NATURAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



191 



ficed for our wants. There was 

 some ten or eleven left, enough to 

 have satisfied a dozen thirsty men. 

 Some of the water we drained into 

 our water bags. It was clear and 

 cool, but after standing for a few 

 hours I noticed that it became dis- 

 colored. — Introduction. 



A Giant of Former Ages. 



It is well known that everything 

 on this earth is judged relatively. 

 It is difficult to believe that turtles 

 were once as large as elephants 

 and that crocodiles walked on their 

 hind legs and were 65 feet tall, al- 

 though there are still turtles that 

 are one and one-half yards long 

 and crocodiles 22 feet long; and 

 we are even more surprised to 

 learn that certain dragon flies that 

 lived in former ages measured 27 

 inches from tip to tip of the wings, 

 because those of the present day 

 are scarcely one-tenth as large. 

 However, such insects did exist 

 when the coal was still green and 

 soft, and the explorer Charles 

 Brongniart has described fossils of 

 them found in the mines of Com- 

 mentry in the Department of Al- 

 lier, France. These, of course, 

 were not exactly like the dragon 

 flies of the present day, but were 

 similar to them. Brongniart has 

 called them protodonta and those 

 of our time are named odonta. He 

 has found such fine specimens that 

 the whole insect has been recon- 

 structed. 



Brongniart has found specimens 

 of two different species, the large 

 one already referred to, which he 

 has named Meganeura monyi, for 

 Mr. Mony, director general of the 

 mine at Commentry, and one only 

 about half as large, which he call- 

 ed selysii,iox the Baron Selys Long- 

 champs, of Luttich, the best au- 

 thority on living draggon flies in 

 Europe. The Meganeura monyi 

 had a thick head, and colossally 

 developed jaws that were provided 

 with strong teeth; the eyes, like 

 those of the present species, were 

 large and round; the first of the 

 three rings r the prothorax, was 

 narrow, but the second and third 

 rings, the mesothorax and meta- 

 thorax, to which the two sets of 

 wings were attached, were more 

 fully developed; the legs were pow- 

 erful and quite long, the hind legs 

 being longer than the two other 

 pairs; and. the wings were very 

 long,, almost five times as long as 

 wide. 



It would seem that the dragon 

 flies of ancient times did not differ 



materially from those known to us, 

 but being so much larger and vo- 

 racious, we can assume that the in- 

 sects and fish which served as food 

 for them, both in the larval state, 

 under water, and as flies, must 

 have been either very large or very 

 numerons. — Illustrirtc Zcitung. 



Engineering Tools at Pompeii. 



Under the title of "Things of 

 Engineering Interest Found at 

 Pompeii," Professor Goodman lat- 

 ely gave his inaugural lecture in 

 the engineering department of the 

 Yorkshire College, Leeds. The 

 lecturer remarked that he had re- 

 cently visited Pompeii, and was 

 not only charmed by the great 

 beauty of the works of the ancient 

 Romans, but also by their extreme 

 ingenuity as mechanics — in fact, it 

 was a marvel how some of the in- 

 struments and tools they were in 

 the habit of using could possibly 

 have been made without such 

 machinery as we now possess. 



After explaning the situation and 

 destruction of Pompeii by showers 

 of ashes and mud, not lava, as is 

 usually supposed, in the year 79 

 A. D., Professor Goodman showed 

 a series of about fifty lantern slides, 

 prepared from photographs taken 

 by himself in Pompeii last Easter. 

 The streets, he explained, were 

 used as waterways to carry off the 

 surface water, and probably sew- 

 age, from the,7]houses. The pave- 

 ments were raised about four feet 

 above the streets, and stepping 

 stones were provided at intervals 

 for foot passengers. 



The horses and chariot wheels 

 had to pass between, and in many 

 places deep ruts have been worn 

 by the chariot wheels in the stone 

 paved streets. The water supply 

 of Pompeii was distributed by 

 means of lead pipes laid under the 

 streets. There were many public 

 drinking fountains, and most of 

 the larger houses were provided 

 with fountains, many of most 

 beautiful designs. The amphi- 

 theater, although a fine structure, 

 capable of seating 15,500 people, 

 was small compared with many in 

 Italy. The bronzes found at Pem- 

 peii reveal great skill and artistic 

 talent. The bronze brazier and 

 kitchener were provided with boil- 

 ers at the side and taps for run- 

 ning off the hot water. Ewers and 

 urns have been discovered with 

 internal tubes and furnaces precise- 

 ly similar to the arrangement now 

 used in modern steam boilers. 

 Several very strong metal safes, 



provided with substantial locks, 

 have been found. The locks and 

 keys were most ingenious, and 

 some very complex. On looking 

 at the iron tools found in Pompeii, 

 one could almost imagine he was 

 gazing into a modern tool shop, 

 except for the fact that the ancient 

 representatives have suffered sev- 

 erly from rust. 



Sickles, bilhooks, rakes, forks, 

 axes, spades, blacksmith's tongs, 

 hammers, soldering irons, planes, 

 shovels, etc., are remarkably like 

 those used today; but certainly the 

 most marvelous instruments found 

 are the surgical instruments, beau- 

 tifully executed, and of design ex- 

 actly similar to some recently pat- 

 ented and reinvented. Incredible 

 as it may appear, yet it is a fact, 

 that the Pompeiians had wire ropes 

 of perfect construction. — Scientific 

 American. 



The Discovery of Argon. 



Lord Rayleigh and Prof. Wm. 

 Ramsay called at the United States 

 Embassy, in London recently, when 

 Mr. James R. Roosevelt, first sec- 

 retary handed to them a check for 

 $10,000, which had been granted 

 by the Smithsonian Institution, at 

 Washington, as the first Hodgkins 

 prize, for their memorandum on 

 "Argon, a new constituency of the 

 atmosphere," embodying a most 

 important discovery in connection 

 with atmospheric air. 



Angling by Electric Light. 



One evening recently two ang- 

 lers, one a resident of Newhaven, 

 tried the interesting experiment of 

 fishing in Seaford Bay by electric 

 light. A fisherman of Newhaven 

 rowed the anglers from the railway 

 pier soon after six o'clock, when it 

 was completely dark. A portable 

 battery with a 5 candle power in- 

 candescent lamp was taken, and 

 this lamp was lowered until a 

 weight below it touched the bot- 

 tom at 25 feet. Both battery and 

 lamp were specially made for the 

 trial, and the lamp was protected 

 by a galvanized crinoline and was 

 made watertight. When it reach- 

 ed the bottom of the sea, there 

 was, it is stated, a circular area, 20 

 yards in diameter, brightly illumi- 

 nated right up to the surface. 

 Fishing was carried on with an or- 

 dinary line on the port side, the 

 lamp having been lowered on the 

 starboard side of the boat. — Scien- 

 tific Ameaican. 



