€|)e ^^opular ^citncc 0tXas 



AND 



BOSTON JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY. 



Volume XXIII. 



BOSTON, AUGUST, 1889. 



NUMliKR S. 



CONTENTS. 



Familiar Science. — The Great Brazilian Me- 

 teorite 113 



Scientific Recreations . 1 13 



TheWeatlier 114 



Transfiguration of Matter and Transforma- 

 tion of Force 115 



Ciiinese Mvtlis 115 



The Era of the Aztecs 116 



Red Pepper 116 



Oxalic I'^ernientation 116 



Flappiiisj of a Flj''s Wings 116 



Meteorites .....' 116 



Scientific Hrevities 116 



Pkacticai. Ciikmistry ani> the Arts. — 



Perpetual Motion 117 



Determining Lithia 118 



Vanadium Ink iiS 



Lighting Trains by Electricity iiS 



Industrial Memoranda 118 



Home, Farm, and Garden. — Our Clothing 119 



.Trout Culture 120 



Gleanings 120 



Editorial. — The Heat 121 



What is a Practical Education .' 122 



Paris Letter 123 



Meteorology for June, 1889 124 



Astronomical Phenomena for August, 1889 '^4 



(Questions and Answers 125 



Literary Notes 125 



Medicine and Pharmacy. — Modern Diseases 125 



Indian Remedies 125 



Water-Supply and Water Pollution . . . 126 



Monthly Summary of Medical Progress . . 126 



A Remarkable Fistula 128 



Medical Memoranda 128 



Humors 128 



Publishers' Column 128 



Banjiliar Science. 



THE GREAT BRAZILIAN 

 METE(JRITE. 

 The lar<;o mass of meteoric iron repre- 

 sented in tlie enjijiaving (from Z,a JVaiurc) 

 was found near Bendego, in tiie province of 

 Bahia, Brazil. Attention was first called to 

 it in 1784, when the existence of an immense 

 stone, supposed to consist of gold and silver, 

 was brought to the notice of the governor of 

 the province. An officer of the army, 

 Bernardo Carvalho da Cunha, determined to 

 transport the supposed precious mas^ to the 

 sea coast, and headed an expedition, which 

 constructed a road through the forest, and 

 built a strong wagon, in which it was to be 

 transported by oxen. The great meteorite, 

 weighing over io,ocx) pounds, and measuring 

 7 feet in length, 4 in breadth, and 3 in thick- 

 ness, was carefully hoisted into the wagon, 

 and started on its journey. For the first soo 

 feet all went well, but tlie soldiers had 

 neglected to provide any means of checking 

 its motion, and, on descending a hill, all con- 

 trol of the wagon was lost, the wheels 



revolved so rapidly thatj the axles took fire, 

 and the whole allair rushed into the river 

 Bendego, where it remaineil until two years 

 ago, although it was visited by several travel- 

 ling scientists, and one or more futile attempts 

 were made to recover it. 



In 1S87 a successful attempt was made to 

 recover this remarkable natural curiosity, 

 with the aid of the Brazilian government and 

 the contributions of private individuals, 

 especially Baron Guahy, who took a great 

 interest in the matter. On the 25th of Novem- 

 ber, the meteorite was placed in a specially 

 constructed wagon, and, drawn part of the 

 time by men and part of the time by oxen, it 

 arrived on the 14th of May, 1SS8, at the rail- 

 road station of Jacuricy, from whence it was 

 transported by rail and sea to Rio Janeiro, 

 where it now rests in the Museum. The 

 transportation of this large and heavy mass 

 for seventy-one miles, through forests and 

 deserts, and over rivers and lakes, through a 

 wild and un.settled country, was no small 

 engineering feat, and reflects great credit 

 upon M. Carvalho, who planned and super- 

 intendetl the work. 



4^,^ 



SCIENTIFIC. RECREATIONS. 



EXPERIMENTS IN EqUILIBKIUM. 



The accompanying engraving, from Z,a 

 Nature^ illustrates an experiment that may 

 serve to test the patience and skill of a person 

 who wishes to pass away his time while 

 awaiting a partner in a game of backgam- 

 mon. The question is to place the thirty 

 men of the game upon four independent men 

 standing on edge. 



The solution of the problem requires a 

 series of ingenious and even .somewhat com- 

 plicated combinations ; so whoever wishes to 

 try to solve it will do well to provide himself 

 with a set of backgammon men, and, pieces 



in hand, follow us step by step in our expla- 

 nation. 



Lay the central piece. A, flat upon the 

 table, and, on the prolongation of two diame- 

 ters at right angles, place upon edge the 

 pieces, i, 2, 3, and 4, which 'are to support 

 all the rest. In order to assure of their con- 

 tact with the upper edge of A, it is necessary 

 to chock them temporarily with the four 

 pieces, B, C, D, and E, laid Hat u|)on tiic 

 table. 



Now place a piece, K, liorizontally upon 

 the edges of the pieces, i, 3, 3, and 4. This 

 done, place four pieces in such a way that 

 their centres shall be respectively over the 

 centres of the pieces, B, C, D, and E. This 

 gives us the first horizontal row. The second 

 row is obtained by placing four more pieces 

 horizontally upon the four preceding ones, 

 but so alternating them that the centres of the 

 pieces of the second row shall be over the 

 spaces existing between the pieces of the first 

 row. 



Continue alternating thus to the fifth row, 

 the pieces of the odd rows (the black, for ex- 

 ample) being situated directly over each 

 other, and the pieces of the even rows having 



their centres likewise upon four vertical axes 

 passing between the spaces of the column.s of 

 odd rows. The five rows dispose ' of 20 

 pieces. 



