Volume 39 (1879) (446 pages)

J July 26, 1879.] MINING AND SCIENTIFIC PRESS. 00 earth npon its crust.” He detines and often reiterates certain facts nf generalization in their atructure and contents. ‘These illuminate and economize the intensely active fever now agitating our people in their search for the precions metals, and other precions contents of our North American Andes, Two Cordilleras, imperfectly parallel, traverse South America from Cape Horn to Darien. These Cordilleras, are, comparatively, in qnito close proximity. They seem at long intervals to cross, to intermingle their peaks, and to hecome utixed together, They are, neverthcless, distinct throughont. They contain hetween them a platean depressed helnw the snow line. This is in Pern detined as the Puua. Similar to onr Northern Andes, the Eastern Cordillera, is the continuous crest that divides the drainago into the Atlantic ocean and into the Pacific occan. A special and pecnliar characteristic of this dividing Cordillera, everywbere thus identifying it from all other mountain chains, is outflanking and parallel walls of trap dykes. These trap dykes issue from a deptb more profonnd than tho material of the Cordillera held between them. They aro scrupulously parallel to nne another, and aro from 30 to 50 miles asunder. The tops of the trap walls protrude through at an elevation of 10,500 feet above the sea. It is at this altitude, and packed against the four faces of tho Nanking trap walls, that the precions ores of gold and silver (chlorides and _carbonates) are found to rest in nature as_ wall paer used in tbe parlors of ordinary dwellings. his is the altitude aud ontcrop of the miues of Copiapo in Chile, of Potosiin Bolivia, of Cerro Paseo in Peru, nf El Doctor in Equador, and at Pachincha. All of these mines approach an uniform altitude of 10,500 feet. The same law holds throughout the North American Andes from Darien to Behring’s straits. The Cordillera is longitudinal in direction; uniform in structure, in rocks and in contents throughont its whole length of 12,000 miles from Cape Horn to Behring’s straits. It is from the ahove enumerated mines of the Southern Andes that the whole world bas obtained its chief supply of silver for the past three csnturies. Tbis enormons production is now shiftod into, and bas its activity along, our counterpart Nortb American Audes aud within the territory of the American people. The.Sierra Mimbres, forming the western envelope of the park, is not dissimilar to the Cordillera iu its origin, composition or configuration, Rising from the levol of the great plateau, it is of inferior bulk and rank. It forms the hackhone from whose contrasted hanks descend tho waters of the Rio del Norte on the east and tho Rio Colorado on the west. Craters of extinct volcanoes are numerous; streams of lava, once liquid, abound; pedigrals of semi-crystalline basalt submerge and cover tbe valleys, into which they have flowed and over which they have bardened. This Sierra, then, bas a general deflection from nortb to south, corresponding with the JO9th meridian. It has all the characteristics in miniature of the Cordillera, but is chequered and interrupted by tbe escape of subterranean fires, baving areas nverflowed and hnried beneath the crupted current. Where the nascent springs of the Itio del Norte have their birth, the Sierra Mimbres culminate to stupendous peaks of pereunial snow, locally named Sierra San Juan. The middle region of the plaiu, longitudinally, displays a crater of the most perfect form. The interior pit has a diameter of 20 miles, from the center of which is seen the circumferent wall forming an exact circle, and in hight 500 feet. This wall is a barranca, composed of lava, pumice, ealcined lime, metamorphosed saudstone, vitrified rocks and obsidian. This circumferent barranca is perforated through by the entrance and departure of the Rio det Norte, the Culehra and the Costilla rivers, which traverse the northern, western and southern edges of the interior. By tbis and other forces of corrosion tbis barranca is, on tbree sides, cut into isolated bills, called cerritos, of every fantastic form and of extraordinary beauty of shape and tints. The bottom of the crater has been filled with the soils resulting from tbe decay of this variety of material, introduced hy the currents of the water and of the atmosphere. It ie beveled by these forces to a perfect level, is of the fattest fertility, and drained through the porous formation which underlies it. From this crater to its soutbern rim, a distance of 65 miles, the park expands over a prodigious pedigral, formed from it in the period of volcanic activity. The pedigral retains its level and is perforated by the Rio del Norte, whose longitudinal course is confined in a profound chasin or canyon of perpendicular walls of lava, increasing to the depth of 1,200 feet, where it debouches from tho jaws of thie gigantic flood of lava, near tbe village of La Joya, in New Mexico. Sucb are the extraordinary forms and stupendous dimensions with which nature here salutes the eye and astonishes the imagination. The expansion of the lava is all to the south, following the desoent toward the sea. Toward the north, repelled by the asceut, are waves demonstrating the defeated effort to climb the mountain base, i THE Nevada Herald says: The Live Yankee mine, near tbe Thomas, is to be another prominent institution from present appearances. At a depth of 125 feet the ledge has increased until it is about five feet thick, and miners, who gnent to know, tbink the rock will pay from $40 to $50 per ton, Useput Ingo RMATION, Porsus FoR Rats asp Mice.