Scientific American Supplement, No. 433, April 19, 1884
by
Various
Part 2 out of 2
the operation is repeated by making a plaster mould from the reduced
copy, and from this a second gelatine cast is taken and likewise
immersed in alcohol and shrunk. It is claimed that even when repeated
there is no sacrifice of the sharpness of the original.
When the copy is to be enlarged instead of reduced, the gelatine cast is
put in a cold water bath, instead of alcohol. After it has swollen as
much as it will, the plaster mould is made as before. For enlarging,
the mould could also be made of some slightly soluble mass, and then by
filling it with water the cavity would grow larger, but it would not
give so sharp a copy.
* * * * *
STRIPPING THE FILM FROM GELATINE NEGATIVES.
We have frequent inquiries as to the best means of removing a
gelatino-bromide negative from its glass support so that it can be used
either as a direct or reversed negative, and it does not appear to be
very generally known that about two years ago Mr. Plener described a
method which answers well under all circumstances, whether a substratum
has been used or not.
If a negative is immersed in extremely dilute hydrofluoric acid
contained in an ebonite dish, say half a teaspoonful to half a pint of
water, the film very soon becomes loosened, and floats off the glass,
this circumstance being due to the solvent action which the acid
exercises upon the surface of the plate as soon as it has penetrated the
film. If the floating film be now caught upon a plate which has been
slightly waxed, and it is allowed to dry on this plate, it will become
quite flat and free from wrinkles. To wax the plate, it should be held
before the fire until it is moderately hot, after which it is rubbed
over with a lump of wax, and the excess is polished off with a piece
of flannel. When the film is dry, it will leave the waxed glass
immediately, if one corner is lifted by means of a penknife. The film
will become somewhat enlarged during the above-described operation; but,
by taking suitable precautions, this enlargement may be avoided. It is
also convenient to prepare the hydrofluoric acid extemporaneously by the
action of sulphuric acid on fluoride of sodium; and, in many cases, it
is advisable to thicken up the film by an additional layer of gelatine.
The following directions embody these points. The negative, which must
be unvarnished, is leveled, and covered with a layer of warm gelatine
solution (one in eight) about as thick as a sixpence. This done, and
the gelatine set, the plate is immersed in alcohol for a few minutes
in order to remove the greater part of the water from the gelatinous
stratum. The next step is to allow the plate to remain for five or six
minutes in a cold mixture of one part of sulphuric acid with twelve
parts of water, and in the mean time two parts of sodium fluoride are
dissolved in one hundred parts of water, an ebonite tray being used. A
volume of the dilute sulphuric acid equal to about one-fourth of the
fluoride solution is next added from the first dish, and the plate
is then transferred to the second dish, when the film soon becomes
liberated. When this is the case, it is placed once more in the dilute
sulphuric acid. After a few seconds it is rinsed in water, and laid on a
sheet of waxed glass, complete contact being established by means of a
squeegee, and the edges are clamped down by means of strips of wood held
in position by American clips or string. All excess of sulphuric acid
may now be removed by soaking the plate in methylated alcohol, after
which it is dried. It is as well to add a few drops of ammonia to the
last quantity of alcohol used.
The plate bearing the film negative is now placed in a warm locality,
under which circumstances a few hours will suffice for the complete
drying of the pellicular negative, after which it may be detached
with the greatest ease by lifting the edges with the point of a
penknife.--_Photo. News_.
* * * * *
NEW ANALOGY BETWEEN SOLIDS, LIQUIDS, AND GASES,
By W. SPRING.
The author asks in the first place, What is the cause of the different
specific gravities of one and the same metal according as it has been
cast, rolled, drawn into wire, or hammered? Does the difference observed
prove a real condensation of the matter under the action of pressure, or
is it merely due to the expulsion by pressure of gases which have been
occluded when the ingot was cast? According to well-known researches,
metals such as platinum, gold, silver, and copper, which have
been proved to occlude gases on fusion, and to let them escape,
_incompletely_, on solidification, are precisely those which are
most increased in their specific gravity by pressure. The author has
submitted to pressures of about 20,000 atmospheres metals which possess
this property, either not at all, or to a very trifling extent, and he
finds that though a first pressure produces a slight permanent increase
of density, its repetition makes little difference. Their density is
found to have reached a maximum. Hence the density of solids, like that
of liquids, is only really modified by temperature. Pressure effects
no permanent condensation of solid bodies, except they are capable of
assuming an allotropic condition of greater density. The author's former
researches tend to show that solid matter, in suitable conditions of
temperature, takes the state corresponding to the volume which it is
compelled to occupy. Hence there is an analogy between the allotropic
states of certain solids and the different states of aggregation of
matter. Possibly the different forms of matter may be due to a single
cause--polymerization. The limit of elasticity of a solid body is the
critical moment when the matter begins to flow under the action of the
pressure to which it is submitted, just as, e.g., ice at or below 0 deg. may
be liquefied by strong pressure. A brittle body is simply one which does
not possess the property of flowing under the action of pressure.
* * * * *
HYDROGEN AMALGAM.
Hydrogen, although a gas, is recognized by chemists as a metal, and when
combined with any solid metal--as in the case known to electricians as
the polarization of a negative element,--the compound may correctly be
termed an alloy; while any compound of hydrogen with the fluid metal
mercury may with equal correctness be termed an amalgam of hydrogen, or
"hydrogen amalgam." The efforts of many chemists and mining engineers
have for many years been devoted to a search for some effective and
economical means for preventing the "sickening" of mercury and its
consequent "flouring" and loss. Some sixteen or more years ago,
Professor Crookes, F.R.S., discovered and, after a series of
experiments, patented the use of an amalgam of the metal sodium for this
purpose. He made the amalgam in a concentrated form, and it was added
in various proportions to the mercury used for gold amalgamation. Water
becoming present, it will readily be understood that the sodium, in
being converted into the hydrate (KHO) of that metal, caused a rapid
evolution of hydrogen. The hydrogen thus evolved was the excess over a
certain proportion which enters into combination with the mercury. While
the mercury retained the charge of hydrogen, the "quickness" of the
fluid metal was preserved; but upon the loss of the hydrogen the
"quickness" ceased, and the mercury was acted upon by the injurious
components contained in the ore.
Since the introduction of the sodium amalgam, many attempts have been
made, more especially in America, to overcome the tendency of mercury to
"sicken" and lose its "quickness." The greater number of these efforts
have been made by the use of electricity as the active agent in
attaining this end; but such efforts have been generally of a crude and
unscientific character. Latterly Mr. Barker, of the Electro-amalgamator
Company, Limited, has introduced a system--already detailed in these
pages--by which the mercury is "quickened." In his method the running
water passing over the tables, or other apparatus of a similar
character, is used as the electrolyte. In this arrangement, the mercury
being the cathode, plates or wires of copper constituting anodes are
brought into contact with the water passing over the mercury in each
"riffle." Both the cathode and the anodes are, of course, maintained in
contact with the poles of a suitable source of electrical supply. The
current then passes from the copper anode through the running water
to the mercury cathode, and so on to the negative pole of the
electro-motor. As a consequence of this arrangement, hydrogen is evolved
from the water, and has the effect of reducing any oxide or other
detrimental compound of the metal; in other words, it "quickens" and
prevents "sickening" of the fluid metal, and consequent "flouring" and
loss. While the hydrogen is evolved at the cathode, oxygen enters into
combination with the copper constituting the anodes. This to some extent
impairs the conductivity of the circuit.
The latest process, however, is that of Mr. Bernard C. Molloy, M.P.,
which we have already characterized as highly scientific and effective,
the production of a suitable amalgam being obtained under the most
economical and simple conditions. This process has the advantage of
producing not only a hydrogen amalgam, but also at will an amalgam of
hydrogen combined with any metal electro-positive to this latter. Thus
hydrogen potassium or hydrogen sodium can be obtained, as will be seen
by the following description.
Mr. Molloy's effort appears to have been, in the first place, directed
to a system which could be adapted to any existing apparatus, and in
certain cases where water was scarce, to avoid altogether the use of
that, in some districts, rare commodity. For the purpose of explanation
we select an ordinary amalgamating table fitted with mercury riffles.
The surface of the table is in no way interfered with or disturbed. The
bed of the riffle, however, is constructed of some porous material, such
as leather, non-resinous wood, or cement, which serves as the diaphragm
upon which the mercury rests, and separates the fluid metal from the
electrolyte beneath. Running the full length of the table is a thin
layer of sand, supported and pressing against the diaphragm, and lying
in this sand is the anode, formed preferably of lead. A peroxide of
that metal is formed by the action of the currents, and may be readily
reduced for use over and over again after working for from one to three
months. The peroxide of lead, as is well known, is a conductor of
electricity, and this fact constitutes an important advantage in the
working of the process. The thin layer of sand is saturated with an
electrolyte, such as dilute sulphuric acid (H_{2}SO_{4} + 20H_{2}O)
to give a simple hydrogen amalgam; (Na_{2}SO_{4} + xH_{2}O) to give a
hydrogen sodium amalgam; or (K_{2}SO_{4} + xH_{2}O) to give a hydrogen
potassium amalgam. Numerous other electrolytes constituted by acids,
alkalies, and salts can be used to form an amalgam permanently
maintained in a condition of "quickness" and freed from all liability
to "sicken," whatever the components of the ore may be. The mercury
is connected with the negative pole of the voltaic battery or other
electro-motor, and the lead made with the positive pole of the same
source. When the current passes there is formed according to the nature
of the electrolyte, a hydrogen amalgam, or an amalgam of hydrogen with a
metal electro-positive to hydrogen. The electrolyte, which, it will be
understood, is distinct and apart from the body of water passing over
the table, will last almost indefinitely, there being no consumption of
any of its constituents, excepting hydrogen and oxygen from the water
of solution. The quantity of acid or saline material contained in the
electrolyte is so very small that there can be no difficulty in finding
a supply in any district. The question of the supply of electricity is
one which in many mining districts involves considerations of practical
importance, since a large supply would necessitate water or steam power.
