Oct. f, 1886.] 



TttE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



2^7 



fully answered the purpose for which it was in- 

 tended. The importance of the discovery of these 

 ((ualities of asbestos cannot be over-estimated. It 

 will raise our confidence in those of our lighting 

 ships whij'i have unarmoured ends, and many pre- 

 vent them iDm becoming practically waterlogged 

 in action. Indeed, it would appear that a most 

 invaluable addition has been made to the defensive 

 properties of war ships. — Globe. 



NOTES ON POPULAR SCIENCE. 



By Dr. J. E. Taylor, f.l.s., f.g.s., &c., Editor of 

 " Science Gossip." 



Most of my readers are aware that the edible 

 swallow's nests, which form the acme of Chinese 

 gastronomy, are composed of semi-digested seaweed 

 disgorged for the purpose of constructing those 

 curious dwellings. They may be also further aware that 

 many fishes build nests, some of a highly artistic charac- 

 ter. Amongst these nest-building fishes the stickle- 

 backs, marine as well as freshwater species, are most dis- 

 tinguished. Our marine stickleback constructs a 

 uest of various available materials, which latter he 

 binds together by curious mucous filaments. I'rofessor 

 Moebious, the distinguished Danish naturalist, has re- 

 cently shown that these mucous filaments are formed 

 from the epithalial cells of the fishes' kidneys. IMore- 

 over, he formulates the possible means by whicli this 

 ciurious habit has come into play. First, the kidneys 

 are hypertrophied; their enlargement causes an ab- 

 normal pressure, from which the stickle-back tries 

 to relieve itself by rubbing against foreign objects, 

 to which the squeezed-out mucin adheres. liut at 

 such time he is in close company with his mate, and 

 near to the bunches of eggs which the latter has 

 fastened to the water plants. Among the latter he 

 finds the nearest and most convenient place for getting 

 rid of the troublesome mucin, and thus he becomes 

 an unconscious nest-spinner. 



Everybody is acquainted with the fact that after 

 the leaves of trees and shrubs fall the wound closes up 

 again. Otherwise the places would " bleed," and the 

 sap or vegetable blood would ooze away. The heal- 

 ing of these vegetable wounds is not a matter of accid- 

 ent, nor is it always effected in the same way. Pro- 

 fessor Haby has been carefully studying the subject, 

 and he finds that the closing of the scars after the fall- 

 ing of the leaves takes place in at least four different 

 ways. First, by the drying up of the surface of the 

 wound, as la tree ferus ; second, by the formation of 

 reticulated cells, as among the orchids ; third by the 

 formation of a special skin or periderm (which is by far 

 the commonest method) ; and, fourth by the wounds 

 being closed by the exudation of gum. The latter pro- 

 cess is also very common in nature, and it suggo.sts an 

 artificial means by which we may heal any accident to 

 the shrubs and trees of our gardens. 



A very suggestive and possibly important discovery 

 to winegrowers has been made by Signor (Juboni, an 

 Itahau scientist. He shows that the sap which flows 

 from the Italian grape vine stem in March and April 

 contains numerous germs or microscopical organisms 

 which he holds to be identical with Saccharomyces. 

 When these germs are placed in sterilised must they 

 rapidly produce vinous fermentation. A still closer ex- 

 amination has proved that the " germs " are merely 

 buddings from the fruit-bearing (hypha) branches of a 

 fungus which grows parasitically upon the bark of the 

 vine, and which is known to botanists as Cladosporium 

 herbarum. These buds get into the gum which exudes 

 from the cut surfaces of the old braaches, or into the 

 sap which flows out. They then put on all the appear- 

 ance of, and are possibly actually identical with, the 

 ferment fungus Saccharomyces. Thus it may liappen 

 that we are indebted for the fermentation, ripening, 

 and bouquet of our wines to the apparently accidental 

 wanderings and ramblings of fungus spores, which have 

 no botanical business to be where we find them. 



