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INmWIS [Am
Why
ICEBERGS
Become More
DANGEROUS
as They
MELT
CEBERGS, which have always proved of in
terest to the public, were studied with
greater care after the Titanic disaster
and many interesting things about them, not
generally known, have recently been discov
ered.
A French scientist, M. C. Janet, has made
some studies of these gigantic mountains ot
ice that flow south from the eternal snows of
the North, and north from the South Pole,
and makes interesting comments upon his
studies in Cosmos (Paris).
In this Professor Janet explains why it is
that icebergs become more and more dan
gerous as they flow southward and melt, up
to such time as they become very small
Why SCHOOL CHILDREN Should Be Graded hy the X-RAY
ABL children do not develop at the same rates
(or age). School-grading is based on develop
ment; therefore:
School-grading cannot be based upob the rate of
growth (or age).
A syllogism of this character lies behind a most
Important statement made by Professor Rotch of the
Harvard Medical School, in which he points out the
injustice ot grading children at school by their ages.
Ten boys and girls of ten years or age are never
equally developed; some are more mature than others,
eorne have a better physical frame. It can be shown
conclusively, that at the age of ten some children
have advanced so far beyond others tn physical de
velopment that they are fully as mature as the aver
age child of twelve, and that others have lagged be
hind so much that, their development is that of the
average child of eight. Here, then, at the age of ten
years, is a possible difference of four years, which is
equivalent to pitting the average child of ten against
the average child of six years of age.
The most important thing for a child is physical
growth. It is by this that he should be judged. There
The Weight of an ATOM
RECE7NT scientific researches have ap
parently not only proved the actual
existence of indivisible particles, but
have actually succeeded in weighing them.
This wonderful result has been accomplished
almost simultaneously by two physicists—
Professors Perrin, of the University of Paris,
and Millikan, of the University of Chicago.
Professor Perrin arrived at the discovery
by a study of the so-called Brownian move
ments of minute particles, the nature of which
had not previously been understood. He con
ceived the idea that the curious dancing and
twinkling of minute particles seen in emul
sions under a microscope are due to the
bombardment of the visible particles by invis
ible particles or atoms. By applying well
knopn laws of physics to the problem he was
Killing Insects
by Electricity
OCT in the West where everything is on
a large scale, it takes large ideas to
meet the requirements, apparently,
•Ince miles of canals have been made for irri
gation, thousands upon thousands of little
stoves are burned “heating all outdoors” as it
were in times of frost to preserve orchards, and
similar things are done on a large scale.
In the great Western orchards the destruc
tive insects are also there, or getting there, in
equally large numbers. To properly combat
with them W. R. Frost, ot Spokane, has in
vented an apparatus for ending the lives ot
these insects by means oi electrical shocks.
The apparatus consists of a storage battery
to operate incandescent lamps of 6 candle
power in globes, which are netted with tine
steel wires. Attracted by the bright light in
the tret; to which the globe is strung, the moth
flies against the network, completes the elec
tric circuit and is instantly killed, the body
dropping into a receptacle beneath the globe.
Mr. Frost things that one apparatus to an
acre of trees will keep tbe moths under con
trol, thus eliminating spraying and saving
many dollars for equipment and fluid. It
central station service it extended to Hie
orchard tracts, as they are in the Spokane
'alley, the expense of batteries may be saved
by making direct connection and using the
commercial current The cost of covering the
globes with wire nets is a sluall item
‘ ’ SbQ
Treacherous RAPIER-LIKE RIDGES OF ICE Form Below the Watei and ENDANGER NAVIATION
chunks of ice when they naturally lose their
dangerous qualities.
The iceberg melts in such a manner that it
leaves only slightly submerged great knife
like ridges of ice which are quite a dis
tance from the exposed portion of the berg
and which would easily rip the hull of a
big vessel asunder should she plough across
these submerged ridges at full speed.
"The volume of the exposed part of some
icebergs,” writes Professor Janet, "is some
times very considerable. As the total vol
ume of an iceberg is at least nine times that
of the part out of water, and as most icebergs
have reached a more or less advanced state
of fusion by the time that they are first ob
served, we may conclude that among the
blocks given up to the sea by the fronts of
certain glaciers some must be of very great
size.
“These blocks must have a nearly pris
matic form, included between two horizontal
faces. In fact, the upper face is part of the
free surface of the glacier, which, except for
crevasses and irregularities, is sensibly
plane. The lower face is also practically
plane because it has been sliding over the
bed of the glacier. As for the side faces,
they are the result of irregular cracks that
are generally perpendicular to the upper and
lower faces of the block and are consequent
ly vertical when the iceberg floats freely.
The upper and lower faces are usually of an
elongated form, greater in a direction paral
lel to the glacier-front.