—Carbonate of baryta has been found to he a most efficient poison for rats and similar vermin. Indced, at a special series of trials by the Zootechnical Instituto, in connection witb the Royal Agricnltnral College. at Proskaw, this enbstanco was found to bo moro efficacions than any other. It occurs as a heavy white powder, devoid of taste or smell. In the Proskaw experiments it was mixed with four times its weight of barley meal, and pellets of the pasto were introduced into tho holes of tho rats, honse mice, and field mice, A small qnantity proves fatal. It appears to causc immediate and complete paralysis of tho hind extremities, so that it may be assumed that mico eating of it in their holes will die within them, and eo not prove destrnctivo in their turn to domesticated animals that might otherwise devour the carcasses. It was found in practice that neither fowls nor pigeons wonld touch the paste, cither in its soft state or when hardened by the sun; so that its employment is probably free from danger to the occupants of tho poultry yards. Some rabbits, on the otber hand, that got acecss to the paste ate heartily of it and paid the penalty with their lives. Next to the carbonate of baryta paste, the ordinary phosphorus paste proved most destructive, and this, it was found by experiment, is more attractive to the mice in a soft form than when hardened into pills. But it is considerahly dearer than the baryta preparation, an important factor in tbe calculations of the farmer who has to wage war against rodents on an extensive scale, Guive.—Carpenters sbould remember that fresh glue dries much more readily than that which has been once or twice melted. Dry glue steeped in cold water abaorbs different qnantitics of water according to the quality of the glue, while the proportion of tbe water so ahsorhed may be used as a test of the quality of the glue, From careful experiments with dry glue immersed for 24 hours in waterat 60° Fah., and thereby transformed into a jelly, it was found tbat tbe finest ordinary glne, or that made from white bones, absorbs ]2 times its weight of water in 24 hours; from dark bones, the glne absorhs 9 times its weight of water; while tbe ordinary gine, made from animal refuse, ahsorbs but 3 to 5 times its weight of water.—8uilding News, Formanion or Coat.—E, Fremy bolds tbat there are several kinds of isomeric cellulose, constituting the skeleton of plants. an organized eubstance. The vegetal impressions presented by coal are produced asin shales or other mineral matters. The chief suhstances contained in the cells of plants under the double influence of heat and pressure produce bodies having a great analogy to coal. The pigments, the resins, and the fats of leaves, if submitted to heat and pressure, yield compouuds which approximate to bitumens. Tbe vegetable matter which gave rise to coal has undergone, first, the peaty fermentation, the coal being then formed by a secondary transformation. Fioorescencr.—J, I. Soret has already pointed out the beantifnl violet fluorescence of solntions of cerium sulphate and chloride elicited only hy the extreme ultra-violet rays of the induction spark, the solar rays not being suiticiently refrangible for its production. He bas since found that tbe solutions of many salts of the earthy metals possess analogous properties. He enumerates lanthanum chloride, didyminm chloride and sulphate; terbium, yttrium, erbium, ytterbium chlorides; pbilippium chloride; thorium sulphate; zirconium ceulphate and chloride; aluminum and gluciniun chlorides. Stra on Pianos.—Tbe strain on 7} octave large concert grand Steinway & Son’s piano is 66,000 pounds, Parlor grands of the same make average 30,000 pounds strain each ; and upright pianos, having also three strings to each note, from 20,000 to 25,000 pounds, according to size; the equare grand pianos, 74 octave, being partly three-stringed to each note, about 20,000 pounds ; 7 octave square pianos, two strings to each note, about 16,000 pounds each. Brass Casting From OLp Mrrar.—A white scum of oxide sometimes forme very rapidly, and going into the molds with the metal makes the castings porous and rotten, especially is this the case when old metal is used. To prevent, stir the molten metal well witb a stick of green wood, and sprinkle with a little dry argol and sal ammoniac before pouring. Sonm Emery Waubers.—Many of the best wheels are cemented with vulcanized rubber, borax or zinc chloride (or oxychloride) and barium carhonate; other materials, such as feldspar and clay, alkalinc silicates, litharge and japan, shellac, and other resinous and gummy matters, albumen and lime, etc. Tartar Emeric in Dyrinc.—Dr. Reimann advises those engaged in cotton dyeing to discontinue the use of tartar emetic. It does not fix the aniline colors themselves, but merely fastens the tannin, and as antimony can he dispensed with there is no reason why health should be endangered. To INsULATS WirE.