The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-09-04
USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC.

p USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC.
PLATE glass is formed of silica 7S
parts, potash, 2, soda u, lime B and
salumini 2 parts isaH4f iE5 #e
A QUANTITY of scrap iron placed i'll
impure water will most effectually re-
move organic matter, but the water
must necessarily be subsequently passed
through a bed Of Sand and gravel to
separate all the oxide of iron which is
formed.
Al ACCORDING to Paris journal an in
teresting experiment in the use OF the
electric light will soon be made. The
great captive balloon will soon carry up
h on eleeti'ie ightsfte an altitude OF per-
haps one thousand feet above the city,
in order to determine what effect such
light will have at such a height upon the
streets beneath. This may possibly be
I The precursor of d new system of city il
I Illumination. ifss-qa9 i4as
THE CHILDREN OF RUM-DRINKERS.- -
'Dr Martin, Of the Salpet,ferc, Paris, has
Emade.a series of interesting observations
on nervous affections among the off
| spring Uf alcoholic parents. His results
/ may be summed up rs follows: In 50
| families in which one OF more members
showed nervous excitability with Il his
tory of alcoholic origin, there were 41O
Children OF these, US--more than u
| quarterrhad commissions, and in the
! Gear 1871, 1863 were dead; 241 were still
-halive,s but 83f, ise., more than one-third
Of the survivors, were epileptic.
! PLANT AND ANIMAL LIFE.-A striking
analogy between animal and plant life
!, has been discovered by Nj. Wander HART
Of Utrecht When the common garden
bean begins to sprout it is'found to con-
tain u ferment very, closely resembling
pepsin, which can be extracted by means
4 of glycerine.g This ferment has the pow
ker of changing aLbuminous into peptonic
substances and starch into glucose. 1t
=is found exclusively in the cotyledons.
4 IN the case of the ,hesh-eating plants, all
the steps Of digestion seem to take place
! in the same nianner as in animals.
issoA RI1FICIALe a., sPROPAGATION OF
SPONGEs.-It is proposed to propagate
sponges by cutting the live sponge into
4ssa,aH pieces, attaching them to pieces Of
rock, and sinking them to proper depths
\ IN suitable locations. Professor Schmidt
reports that in three years, each piece
will attain marketable size. He esti-
mates thecost of raising 1900 sponges
4 at $40, which will be worth $50, leaving
a net profit of $35. This subject is OF
\ peculiar interest to the United States, as
a large stretch of the, Floridian and, the
Gulf Coast is suited to the growth OF
4 sponges, and welded in 1873 product
valued at $laese00 e00s~with this plan of ar
tificial breeding it is probable that this
field could be considerably increased.
+ WHITE bricks are Manufactured from
commons redgclays at Hull, England
!. A cheap material, chiefly magnetism
limestone reduced to a powder by being
burned and Stacked, is ground into the
common clay. This mixture is passed
through series Of mixing and grinding
mills, and then falis9 into the molds of q
powerful steam pressing machine. and
is thence laid on the delivery table. Z
i complete and salmostCdry pressed brick
which, when turned in the kiln, pro
drces white brick. The change effect
ell in the color of the red clay on beins
burned is due to the presence of thu
substance added to it. The oxide o
! iron combines with the silica to form sill
cate of iron.
SUSPENDED ANIMATION.-The nitrit'
9 Of amyl being powerful agent in quick
ening the heart-beat, u few drops of thi
drug have powerful Influence in re
/ storing the functions fof the heart il
eases of drowning, hanging or ,fainting
/ 1t is suggested, therefore, that it shoult
/ always be used whenever attempts ar
/, being made to restore to life an individ
ual apparently dead, or when it is de
!. sirable to settle the question whether
}. person is really dead or not, The dread
ful thought Of being buried alive ha
haunted the human race since its earl
= est days, and the discovery of som
means by which the risk could be, if nc
! evaded, Aat east sgresltly diminished
would prove an ineffable boon to man
. kind. DIR. I. Lauder Brunton, to whor
t, we have .rcfefred fhis suggestion, cor
: fsiders it to he a good one. He adds tha
$ in slseertsining death the nitrite Of am,
e might be used along with the cord te'
of tyiiig cord around the finger
: the circulation has entirely stopped, til
5 part beyond the ligaturc never becom.
Z fslny thicker; but if circulation continue
i 4 however slowly, the, finger tip beyon
v the ligatlire will sooner or later begin
+ Swell. u British Medical Journal.
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