Elephant Rusks in Vermont

Below is an article from Country Gentleman ©1865 Vol.26

The Tusk of an Elephant found in Brattleboro'
The tusk of a fossile elephant was found in a muck bed about five feet below the surface, on the farm of D. S. Pratt, in this town, on Saturday, Sept. 2, by a workman who was digging muck. The tusk is 44 inches in length, and 18 inches in circumference at the largest end, and 11 inches at the smallest. It is in a fair state of preservation, although some parts of it crumbled after being exposed to the air. The workman on discovering it took a piece to Mr. Pratt, remarking as he handed it to him. that he had found a curious piece of wood. Mr. Pratt on looking at it discovered its true nature. This tusk belonged to a species of elephant long since extinct, supposed to be the Elephas Primogenius (or mamir»th) Bhimeitback, that inhabited the northern parts of North America, having wandered across the Siberian plains to the Arctic Ocean and Behring Straits and beyond to this country south to about the parallel of 40°. Their bones show them to have been about twice the weight and one-third taller than our modern species.

The remains, (tusks, teeth, and several bones.) of one of these elephants were found at the summit of the Green Mountains, at Mount Holly, in 1848, by workmen engaged in building the railroad from Bellows Falls to Rutland. These remains were found in a muck-bed, 11 feet below the surface and at an elevation of 1415 feet above tide water. Most of the bones found, including a molar tooth, were taken by the workmen and others and carried out of the State. The most perfect tusk was secured by Prof. Zadock Thompson and is lodged in the State Cabinet at Montpelier. This tusk was 80 inches long and four inches in diameter. The molar tooth, now in possession of Prof. Agassiz, weighs 8 pounds and presents a grinding surface of 8 inches long and 4 broad. A plaster cast of it is on exhibition with the tusk at our State Cabinet.

Hot Air Balloons

I've mentioned hot air balloons before on this blog but today I'm sharing the beginning of an excerpt that came out in 1822. The reason I'm posting this blog because of the science involved and the date of this publication. The 19th century is filled with science, which was built upon in the next century. The source of this excerpt is Elements of science and art: being a familiar introduction to...Vol. 1 pg 162. You can finish reading the excerpt here.

OF AIR BALLOONS.
The air-balloon is a machine, consisting of a bag i filled with air, so light, that it, together with the bag, forms a mass which is specifically lighter than the common air of the atmosphere. A cubic foot of common air is found to weigh above 554> grains, and to be expanded by every degree of heat marked on Fahrenheit's thermometers, about l-50th part of the whole. By heating a quantity of air, therefore, to 200 degrees Fahr., you will just double its bulk, when the thermometer stands at 54 in the open air, and in the same proportion you will diminish its weight; and if such a quantity of this hot air be inclosed in a bag, that the excess of the weight of an equal bulk of common air, weighs more than the bag with the air contained in it, both the bag and the air will rise into the atmosphere, and continue to do so till they arrive at a place where the external air is naturally so much rarefied, that the weight becomes equal, and here the whole will float.

The power by which hot air is impelled upwards, may be shown by the following experiment. RolL up a sheet of paper in a conical form, and by thrusting a pin into it near the apex, prevent it from ur rolling. Fasten it then by its apex, under one of the scales of a balance, by means of a thread; and having properly counterpoised it by weights put into the opposite scale, apply the flame of a candle underneath, and you will instantly see the cone rise; and it will not be brought into equilibrium with the other, but by a much greater weight than those who have never seen the experiment would believe.

If the magnitude of a balloon be increased, its power of ascension, or the difference between the weight of the included air and an equal bulk of common air, will be augmented in the same proportion. For its thickness being supposed the same, it is as the surface it covers, or only as the square of the diameter. This is the reason why balloons cannot be made to ascend, if under a given magnitude, when composed of cloth, or materials of the same thickness.

English Sparrows

I stumbled upon this little tidbit while reading a history of Essex, MA.

In 1873 English sparrows began to make their presence known here about this year--probably the progeny of those imported into Boston. It was believed that they would benefit agriculturists by destroying ravaging insects, but they did not fulfill expectations, and were soon declared worthless.

In 1889 "The English Sparrow (Passer domesticus) in North America" was published. According to their research the English Sparrow was brought to America via Brooklyn, NY. Eight pairs. They were released into the wilds in the Spring of 1851. Several trips to England were made for these birds and during the last delivery some escaped in Boston. Ten years later (1868) the English Sparrow was seen regularly in the Boston Commons.

Donati's Comet 1858

I stumbled across the article below while researching for "Historical Fiction Writer's Guide to Carriages & Wagons of the 19th Century." The article that was published in the Nov. 1858 issue of the New York Coach-Maker's Magazine.

THE COMET. 
Donati's comet, which at this date so beautifully adorns the western sky from dusk until half-past eight in the evening, and again is seen in the northeast at about four in the morning, was nearest the earth about the 9th of October, at which time it was very large and brilliant, probably more so than any that may be seen again by the present generation. Its distance, when nearest the earth, was about fiftytwo millions of miles. The nucleus was near the constellation Arcturus, and nearest the earth's orbit on the 20th of October. Dr. Bond, of Harvard College Observatory, says that the cause of this comet's appearance again in the morning is owing to the considerable northern declination of the comet, with a right ascension differing but little from that of the sun.
The following very interesting observations on the progress of the comet, at an early date after its appearance, are from the pen of Professor Mitchell, of the Cincinnati Observatory, and will, no doubt, be read with interest at this time:
"On the evening of the 25th of September, the appearance of the comet, in the great refractor of the Cincinnati Observatory, was especially interesting. The central portion, or nucleus, was examined with powers varying from one hundred to five hundred, without presenting any evidence of a well-defined planetary disc. It was a brilliant glow of light, darting and flashing forward in the direction of the motion toward the sun, and leaving the region behind in comparative obscurity. But the most wonderful physical feature presented, was a portion of a nearly circular nebulous ring, with its vertex directed toward the sun, the bright nucleus being in the centre, while the imperfect ring swept more than half round the luminous centre. This nebulous ring resembled those which sometimes escape from a steam-pipe, but did not exhibit the appearance which ought to be presented by a hollow hemispherical envelope of nebulous matter.

"There was an evident concentration of light in the central portions of the ring, while, in the case of a hollow envelope, the brightest portion should be at the outer edge. By micrometrical measurement, the distance from the central point to the circumference of the ring was found to be about nine thousand miles. This would give a diameter of eighteen thousand miles, in case the ring was entire. Similar measurements, made on the evening of the 26th of September, indicated a decided increase in the radius of the ring, which was now not less than twelve thousand miles in length. On the same evening, I noticed the fact that the luminous envelope did not blend itself into the head portion of the tail, but appeared somewhat to penetrate into this nebulous mass, especially on the upper part, presenting the appearance of about 200 degrees of a spiral. The tail, on the 25th, was decidedly brighter and better defined on the upper than on the lower portion, while on the evening of the 26th there was a much nearer approach to equality in brightness, especially near the head of the comet. Through the telescope, and near the head, the tail presented the appearance of a hollow nebulous envelope, under the form of a paraboloid of revolution, the edges being brightest and well defined, while there was a manifest fading away of light towards the central region. Through the vast depth of nebulous matter composing this wonderful appendage, the faintest telescopic stars shone with undiminished brightness.
"The only comet which has presented an appearance resembling the one now visible is the one known as Halley's Comet, as seen by Sir William Herschel and others, in its return in 1836. There is a marked difference between the two: that while the envelope of Halley's Comet is described as a hemispherical hollow envelope, this shows more the shape of a nebulous ring; there is a faint, misty light, of irregular outline, but not to be mistaken by even a casual observer. Mr. J. R. Hind, the English astronomer, who has earned the appellation of the 'Planet-catcher,' is good authority on the comet. He expresses the opinion that its increase in brightness will go on, in conformity with theory, so that about the epact of maximum brilliancy in October it will be visible with telescopes in full sunshine. The nucleus is of the appearance of a star of the second magnitude, and the tail, which points nearly due North, although rather faint, is about five degrees in length. The comet is about 120 millions of miles from the earth, or a little farther from us than the sun, and the diameter of the nucleus is estimated to be rather more than 3,000 miles, or nearly one and a half times larger than the moon. The length of the tail, judging from its appearance, is estimated at fifteen millions of miles. The path of the comet is that of a parabola, and it is conjectured that it will not appear again for some hundreds of years."

We have had our engraving made expressly for this Magazine, and which gives a very fair representation of it as it appeared on the evening the drawing was made.

