256 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



An officer connected with the Geological 

 Survey of Ireland, Mr. Hull, states the net 

 available tonnage of coal in that country as 

 182,280,000 tons. Of this amount, Antrim 

 has 16,000 tons ; Tyrone, 32,900,000; 

 Queens, Kilkenny, and Carlow, 77,580,000 ; 

 Tipperary, 25,000,000 ; Clare, Limerick, and 

 Cork, 20,000,000. Connaught has 10,800- 

 000. 



According to J. Ballynski, if the motion 

 of a leaden bullet were all converted into 

 heat, it would amount to three times as much 

 as would be sufficient to melt the quantity 

 of lead found to be melted by actual experi- 

 ment. This he explains as having been ex- 

 pended in denting the iron plates of the 

 target. By using a hard stone target, he 

 was able to completely melt the bullets 

 fired against it. 



An improvement ha* been made in the 

 process for extracting sugar from the beet by 

 maceration, by adding lime to the liquor and 

 precipitating the lime by a current of car- 

 bonic-acid gas. This has the effect of rap- 

 idly purifying the liquor and of displacing 

 the remaining air, which would otherwise 

 promote fermentation. 



Mr. Wideman states that, by the contact 

 of ozone for twenty minutes with whiskey, 

 the fusel-oil was removed, and the whiskey 

 mellowed as much as if it had been kept for 

 ten years. Further, by adding to whiskey 

 of proof strength seven times its weight, of" 

 water, the introduction of ozone speedily 

 transformed the mixture into marketable 

 vinegar. In Russia good brandy is said to 

 be made from mosses and lichens. 



Paper from Wood. A letter from Berlin, 

 in the Elberfeld Gazette, represents Prince 

 Bismarck in a new light that of a paper- 

 maker. The paper-manufactory established 

 by the Imperial Chancellor on his estate at 

 Varzin has proved so successful, says the wri- 

 ter, that it is impossible to meet the large or- 

 ders which come from England. This paper 

 is made of chips of fir that, at least, is the 

 chief element. 



An instance of supposed mimicry in in- 

 sects is given in Science Gossip. The car- 

 pet-moth hides in some obscure place during 

 the day, holding the upper wings outspread. 

 When it thus rests on a greenish or obscure 

 ground, it might easily pass for a smaller 

 whitish moth. Is it by mere accident that 

 the upper rather than the lower wings of 

 the insect are spread out, or have we here a 

 provision made to guard against the assaults 

 of its enemies ? 



The French are making preparations 

 for meteorological observations at elevated 

 points. An observatory is now in course of 

 construction at the summit of Puy-de-Dome, 



which will be connected by a telegraphic 

 wire with another in a pavilion of the faculty 

 at Clermont. The difference in height be- 

 tween the two is about 3,800 feet, and, by 

 means of the telegraphic wire, the difference 

 of meteorological conditions between the 

 plain and the upper regions of the atmos- 

 phere can be shown at any moment. 



The opium-poppy in Bengal is suffering 

 serious damage from a fungoid growth 

 which develops itself on the leaves. Sul- 

 phur is suggested as a remedy, it having 

 proved useful in a similar disease which at- 

 tacks the vine. 



Timber-Planting in Hall County, Ne- 

 braska, has become quite popular. It is 

 predicted that within twenty years the 

 " Great American Desert " will be far 

 better timbered than the Eastern States. 



Hops in England. Says the Mark Lane 

 Express, 65,600 acres are devoted to the cul- 

 ture of hops in England, and the area is grad- 

 ually increasing. Kent, the largest hop- 

 growing county, had 32,000 acres in this 

 crop last season, the early grounds averag- 

 ing 1,400 to 1,600 pounds per acre ; Sussex, 

 next in importance, 14,500 acres, averaging 

 1,800 to 2,200 pounds per acre. Surrey is 

 noted for a choice quality of hops of bright 

 color and superior aroma. 



A correspondent calls attention to a 

 discrepancy of statement occurring in the 

 article entitled " Coal as a Reservoir of 

 Power," published in No. 6 of The Popular 

 Science Monthly. It is there affirmed that 

 a pound of coal in burning yields an energy 

 equal to the power of lifting 10,808,000 

 pounds one foot ; and this is followed by 

 the statement that a cubic yard of coal, 

 2,240 pounds, possesses a reserve of energy 

 equal to lifting 1,729,200 pounds one foot 

 high : 2,240 pounds (an English ton) would 

 of course yield 2,240 times as much energy 

 as one pound, and consequently would raise 

 10,808,000 tons one foot high. 



The extraction of sulphur and the man- 

 ufacture of sulphuric acid from iron pyrites 

 were first successfully accomplished on the 

 large scale, under the stress of a tyrannical 

 proceeding on the part of the King of the 

 Two Sicilies. At the time, the island of 

 Sicily was the principal source of the sulphur 

 consumed in Europe, and the trade in the 

 article brought an immense revenue to the 

 government. A corrupt administration and 

 a bankrupt treasury led the king to grant 

 a monopoly of the business to a single firm 

 in France, he expecting thereby to secure a 

 large increase of funds. His action had ex- 

 actly the opposite effect. The price of sul- 

 phur was doubled, its extraction from py- 

 rites followed, and the sulphur mines of 

 Sicily have since been of comparatively little 

 consequence. 



