The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1876-08-31
MINOR TOPICS.

BUDDHISM in Japan is declining. In
a single district or ken, seventy.one
temples have since 1873 been converted
into dwelling houses or used for other
secular purposes. During the last six
years upward of six hundred temples
have thus been diverted from their
original purpose.
Mr.. MARGARY was long enough in
China to learn that ait is the nature of
Cinnamon to give in to anything which
asserts its superiority. A kick and few
words in his own tongue, telling him he
is an ignorant boor, will make China
man worship you. Singly, or in small
groups, they are the pink of civility, but
mob is rather dangerous"
PROFESSOR LEIDY, Of the Academy of
Natural Sciences, describes in recently
published proceedings of that body, a
curious aninalcule which he discovered
on street pavements. 1t is named gronico
one sixteenth of line in diameter.
When placed in water, it in few min
utes projects, in all directions, a most
wonderful and intricate net. Along the
threads of this net (Which are less than
one thirty thousandth of an inch in
diameter) float minute noviculCe from the
neighborhood, like boats in the current
of stream, until, reaching the central
mass, they are swallowed. Professor
Leidy states that during dry weather
the creature remains quiet in the dust,
and that when rain falls it spreads its
net and gathers food.
IT seems that our friends in Northern
Europe are not to be outdone in the but
ter market by the French or ourselves;
and one of them, named Diderichsen,
has devised new method of making
suet butter, which differs in some of its
details from that employed in this coun-
try. The suet is first washed in cold
water, and cut up in fine pieces; then it
il placed in wooden vessels and melted
by aid of steam heat. About one per
cent. of soda, dissolved in some water, is
added to the melted fat, which is cooked
for few hours. Fresh soda is added,
and the boiling repeated, after which the
mass is washed with boiling water and
pressed through flannel. To this mass,
while still warm, but not above 40 de-
grees Fab, three per cent of olive oil is
added, and three or four per cent. of
sour milk, and the whole is then churned.
ENGLISH railways are well built,
without sharp curves as in this country,
and still collisions happen upon them
more frequently than in America.
Trains seeing each other at long dis
tance in England, still often collide, be-
cause the brake system is not so perfect
as in the United States, where train
was recently prevented by our brakes
from running into river through an
open bridge. 1t is likely to deficiency in
the brake that must be attributed the
awful collision on the Somerset and Dor
set Railway. And again the British
roads are deficient in safety signals. The
latter improvement in that line is too ex-
pensive to be supplied extensively. and
is not perfect in itself as the American
automatic safety signal, which works also
by system of springs placed under the
rails and communicating with dials by
the side of the road, and which has been
successfully operated for two years upon
the New York Central and other rail-
roads in this country.
ACCORDING to Professor Bottger, the
simplest method Of giving paper and
wood surfaces crystalline coating
follows: Mix a very concentrated cold
solution of salt with dextrine, and lay
the thinnest possible coating of the fluid
on the surface to be covered, by the
means of broad soft brush. After dry
ing, the surface has beautiful bright
mother-of-pearl coating, which in conse-
quence of the dextrine, adheres firmly
to paper and wood. The coating may
be made adhesive to glass by doing it
over with an alcoholic shellac solution.
Professor Bottger mentions the following
salts as adapted to produce the most
beautiful crystalline coating: Sulphate
of magnesia, acetate of soda, and sui
phate of tin. Paper must first be sized,
otherwise it will absorb the fluid and
prevent the formation of crystal on its
surface. Visiting cards with mother
ofpearl coating have for some. time been
in use. Colored glass is well adapted
for ai,nh O noatinn which has q cnod