Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 April 1899 — sCIENCE AND INVENTION [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

sCIENCE AND INVENTION

Dr. W. C. Krauss, in discussing the question of degeneration, which has occupied so much attention in the past few years, answers the question, “Is the human race degenerating?” in the negative. He ate* says that “a* compared with foreigners, Americans exhibit the fewest signs of degeneracy.” Our earth grows heavier every day by possibly one hundred tons, making * liberal estimate of the amount of matter received from meteors and shooting stars. At all times the earth's atmosphere acts as a net catching starting stars that are crossing the path. These stars vary in size from a grata of matter to a targe-sized rock. Our war with Spain threw much light on the question of the proper color to render war ships invisible to the enemy. The best tint was found to be a dull gray with a yellow shade. Ships thus colored blend inconspicuously with the horizon, and with the rocks alongshore. How nature deals with a similar question is shown by the black and yellow stripes of the zebra and the tiger, which render those animals almost invisible amid their habitual surroundings. The skeleton of the largest animal yet found, called the Dinosaur, has recently been unearthed in Wyoming, the land of big fossil remains. The astounding figures are these: Whole length, 130 feet, of which sixty feet were the tail and thirty the neck. A vertebra out of the middle of the backbone measures sixteen inches in length. The femur bone is eight feet long. In the cavity of the ribs forty men cowld be seated. The hips would stand thir-ty-five feet high and the shoulders twenty-five. The weight of the living animal is calculated by Prof. Reed to have been at least 120,000 pounds, or sixty tons. Many must have noticed that in winter time the sky seems to lack the roominess and lofty arching of summer. It appears on cloudy, or partially cloudy, days to be nearer the earth than is the case on similar days during the summer months. That this appearance is no figment of the imagination Is shown by recent investigations made at the Upsala Observatory on the elevation of clouds. It is found that all varieties of clouds float at a much greater altitude in summer than In winter. The months of greatest elevation, at least in Sweden, are June and July. Among the Inventions which bad a practical trial during our war with Spain was a French device for stopping called the Colomes to close a rent made bya shell in the a foot above the water-line. As soon a* XL . ~- J wwro n Inna roll j-' *- •- to 1

deck, ceased. The stopper consists of a rod having at one end an iron plate, piveted at the center so that it can be folded backward along the rod. To stop a leak, the rod carrying the plate is first thrust outward through the hole; then a turn of the rod causes the plate, which is weighed at one end, to become parallel to the side of the ship, and in thia position it is drawn back by the rod so as more or less completely to cover the hole. Next a cellulose cushion is placed upon the rod, and by ths aid of a nut forced tightly against the inner side of the ship over the hole, so as entirely to stop the leak. Stoppers of various sizes are carried, to suit the size of the bole that may have to be dealt with.