It has been found that two cells having an electromotive force of about
two volts each will in this process suffice; if preferred, however,
a very small dynamo machine can be used. In connection with the
electro-motive force it is requisite to use, it may be observed that an
amalgam of sodium containing only a small quantity of this metal would,
when constituting a positive element in conjunction with a lead negative
and on an aqueous electrolyte, give an opposing electro-motive force of
less than three volts. Such an amalgam could therefore be obtained under
an electro-motive force of about four volts. The electrical resistance
in the circuit constituted by the apparatus being very small, no
electrical power is wasted. When water constitutes the electrolyte, as
in Barker's system, then the electro-motive force required to obtain a
given current would be very much greater than that above specified.
The conditions assured under this process appear to be all that can
be required, while the amalgams obtained are those most calculated to
preserve the "quickness" and prevent the "sickening" of the mercury.
Mr. Molloy has designed a special form of amalgamating machine to be
used in conjunction with the above process, and with or without the aid
of water. By the employment of this machine, each particle of the ore
is slowly rolled in the quickened mercury for from fifteen to thirty or
more seconds.
When the extent of the gold and silver mining industries is considered,
and when it is borne in mind that a considerable percentage of the
precious metal present in the ore is, in the ordinary process of
extraction, lost through defective amalgamation--due to insufficient
contact with the mercury or to a total absence of contact, as in the
case of float gold--it is obvious that the introduction of any system
obviating such loss is a matter of very great importance to those who
are interested in the above mentioned industries. We expect shortly to
hear of the practical introduction on a large scale of Mr. Molloy's
process, and we look forward with interest to the results which may be
obtained from it.--_The Engineer_.
* * * * *
TREATMENT OF ORES BY ELECTROLYSIS.
By M. KILIANI.
The author lays down general principles for electrolytic metallurgy.
Ores must be distinguished as good and bad conductors; the former
may serve directly as anodes, and are easily oxidized by the
electro-negative radicals formed at their contact, and dissolve readily
in the electrolyte. The bad conductors have to be placed in contact
with a conducting anode, formed of an inoxidizable substance, such as
platinum, manganese peroxide, or coke. In laboratory experiments a good
conducting ore is electrolyzed by suspension from a platinum wire in
connection with the source of electricity, and is then immersed in the
bath. On an industrial scale the ore, coarsely broken up, is placed in
one of the compartments of a trough divided by a diaphragm.
On the fragments of the ore which extend up outside of the electrolytic
bath is laid a plate of copper connected with the positive wire. Care
must be taken that this plate does not plunge into the bath, otherwise
the current would not traverse the ore at all. The cathode is preferably
formed of the same metal which is to be obtained. The bath should
not contain organic acids. In practice the common mineral acids are
employed, or their salts, selecting by preference a salt of the metal
which is to be isolated. It is convenient to pass the current through
the greatest possible number of small decomposition troughs, taking care
that the resistance in each is not too great. With a current of one and
the same intensity we obtain in n troughs n times as much metal as in a
single one. To keep down the resistance of the circuit we employ poles
of a large surface, i.e., plenty of ore and baths which are as good
conductors as possible.
The state in which the metal is deposited at the negative pole depends
on the secondary actions undergone by the electrolyte, and especially of
the escape of gas. This is a function of the _density_, of the current,
i.e., the proportion of its intensity to the surface of the cathode. If
the density is too great there is an escape of hydrogen, and the metal
is deposited in a spongy condition. If the density of the current falls
below a certain minimum, an oxide is deposited in place of metal. The
electrolytic treatment of ores often renders it possible to separate
the different metals which may be present. These are deposited in
succession, and are sharply separated if the electromotive power is not
too great.
1. _Zinc_.--The zinciferous compounds--calamine, blende, and zinc
ash--are all poor conductors. They are first dissolved, and the salts
obtained are electrolyzed, employing anodes of coke. Blende should be
roasted before it is dissolved. The electrolytic bath should be as
concentrated as possible to avoid sponginess of the metal and an escape
of hydrogen. In a saturated solution the formation of hydrogen decreases
as the density of the current augments.
2. _Lead_.--Galena is a good conductor, and may be directly
electrolyzed. The best bath is a solution of lead nitrate. The
arborescent crystallizations extend rapidly, and must be broken from
time to time to prevent the formation of a metallic connection between
the anode and the cathode. The sulphur of the galena falls to the bottom
of the bath, and may be separated from the gangue by solution in carbon
disulphide.
3. _Copper_.--Native copper sulphide, though a good conductor, cannot
be directly electrolyzed en account of the presence of iron sulphide,
whence iron would be deposited along with the copper. The copper pyrites
are roasted, dissolved in dilute sulphuric acid, and the liquid thus
obtained is submitted to electrolysis.
* * * * *
A PEOPLE WITHOUT CONSUMPTION, AND SOME ACCOUNT OF THEIR COUNTRY--THE
CUMBERLAND TABLELAND.
By E. M. WIGHT, M.D., Chattanooga, Tenn., Late Professor of Diseases
of the Chest and State Medicine, Medical Department University of
Tennessee; Late Member of the Tennessee State Board of Health, and
ex-President of the Tennessee State Medical Society.
During the ten years that I have practiced medicine in the neighborhood
of the Cumberland Tablelands, I have often heard it said that the
people on the mountains never had consumption. Occasionally a traveling
newspaper correspondent from the North found his way down through the
Cumberlands, and wrote back filled with admiration for their grandeur,
their climate, their healthfulness, and almost invariably stated that
consumption was never known upon these mountains, excepting brought
there by some person foreign to the soil, who, if he came soon enough,
usually recovered. Similar information came to me in such a variety of
ways and number of instances, that I determined some four years ago,
when the attempt to get a State Board of Health organized was first
discussed by a few medical men of our State, that I would make an
investigation of this matter. These observations have extended over that
whole time, and have been made with great care and as much accuracy
as possible, and to my own astonishment and delight, I have become
convinced that pulmonary consumption does not exist among the people
native and resident to the Tablelands of the Cumberland Mountains.
In the performance of the work which has enabled me to arrive at this
conclusion, I have had the generous assistance of more than twenty
physicians, who have been many years in practice in the vicinity of
these mountains. Their knowledge of the diseases which had occurred
there extended over a, period of more than forty years. Some of these
physicians have reported the knowledge of the occurrence of deaths from
consumption on the Tablelands, but when carefully inquired into they
have invariably found that the person dying was not a native of the
mountains, but, a sojourner in search of health. In answer to the
question: "How many cases of pulmonary consumption have you known to
occur on Walden's Ridge, among the people native to the mountains?"
eleven physicians say, "Not one." All of these have been engaged in
practice there more than three years, four of them more than ten years,
one of them more than twenty, and one of them more than forty years. All
the physicians of whom inquiries have been made are now residents, or
have been, of the valleys contiguous to Walden's Ridge, and know the
mountain people well. Four other physicians in answer to the same
question say, that they have known from one to four cases, numbering
eleven in all, but had not ascertained whether five of them were born
and raised on the mountains or not. The names and place of death of all
these cases were given, and I have traced their history and found that
but three of them were "natives," or had lived there more than five
years, and that one of these was 57 years of age when she died, and had
suffered from cancer for three years before her death. The two others
died within six months after returning home from long service in the
army, where both contracted their disease.
All these investigations have been made with more particular reference
to that part of the Cumberlands known as Walden's Ridge than to the
mountains as a whole. This ridge is of equal elevation and of very
similar character to the main Cumberland range in the southern part of
Tennessee, northwest Georgia, and northwest Alabama, and what is true of
this particular part of the great Cumberland table is, in the main, true
of the remainder.
Sequatchee Valley lies between Walden's Ridge and what is commonly known
in that neighborhood as the Cumberland Mountains, and separates it from
the main range for a distance of about one hundred miles, from the
Tennessee River below Chattanooga to Grassy Cove, well up toward the
center line of the State. Grassy Cove is a small basin valley, which
was described to me there as a "sag in the mountains," just above the
Sequatchee Valley proper. It is here that the Sequatchee River rises,
and flowing under the belt of hills which unites the ridge and the main
range, for two miles or more, rises again at the head of Sequatchee
Valley. Above Grassy Cove the mountains unite and hold their union
firmly on their way north as far as our State reaches.
Topographically considered as a whole, the Cumberland range has its
southern terminus in Alabama, and its northern in Pennsylvania. It
is almost wholly composed of coal-bearing rocks, resting on Devonian
strata, which are visible in many places in the valleys.
But a small portion of the Cumberland lies above a plane of 2,000 feet.
Walden's Ridge and Lookout Mountain vary in height from 2,000 to 2,500
feet.
North of Grassy Cove, after the ridges are united, the variation from
2,000 feet is but little throughout the remainder of the State, and
the general character of the table changes but little. The great and
important difference is in the climate, the winters being much more
severe in these mountains in the northern part of the State than in the
southern, and the summers much more liable to sudden changes of weather.
Scott, Fentress, and Morgan counties comprise this portion of the table,
and these have not been included in my examination, excepting as to
general features.
In all our southern country, and I may say in our whole country, there
is no other large extent of elevated territory which offers mankind
a pleasant living place, a comfortable climate--none too cold or too
hot--and productive lands. We have east of the upper waters of the great
Tennessee River, in our State, and in North Carolina and Georgia, the
great Blue Ridge range of mountains, known as the Unaka, or Smoky,
Chilhowee, Great and Little Frog, Nantahala, etc., all belonging to the
same family of hills. This chain has the same general course as the
Cumberlands. It is a much bolder range of mountains, but it is vastly
less inhabitable, productive, or convenient of access. The winters there
are severely cold, and the nights in summer are too cold and damp for
health and comfort, as I know by personal experience of two summers on
Nantahala River. But the trout fishing is beyond comparison, and that
is one inducement of great value for a stout consumptive _who is a good
fellow_. These mountains are much more broken up into branches, peaks,
and spurs than the Cumberlands. They afford no table terrritory of
any extent. There are some excellent places there for hot summer
visits--Ashville, Warm Springs, Franklin, and others.
The Cumberland Mountains, as a whole, are flat, in broad level spaces,
broken only by the "divides," or "gulfs," as they are called by the
inhabitants, where the streams flow out into the valleys.
Walden's Ridge, of which we come now to speak particularly, is the best
located of any part of the Cumberlands as a place for living. From the
separation of this ridge from the main range of Grassy Cove to its
southern terminus at the Tennessee River, it maintains a remarkably
uniform character in every particular. From it access to commerce is
easy, having the Tennessee River and the new (now building) Cincinnati
Southern Railroad skirting its entire length on the east. It rises very
abruptly from both the Tennessee and Sequatchee Valleys, being from
1,200 to 1,500 feet higher than the valleys on each side. Looking from
below, on the Tennessee Valley side, the whole extent of the ridge
appears securely walled in at the top by a continuous perpendicular wall
of sandstone, from 100 to 200 feet high; and from the Sequatchee side
the appearance is very similar, excepting that the wall is not so
continuous, and of less height.
