2IO 



SCIENCE. 



and as an exception a mild form of the disease — the fre- 

 quency of the exception depending, it seems, to a great 

 extent upon the prevailing character of the plague, 

 while an inoculation with the cultivated Schizophytes is, 

 as a rule, followed by a mild attack, and as an exception, 

 or in rare cases only, by Swine-plague in its severest 

 form. 



Wherever Swine-plague is prevailing in its most malig- 

 nant or fatal form, or, what is essentially the same, where- 

 ever formation of ulcerous tumors in the caecum and colon 

 is a frequent occurrence, where consequently an abundance 

 of Swine-plague Schizophytes is discharged with the 

 excrements of the diseased animals, there the spreading 

 from animal to animal, and from herd to herd, is a rapid 

 one ; and vice versa, wherever the spreading is rapid, 

 there ulcerous tumors in the intestines are a frequent 

 occurrence. In 1878 the same (the ulcerous tumors) 

 could be found in about 75 percent, of all cases that had 

 a fatal termination, while at present (in Illinois) their oc- 

 currence is probably limited to about 5 per cent, of all 

 cases. 



THE KANSAS CITY ELECTRIC TIME BALL. 

 By Prof. H. S. Pritchett, Astronomer at Morrison Observa- 

 tory, Glasgow, Missouri. 



The first time ball established in the United States 

 was dropped from the dome of the Naval Observatory 

 at Washington in 1855, It is still dropped at Washington 

 mean noon, and has for a long time furnished the 

 standard time for the city and the Departments of the 

 Government. 



The New York time ball, established in 1877, is 

 dropped at New York noon, by an electric signal, sent 

 from the Naval Observatory at Washington. It was 

 erected and is maintained by the Western Union Tele- 

 graph Company, and is dropped from their building on 

 Broadway. At nh. 55m. the ball is hoisted half-way 

 up the staff on the tower of the building. At nh. 58m. 

 it is hoisted to its highest point, when it is about 250 feet 

 above the street and can be well seen by the shipping at 

 the New York and Brooklyn docks, and vessels in the 

 bay, and from suitable positions is visible to a large part 

 of the citizens of New York, Brooklyn, Hoboken and 

 Jersey City. 



If on account of wind the ball fails to drop at I2h. om. 

 os., it is held till I2h. 5m. and then dropped. In such 

 cases a small red flag is hoisted at 12I1. im. and kept 

 flying till I2h. 10m. This ball was for some time dropped 

 by hand, but for the last year the dropping has been auto- 

 matically effected by the clock at the Observatory. The 

 working of the apparatus has been in the main satis- 

 factory, and the ball has been dropped quite regularly, 

 the failures being caused almost entirely by temporary 

 breaks in the wire or other causes which could not be 

 foreseen. 



In the evening papers of the day and in the papers of 

 the next morning a notice is regularly inserted, stating 

 whether the ball dropped at correct time, and if not, its 

 error, fast or slow. Many are at a loss to know how this 

 correction is obtained. It is arrived at in the following 

 manner : The time of the falling of the ball records 

 itself automatically by electricity, near the standard 

 clock of the Western Union Company in the building, the 

 clock itself being regulated by the daily clock-signals 

 from Washington. The difference between the time of 

 falling of the ball and noon, as indicated by the clock, is 

 thus obtained by a direct comparison. This assumes of 

 course the accuracy of the clock, and during a long con- 

 tinued season of cloudy weather, or in case of accident to 

 the clock itself, the time might be somewhat in error, 

 although the published correction might show but a few 

 hundreths of a second. At present however, the Western 

 Union has the benefit also of the Alleghany and Cam- 



bridge signals, for the regulation of this clock, so that 

 even during the longest season of cloudy weather it is 

 not probable that the clock could be much in error. 



The Boston time ball, which is dropped at noon of 

 Boston time, by means of the noon-time signal from the 

 standard clock of the Harvard College Observatory, is 

 placed upon the large building of the Equitable Life As- 

 surance Company and was paid for and is now main- 

 tained by this company. The ball is of copper and 

 weighs about 250 pounds. The machinery used in 

 raising and controlling it is hence much more complicated 

 and costly than in either of the cases before mentioned. 

 The cost of ball and machinery was about $1200. The 

 electric signal which drops it, is given by the clock itself, 

 the ball having a drop of fifteen feet. The nearness of 

 the Observatory, and the fact that the wire used is wholly 

 under its control, give additional convenience and cer- 

 tainty in the dropping of the ball, and reduces the prob- 

 ability of accidents to a minimum, so that it is effected 

 with great regularity and precision. Prof. Pickering, 

 Director of the Observatory, reports for the year ending 

 Nov. 1st, 1880, the ball was dropped exactly at noon on 

 355 days ; on four other days at five minutes past noon, 

 in accordance with the rule adopted ; on four other days 

 it was not dropped, leaving only three cases of inac- 

 curacy of dropping. 



Quite recently a time ball has been established at 

 Hartford, Conn., and dropped by the Winchester Obser- 

 vatory of Yale College. 



The time ball recently erected at Kansas City, and 

 which is dropped as a part of the time service of the 

 Morrison Observatory, is the first attempt in this direc- 

 tion in the West. It was paid for chiefly by an approp- 

 riation of the City Council of that city. The site selected 

 was the large building just erected by the Messrs. Bul- 

 lene, Moores & Emery, on Delaware street. The ball 

 when raised to the top of the staff is about 140 feet above 

 the street, and is generally visible to the business portion 

 of the city. The ball which passes over the staff, is 

 simply a wire skeleton covered with canvas and painted 

 black, and is about three feet in diameter. It was loaded 

 on the inside with lead until it was found to drop in- 

 stantly and without loss of time. It has a drop of about 

 twenty-five feet and is slowed up as it reaches the bottom, 

 and is received upon a set of tall springs surmounted by 

 a stout cushion. 



The apparatus by means of which the ball is dropped 

 at precisely the right instant, was constructed under the 

 direction of Mr. W. F. Gardner, the instrument maker 

 of the Naval Observatory at Washington, It is of a veiy 

 simple form, and is found to answer all requirements. 



This has been found to work easily and without loss 

 of time and can scarcely get out of order. The entire 

 cost of mounting the ball and machinery was only about 

 $120, and with this small amount it was necessary to use 

 the utmost economy in the purchase of materials and 

 apparatus. Kansas City is about one hundred miles 

 from the Observatory, and except in cases of breaking of 

 the wire, when the ball cannot be dropped at all, it is 

 dropped within one or two-tenths of a second of correct 

 time. 



The discrepancy in the local time kept by different 

 jewelers in the city before the erection of' the ball was 

 astonishing, and led to endless confusion in business 

 and travel. 



On the first day the ball dropped, this difference, in ex- 

 treme cases, amounted to fifteen or twenty minutes, 

 some being eight or ten minutes fast, others as slow. 

 The establishment of the time ball has brought about a 

 uniformity never before known, and must soon make it- 

 self felt, not only as a convenience, but a promoter of 

 punctuality in business engagements. 



From the daily clock-signals sent over the wires from 

 the Observatory it will be easy to establish a similar 

 time signal in any city in the West, which will take the 



