44 



POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 



[March, 1889. 



March 20, 4h. 15m. A. M., eastern standard time. 

 As in January, there will be two new moons during 

 the month. The moon's phases are as follows, 

 eastern standard time : 



New moon, March i, 5h. cm. P. M. 



First quarter, March 9, oh. 59m. P. M. 



Full moon, March 17, 6h. 47m. A. M. 



Last quarter, March 24, ih. 54m. A. M. 



New moon, March 31, 6h. 37m. A. M. 



Mercury is morning star throughout the month, 

 and is at a considerable distance away from the sun, 

 reaching its greatest western elongation, a little less 

 than 28°, on the morning of March 13 ; but, as it is 

 from 7° to 10° south of the sun, it will not rise much 

 before it, and will not be easy to see. Venus passed 

 its greatest eastern elongation during February, and 

 is now gradually approaching inferior conjunction, 

 which it will reach near the end of April. It is still 

 an evening star, but is above the horizon a shorter 

 time after sunset than during the previous month. 

 It attains its greatest brilliancy on March 25. It 

 can be seen with the naked eye in full daylight, and 

 is bright enough to cast a perceptible shadow on a 

 clear, moonless night. Mars is still an evening 

 star, but is growing fainter and getting nearer the 

 sun, being only about 20° distant at the end of the 

 month. It will not be an easy object to see, except 

 under favorable circumstances, and this is about the 

 last chance for seeing it, until some months after it 

 passes conjunction and becomes a morning star. 

 Jupiter is still a morning star, and comes to quadra- 

 ture with the sun on the morning of March 27, 

 rising at that time between i and 2 A. M. It is far 

 to the south of the sun, in the constellation Sagitta- 

 rius, and is moving eastward. The moon passes 

 very close to it on the morning of March 24, and the 

 planet is occulted. This does not take place until 

 after sunrise in the eastern part of the United States, 

 but possibl3' the immersion may take place before 

 sunrise in some of the western states. Saturn is in 

 the constellation Leo, and is slowly retrograding 

 (moving westward.) It is about 13° west of the first 

 magnitude star Regulus {Alpha Leonis), and is on 

 the meridian at loh. 20m. on March i, and at 8h. 

 25m. on March 31. The moon passes very close to 

 it at I A. M. on March 14, but not quite near enough 

 for an occultation in our country. Uranus is about 

 3° north of the first magnitude star Spica {Alpha 

 Virginius), and is on the meridian about 2 A. M. 

 on the first of the month. Neptune is south and 

 east of the Pleiades. 



The Constellaiions. — The positions given are for 

 the latitude of the northern part of the United 

 States, and for 10 P. M. on March i, 9 P. M. on 

 March 16, and 8 P. M., on March 31. Cancer, with 

 Saturn near its western part, is not far from the ze- 

 nith, a little to the south. Leo lies east of Cancer, 

 and Virgo lies below Leo, reaching to the horizon 

 on the east. Between these constellations and the 

 southern meridian are Hydra and one or two con- 

 stellations. On the north-east 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 it just below it. 

 Andromeda is just setting in the north-west, and 

 Cassiopea lies between it and the pole star. Per- 

 seus is above 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-wav from the zenith to the south-west 

 horizon, and Canis Major is below, between Orion 

 and the southern horizon. M. 



Lake Forest, 111.. Feb'y 5, 1889. 



Correspoijdeijce. 



Brief communications upon subjects of scientific interest 

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

 sarily indorse all views and statements presented by their 

 correspondents. 



" A CURIOUS EGG." 

 To THE Editor of the Popular Science News : 



The article in your last number entitled "A Cu- 

 rious Egg," recalls an experience of my own which 

 occurred a few years since. 



One morning I found on my plate at the breakfast 

 table, a boiled egg, evidently reserved for "papa" on 

 account of its unusual size. 



On breaking the shell I found a liberal amount of 

 albumen, but no yolk. Instead of the yolk was a 

 fully-formed medium-sized egg, with a shell of ordi- 

 nary hardness, containing albumen and yolk simi- 

 lar to any ordinary egg. Upon inquiry I learned 

 that the egg had been procured from a neighbor's 

 poultrv vard, and that the hen which produced it 

 had laid one or more other eggs of an abnormal 

 character, but I was unable to learn in what the de- 

 viation consisted. G. F. B. 



The chemical industry of Germany pays in wages 

 over $15,000,000 annually. 



QLIESTION AND ANSWERS. 



Letters of inquiry should enclose a two-cent 

 stamp, as well as the name and address of the wri- 

 ter, which will not be published. 



Questions regarding the treatment of diseases 

 cannot be answered in this column. 



T. J., Vermont. — Please give a rule for calculat- 

 ing the capacity of cylindrical cisterns. 



Answer. — Square the diameter in inches, and mul- 

 tiplj^ l\y 0.0408, which will give the number of U. 

 S. gallons to the foot. 



J. N. C, Mass. — How much power can be practi- 

 cally obtained by a steam engine from a pound of 

 eoal. 



Answer. — It is estimated that an average steam- 

 engine will develop about 1,500,000 foot pounds 

 from the combustion of a pound of coal. That is, 

 it would raise that number of pounds to the height 

 of one foot. This is about the force exerted in the 

 day's work of an average laborer. The annual pro- 

 duction of coal in this country and Great Britain is 

 equal to a year's work of a thousand million men. 



R. S. C, New Orleans. — How can paper be made 

 waterproof.' 



Answer. — You can try soaking it in hot melted 

 paraflfine. This so-called " waxed paper" is manu- 

 factured on an extensive scale, and largely used for 

 packing articles which must be kept dry. 



