The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1905-06-17
The. use Of rata as a material rar

1ra4ttssf sft31lN H. LIE nome IdlQT2eElEe
Of small baskets table mats and si.li-
lar articles has become such recent
fad that it has called forth statements
regarding the fiber. Raffia is simply
the outer skin of the long Dianat6
leayes Of the Madagascar palm, 50 to
20 feet in height The fiber is stripped
from both surfaces Of the leaves before
these are fully expanded, and is sub
sequeatIy divided into thin ribbons
about three quarters Of an inch wide,
and three or four feet long, and dried
Immediately. The supply of= leaves is
gathered in the forests by the men. and
the work is done by the women, vino
are very expert. The reed used with
rafHa, N baskatsF. BY the young la
dies Of this country IS split rattan.
Until recently rafia was only employed
by Eurserymen and hortieuIturists as
a tying material
The Carnegie institute IL publishing
an elegant quarto work on The wa
TEXTILES prepared by Mr.. Henry S.
Co1ard, late Of the University of Penn.
syfvania. It contains 30 fuIl-pags
Illustrations OF Water1iiies. many II
colors, the reproductions having been
made in the most artistic manner anG
without regard to cost The water
lilies Of the world are fully described
and the work will be Of great value
to botanists, gardeners and park gu
perintendents IN all countries. tbs
history. structure. and Development OF
these beautiful plants are amply con-
sidered, and a chapter is devoted to
the culture and uses Of the different
species.
An interesting case Of the CONNER
cial employment Of a very rare. metal
IS the use OF tanta1um for the fiIament
Of Incandescent lamps, some very
promising results with this metal hav-
ing been secured through recent ex-
periments Of DR. w. Won Bolton, of
Berlin. For this purpose i substance
was required with a very high melt,
ing point. Tantalnm meIts at between
2,,25o and $500 degrees eentigrade,
whereas platinum which is regarded
as very refractory, fuses at 1,T50 de-
grees. TantaIu1n, then, is more re-
fraetory than platinum and hence is
aFaiIabIe for hlaments. The metal
can be rolled and drawn into an ex-
ceedinglF thin wire, with a specific
gravity Of 1913. It is about as hard as
mild steel with greater tensile
strength. which amounts to 95 kiIos
per square milIimeter. while good steel
shows a strain Of 10 to so kilos. Al
though tantaIum mas been known for
hundred years its practical uses ara
only now being discovered.
Recent studies Of formaldahyde in
milk, a. . preserTatiFe. BY D. RiFas,
Of the University of Pennsylvania,
show that when formaIdehvde has been
added in such indnitesimaI quantities
as the proportions Of 10000 to
10000 it disappears entirely from
the milk IN one 70 i've days. The CEN
clusion is reached that when market
samples of milk show good keeping
qualities, and yet do not contain for
maldehyde, the suspicion may ba
raised that the samples have had for
maIdehyde added to them. and that IN
tinle it has disappeared. IN the hands
of uniformed or INSCRIPTIONS milk
dealers, formaIdahyde i a dangerous
substance. added to milk ii undue
proportions it is said to be liable to
cause death when taken By infants.
Some of the results Of recent invests
cations in Peru by Mr.. William 3. SAT-
ford Of the department of agriculture,
Were outlined IN paper read before
the last meeting of the Anthropolog-
ieaI society Of Washington. Of special
interest were the statements regard
ing the fruits and vegetables of the an
Gent Peruvians as represented upon
the pottery found in their graves, ever
200 Of which were opened. Among
the specimens Of pottery shown at the
meeting may be mentioned q human
like monster surrounded by ears of
corn. Others representa- frogs sur
rounded by peanuts, evidently cast d.
rect from the natural nuts. and lima
beans and sweet potatoes were also
represented, with the familiar tropical
fruit known as chirimoya.
Many of the pieces, which were ar
tistie while grotesque, were doubtless
simple casts from the common potato,
paeays. squashes. gourds. Iaaunus and
sweet potatoes. The banana and co.
coanut ara familiar plants in Peru, hut
it was remarked that not asingIe rep
reseatation OF either plant was found
Textile fabrics exhumed with the pot
terry were almost as bright as though
freshly dyed, AMI the feathers Of birds
we're Ininiured and retained their coll
ors perfectly.
The press of the United States and
Great Britain for some months past
has been filed with marvellous ae-
counts Of a seedIess and eore1ess apple
that was to reValutionize the apple
trade High authorities state that the
seedIess apple has been known n this
country and England for more than
IT'S years. according to the records.
and Prof. Waugh claims To have traced
the history Of the freak back 1000
years. Such freaks are as common in
the genealogical world as in the aIi-
NAL kingdom. A deficient blossom
makes an abnormal fruit, and THAI IS