POPULAR SCIENCE.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 926, 30 May 1878, Page 3

POPULAR SCIENCE.

[; l[-.\ } ELECTRICITY. < h/, (From the New York Times.) Within the present .century vast progress'lias been bade m the study of <he nature of electrioity. From the first sparks drawn from "'the baote;pf the primeval ca^by^ber caVe^Bwejling; master to n .^Kei. discovery o£ the phonograph there is an immense, distance. Nevertheless^ it is' bellievqcTby many scientific persons that* we' are. yet merely on the threshold of electricity, and that m the future we. shall make dis- 1 ooveries infinitely more important those which the ablest electi;ieiaus have hitherto 'in'ade.;^^ % It- is only jast begiiining to be understood that the electric currents of 'the eai-th : lfave ah^intimate conec-■tibri:^ftli'-i' > §'^<rquanti ; b7-cJf'things. T.he .aurorp . bojcealis; is .believed to be m some, ; way connected •withspot? p.n ? the 7 solar disc, and these spots iii their turn have an influence >on>ouii climate, land upon ■ the'-sriread'"^^'-^^^^^^' diseases. Kccentiy ; ; r it lias.been asserted that no roan can sleep ;well unless the majdi' axfs of, his ' bed, and consequently • liis personal major axis, correspond^; with the position of the earth. This is due to /the fact that the currents of Wtliiy ; electricity flow m; the direction of the earth's axis ; or, m other words, from pole to p01e.,. .If they enter a recumbent human' being*, ,. at. his feet, and pass out of.^Sfhead, hQ, becomes, sleepy, while if, owing to the wrong-position of his bed, they, enter him fi;om one side or the other, ; their straggles tp t get out'' again produce such a delangement of his nervous system as to render it impossible/ for him to sleep. These are but a few of thai hosts of facts which^might be mentioned to prove the influence of tsartbcurrents upon man and hisj sur- r round jngs> ; and we shall yet make divScoverics m this particular field which no ono ..outside of "the insane asylum would fee capable bf believ- ■ ing.- •■■■ '- : ' • ■■■ 1 : : - ' ■■■ ■■■'■■ ■ „ Tjie ;^reason the cats whose , howls disturb our nocturnal slumbers are uniformly found on back fences running perpendicular, or nearly so, to, the iixis of tlie' earth has never yet been ascertained. . Sir Isaac Newton attempted to explain the .fact by asserting that ' the great majority of ,fftuces are built parallel to the' equator, but this explanation is glaringly at varience with wellascertuinect/acts. Buffou suggested thai; cats are mysteriously J . } . influenced by the maon, and that I hence th<-y prefer fences which are built m / the general direction of the plane of the; mqoft's. orbit. This is certainly .•• a' : plausible. ;; . explanation, butj it bas yet to be proved^ that moonlight' is the cause, rather :-.>than 1 a mbre incident, of nocturnal cat concerts. The other explanations which have been haraarded by lesser authorities are scarcely worth mentioning-. 'All that we really know is the single fact that* nocturnal cats are distributed arouud the /earth m belts parallel to the equator. Fully 93 per cent, of the cats that bring us from our midnight couches with bootjacks m our handd, and rage m our hearts, are found perched upon the east and *ivest fences, and to the trnth of this 7 assertion every New-Yorker" will readily agree. In examining tliis very interesting and important problem, let us begin by asking - why the ' midnight cat howls. Superficial observers have alleged that howling, is the natural expression of the tender passion /among:, cats, and , that the intensity of a, cat's admiration, may be accurately measured by the nideDusncss of his uowls ! Thh js an insult to r hum'arj 'in telligfence ! 'and M feline, , selfrospect. Would! any ydnrig" man, desiring .to plead, his suit, with the lady of his heart, place himself under her window and yell 'as if he were undergoing the severest torments 1 , Of course he would nob, and equally, of course no intelligent cat would' be guilty of a like folly. The yells of the midnight cat.: beat ivery sigh of beihgjtn'e expression/of, the T keenest anguish, aiid cnly.the iqaost perverse ingenuity can regard tnem as the vpi6ebfloyeV ■'■. h •'■ ? ' . ■ : We s liiaye ;.ftius. leaved tl^at 'the , .'cat" perche^i ]pii a^baclViieiipg/peipendicularly to the axis of i.'the, earth', and to the direction of the earth currrnt of electricity, because her ~-.pr A she, j 483 ..the.'Gaae may be— is uhdergpidg 'iabute; ■> agony. . Very » ? ' : -- pbßßibl^ i; cats"^ass;': n over; /fences I'unp jng from jto south quite as frequently , as 'they .dc-fOvei; fence's l'unning^in the direction of the equator,' but m the former case they experience no pain, and hence do not attract attention by their outcries. The moment, however, that, a cat find 3 himself -on an /^ast and west fence he is racked by internal pains ; he tries to relieve his miud by howls and prpfopifcy,; ; and be thereby excites the rage of his human audiences. Now,/ if #we ascertain what produces these pains, we shall have fouia, the true answer • to the question uuder. discussion. May/^iixf/jje that electricity is / really?^t, : , the Mttom; of.- , the who'e J ,V' mto.%> ';■,■,!< -■■ ---' :v.' ; ; •.•;.,, - .; fhk cit,bfe it feMemlj'sr.e'di is mc^e

addicted* ! tb^ ele'bttfieity/t&han any other animal, except the electric eel, and hence is peculiarly; susceptible f to the influence of tho earth current So long as the cat walks over fences running, from north to south his axis directi^of ■:%&», events. u^.hoy P & ss smoqth'y through *bis spinal columu, and, be-yond-gently stimulating his >mind and- tail, f they. have no perceptible effect upon ium. When, however he tries to'walk on a, fence: parallel to the equator, his private axis becomes perpendicular to the earth currents. .They penetrate into his vitals, and wrench him to pieces m the effort to force their way through him. Filled with anguish, he stops, clings fiercely to the ferico, and lifts up his voice, m frenzied agony, lo , some extent the muscles of his legs , are paralysed, and he is unable to move until the, unfeeling, boqt-pk comes hurtling through the airand stimulates him into action. He then springs: frpm the fence | his pains ! vanish, and his ; voice is silent. Ja hot this a complete and .scientific explanation of the question which has so long defied the ablest scientific minds? . . = , .. We thus see liow beautiful ate the reasoning ; processes by which true science investigates abstruse ques. tipnsir tha^biie of the most common incidents of. everynight :life is due to the electricity of the earth. Let us, then, be thankful! that /we live ma ; scientific age, and ' that there f are mor'e r uees; for electricity/ '.th^ia/ '/anyone has yet .dreamed'ofj,;!-* ')/■' " ' t