Vol. XXIII. No. ic] 



POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 



153 



Slje Popular Science Qews. 



BOSTON, OCTOBER i, 1889. 



AUSTIN P. NICHOLS, S.B Etlitor. 



WII-LIAM J. ROI.FE, Litt.D., . Associate Editor. 



The office of the Popular Science News 



is now established at No. 5 Somerset St., 

 onlj' a few doors distant from our former 

 location, and in the same building with the 

 well-known publishing firm of D. C. Heath 

 & Co. The numerous changes of location 

 which we have been unexpectedly obliged to 

 make during the present year, have been a 

 source of annoyance to the publishers and 

 editors, no less than to our subscribers, but 

 our present quarters are conveniently and 

 centrally located, and we have no reason to 

 expect that our new address will not be a 

 permanent one. 



The saying that "there is nothing new 

 under the sun" receives fresh confirmation in 

 the recent discovery that a "nickel and slot" 

 machine was in use in the ancient Egyptian 

 temples. The holy water was not free to all, 

 but was kept in a closed vessel. When the 

 sum of five drachma was dropped into the 

 top, a valve opened and allowed a small 

 quantity of the sacred liquid to flow out, after 

 which it automatically closed to await the 

 arrival of the next customer. This device 

 was first referred to in the "Spiritalia" of 

 Iliero, published in the seventeenth century, 

 and there is no doubt that such an apparatus 

 was actually in use in ancient times. 



It is said that "the King of Wurtemburg 

 has decided, in order to solve the interesting 

 problem as to whether the moon is inhabited, 

 to cause to be made, in the best possible con- 

 dition, photographs of the moon ; then to 

 enlarge the negative 100,000 times." We are 

 afraid that the royal patron of astronomy is 

 doomed to disappointment in the results of 

 this plausible but not very new idea, as the 

 imperfections in the photographic plates 

 would be ec[ually magnified and would en- 

 tirely obliterate any signs of human or animal 

 activity, even if they were present in the 

 original photograph. With the telescopes 

 now in use, the existence of a collection of 

 buildings, like a city or town, or even a large 

 single building, like a cathedral, could be 

 detected, and we can be sure that there are 

 no indications of human activity upon the 

 moon, even if the absence of water and air 

 did not render such a form of life impossible. 

 The King of Wurtemburg had better save his 

 money for other purposes. 



A most erroneous statement is made by 

 Dr. Wm. A. Hammond in a recent article in 

 the North American Review, in which he 



says : "Every year sees the list of so-called 

 elementary substances decreased in number." 

 The exact opposite is the truth. A few of the 

 supposed elements have been (biuid to be 

 compoimd bodies, made up of other elements, 

 but not a single element has been found to be 

 identical with any other. It is true that 

 chemists are now generallv inclined to con- 

 sider the elements as possibly being forms or 

 modifications of one primitive substance, but 

 this view rests on theoretical grounds only, 

 and not a single particle of any element has 

 been, as yet, changed into any other, and we 

 have no reason to suppose that we shall ever 

 be able to do so. A physician of Dr. Ham- 

 mond's reputation should be morp careful in 

 making statements in regard to a science 

 with which he is evidently not well ac- 

 quainted, especially when they are to be 

 published in a periodical with the circulation 

 and influence of the Review. 



A REMARKABLE Occurrence is reported 

 from Belgium, where several inmates of a 

 newly constructed almshouse died very sud- 

 denly and without apparent cause. Investi- 

 gation revealed the fact that the water 

 supplied to the institution, which came from 

 a spring near by, contained 0.7 of a grain of 

 arsenic acid to the gallon, and it has since been 

 used medicinally as a substitute for Fowler's 

 Solution. Arsenical mineral waters have 

 been known before, but this is the first 

 instance on record where fatal accidents have 

 occurred from their use. 



The apparent magnifying effect of height 

 is a curious optical illusion. A person stand- 

 ing on the top of a high building or elevation 

 of ground, will often appear to be two or 

 three times his usual size, as everyone has 

 doubtless noticed at times. This illusion is 

 probably due to the fact that distances in a 

 vertical direction always appear much greater 

 than in a horizontal one. The person on the 

 building really appears to be of the natural 

 size, but, as the eye misjudges his distance to 

 be much greater than it is, he apparently 

 seems much larger, just as objects dimly seen 

 through a fog, where we are imable to judge 

 of their distance, are similarly enlarged. Let 

 anyone measure off" on the ground a distance 

 equal to the height of the tallest building or 

 chimney with which he is acquainted, and he 

 will certainly be surprised at the result. 

 Even the height of the Eiffel Tower (1,000 

 feet), when laid oft' on the surface of the 

 groimd, will lead one to think that it is not 

 such a wonderful structure after all. 



A VISITOR at the office of the Science 

 News, recently, related to us a curious psy- 

 chological experience, to which we should 

 have given less attention if it had not since 

 been confirmed by the independent testimony 



of others. On a certain occasion he was 

 anticipating the occurrence of a severe mis- 

 fortune, which appeared inevitable, and to 

 which he had resigned himself. Owing to a 

 change of circumstances, the misfortune was 

 averted, but, instead of joy, the first feeling 

 experienced was one of an ill defined regret. 

 The mind, apparently, could not at first 

 adjust itself to the new conditions, and the 

 natural disinclination to change seemed to 

 manifest itself in this peculiar manner. As 

 the same phenomenon has been noticed by 

 others, we should be glad to hear from any of 

 our readers who may have had similar expe- 

 riences. 



The remarkably early dates at which the 

 spring and early summer flowers have 

 blossomed during the present season, has con- 

 tinued into the late summer and fall. The 

 fringed gentian was observed in bloom in this 

 vicinity on the 3oth of August, — three or four 

 weeks before its usual time. Unless the 

 autiunn frosts soon put an end to this unusual 

 precocity of the vegetable kingdom, Nature 

 will have exhausted her stock of flowers, and 

 have to begin over again with the arbutus and 

 violets. 



The usually accepted atomic weight of 

 tellurium (128) is an anomalous one, in that 

 it does not accord with the weight belonging 

 to its position in the periodic series. To 

 clear up this discrepancy. Dr. Braunek, of 

 Prague, has carefully re-determined the 

 atomic weight, and finds it to be nearly the 

 same as the old .one (137.61.) He finds, 

 however, that what has formerly been called 

 tellurium is really a compound of probably 

 three other elements, one of which is proba- 

 bly identical with the dwitcllurium of Men- 

 deleef, the existence of which was predicted 

 from a gap in the periodic system, while the ; 

 other is an element closely allied to arsenic 

 and antimony, the remaining substance being 

 the true tellurium. If these remarkable re- 

 sults are confirmed, two more elements will 

 be added to the rapidly increasing list, and 

 another supposed simple body shown to be a 

 compound one. 



A REMARKABLE development of activity in' 

 the geysers o( the Yellowstone Park was 

 noted in the early part of September. In the 

 upper basin all the principal geysers were in 

 simultaneous activity, and the escape of steam 

 and gases was said to be terrific. An unusu- 

 ally severe storm was raging on the Atlantic 

 coast, 3,000 miles away, at the time, and this 

 fact was telegraplied all over the country as 

 the cause of the outbreak, although there was 

 probably not the slightest connection lietween 

 them. The activity of the geysers is con- 

 stantly varying in intensity, and depends upon 

 causes at present unknown to us. 



