NOTES. 



383 



more economical of fuel. The experiments 

 appear to have been successful. The en- 

 gine one day was worked as an ordinary 

 condensing engine, when it was found that 

 the consumption was 1,116 pounds of coal 

 in six hours, producing an indicated horse- 

 power of 84.747. The next day the en- 

 gine was driven with Marchant's steam- 

 pumps connected with the low-pressure cyl- 

 inder ; the consumption of coal was now 

 1,158 pounds, while the indicated horse- 

 power was 104.123. The ascertained work 

 on the steam-pumps was six indicated horse- 

 power. 



Gathering Rock-Crystals. Searching for 

 rock-crystals is one of the recognized in- 

 dustries of the Swiss Alps, and the men __ 

 who follow this vocation are known as 

 Strahlers. The following notes upon the 

 search for these crystals we take from the 

 Moniteur Industriel Beige : The outfit of a 

 Strahler consists of a bar of iron four feet 

 long and bent at one end, a shovel, a pick- 

 axe, a hammer, a stout cord, and a leathern 

 sack. Thus equipped, he goes out to his 

 work in the morning. He nearly always 

 goes alone, so as to have all he may find for 

 himself. For hours and hours he creeps 

 along the sides of the rock, on projections 

 of a few inches, over yawning chasms. 

 When he descries a vein of quartz, he 

 strives to reach it, but oftentimes this is 

 a matter of extreme peril, and involving 

 much labor ; he must be very careful where 

 he steps, and not seldom he must hew out 

 a resting-place for his foot in the rock. 

 Having reached the vein, he follows it and 

 strikes it with his hammer. His practised 

 ear tells him whether he has to deal with 

 a " cavern," a " druse," a " pocket," or a 

 " kiln," as the various kinds of cavities are 

 called in which are found the crystals 

 whether attached to the walls or loose and 

 mixed with sand. The most famous dis. 

 covery ever made of monster crystals is of 

 very recent date. Some hundred feet above 

 the snow-line an apothecary of Bern saw a 

 vein of quartz 60 feet long and from 4 to 

 1.2 feet wide. On working the vein, four 

 hundred-weight of crystals were taken out ; 

 the larger masses were purchased for mu- 

 seums, while the smaller pieces were sold 

 to opticians. 



NOTES. 



The chemical laboratory for female Btu- 

 dents, in the new building adjoining the 

 Massachusetts Technological Institute, has 

 been thoroughly fitted up, and was occupied 

 for the first time early in November. 



Five specimens of ground coffee, chemi- 

 cally examined by C. H. Eddy, of Michigan 

 University, were found to be adulterated to 

 the extent of from 22 to 39 per cent, with 

 chiccory. One package, labeled " Pure Mo- 

 cha and Java," contained 23 per cent. ; 

 "Pure Rio," 25 per cent. ; " Pure Java," 22 

 per cent.; "Royal Java," 31 per cent.; 

 " Warranted pure government Java," 39 

 percent. Besides chiccory, these prepared 

 coffees consisted chiefly of peas, oats, starch, 

 carrots, etc. In three of the five specimens 

 no caffeine could be discovered. 



White-lead, as a pigment, is chiefly 

 valued for its " body," and for the ease with 

 which it is laid on ; but it produces lead- 

 poisoning, and also tends to lose its white- 

 ness. Zinc-white is not open to these ob- 

 jections. Properly prepared, it has as good 

 covering properties as white-lead, and the 

 addition of magnesia in the manufacture 

 makes it as easy to work ; besides, it has no 

 injurious effects on the health of those who 

 manufacture or use it. 



An extensive deposit of plumbago has 

 been discovered in Longswamp Township, 

 Berks County, Pennsylvania. "The de- 

 posit," says the American Manufacturer, " is 

 between seven and eight feet in depth, and 

 the mineral is of the best quality. Similar 

 deposits are supposed to exist elsewhere in 

 the same region, and persons are now en- 

 gaged in prospecting, but as yet no new dis- 

 coveries have been made." 



The Library Table for November con- 

 tains a good sketch of the life and works 

 of Mr. Darwin, with portrait. A valuable 

 feature of this periodical is its classified 

 index to current periodical literature. 



The death is announced of the eminent 

 French geologist, Charles Sainte-Claire De- 

 ville, at the age of sixty-two years. He 

 was a native of the island of St. Thomas, 

 graduated from the Paris School of Mines, 

 studied the geology of the Antilles, and 

 published the results of his investigations 

 in 1856. Later he was Professor of Geol- 

 ogy in the College de France. For many 

 years he devoted himself to the study of me- 

 teorology, and to him in great measure is 

 due the foundation of the Montsouris Me- 

 teorological Observatory. 



No publications by professors or other 

 attaches (quare: officers, students, resident 



