2o6 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. XXI. No. 532 



pared with that of handling one of 100,000 cubic feet, can hardly 

 be estimated. The risk in a liigh wind of the smaller balloon is 

 vastly less than of the larger. Every way the smaller balloon 

 presents ad%-antages over the larger. The first cost of a bal- 

 loon of 20,000 cubic feet would be $600. The cost of a half 

 charge of gas need not be over |30, and may be less. It is 

 hoped that the balloon will be suinciently tight to hold its gas 

 for a long period. In Europe balloons have been made wiih 

 gold-beaters' skin that have leaked only i of 1 per cent in 34 

 hours. I think the leakage of a cloth balloon when properly 

 made need not be over 4 or 5 per cent, but the figures in this 

 country are exceedingly meagre and unsatisfactory. After an 

 ascension it will be a very simple matter to conserve the gas, and. 

 if wished, an addition may be made at the landing-point with gas 

 from a flexible holder, which may be easily transported from 

 point to point. 



An interesting problem presents itself as to the behavior of the 

 gas in a rapid ascent or descent. Theory indicates that in a rapid 

 expansion dry gas will cool 1" F. in 186 feet ascent, so that at 

 25,000 feet the temperature would be about 130° lower at the 

 centre of the balloon than at the outside air, provided the ascen- 

 sion was quick enough to prevent the heat from striking in. Now 

 experience in balloon ascents shows that the gas in a balloon is 

 invariably warmer than the outside air. Exactly the reverse is 

 true in a rapid descent, both as regards theory and practice. 

 Whether this is due to the fact that the envelope retains its heat 

 or not, it still remains that we have here apparently a means of 

 making our ascensions with the loss of little or no gas at the 

 valve. At the highest point our gas will be cooled and lose its 

 buoyancy, which allows a fall in the balloon, which is always 

 greatly accelerated as we approach the earth, and after landing 

 the balloon may be anchored till the sun's beat has warmed 

 the gas, which will enable another trip with the same gas. 



The risk in such ascents has been greatly exaggerated by some 

 from the serious and often fatal accidents that have attended 

 jumping with parachutes and ascending in hot-air balloons. The 

 modern balloon, with its very long drag-rope and rip-cord, are 

 very safe. Even in case the balloon should burst, the envelope 

 catches in the netting and acts like a parachute in breaking the 

 fall. Mr. Wise, the veteran, once ascended to the height of a mile 

 and purposely exploded his balloon in order to show that there 

 was no great risk in such an adventure. In one caee, Mr. King 

 and a married couple were in a balljon which exploded at the 

 height of a mile, and without serious consequences It should be 

 noted that a ne * balloon will not explode. Glaisher reports 

 having ascended with a balloon full of gas at the rate of 4.000 

 feet per minute; this was a remarkable feat. It is not the inten- 

 tioD to ascend faster than 1,000 feet per minute, and at this rate 

 the danger of bursting is almost nothing. 



Some may think that such observations may be made at vastly 

 less risk, expense, and discomfort on mountain tops. Undoubtedly 

 there are some observations of temperature that may be made in 

 this way, but even in this case we cannot tell just what effect the 

 summit will have. Observations of rainfall, clouds, electricity, 

 etc., are entirely impossible on mountain-tops, for the reason that 

 these have a peculiar action of their own entirely different from 

 that of the free air. It seems probable that the mountain acts 

 like a point in the atmosphere from which there is a continuous 

 discharge of electricity, as in the case of a point on the conductor 

 of an electric machine. 



The exploration of the atmosphere cannot be carried on in 

 Europe to as good advantage as in this country, for the reason 

 that they do not have the normal low areas and high areas trav- 

 elling at some velocity that we have. The conditions of the 

 atmosphere are so different in the two countries that we must 

 make our own researches. I trust I have shown the great need 

 of such exploration. I know of no endowment of .$5,000 or 

 $10,000 that would pay so rich and immediate a harvest as this 

 for ballooning. Thousands are spent in visiting the inhospitable 

 north, while a field just at our hands, which may hre explored at 

 vastly less expense and risk, and which promises immeasurably 

 greater returns, is left unexplored and unvisited. 



March 31, 1693. 



LOSS OF DRY MATTER BY THE SPROUTING OF CORN- 

 SEEDS. 



BY E. H. FAERINGTON, CHEMIST, AGRICDLTURAL EXPERIMENT STA- 

 TION, CHAMPAIGN, ILL. 



Seeds of the corn-plant were placed in damp cotton and left to 

 sprout in the dark for nine days. Four of these seeds partially 

 sprouted, then moulded, failing to develop further. They lost by 

 this treatment 9 to 18 per cent of the dry matter in the original 

 seed. 



Two seeds, under the same conditions for nine days, sprouted 

 and developed a corn plant. The root and stem of these plants 

 each measured two to three inches, and their weight was from 

 three to three and one-half times that of the original seed. It 

 was found, however, that when the water was dried out of these 

 young plants the dry matter in them was 20 and 31 per cent less 

 than the seed contained. 



Several estimations were made of the per cent of water and 

 dry matter in a sample of corn. These results were used for esti- 

 mating the weight of water and dry matter in the corn which 

 was taken from the same sample and sprouted. 



Details of Weights in Grams. 



This shosvs that in sprouting the white plant had taken up 

 water but lost in dry matter. 



This experiment was repeated June 3. 1892, by sprouting the 

 seed in the soil of a corn-field instead of cotton. One week after 

 planting, four of the plants were dug up. They were about two 

 inches above ground and had two green leaves. The shell of the 

 seed still clung to the plant. The root was about five inches long, 

 making a total length of about ten inches from tip of leaf to end 

 of root. 



The weight of these green plants, free from soil, was about four 

 times that of the seed planted, but they contained from 58 to 79 

 per cent only of the dry matter in the original seed. 



During the week these seeds were growing the climatic and soil 

 conditions were ideal for corn. 



Details of Weights and Measurements. 



Two weeks after the seed had been planted, five plants were 

 cut at the surface of the soil, and the weight and measurements 

 of each plant above ground was compared with the weight of the 

 seed. This shows that corn-plants, having a height of ten to 

 fourteen inches above ground, weighed when green four to eight 