The top of the ridge is one level stretch of plain, broken only by the
"gulfs" before mentioned and an occasional prominent sandstone wall or
bowlder. The width on top is, I should judge, 6 or 7 miles. The soil is
of uniform character, light, sandy, and less productive for the ordinary
crops of the Tennessee farmer than the soil of the lowlands. The grape,
apple, and potato grow to perfection, better than in the valleys, and
are all never failing crops; so with rye and buckwheat. Corn grows
well, very well in selected spots, and where the land is made rich
by cultivation. The grasses are rich and luxuriant, even in the wild
forests, and when cultivated, the appearance is that of the rich farms
of the Ohio or Connecticut Rivers, only here they are green and growing
the greater part of the year; so much so that sheep, and in the mild
winters the young cattle, live by the wild grasses of the forests the
whole year. The great stock raisers of the Sequatchee and Tennessee
Valleys make this the summer pasture for their cattle, and drive them to
their own farms and barns or to market in winter. The whole Cumberland
table, with the exception of that small part which is under cultivation,
is one great free, open pasture for all the cattle of the valleys.
Thousands of cattle graze there whose owners never pay a dollar for
pasturage or own an acre of the range, though, as a rule, most of the
well-to-do stock farmers in the valleys own more or less mountain lands.
These lands have, until quite recently, been begging purchasers at from
121/2 to 25 cents per acre in large tracts of 10,000 acres and upward, and
perhaps the same could be said of the present time, leaving out choice
tracts and easily accessible places, which are held at from 50 cents to
$2 per acre, wooded virgin lands.
The forest growth of Walden's Ridge is almost entirely oak and chestnut.
Hickory, perhaps, comes next in frequency, and pine after. There is but
little undergrowth, and where the forests have never been molested there
are but few small trees. This is due to the annual fires which occur
every autumn, or some time in winter, almost without exception, and
overrun the whole ridge. It does not rage like a prairie fire. Its
progress is usually slow, the material consumed being only the dry
forest leaves and grasses. The one thing essential to its progress is
these dry leaves, hence it cannot march into the clearings. Nearly all
the small shrubs are killed by these fires, otherwise they are harmless,
and are greatly valued by the stock men for the help they render in the
growth of the wild grasses. The free circulation of air through these
great unbroken forests is certainly much facilitated by these fires,
since they destroy every year what would soon become impediments. The
destruction of this undergrowth leaves the woods open, and the lands are
mainly so level that a carriage may be driven for miles, regardless of
roads, through the forests in every direction.
The shrubs about the fields and places where the forests have
been interrupted by civilization and other causes are blackberry,
huckleberry, raspberry, sumac, and their usual neighbors, with the
azalia, laurel, and rhododendron on the slopes and in the shade of the
cliffs.
The kinds of wild grasses, I regret to say, I have not noted, and the
same of the rich and varied display of wild flowers.
The whole ridge is well supplied with clean, soft running water, even
in the driest of the season. There are no marshes, swamps, or bogs, no
still water--not even a "puddle" for long--for the soil is of such a
character, that surface water quickly filters away into the sands and
mingles with the streams in the gulfs. Springs of mineral water are
abundant everywhere. Probably there is not a square mile of Walden's
Ridge which does not furnish chalybeate water abundantly. Sulphur
springs with Epsom salts in combination are nearly as common.
The entire extent of Walden's Ridge is underlaid with veins of coal, and
iron ore is plentiful, especially in the foot hills. The coal and iron
are successfully mined in many places on the eastern slope; on the
western they are nearly untouched for the want of transportation. I find
that the impression prevails that the minerals of the Cumberlands are
largely controlled by land agents and speculators. This is only true as
applied to a very small part of the whole, not more than 1 per cent. The
mineral ownership remains with the lands almost entirely.
The prevailing winds on Walden's Ridge are from the southwest; northers
and northeasters are of rare occurrence. One old lady who had resided
there for forty years, in answer to my query upon this subject, said:
"Nine days out of ten, the year round, I can smell Alabama in the air."
This was the usual testimony of the residents. Winds of great velocity
never occur there. In summer there is always an evening breeze,
commencing at 4 to 6 o'clock, and continuing until after sunrise
the next morning. In times of rain, clouds hang low over the ridge
occasionally, but they never have fogs there.
The range of the thermometer is less on the Tablelands than in the
adjacent valleys. I have had access to the carefully taken observations
of the Lookout Mountain Educational Institute, such published accounts
as have been made by Professor Safford, State Geologist, Mr. Killebrew,
the thorough and painstaking private record of Captain John P. Long,
of Chattanooga, and many more of less length of time. From all these I
deduce the fact that the summer days are seven or eight degrees cooler
on the mountains than in the Tennessee Valley at Chattanooga, and five
or six degrees cooler than in the Sequatchee Valley, as far up as Dunlay
and Pikeville. The nights on the table are cooler than in the lower
lands by several more degrees than the days; how much I have thus far
not been able to state. The late fall months, the winter, and early
spring are not so much colder than the valleys as the summer months, the
difference between the average temperature of the mountains and valleys
being at that time four or five degrees less than in the summer. There
is no record of so hot a day ever having occurred on the Cumberladd
Mountains as to cause mercury to run so high as 95 deg. F., or so cold a day
as to cause it to run so low as 10 deg. below zero.
In the average winter the ground rarely freezes to a greater depth than
2 or 3 inches, and it remains frozen but a few days at a time. Ice has
been known to form 8 inches thick, but in ordinary winters, 3 or 4
is the maximum. Snow falls every winter, more or less, and sometimes
remains for a week. Old people have a remembrance of a foot of snow
which lasted for a week.
Walden's Ridge has a total population of a little more than 4,000,
scattered over 600 square miles of surface. The number of dwellings is
about 800. Ninety per cent. of these are log houses; 70 per cent. of
them are without glass windows; light being furnished through the
doorways, always open in the daytime, the shuttered window openings, and
the open spaces between the logs of the walls. Less than 2 per cent. of
these houses have plastered walls or ceilings, and less than 5 per cent.
have ceiled walls or ceilings. About 20 per cent. of them are fairly
well chinked with clay between the logs, the remainder being but
indifferently built in that particular. Fully 90 per cent. of these
abodes admit of free access of air at all times of day and night,
through the floors beneath as well as the walls and roof above. It is
the custom of the people to guard against the coldest of days and nights
by hanging bed clothes against the walls, and many good housewives have
a supply of tidy drapery which they keep alone for this purpose.
Wood, always at hand, is the only fuel in use. The whole heating
apparatus consists in one large open fireplace, built of stone,
communicating with a large chimney outside the house at one end, and
frequently scarcely as high as the one story building which supports it.
This chimney is constructed in such a manner as to be a great ventilator
of the whole room, quite sufficient, it would be thought, if there were
no other means of ventilation. It is usually made of stone at the
base, and that part above the fire is of sticks laid upon one another,
cobhouse fashion, and plastered over inside and between with similar
clay as that with which the house walls are chinked.
Very few of these houses are more than one story high. They are all
covered with long split oak shingles--the people there call them
"boards"--rifted from the trunks of selected trees. There is no
sheathing on the roof beneath these shingles. They are nailed down upon
the flat hewn poles running across the rafters, at convenient distances.
Looking up through the many openings in the roof in one of these house,
one would think that this would be but poor protection against rain, but
they rarely leak.
Not one family in fifty is provided with a cooking stove. They bake
their bread in flat iron kettles, with iron covers, covered with hot
coals and ashes. These they call ovens. The meat is fried, with only the
exception of when accompanied by "turnip greens."
The question, "What is the principal food of the people who live on
these mountains?" has been asked by me several hundred times. The
almost invariable answer has been, "Corn bread, bacon, and coffee."
Occasionally biscuits and game have been mentioned in the answers. All
food is eaten hot. Coffee is usually an accompaniment of all three
meals, and is drunk without cream and often without sugar. Some families
eat beef and mutton for one or two of the colder months in the year on
rare occasions, though beef is commonly considered "onfit to go
upon," as I was told upon several occasions, and mutton sustains less
reputation. Chickens are used for food while they are young and tender
enough to fry, on occasions of quarterly meetings, visits of "kinfolks"
or the "preachers" and the traveling doctors. Fat young lambs are plenty
in many settlements from March to October, and can be had at fifty cents
each, but I could not learn that one was ever eaten.
A large majority of the adult population use tobacco in some shape--the
men by chewing or smoking, the women by smoking or dipping snuff. They
never have dyspepsia, nor do they ever get flesh, after they pass out of
childhood, though nearly all the children are ruddy in appearance, and
well rounded with fat.
One physical type prevails among the people in middle life, and carries
along into old age but little change; and old age is common there.
Nearly every house has its old man or old woman, or both. Everybody,
father and mother, and frequently grandfather and grandmother, is still
on hand, looking as brisk and moving about as lively as the newer
generations. After they pass their forty years, they never seem to
grow any older for the next twenty or thirty, and the grandfathers and
grandmothers can scarcely be selected, by comparison, from their own
children and grandchildren. The men are taller than the average, and
the women, relatively, taller than the men. They are all thin featured,
bright eyed, long haired, sharp looking people, with every appearance of
strength and power of endurance.
I think the men who live on Walden's Ridge can safely challenge the
world as walkers--aborigines and all; and unless the challenge should be
accepted by their own women folks, I feel quite sure they would "win the
boots." They go everywhere on foot, and never seem to tire.
Nearly all the people of the Tablelands are employed in the pursuits of
agriculture. Very few of them seem to be hard workers. The men are all
great lovers of the forest sports, much given to the good, reliable, old
fashioned long rifles. The women and children are much employed in out
door occupations, and live a great portion of their time in the open
air. The clothing of all classes is scanty. The use of woolen fabrics
for underwear has not yet been introduced, and coarse cotton domestic
is the universal shirting, and cotton jeans, or cotton and wool mixed,
constitute the staple for outer wearing apparel. The men wear shoes
throughout the year much more commonly than boots. They never wear
gloves, mittens, scarfs, or overcoats, and they scorn umbrellas.