Average Annual Temperature in United States 1887

Place of               Average
Observation      Temperature
Tucson, Arizona . . . . 69
Jacksonville, FL. . . . 69
New Orleans, LA. . . 69
Austin, Tx . . . . . . . .67
Mobile, Al . . . . . . . .66
Jackson, Mississippi. .64
Little Rock, AR . . . . 63
Columbia, S.C. . . . . .62
Ft. Gibson, Indian Ter  60
Raleigh, N.C.  . . . . .59
Atlantia, GA . . . . . .58
Nashville, Tn. . . . . .58
Richmond, VA . . . . 57
Louisville, Ky. . . . . 56
San Francisco, CA . . 55
Washington, D.C. . . .55
St. Louis, Missouri . . 55
Baltimore, Maryland . 54
Harrisburg, PA . . . . . 54
Wilmington, De. . . . .53
Trenton, NJ . . . . . . . 53
Columbus, OH . . . . .53
Portland, Or . . . . . . .53
Ft. Boise, Idaho. . . . .52
Salt Lake City, Ut . . .52
Romney, W.V. . . . . .52
Indianapolis, IN . . . . 51
Leavenworth, KS . . . 51
Santa Fe, N.M. Ter. . .51
Sterlacoom, W. Ter. . .51
Hartford, CT. . . . . . . 50
Springfield, IL. . . . . . 50
Camp Scott, NV. . . . .50
Des Moines, IA. . . . . 49
Omaha, NE . . . . . . . .49
Denver, CO. . . . . . . . 48
Boston, MA. . . . . . . . 48
Albany, NY. . . . . . . . 48
Providence, RI . . . . . .48
Detroit, MI. . . . . . . . . 47
Ft. Randall, Dakota Ter. .47
Sitka, Alaska . . . . . . . 46
Concord, NH . . . . . . . 46
Augusta, Me . . . . . . . .45
Madison, Wisconsin . . 45
Helena, Montana Ter . . 43
Montpelier, Vermont. . . 43
St. Paul, Minnesota . . . .42

Astronomy from Literary Gazette 1830

Celestial Phenomena from 1830 to 1836
To stimulate recent subscribers to the Literary Gazette to commence with the year the study of astronomy, a brief sketch is subjoined of the aost remarkable phenomena that will occur mm 1830 to 1836, inclusive. Some of these are connected with questions and predictions to the solution and fulfilment of which philosophers are looking forward with considerable interest; more particularly to the return of the three comets, whose periods are supposed to be kaown with some degree of certainty; namely, lbs cnmets of Encke, Biela, and Halley.

1830—Four visible occultations of Aldebarsn, one of which will be attended with singular circumstances connected with terrestrial position—to one part of the British Isles it will prove only an appulse of the star, and to another part an occultation. A total eclipse of the moon, the duration of which will be almost the longest possible, as the centre of the moon will pass very near the centre of the earth's shadow: about the middle of the eclipse the saoon will be in conjunction with a star in Aquarius, which conjunction will, in some places be an occultation. An occultation of Venus by the moon.

1831 An eclipse of the moon. Mars will pass over a star in Taurus. An occultation of Japiter by the moon. Mercury eclipsed by the san. An occultation of Saturn by the moon.

1832—This year will be remarkably replete with interesting phenomena. The comet of Eacke will return in the spring, and the comet «f Biela in the autumn of the year. A transit rf Mercury across the sun's disc. An eclipse rf the sun. An occultation of Saturn by the 2UOB. Three of the satellites of Jupiter sizxltaneou&ly eclipsed.

1833 An eclipse of the sun.

1834 and 1835—The comet of Halley will ae expected; it last passed its perihelion on the -3th of March, 1759: it is calculated to reach iie same point again 16th of March, 1835. A Sanaa t of Mercury across the sun's disc.

1836 A considerable solar eclipse.

end of quote

Note they didn't put in the 1833 Leonoids meteor storm. Coined "The Night It Rained Fire."

Weather Science

I've posted about the weather and predicting the weather that was used by many in the 19th century. Sometimes these predictions held true and sometimes they didn't. Below is a post from the Meteorological tables and Climatology of Vermont ©1877 that I believe shows a nice overview of how 19th century man understood the atmosphere.

THE ATMOSPHERE.
It is desirable that all should have a general understanding of our atmosphere, and the laws by which our storms are regulated or produced, and to render such instructive I shall say something of the history of Meteorological' Science, and also of familiar signs as well as instrumental observations. Two hundred and fifty years ago it was not known that we had an atmosphere. All the phenomena it produces were explained upon other principles, some of them showing the wildest theories and the most absurd ideas. The creation of the atmosphere as declared in Genesis, as the "firmament" dividing the waters, was not understood. A vague and unmeaning explanation was given it. When it was discovered that there was in reality an aeriform fluid surrounding the earth, possessing weight, color, power of diffusing light and heat, and necessary to the existence of all animal and vegetable life, it struck with wonder and astonishment all the learned throughout the world. So wonderful and incredible did it at first appear, that it was not until after the lapse of several years, till opinions which had prevailed for ages were overthrown,'and the most decisive experiments had been performed in every possible way, that it was cordially received. This atmosphere is composed mainly of two gases, nitrogen and oxygen. It was, however, less than eighty years ago, supposed to be a simple body, but is now known to be composed of about eighty parts by measure of nitrogen, and twenty parts of oxygen. It may be necessary to offer a few remarks on these gases, opposite in their nature ; entering into no chemical union, yet being combined in so exact proportion as to support animal and vegetable life, and the smallest change, perhaps, detrimental to either. Oxygen gas is eminently the supporter of combustion, and ignited substances burn in it with the most intense brilliancy. Even shavings of zinc and iron may be ignited, by dipping the ends in melted brimstone, and introducing them into this gas while the brimstone is on fire. They then burn with intense heat and give a peculiar light, exemphiying the fact that if our globe was surrounded by an increased amount of oxygen, many now incombustible substances could be burned.

Nitrogen gas is exactly opposite in quality. It will extinguish fire as well as water, and will soon kill any animal that breathes it uncombined with oxygen. Yet four fifths of the air we breathe is this noxious substance.

Oxygen is the life-giving element, and as this is largely consumed in combustion and respiration, and by those processes replaced by an equal volume of carbonic acid, which is detrimental to animal life, it would seem that the atmosphere would at length become deleterious. This would be the case, were it not for vegetation, which by aid of the sun's rays, absorbs the carbonic acid, and gives off, after the appropriation of the carbon, oxygen for the animal. Thus the animal and vegetable mutually support each other; I say support, as breathing affords three fourths of our own nourishment; leaving the other quarter, only, to be supplied by food. With this unceasing metamorphosis in beings and things, goes on a continuous exchange, by virtue of which the gases of the atmosphere take up their abode in animal and plant. Each atom of air, therefore, passes from life to life as it escapes from death after death, being in turn wind, flood, animal, plant, or flower, being successively employed in the composition of thousands of plants and animals.

It is the inexhaustible source from whence everything that lives draws much the largest share of its support, and into which everything that dies contributes. Under its action vegetables and animals are brought into existence and then perish.
Life and death are alike taken in at every respiration, and the atom of oxygen which escapes from the blade of grass may find its way into the lungs of the infant in the cradle; or the last sigh of a dying man go to nourish the brilliant petal of a flower.

Weather Concerning Herschel's Table

As with many things today there is great dispute about what works what doesn't, etc. The 19th century also had such differing opinions. Below you will find two quotes one that's not to excited about Herschel's table and another that agrees.

This comes from the Meteorological tables and climatology of Vermont ©1877 by Hiram Adolphus Cutting

There is another class of signs which some believe in, that are merely superstitions, having no foundation in fact. The Hindoos have their rain gods, the South Sea Islanders their wind conjurers, and the negroes of Africa their rain doctors ; and previously we had our weather Almanacs and our Herschel's weather tables, one just as good as the other. Not many }'ears ago that celebrated Herschel's weather table, which Herschel never saw, was considered almost infallible, and Thomas' Almanac quite so ; but all enlightened people, unless some whose age has outgrown science, discard them. For the last thirty years our storms have taken place without regard to moon's quarters. We have had 2,668 storms, divided as follows: at new moon, 660; first quarter, 664; full moon, 668; last quarter, 676. This shows very plainly that the moon has nothing to do with storms. If the generally received idea was true, what little difference there is goes directly against it. The truth is that the moon has so little, if any, influence upon the weather, that men have never found out which way it is ; and I can say, without fear of contradiction, that rain and wind doctors, and Hindoo gods, have just as much to do with the weather as this weather table, and no more.

English Mechanic and World of Science ©1883
THE REPUDIATED WEATHER TABLE.
[20549]—Let Us now examine Herschel's weather table, as improved by Dr. Adam Clarke. Sunday, January 30th, 1881, n

I find that Saturday and Sunday moons coincide with the worst parts of the weather according to the weather table, and the 20-day period agrees with both. The eastern edge of the storm path I»"es over the British Islands, so that storms occasionally miss us altogether. Full moon, 7th IMober, 1881, came when the moon was ascendant jour days past perigee. Full moon, 25th November, 1882, will come four days past perigee. New moon, October 23rd, 1881, came seven days past apogee. New moon, December 10th. 1882, will come seven days past apogee. Full moon, December 24th, 1832, comes seven days past perigee. We shall see how the conditions agree this time. W. M. Gardner.

Shooting Stars

Below is an article from Harper's Magazine ©1868. The science during the 19th century was developing regarding stars, meteors and shooting stars. I became interested in the science of that century while researching my novel, Raining Fire. The 1833 Lenoids meteor shower was so profound at that time that it was nicked name "The Night it Rained Fire." This article is over 30 years from that event and the information they learned/observed at that point in time is quite interesting, imho.