—Shellac varnish makes 2 good insulator for wire, provided the wire is wound hefore the varnish becomes thoroughly dry. Coal is notTo Preserve NatcraL Leaves.—The fresh leaves are spread and pressed into a suitable dish with alternato layers of tine, thoroughly dry sand, as hot as the hand ean bear. When the sand has cooled thoy may be removed, smoothed, and dipped for a few moments in clear French spirit varnish, and allowed to dry in the air. By many melted white wax is preferred to varnish, This latter must not be too hot. The dried leaves are dipped iu the melted wax, drawn soveral times over the edge of the veasel to remove excess, and hung up until the film of wax is thoroughly cooled and hardened. ProrectixG Vvicaxizep RuBpeR.—To protect vuleanized rubber against the action of oils and fats, Herr C. Schwanitz, Jr., of Berlin, works in the rubber by rolling through heated rollers 2 mixturo of 6 pounds of prepared chalk, 3.2 ounces nf sulphur, 1.67 ounces of lithargeand Ipound of glycerine of 1,23 specific gravity. {n order to vulcanize articles made and shaped from this material, they are placed in a bath of glycerine, and all exposed to a pressure’ of steam of two to three atmospberes. Gurra-Percna Sotvents.—Caoutchone and gutta-percba are botb quite soluble in naphtha, benzole and carhon disulphide. The latter, when mixed with ahont 6% of absolute alcohol, is one of the best solvents. Tho solution is performed in tbe cold (hest in tho open air), as it would not he safe or ecouomical to heat these volatile and inflammable liqnids. Exposed to the air-the solutions soon evaporate, leaving the gums in their original condition, InpELis_E Inx.—The Apotheker Zeitung gives the following formula; 1.75 grammes aniline black are ground up witb 60 drops hydrocbloric acid and 42 grammes alcobol, and tbe liquid is diluted with a hot solution of 2.5 grammes gum arabic in 170 grammes water. If the aniline black solution isdiluted witb a solution of 2.5 grammes shellac in 170 grammes spirit instead of gum water, the result is an ink suitable for writing on wood, brass or leather, Dyxp Cocoons.—A Spanish silk spinner has hit upon tbe ingenious idea of adding dyes to the warm water which is used for detaching the silk fibers from the cocoon, and tbus to dye the fiber as itis being formed into thread. His ohject is to obtain adyed thread which is to contain all the natural gum and luster, and which, on that account, will retain tbe color more easily and readily. Live Warer.—Agitate an onnce of pure caustic lime ina pint bottle nearly filled with water, and after the lime bas subsided decant tbe clear supernatant liquid, It must be kept in well stoppered bottles. Gorp IN Prrroteum.—According to the Bergmann, Mr. J. Turnbridge has extracted $34 worth of gold from a ton of the residues from petroleum stills, The source of the petroleum was not ascertained. Goon HeaLtl. Epidemics. The limitation of epidemic pestilential diseases, as the yellow fever, typhus and typhoid, diphtheria, etc., is at all times 2 question of intense interest to every thoughtful person. The July number of the New York Sanitarian contaius interesting and valuable matter upon tbe subject of epidemics, which we unhesitatingly appropriate: The cholera is a product of the jungles of India and Burmah, and the yellow fever is as surely of West Indian origin, That it is an exotic aa relates to the United States is the opinion of the last national commission; and that it never originates de novo, except in its primal hirth-place, whatever elsewhere may be the excess of heat moisture, filth, and vegetable and animal decomposition, is almost demonstrated, perhaps established. As to communicability, it is certainly conveyed from individual to individual, not precisely by what we understand to be direct contagion, but through varions media, especially by bed aud body clothing, by articles of furniture, by apartments, cars and steam aud sailing vessels, by baggage aud hy cargoes; and these propagators, deriving from the sick the pestilential material (intentionally not called germ), hold it with wonderful tenacity, and convey it to mankind with intense effect. Both may be held at bay hy quarantine and literally “fenced out.” In 1851 cholera prevailed in Southern Europe and in Algeria, hut not one case occurred that year inSpain hy reason of vigorous quarantine. Two years later, when the emhargo was not strictly maintained, it ravaged the Spanish peninsnla. It always followed the lines of travel and was always carried hy mankind. The infectious germ might he long in germinating, but it could always be traced to judividuals. Quarantine, to be effectual, how‘ever, must have a very wide applicability. It will not suffice to limit it to vessels from foreign ports. It must extend to all conveyances for the transportation of passengers and merchandise—must have relations with mnnicipal, State and national authority. It is estimated that the cost of the late yellow fever epidemic in loss amounted to $200,000,000. Typhoid fever is certainly communicated through a tainted water supply exposed to the taint of infected vanlts, Poisoned springs have heen traced to this infection, and in acclebrated English dairy case, where poisoned milk was elaimod to have been sold, scicntitic