Probably this whole 4,000 people do not possess two dozen umbrellas or
twice as many overcoats. The women go about home with bare feet a great
part of the summer. They never wear corsets or other lacing.
I have learned by careful inquiry that very few of the people of the
Ridge have ever had the diseases of childhood. Scarlet fever I could
hear of in but two places, and I suppose that not one person in fifty
has had it. Whooping cough and measles have occurred but rarely, and the
large majority have not yet experienced the realities of either. Very
few people there have ever been vaccinated, nor has smallpox ever
prevailed. Typhoid, typhus, and intermittent fevers are unknown. In the
great rage of typhoid fever which took place ten or twelve years ago in
the Tennessee and Sequatchee Valleys, not a single case occurred on the
Mountains, as I have been informed by physicians who were engaged in
practice in the neighborhood at the time. Diphtheria has never found a
victim there; so of croup. Nobody has nasal catarrh there, and a cough
or a cold is exceedingly rare.
I have said that these observations refer more particularly to Walden's
Ridge than to the Cumberland Tablelands in our State as a whole. This
ridge was chosen by me for this examination, mainly for the reason of
its convenience, but partly owing to its being more generally settled
than any other equal portion of the table which lies in Tennessee.
Lookout Mountain is not as well located; it is on the wrong side of the
Tennessee River, and but a few acres of it belong in this State. Sand
Mountain is altogether out of the State, but it is perhaps nearer like
Walden's Ridge in its physical features than Lookout. That part of the
Cumberlands west of Sequatchee Valley is Walden's Ridge in duplicate,
excepting that it is further west, and nearer the Middle Tennessee
basin. There are some small towns, villages of miners, and summer
resorts there, which interferes with that evenness of the distribution
of population which Walden's Ridge has, rendering it more liable to
visitations of epidemic and contagious diseases. The tablelands north
of the center line of the State, above Grassy Cove, are very similar
to Walden's Ridge, as far up as Kentucky, with the exception before
mentioned--that of climate--it being from one to ten degrees colder in
winter.
This whole Cumberland Table is no small country. It comprises territory
enough to make a good sized State. At present, it is almost one great
wilderness, in many particulars as unknown as the Black Hills. It is
coming into the world now, and will be well known in a few years. The
great city of Cincinnati has determined to build a railroad through
the very center of this great table in the north part of the State,
connecting with Chattanooga in the southern part. This road is nearly
bored through, and in another year or two the Cumberland Tablelands in
Tennessee will be much heard of at home and abroad.
It seems to me this country has merits. It is located in the latitude of
mild climate; not so far south as to be scorched by the hot summer sun,
or visited by the great life destroying epidemics; not so far north as
to meet the severe and lengthened winters.
Climate, we know, is a fixture; it has a government; it has rules; the
weather may change, but climate does not; it is a permanent out-door
affair, and what is true of to-day was true centuries ago, and will
be true forever, in the measure of any practical scope, at least. The
people of the world are beginning to know that the greatest destroyer of
human life has its remedy in climate.
Mr. Lombard, in his famous exhibit in relation to the prevalence of
consumption among the people of different occupations, circumstances of
life, and place of dwelling, gives the lowest number of deaths from this
cause to those who live in the open air. He found the people who lived
most in the open air, as would be readily conjectured, in the mild
latitudes, not in the countries of hot sands or cold snows.
[The above article, in regard to which we have noticed frequent
allusions in many of our exchanges, all erroneously attributing it to
_Dr. Wright_, of Tennessee, and for which we have received repeated
requests quite recently, was read by the lamented Dr. E.M. Wight at
the 43d annual meeting of the Tennessee State Medical Society, held
at Nashville, April 4, 5, and 6, 1876. Its distinguished and talented
author will long be remembered as one of the most active, earnest, and
zealous members of the State Society. At this meeting he also read a
very admirable paper on "The Microscopic Appearance of the Blood in
Syphilis," and prepared the report of the Committee on State Board
of Health, to which report may be ascribed the honor of securing the
necessary legislation organizing the Board. A true, upright, honest man,
an earnest, devoted and zealous physician, universally esteemed and
beloved by all who knew him; himself the subject of tuberculosis, dying
in the prime of a brilliant manhood. He had but few equals in the
glorious profession he honored and loved so well.
From a careful reading of his paper, we find that he describes a large
area of territory, free, absolutely free, from subsoil moisture, a
climate mild and equable, a soil capable of producing nearly everything
necessary for the comfortable maintenance of human life, surroundings
that tempt, nay, compel the greatest possible amount of open air
life. His description is exceedingly accurate of a plain, primitive,
simple-minded people with but few wants, many of the virtues and few
of the vices of humanity. With their surroundings, soil, climate,
residence, and mode of living, need we be surprised that "there is
a people," or a land "free from consumption"?--ED.]--_Southern
Practitioner_.
* * * * *
THE TREATMENT OF HABITUAL CONSTIPATION.
Dr. F.P. Atkinson thus writes in the _Practitioner_, January, 1884: I
suppose there is no derangement of the system we are more frequently
called upon to treat than habitual constipation; and though all kinds of
medicines are suggested for its relief, they rarely produce more than
temporary benefit--and it is difficult to see how the result can well be
otherwise, while the root of the evil remains untouched. Now by far the
more numerous subjects of this disorder are women; and as they do not
seem to know that regularity is essential to the performance of every
one of nature's operations, they appoint no stated times for trying to
get the bowels relieved, but trust to receiving intimation when the
rectal accumulation and distension can be borne no longer. This method
of action may and does answer fairly well for a time; but nature
gradually gets upset, the sensation of the lower bowel becomes blunted,
and at last it ceases to respond to the ordinary stimulus. Then
aperients are regularly resorted to, and although these act fairly
well for a time, they gradually have to be increased in strength
and frequency. Now, as regards the treatment, the first thing to be
accomplished is of course to get the rectum well relieved; the next,
to get the actions to take place at fixed times; and lastly, it is
necessary to get more tone imparted to the muscular tissue of the
bowels, so that the regularity of action may be helped and also
maintained. In order, then, to get the bowels relieved in the first
instance, it is well to give five grains of both compound colocynth and
compound rhubarb pill at bed-time (this rarely requires to be repeated),
then to take a tumblerful of cold water the next morning on waking, and
repeat it regularly at the same time each day. Should the bowels remain
sluggish for some time, the same quantity of water may be taken daily
before each meal. Supposing no action takes place on rising or shortly
after, a small injection of warm water may be resorted to. After each
movement of the bowels, a small hand-ball syringeful of _cold_ water
should be thrown into the rectum and retained. A soup plateful of coarse
oatmeal porridge (made with water and taken according to the Scotch
method, viz., by filling half the spoon with the hot porridge and the
other with cold milk) each night at bed-time, or even every night and
morning for a time, is often a very great help. But above all things,
it is necessary for the patient to _try_ and get relief at a certain
_fixed_ time regularly every day. If these directions are strictly
carried out in their entirety, the evil, even if it has been of long
standing, will generally be corrected, and the patient will improve in
health and appearance. Of course where the constipation results from
exhaustion of the nervous system (such, for instance, as is brought
about by self-abuse), the special cause has to be taken into
consideration, and such treatment adopted as is suited to the particular
necessities of the case.
* * * * *
THE PYRAMIDS OF MEROE.
About fifty miles from the mouth of the Atbara, and, of course, on the
eastern bank of the Nile, stand the pyramids of Meroe. They consist
of three groups, and there are, in all, about eighty pyramids. The
presumption is that they represent the old sepulchers of the kings of
Meroe. Candance, Queen of the Ethiopians, mentioned in Acts, chap.
viii., v. 27, is supposed to have belonged to Meroe, that being the name
also of the capital, which is understood to have been somewhere not far
distant from the sepulchers. These pyramids of Meroe possess one marked
feature, distinguishing them from the pyramids of Egypt proper--that is,
they have an external doorway or porch. As there is no entrance to the
pyramid at these porticoes, it is quite possible that they were temples
for worship or making offerings to the dead. By comparing them with
the pyramids of Ghizeh, it will be seen that they are also taller in
proportion to their base. Another important point in these porches
or temples is the existence of the arch; and that, too, an arch in
principle, with a keystone.--_Illustrated London News_.
[Illustration: THE PYRAMIDS OF MEROE, ON THE NILE.]
* * * * *
THE PROLIFICNESS OF THE OYSTER.
In an article by Prof. Karl Mobius on "The Oyster and Oyster Culture,"
reproduced in the recently issued report of the U. S. Commissioner of
Fish and Fisheries, the author says:
A mature egg-bearing oyster lays about one million of eggs, so that
during the breeding season there are upon our oyster beds at least
2,200,000,000,000 young oysters, which surely would suffice to transform
the entire extent of the sea-flats into an unbroken oyster bed; for if
such a number of young oysters should be distributed over a surface 74
kilometers long by 22 broad, 1,351 oysters would be allotted to every
square meter. But this sum of 2,200,000,000,000 young oysters is
undoubtedly less than that in reality hatched out, for not only do those
full-grown oysters which are over six years of age spawn, but they begin
to propagate during their second or third year, although it is true that
the young ones have fewer eggs than those which are fully developed. At
a very moderate estimation, the total number of three to six year old
oysters which lie upon our beds will produce three hundred billions of
eggs. This number added to that produced by the five millions of full
grown oysters would give for every square meter of surface not merely
1,351 young oysters, but at least 1,535. In order to determine how
many eggs oysters produce, they must be examined during their spawning
season. This begins upon the Schleswig-Holstein beds in the middle of
June, and lasts until the end of August or beginning of September. The
spawning oyster does not allow its ripe eggs to fall into the water, as
do many other mollusks, but retains them in the so-called beard, the
mantle, and gill-plates until they become little swimming animals. The
eggs are white, and cover the mantle and gill-plates as a semi-fluid,
cream-like mass. As soon as they leave the generative organs the
development of the germ begins. The entire yolk-mass of the egg divides
into cells, and these cells form a hollow, sphere-like body, in which an
intestinal canal arises by the invagination of one side. Very soon the
beginnings of the shell appear along the right and left sides of the
back of the embryo, and not long afterward a ciliated pad, the velum, is
formed along the under side. This velum can be thrust out from between
the valves of the shell at the will of the young animal, and used by the
motion of its cilia as an organ for driving food to the mouth, or
in swimming as a rudder. During these transformations the original
cream-white color of the germ changes into pale gray, and finally into a
deep bluish-gray color. At this time they have a long oval outline, and
are from 0.15 to 0.18 of a millimeter in breadth. Over 300,000 can find
room upon a square centimeter of surface. If an oyster in which the
embryos are in this condition is opened, there will be found upon its
beard a slimy coating thickly loaded with grayish-blue granules. These
granules are the embryo oysters, if a drop of the granular slime be
placed in a dish with pure sea water, the young animals will soon
separate from the mass, and spread swimming through the entire water.
