376 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the ton of 2,000 pounds. And in order to 

 maintain the beautiful symmetry of our sys- 

 tem, they, of course, rarely, if ever, state 

 what kiud of a ton is used in either case. 

 Coal is mined and miners are paid by tons 

 of various weights, from 3,000 pounds to 

 2,000 pounds. It is sold by tons of 2,240 

 and 2,000 pounds, and by tons running all 

 the way down to 1,500 pounds. The use 

 of the ton less than 2,000 pounds is called 

 cheating, but the large purchasers, those 

 who buy from a car-load (six tons) up, may 

 get 2,240 pounds to the ton ; but, if they 

 buy from the same company's retail yard, 

 they find the ton weighs no more than 2,000 

 pounds, if it does that. Coal is sold by 

 bushels of 76 pounds and 80 pounds, by 

 barrels, loads, hogsheads, and other ' stand- 

 ards,' the weights of which depend origi- 

 nally on the fancy of the individual, and 

 subsequently on ' immemorial custom,' " 



A Kansas Gas-Well. About three years 

 ago a company prospecting for coal discov- 

 ered at Wyandotte, Kansas, a fountain of 

 combustible gas. This gas, as we learn 

 from the Western Review of Science and In- 

 dustry, is now used by the company for 

 steam-making, and by the owner of the farm 

 where it is located for cooking and illumi- 

 nating purposes. The gas, whether flowing 

 or burning, is almost odorless, and its en- 

 tire freedom from sulphur adapts it very 

 well for use in the reduction of gold and 

 silver ores. Notwithstanding a coal-vein 

 of considerable thickness was discovered, 

 the company has concluded to abandon coal- 

 mining for the present, and utilize this new 

 gas-fuel. Nor is the latter adapted for heat- 

 ing purposes alone ; it is also very valuable 

 for light, inasmuch as it burns with a clear, 

 bright flame, even without purification, and 

 is free from the disagreeable odor accom- 

 panying coal-gas. The city of Wyandotte 

 will soon be lighted by this gas, which, as 

 it comes from the well, is of twelve-candle 

 power. At small cost it can be purified so 

 as to make it sixteen-candle power. The 

 brine ejected from the well by the escaping 

 gas is not strong enough for the manufact- 

 ure of salt ; it is recommended as a medi- 

 cinal agent for the treatment of sundry dis- 

 eases. The company contemplate erecting 

 an extensive establishment for mineral 

 baths. 



A Plague of Rats. Shortly after the 

 settlement of the Bermudas by the British, 

 the colony was infested with rats, which, in 

 the space of two years, had increased so 

 alarmingly that none of the islands were 

 free from them, and even fish were taken 

 with rats in their bellies. A writer in the 

 Academy recalls some of the horrors of 

 this plague of rats. The rats, we are told, 

 had nests in almost every tree, and bur- 

 rowed in most places in the ground like 

 rabbits. They devoured everything that 

 came in their way fruits, plants, and even 

 trees. Where corn was sown they would 

 come by troops in the night and scratch it 

 out of the ground ; " nay," writes a con- 

 temporary chronicler, " they so devoured 

 the fruits of the earth that the people were 

 destitute of bread for a year or two." Every 

 expedient was tried to destroy them. Dogs 

 were trained to hunt them, who would kill 

 a score or more in an hour. Cats, both 

 wild and tame, were employed in large 

 numbers for the same purpose ; poisons 

 and traps every man having to set twelve 

 traps were brought into requisition ; and 

 even woods were set on fire, to help to ex- 

 terminate them. Every letter written at 

 this period by the plague-stricken colo- 

 nists contains some account of the dread- 

 ful scourge. " Our great enemies the rats 

 threaten the subversion of the plantation," 

 writes one colonist in July, 1616. "Eats 

 are a great judgment ,of God upon us," 

 wrote another a year later. " At last it 

 pleased God, but by what means is not well 

 known, to take them away, insomuch that 

 the wild cats and many dogs that lived on 

 them were famished." There was universal 

 joy at the sudden removal of such destruc- 

 tive vermin ; and the all but despairing 

 planters were enabled once more to resume 

 their neglected occupations with spirit and 

 energy. 



Composition of Pumpkins. Analyses of 

 pumpkins, made by Prof. F. H. Storer, of 

 the Bussy Institution, show that the rind of 

 that vegetable is nearly three and a half 

 times as rich in albuminoids as the flesh. 

 The weight of albuminoids in the flesh is 

 only about one-fifth as much as that of the 

 carbohydrates, a proportion that has some- 

 times been found in turnips. Again, the 

 inside or offal portion (including the seeds) 



