Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. XI.—April, 1851—Vol. II.Various
General
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. XI.—April, 1851—Vol. II.
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Civilization -- Periodicals; Culture -- Periodicals
An Italian savant announces that when the fog is so thick as to prevent
signals being seen from one station to another, the difficulty may be
greatly diminished by placing a colored glass between the eye and the
eye-piece of the telescope. The best color for those who have strong
eyesight is dark red; while those who are short-sighted find light red
preferable. He accounts for the fact by stating that the white color of
the fog strikes too powerfully upon the eye, particularly if the glass
have a large field; and the intensity of the light is diminished by the
interception of a part of the rays by the colored glass, so that the eye
is less wearied.
_The Velocity of Artificial Light_ has been the subject of some very
ingenious experiments by M. Fizean. A point of intense brightness,
produced by oxy-hydrogen light, is concentrated by a lens, and being
received upon a mirror placed at about two leagues distance, is
reflected back again in the same line. This is effected so exactly that
scarcely any deviation in the course of the two rays can be perceived,
the going and returning ray appearing one within the other. Behind the
point of light is placed a wheel having 720 teeth, so adjusted that the
light shines between two of the teeth, so that when the wheel is at
rest, an eye placed behind it receives the impression of the full ray.
When the wheel is moved so that 12·6 revolutions are made in a second,
the teeth of the wheel appear continuous, and half the light is
obstructed. If the velocity be sufficiently accelerated all the light is
cut off, and that rate shows the time necessary for the light to have
traversed the two leagues and back again, for the observer sees only the
returning ray. The velocity of artificial light has thus been fixed at
70,000 French leagues in a second, which agrees remarkably with that
given by astronomers to solar light, 192,500 miles in a second. The
English mile, it will be recollected is a trifle longer than the French
mile.
A paper read before the British Association, describes several
remarkable hail storms which have occurred in India. The weight of some
masses of ice which have fallen exceeds 14 pounds. Many of these masses,
under a rough external coat, contained an interior of clear ice. Immense
conglomerated masses of hail stones had been known to be swept down the
mountain ravines by the torrents which succeeded the storms; and in one
of these conglomerations a snake was found frozen up, and apparently
dead; but it revived on being thawed out.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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