When the embryos are at this stage their number may be estimated in the
following manner: The whole mass of embryos is carefully scraped from
the beard of the mother oyster by means of a small hair brush. The whole
mass is then weighed, and afterward a small portion of the mass. This
small portion is then diluted with water or spirits of wine, and the
embryos portioned out into a number of small glass dishes, so that they
can be placed under the microscope and counted. Thus, knowing the weight
of the small portion and the number of embryos in it by count, we can
estimate the total number of embryos from the weight of the entire mass,
which is also known. In this manner I estimated the number of embryos
in each of five full grown Schleswig-Holstein oysters caught in August,
1869, and found that the average number was 1,012,956.
Notwithstanding this great fecundity, but an extremely small proportion
of the young oysters produced during the course of the summer arrive
at maturity, 421 only out of 500,000,000 escaping destruction. The
immolation of a vast number of young germs is the means by which nature
secures to a few germs the certainty of arriving at maturity. In order
to render the ideas of germ-fecundity and productiveness more easily
understood, Prof. Mobius makes the following comparison between the
oyster and man:
According to Wappaus, for every 1,000 men there are 347 births.
According to Bockh, out of every 1,000 men born 554 arrive at maturity,
that is, live to be twenty years or more of age; thus, on an average,
347 children are produced from 554 mature men, or 626 children from
1,000 mature men. Since 1,000 full-grown oysters produce 440,000,000 of
germs, then the germ fecundity of the oyster is to the germ fecundity of
man as 440,000,000 to 6.26, or as 7,028,754 to 1. On the other hand, the
number which arrive at maturity is 579,002 times as great with mankind
as with the oyster; for of 1,000 human embryos brought into the world
554 arrive at maturity, or of 440,000,000 newly born 243,760,000 would
live to grow up, while of 440,000,000 young oysters only 421 ever become
capable of propagating their species. The proportion is then 421 to
243,760,000, or as 1 to 579,002. I am fully persuaded that these figures
represent the number of oysters which arrive at maturity more favorably
than is really the case, since from every thousand of full grown oysters
it is certain that, on an average, more than 440,000,000 young are
produced.
* * * * *
RED SKY.
The beautiful red sky which has been so frequent of late, morning as
well as evening, has excited much comment. The comment, however, has
consisted more of description, statement of fact, theory, and wonder as
to cause, rather than as to satisfactory explanation.
Facts in the case which would reveal the secret of this beautiful
display of nature are not complete and numerous enough at present to
establish the cause of this phenomenon on a sure basis; yet enough
facts, it would seem, have been obtained to satisfy the strong mind
capable of bridging over a wide expanse.
Facts in an argument are like piers to a bridge-the more we have of
them, c. p., the more substantial the structure. When the facts are
_legion_, the structure becomes a causeway, and there is no need of
argument.
Argument is a bridge--the fewer the facts, the more the necessity for
the bridge; the less the facts, the more argument necessary to connect
the few we have, and the more skill is required to make substantial
connecting links between the few solid piers (facts) that exist.
One of the queer things in connection with this is, the public have
looked chiefly, if not wholly, to the astronomers for an explanation
of this phenomenon, when it is not their special province to explain
matters in this department of nature.
The explanation belongs to the department of meteorology, and not to
astronomy. But the fact of having looked to the astronomers shows how
little the world knows of meteorology and how few meteorologists
there are able, ready, and willing to rise and explain in face of the
opposition of the public, who seem to think that the explanation must
necessarily belong to astronomy. Astronomy proper deals with the
position of the earth in space and its relation to the other heavenly
bodies, whether suns, fixed stars, planets, satellites, comets, or other
bodies in the vast space about us. Meteorology deals with the atmosphere
of the globe, in all its forms. Astronomy could be studied in the early
ages; its grand facts were not wholly dependent upon the advanced
condition of the mechanic arts; it could be studied even without the aid
of telescopes, though telescopes have added much to its advancement.
Meteorology, on the contrary, depended on the advancement of the arts
and sciences; they must first be perfected ere we could know much about
this branch of science. To one unfamiliar with the advancement and
perfection of meteorology within the past ten years, this statement
may seem strange, yet it is an undisputable fact that, prior to the
establishment of the daily weather reports, the knowledge on this
subject amounted to very little, and was not even worthy of being
designated a science. Prior to the advent of the weather map the world
was in absolute ignorance of the laws governing the atmosphere. Sure, we
had had large volumes on the laws of storms, but the later revelations
leave them shelved high and dry on the shores and as useless as a wreck
in a similar condition; with the daily weather map before us we have no
need to even open these huge volumes; they are completely circumvented,
and only negative in value--to show how little was known of the subject
without the full and complete facts daily collected and spread before us
on the map published by the Weather Bureau.
In order to understand the color of our sky, we must understand the
subject which is so immediately connected with it and its creation.
The earth is a sphere in space; generally speaking, it is composed of
land and water. These are two factors; the heat that it derives from
the sun forms a third factor; the three--land, water, and heat--are
essential to life, at least the higher conditions of life which
culminate in man. The old physical geography taught us this much, but
it was not able to go further and tell us why it was cold or warm
independent of the seasons; it could not explain why it was at times as
warm, and even warmer, half-way to the pole than at the equator; why it
was at times very warm in the extreme northeast while very cold in
the Southern States; cold in the northwest when it was warm in the
northeast, and warm in the northwest when cold all along the upper
Atlantic seaboard; it could not forewarn us of storms. These and a
host of other facts, which the weather map makes as plain as astronomy
demonstrates that Jupiter is a planet, the new revelation, through the
instrumentality of the perfected telegraph system, makes exceedingly
plain to us if we will but seek the easily obtained information.
The principal revelations of the weather map are the facts in regard to
the areas of high and low barometer, and the influence they exert upon
the climate of the globe.
These conditions--high and low barometer--move on general lines from the
west towards the east, or towards the rising sun, and around the world
in irregular belts. The centers of low barometer are various distances
apart, from a thousand to two thousand and even more miles apart--call
the average about two thousand miles.
The clouds are formed from the moisture present by the action of the
sun's heat. The direction of the wind is from the area of high barometer
to that of low. The nearer the winds approach the center of "low" (low
barometer), the more they partake of the lines of the volute curve, or
curve of the sea shell or water in a whirlpool. High barometer is the
atmospheric hill; low barometer is the atmospheric valley. But time at
present will not permit more than these general statements; a close
study of the weather map for a season will reveal the beautiful minor
details.
To the reader it may seem a long way round, yet in order to fully
understand the nature of the atmosphere which surrounds our globe we
must pay due attention to these newly discovered physical laws.
The red sky which was so noticeable, in the fall of 1883, the
astronomers have told us was due to "meteoric dust" which was produced
by the volcanic eruption on the island of Java, August 27, 1883.
This "meteoric dust" they say combined with the atmosphere, followed it
around the earth, and caused the beautiful redness of the sky at morning
and evening. For one, I do not believe dust of any description in the
atmosphere would produce such an effect.
There is nothing luminous, transparent, or delicate about dust. Dust
would not remain in the atmosphere for months, it would settle in a very
short time, and if thick enough in the atmosphere to obstruct the light
of the sun it would be visible, discernible, to the eye, and manifest
on the face of nature. Years ago, before the age of the weather map, we
might have thought that the atmosphere followed the surface of the earth
like the water on a grindstone, but it does not. As already seen, the
wind is from the area of high barometer to that of low, and there are
many of these "low centers."
From the best calculation we can make at present, there would be at
least some six centers on an average between the center of the United
States and the island of Java. In addition to this there would also be
a number of belts of "low" centers, which would complicate the thing
threefold at least. At all these different centers the winds would be
blowing from all points of the compass at the same time. Such winds
would not be apt to bring the "meteoric dust" from Java to the United
States, either in an easterly or westerly direction. But, it is said,
"dust" has been gathered.
How high from the surface of the ground has this _dust_ been
gathered--at what elevation?
There is undoubtedly a little dust in the air most of the time, but I do
not think that it extends very high. Where it would be the highest and
most perceptible would be on the arid plans of Africa and Asia, when
the _simoom_ is passing, or in the track of a tornado. But from the
multiplicity of these storm centers and the varied winds they would
produce even this dust could not travel from Java to America.
Again, all clouds, no matter how high or how low, are affected by the
low centers, as the movement of clouds prove, and travel from the "high"
to the "low," from and to all points of the compass. High authority
gives the heights of the clouds as follows: lower clouds, 16,000 feet;
upper clouds, 23,000 feet.
As all clouds, from the highest to the lowest, are affected by the
centers as above referred to, it follows that if this "meteoric dust"
follows the earth around, as it would have to do in order to make good
this theory, it would have to travel suspended in the atmosphere above
the upper clouds, or at a height of more than 23,000 feet, or at an
elevation of over four miles!
Now, is it reasonable to believe that dust, however fine, will remain in
the atmosphere at that elevation for over six months?
As a side argument it is suggested that the smoke of the burning woods,
or few years ago in Michigan, caused as peculiar condition of the
atmosphere. This extensive fire was on a day when the area of low
barometer was on a high line of latitude and passing to the eastward.
This naturally took the smoke, which is far lighter than dust, along
with it. It mingled with the muggy condition of an extensive "low," and
produced a yellowness of the atmosphere. This however was of only a few
hours' duration, and was only visible in favorable localities.
Here again we see the advantage of the weather maps; but for this map we
would never have been able to have satisfactorily explained the peculiar
phenomenon produced by the great Michigan fire.
If the delicate redness of the sky is not caused by dust, what is it
caused by?
But for the weather map, I think we should still be in the dark in
regard to it.