“Among the extremely varied forms that
such an iceberg, originally prismatic and
are many ways of telling the point of physical de
velopment which a child has reached, but by far the
best is the X-ray. The whole body is dependent on
the skeleton and the bones tell the story of rapid or
delayed growth. The bones of the wrist, for ex
ample, are peculiarly helpful in this way, for the
carpal bones are slow in coming; there is quite a
space of time after the appearance of the first two
before the third appears and another gap before the
fourth and before the fifth. After that, the changes ot
form and the massing of these bones reveal each
stage of bone development at least until fifteen years
of age.
In the investigation of school children by this
X-ray method, some sad conditions were found. Many
children whose school lives had been most unhappy
were found to be of slow development, and they had
all their school-days been expected to do the work of
those really two or even three years older. Others,
again, well developed were kept back and hindered in
every way though the work they were doing was so
much below their powers that ft had no interest.
Many a bright child, with an undeveloped frame, had
able to determine that the weight of an atom
of hydrogen is such that 3,000,000 billion bil
lion weigh one gram (15.4 grains).
But the atom is not the ultimate particle,
but a group consisting of a thousand or more
of smaller particles called electrons. Under
the influence of powerful electrical currents,
atoms may be made to throw off some of their
electrons. Professor Millikan devised a
method of capturing and weighing these elec
trons and measuring their electric charge.
The weights of atoms and molecules as de
termined by these two wholly different meth
ods agree with those which have been pre
viously determined by other means. Thus
the truth of the atomic theory, which was
first conceived more thantrvo thousand years
ago. is believed to be at last demonstrated
by scientific proofs.
How WE TRAVELLED 400,000,000 MILES Last Year
WE travelled 400.000,000 miles last year.
When the explanation is added that this re
lates to astronomy many will exclaim: “Oh.
well, around and around and around, of course, but
that's not getting anywhere!”
Such people are wrong, however, for this 400,000.000
miles we travelled does not represent tbe distance we
travelled In revolving, it means that at the end of the
year we are 400,000,D00 miles away from the spot we
were tbe first of the year, and at tbe end of another year
will be another 400,000,000 miles away, and so on
through the years.
It is true there may be some stars in the way but
this will not frighten anyone, as it has been computes!
__ ~ earth _ @ e 4
______ Tp'-YrHE SUNIS f V
—■*■■-*** /SUN.
by learned astronomers that it will be half a million
years before we even pass the first star, and there is
little knowing when, if ever, this planet, earth, will
actually come in contact with another heavenly body.
All this interesting information comes from Professor
Jonu Candee Dean, who has told some unusually in
teresting things concerning the manner in which the sun
is moving straight ahead and the earth keeping pace
with it and all the time revolving about that great body.
In "Popular Astronomy" Professor Dean tells much
thj.t is tn w. at least to most readers.
' it has been found.” lie writes, “that the sun is mov
;ng toward its apex with a velocity of about twelve miles
a second. To realize what this means, consider that the
n&vire i Figure 2.
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Hg. I—How an Iceberg Begin* to Melt After Breaking from the Glacier
Fig. 2—A More Advai ced Stage of Melting.
Fig. 3—Taking a Form More Dangerou* to Navigation.
Fig. 4—A Very Dangerous Form of Iceberg.
been permitted to go on, ruining the constitution,
whereas the whole body was crying out to be allowed
to wait until it had reached the same plane of de
velopment as its fellows. Dull brains with a highly
developed physical condition can be left to themselves,
save that the parents and teachers will have no com
punctions in driving the child, while the same process
of driving means ruined health and perhaps an early
death to the child of the same age sitting at the next
desk.
Chronologic age is the very worst basis that could
be thought of by which to grade children in schools, or
indeed to compare them in every way. The first and
most important point is to determine how old a child is
in his place among other children, not merely in the
number of summers and winters he has seen. Then
the teacher can do justice to her children and need
not have upon her conscience the grievous question
as to whether school life is injuring the children in her
class. The X-rays first to determine bone growth,
psychological methods to determine mind development,
and for the first time in the history of education there
will be an equal opportunity for all.
IN view of the admitted fact that a considerable pro
portion of the reason for the success of homeopathy
has been the ease with which its remedies can
be swallowed, the allopath or "regular” school of
medicine has been experimenting on the various drugs
which can be given in the form of candy. It has
been found that a very large proportion of the most
important medicines can be put up as chocolate drops,
fondants and jujubes of every description.
