THE WEST SHORE.
June, 1879,
1 are. Mreei- .
mannn, the wi ll kmmu French astronomer,
hii Imn examining in Im Snlurr the evidences
in fvor o( intra Mercurial planets, and particu
larly tint furnished l.y Watenn . Swift. On
the letter M, Flammarmn says: "While it is
xiMilla that tlie American olnervers ut an
nitra-Mari-uriel planet, nr eveu two, we cannot,
111 new nl the arecial dillicultira of the situation,
the confusion of the figures, and the negative
' natinua of the other ulawrrera, roni-cde it
l laj an absolute ami incontraUhla fact that
they aaw even ao much aa one. 1'he t.-t la nut
)et certain . " Alter reviewing the whole lesti
loony thua far available on Una interesting
I". ini, the Krench writer luma up aa followa:
"The hyjMttheaia of a single Imdy cnmuualiln to
Mercury KraviUtinil in clnae proximity ti the
aim and on a plane prnlally inclined to the
anlar equator aertoa to tia to he ennjicti to objec
tinna aa to he untenable. Still, tin mathemati
cal theory of iiinveraal attraction pmvea that
there la a rauae fur the retardation ohaerveil in
the mulum nf Mercury, anil that tlna rauae can
not lie foninl hy augmenting the maaa ol Vcnua
a uantity now iletermineil with great eiacti
liule hut uniat la) sought for in some lIlaxEllaks
nuua I I . "ii Mercury anil the aun. Hut tlua
maaa may not I a planet worthy of the name
nf planet; it may couaiat of a great number of
aaU-rmds like the minute fragments which
tt.utate hetween Mara anil Jupiter aateroiila
i ainall that oftentimes they escape the notice
of oheerven of the aun anil of rcliiieca, though
e of them may ha Urge enough to lie awn
miliar certain rare oouditinns. The latter
theory la the one which we adopt. "
A N RftrmiJUTBa Lm)OIB ra.m llnrrr.
In l.smpell.c pnncil supp!) of augsr ia de
nied from Imrta; tha annual proiluctiou of beet
augar being sow 7U0.UU0 tons, Ileei.lea thia a
large quantity of heel nmlaaaea ia prodini-d, a
ponfaW of which ia diatilled ami acoane aort of
alnaky made) the atntf remaining in tha retort
la potaeaium aalta, which are employed aa
Irrtili. Sugar, apinta, ainl talaah have
heretofore been the chief produ. la manufactured
ffom beet. But Mr. uioent hai now auc
Mtaal in realising from the rafuaa that remains
a'Ur the I inolaaaca distillation, a comhuali
14a, gaaanus Ualy, which ia raaily cn.lrneed
111U1 liquid form, ml u called ,h,.ri.U of
uielhyL Una liquid, obtained aa alaled from
l-eela, la meed in tha preparation of some of the
aniline oulora; hut it ia now found to ha eapeci
ally relaalUe aa a refiigeralmg agent Hy iU
raj I i-apnrauoaa temperature of ,VV (', ,,r
lain below aero, may be inaiuteiural. which
ia far b.low tha freezing point of mercury.
Prof ili.ttry aaya that by this 10 ran a mercury
iwhnh lieeaea at XI Kahr. below arm) may be
Ir. 1 n I.) the pound For tha manula. . 1.
lea thia new beat root produ, I pr. miee to bo-.i-me
of much imrUm e -AVi. ,4 m.
Tt H n manufacture bnla fair to aoftn be
aa important induatry in tha United
utee A large eaUhliahmant haa recently beam
relahliebed ia New York, aad ia now known aa
the Muaiu Tia I'late t'oanpenv It vcupiea a
building ia Horatio street, where the tinning ia
doawi Ut the trua ia rolled at a null
I'.lteherf, TW Unaiag boaaa u Kai W( aqaara.
