Vol. XXIII. No. 6.] 



POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 



93 



opposition near tlie upper right-hand quadrant, as 

 seen in an inverting telescope. The reason for the 

 change from left to right may easily be understood 

 from consideration of the relative positions of the 

 earth, sun, planet, and the shadow of the planet. 

 The times given are Eastern Standard. D denotes 



disappearance ; R, reappearance. 

 • 

 2h. 39m. 3s. A. M. 

 6h. 29ni. 21s. A. M. 

 , 4h. 33m. I2S. A. M. 

 , iih. im. 41S. P. M. 

 , oh. 52ni. 26s. A. M. 

 , loh. 3m. 27s. P. M. 

 , loh. 35m. 53s. P. M. 

 loh. 2im. 3s. P. M. 

 6h. 27m. 26s. A. M. 

 oh. 55ni. 57s. A. M. 

 , 4h. 50m. 51S. A. M. 

 oh. 55m. 52s. A. M. 

 , 5h. 2m. 2gs. A. M. 

 ih. 31m. 7s. P. M. 

 h. 5m. iSs. A. M. 



Saturn is in the western sky in the evening, in 

 the western part of the constellation Leo. During 

 the month it moves, about 3^^ eastward, toward Reg- 

 ulus, so that its distance from Regulus (Alpha 

 Leonis) is about 10^' at the end of tlie month. On 

 June 30 it sets about three hours after the sun. 

 Uranus is on the meridian at about Sh. 30m. P. M. 

 on June i, and is about two hours earlier on June 

 30. It moves slowly westward, and is in the con- 

 stellation Virgo, about 4° north and west of Spica 

 (Alpha Virginis.) Neptune is a morning star, very 

 near the sun. 



The Constellations. — The positions given hold 

 good for latitudes ditVering not many degrees from 

 40° north, and for 10 P. M. on June i, 9 P. M. on 

 June 15, and 8 P. M. on June 30. Bootes is in the 

 zenith ; Libra is on the southern meridian, about 

 half-way up, and Scorpius is a little below and to 

 the east of Libra ; Sagittarius is on the south-east 

 horizon; Corona Borealis is near the zenith, to the 

 south-east; Hercules is high up in the east, and 

 Aquila is below it; Lyra is about half-way from 

 horizon to zenith, a little north of east, and Cygnus 

 is below Lyra, in the north-east. The bright stars 

 in the head of Draco are in the north-east, high up. 

 Ursa Minor is on the meridian, mainiy between the 

 pole and the zenith ; Cepheus is a little below and 

 to the right of the pole star, and Cassiopeia is near 

 the horizon, a little east of north; Auriga is just 

 setting, about 20° west of the north point; Ursa 

 Major is in the north-west, high up; Gemini is set- 

 ting, a little north of west; Cancer is a little above, 

 to the left ; Leo is above Cancer, and nearly due 

 west; Virgo is in the south-west, about half-way up. 



M. 



Lake Forest, 111., May 3, 1SS9. 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 



Letters of inquiry should enclose a two-cent 

 st;imp, as well as the name and address of the wri- 

 ter, which will not be published. 



QiiESTioNs regarding the treatment of diseases 

 cannot be answered in this column. 



J. A., Atlanta. — What is the formula of Mueller's 

 Fluid, used for preserving anatomical specimens.' 



Ansioer. — It consists of from 2 to 2.5 parts of bi- 

 chromate of potash, I part of sulphate of soda, and 

 100 parts of water. 



C. A. G., Alabama. — To what extent is the "air 

 telegraph," or device for telegraphing from moving 

 trains, used in this country.' 



Answer. — As far as we know, it is only in practical 

 operation on the Lehigh Valley Railroad of Penn- 

 sylvania. It operates by the principle of induction, 

 a current of electricity being induced in a circuit on 

 board the train, by an inducing current passing 

 through a circuit of wire strung on poles alongside 

 the track, in close proximity to the train. The in- 



terruptions of the current produce sounds of varying 

 length in a telephone, like the dots and dashes of 

 the Morse alphabet, by which the message is read 

 otT as from an ordinary sounder. A similar phe- 

 nomena is very common, where conversation on one 

 telephone line is heard over an adjoining one, al- 

 though not directly connected with it. 



F. I. A., Iowa. — There are, apparently, two differ- 

 ent kinds of cents in circulation, one being of a 

 whiter color than the other. What is the difference, 

 if any, between them .' 



Answer. — Most of the cents now in use are com- 

 posed of bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, but 

 some of earlier date contain a certain amount of 

 nickel, which gives them their white, silvery color. 



I. R. D., Alabama. — What ore of zinc is meant by 

 the term calamine/ There seems to be some confu- 

 sion on this point between different authorities. 



Answer. — According to Dana, and other author- 

 ities, calamine is a hydrous silicate ai zinc, but the 

 name was formerly applied to the carbonate of zinc, 

 and is still used to some extent. 



1. T. N., Vermont. — The ultimate fate of the earth 

 will be. undoubtedly, to fall into the sun, but such a 

 catastrophe cannot possibly take place for many 

 millions, or even billions, of years. 



S. M. R., London. — What proportion of carbonic- 

 acid gas in the air will render it incapable of sup- 

 porting combustion and life.' 



