The Penn's Grove record., 1883-10-20
The Field of Science,

A species of spider has been found
| ON the African coast whose web, long
and firm. resembles yellow silk. An at
tempt will be made to introduce 1t into
France.
-Brohme's experiments seem to show
that in the plant there are two operations
taking place-making sugar from a r
bonic acid and the converse of the same
sugar into stsrch.
AT the Fisheries Exhibition IN
London may be seen a lobster, sent from
this country, which weighs about TWEEN
ty-eight pounds and is three feet long.
One of its claws weighs eight pounds.
M. Herve Mangon calls attention
to the case with which EGGPLANT can be
cultivated on a large scale as a source of
potash. According to him the fresh
plant contains about half of | per cent.
of potash,
"A writer in the Cosmos Les MOndeS,
proposes to dissolve zinc in hydrochloric
acid, to sell the hydrogen gas for filling
| balloons and to utilize the zinc chloride
as a disinfectant. The article hardly
appears to be a serious m
DIR. A. Houzeau points out that the
| influence both of light and heat has a
| tendency to reduce the amount of am
! monia present in rain water, and attri-
| butes this diminution not to volatiliza-
ton but to absorption by the organic
| matter existing in the water.
Some paper used for covering small
articles of elegance by shopkeekers on
| the Continent of Europe, and especially
in the West End of london, closely re-
sembles satin. Ordinary paper, covered
with asbestos powder, dyed to anydesir-
able shade and properly fixed on with
weak gum gives the satin effect.
DIR. A. Mayer says sourness acceler-
ated when milk is heated at 45o, but
retarded, if heated for t~wenty-four
hours at $50. In the latter case, how
ever. the milk assumes a burnt taste.
For the preparation of condensed milk
it is recommended to use partially
creamed milk, as it decomposes less rap
idly.
The estimated value of the peanut
crop of the country is 100000.
According to Eggertz, steel made
from an iron containing 30 small a pro-
portion as 05 per cent. of copper is
found to be worthless.
Although Russia has vast beds OF
coal she imports nearly half Of what she
uses, chiefly through lack of internal
communication.
"A wonderful mineral is found only
in Missouri. 1t is called Adams cobite,
and it is so hard that it will cut steel
without losing its edge.
Two tablespoonfuls of Epson salts
dissolved in a pint of lager beer, and APP
piled with a brush will cause glass to
appear frosted or ground.
1t is found by the survey of the
Great Lakes that there is a slight tide
in them. but not of sufficient extent to
be noticeable without special care, the
amount of rise and fall not exceeding
two inches.
oil of white birch bark dissolved
in alcohol when applied to fabrics zen.
ders them waterproof and preserves
them from the attacks of insects with
out in any way seriously impairing the
appearance or the pliability of the ma
terial.
suppose we have a square tank and
wish to make a round one TO hold the
same number of gallons, how shall we
get the size /? By this rule Multiply
one side of the square by LIPS, the prod
net is the diameter of a circle of equal
area.
-Perack, in the Malay Peninsula,
now produces about as much tin every
year as Cornwall. Last year Perack
exported not less than 700 tom of that
valuable metal, In the mining works
there are 40, 900 Chinese employed at
present.
The Journal de Pharmacie gives the
following recipe for a mucilage which
will unite wood, porcelain or glass To
eight and one-half ounces of a strong
solution of gum arabic add twenty
grains of a solution of sulphate of al
umina dissolved in two-thirds of an
ounce of water.
"A method of coating the surface of
wood so as to render it hard as stone
has come into vogue in Germany. The
composition is a mixture of forty parts
of chalk, fifty of resin and four of lin
seed oil, melted together, then adding
one part of copper, and finally N Of
sulphuric acid. 1t is applied hot with
a brush.
An excellent stain for giving light
colored wood the appearance of black
walnut may be made and applied as
follows Take Brunswick black, thin
it down with t%urpentine until it is about
the right tone and color, and then add
about one-twentieth its bulk of varnish,
This mixture, it is said, viii dry hard
and take varnish well.
Blasting paper has been made by
j. Petry, of Vienna. 1t consists Of
unsized or ordinary blotting paper coated
with a hot mixture of seventeen parts