New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-04-30
APPLIED SCIENCE.

MeneVlllc, an eminent pracucai one""'"'oR'os Va
France, and one who has devoted much attention 10
the malades of the vine and Of the slk-worm' finds
occasion to conclude from recent investigations,
that the sill<-worm disease has its course and
has already left certain mountainous portions OF
France and adjacent regions. In these Ihe Eggs pro
duced are generally sound whether ireaIeu aceoIu
ing 10 pasteurs system in the ordinary manner;
and il il found that the same eggs, carried 70
country where the disease is decreasing WILL IN !
large percentage of cases, yield s0und WORMS, anu
| that where the crisis has not been passeu lhcy
almost all become worthless.
| ALUM IN MoRDANTIYG WoOLENs.-Accordng 10
Harvey the successful use Of alum for mordanting
woolens depends upon tho employment OF weak
solution and small quantity Of alum since. with
large quantity. the alumina hydrate deposited iih
the fibers is redissoyed and the WOODEN is not so
easily nor so deeply colored when small quantities
| are employed. The amount Of alum recommended
by Harvey is one tenth Of that OF the wooden to be
| eolored Even after washing the wooden with weak
nitric acid solution, to remove from the water any
alkali derived from the soap or lime, decomposition
| of the alum sometimes takes place. ana alumini
hydrate is deposited in the hDer OF the mateIai,
this decomposition evidently having been caused Oy
| the fiber OF the WOODEN itself
| CONTROLLING SEX IN BUTTERFI1Es.-A suggest
| i've article as to the possibility of controlling
sexes in butterflies has been communicated To
| The American Naturalist by Mrs. Mary Treat, and
from the results of experiments she finds
| occasion to believe that the larv9 to which the
| freshest and most tempting food was supplied IN
| unlimited quantity nearly always developed INTO
female butterflies, while those for which the supply
of food was limited, almost as uniformly proved TO
be males. DIR. Packard is, however, inclined 10
think that the of this insect ny well as that OF
all animals from eggs is Determined at or about the
time of conception or least, early the embryonic
condition In the honey pee, espeoiayi IL haS oe ecu
4 a1t hat he cox IL
| leaves the Oyiduct The eek IN man, according 10
Koellker becomes fixed toward the end OF the second
! month OF fetal lie.
| EXTRACTION OF RAPE SEED on BY BIsULPHIDE OF
| CARBON--The removal of the oil from rape seed by
means of bsulphde of carbon according to Fischer
| of Riesa depends materially several conditions
! to produce satisfactory results II the seeds are
not properly crushed the bisulphide cannot act (;
and if powdered they stop mp the tubes stopcocks'
| &C., OF the apparatus. Old seeds require more
power in crushing than fresh ones, and In all cases
! il is advantageous to employ heavy rollers Inc
extraction is most complete from dry, fresh seeds
| less so from moist unripe or very old seeds. Ac.
cording as the time employed in extracting varies
from one to ten hours the amount LETT IN the meal
| may vary from TO three per cent. Temperature
also demands attention since the blsuiphide, az
| AZ F. and under has little solvent power, and &c
| and above IS i. may produce tension that womb
seriously interfere with the operation FINALLY, the
degree of freedom OF the D-sulpnlue from wafer
of importance, since moisture impaired 10 the SEED
! lnnders the penetration of the bsu.phlde ITSELF
PrRIFtcATroy OF CAUsrIc SoDA.-The sulphur
compounds present in caustic soda, prepared by lime
| on a commercial scale are entirely removed by me
simple and effective process of Hebig of Gera who
uses blast of air. instead of simply converting them
into less Objectionable sulphate of soda by the en-
ployment of saltpeter. The lye 10 evaporated as
| Iy.tfl "A
| concentration is reached the cyanogen-conpounds
ar, decomposed with efferyescence and development
of ammonia as well as the separation OF graphite.
The scum then settles and the mass becomes SEMI
| 0uid The heat is increased until the mass Is red
hot and liquid air is then forced IN through an iron
tube passing through the cover ana reaching 10 tne
bottom with such violence as to keep the mass In
agitation and continued until most or all OF the
| sulphur is oxdzed. Portions are withdraw ana
| examined during the operation After setInng, the
canstic soda is removed as usual. The graphite that
separaes during the operation oats on the top, ana
NAV be removed but since it is useless for penclls
| paint DC, it is generally allowed to consume.
| PRESERVATION OF RED WE'VE By PAsTEURS
METHop-In the case of German red wine treated ac-
cordng to Pasteurs methodby heating in corked bot
ties in waterbath for half an hour, at liO to 100
| f. Prof Neubauer has found according to the judg-
ment of connoisseurs as well his own, that after
the lapse of a month they are superior, in all re-
| spects to the same wine which had not been SUD-
iected to this process and he states, result of
| more exhaustive experiments, that, while French
| German and Austrian red wines lose nothing in
quality by this treatment, they acquire most re-
| markable freedom from liability to deterloratlOn
| His experience with white tor bouquet wine has
been too limited for any opinion on ms part but lac
SAYS that Dr. Bull of Deideahem has been IN tue
| habit for years of warming the finest bouquet
| wines and has been able in this way to bring INTO
| market high-priced wines IN less time than usual
His wines have not only endured transport to Egypt
but. after months OF exposure 10 that clnate nave
| been found excellent. He attributes the marked IN,
feriority Iii color of German red wines as compared
with those of France and AUSTRIA TO nclplent putre
faction of the col0ring matter of the grapes owing
to the ateness of the time of gathering them.
SALTPETER IN THE bite PLANT.-According to
Boutin the dry leaves and stems of the plant known
as the Bite (1mdrGatus Blitum), and one very COM
mon in the cultivated lands of Potou contain Ii IS
per cent of its entire weight of nitrate of potash
saltpeter 1t grows Wild in various parts of Frances
in the opinion Of the writer if cultivated in good SOIL
| would produce 1000 to 5000 pounds to the acre,
which would represent, for the same area, guam
tty of nitrogen amounting to liz to 145 pounds and
| of potassa $50 to $50 pounds. 1t acquires its en-
tire growth in the course of two TO three months,
and has a great number of seeds which are small,
black and very brilliant, and of enticular form.
Ii is thought that the application of this plant rs
| manure may have great advantage over guan0,
especially for yne-dressing, account OF the great
quantity of potash it contains this being an element
of primary Importance for the formation of BIZ
| tartrate of potassa. Ii Is question whether the
plant derives its nitric acid directly from the soil i'll
| winch il grows or whether it absorbs ITS elements
| from the air and combines them under the influence
| of the bases of potash and lime derived from the
soil 1t is supposed however, that the greater part
of the nitrogen is drawn from tho air III free aud
| uncombined condition.
| PrytvrF1c ALTON OF BONE BLACK WITHOUT IGNI-