SHOOTING-STARS, DETONATING.METEORS, AND AEROLITES.
By ELIAS LOOMIS, Professor Yale College.

EVERY one has occasionally seen upon a clear evening a small bright object, in appearance very much like a fixed star, move rapidly across the sky and suddenly disappear, as if a star were shot away from its place in the firmament to a distant region of the heavens. This phenomenon is commonly known by the name of " Shooting-star," or "Falling Star." Occasionally the path of a shooting-star is marked by a luminous stream which continues for an appreciable time after the star has vanished. Shooting-stars may occasionally be seen on every clear night, and at times follow each other so rapidly that it is quite impossible to count them.

Ordinary shooting-stars are not accompanied by any audible sound, although they are sometimes seen to break into pieces. Occasionally meteors of extraordinary brilliancy, like globes of fire, presenting an apparent diameter of considerable magnitude, are succeeded by a loud detonation or explosion, followed by a noise like that of musketry or the discharge of cannon These have been called "Detonating Meteors" or "Bolides."

No solid body has been known to reach the earth's surface which could be traced to an ordinary shooting-star; but occasionally solid substances descend to the earth from beyond the earth's atmosphere. These bodies are called "Aerolites." These three classes of bodies are known by the general term of "Meteors." It is convenient to speak of these classes separately, although it is not supposed that they differ from each other essentially either in their character or their origin.
Shooting-stars are not seen with equal frequency at all hours of the night. They generally increase in numbers from the evening twilight throughout the night until the morning twilight; and when the light of day does not interfere, they are generally most numerous about six o'clock in the morning. From a comparison of a vast number of observations it has been ascertained that the average number of shooting-stars which may be seen by a single observer upon a clear night, in the absence of the moon, about the middle of the evening, is four per hour; about midnight it is six per hour; about two o'clock in the morning it is eight per hour; and about four o'clock it is ten per hour.

In order, however, that an individual maysee so large a number he must observe, not from an open window, much less through a pane of glass, but he must stand in the open air where the view of the sky is entirely unobstructed, and he must devote his exclusive attention to a constant watch of the heavens. Upon a cool night such exposure is far from agreeable, and few persons are willing long to persevere in it.

Professor Newton of Yale College has made extensive investigations to determine the relative number of shooting-stars which may he seen in a given period by different numbers of observers. For this purpose twelve observers were stationed upon the top of a tower from which there was an unobstructed view of the heavens, and they were intended to be so arranged as to divide the sky equally amonj; them. Whenever a meteor was seen, each person perceiving it called out his own name, and a secretary entered the names of the observers upon a record. These observations were continued for several hours. From n comparison of these records it has been concluded that four persons, looking toward difl'erent portions of the heavens so ns to divide the' sky symmetrically among them, will see three times as many meteors as the average number seen by them individually; eight persons will see four times as many as one; and fifteen observers will see five times as many as one. The entire number of meteors which might be seen by a sufficient number of observers is about six times as many as would be seen by a single observer. The reason that four persons will not sec four times as many meteors as one person is that two of them will frequently see the same meteor.

Combining these results with those previously stated we conclude that the nverago number of meteors that traverse the ntmosphcre, and that are large enough to be visible to the naked eye, if the sun, moon, and clouds would permit, is forty-two in an hour, or one thousand daih/.

Shooting-stars are not seen with equal frequency at all seasons of the year. From July to December they are more abundant than during the other six months of the year; and they are ordinarily most abundant in the month of August.
If two observers, at a suitable distance from each other, note the npparent altitude and azimuth of a shooting-star at the commencement of its flight, and do the same also for its termination, they have the data for computing the absolute height of beginning and end above the surface, of the earth. The earliest observations of this kind were made in 171)8 by Benzenberg and Brandes in Germany, and since that time similar observations have been made in mamparts of Europe, us well as in the United States. Such observations were made nt New Haven, Hartford, Williamstown, Wolcottville, Albany, etc., on the night of August 10-11, 18(53; at Washington and Philadelphia on the night of November 13-14, 1868; and again on the 13-Hth of November, 1807, such observations were made at Washington, Richmond, NewHaven, and several other places. It has been ascertained that when the base line employed is only three or four miles in length a shooting

star is seen in nearly the same direction at both stations, showing that its altitude is much greater than the length of that base. When the base line is 30 or 40 miles, the average difference of the directions of the star at the two stations is about fifteen degrees. The base line should not be less than 40 or .10 miles in length, and one of 75 or 100 miles would not be too great. Observers at distances of over 150 miles from each other see for the most part different shooting-stars.
The heights of over 500 meteor paths have been computed, and we thus learn that shooting-stars begin to be visible* at elevations of from 40 to 120 miles, and perhaps sometimes 150 miles, or an average height of 74 English statute miles. They disappear at elevations of from 30 to 80 miles, and perhaps sometimes 100 miles or more, giving an average height at disappearance of 52 English statute miles.

The length of the visible path of shootingstars varies from 40 to 100 miles, though in a few cases they have been found to be even 300 nnd 400 miles long—the average length being 28 miles. The time of describing the visible path varies from less than one second to five seconds, and in some rare cases amounts to ten seconds; but their average duration is less than one second. The average duration of meteors whose brightness exceeds that of stars of the first magnitude is estimated at one and a half seconds. Their velocity relative to the earth's surface varies from 10 to 45 miles per second, and the average velocity of the blighter class of shooting-stars amounts to about 30 miles per second.

Shooting-stars are seen to move in all directions through the heavens. Their apparent paths are, however, general!} inclined downward, though sometimes they move upward; and after midnight they come in the greatest numbers from that quarter of the heavens toward which the earth is moving in its annual course around the siin.

The magnitude of shooting-stars is very variable. Some of them have been computed to have a diameter of 100 or 200 feet, and others 1000 up to 5000 or 0000 feet. We must, however, regard this as the diameter of the blaze of light which surrounds the meteor, while the meteor itself before it takes fire may have a diameter of only a few feet, or perhaps only a fraction of an inch. The apparent size of meteors is greatly magnified by irradiation.

l'rofessor Darkness has undertaken an elaborate investigation to estimate the qnantity of matter in shooting-stars by means of the light evolved during their-passage through the atmosphere, and he concludes that the mass of ordinary shooting-stars does not differ greatly from one grain ; that is,_/b«r hundred awl eighty ofthem would weigh ou/y one ounce at the surface of the earth.

Occasionally shooting-stars appear in great splendor, flashing with a brightness nearly equal to that of the full moon, and leaving behind them a train of dazzling light, which lasts for several seconds, and even for whole minutes. Their color is usually white, with a reddish tinge; but occasionally they exhibit a green light, and sometimes a mixture of green and blue or purple. Even quite faint shootingstars Bometimesjeave trains. Fig. 1 represents a remarkable meteor seen in June, 1866.
The path of shooting-stars is frequently curved; sometimes the path consists of two portions inclined to each other at a considerable angle; and at last the meteor sometimes hursts like a rocket into numerous fragments. In such cases the place of explosion is usually indicated by a smoky cloud, which sometimes continues visible for ten minutes. Fig. 2 represents a meteor seen in 1850, which was followed by a long train of light, and which exploded emitting a large number of scintillating radiations.

Observers frequently imagine that they hear a whizzing noise accompanying the passage of a brilliant meteor. It may be easily proved that such impressions are an illusion. When we compute the path of the meteor from which the sound was supposed to proceed, we always find that it was quite distant from the observer, frequently 40 or 50 miles, and sometimes 100 miles. Now sound is known to move with a velocity of 1120 feet per second, or 50 miles in about four minutes. If, then, any noise was caused by the motion of the meteor, the sound could not possibly be heard until a considerable time after the meteor disappeared, viz., two, five, or even ten minutes, according to its distance.

The light of shooting-stars is probably due to the high temperature resulting from the resistance of the atmosphere to the rapid motion of the meteor. Since at the ordinary elevation of shooting-stars the air is exceedingly rare, some have supposed that the resistance would not develop sufficient heat to give meteors their brilliant appearance. The researches of modern philosophers have enabled us to compute the quantity of heat that may be developed by the stoppage of a meteor in the atmosphere. A portion of the living force of the body is expended in setting the air in motion, and a portion in heating the meteor and the air. This living force, and the consequent heat that maybe developed, is proportioned to the mass of the body and to the square of its velocity. The arresting the motion of an iron meteor whose velocity is thirty miles per second would, if the whole living force were changed into heat, be sufficient to raise the temperature of the meteoric body more than four million degrees of Fahrenheit's scale. If even the larger part of this force was expended in giving motion to the air, there would remain enough to furnish a brilliant light and to melt the exterior portion of the meteor, or entirely to disintegrate it. Aerolites, such as will be hereafter described, always present a peculiar appearance upon the exterior, an if the outer crust had suffered partial fusion, and many of them when first discovered have still been quite hot.

