Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-07-14
sCIEarIFI5 Gossip.

Il. {. Harvey mentions the case OF a
cat that has bsoome quite blind from csta-
raot, but is still able to do housing and to
make journeys from and to home.
Beet-root sugar is now admitted to be
quite distinct from cane sugar. Its sweet
ening power is thirty per cent. lower at
least, but its pOlariz:ng power is greater.
Crude honey has been found to keep far
better than the clarified kind, but the ad-
dition of about one per cent. of oxalic acid
will do nc harm to the honey, but will i'm
proVs it.
PAsteur haa stabbed the pneumo.enter-
ties Of pigs, which has carried off last year
in the Valley of the Raone alone more than
10000 swine. He traces the affection 80
microbia.
A Polish newspaper says that rich land
proprietor who ia living in Plotzle has ap-
piled to the Government for permission to
build railroad between that place and the
fortress of NovOgeorgievsk-a capital name
for a terminus.
a writer in the Cosmos Les NoRdes pro.
poses to dissolve zinc 10 hydrochloric acid,
to sell the hydrogen gas for filling balloons,
and to utilize the zinc chloride as a disin-
fec!ant The article hardly appears to be
q serious one.
This is some OF the uses to which the
Russians put their soldiers The Jabinsk
Paisi Railroad has been constructed by one
corps. 1t is about 100 miles long, has nine
bridges, cost the Government little more
than SIS. 900 mile, and YVES finished in
five months. By the middle Of this month
the Trans Caspian KrasloYodsk will be tin-
ished as far IS Aryat.
To coat iron with zinc very fine coat
ing is made of the powder of the latter
metal, which is mixed with oil and sicca
tive and applied to the iron by means OF an
ordinary brush. In many cases one coat
will do. Both the effects of air and water
are kept away by two coats. The zinc
coating gives the iron a steely appearance,
which does nos interefere with subsequent
painting.
An indorsing ink which does not dry
quickly on the pad and is quickly taken by
the papsr il thus made Aniline color in
solid form, l6 parts boiling distilled wa
ter, 50 parts; glycerine parts, and syrup
3 psrts. The color is dissolved In hot wa
ter and the other ingredients are added
while water is being agitated. This indors-
ing ink is said TO acquire its good quality
from the addition of the syrup.
{ : telegraph line has lately been essab-
,lshed between Shanghai and Tientsin. 1t
is now to be extended TO Pekin, as the
prejudice has been removed. kilograms
are to be forwarded either in French or in
English. Yet there IA a strict scrutiny TO
be kept by two mandarins. The duty Of
these officials will be to see to it that 10
messages will pass over the wires by which
the State would be endangered.
For q useful lime wash for wood and
stone this is Che proposed preparation
Twenty liters Of guicklime are slaked in
suitable vessel, One gramme Of sulphate
of zinc and 8 grsmme of common salt are
added. The latter causes the lime TO dry
without making any cracks. Avery beau
tiful fawn color is produced by adding to
the mixture 5 gramnes of yellow oohre, or
II stone color is desired or preferred
grammes Of lumber and of lamp-black may
be substituted a common brush may be
used in applying the wash.
An artificial leather, says the Engineer.
iHg, mixed Eith from five to ten per cent.
of sinew and pressed into sheets like or
binary leather card board, has been re-
Gently made in Germany. Both materials
are made separately. The leather pieces
are washed cut, boiled in alkaline lye,
torn, neutrslized with hydrochloric acid,
and finally carefully washed once more to
remove al traces of acid. The siuews are
treated similarly, but steamed in an acid
bath until they are like glue. When thus
prepared the materials are mixed, pressed
into sheets, moistened on both sides with a
concentrated solution of alum, snd the up
per surface is at last given thin coat of
nhide.