MYSTERIFS OF CHEMISTRY. 



Tliosr; who are most familiar with tlie 

 principles and facts of chemical science are, 

 we think, inclined to underestimate the strange 

 and wonderful nature of many phenomena, 

 which, while very remarkable in thenisehes, 

 are accepted by the chemists like other com- 

 mon facts of e\ery-day life, as matters of 

 course, to which it is unnecessary to ])ay 

 special attention. 



Take for in.stance the com])ositioii of water. 

 one of the first things taught to the student of 

 chemistry. Is it not a very strange thing that 

 this common liquid is made up of two difil-r- 

 ent invisible gases, whose separate existence 

 we can only know of through the efiects they 

 produce .=^ Water immediately quenches fire, 

 but of its two constituent gases, one is \ ers 

 inflammable and the other is the most power- 

 ful supporter of combustion known. If we 

 mix them together in the proper proportions, 

 no change occurs, the mixture is nothing but 

 a gas : but let a spark of fire fall int<rit or 

 heat it to a certain ])oint. and. w ith a terrific 

 exjjlosion the gas disappears and ^« small 

 (|uantity of water is formed. Matter has 

 changed its form, but how and win ? We 

 say Ibal chemical coml)iiiation has taken 