One of the principal difficulties was encountered
in the use of some of the metallic drugs Many people
' have gold fillings, or platinum fillings in their teeth,
and some of the candy containing such matters as
reduced iron, set up an electric current as soon as
they come in contact with the metal in the teeth. The
cod-liver-oil chocolate cream is recorded also as one
muzzle velocity of a shot from a large modern cannon
is only 1,500 feet per second, while the sun moves with
a speed of 63,000 feet per second, or forty-two times as
fast. If a cannon shot could be projected with the
velocity of the sun. its energy and penetrating power
would be increased 1.700 times, and if a shot could be
made that would withstand the enormous pressure and
heat generated, it would penetrate 1.500 feet of solid
steel. Practically, however, a steel shot moving at this
velocity and striking such a thick, solid st#el plate,
would be instantly fused by the heat, generated from im
pact.
"The earth's mean velocity toward the apex is, ot
course, the same as that of the sum while its oibital
The helix descri bed by the earth in the progress
toward the Sun's apex.”
velocity is eighteen and a half miles a second
The star called 61 Cvgnl in the constellation of the
Swan, is the nearest star visible in our latitude. While
the sun moves nearly 400,000,000 miles a year, it would
take 100.000 years for it to move over a space equal to
tbe distance that separates us from the nearest star. In
the sun’s flight toward its apex it will take over 500,000
years for it to pass tile stnr Vega, but since Vega has a
slow motion at right aug* '« to the sun’s motion, it fol
lows :hat the sun will never pass very near that star.
While the sun moves at a uniform rate, and probably
in a straight line, the earth, owing to its motion around
tbe sun. describes a huge spiral in space.
How Bitter MEDICINE Is DISGUISED as CANDY
compact, may assume under the action of the
destructive causes to which it is subjected,
there is one that probably presents itself
frequently and which deserves our attention.
“The upper face of the iceberg melts slow
ly and pretty uniformly under the action of
the air. There form on it small ridges and -
small channels through which the water runs
off. The exposed vertical walls also
melt under the action of the air. The re-en
trant parts of these walls are often less at
tacked than the salient parts because they
give passage to the air chilled by the melt
ing of the upper surface. The salient parts
thus tend to be smoothde down and there
results a certain regularity of the lateral
contour.
“When the water surrounding it is at a
sufficiently high temperature, the iceberg
melts over its whole submerged surface. The
result of the melting of the ice is to dilute
the surrounding sea water and to chill it.
The dilution produces a diminution, while the
chilling causes an increase in the density of
the water. While there is never exact com
pensation between these two contrary ac
tions, the result of the fusion of the iceberg
produces only a slight variation of the density
of the sea water. The result is that the
whole submerged part of the iceberg remains
constantly surrounded with cold water and
thus melts uniformly and slow’ly.
“This, however, is the case only with the
lower surface and the parts of the side walls
that are quite deeply sunk. The parts just
below the surface undergo usually a more in
tense fusion than the rest. This results from
AT first glance it seems almost impos
sible that there could be microbes in
strictly fresh eggs, yet this is not only
quite possible, but it frequently happens.
There is always a condition attached to
this state of affairs, however, and that is
that the fresh egg must be cracked and the
tough skin that envelops the egg must also
be torn.
A fresh clean egg is sterile. The bacteria
that are present in broken or cracked eggs,
in commercial "dirty" eggs, in disiccated.
eggs, and in frozen eggs, get into the product
from nest dirt on the outside of the egg or
from the air during breaking of the eggs, in
the process of disiccation, or from the hands
of those who break the eggs. When an egg
is what is termed “dirty,” and when it is
cracked so that the membrane is also broken,
then colon bacilli may gain access to the
egg. Or, if dirty eggs are broken carelessly,
or if the hands of those who break them are
not clean, then colonies of microbes soon
of the failures, although there are admixtures which
make the emulsion fajrly easy to take.
True medicine candy, however, according to the
plans outlined before the American Medical Associa
tion by a well known Chicago drug expert, now em
braces more than twenty drugs which can be taken
by children (or adults), with absolutely no realization
that they are eating anything but candy, for neither
in appearance, smell or taste is there any evidence
of the medicine contained. It is expected that the
mother will be able to give the child medicine without
any realization by the patient 'that he or she is being
dosed, and even solicitous friends might be able to’take
advantage of the plan.
It is objected that such a plan seems to be taking
an unfair advantage of a child’s trustfulness, but those
“Knowledge of the sun’s motion has enabled as
tronomers to make the ‘base line’ used for their observa
tions as long as they choose—as many times 400,000,000
miles as the number of years that they wait between
measurements. Formerly the base line was limited to
93,000,000 miles —the distance across the earth’s orbit.
The result has been the recognition of ‘proper motions’
of the stars, as distinguished from the apparent motions
that are due to our own flight through space.