In the first place, this redness is nothing new, only the conditions
are more favorable sometimes than at others. It has always existed and
always will exist, independent of earthquakes, volcanoes, etc. Nature
is ever changing; the movements of the atmosphere more resemble the
kaleidoscope than any thing else.
The summer and fall of 1883, the movements of "high" (high barometer)
over the United States were quite central and extensive, causing this
peculiar phenomenon over a wide extent of territory.
We have no information of the condition of the barometer over the other
part of the world; we speak move particularly of the United States; yet
if certain conditions produce certain effects here, it is quite safe to
say that the same effects are produced by the same cause elsewhere.
As now well established by the map, the surface wind is from the area
of high barometer to that of low--from the atmospheric hill to the
atmospheric valley.
The tendency of this is to free "high" of all clouds and moisture; but
then it is impossible to free "high" entirely of moisture; a little
will remain, and it is just this little, which is highly rarefied, that
produces the result. We look around us and above, we see little or no
evidence of evaporation, yet it is the while going on. When the sun is
immediately below the horizon, where it will shine horizontally through
the mass of light, suspended moisture, the delicate presence of vapor
heretofore unnoticed is revealed. The action of the sun's rays is the
same as when illuminating a well formed cloud--it is an embodiment
of the same principle, but the material is much more expanded. The
particles of suspended moisture are very fine, few and far between,
therefore the effect of the light upon it is more diffused and
transparent. It is much like looking through a piece of window glass
flatwise and endwise; flatwise we do not perceive any color; endwise,
from seeing through a greater mass, the glass has a very perceptible
green color.
We see the same idea also in the rising and setting sun and moon. On
a clear, cloudless night, when nothing seems to interfere with the
brightness of the stars, we cannot, by looking upward, perceive any
moisture present in the atmosphere; but if we cast our eyes to the
horizon, whereby we see through the mass of atmosphere endwise, as it
were, and note the appearance of the stars there, or the rising or
setting moon, we will see that the atmosphere there gives a redness
to the rising body, which it does not have when it has ascended to
mid-heaven. On a clear night, which is caused by the presence of the
area of high barometer, the moon when in mid-heaven is of a clear,
silver-white, and it is the same moon that at the horizon was a deep
red. The color of the moon has not changed; it is simply the medium
through which it is seen that produces the difference in color.
Occasionally, on a clear, bright ("high") night, when the moon is full,
prior to rising, when just below the horizon, it will so illuminate this
lower strata of atmosphere as to appear like a great fire; the moon
rises red, but its deep color gradually fades as it rises, and when well
up in the heavens we perceive that this deep coloring was an illusion
and merely the influence of its surroundings. I never, though, knew of
any one to attempt to account for this by "meteoric dust;" and yet it is
an embodiment of the same principle. Place the sun where the moon is,
and from its far superior abundance of light we have a much grander
display.
Under no other conditions or relations of the sun and earth is it
possible to have this phenomenon of the delicate red sky but when a
positive area of high barometer is passing and extends over us. In
order to produce this effect we must have the clear atmosphere of high
barometer, when there is a minimum of moisture present. The action of
the sun's rays upon this extensive area of slightly moist rarefied
air is unconfined by clouds, and reaches far and wide, and produces
a delicacy of color which from no other source or condition can be
realized.
ISAAC P. NOYES.
Washington, D. C., 1884.
* * * * *
A THEORY OF COMETARY PHENOMENA.
_To the, Editor of the Scientific American_:
The following subject, substantially, was written more than a year ago
with a view to its publication. It was not, however, until January of
the present year that I sent a brief communication to the _Brooklyn
Eagle_, which was published Feb. 3, giving my views in relation to
cometary phenomena. With this I might remain satisfied, were it not
that the interesting paper by G. D. Hiscox, published in the SCIENTIFIC
AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT, Feb. 16, impressed me with the idea that the theory
I advanced might assist in explaining others, if brought to the notice
of those interested through the columns of your valuable journal.
The theory that I advance to account for the several phenomena relating
to comets' tails is, that comets are non-luminous, transparent bodies;
that they transmit the light of the sun; that the transmitted light
reflected by the particles of matter in space constitutes the tails of
comets. "Like causes produce like effects." By contraries, then, like
effects must be produced by similar causes; for, if an effect produced
by a cause which is known is similar to an effect produced by a cause
which is not known, the cause which is known must be similar to the
cause which is not known. This is true or not.
I submit the following experiments to substantiate the theory advanced.
Partially fill a vial or a tumbler with water, hold it by the rim,
and move it around a lighted candle placed upon a table. A shadow
surrounding the transmitted light will be cast upon the table. As the
tumbler approaches the light, the shadow follows the tumbler, and when
receding the tumbler follows the shadow; and as the tumbler is moved
around the light, the shadow will swing round from one side to the
other. If the tumbler be held so that a puff of smoke can be blown
into the transmitted rays, the particles of smoke will reflect the
transmitted light, and will illustrate my idea of what constitutes a
comet's tail. A dark band may be observed in this stream of light, as
also in the light cast upon the table.
In these experiments, we see the effects produced by a cause which is
known; the effects are similar to those observed in the tails of comets,
the cause of which we do not know; but is it not reasonable to assume
that the cause is similar?
Assuming now that comets are transparent, can any other phenomena
peculiar to comets be accounted for upon this hypothesis? Next to
the tail itself, the curve is the most noticeable feature, and if we
consider the extraordinary length of these appendages, the astounding
velocity at which comets move in their orbits, and the time that would
elapse before a ray of light, emitted from the nucleus, would reach the
end of the tail, perhaps the curve--which, if I am not deceived in my
observations, always dips toward its orbit--can be accounted for. If a
comet moved in a direct line toward the center of the sun, there would
be no curve to the tail. But taking Donati's comet of 1858 as an
example, the tail of which was said to be about 200,000,000 miles long,
a ray of light traveling at the rate of 192,000 miles per second would
be about twenty minutes in going from the nucleus to the end of the
tail.
But during that time the comet would move in its orbit, say, 50,000
miles, and as light moves in a straight line, and other rays are
constantly emerging from the nucleus as it moves along in its course,
the result is that the tail has a curved appearance.
I have no data at hand regarding this comet, but what I have said will
serve to illustrate my ideas. Again, referring to this comet, I remember
to have read the statement of an astronomer that, after passing round
the sun, a new tail was formed opposite the original one. Now, it seems
to me that that is just what would happen, for in moving round the sun
the comet would travel say 3,000,000 miles; the greater portion of the
tail then, would extend millions of miles upon one side of the sun,
while from the nucleus upon the opposite side of the sun a new tail
would appear to be formed.
Upon this hypothesis, the extraordinary length of their tails and the
fact that stars are visible through the densest portion of them is
explained; as also the fact that they so rapidly disappear from view
when moving from the sun, the light received by them from the sun
being in proportion to their distance from it, and but little of that
reflected.
JOHN M. HUGHES.
Brooklyn, N. Y.
* * * * *
[FOR THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN.]
ON COMETS.
When we see a comet approaching the sun with its tail following in the
orbit of the nucleus, we have no great difficulty in believing the
common theory that a comet consists of nucleus attracted toward the sun,
while the tail is repelled; and that we see the whole of it. But as it
approaches the sun, difficulties arise that make us doubt whether the
theory be true.
Let us suppose a comet with a tail 50,000,000 miles in length, and that
it will require two days to pass round the sun. Now the tail, being
always in a line drawn through the center of the sun and center of the
nucleus, will, when it reaches the long axis of the elliptical orbit,
stand perpendicularly to the orbit of the nucleus. That is, the
extremity of the tail farthest from the sun, in addition to its onward
motion, has acquired a lateral motion that has lifted it 50,000,000
miles in the first day of its perihelion. The velocity of the extremity
has been vastly accelerated over that of the nucleus, and it has
moreover a sheer lift above the orbit of the nucleus. Now this lift is
in opposition to gravity; neither is it in consequence of any previous
momentum, for its velocity is accelerated and its previous momentum
would be a hindrance; nor is the lift in consequence of any repelling
force from the sun, for such force would be diminished in proportion to
the square of the distance, and the far end would be acted on less than
the nucleus end of the tail, whereas the velocity of the former is
increased a hundred fold over that of the latter. A polar force in the
comet would merely draw the comet into the sun. We therefore find no
force adequate for such a lift, but on the contrary all the forces are
opposed to it.
But if the first day of the perihelion overwhelms us with difficulty,
the second day will prove disastrous to the common theory. For the
extremity of the tail farthest from the sun will be required to pass
with lateral motion from its perpendicular 100,000,000 miles, so that it
may be in advance of the nucleus and again rest on its orbit. This orbit
is an impassable line, and therefore instantly arrests the prodigious
lateral velocity of the tail. That impassable orbital line is to it
as solid and inflexible as a wall of adamant. The motion so instantly
arrested would be disastrous to any tail, whether composed of gas,
meteorites, or electricity, whatever that may be.
Having shown that the common theory of comets is filled with insuperable
difficulties, I will again call attention to a theory proposed about
eighteen months ago in the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN.
According to this theory, a comet consists of a nucleus and an
atmosphere, for the most part invisible, surrounding it on all sides to
an extent at least equal to the length of the tail. The rays of the sun
in passing through or near the nucleus are so modified as to become
visible in their further progress through the cometic atmosphere, while
all the rest remain invisible. What we call the tail is merely a radius
of the cometic atmosphere made visible, and as the comet moves through
space, only different portions of the atmosphere come in sight, in
obedience to the ordinary laws of light. There is no difficulty in
accounting for the rise and fall of the tail at perihelion, nor for the
tail preceding the nucleus afterward.
The spherical theory accounts easily for the different forms of tail
seen in different comets. The sword shaped tails, at variance with the
common theory, can be accounted for by supposing a slight difference in
density or material in the cometic atmosphere, which will deflect the
light as seen. The comet of 1823, which cannot be explained on the
common theory, is very easily explained on the spherical. That comet
showed two tails, apparently of equal length, which moved opposite to
each other, and perpendicularly to the orbit of the nucleus, and showing
no signs of repulsive force from the sun. On the spherical theory it is
only necessary to suppose such an arrangement of the nucleus as would
reflect the rays of the sun laterally; a slight modification of the
nucleus would give not only two but any number of tails pointing in
different directions.