Masai wiia a racy raialm applian . The aheeU
ia taw rmiiaary war, tha eat or
a use. aad lanaaemed o. a '
l Taey are taea cold rolled agaia, -nasal!
and pacaeiaii. earn pal law oalha of Kaaaiaa
lalWw or palm ml TWaa they paea through
aavatal baUaa of ua aaaltaa at a high Wmpara
tara, aad again Urvmgk aawdaat and braa ta
rial mm taaa aariaaa. Kaaally, they are prdiaheat
ah lam I a wool bawafm, Batd aaaaortaat ready
fur bo nag aad aaippuaf. TVa annual aaaoant
1 Un ptalea imi.ld ibIo tha I'mlevl Sutaa in
is?!, rtocha.1 tha large aau. of a frartaoa abort
.J fia,ta,ai.iaai
Ci kiuio ruaaoaiKiiA or RarnacTion. The
Bnginrtr puhliahea an iutereating paper by Mr.
Knbert Mallet on aome curioua phenomena of
reflection, which, he obaervea, may give a cue
to the explanation of the magic mirrors of Japan.
Many yeara ago Mr. Kecks, of the London
School of Minei, noticed that the image re
flected in bright aunlight from a silver coin,
which by abraainn of wear had become practi
cally flat, and from which all traces of image
and auicracription had vaniahed, waa different,
in the intensity of the light rrllected, from what
hal once U.n the field or depressed part and
from the head. A silver half crown waa struck
at the Itoyal mint showing the Queen's head on
the obverse side, but without any design on the
reverse face, where a Hat surface of polished
steel waa placed iu the coining press in place of
the usual reverse die. Wheu this llat and
Initialled aide waa eipoaod obliquely to bright
sunlight, the reflected image thrown upon a flat
aurfacc not only presented with much distinct
ncaaand accuracy the outline of the head, but alan
a irtion of the "Victoria" surrounding it, the
nl and inscription lieing shown by a far more
brilliant light than the reat This suggests
some interesting inquiries in regard to the flow
of mcUla.
A New ITbou ami a Ivrr Planet. Dr.
Temple, of the Ubavrvatory of Arcetri, Florence,
anuouncea his discovery, on March 1 1th, of a
new neubla, which he at first miatook for a faint
comet. IU position for 1879 la R, A., Uh.,
ISmin., 5aec., N. R )., 86' l'-4. Dr. Temple
doacribea it aa a double nebula with two small
but distinct nuclei from 15" to 20" apart, and
lie ail. la that nebula llerschel II. 32, which ia in
tha vicinity, is much smaller and fainter than
the one iust diacovered. It occasionally happens
that ccleatial I ..-lira are lost aa well aa found
Thia has occurred several turn a in the case of
the amall plaucta between Mara and Jupiter,
which now numlier nearly 200. There ia one of
these, however, which, according to Mr. Proc
tor, aatrmiomrra would regret to lose. This is
the plauel Hilda, which travels in a much wider
orbit than any of the othera, and can give more
lart uilormatiou imp. . ting the maaa of Jupiter
than any other member of the solar system,
coming much more fully at certain times under
his influence. Unfortunately, Hilda haa been
searched for in vaio at its first return to opposi
tion, and astronomers begin to fear that the
plaust ia, for the time being, lost,
IRON KtNI'INU It ia linnet i,,.n....,u
apeak of the advantages which iron fencing
l.a. a,a ..ver mat winch ilnl duty 111 the dava
f our lathers. Thceo are an well Inn- tk.t
to recapitulate them would be like telling a
twice.ioui 1 ale. me only question is to ascer
tain the best kind ol iron fencing to adopt
SiKviallv valuable ia that wh ich ia mull imniU
and ooatiBaoaa. Much eiDehence haa lot to
awe conciuaion mat angular iron la a good deal
atrutiger than a solid plate of the aame weight,
and, therefore, better adapted for continuous
iron I eaciag than Hat ban. strength . of course.
a most imporuai lu-m in deciding upon
fencing, bat thia ia not tha only ail vantage.
Kaon bar, for inaUooe, being aulul, without
j.Hiit or weld, it cannot be broken at the
ground line. No holes hare to be dug, for the
slaaderda are driven direct to the ground, lad
are there ervur.lv tiled; thus they are van
eaaily erected. Moreover, the upright bar
being broader, the f eaciag can be distinctly
seen by horeaa aad cattle, and thua the risk of
stock running againat it ia considerably redaced.
