FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



43 l 



of the great eastern Asiatic rivers run ; a 

 region in Turkestan ; the Malay Peninsula ; 



and the great islands of the Malay Archi- 

 pelago and the Philippines. 



MINOR PARAGRAPHS. 



The last bulletin of the Hatch Experi- 

 ment Station gives some interesting infor- 

 mation regarding the nitrogen germ fertilizer. 

 Hellriegel and his colaborers have estab- 

 lished by careful observation the fact that 

 leguminous plants, like clovers, beans, 

 vetches, lupines, etc , with the assistance of 

 certain root bacteria found in the soil, can 

 utilize the nitrogen of the air for the forma- 

 tion of nitrogen plant food fit for the sup- 

 port of their growth. These micro-organ- 

 isms fasten themselves upon the roots of 

 the clover, penetrate the epidermis, and 

 form in the course of their growth swellings, 

 nodules, or tubercles of varying size or 

 shape. Their presence and growth in the 

 tissue of the roots of this class of plants are 

 considered an essential condition for the 

 conversion of the elementary nitrogen of 

 the air into suitable nitrogen plant food. 

 One of the latest developments in this direc- 

 tion is the appearance in the general market 

 of patented germ fertilizers for leguminous 

 crops. 



The crude materials for the manufac- 

 ture of carborundum at Niagara Falls are 

 sand, coke, sawdust, and salt. These are 

 ready for use except the coke, which has to 

 be ground to a fine powder. The furnaces 

 are built of brick and have the form of an 

 oblong box about sixteen feet in length and 

 five feet in width and depth. In the center 

 of either end are the terminal*, consisting of 

 sixty carbon rods thirty inches long and 

 three inches in diameter. The mixture is 

 thrown into the furnace, con lection made 

 with the dynamo, and after twenty-four 

 hours the process is complete. The car- 

 borundum occurs in the center of the mix- 

 ture as bright radiating crystals. In order 

 to prepare the carborundum for the market 

 it is first placed under heavy iron rolls for 

 the purpose of crushing apart and separating 

 the individual crystals, which are then washed 

 in a solution of acid and water to remove 

 solubles, and finally dried and sifted to sepa- 

 rate the different-sized crystals. During 

 the year 1896 the carborundum company 



produced in round numbers 1,191,000 pounds 

 of crystalline carborundum. Carborundum 

 is used chiefly as an abrasive, for which it is 

 especially well suited, owing to its excessive 

 hardness, which closely approaches that of 

 the diamond. 



An interview with the physician in ordi- 

 nary to the living Buddha of Ourga educed 

 the following statements regarding Mon- 

 golian medicine : Mongols do not dissect, 

 hence their anatomical knowledge is very 

 limited. They fix the number of diseases at 

 four hundred and forty. Works on medi- 

 cine are very numerous, the chief one being 

 a kind of encyclopaedia entitled Khlantap. 

 Their methods of physical examination are 

 like Sam Weller's knowledge of London, 

 " extensive and peculiar." Thus more than 

 seventy varieties of pulse are described. 

 Urine analysis is insisted on, and sometimes 

 extends as far as tasting. Their pharmaco- 

 poeia is mainly composed of vegetable sub- 

 stances. Aromatic plants, such as cinnamon 

 and benzoin, play a large part in their thera- 

 peutics. The true medical man is not al- 

 lowed to practice surgery, but in cases of 

 crushed limbs where amputation is neces- 

 sary, the physician may direct a butcher 

 how to use the knife. 



The pre-Columbian inhabitants of Mex- 

 ico and Central America made very durable 

 paper from the leaves of the maguey or cen- 

 tury plant. In one of the records preserved 

 upon this paper we are informed that twen- 

 ty-four thousand reams of it were to be 

 brought yearly as tribute to the storehouses 

 of the ruler of Mexico — Tenochtitlan. Two 

 cities are named as the principal places of 

 manufacture, Yzamatillea and Amacoztilla. 

 The people used the paper not only for 

 books, but, like the Japanese and Chinese, 

 for flags, banners, ribbons, clothing, etc. 

 It was prepared by soaking and macerating 

 the leaves of the maguey, and then beating 

 them into thin sheets, which were either 

 varnished or coated with animal membranes. 

 The codices, or Aztec and Mayan records, 

 were printed on long, narrow strips and then 



