SCIENCE NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3030, 10 April 1912, Page 76

SCIENCE NOTES.

—Upper-air Research in Canada. The Meteorological Service of Canada haa been making observations of the upper a" with soundmg. balloons since February las ' and has achieved some excellent results. Of 16 balloons sent up, eight, have been recovered to the present writing, l&e altitudes attained have vanea from 11.4.t0 23.2 kilometers (about seven to 1* miiesj. The isothermal layer was found at an average height of 13 kilometers (8.1 miles). The lowest temperature recorded was 70deg below zero Cent. (9«eg below zero Fahr.) at an. altitude of about 8.7 miles.-fecient.fic American. —Conversing With Animals A certain Charles Kellogg, of California has started out to convince the Harvard faculty of his ability to talk with.animals. His life has been spent among the Sieira Nevadas, and his studies include the vocal sounds made by bears, squirrels lizards, rattlesnakes, and crickets. Indeed, he claims proficiency in 15 animal languages. He has a peculiar palate, with no tonsils, and entirely lacks the cord connecting the teeth with the lips. To these peculiarities he partly ascribes the ease with which he imitates the sounds of insects and animals Some of his observations and ideas are, it is said, at least interesting, if not convincing. . „ New Use for Eggs.— Tho discovery has been made by Dr Max Staller, surgeon of Mount Sinai Hospital (says the Philadelphia North American) that the white lining, or membrane, of eg* shells can be used with success as a substitute for human skin in grafting operations. The now treatment proved successful. It is from the lining of tho eggshell that the skin of the chicken is developed. When placed on a burned surface tho cells multiply and the membrane becomes larger and larger, until it joins with the other pieces placed on the flesh at distances of an eighth to a quarter of an inch apart. In the course of weeks the surface is covered with new skin —Bird Attacking Butterflies. — "In August. 1911," says Mr W. B. Gurney, in Australian Naturalist, "I observed a jacky winter chasing two of the blue and black butterfly (Papilio sarpedon) about a camphor laurel tree. The bird was several times within 4in or sin of the butterflies, which flew close together, and were seemingly much excited. They only escaped the bird by their erratic flight. Dodging and doubling, they at last suddenly dashed over the top of tho tree, and were followed by the bird, but I saw no more of them." "I have much pleasure- in reporting that I observed a water vagtail capture and devour a Heteronympha meropo and also a Junonia vallidia butterfly. The bird stood on the body and tore off tho wings, which wore discarded, the body only being eaten," says Mr E. H. Wickham. —Vegetable Eater Wins Endurance Test. The Bufflum brothers who started to walk from Boston to Los Angeles in July, after having been pronounced fit by Dr Sargent, arrived lecently at their destination. The ono lived on a meat diet and the other on a vegetable diet during the contest, and it was found at the end of the walk that the vegetarian had gained 81b and the meat-eater 31b. Neither of them slept under a roof during the trip. Just before finishing they decided to make an excursion into the San Bernardino Mountains, and, becoming lost, were without food for 60 hours. The meat-eater was on the point of physical exhaustion after ho had gone 24 hours without food, while the vegetarian was still in comparatively good condition. Those interested in this experiment feci convinced that vegetables are a far healthier diet, not only for one loading a sedentary life, but for ono doing hard physical work, though the results of this oxperiment arc by no means conclusive. The brothers might now reverse their dietary habits and walk back to Boston, by way of a complete experiment. —Age of the Earth.— Professor Frank Allen, of Manitoba University, st;itcd, in a lecture at Winnipeg on ''Tho Age of the Earth," that radium had upset all the theories on this subject. "Lord Kelvin," he said," who computed that the earth was 20 million years old, declared that unless some new way of producing heat in the earth's surface could be found, his calculations were correct. Such a new way has actually been discovered in radium, which has the power of giving out heat without ■ diminishing in weight. Ono pound of radium would keep a house warm for 2000 years. Radium is scattered throughout tho earth's surface, and, therefore, Lord Kelvin's calculations are worthless. Radium gives off helium, and helium is scattered throughout the earth's erust. The amount of helium given off by an actual piece of rock could easily bo measured. By comparing tho amount of radium and of helium in a piece of rock it would bo possible to form an estimate of tho world's age, and if this were done it would be found that the earth was over 1,500,000,000 years old." —An Invisible Airship.— Baron Adam Roenno, inventor, who is in England perfecting plan 3 for a gigantic invisibla airship and its dock, the designs

