The Osceola times., 1880-02-14
POPULAR SCIENCE.

PucHoT noticed in testing sample OF
butter suspected of containing starch,
that the iodide of starch reaction is i'm
paired by the presence OF certain nitro
genous organic substances, among them
albumen, whether from milk or eggs.
NJ. WOLFE has lately determined, by
means Of extremity delicate processes,
the fiising points of the more refractory
metals. The following are given Us the
exact temperatures for five of these
met ais, in the order of their fusibility:
Silver, l,749 degrees Fahrenheit, gold,
1853 degrees; copper, 1880 degrees;
platinum, 3,l95 degrees; iridium, 3,5lO
degrees.
OWING to the partial failure of the rub
Der crop of Brazil, and the clever man
agement Of speculators at Para, the price
Of rubber was forced from fifty cents to
81 a pound during the second week in
December. The Para district produces
about one-half the rubber crop OF the
world, or from l5,000,000 to $4,000, 900
pounds; the other half coming from
Africa and the East Indies.
THE Practicien Ia new French medical
weekly gives the following formula for
asthma, which has been adopted with
much success by DIR. de Crevoisier, OF
Brley: Take even weights of stra-
monium, sage, belladonna and digitalls;
crush to about the coarseness Of saw
dust, damp little, and mix in as much
nitre as of one OF the other substances.
Burn a little on a plate, cover with a
paper cone at the top, and let the sufferer
male the smoke. If the smoke is too
abundant damp the mixture with little
water.
COMMODORE WHITING. q century or 80
ahead of time, has presented to the
Senate memorial asking that body to
authorize the President to invite all the
Governments on this continent to unite
in an offensive and defensive eontedera-
ton. The memorial proposes that each
Government shall remain independent
lin the administration OF its own affairs
but be otherwise subordinate TO the gen
eral Government Of the Confederacy
the general Government to have the ex
ecutive right to declare war, to proclaim
J peace, to maintain armies and navie
and to regulate commerce.
ACCORDING to the indianapolis Herald
DR.. W. b. Fletcher ingeniously theories
that in ages gone by the huge reptiles o
the antediluvian period dying by starva
ton may have formed large crystals o
carbon in their lungs, which were after
wards transformed into the hard and
lustrous diamond. The doctors theory
is based upon finding in the lungs of :
frog thousands of black crystals which
looked like coarse gunpowder. Under
the microscope these crystals presented
angular facets, with smooth surfaces, pre-
senting the same angle Of crystallizatlor
as the diamond. On burning they give
off carbonic acid gas, and they are pur'
crystals OF carbon, Us the diamond is.
The improved French method of pre-
serving wood by the application of liiht
2 is found to work we'll The plan Is {,
, pile the planks in a tank, and to pu
over all a layer of quick-hme, which il
, gradually Stacked with water. Timbe
! for mines requires about week to b,
: thoroughly impregnated, and other WOO,
I more or less time, according to its thick
: ress. The material acquires remark
able consistence and hardness, it il
stated on being subjected to this simpl'
process, and the assertion is made that
will never rot. Beech wood prepared il
this way for hammers and other tool
. for ironwork is found to acquire thu
= hardness of oak, without parting witt
!. any of its well known elasticity or tough
, ness, and it also lasts longer.
: A NEW, clear, yellow coloring matter
G says the Moniteur de Fills ct 7isslss has re
ceived its name of ericine, from Eric,
! vulgaris, the botannicle description o
: the common health. 1t is prepared BY
E heating with an alum solution the wooc
, of N the common health and (2) differ
5 ent kinds of poplar. A liquor is obtain
4 ed of fine, clear, yellow color, which
' becomes turbid on cooling, yielding ;
! yellowish resin. The liquid separated
!. from the resin bv filtration oxidizei
/. rapidly in contact with air and light, be
: coming at the end Of a few days OF |
I beautiful golden yellow, capable of com
| peting with similar substances prepared
| In France by means Of the weld (wau) o
5 Ayignon berries, or even with those
) manufactured in England. d,