examination disclosed the fact that tho milk had heen contaminated through the cows having lain upon ground manured from infected vaults. Another source is in the ico supply, often taken from shallow ponds iu the neighborhood of large cities, freezing not destroying the germ as supposed. Tho air in localities hecomes coutaminated from sewage deposits; and Budd states, as early as 1559, that the germ of this disease never originates de novo, but proceeds from a special and specific poison, capahlo of great diffnsion and preserving its noxions qualities for a long period, even if buried for many months. In England the preventability nf typhoid fever is so thoroughly established that an innkeeper who has a guest ill with it, is held criminally respousible if any otber case could be traced to the one under his roof. By this means infectious snhstances are destroyed and the spread of the discase prevented. Boiling water applied to the discharges is said to destroy the infection. But when the snhstance is allowed to escape as sewage it must he disinfected by prompt means. Diphtheria is much more prevalent and much worse in localities supplied with bad water. The mieroscope can detect a few of the germs of epidemic diseases either in tho water or in the system, and the only snre method is to watch the slightest approaches of discase aud investigate the sources of our water supply, whether in city or country. Chlorino gas, from recent experiments, seems to be a disinfectant as well as a deodorizcr. This greenish-colored gas effectually seizes upon and destroys any hidden germs existing in dwellings, sbips, etc. This gas has been used successfully at Bellevue hospital and other places. We must purify and qnarantine. Mediums of commuuication have been made available to epidemics as well as to mankind in his husiness affairs. Writer’s Cramp.—Dr. George M, Beard, in a paper on ‘‘Writer’s Cramp,” puhlisbed in a recent number of the Afedival Record, concludes, from a study of 125 cases, that ‘‘this disease occurs mostly iu those who are of strong—frequently of very strong—constitutions, and is quite rare in the uervons and delicate; and when it does ocenr in those who are uervons, is easier relieved and cnred than when it occurs in the strong.” That it ‘is far less likely to occur in those who do original work, as authors, journalists, composers, than in those who do routine work, as clerks, hook-keepers, copyists, agents, etc, Like all nervous diseases in this country, it diminishes in frequency as we go Soutb.” It is no longer an incurahle disease, electricity and massage heing the best remedies, Hygieuie measures consist of ring penholders, so as to relieve the thimh and fingers; large penbolders, or fastening a piece of sponge to the penholder, so that the muscles may ho less restricted; chauging the hold of the peu between different fingers; the use of quill or other flexible pens, or pene with hroad points, which run easily, like quill pens, and taking pains to avoid too long continement in one position. PRESENCE or Minp.—Frof. Wilder gives these short rules for action in cases of accident: For dust in the eyes, avoid rubhing; dash water into them. Remove cinders, etc., with the round point of a lead pencil. Remove insects from the ear by tepid water; never put a hard instrument into thé ear. If an artery is cut, compress ahove the wound; if a vein is cut, compress below. If choked, get upon all fours and cough. For light burns, dip the parts in cold water; if the skin is destroyed, cover with varnish. Smother a fire with blankets, etc.; water will often spread burning oil and increase the danger. Before passing through smoke take a full breath, and then stoop low, but if carhon is suspected, walk erect. Suck poison wonnds, unless your month is sore ; enlarge the wound, or, hetter still, cut out the wonnd without delay, holding the wounded part as long as can be borne to a hot coal, or end of a cigar, In case of poisoning, excite vomiting by tickling the throat or by water and mustard. In case of opium poison, give strong coffee and keep moving. If in water, floaton the back, with the mouth aud nose projecting. Yor apoplexy, raise the bead and body: for fainting, lay the person flat. Tur Fiuips or run Bopy.—Prof. Jager, of Leipsic, has recently published a work in which he maintains that an increased proportion of water in the tissues and humors of the body is one of the most essential conditions of liability to disease. To.guard against disease, therefore, it is necessary to make the body yield as much water as possible throngh skin and lungs, and to avoid all that favors the accumulation of water. To this end he recommends the wearing of close-fitting woolen clothing throughout the year; all bodily movements which promote perspiration; on outbreak of disease the use of vapor or sweating paths, of drinks that excite perspiration, and of foods that do the same; constant ventilation of sitting and hed rooms, so that the moisture of the air may nothecome great. Dr Jager aaserts that the specific gravity of a living body is an accurate criterion of the strength of constitution of a man or 2 domestic animal—that is to say, for its capability of resistance to causes of diseases, such as chills, infection, ete., and its power of work, hodily aud mental,