The mean distance of shooting-stars from the observer is found to be about 105 miles, and the average height above the earth of the middle points of their paths is 63 miles. Hence the mean horizontal distance of the paths may be regarded as about 90 miles. It is estimated that the number of shooting-stars actually falling within a circle of 90 miles radius is somewhat greater^han the number seen at one place. The area of this circle is contained nearly 8000 times in the entire surface of the globe; whence we conclude that the number of shooting-stars over the whole earth is more than eight thousand times the number visible at one place.

The average daily number of shooting-stars visible to the naked eye at one place has already been stated at 1000. Hence the average number of meteors that traverse the atmosphere daily, and that are large enough to be visible to the naked eye, if the sun, moon, and clouds would permit, must be more than a thousand times eight thousand, or more than eight millions.
The observations of two European astronomers indicate that the number of meteors visible with, a telescope of four inches aperture is about forty times the number visible to the naked eye. A further increase of optical power would doubtless reveal a still larger number of these small bodies. Hence we must conclude that the source from which these meteors come is of immense extent, otherwise it would long since have been exhausted.

The quantity of matter in these bodies is, however, so small, and their distance from each other so great, that they exert no appreciable influence upon the motion of the planets. It is computed that the average distance from each other of shooting-stars, such as under favorable circumstances would be visible to the naked eye, is about three hundred miles.
Having determined the velocity and direction of a meteor's path with reference to the earth, and knowing also the direction and velocity of the earth's motion about the sun, we can compute the direction and velocity of the meteor's motion with reference to the sun. This computation has been made for several different meteors, and has shown that these bodies, before they approached the earth, were revolving about the sun in ellipses of considerable eccentricity. In some instnnces the velocity has been found to be so great as to indicate that the path differed little from a parabola.

It is thus demonstrated that ordinary shooting-stars are small meteoric bodies, moving through space in paths*similar to the comets: and it is probable that they do not differ miiterially from the comets except in their dimensions, and perhaps also in their density.

Years of Age for Animals from Houghtalings Handbook

The below entry is taken from Houghtaling's Handbook ©1887. Please note, these are the years that were written in the book, I find it odd that they thought whales lived to be a thousand years old.

Years of Ave which various Animals attain.
Whale, is said to live 1000
Elephant . . . 400
Swan . . .300
Tortoise . . . 100
Eagle . . . 100
Raven . . .100
Camel . . .100
Lion . . . 70
Porpoise . . . 30
Horse . . .25 to 30
Bear . . . 20
Cow . . .20
Deer . . . 20
Pigs . . . 20
Cat . . . 15
Fox . . .15
Dog . . . 20
Sheep . . . 10
Rabbit . . . 7
Squirrel . . . 8

Silver Plating

Below is an article from Scientific America, 1866 on silver plating.

Silver Plating.
A correspondent asks for information about the above subject; we have, of course, no room for a full treatise on this matter, as it would fill a book; the following remarks will, however, place him and others on the road to the successful practice of this interesting art.
1.—OLD METHOD OF SILVER PLATING.
Formerly a copper plate was covered with a much thinner silver plate, and then rolled out together; in this way a very thin coating of silver covered tho copper entirely, sometimes on both sides ; of such silver-covered copper plates, different objects were manufactured, as teapots, pitchers, goblets, etc. This is still practiced ; however, to a very limited extent since the invention of the electro-plating process. The daguerreotypo plates are chiefly manufactured in this way.

2.—SILVER PLATING BY FRICTION.
Objects made of copper or brass may be coated in a simple way by a process described by Berzelius in his chemistry, by rubbing them with a chemical mixture consisting of chloride of silver, 1 part ; well dried potash, 3 parts; Paris white (very fine chalk), 1 part; common salt, a little more than 1 part. The brass surface, is well cleaned, moistened with a little salt water, and then the surface is rubbed with the above mixture till it is silvered. This is the customary way that the thermometer and barometer scales, clock dials, etc., are silvered, and it is well to cover them afterward with e colorless varnish, the process being so very economical, and the silver coating consequently so thin, that when dirty it can stand so much cleaning and polishing afterward without being removed. A iater invented method to accomplish the same purpose, and which many operators prefer, is to take 1 part of nitrate of silver and 3 parts of cyanide of potassium, rub these together and add a little water to make them into a paste ; rub this with a piece of flannel on the object to be silvered, which, however, before must have been carefully cleaned. This process is peculiarly adapted to copper and brass name-plates attached to apparatus, etc. The film of silver obtained in this way is also very thin, and it is also advisable to cover it with a colorless varnish. When calculating the price of this process after silverin g a great number of objects, it is always found to amount to only from 1 to 2 cents per square foot.

8—SILVER PLATING BY A SIMPLE BATH.
This method requires no friction whatever, and is accomplished thus: Make a saturated solution of common salt, dissolve cyanide of silver in it, and filter. A piece of clean copper or brass placed in this solution is soon covered with a silver coating which adheres very strongly.
If the object to be silvered is iron, it must first be coated with copper, as silver will not very well equally deposit on iron. This is simply accomplished by placing the iron object for a sufficient time in a diluted solution of blue vitriol (sulphate of copper) acidulated with sulphuric acid ; afterward wash and clean the object, and when it is well covered with copper, place it in the above described silver bath.
Care must bo taken not to touch the cleaned object with the fingers, as the silver will never deposit equally on the thus touched spots.

4.—SILVER PLATING BY ELECTRIC ACTION.
The most important way of silvering is, however, the electro-plating or galvanic process. This is founded on the fact that when an easily oxidable metal, like zinc, is placed in a properly prepared silvering liquid, it will combine with, the acids which hold the silver in solution, and the silver will be precipitated in its metallic state on any object in contact with the zinc, provided the surface of this object is a conductor of electricity. The simplest i xplanation of this curious fact, is that the action of the acids on the zinc generates electricity which repels the metallic silver from the zinc and carries it to any other metal plunged in the liquid, provided this metal is not acted on by the acid, and is in contact with the ziric, so that it may carry back the electric current to the latter metal. The metal receiving the silver deposit acts as it were like a sieve ■which lets the ethereal electric current pass through its mass, but retains on its surface the material particles of silver carried on with that current. We do not say that this is the latest and most approved explanation of the phenomenon, which, in reality, is more complex, but it is the simplest reasoning by which beginners, in this branch of study, may satisfactorily account to themselves for the curious results they observe.
In a continuation of this article, we will describe the various processes of electro-plating ; first, the simple process without battery, and, second, that with the help of galvanic batteries.

Bounty Bay

We've all read the accounts or seen the movies about mutany of the Bounty. Bounty Bay is where several of the mutineers settled. This is an account, a fairly lengthy one, from "Narrative of a Whaling Voyage Round the globe, from the year 1833 to 1836 by Frederick Bennett ©1840 of his visit to Bounty Bay.

At daylight on the 7th of March, the dark and elevated form of Pitcairn Island was seen from the mast-head, bearing W. £ S. by compass, and distant about thirty-five miles. Calms, or light airs, did not permit us to approach the land closely until after sun-set; when the ship was hove-to for the night, and a gun fired and a blue light burned, in answer to the signalfire kindled by the inhabitants on the hills.

On the succeeding morning we made sail to within five miles of the northern coast, (where some houses on the heights denoted the situation of the settlement,) and lowered a boat, in which Mr. Stolworthy and myself accompanied Captain Stavers to the shore. Guided by the gestures of a native, who stood upon an eminence waving a cloth, we proceeded for an indentation of the coast, where several of the islanders were collected on the rocks; but here so heavy a surf broke upon every visible part of the shore that some reluctance was felt to expose the boat to its fury.

While we were considering the best mode of effecting a landing, one of the islanders plunged into the sea and swam towards us. He approached with the salutation, " Good morning, brethren," and, entering the boat, commenced a familiar conversation in very good English. Upon his volunteering to pilot us to the landing-place, and, in his own words, " to be responsible for the safety of the boat," the crew again took to their oars; when passing through a line of heavy rollers, and doubling a projecting ledge of rocks, we almost immediately entered comparatively tranquil water, and ran the boat's bow upon the small beach of " Bounty Bay," where some pigs of iron ballast, and shreds of corroded copper, yet remain as mementos of the fate of the vessel which has given her name to the spot. The principal male inhabitants received us on the beach with a cordial and English welcome to their shores, and conducted us by a steep and winding path to the settlement. Several of the heads of families we had not before seen, and groups of women and children, met us on our way, their countenances beaming with pleasure at the appearance of their visitors, and all of them desirous to shake hands with their " countrymen," as they term the British. They had seen the ship since the previous morning, and had been anxiously awaiting our arrival.

This island is lofty, though of limited extent; its circumference does not exceed seven miles ; while its extreme height, as determined by Captain Beechey, is 1046 feet above the sea. The coast is abrupt and rocky, beaten by a heavy surf, and closely surrounded by blue water of unfathomable depth. No harbour obtains; but small vessels may find anchorage in twenty-five, and twelve fathoms water, with sandy bottom, close to the western shore. A difficult, but practicable landingplace, corresponding to this anchorage; a second at Bounty Bay; and one (more questionable) on the S. E. coast, are the only points where the island is accessible from the sea. Coral grows on the coast, and its debris are found on the coves ; but there are no distinct reefs of this material.

