140 



POPULAE SCIENCE NEWS. 



[September, 1889. 



we had 11.25 inches in thirty inid-summer days, — 

 nearlj one-fourth the average amount of the whole 

 year (46.61.) Thunder and lightning occurred on 

 the 17th and 23d, but not with much severity in this 

 locality. This extreme amount of rainfall, in con- 

 nection with corresponding cloudiness, has been 

 very unfavorable to the farmers in gathering their 

 hay and grain harvests. The amount of precipita- 

 tion since January ist has been 35.81 inches, while 

 the average for these seven months the last twenty- 

 one years has been only 27.97, showing a surplus of 

 7.84 inches. 



PRESSURE. 



The average barometer the past month was 

 29.969 inches, with extremes of 29.72 on the 23d, and 

 30.24 on the 2d, — a range of only .52 inch. The 

 average for the last sixteen Julys has been 29.925, 

 with extremes of 29.820 in 1884, and 29.976 in 1887, 

 — a range of .156 inch. The sum of the daily varia- 

 tions was 2.99 inches, giving an average daily 

 movement of .096 inch. This average in the last 

 sixteen Julys has been .091, with extremes of .074 

 and .118. The largest moveinents were only .20 on 

 the 3d and 24th, and .18 on the 20th and 23d. Not- 

 withstanding so much rainfall, the atmospheric 

 waves have been slight, being usually' much more 

 so in the warmer than in the colder months. 



WINDS. 



The direction of the wind, in 93 observations, 

 gave 16 N., o S., 12 E., 14 W., 5 N. E., 14 N. W., 4 

 S. E., and 28 S. W. — an excess of 3 northerly and 

 35 westerly over the southerly and easterly, and in- 

 dicating the average direction the past month to 

 have been W. 4° 54' N. The westerly winds have 

 uniformly prevailed over the easterly in July for 

 twenty years, by an average of 42.95 observations, 

 and the southerly over the northerly, with two ex- 

 ceptions, (three observations each in 1888 and 1889), 

 by an average of 19.55; thus indicating approxi- 

 mately the general average direction of the wind in 

 July to be W. 24° 28' S. Hence the winds the past 

 month have been 29° 22' less southerly than usual. 

 The relative progressive distance travelled by the 

 wind the past month was 35.13 units, and during 

 the last twenty Julys 943.7 such units, an average of 

 47.18, — showing more opposing winds the last 

 month than usual. 



In brief, the past month thus appears to have 

 been cooler than usual ; the most cloudy, and by 

 far the most rainy, with winds the most northerly, 

 of any July during the last twenty years. 



D. W. 



Natick, August 5, 1889. 



[Specially Computed for The Popular Science New8.\ 

 ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR 

 SEPTEMBER, 1889. 

 Mercury is in aphelion on September 10, and at 

 greatest eastern elongation ten days later — on Sep- 

 tember 20. The apparent distance of the planet 

 from the sun is over 26°, but the conditions are not 

 favorable for visibility, as the planet is about 12° 

 .south of the sun, and sets soon after. Venus is a 

 morning star, rising a little less than three hours 

 before the sun, and the distance from the sun is 

 gradually diminishing. On the morning of Sep- 

 tember 26 there will be a close conjunction of Venus 

 with Saturn, the former being south of the latter 

 about one diameter of the moon. Mars is a morn- 

 ing star, rising a little more than two hours before 

 the sun. It has begun to come nearer the earth 

 and grow brighter, but it will be some months 

 before the change is very noticeable. The planet is 

 moving eastward, and on the morning of September 

 20 passes Saturn just one minute to the south, a 

 distance too small to be seen by the naked eye. 



The time of nearest approach is 3 A. M., eastern 

 time. They are then below the horizon at all 

 places in the United States, except, possibly, the 

 extreme eastern portions ; but, as they separate only 

 about one minute per hour, they will still be very 

 close together^after they rise for other parts of the 

 country. Jupiter is in quadrature with the sun on 

 September 21, and is the brightest object in the 

 southwestern sky in the evening. It is moving 

 slowly eastward, in the constellation Sagittarius. 

 It is occulted by the moon on the evening of Sep- 

 tember 3, the phenomenon being visible in the 

 United States. In the east the occultation takes 

 place about 10 P. M. It is not worth while to make 

 any nearer prediction, as the time for one place dif- 

 fers from that for another. The following eclipses 

 of Jupiter's satellites may be seen, the phenomena" 

 all taking place near the upper right-hand quadrant, 

 as seen in an inverting telescope. Time, eastern 

 standard. 



I. R. September 5, i2h. iim. A. M. 



III. D. September 6, I2h. 44m. A. M. 



I. R. September 6, 6h. 39m. P. M. 



II. R. September 11, 9h. 34m. P. M. 



I. R. September 13, 8h. 34m. P. M. 



II. R. September 19, i2h. 12m. A. M. 



I. R. September 20, loh. 3oni. P. M. 



I. R. September 28, I2h. 25m. A. M. 



I. R. September 29, 6h. 53m. P. M. 



Saturn is now getting far enough away from the 

 sun to be seen. It is a morning star, in the constel- 

 lation Leo, and is moving eastward. By the end of 

 the month it rises about three hours before the sun. 

 It passes about 1° north of Regulus on September 

 18. Uranus is in the constellation Virgo, in the 

 western sky, in the early evening. It is north of 

 Spica {Alpha Virginis.) Neptune is in Taurus, and 

 rises about midnight. 



The Constellations. — The positions given hold 

 good for latitudes diifering not much from 40° north, 

 and for 10, 9, and 8 P. M. for the beginning, middle, 

 and end of the month, respectively. Cygnus is 

 directly overhead. Delphinus, high up, and Capri- 

 cornus, low down, are on the southern meridian. 