It has been shown that the quality of yeast depends 

 very greiMy U(,<>u the absence of Bacteria. The vine- 

 gar-piant ' (as it is called) builds up a tissue of true 

 cellq'ose;but the real yeast plant develops a modified 



cellulose structure resembling that i^ioduced by Baclillus 

 aceti, quite difi'erent in its reactions to the other. I 

 don't know whether the little creature haunts Aust -a- 

 lian houses, but I have a strong opinion that 1 saw 

 it in Melbourne— the " fish-moth," " silverfish,' &c., 

 as it is popularly called, but more correctly known to 

 entomologists as Lepisma domestica, one of the Thy- 

 sanuridfB, whose scales have long been favourite objects 

 with microscopists. It haunts damp cup-boards, and 

 glides about like a fish, and yet its body is silvery 

 and moth-like — whence its [popular nan c It is very 

 common in all old houses here. These insects are very 

 fond of paper, and their chief delight is to devour the 

 labels in museums. It has just been found that they 

 are also partial to .silk dresses (<dwa//gUacJ: ona^) and 

 even woolen garments, Curators of museums, &c., are 

 recommended to steep their labels in corrosive sublim- 

 ate. Ladies cannot adopt the same precaution with 

 their black silk dresses, so thej' will have to hang thom 

 in very dry wardrobes instead. 



All important paper by Dr. Kelner has recently 

 been published, in which many of the facts menioned 

 will be familiar to horticulturists and agricultur sts. 

 The subject of the paper was the influence of urea 

 upon soils, with special reference to the well-knowu 

 methods of employing it in China and Japan. It is 

 proved that the application of fresh excreta is act- 

 ually injurious to crops, and that in such a state a gieat 

 deal of the most valuable nitrogenous compounds of the 

 manure are lost by the rain carrying them into the 

 deep subsoils beyond the reach of the roots of plan's. 

 Japanese farmers never employ either urine or manure 

 except when it is in a highly decomposed state, and 

 the urea has been converted into carbonate of ammo- 

 nia, — Australasian. 



LABOUB IN FIJI. 



{From the " Handbook to Fiji " for the " Colincl " Ex' 

 hibition.) 



The chapter on " Labor " notices the subject under 

 its three phases, Indian, Polynesian, and Fijian, and 

 gives prominence to the leading facts in each case. 

 Among other matters having respect to Indians it is 

 observed : — " The quality of the coolies imported into 

 Fiji has varied with each vessel. Some ships have 

 brought a fine working lot of men ; others appear to 

 have successfully relieved India of a surplus gaol popul- 

 ation. No doubt the past experience of Fiji planters, 

 confined to quiet and more easily managed Polynesians 

 and Fijians, has not been good training for the working 

 of Indians. The notorious litigiou.sness of these people 

 has been a source of great annoyance to planters in 

 Fiji and has multiplied by ten the work in the district 

 courts.' It may be hoped, however, that as time passes 

 by, both Indians and their employers will become better 

 able to form working traditions which will bind both 

 sides by the bond of mutual advantage." It is generally 

 understood that Mr. Anson will shortly return to the 

 colony, and the resumption of his rule at the Immigra- 

 tion Office affords the very best possible guarantee for 

 the realisation of the hope above expressed. Further 

 it is remarked :— '• That Indian immigration to Fiji has 

 on the whole been a success admits of no question ; 

 without coolies uone of the large companies could carry 

 on work." It may here be interjected by way of com- 

 ment that the full list of employers is under thirty; that 

 almost half the coolies are under engagement to one 

 leviathan company, and that when four others have 

 been reckoned with, out of a total of about 6,000 there 

 are not more than 600 or at the outside 700 in the em- 

 ploy of the rest. But to proceed ; it is . stated : — 

 " Several indeed (of the large companies) have discarded 

 Fijian and Polynesians entirely and work with Indiana 

 alone, from whom Europeans can obtain ordinary and 

 extraordinary work by the inducement of money, which 

 oft"ers few temptations to the unsophisticated Polyne- 

 sian, but which appt;:ds with annually increasing force 

 to the Fijian." This statement contrasts strangely with 

 the following, taken from that section of the chapter 

 devoted to Fijian labor, — "At the present time (Feb. 

 1886) there arc 600 native laborers engaged for a term 

 of a year beyond their home districts at rates of wages 



