SCIENCE SIFTINGS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 30, 4 February 1905, Page 10

SCIENCE SIFTINGS.

I THE JUNGFRAU TUNNEL. ! The highest tunnel in Europe is undoubtedly that of the new Jungfrau electric line, which is to reach the summit of the mountain. According to recent reports the tunnel, which is now in construction, has passed the -altitude of 3000 meters {1.8 miles). As the road is entirely imdergronnd after 'reaching the altitude of 2400 meters (1.04 miles) it may be safely affirmed Ito be the highest" tunnel in Europe. 'The work, which commenced over 10 years ago, is very slow. The second station, that of Rothstoek, was opened to the public on the 2nd of August, 1899, and the third, the Eigerwand station, not until the Ist of July, 1903. The next station, thai of Mer de Glace, will not be opened before next summer, and perhaps only during 1906. The great length of time needed for the construction lies in the fact that the \ rock is especially hard, and it is impossible to use quick-working drills. What is favourable is that there has been no water flow up to the present, as is the case in the Simplon tunnel. Until now the workmen have not suffered from the high altitude, but physicians fear that they may contract the mountain disease when they reach the higher points. It is estimated that it will be 10 years before the road finally reaches the summit of tho Jungfrau. THE "ETHER." The Russian chemist, Professor Mendeleeff, discoverer of the famous Periodic Law of the elements, has contributed to the new Russian "Encyclopaedic Dictionary" a remarkable paper, in which he deals with the ether. A translation of this article appears in the last number of "Nature." In opposition to some recent thinkers, Mendelceff insists that matter ia not a mode of force or motion, but that "subStances (masses) and phenomena (movements) must be recognised a3 two separate categories, such as space and time, the substance of which our thought has not yet penetrated, but without which it cannot work." The ether of space he regards as matter resembling argonthelium. in having no power of chemical combination., it must also possess extremely low density and great rapidity of molecular motion. "In order that the ether may escape from the sphere of attraction of stars 50 times as great as the mass of the sun, it must have an atomic weurht not more than 000,000,000.053. The very email value of this figure explains why there is little hope of isolating , the substance of the ether in the near future, and it also explains why it penetrates all substances." ' _ - HEBGHTS OP METEORS. In a letter to the November number of the "Observatory" Mr Denning publishes some data regarding the observed heights of the appearances and disappearances of several different classes of meteors. He states that generally speaking, the swift meteore become visible at a greater heig-ht than the slower ones, and do not approach so near to the earth's surface before disappearing. Thus for the Leonids and Perseids, "both of which are characterised by their comparative swiftness, it has been determined that the former are generally more lofty than the latter, the average heights being as follows:— Leonids—Height at beginning, 84 miles; height at ending, 56 miles; No. of meteors, 25. Perseids—Height at beginning, 80 miles; height at ending, 54 xnHes; No, of meteors, 40. On the other hand the mean heights of the very alow meteors appsar to average about 65 miles at the beginning to 38 miles at the end of their appearance. These, however, appear to form two distinct "classes— fl) those having verylow radiants, extending from 64 miles to 48 miles; and (2) those having fairJly hlyh radiants, extending from G6 ■ miles to 23 miles. CAMERA DISEASE DETECTOR. A Manchester photographer relate* that he took a photograph of a child who was apparently in good health and had a clear skin. -The negative showed the faco to be thickly covered with an eruption. Three dp.ys aitrfv.ards the child was covered with spots due to prickly licat. The camera had seen and photographed the eruption three days before it was visible to the naked eye. It is Baid that another case of a similaT kind is recorded, where a child showed spota on his portrait which were invisible on bis face a fortnight previous to an attack of smallpox. A WONDERFUL WATCH. The firm of Leroy, of Paris, probably the oldest watchmakers of Europe, have just completed, after seven years' work, a remarkable watch. It is of gold, and is beautifully chased. It marks the day, month, year, and leap year for a hundred years; the phases of the moon, seasons, solstices, equinoxes, the time at 123 of the principal toisns of the world, the rising and setting of the sun. It comprises a' chronograph, a repeater for hours and minutes, a thermometer, hygrometer, altimeter up to 5000 meters, compass, and a peal of small bells. Strangest of all is a diaplate of the heavens, recording the sidereal movement, that ia, its daily advance of 236 seconds on mean time. This plate is studded v-ifch 650 gold points denoting stars to the fourth magnitude, and enables the observer to see the r act position of the celestial bodies at any day and at any hour •without gazing at the heavens, in either the northern or southern hemispheres. This is claimed to be the most wonderful and complicated watch in the world: it contains 24 mechanical movements, and consists of 975 distinct parts. BENEATH THE WAVES. What lurks beneath the waves? Darkness for one thing. No ray of gladsome light penetrates below 200 fathoms, that is, 1200 feet. All beneath is thick darkness. Yet aniainl life exists even there. and animals in various forms have been dredged up from a depth of thousands of feet, that is, more than four miles below the surface. What a strange, almost unthinkable, existence is theirs! Many species have no eyes., or but rudimentary organs G»f sight, and indeed what would be the use oi eyes in such darkness. But numerous species are dowered with phosphorescent light—such as glowworms and fire-flies on land—by which the creatures co gifted may 'perceive something of their way about. So tliat beneath the waves an artificial light, so to sometimes vakes the place of the sun. Life in the ocer.n is most frequent in the first hundred fathoms, and then passing through a huge space of darksome water, more or less devoid of life, a comparative crov?d of organisms exist within two or three hundred fathoms of the ocean floor. Crusty crustaceans and ink-dispelling cuttlc-iish seem among the most numerous dwellers down there.