New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-02-09


but little light OF but little warmth for assimilation.
An Increase in temperature above blood heat is In
jurous fatal, while an increase OF light is only
beneficial. The chief absorption Of carbonic acid
for assimilation is effected by the leaves, which give
oil oxygen in return. Another aud more constant
vital activity OF the plant is slow combustion with
the giving of of carbonc acid aud this is noticear
BILE only when the mass of assmilated carbonc acid
sinks under that which is given oil, as happens at
night ..r.H
XERoGRApHY, A MANIFOLD WRITING AND PRINTING
PRocEss.-By tho following process. devised oy
Hansen il is said about 10o even 200, copies OF
manuscript NAV DO taken in 10 minutes. In manip-
ulation il is similar to that with oiled paper satu
rated with q pigment, except that IN TINS case inc
colored paper is placed beneath, with the coioreo
side uppermost, and upon it, instead OF wrinhs pa
per sheet Of firm thin, very dry oiled paper Is iaiu
that will take up the color without absorbing H.
There may be pile of five. or even ten. such layers
of alternate colored and oiled paper, and wneh IL Is
written upon with q pencil or stylus, copy In re-
verse will be formed the lower SIDE OF each iei
of oiled paper. From each of these abou % impress
sons can be taken by placing writing paper IN con-
tact with each one and subjectng the whole to tho
pressure of rolling machine, then removing the I'M
pressions, renewing tho writing paper ana suoJecV
ing the whole to somewhat greater pressure than at
first repeating the operation with Increased Pre-; =
sure for each impression up TO tue twentieth ~ 10
only the blue paper that will afford 50 many
sions, and il must be thin. and the color must be
much finely ground than 1t is usually iounu o ~
the trade The paDer ON which the impressions are
taken must not be rough, nor should IL 10 l9o
smooth and the first Impressions sh0nld DC lhduo
with the least possible pressure Inc prlntuxi 10y
ing or even photographic press Is not wei adaptiu
to this work. If only 20 copies are desired an oui
nary peu viii answer III writing
HYDRAUIJCs IN THE ADIRONDACK PLATEAU-At q
recent session of the Ncw-York Legislature sur
e. nj tam hOrzol TO de-
termine the probable cost of accommodating reserve
of the surplus waters of that region for the use Of
the Hudson and other streams. This was placed in
charge of Prof T. n Benedict of New-Jersey for
merly Of Burlington, VT. who has spent much time
in the study of the physical and Typographical
character Of the region. The instrumental work
was performed by two parties one under Prof
Benedict, and the other under W. B. Cooper Prof
Benedict took charge of the lakes and ponds Of the
upper sources of the Hudson, including part Of the
Racquette River while to Slr. Coopers party was
assigned the triangulat)n Of Long and Forked
Lakes, and the examination of the Racquetie val
lev below Long Lake The gauging of the main
channel Of tho Hudson; above the junction o. tne
Mohawk, was accomplished In October by Iroi
Benedict.
AS the result Of these inquiries Prof. Benedict re-
ports: First that immense quantities of water can
be safely stored mt a comparatively low per centage
of COST the upper Hudson. most of which Is now
than lost as it runs to waste In Spring fresh
damage; second that tins excess alone IS sufficient to
maintain the deficiency of the main river, at low
Summer stages for 100 days. after liberal DISCOUNT
for losses on its passage. the lakes OF the me
quette basin alone are alleged to have capacity
more than SIX times that of the Black River Ie5er-
voiTs which supply the eastern division OF the Eric
Canal.
FIRST ANNUAL REPoGr or THE MASSACHUSETTS
INSPECTOR or FERTILIzERs.-Th first annual report
of the State Inspector of Fertilizers in Massachu
Of Ar,,',o Af-ri1
College contains considerable information about the
more important of our lerJiizing materials, their
sources of supply, prices and value.
From 10000 to s. 900 tons of Peruvian guano arc
annually consumed in this country. THIS comes
mostly from the Guanlpe islands, and il somewhat
Inferior in quality to that formerly obtained from the
Chincha islands. the supply Of which IS nearly ex-
hausted. Considering its composition, Peruvian
guano is, when unadulterated, one of the best and
cheapest fertilizers in the market. OF sh-scraps and
fish gnnano, large quantities arc made on the coast
of New gland and Long Island. In 1872 some a.
fish rendering establishments were reported as in
operation, producing $3.50 tons of scraps. Animal
dust made of blood, meat-scrdp5 and bones 1oin
slaughteuDg establishments; ground bones ana
comeback waste, are also very valuable and of in
cTeasinC Importance. 1t appears that Snper phOS-
pbates and amnoniatcd superphoSphates constitute
by tar the larger part of our homemade fertilizers
FOuT-ffths OF the phoSphorc acid IN the superphos-
island phOsphateS In tic majority OF cases the
nitrogen is added in the form of some Ditrogen0us
animal matter. Ammonia salts are very seldom,
and soda or potash Saltpeter more Oxen used
for this purpose. Crude suiphatc of ammonia, Gun
satpcter nitrate of soda and German potash salts
are also coming rapidly into favor The higher
grades of the German potash Salts are much to ne
preferred to the lower which contain large !atl-
tics Of material OF little fer'llzl92 value while the
cast Of freight in importation IS as grc2 Is iOr the
purer potash salts
ETCHING iIRoY.-Much time and attention has
been devoted by Prof Kick Of Prague to the sub
icct of etching iron with acids. His method Is not
new one for arriving at a knowledge of the quality
of iron or STEEL having been used with some success
for a long time, but the care with which the Pro-
fessor has conducted his experiments makes them
exceedingly valuable.
Some kinds of iron exhibit what known as the
massive state and are unactcd upon by acids until
this state has been destroyed by heat Thesufaces
thus prepared were inclined to rust yly soon. After
a series of experiments with nitric sulphuric. and
lydrochloric acids and etching solutions of copper
salts. Prof Kick found that mixture of equal parts
of hydrocborc acid and water, to which was added
a trace of chloride of anthony. was the best etch-
ing solution. The chloride of antimOny seems to
render the iron less inclined 10 rust, SO that after
washing thoroughly in warm water. and applying
coat of Damar varnish, the etched surface may be
preserved quite clean The smooth surface that is to
beetched is surrounded with ridge of wax an inch
high as is done in etching copper for plates and the
acid is poured uto the disc thus formed. At tenn
perature Of So to go Fab the action begins,
shown by the gas evolved; in Winter the etching Is
poor. The time required is from one to two hours,
but the etching should go on until the texture is
visible Every half hour the acid can be poured off
without renewing the wax, the carbon rinsed off,
and the surface examined If too much chloride of
anthony is added to the acid black prccipitate
will soon form. which can easily DO distinguished