The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1876-03-31
SCIENCE ~JoTTINGs.

~ BtSAN AA4A1-9r
The hardest steel can be turned easily if
the tools be moistened With a mixture Of
two parts of petroleum and one Of turpen-
tine.
In Lyons a kind of cloth is now prepared
from the down of hens, ducks, etc. 750
grms. Of feathers yield one square metre Of
. light and very warm fabric, which is
waterproof, and admits of being dyed in all
shades.
Yellow stains, commonly called iron
mould, are removed from linen by hydro
chloric acid or hot solution of oxalic acid.
Wash well in warn water afterwards. 1t
should not be forgotten that oxalic acid is
poisonous.
NJ. Bert's researches on the effect of air
pressure on life. for which he has recently
obtained the medal of the French Academy
have led to the invention of a method of
preserving meat by enclosing it in vessels
containing compressed air.
The following is a cheap substitute for
the expensive gold varnish used on orna-
mented tin-ware; Turpentine half a gall
lon. asphaltum half a gill. aniline yellow
two ounces, lumber four ounces, turpentine
varnish one gallon, n gamboge half u
pound. Mix and boil for ten hours.
Bags of indiarubber inserted in a collapsed
state by divers, and then filed with air by
means of force-pumps, have been used to
raise sunken vessels in Russia with con-
siderable success. The method was first
suggested by Professor st. Claire, of Edin-
burgh University, in lTs5, but the india
rubber industry was then undeveloped.
The common cutlery against a clayey soil
is often a senseless one, because. if proper
precautions are aiken when putting in the
foundations of a hous~ i~ealthiness is in no
way impaired. Will. a clayey soil it is pos
sible to remove all erair age to a distance.
while with a gravelly soil the surface
drainage will sometimes foul the subsoil
water.
In some Investigations into the relation
between meteorology and the growth of
plants, Hoffman states that from numerous
observations in Central Europe we may
conclude that, as an average. n difference
Of latitude of one degree causes a delay or
retardation of three and three-quarter days
in the various steps of the development Of
plants, especially of the blossoming in
spring.
To Withstand mud and water two or three
inches deep, for ten hours a day for a week.
without feeling any oarpness or having
any difficulty in getting Jour boots on or
of. give the bottoms a good coating of tai
low and tar, and dry it in then oil the
uppers with castor oil-about one table,
spoonful will be sufficient. The effect of
castor oil is to soften the leather. while it
fills the pores ard prevents the water from
entering.
DR.. Ultzmann, teacher at the University
of Vienna, lately read a paper before the
Medical Society of Lower Austria on the
"Use of Photography in Medical Studies"
He mentioned, on the authority of DR..
Vogel, that an eruption of smallpox had
been made evident by photography twenty
four hours before it actually cane out. Al
though no one could as yet observe any
thing on the skin of the p~atieIt. the mega
tive plate showed stains or the face, which
perfectly resembled the variolous exanthem,
and twenty-four hours afterwards the erup-
ton became clearly evident.
EXPERIMENTS WITH NATURAL FLOWERS.
A simple means of temporarily changing
the colors of natural flowers is by immersing
thes stems in liquid ammonia. In this way
blue, violet, and purple flowers are changed
to green, and white ones to yellow. The
natural color returns in a few hours.
another interesting process, of which flow
ers also form the subject. was recently
brought to the notice of the Society of Arts,
It is a method for coating natural flowers,
as well as leaves, with silver, by the appli.
cation Of electro-metallurgy; in other
words, simply electro-plating them. Tho
most delicate can thus be OBJ
tanned, preserving with exquisite detail the
outline and form of each leaf and petal.
GERMIsATIoN oF SEEDs.-Many years ago
it was asserted that camphor possessed the
power Of accelerating the termination of
seeds, and a similar property was subse-
quently claimed for chlorine, bromine and
iodine. Hacked has by experiment found
the statements correct. Seeds of Raphanus
soti'u us tine Common radish) terminated on
TIE average in eight days when treated with
pure water only kept moist with iodine
water, they terminated in five days; with
bromine water, in three days and with
chlorine water, in two days. The mono
bromide of camphor produced the most ex-
traordinary effect, termination occurring
after a mean interval of thirty-six hours.
Hackel does not suggest any explanation.
Alkaline borates and ~silicates retard germi-
nation, while soluble arseniates prevent it
by destroying the embryo.
DYE1NG HoR Sc HAIR.-Horse hair may
be died as follows: Brown-The hair must
first be thoroughly cleansed by placing it
in a soap bath, heated to 1873 deg. for
twenty-four hours, and moving it about
frequently. 1t must then be allowed to lie
for twelve hours in a dye-bath. prepared
from a decoction of log-wood with lime
water at 122 deg, and then be rinsed and
dried. Blue, inclining to violet-The hair
must first be dyed brown, as just given, and
then passed through water, to which a little
of a solution of ten and a half ounces of tin
in thirty-five and a quarter ounces of hydro
chloric acid has been added, and then
washed as in the previous case. Blue
The hair must be prepared in a solution of
two parts of alum and one part tartar,