J July 26, 1879.] MINING AND SCIENTIFIC PRESS. 00 earth npon its crust.” He detines and often reiterates certain facts nf generalization in their atructure and contents. ‘These illuminate and economize the intensely active fever now agitating our people in their search for the precions metals, and other precions contents of our North American Andes, Two Cordilleras, imperfectly parallel, traverse South America from Cape Horn to Darien. These Cordilleras, are, comparatively, in qnito close proximity. They seem at long intervals to cross, to intermingle their peaks, and to hecome utixed together, They are, neverthcless, distinct throughont. They contain hetween them a platean depressed helnw the snow line. This is in Pern detined as the Puua. Similar to onr Northern Andes, the Eastern Cordillera, is the continuous crest that divides the drainago into the Atlantic ocean and into the Pacific occan. A special and pecnliar characteristic of this dividing Cordillera, everywbere thus identifying it from all other mountain chains, is outflanking and parallel walls of trap dykes. These trap dykes issue from a deptb more profonnd than tho material of the Cordillera held between them. They aro scrupulously parallel to nne another, and aro from 30 to 50 miles asunder. The tops of the trap walls protrude through at an elevation of 10,500 feet above the sea. It is at this altitude, and packed against the four faces of tho Nanking trap walls, that the precions ores of gold and silver (chlorides and _carbonates) are found to rest in nature as_ wall paer used in tbe parlors of ordinary dwellings. his is the altitude aud ontcrop of the miues of Copiapo in Chile, of Potosiin Bolivia, of Cerro Paseo in Peru, nf El Doctor in Equador, and at Pachincha. All of these mines approach an uniform altitude of 10,500 feet. The same law holds throughout the North American Andes from Darien to Behring’s straits. The Cordillera is longitudinal in direction; uniform in structure, in rocks and in contents throughont its whole length of 12,000 miles from Cape Horn to Behring’s straits. It is from the ahove enumerated mines of the Southern Andes that the whole world bas obtained its chief supply of silver for the past three csnturies. Tbis enormons production is now shiftod into, and bas its activity along, our counterpart Nortb American Audes aud within the territory of the American people. The.Sierra Mimbres, forming the western envelope of the park, is not dissimilar to the Cordillera iu its origin, composition or configuration, Rising from the levol of the great plateau, it is of inferior bulk and rank. It forms the hackhone from whose contrasted hanks descend tho waters of the Rio del Norte on the east and tho Rio Colorado on the west. Craters of extinct volcanoes are numerous; streams of lava, once liquid, abound; pedigrals of semi-crystalline basalt submerge and cover tbe valleys, into which they have flowed and over which they have bardened. This Sierra, then, bas a general deflection from nortb to south, corresponding with the JO9th meridian. It has all the characteristics in miniature of the Cordillera, but is chequered and interrupted by tbe escape of subterranean fires, baving areas nverflowed and hnried beneath the crupted current. Where the nascent springs of the Itio del Norte have their birth, the Sierra Mimbres culminate to stupendous peaks of pereunial snow, locally named Sierra San Juan. The middle region of the plaiu, longitudinally, displays a crater of the most perfect form. The interior pit has a diameter of 20 miles, from the center of which is seen the circumferent wall forming an exact circle, and in hight 500 feet. This wall is a barranca, composed of lava, pumice, ealcined lime, metamorphosed saudstone, vitrified rocks and obsidian. This circumferent barranca is perforated through by the entrance and departure of the Rio det Norte, the Culehra and the Costilla rivers, which traverse the northern, western and southern edges of the interior. By tbis and other forces of corrosion tbis barranca is, on tbree sides, cut into isolated bills, called cerritos, of every fantastic form and of extraordinary beauty of shape and tints. The bottom of the crater has been filled with the soils resulting from tbe decay of this variety of material, introduced hy the currents of the water and of the atmosphere. It ie beveled by these forces to a perfect level, is of the fattest fertility, and drained through the porous formation which underlies it. From this crater to its soutbern rim, a distance of 65 miles, the park expands over a prodigious pedigral, formed from it in the period of volcanic activity. The pedigral retains its level and is perforated by the Rio del Norte, whose longitudinal course is confined in a profound chasin or canyon of perpendicular walls of lava, increasing to the depth of 1,200 feet, where it debouches from tho jaws of thie gigantic flood of lava, near tbe village of La Joya, in New Mexico. Sucb are the extraordinary forms and stupendous dimensions with which nature here salutes the eye and astonishes the imagination. The expansion of the lava is all to the south, following the desoent toward the sea. Toward the north, repelled by the asceut, are waves demonstrating the defeated effort to climb the mountain base, i THE Nevada Herald says: The Live Yankee mine, near tbe Thomas, is to be another prominent institution from present appearances. At a depth of 125 feet the ledge has increased until it is about five feet thick, and miners, who gnent to know, tbink the rock will pay from $40 to $50 per ton, Useput Ingo RMATION, Porsus FoR Rats asp Mice.