It may be objected to the spherical theory that a tail 50,000,000 miles
long would call for a sphere 100,000,000 miles in diameter, and that
would be too vast for our solar system. But it is claimed for this
sphere that it consists of the same material as the so-called tail, and
that it has the same capability of moving among planets without manifest
disturbance to either.
The sphere at the perihelion would envelop the sun, and as a noticeable
reduction is sometimes found in its so-called tail, the cometic
atmosphere may impart to the sun at that time whatever is necessary to
its use.
That there is something in common between the sun's corona and cometary
matter was shown by the last solar eclipse observed in South Pacific
Ocean, where the spectrum of sun's corona was found to be the same as
that of a comet's tail. Are we to attribute in any degree the different
appearances of the sun's corona to the presence or absence of a comet
at its perihelion? At the eclipse of the sun seen in Upper Egypt two or
three years ago, a comet was seen close to the sun, but I have seen no
account of the appearance of the corona at that time.
FURMAN LEAMING, M.D.
Romney, Tippecanoe Co. Indiana.
* * * * *
FORMS OF IVY.
It is scarcely possible for us to bee too emphatic in our praises of the
most distinct forms of ivy, since but few other hardy climbing plants
ever give to us a tithe of their freshness and variety. A good long
stretch of wall covered with a selection of the best green-leaved kind
is always interesting, and never more so than during the winter months,
especially if at intervals the golden Japanese jasmine is planted among
them or a few plants of pyracantha or of Simmon's cotoneaster for the
sake of their coral fruitage. The large-leaved golden ivy is also very
effective here and there along a sunny wall, especially if contrasted
with the small-leaved kind--atropurpurea--which has dark purple or
bronzy foliage at this season. Of the large-leaved kinds, one of the
most distinct is canariensis, or large-leaved Irish ivy, and Raegner's
variety, with leathery, heart-shaped foliage, is also handsome. The
birdsfoot ivy (pedata) is curious, as it clings to the stones like
delicate leaf embroidery, and for shining green leafage but few equal
to the one called lucida. The two other kinds sketched are hastata and
digitata, both free growing and distinct sorts.
[Illustration: VARIOUS FORMS OF IVY. Heart-leaved Ivy (Hedera
Raegenerana). Glossy Ivy (H. lucida). Arrow-leaved Ivy (H. hastata).]
_Ivy Leaves_.--Common ivy is tolerably plentiful nearly everywhere, but
it is not common to find a good distinct series of its many varieties
even in the best gardens. Of all the different forms of ivy, I think
the large-leaved golden one of the best; certainly the best of the
variegated kinds. Raegner's variety is also very bold, its great glossy,
heart-shaped leaves most effective. Algeriensis is another fine-leaved
kind, the form dentata producing foliage even still larger when well
grown. For making low evergreen edgings on the turf, for carpeting
banks, the covering of bare walls and the old tree stumps, we have no
other evergreen shrub so fresh and variable, or so easily cultivated as
are these forms of the ivy green. Perhaps one reason why the finer kinds
of ivy are comparatively uncommon is the fact that a strong prejudice
exists against ivy in many minds. It is an erroneous notion that ivy
injures buildings against the walls of which it is planted; it never
injures a good wall, nor a sound house, but on the contrary, hides and
softens the stony bareness of the one and adds beauty and freshness to
the other.--_The Garden_.
[Illustration: VARIOUS FORMS OF IVY. Finger-leaved Ivy (H. Itata). Irish
Ivy (H. canariensis). Rira's foot Ivy (H. pedata).]
* * * * *
PROPAGATING ROSES.
In an article on this subject an English horticultural journal describes
the method pursued by a London florist. After stating that out of a case
containing 310 cuttings only five failed to root, the article proceeds:
The case or box is made of common rough deal boards. It is five feet
six inches long and one foot in depth. Within half an inch of the top a
groove is cut inside the box, into which the glass is slid, after the
manner of a sliding box lid. In the end of the third week in July the
box was placed in the kitchen garden under the shadow of a high north
wall; it was then about half filled with good turfy loam, to which had
been added a little leaf mould and a good sprinkling of sharp sand. The
soil was then pressed down very firmly (the box being nearly half full
when pressed), and then thoroughly well soaked with rain water, and
allowed to stay uncovered until the next day. The next day good stout
cuttings were taken of all the roses, both tea and hybrid perpetual,
which it was desired to add to the stock. They were then inserted
closely and firmly in the soil, just over the bottom leaf, the glasses
were slipped on and puttied down; the grooves in which the glass slid,
and even the joints in the glass, being filled with putty, so as to
exclude the air. The whole thing completed, nothing more remained to be
done but to leave the box in its cool, shady nook for five or six weeks,
when the growing points of the free starting kinds gave notice that the
glasses might be removed, a bit at a time, with safety. Nothing could be
more simple, or demand less skill, and the operation may be carried out
successfully by an amateur at any time during the season, when good firm
cuttings can be got, and when six weeks' tolerably fine weather may be
counted on. The success of the whole thing depends on having the glasses
fixed so that they may not be removed until the cuttings are rooted, and
in placing the boxes in a shady place. So treated, carnations and many
of our shrubs and herbaceous perennials may be propagated by unskilled
persons with certainty, and without much trouble.
* * * * *
A FEW OF THE BEST INULAS.
Of the fifty-six species of Inula described in scientific works,
probably not more than thirty are at present in cultivation in
this country, and those are chiefly confined to botanic gardens,
notwithstanding the fact that many of them are useful garden plants.
They are principally distributed throughout Southern Europe, although we
find them extending to Siberia and the Himalayas; indeed, it is to the
Himalayas we are indebted for the kinds that are most ornamental. Some
of the low-growing species are extremely useful for the rockery, such
as I. montana (the Mountain Inula), a fine dwarf plant with woolly
lanceolate leaves and dense heads of orange-colored flowers, resembling
in habit and general appearance some of the creeping Hieraciums. It is a
handsome and desirable plant for the decoration of old walls and similar
places, where it can be a little sheltered from rain and drip. Another
very useful species for this purpose is I. rhizocephaloides, found
plentifully in the Himalayas. It is one of the prettiest Alpine
composites we have. It seldom attains more than from one inch to two
inches in height, forming a dense rosette of short, hairy, oval leaves,
in the center of which the bright purple involucres, in the form of a
ball, are extremely interesting. It is easily cultivated, requiring,
however, a rather snug nook, where it will not be allowed to become too
dry. It is best propagated from seed. Then there is the woolly Inula (I.
candida), a pretty plant with small oval leaves, covered with a thick,
silky down, and much in the way of the white-leaved I. limonifolia, both
of which are very effective when grown in masses, which should always
be low down near the front of a rockery, or as an edging for a mixed
border. The glandular-leaved Inula (I. glandulosa), of which a good
representation is here given, is a beautiful hardy perennial. It is a
native of Georgia and the Caucasian Alps, near the Caspian Sea. It is
a rather robust-growing species, with large, bright, orange-yellow
flowers, varying from three to five inches in diameter, the narrow and
very straggly ray florets contrasting nicely with the rather prominent
disk. The leaves, although quite entire, seem notched, owing to large
black glands which form on their margins. They are lanceolate, and clasp
the stem. The plant is very variable, both as regards robustness and
size of flowers, and this may in a measure account for the confusion
existing between it and I. Oculus-Christi.
The soil most suitable for the full development of I. glandulosa is a
strong, clayey, retentive loam; it does not thrive well in the light
shallow soils in the neighborhood of London, except in shady positions.
I. Hookeri is a free-flowering perennial, with pointed lanceolate
leaves, of a delicate texture, bright green, and very finely toothed.
The flowers, which are sweet-scented, are not so large as those of I.
glandulosa, and are produced singly, the ray florets being, however,
much more numerous, rarely numbering less than thirty. It is found in
abundance in rocky places in Sikkim, where it replaces the nearly allied
I. grandiflora, a dwarfer species, with much shorter, shining leaves;
both are very desirable plants either for rockery or flower border work.
The Elecampane (I. Helenium) is an imposing, robust-growing species,
having large, broad leaves a foot or more in length. It grows from four
feet to five feet in height, and its thick, shaggy branches are crowned
with large yellow flowers. For isolating in woods this plant, is very
useful, and with the exception of Telekia cordifolia, it would be hard
to find a rival to it. It is, I believe, pretty extensively used for
planting in shrubberies, but unless they are thin and open it is seldom
seen to advantage. It is found wild or naturalized in some parts of
England. It flowers in June and July, and even into August when the
season has been favorable.
[Illustration: INULA GLANDULOSA (_flowers deep yellow_.)]
For naturalizing in woods the following will be found useful, _viz_., I.
salicina, I. Oculus-Christi, I. squarrosa, I. britannica, and many more,
the true beauty of which can only be realized in this way. With the
exception of I. rhizocepbaloides, they are all propagated by division
with the greatest ease, or by seed, which is best sown as soon as it is
ripe.--_D.K., The Garden_.
* * * * *
FRUIT GROWING.
By P.H. FOSTER.
In the first place, if you contemplate appropriating a portion of your
land for the raising of fruits, you should have the orchard so situated
that no large animals can run at large on the grounds. Prepare your soil
in the most thorough manner; underdrain, if necessary, to carry off
surplus water; dig deep, large holes; fill in the bottom with debris;
in the very bottom put a few leaves, clam and oyster shells, etc., then
sods; above and below the roots put a good garden or field soil; do not
give the trees fresh manure at the time of setting, but the following
fall manure highly with any kind on top of the ground; dig it in the
following spring; keep the soil frequently worked during the summer,
and, if convenient, mulch with hay, straw, or leaves.
Now you are on the road to progress, provided you have made no mistake
in the selection of your trees. The purposes for which you intend your
fruit is highly important. You should well consider at the outset if
for family or market use. This is a business which requires a long look
ahead, for it is said, "He who plants pears looks ahead for his heirs."
Caution should be used in procuring your stock; little should be planted
that is not fairly tested on the Island, purchased of parties who can be
fully relied upon to give you what you want. Do not buy your stock of
parties who carry labels in their pockets to make to order what you want
out of the same bundle of trees.
Now, having your trees set out in a proper manner, of such varieties
as you desire, the next important step is to bring the trees into
usefulness. My plan is to use bone--fine bone--very freely about every
three years. Another important matter is that of trimming. "Fire
purifies," and the knife regulates the grand balance or equilibrium
between roots and tops. In most cases the top outgrows the roots, the
consequence of which is an ultimate weakness of the tree. It is thrown
into excessive fruiting, disease, and premature decay. To avoid this
result, use the knife when required. Thin out the inside branches when
small, and if the tree does not make a satisfactory growth, cut back
half way to the ground.
