ISO YEAR-BOOK 05" FACTS. 



mitted to reach the heavens with his clouil-capt tower of stone, and has tried in 

 vain to navigate the aerial ocean, it was given him to ascend into Empyrean by 

 chains of thought which no lightning could face and no comet strike; and 

 though he has ii' >i been allowed to grasp with an arm of flesh the products of 

 other worlds, or tread upon the pavement of gigantic planets, he has been en- 

 abled to scan, with more than an eagle's eye, the mighty creations in the bosom 

 of space — to march intellectually over the mosaics of sidereal systems, and to 

 follow the adventurous Phaeton in a chariot which can never be overturned. 



MAGNETIC PHENOMENON. 



M. Uuhmkorfp has the following notice in the Comptes Jlendus, 

 vol. i. p. 166: — "If a stay (bride) of soft iron be pressed against 

 one of the \. oles of an artificial magnet, the soft iron is observed to 

 become hard, it is more difficult to file. If the stay be removed, it 

 loses its hardness and resumes all the properties of soft iron." 



FIXATION OF THE MAGNETIC IMACE. 



The name of Magnetic Image is given to the appearance observed 

 when iron filings are placed on a paper screen over the poles of a 

 powerful magnet. It may be fixed in the following manner: — A 

 sheet of waxed paper is placed over the poles of a powerful magnet, 

 and kept in its position by means of a screen interposed between 

 the paper and the poles. The image is then developed in the usual 

 way ; and when this is effected, a hot brick or crucible cover is 

 brought near enough to melt the wax. The melted wax by capil- 

 larity penetrates the agglomeration of filings, just as water pene- 

 trates a mass of sand. It is necessary that the layer of wax have a 

 considerable thickness, in order to be sufficient for the action of 

 capillarity. On cooling, the wax retains the filings in their place, 

 and they present the same appearance as if still under the influence 

 of the magnet. — M. J. Nickles ; Comptes Jiendus. 



the mac: net and earthquake. 

 The Japanese have discovered that a few seconds previous to an 

 Earthquake the Magnet temporarily loses its power, and have inge- 

 niously constructed a liglit frame supporting a horseshoe magnet, 



>!i which is a cup of bell metal. To the armature is atf 

 a weight, so that upon the magnet becoming paralysed the weight 

 drops, and, striking the cup, gives the alarm. Every one in the 

 house then seeks the open air for safety. 



SPOTS <>N" Tin: BUN and magnetism. 

 On the 1st of September, 1859, at llh. iNm. a.m., a distinguished 

 astronomer, Mr. Carriogton, had directed his telescope to the Sun, 

 and was engaged in observing its spots, when suddenly two intensely 



luminous bodies burst into 710WOB its surface. They moved side by 



sido through a space of about 85,000 miles, first increasing in bright- 

 ness, then lading away ; in five minute; they had vanished. They 



did sot alter the shape of a group of large black spots which lay 

 directly in their paths. Momentary as this remarkable phenomenon 

 was, it was fortunately witnessed and confirmed, as to one of tho 

 bright lights, by another obsei'TSVj Mr. Hodgson, at llighgate, who, 