—Carbonate of baryta has been found to he a most efficient poison for rats and similar vermin. Indced, at a special series of trials by the Zootechnical Instituto, in connection witb the Royal Agricnltnral College. at Proskaw, this enbstanco was found to bo moro efficacions than any other. It occurs as a heavy white powder, devoid of taste or smell. In the Proskaw experiments it was mixed with four times its weight of barley meal, and pellets of the pasto were introduced into tho holes of tho rats, honse mice, and field mice, A small qnantity proves fatal. It appears to causc immediate and complete paralysis of tho hind extremities, so that it may be assumed that mico eating of it in their holes will die within them, and eo not prove destrnctivo in their turn to domesticated animals that might otherwise devour the carcasses. It was found in practice that neither fowls nor pigeons wonld touch the paste, cither in its soft state or when hardened by the sun; so that its employment is probably free from danger to the occupants of tho poultry yards. Some rabbits, on the otber hand, that got acecss to the paste ate heartily of it and paid the penalty with their lives. Next to the carbonate of baryta paste, the ordinary phosphorus paste proved most destructive, and this, it was found by experiment, is more attractive to the mice in a soft form than when hardened into pills. But it is considerahly dearer than the baryta preparation, an important factor in tbe calculations of the farmer who has to wage war against rodents on an extensive scale, Guive.—Carpenters sbould remember that fresh glue dries much more readily than that which has been once or twice melted. Dry glue steeped in cold water abaorbs different qnantitics of water according to the quality of the glue, while the proportion of tbe water so ahsorhed may be used as a test of the quality of the glue, From careful experiments with dry glue immersed for 24 hours in waterat 60° Fah., and thereby transformed into a jelly, it was found tbat tbe finest ordinary glne, or that made from white bones, absorbs ]2 times its weight of water in 24 hours; from dark bones, the glne absorhs 9 times its weight of water; while tbe ordinary gine, made from animal refuse, ahsorbs but 3 to 5 times its weight of water.—8uilding News, Formanion or Coat.—E, Fremy bolds tbat there are several kinds of isomeric cellulose, constituting the skeleton of plants. an organized eubstance. The vegetal impressions presented by coal are produced asin shales or other mineral matters. The chief suhstances contained in the cells of plants under the double influence of heat and pressure produce bodies having a great analogy to coal. The pigments, the resins, and the fats of leaves, if submitted to heat and pressure, yield compouuds which approximate to bitumens. Tbe vegetable matter which gave rise to coal has undergone, first, the peaty fermentation, the coal being then formed by a secondary transformation. Fioorescencr.—J, I. Soret has already pointed out the beantifnl violet fluorescence of solntions of cerium sulphate and chloride elicited only hy the extreme ultra-violet rays of the induction spark, the solar rays not being suiticiently refrangible for its production. He bas since found that tbe solutions of many salts of the earthy metals possess analogous properties. He enumerates lanthanum chloride, didyminm chloride and sulphate; terbium, yttrium, erbium, ytterbium chlorides; pbilippium chloride; thorium sulphate; zirconium ceulphate and chloride; aluminum and gluciniun chlorides. Stra on Pianos.—Tbe strain on 7} octave large concert grand Steinway & Son’s piano is 66,000 pounds, Parlor grands of the same make average 30,000 pounds strain each ; and upright pianos, having also three strings to each note, from 20,000 to 25,000 pounds, according to size; the equare grand pianos, 74 octave, being partly three-stringed to each note, about 20,000 pounds ; 7 octave square pianos, two strings to each note, about 16,000 pounds each. Brass Casting From OLp Mrrar.—A white scum of oxide sometimes forme very rapidly, and going into the molds with the metal makes the castings porous and rotten, especially is this the case when old metal is used. To prevent, stir the molten metal well witb a stick of green wood, and sprinkle with a little dry argol and sal ammoniac before pouring. Sonm Emery Waubers.—Many of the best wheels are cemented with vulcanized rubber, borax or zinc chloride (or oxychloride) and barium carhonate; other materials, such as feldspar and clay, alkalinc silicates, litharge and japan, shellac, and other resinous and gummy matters, albumen and lime, etc. Tartar Emeric in Dyrinc.—Dr. Reimann advises those engaged in cotton dyeing to discontinue the use of tartar emetic. It does not fix the aniline colors themselves, but merely fastens the tannin, and as antimony can he dispensed with there is no reason why health should be endangered. To INsULATS WirE.—Shellac varnish makes 2 good insulator for wire, provided the wire is wound hefore the varnish becomes thoroughly dry. Coal is notTo Preserve NatcraL Leaves.—The fresh

