J. HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY. 373 



are first cut longitudinally into seven plates, and then into 

 various broad and narrow strips, and ultimately into many 

 cubical blocks of any desired dimensions, so that a given 

 number forty, fifty, or sixty, or more shall weigh exactly 

 a pound. The same machine sorts out the perfect cubes from 

 those that are imperfect, and sifts the sugar filings into a re- 

 ceiver, and grinds up all the imperfect blocks into grained 

 sugar of any desired degree of fineness, the whole being ac- 

 complished in the course of a few minutes. 13 C\ August 11, 

 1219. 



USE OF THE SKIN OF THE OPOSSUM FOR GLOVES. 



The Australian papers are congratulating the people of 

 that country upon the demand that has lately sprung up in 

 England for opossum skins, to be manufactured into gloves, 

 as they appear to furnish excellent material for this purpose. 

 As the opossum is considered a great nuisance in Australia, 

 by its destruction of trees and injury to orchards, gardens', 

 etc., it is anticipated that the very great call for them will do 

 much toward keeping these animals in subjection. It is 

 hardly necessary to say that the species in question is very 

 different from the well-known opossum of the United States. 

 17^,1871,89. 



LEATHER BOARDS. 



Within a few years past, refuse leather, in the form of cut- 

 tings, scrapings, etc., from shoe and harness factories, has been 

 utilized by being converted into leather boards, which are ex- 

 tensively employed at the present time in the United States 

 and Europe for the manufacture of inner soles of shoes, and 

 for other purposes where the material is not likely to be ex- 

 posed to the wet. The process of preparing these boards 

 consists in first cleaning the scraps, so as to free them from 

 all foreign substances, and then softening them for a time in 

 water, to which is added some adhesive substance, such as 

 glue or gelatine. After being sufficiently softened, the scraps 

 are laid upon tin plates of the proper size, having a rim all 

 around, and arranged longitudinally and transversely, so as 

 to make the strata nearly even, until the required thickness' 

 is obtained. A number of these plates are then placed one 

 upon another, and subjected to a hydraulic pressure until the 



