The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1905-06-10

tered In small doses TOT D ionS peIiou,
or in large quantities for a snort
period, create disturbances or appetite,
digestion and health. When these SUD-
stances are unknowingly taken Int
the system regularly, in the form OF
meat ~preservatives, it might be sug-
gested that it is a very palpable case
of minute doses for a very long
period; and the question might be
asked of these official Investigators IL
there was any connection betWeen sacn
use of borax and boracic acid, and the
general prevalence at the present time
of the bodily ailment known as lnol-
gestion. which is so frequently a df-
rect cause of heart failure.
The use of rafla as a material for
fancy work in the home MANUFACTURE
of small baskets, table mats n SINH
lar articles, has become such a recent
fad that it has called forth statements
regarding the fiber. Raffia is Simply
the outer skin of the long plnnate
leaves of the Madagascar palm, 5O 10
20 feet in height. The fiber is stripped
from both surfaces of the leaves belOre
these are fully expanded, and is sub
s%equently divided into thin rlDDons
about three-Quarters of an inch wide,
and three or foul feet long, and dried
Immediately. The supply of leaves Is
gathered in the forests by the men, ana
the work is done by the women, VINO
- -oo,k Tha GfronAo 1Gn6 Win
rafia, in basketry, by the young Ia
dies of this country is split rattan.
Until recently raffia was only employed
by Eurserymen and horticuiturlstS as
q tying material.
The Carnegie institute is publishing
an elegant quarto work on The wa
terlilies'' prepared by Mr.. Henry .
Conard, late of the University OF Penn
s~ylvania. 1t contains 80 full-page
illustrations of waterlilies, many IL
colors, the reproductions having beer
made in the most artistic manner am
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 su
perintendents in all countries. The
history. structure and development o
these beautiful plants are amply con
sidered. and a chapter is devoted II
the culture and uses of the differen
species.
An interesting case of the CONNER
cial employment Of a very rare meta
is the use of tantalum for the filanlen
of i~ncandescent lamps, some Ver
promising results with this metal hav
ing been secured through recent ex
periments of DR.. w. Won Bolton, G
Berlin. For this purpose a substanc
was required with a very high mel
ing point. Tantalum melts at betWee
$3.50 and $500 degrees centigrad'
whereas platinum, which is regarde
as very refractory, fuses at 1,750 d'
grees. Tantalum, then, is more RI
fractory than platinum and hence
available for flaments. The met;
can be rolled and drawn into an e.
; ceedingly thin wire, with a speclt
gravity of 1873. 1t is about as hard
mild steel with a greater tensi
1 strength, which amounts to 95 kll(
1 per square millimeter, while good Sic
: shows a strain of 20 to 80 kilos. A
V though tantalum has been known IL
a hundred years its practical uses o
only now being discovered.
Recent studies of formaldehyde
milk, as a preservative, by d. Riva
of the University of Pennsylvani
: show that when formaldehyde has be-
added IN such infnitesimal quantltl
as the proportions Of 10000
no. 900 it disappears entirely fro
the milk in one to five days. The GO
clusion is reached that when marh
t. samples of milk show good keepiI
d qualities, and yet do not contain Il
1t m%aldehyde, the suspicion may
n raised that the samples have had IL
.e maldehyde added to them, and that
% time it has disappeared. In the han
of uniformed or INSCRIPTIONS M
Re dealers, formaldehyde is a dangero
st substance. Added to milk in und
proportions it is said to be liable
cause death when taken by infants
o.
a. Some of the results of recent invea
in cations in Peru by Mr.. William E. 5
as ford. of the department of agricultu
&c were outlined in a paper read bef(
of the last meeting of the A~nthropol'
I'd ical society of Washington. OF spec
q; interest were the statements rega
ing the fruits and vegetables of the
IN Gent Peruvians as represented vi
10, the pottery found in their graves. e
200 of which were opened. AmC
the specimens of pottery shown at
in meeting may be mentioned a hum
Sc like monster surrounded by ears
lal corn. Others represented frogs
s. rounded by peanuts, evidently cast
at rect from the natural nuts, n Ii
n; beans and sweet potatoes were
nj represented, with the familiar trop
n; fruit known as chirimoya.
le- Many of the pieces, which were
en-, tistic while grotesque. were doubt
Oh r;nonla casts from the common pot