Answer. — A candle is extinguished in air contain- 

 ing one-eighth its volume of carbonic dioxide, and 

 is sensibly diminished in brilliancy by a much 

 smaller proportion of the gas. Air containing over 

 one-thousandth part is unfit to breathe, and when 

 the proportion rises to one-twelfth it causes suffoca- 

 tion. 



LITERARY NOTES. 



An Elementanj Treatise on Human Anatomy, by 

 Joseph Leidy. M. D., LL. D. J. B. Lippincott 

 Co., Philadelphia. Price. $6.00. 

 This well-known treatise of Dr. Leidy's has been 

 a standard work among physicians since the appear- 

 ance of the first edition, twenty-eight years ago. 

 The present and second edition has been entirely 

 re-written, and brought up to the present time. It 

 is beautifully and profusely illustrated, and the 

 typography and mechanical execution gives a fitting 

 presentation of a work of so much scientific value. 



The above firm also publish Diseases and Injuries 

 of the Ear. by Charles Henry Burnett, Sl. D. 

 ($1.00.) A book which, while of the highest value 

 to physicians, is also intended for popular reading, 

 and gives much valuable information regarding the 

 care of the ears, how to avoid disease in them, and, 

 if disease occurs, to promptly recognize it, and 

 escape the evils of improper treatment. 



Studies in the Out-lying Fields of Psychic Science, by 

 Hudson Tuttle. M. L. Holbrook & Co., New 

 York. 



This work comprises several essays upon matter, 

 life, spirit, force, and psychic phenomena. It will 

 be read with interest by those who have given 

 special attention to such subjects, hut we are afraid 

 that, to the materialistic scientific mind, it will be 

 rather incomprehensible and meaningless. 



Examination of Water for Sanitary and Technical 

 Purposes, by Henrv Leffman, Ph. D., and William 

 Beam, M. A. P. Blakiston, Son & Co., Philadel- 

 phia. 



The scope of this work is well indicated by its 

 title, but we may add that it treats the subject in a 

 very comprehensive way, fully describing all the 

 latest discoveries and methods in this important 

 field of analytical chemistry. Every analyst should 

 possess a copy. 



Pamphlets, etc. , received : Emergency Hospitals, 

 by Hal C. Wyman, M. D., Detroit; The Modern 

 Science Essayist, Nos. 5 and 6, from the New Ideal 

 Publishing Co., Boston; The Training of Teachers 

 in Austria, by E. Hannak, Ph. D. ; The Journal of 

 the College of Science, of the Imiierial University of 

 Tokio, .Japan; Agricultural Reports of New .Jersey, 

 Connecticut, and Iowa; Report of the Illinois State 

 Board of Health, and the Quarterly Report of the 

 United States Bureau of Statistics. 



n^ediciqe arid Pljarniacy. 



HYPNOTISM. 



During the past two or three years, the 

 subj'ect of hypnotism, or the curious mental 

 state which may be induced in certain indi- 

 viduals, has attracted much attention, and 

 been the subject of extended investigations, 

 principally by French scientists. The phe- 

 nomena of hypnotism are, however, b}' no 

 means new, and have been brotight forward 

 at different times under the names of mes- 

 merism, animal magnetism, electro-biology, 

 etc., each of which has flourished for a time, 

 and then siuik into the oblivion which now 

 seems to threaten hvpnotism itself. 



We are far from denying that there is no 

 foundation in fact for the peculiar condition 

 which may be better described by the term 

 hypnotism than any other. It seems almost 

 impossible to deny that there are a series of 

 phenomena which occur under certain very 

 obscure conditions, and which cannot be ex- 

 plained by any natural laws or principles at 

 present known to us. All the so-called 

 "spiritual" and clairvoyant manifestations 

 seem to be closely connected with the hyp- 

 notic state, both in the manner of their action 

 and the conditions under which they are pro- 

 duced, liut, nevertheless, they are all of a 

 very suspicious nature. They only occur 

 under certain favorable con.litions, which are 

 generally incompatible with a careful scien- 

 tific investigation, and we think it is going 

 very mucii too far to claim, as some eminent 

 physiologists have done, that hypnotism forms 

 the basis of a new school of medicine, and 

 that its laws and piienomena can be made the 

 basis of an exact science. 



Occurrences of such an extniordinary na- 

 tme, to have any scientific value, must take 

 place, not only under conditions where decep- 

 tion or collusion is not likely to occur, but 

 under conditions where it is impossible. If, 

 for instance, a subject in the hypnotic state 

 shows symptoms of intoxication when a sealed 

 tube containing alcohol is placed in his hand, 

 the experiment can have no value, unless it is 

 ab.solutely certain, not only that the subject 

 has no knowledge whatever of the contents of 

 the tube, or of the effects which it is supposed 

 will be produced, but he should also be igno- 

 rant of the fact that any experiment of the 

 sort is to be tried upon him. Unless this is. 

 the case, — and such conditions are much 

 harder to obtain than would at first appear, — 

 a wide fiekl is opened for the exercise of the 

 imagination, as well as the desire to deceive 

 the experimenter, which is an excessivel3' 

 powerfid impulse with a large class of the so- 

 called sensitives. 



The history of Perkins' metallic tractors, 

 which was given at length in the April num- 

 ber, has an amusing resemblance to some of 

 the modern hypnotic manifestations. These 



