New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-03-18
APPLIED SCIENCE.

repealed and the who have suffered under them
APPLIED SCIENCE.
A NEW CEMENT.--The following recipe is asserted
to produce cement of very superior character for
uniting stone and resisting the action of water. 1t
becomes hard stone, Interchangeable i'll the
and resiss the action of acids IL is made by mixing
together 10 pounds sulphur and az pounds pulver-
lied stoneware aud glass. This mixture is exposed
TO gentle heat until the sulphur Inelts when the
If stirred until il has become thoroughly homo
gelIous and is then into molds and permitted To
cool. When required for use il is heated ~ 21So
Fahrenheit, at which temperature II mclts and may
be employed III the usual manner. At 300 Fahren-
hcit it becomes hard stone, and preserves its
sOidity III boiling water
RYT.-GREEN-B6ttger recommends the follow
ing mode for the preparation of baryta-grecn Add
gradually parts of finely sifted peroxide of man.
gancse to mixture CT parts of caustic potash and
part of chlOrac Of potash i'll state of fusion, and
finally heat the mass to Il low read heat. Allow it to
cool powder it, pour cold water over it, filter and
add to the green ftratc, in the cold, solution of
nitrate of baryta. Wash well with water the beau
tful violet neutral manCanate of baryta that sepa
rates and when dry mix with II u to Part OF
hydrate of baryta and heat the mixture at low
red heat in rather shallow brass copper vessel.
with continued stirring, until the contents upon
cooling. manifest g pure green color. FINALLY. pun
yerzc it Thoroughly, and treat repeatedly with cold
water. i'll order 10 remove any hydrate OF baryta
present.
TIE BoRAX LAKE OF CALIFoRSIA.-lt appears
that the ncrodulity with which statements concern
ing the borax lake have been received in England
has been considerably lessened by supplies OF the
material coming to the London market. The pottery
districts are especially interested in the discovery
al tbaty
now nearly completed for the refining and purifying
Of this borax for shipment. Stimulated by tho action
of the railroad company, the B0raX Company has nut
I'D large works ana expects to tuIn out from 20 10
30 tons of the mineral per day The deposit of
bOrax extends over IN area of IL miles in length by
GtoS miles in width covered with crude b9rax to the
dcbth of 3 to feet. The crude mineral averages
from 20 70 40 per cent of the pure salt
TIE AFRICAN LOCUST IN GERMANY.-During the
prevalent fear that the Colorado potato-bug viii be
introduced into Europe, an equally or even more
dangerous pest has actually made it's appearance in
Germany in the shape OF the African locust, dcrid
inn mGrd'orium, which has been found in the fields
of KerzendoIf on the Berlin and Anlalt Railway,
where the insects have Laid waste extensive tracts
of land covered with good crops Of grass and grain
Apprcciating the necessity of prompt measures how
ever the proprietors of the lands put large force
To work and succeeded in destroy ing great part of
the insects before they could escape, digging nnmer
bitches and canals INTO winch thty Conll DE
swept and then covered with lime. Whether these
insects laid their eggs before they killed Is Of
course impossible TO know at present.
BURNlNG GAS FROM WOOD AND PErEoLEUM.-
The process If Mcssrs. Date and Eichbaum for nak
lug Illuminating gas is sufficiently novel and inter
esting to warrant the following description OF the
system lately introduced into the town OF IneeIso.
Ont The retort benches (threes) here in use have
some differences from the arrangement usual for
coal gas. The upper retort is provided with an
inner or interior rctort of cast iron, into which
regulated supply of crude petroleum is fed by All
a;r-conpressing device. The operator having thus
perfect control of the amount of oil introduced.
gas of any desired candle power can be made. The
charging of the retorts and the operations involved
in the process are az follows One Of the lower re-
forts is charged with 40 pounds of ordinary cord
wood, and soon as gas begins 10 be evolved
which is almost nstantly-by means Of suitably sr-
ranged pipes and valves the wood gas is thrown into
the upper TetOrt, in which il comes i'll contact with
the heavy vapors evolved from the petroleum.. The
two gases thus comminged are then passed over
heightened heated surface, the resultant Product
being a fixed permanent gas Of any desired
Illuminating power, leaving little or no residuum;
The charcoal resulting from the process u declared
to more than pay for the wood employed.
WOOD ASHES AS A POTASH FRRTnIzER.-From a
very elaborate and thorough investigation Of the
composition of wood ashes from household fire, by
Prof Storer il appears thai these contain, uneached
and dry about Sl2 per cent OF potash, somewhat
more than the lowest grades of German potash salts
Either leached OF unleached, the dry ashes contain
about two per cent of phosphoric acid, Of which
none occurs in the German salts. In Storcr's field
experiments, wood ashes (uncachcd) applied in
large quantities brought larger yields of barley
beans and rutabasas than farn-yard manure, city
stable manure or any single potash salt as suphatc
carbonate or even nitrate. In commenting upon
these results Storer says: "Wood ashes are more
serviceable than any single potash SALT not only be-
cause they contain phosphOric acid, lime, mag
nesia and the less valuable elements OF plant food
but because considering them merely as potasSIc
manure they contain a mixture OF potash salts: III
may be regarded as well nigh certain that q given
amount of potash applied III the form OF appropriate
mixtures of suplate, carbonate. sic2te aud ciilo-
ride of potassium will, generally speaking. do more
good than when applied i'll the form Of either one Of
these compounds. But in wood ashes we find n mix
ture of these salts ready ut hand not the best mix
ture perhaps, but already formed, and i'll this
country at least very easily obtained
GERMAN Potash SALTs.-Tle need of potash as a
fertilizer has been impressng itself and more
of late, upon farmers throughout the country. The
discovery of the immense deposits of potash salts in
the mines of Stassfurt, IN Germany, and the bene-
fcial results of their use as manure in Europe have
led to the importation of considerable quantities to
the United States Unfortunately, much of this im-
ported material has been of the lower grades which
contain but little actual potash compound, the
largest portion consisting of salts OF soda and mag
nesia, and other materials OF small agricultural
value among the rest chloride of magnesium, which
is actually harmful to vegetation. The amount Oh
"octual potasbp l. e. potassium, rcckOncd as pOtas-
SUM oxide in the German salts varies from some per
cent ia the lowest to 80 per cent in the highest
grades. Eight samples analyzed by Prof. Goessmann
7n n y