The northern side of the island, or that occupied by the settlement, offers a very picturesque appearance; rising from the sea as a steep amphitheatre, luxuriantly wooded to its summit, and bounded on either side by precipitous cliffs, and naked and rugged rocks, of many fantastic forms. The simple habitations of the people are scattered over this verdant declivity, and are half concealed by its abundant vegetation. They are neatly constructed of plank, thatched with leaves of the screw-pine, (Pandanus fascicularls,) and provided with windows, to which shutters are affixed. The greater number have but a single apartment, occupying the entire interior of the building, and floored with boards; while some few (called double-cottages) possess an upper-room, which communicates by a ladder with the one beneath. The furniture they contain is scanty and of the rudest description; nevertheless, every thing about them denotes great attention to cleanliness and order.

The dwelling formerly occupied by old John Adams is a neat cottage, containing two apartments, both of which are on the ground. It is situated in a pleasant and elevated part of the village, and opens with pretty effect upon a smooth and verdant lawn. The largest and best building the settlement can boast is that named the school-house, and applied to the purposes of a church, school, and teacher's residence.

To each cottage is attached a plot of gardenground, fenced round with roughly-hewn stakes, and planted with water-melons, sweet potatoes, and gourds ; while cattle-sheds, pigsties, and other outhouses, herds of swine and goats, and many European implements of agriculture, (including some wheelbarrows,) afford a rural picture that forcibly reminds the Englishman of similar scenes in his native land. Many good paths, conducting to the habitations and cultivated lands of the natives, intersect the settlement, and often pass through dense and solemn groves of majestic banian trees. (Flcus indica.)

The fabric of this island is chiefly a dark volcanic stone, but on the northern coast I observed some cliffs of a yellow and friable sandstone. The whole of the fertile soil (which is rich, and composed of a red clay mingled with sand) was originally shared, in nearly equal proportions, by the settlers from the Bounty, and is now retained in like manner by their descendants; each family possessing a small estate and subsisting upon its produce.

A comparative scarcity of water exists, since there are no natural streams, and the volcanic structure of the land precludes the formation of wells; but rain-water is largely received in ponds or tanks, and it is not until rain has been absent seven or eight successive months that the residents experience any material inconvenience from this cause. The greatest supply of water is still obtained from a natural excavation which was discovered by William Brown, the assistant botanist of the Bounty, and thence named " Brown's Pond." It is supposed to possess a spring.

At this time the population consisted of eighty persons,* of which the majority were children, and the proportion of females greater than that of males. The entire race, with the exception of the offspring of three English men, resident on the island and married to native women, are the issue of the mutineers of the Bounty, whose surnames they bear, and from whom they have not as yet descended heyond the third generation. So strong a personal resemblance obtains between the members of a family that it is no difficult task to distinguish brothers and sisters. I was particuarly led to notice a predominance of Irish features in many among them, and more especially in the fair and expressive countenances of some of the children; nor had I any reason to be dissatisfied with my skill in national physiognomy, when I was afterwards informed that these individuals bore the name of M'Coy, and were the issue of one of the Bounty's crew who was an Irishman.

The only survivors of the first settlers are two aged Tahitian females, who possess some interest, in association with the history of these islanders. The eldest, Isabella, is the widow of the notorious Fletcher Christian, and the mother of the first-born on the island. Her hair is very white, and she bears, generally, an appearance of extreme age, but her mental and bodily powers are yet active. She appeared to have some knowledge of Capt. Cook, and relates, with the tenacious retrospect of age, many minute particulars connected with the visits of that great navigator to Tahiti. The second, Susan Christian, is some years younger than her countrywoman Isabella. She is short and stout, of a very cheerful disposition, and proved particularly kind to us; indeed, I flattered myself that I had found favour in the sight of " old Susan," as she not only presented to me a native cloth of brilliant colours, which she had herself manufactured, but, bringing a pair of scissors, insisted upon my taking a lock of her dark and curling hair, flowing profusely over her shoulders, and as yet but little frosted by the winter of life. This woman arrived on the island as the wife of one of the Tahitian settlers, and bears the reputation of having played a conspicuous part when the latter were massacred by their own countrywomen. She subsequently married Thursday October, the eldest son of Fletcher Christian, and who died at Tahiti in 1831. Her daughter, Mary, a young and interesting female, is the only spinster on the island; she perseveres in refusing the ofFers of her countrymen, to whom she expresses great aversion, but, unfortunately, her antipathy has not extended to Europeans, and a very fair infant claims her maternal attentions.

In person, intellect, and habits, these islanders form an interesting link between the civilized European, and unsophisticated Polynesian, nations. They are a tall and robust people, and then* features, though far from handsome, display many European traits. With the exception of George Adams, who is much fairer than any of his countrymen, the complexion of the adults does not differ, in shade, from that of the Society Islanders. Their hair, also, is invariably black and glossy, and either straight or gracefully waved, as with the last-named people. Their disposition is frank, honest, and hospitable to an extreme; and, as is common to races claiming a mixture of European with Asiatic blood, they possess a proud and susceptible tone of mind. In conducting the most trivial affairs they are guided by the Scriptures, which they have read diligently, and from which they quote with a freedom and frequency that rather impair the effect.

A modest demeanour, a large share of good humour, and an artless and retiring grace, render the females peculiarly prepossessing. Some of the younger women have also pleasing countenances ; but, on the whole, little can be said in favour of their beauty. They bear an influential sway both in domestic and public politics ; and this they are the better calculated to do, since they are intelligent, active, and obust, partake in the labours of their husbands with cheerfulness, and, with but few and recent exceptions, live virtuous in ah1 stations of life.

Their children are stout and shrewd little urchins, familiar and confident, but at the same time well behaved. They are early inured to aquatic exercises; and it amused us not a little to see small creatures, two or three years old, sprawling in the surf which broke upon the beach; their mothers sitting upon the rocks, watching their anticks, and coolly telling them to " come out, or they would be drowned;" whilst the older children, amusing themselves with their surf-boards, would dive out beneath the lofty breakers, and, availing themselves of a succeeding series, approach the coast, borne on the crest of a wave, with a velocity which threatened their instant destruction against the rocks; but, skilfully evading any contact with the shore, they again dived forth to meet and mount another of their foaming steeds.

The ordinary clothing of the men is little more than the maro, or girdle of cloth, worn by the most primitive Polynesian islanders. On occasions of ceremony, as to attend at church, or receive the visits of strangers, they assume a complete English costume; their hats being constructed of pandanus-leaf cinnet, and decorated with coloured ribbons, which give them a pretty rustic-holy day effect.

The females commonly employ for their dress the native material they prepare from the bark of the paper-mulberry tree, stained with vegetable dyes; but, as opportunities offer, they substitute for this rude cloth the handkerchiefs and cotton prints of Europe. They wear the petticoat and scarf in the Tahitian style, and complete their toilette after the manner of the same nation, by passing a girdle of the seared and yellow leaves of the Ti plant around their waist; placing flowers in then* ears ; and encircling their tresses with a floral wreath. Some few wear then* hair short; but the majority permit it to flow over their shoulders in luxuriant ringlets.

These people subsist chiefly on vegetable food. Yams, which are abundant and of excellent quality, form their principal dependence; and next to these the roots of the mountain-taro (Arum costatum), for the cultivation of which the dry and elevated character of the land is so well adapted. Cocoa-nuts, bananas, sweet-potatoes, pumpkins, and water-melons, are also included among their edible vegetables; but of bread-fruit they obtain only a scanty crop, of very indifferent quality. They prepare a common and favourite food with grated cocoa-nuts and yams, pounded, with bananas, to a thick paste; which, when enveloped in leaves and baked, furnishes a very nutritious and palatable cake, called pilai. On two days in the week they permit themselves the indulgence of animal food, either goat's flesh, pork, or poultry; while the waters around the coast afford them a sufficient supply of fish. They cook in the Tahitian manner, by baking in excavations in the earth, filled with heated stones; the fuel they employ is usually the dried husks of the cocoa-nut.

The elder members of the Pitcairn Island family are but indifferently educated; scarcely any of them being able to write then* own name, though most can read. For some years past, an Englishman, named George Nobbs, has resided on the island, and officiated as schoolmaster to the children, who, in consequence, exhibit a proficiency in the elements of education highly creditable both to their own intelligence and to the exertions of their teacher. George Adams had commenced instructing himself in writing but a few months before our arrival, and a journal which he had kept for that length of time, and which he put into my possession, displays much progress in the art.

The few books they possess have been obtained from sailors visiting their shores, and are chiefly of a religious tenor. Some volumes, also, which were removed from the Bounty are still preserved in the house formerly occupied by the patriarch John Adams.

The English and Tahitian languages are spoken with equal fluency by all the islanders, excepting the two Tahitian females, who speak little else than their native dialect, and are, perhaps, in the sad predicament of having partly forgotten that. They converse in English with some of the imperfections peculiar to foreigners; andthis may be partly attributed to their usually discoursing in Tahitian with one another; as well as to a practice among their British visitors of addressing them in broken English, the better to be understood—a delusion into which most fall upon their first intercourse with this people. They, nevertheless, pride themselves upon an accurate knowledge of the language of their fathers; and not only aim at its niceties, but also indulge in the more common French interpolations, as faux pas, fracas, sang froid, etc.

