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Oamaru Mail, Volume XV, Issue 4723, 18 July 1890, Page 1

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A problem of great interest In physios and astronomy, on which Tyndall, Lord Rosse, and Professor Lingley labored in vain, has been solved, Bad trustworthy evidence at last been obtained as to the thermal value of moonlight. This has been accomplished by Mr C. V. Boys, one of, the professors of South Kensington, who' by means of his well-known quartz filaments - has.- produced a thermopile of almost incredible delicacy. By thiß .remarkable apparatus he can render sensible the heat of a o.andla up to the distance of a mile and three-quarters, and by direoting the, minute disc of the instrument to the moon he has shown that the warmth received from its,reflected light is equal to thatglven oat by a candle at 21ft,distance. The result strikingly accords with the anticipations of Professor Piazzl Smyth. Observation : seems to show that, although the moon's faca is under the blsza of an unclouded sun for li days, it remains comparatively cool, and that, whatever heating it does ultimately receive is rapidly gained and is rapidly lost. The, .discovery chasi been -made which shows (the Daily. News remarks) that the love of ouc ancestors for drinks spiced with cinnamon was fully justified. What ! were-not the Dutoh ready to do to procure cinnamon and other- Bpioes for their I mulled wines, and what wonders of navigation did they not acoomplißh in their lumbering vessels in order to fill the spiceboxes of their housewives? Dr Chamberland, M. Paßteur's chief assistant, has jast discovered that cinnamon is fatal to the typhoid microbe, which must infest the sluggish waters of the Netherlands. The Duchess of Marlborough has been re-vlslting New ; York, and giving her opinion of Englishwomen. She. says : "They are very beiutifoil; they can no more help .being so than the rose can help being pink and fragrant. The moisture of the climate makes them so. Then, again, they are the mesi tirelesß walkers in the world. They walk like queens, with their heads in the air, and a tread as light as a snowfall. Bat the one charm paramount to: all others la the delicious sweetness of the' Englishwoman's voice. It is like a strain of music. Even when she scolds, she does it with a cadenzi."