 Piscis Australis is below Capricornus, and not quite 

 up to the meridian. Aquarius is to the left of Cap- 

 ricornus, at about the same altitude. After Aquarius 

 come Pisces and Aries, the latter being almost due 

 east at about lo" altitude. Taurus is just rising, a 

 little north of east. Pegasus is between Pisces and 

 the zenith ; and Andromeda is above, and a little to 

 the north of Aries. Cassiopeia is to the right, and 

 a little above the pole star. Perseus is low down in 

 the northeast, and Auriga is just rising below it. 

 Draco is to the west of the meridian. Ursa Minor 

 is mainly to the west of the pole star, at about the 

 same altitude. Ursa Major is below the pole, a 

 little to the left. Lyra is just to the west of the 

 zenith, with Hercules, Corona Borealis, and Bootes 

 below it, the last being near the horizon, a little 

 north of west. Scorpius is setting in the southwest, 

 with Ophiuchus above it. Sagittarius is low down 

 in the south, a little west of the meridian, and 

 Aquila is high up, between Sagittarius and Cygnus. 



M. 

 Lake Forest, III., August i, 1889. 



QUESTIONS 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. 



QtiESTiONS regarding the treatment of diseases 

 cannot be answered in this column. 



C. S. H., Mich. — What is puzzolana.' 

 Answer. — It is a volcanic sand, occuring in the 

 vicinity of Rome, and is used in large quantities in 

 the manufacture of cement. It is probably formed 



by the crumbling or partial decomposition of lava, 

 and is essentially a silicate of alumina, lime, and a 

 few other bases. 



W. B. D., Penn. — Is there any danger of a col- 

 lapse of the earth's crust from the loss of subterra- 

 nean pressure, caused by the boring of wells for 

 natural gas, which are very numerous in this re- 

 gion .' 



Answer. — There is no possible danger from such 

 a cause, and all the newspaper stories in regard to 

 it are simply sensational nonsense. The gas cavi- 

 ties (if there are any cavities) are so far below the 

 surface of the earth, that the crust is amply thick 

 enough to support its own weight. (2) As to the 

 probable exhaustion of the gas supply, nothing is 

 definitely known, and we can only await future de- 

 velopments. 



A. E., Mass. — I have two solutions of 82 per cent, 

 and 40 per cent., respectively. In what proportions 

 shall I mix them to make a 75 per cent, solution.'' 



Answer. — The difterence between 82 and 75 is 7, 

 and between 40 and 75, 35. Divide one by the 

 other and we obtain 5. Therefore, you must use 5 

 parts of the 82 per cent, solution to one of the 40 

 per cent. For additional rules upon this class of 

 problems, you can refer to the department of alli- 

 gation, or medial proportion, in any aritmetic. 



C. S. W., New York. — While a piece of soft iron 

 adheres to a magnet, does it possess any magnetism 

 itself, or is it always unmagnetizable .' 



Answer. — It is a true magnet, that is, it possesses 

 magnetic polarity as long as it remains under the 

 influence of the inducing magnet. In the case of 

 soft iron, the magnetism is only temporary, and dis- 

 appears when the inducing magnet is removed ; but 

 with steel, the magnetism thus induced remains 

 permanently. 



N. P. C, England. — What are the final products 

 from the explosion or combustion of gunpowder.' 



Answer. — The products are naturally somewhat 

 variable with different specimens of powder and dif- 

 ferent conditions of combustion, but certain careful 

 experiments made in your country gave as the sub- 

 stances present in the solid residue, the carbonate, 

 sulphate, sulphide, sulpho-cyanide, and nitrate of 

 potash, carbonate of ammonia, sulphur, and char- 

 coal ; in the gaseous products, carbonic dioxide and 

 oxide, nitrogen, sulphuretted hydrogen, marsh-gas, 

 hydrogen, and oxygen, the amounts present decreas- 

 ing in the order given. 



LITERARY NOTES. 



Numbers Universalized: An Advanced Algebra, by- 

 David M. Sensenig, M. S. Published by D. 

 Appleton & Co., New York. 



This volume is intended as an advanced elemen- 

 tary algebra, and will be made Part First of a higher 

 algebra soon to be completed. It is especially 

 adapted to schools preparing students for college, 

 and to advanced classes in high and normal schools. 

 In treatment, too great simplicity has been avoided; 

 yet care has been exercised to everywhere keep 

 intact the logical sequence of thought, and thus pre- 

 vent the discussions from becoming unnecessarily 

 abstruse and difficult. It is evidently most excel- 

 lently adopted to its purpose, and will be found a 

 most useful text-book for the study of this difficult 

 but important subject. 



Messrs. P. Blakiston, Son & Co., of Philadelphia, 

 have published V^olume III., Part I., of Allen's Or- 

 ganic Commercial Analysis ($4.50.) We have before 

 spoken of the great technical value of this work, 

 which renders it indispensable to analytical chem- 

 ists, and need only say that the present volume — 

 which treats of the phenols, aromatic acids, tannins, 

 and dye-stuffs — is of equal value with the preceding 

 ones. Part 11. — treating of the organic bases, cyan- 

 ogen compounds, albuminoids, etc. — will shortly be 

 published, completing the work. 



Pamphlets, etc., received : Report on Tuberculosis 

 in Cattle, by the Rhode Island State Board of Health ; 

 Suspension in the Treatment of Affections of the 

 Spinal Cord, by Alexander B. Shaw, M. D., St. 

 Louis; The Senses, Five or Sevenf by William M. 

 McLaury, M. D., New York; Foi-ty-eighth Annual 

 Announcement of the St. Louis Medical College; 

 Report of the Wisconsin State Board of Health, and 

 Report of the Division of Forestry, U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture. 