They were early and well instructed in the pure doctrine of the Christian religion by their revered forefather John Adams; and it is to be sincerely hoped that no fanaticism may ever intrude upon their present simple and sensible worship of the Creator, nor the intemperate zeal of enthusiasts give them a bane in exchange for that religion,
" Whose function is to heal and to restore,
To soothe and cleanse, not madden and pollute."

Their sabbath is now observed upon the correct day, or that according with the meridian of the island; which was not the case in 1814, when Sir T. Staines visited the spot, and found John Adams and his small community preserving Saturday as the day of rest; an error which had arisen from the circumstance of the Bounty having made the passage from England to Tahiti by the eastern route, without any correction of time having been made to allow for the day apparently gained by this course.
The canoes the natives possess are but few, and of very simple construction. They are hollowed out from one piece of wood, and each is adapted to carry two persons. When afloat, they appear as mere wooden troughs, or little better than butcher's trays; nevertheless they can brave a very rough sea, or go safely through a heavy surf, and, when managed by their island owners, cleave the water with incredible velocity. The young men of the island are excellent divers. They occasionally engage themselves to pearling vessels, to dive for pearl-shell among the adjacent islands; with an understanding that they are to he restored to their home at the expiration of their engagement.

At the period of our visit the climate of Pitcairn was serene and delightful, and, though the thermometer marked 82° in the shade, the sensible temperature was kept agreeably low by the moderate and refreshing trade-winds, which almost incessantly blow over the land. Winds from N. W., with wet and squally weather, are occasionally experienced ; but no season is considered remarkable for rains. The land has generally a very salubrious aspect, and the inhabitants a very healthy appearance; nor are there, apparently, any diseases endemic amongst them. Elephantiasis, or fefe, so prevalent in many of the islands of the Pacific, is here unknown.

The natural productions are principally those common also to the Society Islands. The quadrupeds we noticed were all exotic, as goats and swine, which were brought hither by the first settlers from the Bounty; and a bull and cow, a donkey, a dog, and several cats, which the people had recently brought with them from Tahiti; but, as the island affords but little pasturage, the oxen had destroyed some fruit-trees, and it was determined that they should be killed. The domestic fowls are of the breed introduced here by the Bounty. Some Moscovy ducks had been lately left on the island by the Hon. Capt. Waldegrave, of H. B. M. S, Seringapatam. The only wild birds we observed, beyond the amphibious denizens of the coast, was a small and noisy species inhabiting the woodlands ; in size and plumage it resembles our common sparrow, and it bears the same name amongst the islanders. Small and active lizards, of many gaudy hues, are numerous on the vegetated lands. Among the insects, mosquitoes have but lately made their appearance, and are supposed to have accompanied the islanders upon their return from Tahiti.

The breadfruit, it is said, was found on this island by the Bounty's people, who also introduced many plants of it from Tahiti; it was formerly plentiful, but the trees are now few in number and bear but a small and annual crop of fruit. This degeneracy is believed by the natives to attend upon the clearance of the land ; and such may probably be the fact; but, at the same tune, the dry, elevated, and exposed character of the soil, is so opposed to the natural habitude of this tree in other parts of Polynesia that I am only surprised to find it ranking with the indigenous vegetation.

The candle-nut tree, and Indian mulberry, are conspicuous in the wooded lands. The roots of the former are used by the people to give a brown, and those of the latter a yellow stain to their bark cloth. The lime tree (Citrus medicaj has been introduced, but is not prolific; nor has the mountain-plantain, (Musafei,) recently imported from Tahiti, as yet succeeded.
The cotton shrub, (Gossypium vitifolium,) loaded with large and globular pods containing much excellent wool j capsicum, or bird-pepper, (Capsicum frutescens,) sugar cane, tobacco, and turmeric, grow wild in great abundance, but are applied to no useful purpose. The residents say that the cultivation of the sugar-cane is opposed by rats, which infest the soil in great numbers, and destroy the young plantations.

Yams (Dioscorea sativa and aculeata) are indigenous to the island, and cultivated with much care. They are grown in fields, or " yam patches," on the exposed and sunny declivities of the hills, their vines wandering procumbent over a great extent of ground. They produce an annual crop of roots ; the season for planting them commencing in October, and that for digging between July and August. One large root, when cut for seed, is estimated to produce twenty plants. The labours of hoeing and preparing the earth, sowing the seed, transplanting the seedlings, and digging for the mature roots, are the greatest these islanders have to contend with, and furnish as many data for the events of their lives.

The mountain taro (Arum costatum) is also indigenous, and is very generally cultivated on the dry and elevated lands, where it occurs as verdant plots of tall, erect, and arrow-shaped leaves, bearing in their centre the flowers peculiar to the " wake robin" family. Unlike its aquatic congener, A. esculentum, or common taro, this species prefers a dry and mountain soil, or is, at least, conveniently amphibious. The cultivated root attains a large size and bears some resemblance to the yam, and, although when in the raw state it is so acrid as to excoriate the skin, when cooked it affords a very agreeable and nutritious food. The Irish potatoe is occasionally grown ; but the natives give the preference to the cultivation and use of the sweet potatoe (Convolvulus batatas).

Amongst the miscellaneous vegetation, we observed the scurvy-grass of navigators (Carda mine antiscorbuticaj; and the ferns Asplenium obtusatum, Acrostichum aureum, an undescribed species of Hymenophyllum, and a species of Cyathea, a tree-fern attaining the height of from twelve to fourteen feet. The most abundant pasture-grass is a species of Eleusine.

It is probable, that Pitcairn Island was seen as early as January, 1606, by the Spanish commander, Louis Paz de Torres ; although the date of its discovery may with more certainty be referred to 1767, when its existence was ascertained by Captain Philip Carteret, of the British discovery-sloop Swallow. Captain Carteret did not land upon its shores, (which he had reason to believe were uninhabited,) and named the island after a young gentleman on board his ship, by whom it was first seen.
In the year 1773, Captain Cook, then engaged on his second voyage, cruised in diligent search of this land, but failed to find it; Captain Carteret having laid it down more than three degrees to the westward of its true position.

The second recorded visit to Pitcairn Island is that of the British armed-ship Bounty and her mutinous crew, in 1790. The events which occurred on board this vessel, while under the command of Lieut. Bligh, and employed in conveying plants of the breadfruit from Tahiti to our West India colonies, are well known; nevertheless, I may be permitted to relate, briefly, the ultimate fate of both the vessel and her crew, in connexion with some facts that came under our notice, and with others communicated to me by the Pitcairn islanders, or by the English residents who had for many years lived in social intercourse with John Adams, the late patriarch of the colony.

Icebergs 1834

As I continued reading "Narrative of a Whaling Voyage Round the globe, from the year 1833 to 1836 by Frederick Bennett ©1840 I found another interesting tidbit to pass along. Icebergs had long been and continue to be something that sailors need to watch for.

On the 4th of January, 1834, the ship passed within six miles of an iceberg floating on the sea, in lat. 4/° S., long. 57£° W. It was of square form, and had a small conical hummock attached to its base. The summit was level; but in some points of view the effects of refraction caused it to appear as an inclined plane. It had a dazzling whiteness, and seemed to be covered with snow. The circumference of the berg was estimated at between three and four hundred feet, and its height at fifty; but, to judge from its shape, it is probable that little more than a sixth of its actual bulk was visible above the surface of the ocean.

Floating ice-islands are not unfrequently seen in this latitude, and the uncertainty of their situation requires that ships should keep a strict night-watch to avoid them. During the winter season they remain consolidated with the frozen lands whence they originate; and it is not until the summer of the south that they drift into the lower latitudes, and intrude upon the ordinary tracks of shipping. Many penguins, and divers, were at the same time observed swimming on the water; their home being either the iceberg, or, with more probability, the Falkland Islands, from which we were now distant about a day's sail.

Roses

Today I'm posting some information about roses from the 19th century. There was a lot of cultivation of this flower done during this century. This information comes from The rose: It's history, poetry, culture and classification ©1860.

Pruning & Training
Pruning roses at the time of transplanting, the principal object to be attained is relief to the plant by taking away all the wood and branches which the diminished root may not be able to support. The mode of pruning depends very much upon the condition of the plant. If it is very bushy, all the weaker branches should be cut away, leaving not more than three or four of the strongest shoots, and shortening even those down to a few eyes. If it is desired that the plant should continue dwarf and bushy, the new wood should be cut down to the last two eyes, and every half grown or slender shoot cut out. These two eyes will each throw out a branch; then cut these branches down to the two eyes and again their produce until a symmetrical habit is formed, with close, thick foliage. There should not be sufficient wood allowed to remain to make it crowded; and if there should be danger of this, some of the branches, instead of being cut down to two eyes should be cut out altogether.

