Amador ledger. (Jackson, Amador County, Calif.) 1875-19??, 1909-03-26

The problem of planting aluminium
with some metal resisting corrosion
is claimed to have been solved at last.
The planting bath used in the new
pr ocess is solution of the metal to
be employed in alcohol, and excellent
results have been obtained with gold,
copper and nickel, although silver
and lead proved unsuitable. The re-
suits with zinc and platinum have
been indifferent. A current of 21S to
3 volts is nsed, and the aluminium to
be plated is first connected to the
anode to remove the oxide, the con-
nections being then reversed. Oxide
does not form again, clean surface
being obtained that satisfactorily
takes the plating metal deposit.
That the elaborate care usually
taken in planting fruit trees is a
waste of labor is indicated by the
last report of the Woburn Expert
medtal Fruit Farm in England. 1t
IS commonly thought necessary to
prepare a large, shalIow hole, spread
lug out the roots in all directions
and arranging them near the surface
with a slight upward turn at the
ends, and then sitting in the soil
with many precautions. This method
Of planting was tried, with that of
rrowding the roots into small holes
and ramming down the earth. The
experiments we're made not only at
Woburn, but at Harpenden, Bedford
and othe" places. and SO per cent of
the sets showed in favor of ramming,
q per cent showed no difference, and
only IA per cent we're against ram
ming.
The new method Of identity ing
criminals of Prof. Tamassia consists
in preserving photographs of the
veins on the back of both hands.
These show a striking diversity in
the two hands; but more important
are the differences in the hands of
different persons, and these give I'M
alterable evidence of the identity of
a criminal arrested at different time
The hands being so much larger, it is
far easier to trace slight pecullari-
ties of the lines than in the minute
prints of finger tips.
Science has effected no more re-
markable saving of waste than In the
revolution begun in the ancient in
dustry of pearl fishing, Only very
small part of the oysters have pearls,
but in Ceylon. the chief center of the
industry, it has been the custom to
place all oysters taken in pile to
decay, when the pearls are washed
out. In this way there is enormous
destruction of oysters at the time
worthless, many Of which would pro-
duce pearls ii kept alive longer,
while there is the further great loss
OF seed pearls that are not permitted
to grow to useful size. Photographs
exhibited by DIR. Raphael Dubois in
1901 and 1906 showed pearls in their
natural position in fresh-water
mussels and marine oysters, and, see
ing these, John Solomon, an Ameri-
can electrical engineer, decided to
study pearl culture and the practical
use of X-rays as suggested Going to
Ceylon after a time, he built house
on the deserted island of lpantion, in
an immense bay. Here the fishers
bring their oysters, which are placed
in troughs containing 100 each, and
10 the X.ray room photographs of as
many as go troughs are made in a
minute. The good pearls shown in
the pictures are removed at once.
The oysters having no pearls are put
back unharmed into the sea, and the
shells containing seed pearls are
placed in a marked area of the bay
called the nursery, where the pearls
will be given time for growth.
The "photo-electric cell" is form
of dry battery that represents a re-
cent interesting development, as it
becomes active only when exposed to
light. 1t consists of a glass tube,
with the air exhausted to high
vacuum, in which one electrode is a
strip of platinum and the other is an
amnlgam of potassium aud sodium.
Exposing the amalgam to n strong
light causes a current to flow from
the platinum strip to the amalgam
through the vacuum tube.
Looking out of the windows is the