370 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



such drying up, and of keeping the lemons fresh for an indef- 

 inite period of time. In one experiment, after an interval of 

 two months, the lemons had only lost one and a half per cent, 

 of their weight, and in three months little over three per cent., 

 and in some cases even less than this. Oranges, similarly- 

 treated, lost only about five per cent, in two months, and on 

 the removal of the metal covering both kinds of fruit were 

 found to be as fresh and fragrant as when the experiment 

 commenced. 18 A, Nov. 18,1870,194. 



PREPARATION OF DESICCATED VEGETABLES. 



A convenient method of preparing desiccated vegetables, 

 as practiced largely in some countries, consists in drying 

 them for a short time and then exposing them to a slow heat 

 in ovens. When soaked for cooking, peas, roots, potatoes, 

 beets, corn, and other substances, swell out and show very lit- 

 tle change in their esculent properties. A modification of the 

 process consists in placing the substances, after being sun- 

 dried, in paper bags, which are pasted up at the mouth, and 

 then covered with sand and heated until perfectly crisp, but 

 not burned nor materially changed in color. 18 A, June 16, 

 307. 



PUTTING UP PRESERVED FRUITS. 



A convenient method of closing up prepared fruits consists 

 in placing them in stone pots somewhat narrowed at the up- 

 per end, pieces of paper being laid over the fruit in such a 

 manner that when the top is applied there will be no opening 

 into the interior. Some gypsum is then to be mixed with 

 water, and poured in a liquid form over the cover to a depth 

 of half an inch. In a few moments the gypsum hardens, and 

 the jar becomes air-tight, and the contents, it is said, will re- 

 main unchanged for years, the exclusion of the air being much 

 more perfect than by the ordinary methods of closing with 

 India-rubber or with tin. 9 (7, January, 1871, 5. 



APPLICATION OF THE GERM THEORY TO MAKING PRESERVES. 



Miss Lydia Becker, although best known as a writer on 

 political economy and social science, gave a valuable hint 

 during a recent discussion of the British Association upon 

 the " Germ Theory," in which she showed its bearing upon 