for .all which have been patented, states that it will be 600 ft long, and the envelope 72ft in diameter. The latter will not be of fabric, but of a secret metal alloy called' chromium. This metal has a specific gravity of 2.7. Its breaking strain is 25 tons to the square inch. It is therefore almost as strong as steel, though only a quarter the weight of steel. The chromium envelope will be filled with hydrogen gas, and motor engines of 1800 h.p. will drive the airship at 85 miles per hour if necessary, and so be able to overcome the resistance of any wind, and enable her navigators to make any course. The lifting power of the complete ship will be 40 tons. A rigid framework, in which the car will be built, will extend the whole length of the ship. The metal chromium will have its polish preserved by a varnish. The metal envelope will then, like a heavenly chameleon, take the colour of its surroundings, wet or fine. The under part will have an arrangement of longitudinal reflectors, the' bottom one being a V-shaped keel (in sections), so catching nothing but the upper lights. —Silk Expert's Discovery.— An expert connected with the Fuji Spinning Company has discovered a chemical process which will be a great boon to spinners. It is stated that while Japanese sericulture was yet in a primitive condition, no chemical was used to soften the cocoon before it was spun into thread. Later the spinner succeeded in getting out a thin, soap-like substance, which filled the long-felt want with some success, but the difficulty was that it weakened the fabric and took away the natural lustre. Thus it is no wonder that Japanese silk has been steadily losing the popularity it once enjoyed and that its market has from time to time - been encroached upon by the Italian product. Mr Inouve has now hit upon a method of strengthening the elasticity and strength of the fabric and at the same time greatly facilitating the spinning into thread. One more benefit from this process will be that manufacturers will bo able, to obtain 15 per cent, more produce than by the old-fashioned way, which fact means that 7,500,000d0l will be added to the proceeds from the national industry. Furthermore, the new substance has an anti-germ and anti-corroding effect, and will not injure the hands of operatives. Some time ago an American is reported to have discovered a chemical compound which would preserve silk, and this is said to be something similar in composition to the Japanese invention.—North China Daily News. —No Martian Canals. — No astronemer really believed in the existence of canals on Mars, but it has remained for Mr E. Walter Maunder to completely shatter any latent disposition to credit their existence. In the course of a lecture he delivered in London recently, he said that he had no belief at all in the gigantic canals seen by Professor Lowell. He believes them to be an outcome of the desire to see them ; not exactly optical illusions, but something- very much of the sort. He Raid: "A telegraph wire against, the background of a, duil sky can be perceived with certainty at an amazing distance. If a bead is put on the telegraph wire the head must be more than 30 times the breadth of the wire to be perceived, and some 60 or 70 times the. breadth of the wire before it can bo fully defined, so that the observer can distinguish between a bead that is square, round, or any other shape. Here, and not in any gigantic engineering works, is the explanation of the artificialitv of the markings on Mars, as Mr Lowell sees them; their artificiality disappears under better seeing with more powerful tolosoopes." Mr Maunder concluded : "So in our own system we have found that there is one planet, our earth, that is inhabited, and one other that may perchance be habitable; the others all may with certainty be ruled out of court. Under the Ptolemaic theory the earth was regarded as the centre of the universe. The work of Copernicus deprived it of this pride of place, but exalted it to the rank of a heavenly bod v. There it seemed to be one of the smallest, most insignificant of its compeers. But I think, if we have reasoned arijjht this afternoon, we see that it has a claim to a higher distinction than size or brightness can possihlv give it ; it is almost certain that it is unio.uo amongst the heavenly bodies that are visible to us. and amonrst those that are unseen and unknown there can only bo a small proportion, at b<-*t. so well favoured. Tt is the homo of life, carefully fittrd and prepared for that purpose by its position and its size."