The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1876-06-02
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

| a life of sixty years, removes from the
| soil about fifty pounds of nitrogen, equal
i to ele7en theusatid four hundred pounds
| of farmyard manure: Each tree should
| therefore receive about one hundred and
seventy-fiye pounds of manure per year
during the fifty years it is bearing
A FIRM of Mexican bankers have sent
to the centennial a block of pure silver,
hexaeonal in shape, n foot thick, and
with sides three feet long. Its value is
$4,000 in gold, which at SLIP ref ounce
gives q weight Of a little less than four
tho:.sanA potinds avoirdupeis. At S3e,
coo, GOO Il year hail silver and hall cold,
the Comstock lode in Nevada yislds
three thousand pounds of silver and one
hundred and sixty-six pounds OF gold
day.
THE gold.mines of Victoria, New Sotth
Wales, are usually rich. In 1874 six
thousand seven hundred and twenty-five
tons of aurilerous pyrite yielded eighteen
thousand'nine hundred and eleven ounces
of gold, or AN average of rs ounces per
tonA This is mitch larger tlian tlea. .Ca1s-4
forina Weld. There arc three'Eb bonsalyi,
three hundred and nincs lpt -yeafS
which have bsen-esFles@dls lsesidess nls-zly y
others which are known. They are corr
tanned in sn area of about one thousand
square niles
TIE occurrence of native zinc has been
frequently reported, but never conclu-
siyely proved. But Mr.. w. ID. Marks,
of Chattanooga, found the metal in the
loose soil of Sand Mountain, in the north
eastern part Of Alabama, and afterward
obtained the metal in place, in vein iii
the blue limestone of the mountain. 1t
n a
vein rock If the ore will Weld three to
five per cent. of zinc, it may be possible
to utilize it profitably.
GLYCERINE has on a few occasions been |
crystalized, and a chemist who has in
vestigated the circumstances finds that |
eS treme cold and agitation are necessary, !
and that only the Purest glycerine can
be used for the purpose. If perfectly |
pure and anhydrous, crystallized glycer- /
Inc is first melted and then cooled 10 /
thirty deg. Fahr., and the minutest crys /
tai of ,Clycerine dropped in the whole |
mass Instantly solidifes. Or If the tenn
perature is reduced to twenty -four deg /
Fahr., vigorous stirring will produce |
crystallivatiOn. The crystal appears 10
he prismatic, but they are so small and
the melting point 20 low that it Is diff
cult 20 measure them.
THr arrows by which commodore
of the British navy was
killed were poisoned by plunging in a
human corpse FOR several days. This
form of blood poisoning is made familiar
i'm civilized countries by the occasional
death of medical student from inocula-
ton by morbid virus. The least scratch
is sufficient to ensure death, though the
poison does not develop for several days
The Papuans yshO use this method of
poisoning are very warliiIe5 and iu IS said
that they do not leave their dwellings,
even 10 work In the fields, without taking
a bamboo bow and some arrows. Those
arrows which are poisoned are dis
tingtisbed from their more innocent tel-
lows by being highly Ornamented, carved,
and painted. They are barbed with htt-
man bone, sharpened as fine almost rs q
aeadlc.
INDIA-RUBBER Is collected in a pecd
liar way in Africa. The plant which
furnishes it is gigantic creeper, reach
ing so the tons of the highest trees, and
with a stem that IL some times rs thick
As mans thigh. 1t has lar e, bright,
larkgreen leaves, somewhat like those of
he magnolia. and j. thickly studded
with beautiful punches Of pure white
,tar-like flowers, which have powerful
sitter almond perfume that is very at-
ractivc IL ihseCls. The fruit is the size
If a large orange, yellow when ripe, and 4.
,ound, but with a hard she'll. This Is ,
illed with a reddish pulp, which has an
agreeable acid taste. Every part of the
.reeper, SAYS Mr. Mopteiro. exudes I
milky Juice when cut or Wounded. but I
mike the india.rubber tree of America,
his milky sep will not run into vessel
,laced to receive it, as Il dries so quickly I
S to form a ridge on the wound, which
tors its further fiow. The blacks collect i
t by making long cuts in the bark with !
knife, and as the milky juice gushes i
MT it is wiped off continually with their
ngers land smeafed on their arms, shout c
ers, and breast until thick covering is
ormed. This is peeled off their bodies
nd cut into small squares, which are
aid to be then boiled in water. No less
han four hundred tons of rubber were 1
objected in this way in 1874 in the
rovince of Ambriz dlons.