Vol. XXIII. No. 7.] 



POPULAR SCIENCE ITEWS. 



105 



Slje Popular Science I^ews. 



BOSTON, JULY i, 1889. 



AUSTIN P. NICHOLS, S.B., . 

 WILLIAM J. ROLFE, LITT.D., 



.... Etiitor. 

 Associate Editor* 



Otving to the dissolution of the 

 firm of Clippies S^^ Hurd, we have 

 been unexpectedly obliged to remove 

 once more, and have found temporary 

 quarters at 28 Pemberton Square, 

 Room 9, where we shall probably 

 remain during the summer months. 

 Due notice tvill be given of our estab- 

 lishmetit at a permanent address. 



With the opening of the summer vacation, 

 many boys and girls will have fine opportu- 

 nities for observation and study, in the fields 

 and woods, and by the seashore, of the difl'er- 

 ent branches of natural history, such as 

 botany, zoology, geology, mineralogy, etc. 

 To encourage such observations, we ofitr a 

 gift of a compound microscope to any reader 

 of the Science News who first sends us an 

 account of some original discovery or obser- 

 vation, such as a new variety of plant or 

 mineral, a new or peculiar form of animal, 

 or a new locality of their occurrence, — any- 

 thing, in fact, of the nature of a .scientific 

 discovery. Due regard will be paid to the 

 importance and value of the discovery, but, 

 other things being equal, tlie microscope will 

 be awarded to the earliest competitor. If 

 more than one obser\'ation of importance is 

 recorded, the editor will award such a gratuity 

 as he may think advisable. There are plenty 

 of opportunities of materially adding to our 

 knowledge of natural objects waiting for 

 .some keen-eyed observer, and among the 

 wide-spread constituency of the Science 

 News there should be many sucli who cannot 

 fail to be successful in their .search. 



Nothing could seem more incredilile than 

 that silver should dissolve in water, or that it 

 should disguise itself with the appearance 

 of gold, but there is no doubt of the 

 reliability of Mr. Lea's experiments. It 

 is evident that a new era in chemical science 

 is about to open, which will introduce more 

 radical changes in our conceptions of the na- 

 ture and relations of the diflerent forms of 

 matter than did the introduction of the "New 

 Chemistry," a score or more of years ago. 

 Our thanks are due to Mr. Lea for specimens 

 of the new substances, which closely corres- 

 pond with the printed description. 



A MOST important and, we may say, revo- 

 lutionary scientific discovery is announced by 

 Mr. M. Cakev Lea in the June numlier of 

 the American Journal of Science, an ab- 

 stract of whicli is published on another page. 

 He finds that the metal silver mav exist in at 

 least three difierent allotropic forms or modi- 

 fications, one of which is quite soluble in 

 water, another, similar to the first, but in.sol- 

 uble, wliile the third modification exactly 

 resembles gold in color and lustre. Upon 

 analysis, these products show a percentage of 

 between 97 and 99 per cent, of pure silver to 

 be present, and the remainder is proved to 

 consi.st of mechanically mixed impurity. It 

 has long been known that carbon, sulpinn', 

 and other metalloids occurred as different 

 modifications of one and the .same elementary 

 substance, but this is the first instance observed 

 of a true metal showing the same peculiarity. 



In the same periodical, Mr. C. C. Hutch- 

 ins describes some obsei-vations upon the 

 solar spectrum, which show that copper and 

 zinc almost certainly exist in the solar atmos- 

 phere. The existence there of these metals 

 has hitherto been considered doubtful or im- 

 probable. 



— <♦» 



An "electric tanning" process in announced, 

 by which the conversion of hides into leather 

 is to be greatly facilitated and cheapened. 

 The process is apparently endorsed by good 

 and reliable authority, but we have seen so 

 many similar "electric" schemes come to 

 grief that we prefer to reserve our opinion as 

 to its feasibility until a practical success has 

 been achieved. Tanning is a strictly chemi- 

 cal process, and it is difficult to see how elec- 

 tricity can be advantageously employed in it. 



