The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-02-22
Scientific Gossip.

Glycerine is recommended as pre-
| sentative for many organic substances
by M. II. Dancer, of Lyons, France.
According to the Engineer, some of
| the best American cast-iron as used for
| guns and railway wheels will stand g.
| tensile strain of Us much as SO, 800
| pounds or 1917 tons to the square inch.
The presence of ehiccory, dandelion,
| &c, in coffee may be aseertained by
boiling with sodium carbonate, and
then treating with dilute bleaching
powder solution, when the chiccory and
dandelion are bleached, the coffee being
Enacted on.
| In seeking for a substance which
would destroy the microscopic animals
in water without iniuring it for drinking
purposes, DR.. Langfeldt found that cit
rie acid (one-haf gramme to every litre
of the water) killed all the living organ
isms, except cyclops and those with
| thick epidermis, within two minutes.
What reasons had been advanced by
Mr.. Howorth to establish his hypothesis
that the mammoth had suddenly disap-
peared from Siberia do not appear to be
sufficient Mr.. G. Reid says that the
mammaliferous deposits cannot have
been formed all at once, as there are
numerous sheets of clear ice presenting
strata which must have been success
sively frozen.
Before one can safely say that milk
has been adulterated, it is necessary to
take into account the percentage of fat
as well as that of solids not fat. Mr.. 3.
Dyer has made analysis of the milk of
cows, stall-fed and at gaass, showing
that the milk of the former is the richer,
and that an individual COW well fed can
Al. y,
of 81 per cent. solids, not fat.
Du Callx endeavors to maintain that
the herring is not a migratory fish, and
that it does not move far away from the
spot where it is spawned, whether that
be in deep water over a sand-bank, or
near shore. He says the behring's spawn
at least twice a year, and that the
spawn reaches maturity, not only at
the bottom of the sea, but near the sur
face Few old fishermen will be found
to agree with him.
The Scientific dnaertcan says that the
prejudice against American hemlock-
tanned leather has disappeared, and
English tanners now appreciate It's ex-
cellent qualities. Its capabilities Tor re-
sisting water and withstanding wear by
attritien in the seles of boots and shoes
are said to be quite equal to those of
the best English sole-leather, and great
" superior To the leather of English
s.mixed'' tannages or the generally poor
sole-leather made on the Continent OF
Europe.
The finest IubricatiBg oils In the
market, says q writer, IN the supple
ments ! to the Scientific dnsericuza-- that
is to say, such lubricants as are employ
ed for watches and similar delicate
pieces of mechanism are chiefly pre-
pared from sperm oil by digestlng u IN
trays, with clean lead shavings, for
week or a longer time. Solid stearate
of Head is formed, and remains adhering
to the metal, while the oil becomes more
fluid and less liable to changeor thicken
on chilling.
According 90 the secretary OF the
Manufactirin Chemists Association Of
the United States, the capital invested !
in the chemical industry is S65,0OU, 600 /.
the annual production is worth S1Is,- !
600, 600; the number of mnnufactur /
establishments is I,346, using 600, 900 /