“A remarkably interesting phenomenon of two great
drifts of stars moving in opposite directions has recently
been discovered. About 10,000 stars were dealt with lu
this investigation. Toe fast-moving drift is flowing
away from the constellation of the Serpent Bearer. The
slow-moving drift is flowing from the constellation of
the Lynx. The two streams of stars appear to be
nearly equally divided and are completely intermingle*!
with each other. The phenomenon is explained on the
theory that two great universes have been drawn to
gether. probably by mutual attraction, and are now
passing through each other. Because of the enormous
distance between individual stars, the chances of col
lisions between them are very small. It must not be
assumed that the discovery of the phenomenon of the
two opposing stellar drifts has upset the theory as to
the position of the solar apex; on the contrary, its posi
tion calculated in this way satisfactorily agrees with that
found by the other method."
Microbes in FRESH EGGS
a more rapid renewal of the chilled water,
produced by the agitation due to waves and
to surface currents.
“In this case a sort of circular gorge it
melted out around the berg, immediately be
low the level of the sea, and the result is an
excess of weight in the parts subjected only
to aerial meltings. These, being
ported, shortly sink lower.
“The continuation of this process leads to
the successive states represented in Figures
3 and 4, which need no further explanation.
"At this stage the berg seems to reach out i
under the sea and rip open the hull of a ship
as with a rapier.
“Simple friction against the submerged
part of such an iceberg may, almost without
shock, produce long tears In the relatively
thin hulls of large vessels. The loss of the
Titanic is perhaps due to an accident of this
kind.
“It is certain that In a freely floating loo
berg the volume of the visible part Is nearly
equal to one-eighth of that of the submerged
part. But this submerged part has not al
ways the form of a cylinder with nearly the
same diameter as that of the visible part, for
in the case where the latter is high and nar
row the iceberg would then have to be very
long vertically, and the situation of its cen
ter of gravity would cause it to change posi
tion so as to make it lie nearly horizontally.
“We must conclude, then, that the sub
merged part of an iceberg must be more or
less extended beneath the surface of the sea
whenever its visible part is relatively high
and narrow.”
form. The white of the eggs are a great deal
like gelatin and the germs thrive and multiply
rapidly in it.
For this reason housekeepers should avoid
buying cracked or broken eggs, no matter
how fresh they may be. Housekeepers
frequently buy broken fresh eggs and use
them for cooking. For a long time it has
been held that these eggs were quite as good
as the whole ones, except that they cannot
be boiled. Consequently they are bought
and used for cakes and other cooking and
also for frying, scrambling and in other
forms.
But this is a dangerous thing to do. No
one can tell just how the eggs became
broken or under what circumstances they
were handled and what the dangers are.
The whole eggs are, of course, quite safe,
as no microbes have had opportunity to
reach the inside of the shells and when
they are boiled the danger is done away
with.
who have had much to do with the struggles of a little
boy or girl against some particularly nauseous dose
will welcome the new plan. There are many people,
however, who still measure the value of a medicine by
its nastiness, and even the most conservative of
doctors would hesitate to give a prescription that shall
be as tasteless as water, although there are many
drugs used which have no taste. Coloring matter Is
frequently put in medicine for the same purpose. The
new school, however, uses coloring matter merely to
add to the attractiveness of the candy and to make
quinine taste like a cocoa drop, or to give phenacetins
the aroma of violets. The era of candy medicine is at
hand and the child of the future has all the luck.
it will prove equally valuable for invalids and ner
vous people, who also object to the taste of medicine.
Moving Pictures
Taken at Night
TAKING moving pictures at night would
seem almost impossible, especiallv
would it seem impossible to the
skilled photographer, for every photographer
knows that after dark a picture has to be mail,
by flashlight, and flashlight is Juat what its L
name indicates, a great but zudden flash of
light. °
To take moving pictures there must be .
continua) light and how to secure a sus
tained light of sufficient brightness to take
a moving picture, that is, an extremely long
timp exposure while the film is being run
through the camera before tbe opened shut
ter of the lens, is a problem.
This has been done, however, according
to The Inventine Age.” which says that it
came about through a hustling committee in
Kansas City which desired to advertise th«£
city thoroughly and wanted to add to heir
municipal fame by perpetuating a mammal
night parade to be held there
tain festival. 8 a cei
A platform twenty feet high was eras'-.,
on one side of a street through which the
parade was to pass. On this were .truja
sixty arc lamps in two rows, backed bv 5
monster sheet tin reflector, seventy feat i„ *
and six feet high On the. opposite
the street was another embankment of ii.hr
almost as powerful, so that for a distance of
about 100 feet the street was brilliantly R.
luminated. The machines were started when
the parade began to pass, and a film 600
ieet long was made, showing every detail
Snapshots taken by private cameras were
found to be as good as similar pictures made
In daylight.