We will suppose that you have got your trees growing nicely, and they
have begun to bear fruit. There are other important steps to be taken,
which will be of little cost to you. Provide a wind-break for the
orchard. Evergreens answer the purpose, being a protection against the
wind. Having this matter attended to, there are other enemies with which
we must contend. I refer to the apple and peach tree borers. The former
will live in the tree for three years, if unmolested; the latter, one
year only. They are very easily destroyed by looking over the trees and
taking them out with a knife; or maybe prevented from touching the trees
by wrapping a piece of felt paper, 8 inches wide, around the tree near
the ground, the bottom being covered with dirt and the top tied tightly
above. The pear is not generally disturbed by these insects--only the
apple, peach, and quince. We have another insect very destructive to the
plum, peach, cherry, and apple--the _curcutio_, or plum weavel. This
season for the first time in twenty years we have gathered a small
crop of that very desirable plum, the Purple Favorite. We simply threw
air-slaked lime over the trees nearly every morning for from four to six
weeks, from the time the tree was out of bloom. Peach trees should be
treated in the same manner. Another method of fighting this insect is to
spread a sheet under the tree, and with a blow jar off the little Turk
and secure him on the sheet. But I consider the lime procedure the less
trouble and more effective. The tent caterpillar, which is easily seen,
should be destroyed at once. We have yet another insect to contend with
which infests the apple and pear, commonly called the Coddling Moth,
and the larva, the apple-worm (_Garpocapsa pomonella_). The loss by the
ravaaes of this insect alone to the fruit growers of the United States
fan hardly be estimated, as in many cases the whole crop is rendered
worthless. Such a vast destruction of two of the most valuable fruits
the world produces should stimulate scientists in this age of progress
to discover an effectual remedy against such a gigantic evil.
I have never yet discovered nor tried an effectual remedy against this
insect. The nearest I have approached his extermination is in the
following manner: After it has entered the fruit and accomplished its
damage, the time arrives when it has to leave the fruit and hide itself
in a quiet, secure position to undergo the transition from the larva to
the pupa state, which requires, in the early part of the season, eight
or ten days; after this time the miller is hatched and is again ready to
besiege the fruit with its sting. The insect, being two-brooded in this
climate at least, if not disturbed, has an aggregating force to do
mischief the second time. The progeny for the succeeding year have alone
to depend on the security of this second generation of larvae. As they
may often be found in bark of apple trees during winter, my plan of
destruction is, about the first of July to take woolen rags long enough
to wrap around the trees, and say four inches wide. Each week I look
over the trees, and destroy the worms secreted under the rags and
wherever I find them until the fruit is off the trees. I have all the
green fruit, of every kind, carefully picked up as soon as it falls,
thereby destroying many of the curculio as well as the apple-worms.
One word upon the grape--the insect part of the question. The
_Phylloxera vastatrix_, or grape-vine louse, is already at work on Long
Island. It is found very difficult to raise many of our fine, new grapes
with us in consequence of the depredations of this very minute insect,
it being almost too small to be seen by the naked eye. There has lately
been discovered a remedy which is entirely chemical and as yet but
little disseminated. Very soon, no doubt, a discovery will be made that
will stay the progress of this destructive enemy.
We should plant aplenty of cherry and small fruit trees to yield feed
for birds. In return they will assist us in our efforts to preserve a
bountiful supply of this health producing element.
* * * * *
COARSE FOOD FOR PIGS.
A recent subscriber wants advice how to feed pigs of 25 to 35 pounds
weight, that are to be kept over winter and fitted for sale at about six
months old--whether coarse food will not help them as much in winter as
in summer. How roots and pumpkins will answer in lieu of grass, and what
can be fed when this green food is gone? He has had poor success in
growing young pigs on corn alone. He has a reasonably warm pen for
winter.
The question of food is constantly recurring, and this is one of the
best evidences of the advancement of the country in the feeder's
art. When people are making no inquiry as to improved methods in any
direction, no progress can be made. There has been more progress made
in the philosophy of feeding during the last thirty years than in the
century and a half previous.
In pig feeding in the dairy districts, young pigs generally grow up in
a very healthy condition, owing to the refuse milk of the dairy, which
furnishes the principal food of young pigs. Skim-milk contains all the
elements for growing the muscles and bones of young pigs. This gave them
a good, rangy frame, and, when desired, could be fed into 400 or 500
pounds weight. But the fault attending this feeding was, that it was too
scanty to produce such rapid growth as is desired. It took too long to
develop them for the best profit. It had not then been discovered by the
farmer that it costs less to put the first hundred pounds on the pig
than the second, and less for the second than the third, etc.; that it
was much cheaper to produce 200 pounds of pork in six months than in
nine and twelve months. When it became evident that profit required more
rapid feeding, then they began to ply them continually with the most
concentrated food--corn meal or clear corn. If this was fed in summer,
on pasture, no harm was observed, for the grass gave bulk in the
stomach, and the pigs were were healthy and made good progress. But if
the young pigs were fed in pen in winter upon corn meal or clear corn,
the result was quite different; this concentrated food produced feverish
symptoms, and the pigs would lose their appetite for a few days,
drinking only water, which, after a while, would relieve the stomach,
and the pigs would eat vigorously again. Now, had they been fed a few
quarts of turnips, carrots, beets, or pumpkins, to give bulk to the
stomach, and separate the concentrated food, no harm would have come.
This gives the gastric juice a free circulation through the contents of
the stomach, the food is properly digested and applied to the needs of
the body instead of causing fever by remaining in the stomach.--_Live
Stock Journal_.
* * * * *
METE KINGI.
Our engraving is a portrait of a familiar character in New Zealand,
chief Mete Kingi, who recently died at the age of one hundred years.
He was a fine specimen of the Maori race, the native New Zealanders, a
branch of the Malayo-Polynesian family. The New Zealanders surpassed
all other people in the art of tattooing, to which their chiefs gave
especial attention. Mete Kingi, as our picture shows, was no exception.
Tattooing on the face they termed _moko_. The men tattoo their faces,
hips, and thighs; the women their upper lips; for this purpose charcoal
made from kauri gum is chiefly used. It has the blue color when pricked
into the skin, growing lighter in shade in the course of years. The
subject of our illustration embraced Christianity, and was much
respected. Our engraving is from the _Illustrated Australian News_.
[Illustration: THE LATE MAORI CHIEF METE KINGI.]
* * * * *
LAKE TAHOE.
Some very interesting information by Prof. John Le Conte, is given in
the _Overland Monthly_, being the result of some physical observations
made by the author at Lake Tahoe, in 1873. Lake Tahoe, also called Lake
Bigler, is situated at an altitude of 6,247 feet in the Sierra Nevada
Mountains, partly in California, partly in Nevada. The lake has a length
of 22 and a width of 12 miles. As regards its origin, the author regards
it as a "plication hollow," or a trough produced by the formation of two
mountain ridges, afterward modified by glacial agency. The depth of the
lake is remarkable; the observations taken at ten stations along the
length of the lake gave the following depths in feet: 900, 1,385, 1,495,
1,500, 1,506, 1,540, 1,504, 1,600, 1,640, 1645. This depth exceeds that
of the Swiss lakes proper--Lake Geneva, for example, has a maximum depth
of 1,096 feet--but is considerably less than that of Lakes Maggiore and
Como, on the Italian side of the Alps. A series of observations of the
temperature of the water were taken between the 11th and 18th of August.
The average corrected results are as follows:
Depth in feet. Temp. (C.)
0(surface).................................19.4
50..........................................17.2
100..........................................12.8
150..........................................10.0
200.......................................... 8.9
250.......................................... 8.3
300.......................................... 7.8
330 (bottom)................................. 7.5
400.......................................... 7.2
480 (bottom)................................. 6.9
500.......................................... 6.7
600.......................................... 6.1
772 (bottom)................................. 5.0
1506 (bottom)..............,.................. 4.0
The temperature, therefore, diminishes with increasing depth to about
700 or 800 feet, and below this remains sensibly the same down to 1,506
feet; or in other words, a constant temperature of 4 deg. C. prevails at all
depths below about. 820 feet. This is in accordance with the theory, the
temperature named being that of the maximum density of water, and it
confirms the recent observations of Prof. Forel in Switzerland; he
found, for example, that a constant temperature of 4 deg. C. was reached in
Lake Zurich at a depth of nearly 400 feet, the lake being then covered
with 4 inches of ice. The explanation of the observed fact that Lake
Tahoe does not entirely freeze over even in severe winters is found in
the extreme depth; and the fact that the bodies of drowned persons do
not rise to the surface after the lapse of the usual time is explained
by the low temperature prevailing near the bottom, which does not allow
the necessary decomposition to go forward so as to produce the ordinary
result.
The water of Lake Tahoe is remarkable both for its transparency and
beauty of color. A series of observations made at the close of August or
beginning of September showed that a horizontally adjusted dinner plate
of about 91/2 inches diameter was visible at noon at a depth of 108 feet.
The maximum depth of the limit of visibility as found by Prof. Forel, in
Lake Geneva, was 56 feet. He showed, moreover, that this limit is much
greater in. winter than in summer, as explained in part by the greater
absence of suspended matter and in part by the fact that increase of
temperature increases the absorbing power of water for light. The
maximum depth of visibility in the Atlantic Ocean, as found by Count
de Pourtales, was 162 feet, and Prof. Le Conte states his belief that
winter observations in Lake Tahoe would place the limit at even a
greater depth than this. The author gives a detailed and interesting
discussion in regard to the blue color of lake waters, reviewing in full
the results of previous writers on the subject, and concludes that while
pure water unquestionably absorbs a larger part of the red end of the
spectrum, and hence appears blue by transmitted light, the color seen by
diffuse reflection is mainly due to the selective reflection from the
fine particles suspended in it.
The last subject discussed by the author is that of the rhythmical
variations of level, or "seiches," of deep lakes; he applies the usual
formula to Lake Tahoe, and calculates from it the length of a complete
longitudinal and of a transverse "seiche;" these are found to be
eighteen or nineteen minutes in the first case and thirteen minutes in
the second.
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