leaves are spread and pressed into a suitable dish with alternato layers of tine, thoroughly dry sand, as hot as the hand ean bear. When the sand has cooled thoy may be removed, smoothed, and dipped for a few moments in clear French spirit varnish, and allowed to dry in the air. By many melted white wax is preferred to varnish, This latter must not be too hot. The dried leaves are dipped iu the melted wax, drawn soveral times over the edge of the veasel to remove excess, and hung up until the film of wax is thoroughly cooled and hardened. ProrectixG Vvicaxizep RuBpeR.—To protect vuleanized rubber against the action of oils and fats, Herr C. Schwanitz, Jr., of Berlin, works in the rubber by rolling through heated rollers 2 mixturo of 6 pounds of prepared chalk, 3.2 ounces nf sulphur, 1.67 ounces of lithargeand Ipound of glycerine of 1,23 specific gravity. {n order to vulcanize articles made and shaped from this material, they are placed in a bath of glycerine, and all exposed to a pressure’ of steam of two to three atmospberes. Gurra-Percna Sotvents.—Caoutchone and gutta-percba are botb quite soluble in naphtha, benzole and carhon disulphide. The latter, when mixed with ahont 6% of absolute alcohol, is one of the best solvents. Tho solution is performed in tbe cold (hest in tho open air), as it would not he safe or ecouomical to heat these volatile and inflammable liqnids. Exposed to the air-the solutions soon evaporate, leaving the gums in their original condition, InpELis_E Inx.—The Apotheker Zeitung gives the following formula; 1.75 grammes aniline black are ground up witb 60 drops hydrocbloric acid and 42 grammes alcobol, and tbe liquid is diluted with a hot solution of 2.5 grammes gum arabic in 170 grammes water. If the aniline black solution isdiluted witb a solution of 2.5 grammes shellac in 170 grammes spirit instead of gum water, the result is an ink suitable for writing on wood, brass or leather, Dyxp Cocoons.—A Spanish silk spinner has hit upon tbe ingenious idea of adding dyes to the warm water which is used for detaching the silk fibers from the cocoon, and tbus to dye the fiber as itis being formed into thread. His ohject is to obtain adyed thread which is to contain all the natural gum and luster, and which, on that account, will retain tbe color more easily and readily. Live Warer.—Agitate an onnce of pure caustic lime ina pint bottle nearly filled with water, and after the lime bas subsided decant tbe clear supernatant liquid, It must be kept in well stoppered bottles. Gorp IN Prrroteum.—According to the Bergmann, Mr. J. Turnbridge has extracted $34 worth of gold from a ton of the residues from petroleum stills, The source of the petroleum was not ascertained. Goon HeaLtl. Epidemics. The limitation of epidemic pestilential diseases, as the yellow fever, typhus and typhoid, diphtheria, etc., is at all times 2 question of intense interest to every thoughtful person. The July number of the New York Sanitarian contaius interesting and valuable matter upon tbe subject of epidemics, which we unhesitatingly appropriate: The cholera is a product of the jungles of India and Burmah, and the yellow fever is as surely of West Indian origin, That it is an exotic aa relates to the United States is the opinion of the last national commission; and that it never originates de novo, except in its primal hirth-place, whatever elsewhere may be the excess of heat moisture, filth, and vegetable and animal decomposition, is almost demonstrated, perhaps established. As to communicability, it is certainly conveyed from individual to individual, not precisely by what we understand to be direct contagion, but through varions media, especially by bed aud body clothing, by articles of furniture, by apartments, cars and steam aud sailing vessels, by baggage aud hy cargoes; and these propagators, deriving from the sick the pestilential material (intentionally not called germ), hold it with wonderful tenacity, and convey it to mankind with intense effect. Both may be held at bay hy quarantine and literally “fenced out.” In 1851 cholera prevailed in Southern Europe and in Algeria, hut not one case occurred that year inSpain hy reason of vigorous quarantine. Two years later, when the emhargo was not strictly maintained, it ravaged the Spanish peninsnla. It always followed the lines of travel and was always carried hy mankind. The infectious germ might he long in germinating, but it could always be traced to judividuals. Quarantine, to be effectual, how‘ever, must have a very wide applicability. It will not suffice to limit it to vessels from foreign ports. It must extend to all conveyances for the transportation of passengers and merchandise—must have relations with mnnicipal, State and national authority. It is estimated that the cost of the late yellow fever epidemic in loss amounted to $200,000,000. Typhoid fever is certainly communicated through a tainted water supply exposed to the taint of infected vanlts, Poisoned springs have heen traced to this infection, and in acclebrated English dairy case, where poisoned milk was elaimod to have been sold, scicntitic examination disclosed