The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1899-05-24

four per cent. Of zinc. IL is thought
that the discovery may prove Of con-
siderable Importance. From the name
of the township, Hardyston, in which
II was first recognized, Professor
Wolff has called the new mineral
''hardystonite."
Tn the manufacture OF artificial
ivory, two parts of caoutchouc are dis.
solved in thirty-six parts of chloro.
form, and the solution is saturated
with pure gaseous ammonia. Tho
chloroiorm is then distilled off at
temperature of eighty-tive degrees,
centigrade. The residue is mixed
with phosphate Of lime or carbonate
OF zinc, pressed into molds and dried.
When phosphate of lime is used the
product possesses to considerable
degree the nature and composition OF
ivory.
The DANCE, 81 contamination OF
wells by sewerage has often been
spoken Of. and striking confirma-
tion of IL was offered when the water
works machinery of Maryland town
OF three hundred inhabitants broke
down. For one day water from an old
we'll was used. Ten days later there
was an outbreak of innammatory in
testinal disorders, and three cases of
typhoid fever resulted. The water
was tested and found to contain not
less than 400 bacilli in one cubic
centimeter, which is, of course, equiv
alent to about fifteen drops. The
regular water supply contained eighty
bacilli to a centimeter, which cannot
be considered very satisfactory.
The use Of smokeless powder has
its disadvantages. especially the in
creased wear of the gun. 1t is rather
grave inconvenience, for in time of
peace soldiers have to practice firing,
and their arms are the worse for it.
Professor W. @. Robei ts-Austin, G.
b., has recently presented photo.
graphs to the Iron and Steel Institute
of Great Britain which demonstrate
the ruin of rihed ordnance by cordite,
melinite and other smokeless powders.
A quick firing gun suffered from
cordite after five shots, although the
steel was of the usual quality and tho
tube had been tempered in oil. M.
Meriel, French writer, thinks that il
the sudden elevation of temperature
followed by cooling on firing n shot
could be avoided it would help the
matter.
The idea that the sea contains ma.
terial capable OF being wrought into
has commonly been treated as myth.
But, according to the American Silk
Journal, the shellfish known as tho
pirma, found in the Mediterranean,
has the power OF secreting viscid
silk which, in Sicily, is sometimes
made into n handsome fabric. The
silky matter is elected by the she'll
fish, in the first instance, for tho pur.
pose of attaching itself to the rocks.
possessing the unique capacity, as it
does, OF guiding the delicate filaments
to the proper place and there gluing
them fast, reproducing them also il
they are cut away. This substance,
when gathered, is washed in soap and
water, dried, Strengthened and carded,
one POUND of the coarse filament
yielding about three ounces Of fine
thread, which, when spun, is of IN
attractive golden brown color. There
is also said to be, in the Royal Berlin
Museum, pair of golden brown silk
gloves made of byssus silk, a material
obtained from tho small silky tufts
protruding from the byssus shell;
this fibre is silky, and changes in
color from greenish yellow to dark
brown, the single threads being two
to three inches long.