Speaking of scientific humbugs reminds us 

 of the alleged process of artificial refrigera- 

 tion by means of a small box of "chemicals," 

 which was exposed in the March number 

 (page 41). The sequel to this great inven- 

 tion has recently occmred in the flight of the 

 inventor to the refrigerating climate of Can- 

 ada with the assets of his company, — a pro- 

 ceeding certainly cool enougli to satisfy the 

 most enthusiastic stockholder. It is a most 

 remarkable circumstance that men of sense 

 and business .sagacity can be found who will 

 invest thousands of dollars upon the state- 

 ments of some irresponsible adventurer, when 

 ten minutes' consultation with a competent 

 chemist would show them their utter absurdity 

 and falsity. It will not be long, however, 

 before the next \\'Onderful "discovery" is an- 

 nounced and the same history repeated. 



The present spring has been remarkable 

 for the continued mild weather and the early 

 blossoming of those flowers which usually do 

 not appear until a much later date. At the 

 time of writing (June ist), the common 

 spring flowers — violets, houstonia, anemones, 

 apple-blossoms, etc. — have all disappeared, 

 while those usually opening by the middle of 

 the month — like the arethusa, lady's-slipper, 

 pitcher-plant, and even the water-lily — are in 

 their prime. Taken altogether, the past 

 winter and spring have been of an extiaordi- 

 nary mildness, which is not likely to occur 

 again for many years. 



Certain investigations upon the molecular 

 weight of metals made by Dr. Ramsay, of 

 London, seem to show that the true weights 

 are fractions of those at present accepted. 

 Sodium, barium, and perhaps potassium, 

 apparently have a molecular weight only 

 one-half as great as the atomic weights 

 usually given. Dr. Ramsay's work is, as 

 yet, incomplete, but it is of the highest im- 

 portance, and an extended account will shortly 

 be published. 



An absurd paragraph has been going the 

 rounds of the papers, stating that a mild 

 winter always indicates an unusual number of 

 thunder-storms in the succeeding summer. 

 Thunder-storms, more than any other mete- 

 orological phenomena, are dependent upon 

 local and temporary conditions, and the un- 

 seasonably warm weather of last winter will 

 have no more effect upon the summer's elec- 

 trical disturbances than it will upon the next 



presidential election. 



>^» 



The Inman steamer City of Paris has 

 broken the eastward record, having made the 

 run from New York to Qiieenstown in 6 days 

 and 29 minutes, the longest day's run being 

 476 nautical miles. Faster steamers are con- 

 stantly being designed and constructed, and it 

 is hard to say when the actual limit of speed 

 will be reached. It is a great pity that the 

 policy of the government is such that our own 

 people are barred out from this industrial 

 competition ;'but if the time ever comes when 

 we can build and own our own vessels, we 

 shall, undoubtedly, be able to attain as much 

 superiority in this line of mechanical engineer- 

 ing as we have in nearly all others. 



FOURTH OF JULY. 



In a few days, the crack of the pistol and 

 the snap of the fire-cracker will be heard in 

 the land. The invention of gunpowder is 

 attributed to the Chinese, and tiie Chinese 

 cracker forcibly reminds us of the fact. But 

 it remained for the nations of western Europe 

 to invent other explosives, equally noisy and 

 more dangerous, and Young America is no 

 longer satisfied with the fire-works we enjoyed 

 in our youth, but seeks for more noisy ones. 

 We know of no other civilized country where 

 a whole day is annually devoted to the inces- 

 sant nerve -shaking, peace - destroying, and 

 even life-endangering practice of exploding 

 gunpowder. What cares the street lu-chin, 

 whether the Declaration of Independence 

 was signed that day, or America discovered, 

 or an earthquake took place ! In the southern 

 states, Christmas is consecrated to fire-works, 

 and, on the day following, the surgeons reap 

 a harvest of amputated fingers and toes. 

 How the poor invalid looks forward with 



