The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-10-26
sciExCE AND INDUSTRY.

The. Lake -Okeechobee region, in
South Florida, it is found, produces q
native variety of the India-rubber tree.
4 "A submerged steel tube forty feet
below the surfaceiis the latest sngges-
ton for the crossing of the English
Channel. 2n ita)
"A Massachusetts, man has discov-
cred that for coloring sheepskins ?
beautiful vermiion the potato-bug has
mo ePlalm s1y
/ --Celluloid is now employed fer the
mxking of, stereotype plates, with the
result, it is claimed, of great advantages
over the present electrotype. A compa-
tny in New York has gone into the btlsi-
ness
"A great clothing house at Paris ex-
hibits several sewing machines which
speed and regularity. The establish
ment uses them for its own sewing, and
thereby greatly lightens the task of the
hard worked seamstresses. Fi
Considerable quantities of boauti-
'ful objects of artificial amber are now
being produced in Vienna. The SUBJ
stance employed in its manufacture Is
chiefly colophony or resin, obtained, by
decomposition of turpentine, though
several other ingredients are used to
give it the requisite qualities. The i'm
itation is said to be perfect, and the
| production has even the electric prop
critics of amber. Ingenious maDufae-
turers have even introduced into the
substance foreign bodies, insects, etc.,
to make the; similarity moro striking.
Natural amber requires temperature
of 2S5 TO 2S7 degrees G. TO fuse it, while
the imitation becomes liquid at much
lower temperature.
The value of the cotton plant
| (Gossypiun herbdcessal has been in
creased by the discovery that the bark
of the roots yield a promising dyestuff.
Mr.. w. G. Staehl reports that when the
bark of cotton root is exhausted by al
cohol of the specific gravity of 0.S4, .
dark reddish brown liquid is obtained,
| which, when distilled to recover the
spirit, leaves resinous matter which
amounts to 8 per cent. of the original
weightiof the bark. The new product
thus obtained appears black aud shin
| ing, but when pulverized takes the color
! of cochineal. 1t dissolves in IA parts of
alcohol, 10 parts of chloroform, and 122
| parts of benzol. 1t dissolves also in
oausticl atkalies, and is precipitated from
these solutions by acids. Hydrate OF
potash colors green. Sulphuric acid
dissolyes it with red-browh color.
Experiments lately made. at Black
burn with a train made up in imitation
Of that of the express which ran into
thetrain standing in Blackburn Station.
to test the statement of the driver that
he reversed his engine as soon as he
found that the brakes did not check his
train, are of some interest, though they
elected the fact that the reversal of an
engine of a train running at q high We
locity has but very little effect in redue-
ing the speed. A high speed was ut
tanned, and the engine was reversed a
| quarter of mile before reaching the
station, but the train ran through the
station at about twenty miles an hour,
and had to be stopped by the brakes.
i Locomotive driving wheels, when run
ming the reverse way, are not effective
in stopping n train. The experiment
shows how little can be>gained by re-
versing an engine under such eircum-
stances.