I'tlau Vswaar tVa .aaawawaal 1V. . aX law. t.
ltatiituUnft, trporu, un.icr HaU ol My ttd, th
awmtnr of Mt pUart o Um '2h amffu
Uti fl tn im-turntl, Aeoarditw to th n-
hiHinrasmaal ml it. . It . a Z Wv a
A SALT afarkag baa been diacorared ia the Lit
tia Ceaeraalo; a peaad of aalt to the galloa of
water.
A riaWI ta predicted in Knsaia by Kussian
Jinnnll. Caaasa war. drankeaBaaa, boiidaya,
ealtla psagwa, baatlea, laarwaoas aaai aaiilawaasa
The perforation of marble by a marine boriaf
animal (the sponge known aa Cliona mlphurta) U
a novel fact observed and noted by Prof. VeirilL
The facts iu the case are briefly aa follows: A
vessel laden with Italian marble waa wreaked
in 1871, off Long Island, and the exposed por
tions of the slabs which occasionally come to
light, are found to be thoroughly penetrated to
the depth of an inch or two by the crooked, ir
regular boringi of thia sponge, and reduced to
a complete honeycomb, readily crumbled be
tween the Angers. Beyond these borings the
stone ia still perfectly sound and unaltered.
Prof. errill notices thia aa the first lattaktall
recorded where this sponge haa attacked lime
stone, since calcareous rooks do not occur along
the portions of our coast inhabited by it ; ana
he suggest that ita demonstrated ability to de
stroy such rocks so rapidly might have aa im
portant practical bearing on the use of limestone
structures for submarine works.
Ia Condensed Sikam Explosive? The fol
lowing appears in a Boston daily paper: To
economize heat, it ia common to past the steam
from the cylinder to the tender in a locomotive,
to be used again and again. A similar process
through the condenser Is in vogue on board of
steamers. For some time Mr. H. C, Blackall,
Superintendent of the motive power of tat
Dm laware and Hudson It. Co., haa been experi
menting with thia condensed steam, and among
other important discoveries, haa found that it
Incomes highly exploaive without giving any
warning, under certain circumstances, which are
liable to occur at any time. He thinks it proba
ble that some of the missing ocean steamers have
he. n blown up by condensed steam, laxoaao
tives, he contends, are exposed to the MOM
dangor. Now if this is ao, Mr. Blackall ought
to make it known aa extensively aa possible lor
the safety of life and property.
Newly Discovered Fossil Bird Tracks.
The lower Connecticut valley seems to be quit
aa full of giant foeail bird track, in atone, at
the upper region about Turner falls, where Prof.
Hitchcock made hia discoveries. Messrs. Cot 4
Fowler have just uncovered, in their quarry on
Fowder hill, half a mile west of the Middletield
and Durham station, a layer of stone indented
several inches with bird track. Several on
line are three and one-half feet from each other,
and measure fourteen inches on the center claw,
and outside claws being separated about a foot
at the point. These track were made in the
mud and ooae of a ahore that waa evidently
washed by the tide, and each incoming tide
lepoaited a layer of silt, or mod, which became
sufficiently hardened in the sun to retain the
form of the impression, and in that shape the
mud waa alowly turned to freestone. Hariord,
Coaa., Timet.
Railway Notes. Since the building of the
Mount Washington railway eight similar roads
have been constructed in Austria and 8 wi taw
land. The engine for the roads were first
built with vertical boiler ; next with boiler
that were level on an average grade ; now they
are built with horizontal boilers like ordinary
locomotive. Various methods have beta de
vised for enabling the locomotive to work by
adhesion of their smooth wheel, aa well a by
means of their cog-wheel driven, and by nasaa
of either at will No one of tbeae ha been
permanently successful, however, 0 that the
proper axu traction of a doable engine of this
aort ia itill a matter of experimental inquiry. -Srintijk
Amrriram.
A cl'MOV ancient Mexican library ba been
found in the ruins of a vast palace at Xayi, near
Chiapas, ia southern Mexico. The WaMjJ
are inscribed oa tana rwtoa tablet, half aa inch
thick, aad are eappoeed to be sacred 1 natal,
bat the language in which they are writtea i
aot accurately known. . A. Omni fjaj