Climbing roses, when planted, should be cut down almost to the ground, and also carefully thinned out. Only a few of the strongest branches should be preserved, and the new wood of these cut down to two eyes each.

The preceding remarks are applicable to roses at the time of planting; they should also be pruned every year—the hardy varieties in the autumn or winter, and the more tender in the spring. For all roses that are not liable to have part of their wood killed by the cold, the autumn is decidedly the best time for pruning; the root, having then but little top to support, is left at liberty to store up nutriment for a strong growth the following season. The principal objects in pruning, are the removal of the old wood, because it is generally only the young wood that produces large and fine flowers; the shortening and thinning out of the young wood, that the root, having much less wood to sup port, may devote all its nutriment to the size and beauty of the flower; and the formation of a symmetrical shape. If an abundant bloom is desired without regard to the size of the flower, only the weak shoots should be cut out, and the strong wood should be shortened very little; each bud will then produce a flower. By this mode, the flowers will be small and the growth of new wood very short, but there will be an abundant and very showy bloom. If, however, the flowers are desired as large and as perfect as possible, all the weak wood should be cut out en tirely, and all the strong wood of the last season's formation should be cut down to two eyes. The knife should .always be applied directly above a bud and sloping upward from it. The preceding observations apply principally to rose bushes or dwarf roses ; with pillar, climbing and tree roses, the practice should be somewhat different. The two former require comparatively little pruning; they require careful thinning out, but should seldom be shortened. The very young side shoots can sometimes be shortened in, to prevent the foliage from becoming too thick and crowded.

Pillars For Roses can be made of trellis work, of iron rods in different forms, or of wood, but they should enclose a space of at least a foot in diameter. The cheapest plan, and one that will last many years, is to make posts of about l.J. or 2 inches square, out of locust or pitch-pine plank, and connect them with common hoop-iron. They should be the length of a plank—between twelve and thirteen feet—and should be set three feet in the ground, that they may effectually resist the action of the wind. The Rose having been cut down to the ground, is planted inside of the pillar and will make strong growths the first season. As the leading shoots appear, they should be trained spirally around the outside of the pillar, and sufficiently near each other to enable them to fill up the intermediate space with their foliage. These leading shoots will then form the permanent wood, and the young side shoots, pruned in from year to year, will produce the flowers, and at the flowering season cover the whole pillar with a mass of rich and showy bloom. If the tops of the leading shoots lie down at all, they should be shortened down to the first strong eye, because, if a weak bud is left at the top, its growth will be for a long time weak. The growth of different varieties of roses is very varied; some make delicate shoots and require little room, while others, like the Queen of the Prairies, are exceedingly robust and may require a larger pillar than the size we have mentioned.

Climbing roses require very much the same treatment as pillar roses, and are frequently trained over arches, or in festoons from one pillar to another. In these the weak branches should also be thinned- out and the strong ones be allowed to remain without being shortened, as in these an abundant bloom is wanted more than large flowers. In training climbing roses over any flat surface, as a trellis wall or side of a house, the principal point is so to place the leading shoots that all the intermediate space may be filled up with foliage. They can either be trained in fan-shape with side shoots growing out from a main stem, or one leading shoot can be encouraged and trained in parallel horizontal lines to the top, care being taken to preserve sufficient intermediate space for the foliage. Where no shoots are wanted, the buds can be rubbed off before they push out. No weak shoots should be allowed to grow from the bottom, but all the strong ones should be allowed to grow as much as they may. When the intermediate space is filled with young wood and foliage, all the thin, email shoots should be cut out every year and the strongest budi only allowed to remain, which forming strong branches, will set closely to the wall and preserve a neat appearance.

The production of roses out of season, by forcing, was, as we have shown, well known to the ancient Romans, and from them has been handed down to the present time. But the retarding of roses by means of a regular process of pruning, owes its origin to a comparatively modern date. This process is mentioned both by Lord Bacon and Sir Robert Boyle. The latter says, " It is delivered by the Lord Verulam, and other naturalists, that if a rose bush be carefully cut as soon as it is done bearing in the summer, it will again bear roses in the autumn. Of this many have made unsuccessful trials, and thereupon report the affirmation to be false; yet I am very apt to think, that my lord was encouraged by experience to write as he did. For, having been particularly solicitous about the experiment, I find by the relation, both of my own, and other experienced gardeners, that this way of procuring autumnal roses, will, in most rose-bushes, commonly fail, but succeed in some that are good bearers ; and, accordingly, having this summer made trial of it, I find that of a row of oushes cut in June, by far the greater number promise no autumnal roses; but one that hath manifested itself to be of a vigorous and prolific nature, is, at this present, indifferently wellstored with those of the damask kind. There may, also, be a mistake in the species of roses; for experienced gardeners inform me that the Musk-Rose will, if it be a lusty plant, bear flowers in autumn without cutting; and, therefore, that may unjustly be ascribed to art, which is the bare production of nature." Thus, in quaint and ancient style, discourseth the wise and pious philosopher, on our favorite flower, and also mentions the fact, that a red rose becomes white, on being exposed to the fumes of sulphur. This, however, had been observed before Sir Robert's time. Notwithstanding his doubts, it is now a well-established fact, that the blooming of roses may be retarded by cutting them back to two eyes after they have fairly commenced growing, and the flower buds are discoverable. A constant succession can be obtained, where there is a number of plants, by cutting each one back a shorter or longer distance, or at various periods of its growth. In these cases, however, it very often will not bloom until autumn, because the second effort to produce flowers is much greater than the first, and is not attended with success until late in the season.

However desirable may be this retarding process, it cannot be relied on as a general practice, because the very unusual exertion made to produce the flowers a second time, weakens the plant, and materially affects its prosperity the subsequent year.

There is, indeed, but one kind of summer pruning that is advantageous, which is the thinning out of the flower-buds as soon as tiiey appear, in order that the plant may be burdened with no more than it can fully perfect, and the cutting off all the seed vessels after the flower has expanded and the petals have fallen. Until this last is done, a second bloom cannot readily be obtained from the Bengal Rose and its sub-classes, the Tea and Noisette, which otherwise grow and bloom constantly throughout the season.

In connection with the subject of this chapter, we would impress upon our readers the absolute, the essential importance of cultivation—of constantly stirring the soil in which the Rose is planted ; and we scarcely know of more comprehensive directions in a few words than the reply of an experienced horticulturist to one who asked the best mode of growing fine fruits and flowers. The old gentleman replied that the mode could be described in three words, "cultivate, cultivate, cultivate." After the same manner, we would impress the importance of these three words upon all those who love well-grown and beautiful roses. They are indeed multum in parvo—the very essence of successful culture. The soil cannot be ploughed, dug or stirred too much; it should be dug and hoed, not merely to keep down the weeds, but to ensure the health and prosperity of the plant. Cultivation is to all plants and trees, manure, sun and rain. It opens the soil to the nutritious gas of the atmosphere, to the beneficial influence of light, and to the morning and evening dew. It makes the heavy soil light and the light soil heavy ; if the earth is saturated with rain, it dries it ; if burned up with drought, it moistens it. Watering is often beneficial, and is particularly so to roses just before and during the period of bloom; but in an extremely dry season, if we were obliged to choose between the watering-pot and the spade, we should most unhesitatingly give the preference to the latter.

Archaeology Becomes a Science

One of the unique aspects of history in the 19th century was the development of the science of Archaeology. It was during this century that scientific method was applied to excavations. By 1860 the concept of laying out the grids or blocks for the excavation then tracking the stratigraphic layers and preserving many features in place began.

I stumbled across this information about archaeology while researching ice skates in the 19th century, (tomorrow's post.) It was also in 1860 that archaeologist discovered bones were used as blades for skating.

Contact Lenses

Contact Lenses

As early as 1845 Sir John Herschel suggested the idea of contact lenses, though he evidently did nothing about it. The practical application of a lens to the eyeball did not occur until late in the century, when F. E. Muller, a German maker of glass eyes, blew a protective lens to place over the eyeball of a man whose lid had been destroyed by cancer. The patient wore the lens until his death, twenty years later, without losing his vision. The term contact lens originated with Dr. A. Eugen Fick, a Swiss physician, who in 1887 published the results of independent experiments with contact lenses. In 1889 August Muller, a German medical student, described his own experimentation with contact lenses. Although his attempts to use ground lenses were not successful, he did help lay the groundwork for further experimentation. In 1892 other doctors and optical firms in Europe cooperated in developing practical contact lenses; before long several firms began specializing in manufacturing them. By the early 40's a variety of contact lenses was available: blown glass, ground glass, molded glass, plastic and glass, and all plastic. All were still comparatively large and could not normally be tolerated for long periods of time. Improvements in manufacturing, material, and fitting of contact lenses lead to increased numbers of Americans wearing them. By 1964 over 6 million people in the United States were wearing contact lenses, 65% of them female.

Telescopes

Telescopes have been around a lot longer than the 19th century. However there are a couple signifigant events that happened to help improve the quality of the telescope during the 19th century.

First, the art of glass making improved. The purity in optical glass was important for the quality of the lenses. This became an important factor with the development of refractor telescope. The blurirng of colors by lenses (chromatic aberration) was also a huge step forward in the improvement of the telescope.