the fact that tho milk had heen contaminated through the cows having lain upon ground manured from infected vaults. Another source is in the ico supply, often taken from shallow ponds iu the neighborhood of large cities, freezing not destroying the germ as supposed. Tho air in localities hecomes coutaminated from sewage deposits; and Budd states, as early as 1559, that the germ of this disease never originates de novo, but proceeds from a special and specific poison, capahlo of great diffnsion and preserving its noxions qualities for a long period, even if buried for many months. In England the preventability nf typhoid fever is so thoroughly established that an innkeeper who has a guest ill with it, is held criminally respousible if any otber case could be traced to the one under his roof. By this means infectious snhstances are destroyed and the spread of the discase prevented. Boiling water applied to the discharges is said to destroy the infection. But when the snhstance is allowed to escape as sewage it must he disinfected by prompt means. Diphtheria is much more prevalent and much worse in localities supplied with bad water. The mieroscope can detect a few of the germs of epidemic diseases either in tho water or in the system, and the only snre method is to watch the slightest approaches of discase aud investigate the sources of our water supply, whether in city or country. Chlorino gas, from recent experiments, seems to be a disinfectant as well as a deodorizcr. This greenish-colored gas effectually seizes upon and destroys any hidden germs existing in dwellings, sbips, etc. This gas has been used successfully at Bellevue hospital and other places. We must purify and qnarantine. Mediums of commuuication have been made available to epidemics as well as to mankind in his husiness affairs. Writer’s Cramp.—Dr. George M, Beard, in a paper on ‘‘Writer’s Cramp,” puhlisbed in a recent number of the Afedival Record, concludes, from a study of 125 cases, that ‘‘this disease occurs mostly iu those who are of strong—frequently of very strong—constitutions, and is quite rare in the uervons and delicate; and when it does ocenr in those who are uervons, is easier relieved and cnred than when it occurs in the strong.” That it ‘is far less likely to occur in those who do original work, as authors, journalists, composers, than in those who do routine work, as clerks, hook-keepers, copyists, agents, etc, Like all nervous diseases in this country, it diminishes in frequency as we go Soutb.” It is no longer an incurahle disease, electricity and massage heing the best remedies, Hygieuie measures consist of ring penholders, so as to relieve the thimh and fingers; large penbolders, or fastening a piece of sponge to the penholder, so that the muscles may ho less restricted; chauging the hold of the peu between different fingers; the use of quill or other flexible pens, or pene with hroad points, which run easily, like quill pens, and taking pains to avoid too long continement in one position. PRESENCE or Minp.—Frof. Wilder gives these short rules for action in cases of accident: For dust in the eyes, avoid rubhing; dash water into them. Remove cinders, etc., with the round point of a lead pencil. Remove insects from the ear by tepid water; never put a hard instrument into thé ear. If an artery is cut, compress ahove the wound; if a vein is cut, compress below. If choked, get upon all fours and cough. For light burns, dip the parts in cold water; if the skin is destroyed, cover with varnish. Smother a fire with blankets, etc.; water will often spread burning oil and increase the danger. Before passing through smoke take a full breath, and then stoop low, but if carhon is suspected, walk erect. Suck poison wonnds, unless your month is sore ; enlarge the wound, or, hetter still, cut out the wonnd without delay, holding the wounded part as long as can be borne to a hot coal, or end of a cigar, In case of poisoning, excite vomiting by tickling the throat or by water and mustard. In case of opium poison, give strong coffee and keep moving. If in water, floaton the back, with the mouth aud nose projecting. Yor apoplexy, raise the bead and body: for fainting, lay the person flat. Tur Fiuips or run Bopy.—Prof. Jager, of Leipsic, has recently published a work in which he maintains that an increased proportion of water in the tissues and humors of the body is one of the most essential conditions of liability to disease. To.guard against disease, therefore, it is necessary to make the body yield as much water as possible throngh skin and lungs, and to avoid all that favors the accumulation of water. To this end he recommends the wearing of close-fitting woolen clothing throughout the year; all bodily movements which promote perspiration; on outbreak of disease the use of vapor or sweating paths, of drinks that excite perspiration, and of foods that do the same; constant ventilation of sitting and hed rooms, so that the moisture of the air may nothecome great. Dr Jager aaserts that the specific gravity of a living body is an accurate criterion of the strength of constitution of a man or 2 domestic animal—that is to say, for its capability of resistance to causes of diseases, such as chills, infection, ete., and its power of work, hodily aud mental,