B. N. G., Neiv York. — Is there any chemical or 

 other substance which when added to water will 

 cause it to freeze? Also will anything cause water 

 to boil at a lower temperature, thus cheapening the 

 cost of running a steam boiler.' 



Answer. — (i). Nothing can be added directly to 

 cause it to freeze, but if the vessel containing it is 

 placed in a mixture of broken ice and coarse salt, the 

 freezing mixture will absorb enough heat from it to 

 cause congelation. (2)No such substance is known, 

 and in any case there would be no economy in using 

 it. The power of an engine comes from the fuel, 

 and not from the water in the boiler. Substances 

 claiming to produce this result have often been of- 

 fered for sale, but are invariably a fraud upon the 

 purchaser. 



F. H. P., Boston. — What is youropinion of the 

 electric belt, described in the enclosed circular.' 



Answer. — Like all other electric belts, as we have 

 often stated in this column, it is a swindle pure and 

 simple. It will produce no electricity, and even if it 

 did would have no remedial value whatever. Let 

 all such appliances alone, and if necessary consult a 

 competent physician. 



C. H. W., Chicago. — Is iron ever found on the 

 earth in the metallic state .' 



Answer. — Iron is a metal very easily oxidized, 

 and is very rarely' found uncombined with that ele- 

 ment. In a few localities small quantities of the 

 metal have been discovered, and meteorites usually 

 contain more or less of it, but it is only a minera- 

 logical curiosity, and can never have any practical 

 value. 



H. A. I., Mass. — What is the first spring flower 

 to bloom in this locality? 



Answer. — This is rather a hard question to an- 

 swer, although the trailing arbutus is usually among 

 the first. The unromantic skunk-cabbage, how- 

 ever, unfolds its odoriferous flowers at the slightest 

 hint of the approaching change of season. The 

 fringed gentian is the last flower that we have ob- 

 served to blossom in the fall. 



R. G., Toledo. — The sparks which fly from your 

 fingers when you touch any metallic object are pro- 

 duced by the electricity developed by the friction be- 

 tween the heavy woolen carpet and the soles of 

 your shoes. They do not indicate any unusual con- 

 dition of health, and are perfectly harmless. With 

 a Itttle care you can light the gas issuing from an 

 open burner with a spark produced in this waj'. 



LITERARY NOTES. 



Chemical Lecture Notes, by II. M. Whelplev,<l'h. G. 



Published by the author at St. Louis, Mo. 



These "notes" were taken, in part, by the author 

 from the lectures delivered by Professor Curtman at 

 the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, but contain 

 much additional matter, the whole forming an unu- 

 sually complete work containing all the leading and 

 important facts in chemistry and chemical physics. 

 Students of chemistry, and especially those studying 

 for the profession of pharmacy, willfind it an invat- 

 uable aid. 



Messrs. J. & A. Churchill. New Burlington St., 

 London, England, publish the Aiiali/sts' Laboratory 

 Compayiion, by Alfred E. Johnson, F. C. S., which 

 contains an extremely useful set of tables selected 

 from those used in the actual work of the author's 

 laboratory, which will save a great deal of time and 

 trouble in the calculation and reduction of the re- 

 sults of analyses. 



This work was, through mistake, credited in the 

 December number to another firm not connected 

 with its publication. 



An excellent and comprehensive Physicians' 

 Hand-Book. for 1889, is published by the W. A. 

 Townsend Publishing Co. of New York. It con- 

 tains a classified list of the principal diseases and 

 their remedies, besides a record of practice, and the 

 usual tables for keeping the accounts of patients and 

 progress of cases. 



Messrs. J. B. Lippincott Company, announce to 

 the profession, the publication of a Cyclopadia of the 

 Diseases of Children, medical and surgical, by Amer- 

 ican, British, and Canadian authors, edited by John 

 M. Keating, M. D., infour imperial octavo volumes; 

 to he sold by subscription only. The first volume 

 will be issued early in April," and the subsequent 

 volumes at short intervals. 



A thorough knowledge of the diseases of children 

 is a matter of the greatest importance to most phy- 

 sicians, and as this is the only work of the kind that 

 has been published in English, it will be invaluable 

 as a text-book and work of reference for the busy 

 practitioner. 



Professor John Haywood of Otterbein University, 

 Westerville, Ohio, has published an interesting 

 pamphlet on The Earth and Its Chief Motions, and 

 the Tangent Index. It will be of great service to 

 those who are studying the elements of astronomy, 

 by assisting them to comprehend the most impor- 

 tant of our astronomical relations. 



Pamphlets, etc., received: Report and Circulars 

 of the United States Commissioner of Education. 

 The Modern Science Essayi.si, Nos. 1 and 2, by the 

 New Ideal Publishing Co., 620 Atlantic Ave., "Bos- 

 ton ; Leaflets of the Industrial Education Association; 

 The New Astronomy by Myron Hutchinson, San 

 Francisco, California; The Narnjo Tanner, and 

 Notes on Horned Mam'mals,hy R. W. Shufeldt, M. D. 

 The Comparative Danger to Life from Alternating 

 and Continuous Electrical Currents, bv Harold 

 P. Brown ; Electrolysis in the Treatment of Urethral 

 Strictures, by Robert Newman, M. D., New York; 

 Does Special Legislation Elevate the Practice of Med- 

 icine ? by G. W. Pickerill, M. D., Indianapolis, 

 Indiana; Artificial Persons, or The Laio of Corpora- 

 tions, by Charles T. Palmer; Proceedings of the 

 Twelfth Convention of the Empire Slate Association 

 of Deaf Mutes; Report of the Kansas State Historical 

 Society, and the Quarterly Reports of the National 

 Bureau of Statistics. 