Here is a link to a detailed overview of the history of the refractors if you wish to read further on it.

Below are two images 19th century telescopes.

This is a Morgan hand held telescope. What you might picture in your mind's eye of being used by sea captains on board ships.

This is brass refractor telescope that sets on a stand. Note the various lenses at the base of the stand allowing the viewer different magnifications.

Harvesting Ice

Below are some excerpts from The Ice Crop ©1892 This industry developed throughout the 19th century and today is still a viable industry in the U.S. Tomorrow, I'll post some information on the tools they used.

Chapter I.

An Historical, Sketch.

The Origin of the Ice Business in the United States—Its Wonderful Development Commercially and in the Manifold Uses of Ice—A Pen Picture of a Modern Ice Harvest.

Prior to 1805, there was no regularly conducted traffic in ice, in this country. In the winter of 1805-6, a supply was secured at Boston, Mass., and the following summer a cargo was despatched to the West Indies, where yellow fever was then raging.

Domestic And Export Trade were both of very slow growth, and, in 1825, the ice consumed in the United States and exported to foreign ports was probably less than fifty thousand tons. During the thirty years following, the consumption of ice increased more rapidly, and the enterprise of the shippers carried the fame of Boston ice all around the world. Cargoes were consigned to London, to the East Indies, and the West Indies, Rio de Janerio, Calcutta, China, Japan, and Australia.

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Cutting And Storing Ice.

The Science of Ice Formation—Preparing the Ice Field for the Harvest—Getting Rid of Snow—Sudden Thaws and How to Remedy Their Damage—Tools and Implements Used— Thickness of Ice—Care of Ice Tools—Filling the Ice House —Closing it up and Caring for It—Shipping Ice from the Field.

With the advent of a sharp freeze, attention is directed to the ice field, from which a harvest is hoped for at no distant day. The purification of the water has been given attention before this time, together with all preliminaries relating to the plant in its various and complex features. The weather now determines the lot of the ice dealer. As the cold breezes whistle over the water, stirring it into ripples, and breaking its surface into waves, a wonderful change is rapidly transforming its liquid pearls into flinty diamonds. Gradually the heat in the water is radiated into the air. As fast as the surface water is cooled, it is condensed, and sinks to the bottom, its place being taken by the warmer and lighter water from beneath. Gradually the entire mass reaches the point of maximum density, at 39i° F. Below this temperature, until it reaches 31° F., water expands as it is cooled. Now the surface water no longer sinks as it grows colder, being rendered lighter by expansion than the water beneath. Upon reaching 82°, convection, or freezing, takes place, and the surface assumes the solid form.

Cake Of The Ice Field.—From this time until the crop is stored in the ice house, the ice dealer devotes his energies to the care of the ice field. Special situations develop special duties and requirements, which the alert dealer studies with care. If the ice is on a running stream, the possible pollution of its higher levels will be carefully guarded against, and also all rubbish removed from the surface of the field. Sticks and stones bedded in the ice hinder the work and damage the keen edges of the cutting tools. Motion in the water is necessary to promote the growth of the ice, and, when the ice is sufficiently heavy, traveling over the surface, or other jarring, is beneficial. It has been found that where a roadway has been opened across an ice field, and the travel over it considerable, the ice was thicker along the roadway than at other places on the field.

On inclosed lakes or mill ponds, a gentle current induced in the water promotes the growth of the ice materially. The air is expelled from the water during freezing, if opportunity is found for it to dd so. Unless this is done, the ice is cloudy. Agitation of the water assists the escape of the air ; hence it is that ice from running streams is usually clearer and more brilliant than pond or lake ice. An outlet afforded to the landlocked ponds and lakes is often beneficial during ice-making weather. Too rapid a current, however, will retard growth, and a gentle motion diffused over the entire field produces the best results.

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Packing Ice In The House.—The method employed in arranging the ice cakes varies in different parts of the country ( The important thing to keep in mind is the amount of good, merchantable ice possible to be gotten out of the house, as it is shipped away during the warm season. This does not depend upon how much can be crowded in, but upon the packing and arranging of the cakes. Two things are to be observed in this, prevention of waste by melting, and ease in loosening or detaching the cakes, as they are taken out. The following method may be taken as an example, and varied as good cause is found for so doing.

If the ice is thin, place the two first courses on edge, and pack as closely together as practicable. The succeeding courses place in flat, or in the same position they occupy on the water. Arrange the cakes one directly above the other, and leave a space of two inches on all four sides or edges. In every five or six courses, joints are broken. The last four or five courses on top are placed, each one, to break joints, and closely placed at edges. The reasons for this arrangement are, that the ice on the floor of the house wastes rapidly, and, by placing the cakes on edge, the minimum loss is obtained, and the succeeding cakes, placed one above the other, and free on the edges, having only the top and bottom surfaces in contact, the minimum breakage and labor, in loosening cakes, is obtained; also, by breaking the joints every few courses, the circulation of air currents, which is very destructive to the ice, is shut off, and, finally, the top courses close in the mass thoroughly, and prevent the top covering from sifting down into the body of the ice.

The chapters on loss of ice by wastage in the house, and the construction of ice houses, will present more fully some of the considerations bearing upon the methods of stowing the ice.

In some localities the ice cakes are all placed upon edge. Among the advantages claimed for this method are, ease in loosening and taking out the cakes, and the closer packing secures more ice, where storage room is limited. There is a risk of damage to the ice house, by the pressure of the ice against the side walls, when packed in this manner. The edges, being uneven, tend to throw the ice out of plumb, or to give the whole mass an inclination in one direction. In stowing, care is required to keep the spaces between the cakes free from chips or broken ice.

No more trimming than is necessary should be done in the house, and the crowding of cakes together on the runs, and in sliding them to their places, should be avoided. Broken cakes should not be allowed to come into the house, and, if cakes are broken in placing, they should be thrown out of the house.

Experience and practice, in the handling of runs and managing the progress of the stowing of the ice cakes, attest the value of system in this department. To do the necessary work with as much despatch as possible requires close attention to details, and watchfulness, that the labor and efforts of the men are properly directed and distributed.

Philosophical Facts from Houghtalings Handbook

©1887
pg 152

The greatest height at which visible clouds ever exist does not exceed ten miles.

Air is about eight hundred and fifteen times lighter than water.

The pressure of the atmosphere upon every square foot of the earth amounts to two thousand one hundred and sixty pounds. An ordinary sized man, supposing his surface to be fourteen square feet, sustains the enormous pressure of thirty thousand two hundred and forty pounds.

The barometer falls one-tenth of an inch for every seventy-eight feet of elevation.

The violence of the expansion of water when freezing is sufficent to cleave a globe of copper of such thickness as to require a force of 27,000 pounds, to produce the same effect.

During the conversion of ice into water one hundred and forty degrees of heat are absorbed.

Water, when converted into steam, increases in bulk eighteen hundred times.

In one second of time--in one beat of the pendulum of a clock light travels two hundred thousand miles. Were a cannon ball shot toward the sun, and were it to maintain full speed, it would be twenty years in reaching it--and yet light travels through this space in seven or eight minutes.

Strange as it may appear, a ball of a ton weight and another of the same material of an ounce weight, falling from any height will reach the ground at the same time.

The heat does no increase as we rise above the earth nearer the sun, but decreases rapidly until, beyond the regions of the atmosphere, in void, it is estimated that the cold is about seventy degrees below zero. The line of perpetual frost at the equator is 15,000 feet altitude; 13,000 feet between the tropics; and 9,00 to 4,000 between the latitudes of forty degrees and forty-nine degrees.

At a depth of forty-five feet under ground, the temperature of the earth is uniform throughout the year.

In summer time, the season of ripening moves northward at the rate of about ten miles a day.

The human ear is so extremely sensitive that it can hear a sound that lasts only the twenty-four thousandth part of a second. Deaf persons have sometimes conversed together through rods of wood held between their teeth, or held to their throat or breast.

The ordinary pressure of the atmosphere on the surface of the earth is two thousand one hundred and sixty-eight pounds to each square foot, or fifteen pounds to each square inch; equal to thirty perpendicular inches of mercury, or thirty-four and a half feet of water.

Sound travels at the rate of one thousand one hundred and forty-two feet per second--about thirteen miles in a minute. So that if we hear a clap of thunder half a minute after the flash, we may calculate that the discharge of electricity is six and a half miles off.

Lightning can be seen by reflection at the distance of two hundred miles.

The explosive force of closely confined gunpowder is six and a half tons to square inch.

Comet of 1811

You can read more about this at Wikipedia

But to sum it up, it was discovered March 25, 1811 it's brightness continued on until Jan. 1812

Events like this had huge impacts on people/culture. Tolstoy included it in his novel, War & Peace, Napoleon used it as inspiration for invading Russia. Wine produced that year was often labeled Comet Wine.

Other comets have made their way into folklore and literature, ex Hailey's Comet often reflected upon by Mark Twain.

There's several artist renditions of the Comet of 1811 but the one I liked the most is in Robert Merry's Museum. Here's a link 1811 Comet