The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-01-08


lamp flament which is claimed to be a
great improvement on the form at present |
in general use. In consists of a highly in
fusible metal such as thorium in the form
of a metallic powder. which is pressed by
means of a mould into thin thread. The
surface of this metallic thread is now oxi-
died, thus forming a surface coating of
thorium oxide, the substance which is the
basis of the Welsbach mantle, over the
metallic conducting core. This oxide ad-
heres firmly to the metal core, and when
mounted in an ordinary incandescent
bulb the passage of an electric current
is said to give an extremely powerful light
OF low electrical cost.
An interesting exploration of | Lake
Tanganyka and the country north of it,
finished recently. revealed the fact that
while certain sea molluscs are found in
this lake, it is the only one of all the
large African lakes in which such phe
nomena are observed. This lake is only
a short distance, some eighty miles, from
the great Congo basin, much of which,
without doubt, was once covered by the
sea. The halolimnic fauna appeared to
extend into the Congo valley, and 1t is
believed that the lake at one time ex-
tended considerably to the West. Lake
Nyassa, on the other hand, has every
I
the geological fauna does not indicate that
this lake is of any great age.
"A stationer is thus quoted in The Phil
adelphia Record: Just as the nineteenth
century brought the steel pen in place of
the quill so will the twentieth century see
| the typewriting machine take the place
of the pen. The effect is already very
noticeable. Last year we didn't sell half
as many pens as we sold five years ago,
| and the decrease has been steady each
| year. Some large business houses have
a system of keeping books with typewrit-
| ing machines, and when this becomes
more simplified it is bound to be univer-
SAL shouldn't be surprised to see the pen
manufacturers go out of business within
a few years. Indeed, it is not beyond the
range of possibility that a hundred years
| from now handwriting. if not exactly re-
| garded as a lost art, will al least be look
| ed upon as a relic of antiquity, and speci-
mems of handwriting will be treasured as
| curiosities."
During a recent lecture before the
German Chemical Society of Berlin, DR..
Brunck made some interesting state
ments regarding the present condition ana
probable future of the indigo industry.
The development of the manufacture of
artificial indigo has been very rapid. 1t
is calculated that the quantity of indigo
| annually made at the LudWigshafen works
in Germany would require for its natur Al
production the cultivation of 100000 acres
of land in India. DR.. Brunck thinks that
the Indian indigo planters are doomed;
and he stated it as his firm belief that
the government of India would be acting
in the best interests of India if it imme-
| diately grappled with the question as to
| what could best be done with the land
hitherto devoted to the cultivation of in
digo. The artificial indigo is considerably
cheaper than the natural product Gn cost
! of MANUFACTURER, and is much more GER
tain in its coloring powers, owing to it's
chemical purity. The process employed
in it's manufacture is a complicated one
known as Baumann's, and depends on the
| use of naphthaline, a product which is
| available in practically unlimited guam
titles, and apparently at low cost.
E. H. Plumacher, United States consul
at Maracaibo, has sent the following re-
port to the State Department: "A sim
pie remedy against mosquitoes has been
employed in several places in South
| America and is equally well adapted to
| the temperate zone. 1t consists in plant
ing the caster-oil plant (Ricinus commu-
nis). or palma christi around the house
| and premises. In cold and temperate
| climates the castor-ol plant grows to
| hight of or feet; in these countries it
| becomes tall tree and is perennial 1t
| seems that the smell of the plant is dis
agreeable to mosquitoes and other in
sects, and it is an acknowledged fact
that where these plants grow few mos
| quitoes will be found. NY personal expe-
rience bears this out NY residence is
surrounded by plantain ard banana trees,
and l have been much troubled in the
| past by the great number of mosquitoes
| which gathered between the leaves Fol-
| lowing the example of old settlers in the
country, planted the castor seeds. which
grew up in profusion, and there are now
| no mosquitoes to be found among the
/ plantain and banana trees although keep
| the ground well irrigated. BY keeping
the branches and the seeds of the plant
| in rooms the mosquitoes are driven away
| from the latter. There are several va
| rietes of the castor-ol plant. In this
| country there are two-one with brown
| nuts and the other white in color with
kernel tasting like the fresh almond"
Certain natives of the Malay peninsula
catch cicadas and eat them, and that as
considerable luxury. To eat a cicada
seems distinctly curious says the Lon
don Daily Mail when we reflect that this
| llS6Cl 10 III reality d SlOTlH6u MEMBER OF
| that insect group which contains as it's
most prominent representative the min
| utive and swarthy creature which shall
be nameless here for evermore The way
| in which the Siamese proceeds was
| related to the Geological Society the 9TH
err day by a naturalist who has spent
some time in the Malay peninsula. OBJ
serving men as we'll as insects At night,
when these insects fly the native sallies
| forth armed with a torch and but little
raiment. The torch is deposited in a
convenient place, and the swarm of ma
tives proceed to clap their hands in a
perfectly regular fashion so as to pro-
duce considerable sound. 1t is the
combination of light and sound that al
lures the cicada from it's haunts to its
destruction; the insects come also in
| swarms and settle upon the bodies of the
applauding natives, whence they are cas-
lily detached, preserved, cooked and eat
en-. The Greek sage remarked that hap
by are the cicadas in that they have
voiceless wives. 1t is apparently the lady
cicadas who are attracted by what they
fondly believe to be the love cry of the
male. and are thus lured TO their fate by
that most dangerous of passions.
For several months past there has
been a somewhat heated discussion car
ried on before the London Board of Trade
between representatives, of the government
observatories at Greenwich and Kew and