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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



is not at all affected by the presence of the 

 antiseptic. Probably, if 6 per cent, or 

 even 8 per cent, of borax were used with 

 the liquid at about 40 C. at the moment 

 of injection, the cadaver itself having been 

 previously kept for some hours in some 

 warm medium, the borate of ammonia might 

 be omitted. Then an adult cadaver might 

 be prepared at the trifling expense of two 

 francs. For purposes of embalming, the 

 writer recommends a concentrated solution 

 of both salts, injected two or three times 

 into the blood-vessels at intervals of a few 

 days. Pulverized borax would also be of 

 service in preserving the skins of stuffed 

 animals and birds ; and the solution might 

 be used instead of alcohol in cases where 

 the latter is now employed to preserve 

 specimens. 



Disintegration of Tin. Two cases of 

 the disintegration of tin are given in the 

 American Artisan, the phenomenon being 

 in the one case traceable to the action of 

 intense cold and long-continued vibration, 

 while in the other the cause of the disinte- 

 gration is unknown. A certain quantity of 

 tin in ingots was shipped from Rotterdam 

 to Moscow by rail during extremely cold 

 weather. On reaching its destination it 

 was found to have been reduced to a pow- 

 der, with coarse crystalline grains. When 

 fused, instead of forming a solid mass, it 

 gave only oxide of tin, a gray powder. The 

 second case was that of two pigs of "Banca 

 tin," purchased by the United States Ord- 

 nance Bureau. They had lain in store for 

 several years ; and, when at length they were 

 taken from their resting-place, one was 

 found almost entirely reduced to a gray 

 powder, while the process of disintegration 

 in the other was as yet confined to the 

 edge9. Dr. I. Walz, who communicates to 

 the Artisan this piece of information, tried 

 in vain to learn the previous history of these 

 two pigs of tin. It is his belief that the 

 instances here recorded are the only ones 

 known of tin assuming a granular condition. 



A Sqnirrel-Pcst. In some parts of Ar- 

 kansas the squirrels were so numerous the 

 past season that they destroyed entire fields 

 of corn. As many as 125 have been killed 

 by one person in a day. 



Welding Copper. According to the Jour- 

 nal of the Franklin Institute, Mr. Rust has 

 succeeded in perfecting a method by which 

 he accomplishes a perfect welding of cop- 

 per. He mixes together 358 parts of phos- 

 phate of soda and 124 parts of boracic acid. 

 This powder is applied when the metal is at 

 a low red heat ; it is then brought to a 

 cherry-red, and at once hammered with a 

 wooden hammer. 



Effect of Atmospheric Pressnre. Mr. 



Paul Best, in a very interesting memoir, 

 shows that the destruction of life by di- 

 minished barometric pressure is chiefly to 

 be attributed to deficiency of oxygen. An 

 animal that will die with the pressure re- 

 duced to 18 centimetres (7 inches) of mer- 

 cury, will endure a reduction to 6 centime- 

 tres (2.4 inches) if an additional supply of 

 oxygen be furnished. And the converse is 

 also true, that the danger^) f too great press- 

 ure is from the increased amount of oxy- 

 gen in a given volume of air inhaled. 



Relations of Local Diseases to the fliatare 

 of the Soil. Dr. M( ffat read befor } the 

 British Association a paper on the above 

 subject, in which he shows that the nature 

 of the soil exercises considerable influence 

 on the character of endemic disease. His 

 district lies on the carboniferous and red, 

 or Cheshire, sandstone formation. Anaemia 

 is the prevailing condition of the inhabi- 

 tants of the carboniferous land, who are 

 both miners and farmers, while it is almost 

 unknown on the red sandstone. Consump- 

 tion is also more prevalent in the first- 

 named district. Since anaemia is a want of 

 iron in the blood, Dr. Moffat examined the 

 constitution of wheat grown on the Cheshire 

 sandstone, and found it produced much 

 more ash, and hence a larger proportion of 

 mineral constituents, including oxide of 

 iron, than that grown on the carboniferous 

 soil. He estimates that a pound of wheat 

 from the first furnishes five grains more of 

 oxide of iron to the consumer than a pound 

 of wheat from the second soil, which ac- 

 counts for the comparative poverty of the 

 blood of the miners in iron and phosphoric 

 acid. An examination cf the blood of the 

 animals kept in the two districts confirme 

 the above observations. 



