2 44 



1HK ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



undergoing a rapid series of successive modifi- 

 cations. When the red combination happens to 

 be exposed to red light it reflects it without ab- 

 sorption; and will, therefore, no longer be 

 affected or changed by it. Similarly for the 

 other cases. This is another process of ' ' adap- 

 tation." The author describes some experi- 

 ments which prove that this is the true 

 explanation, and points out the importance of 

 this view not only for color photography, but 

 for the production of colors in the animal 

 world. — Nature. 



Argon. — Messrs. Phillips, Bedson and Saville 

 Shaw have ascertained the presence of argon in 

 the gases contained in the brine from wells 

 sunk in the rock salt deposits on the north bank 

 of the Tees, in the neighborhood of Middles- 

 borough to the extent of 1.24 per cent. — Bri. 

 Col. Dr. 



Academical Honor. — The French Academy 

 has elected Professor Cohn, of Breslau, the well 

 known botanist, whose system of classification 

 ot the schizophytes is so well known, as a cor- 

 responding member. 



Report on Opium — The opium commission, 

 appointed long ago by the British Government, 

 was charged with the investigation of three ques- 

 tions : Whether opium, when taken in modera- 

 tion, is injurious ; whether Indian opinion is 

 opposed to its use ; and whether prohibition is 

 a practicable policy. The commission has pub- 

 lished its report, and declares that, by a vote of 

 eight to one it answers all the three questions in 

 the negative. The commission finds that an 

 immense number of doctors in India believe 

 opium to be less injurious than alcohol. Wit- 

 nesses drawn from every grade and class testi- 

 fied that it is an excellent remedy against ma- 

 larial fever ; that it can be and is consumed in 

 moderation all through life ; and that its effect 

 upon the constitution in health is practically 

 nil. Among natives the belief in the value of 

 the drug is nearly universal.. The practice of 

 opium eating pervades every class, is considered 

 allowable by every class, and the people are 

 opposed to prohibition. The commission, there- 

 fore, though they believe some improvement in 

 the restrictive laws may be possible, refuse to 

 suggest any, and advise substantially that the 

 present system be left alone. — 7 he Popular Sci- 

 ence Monthly. 



Molasses Pavements. — Perhaps the oddest 

 pavement ever laid is one just completed at 

 Chino, Cal. It is made mostly of molasses, and 



if it proves all of the success claimed for it, it 

 may point a way for the sugar planters of the 

 South to profitably dispose of the millions of 

 gallons of useless molasses which they are said 

 to have on hand. The head chemist of a sugar 

 factory at Chino, Mr.E. Turke, was led to make 

 certain experiments, of which the new side- 

 walk, a thousand feet long, from the factory to 

 the main street, is the result. The molasses 

 used is a refuse product, hitherto believed to be 

 of no value. It is simply mixed with a certain 

 kind of sand to about the consistency of 

 asphalt, and laid like an asphalt pavement. 

 The composition dries quickly and becomes 

 quite hard, and remains so. The peculiar point 

 of it is that the sun only makes it drier and 

 harder, instead of softening it, as might be ex- 

 pected. A block of the composition, two feet 

 long, a foot wide, and one inch thick, was sub- 

 mitted to severe tests and stood them well. Laid 

 with an inch or so of its edges resting on sup- 

 ports, it withstood repeated blows of a machine 

 hammer without showing any effects of crack- 

 ing or bending, — Scientific Amer. 



The Kola Nut in Jamaica. — The U. S. 

 Consul at Kingston, Jamaica, reports that the 

 climate and soil of the island are adapted to 

 raising the kola nut. Very little attention, 

 however, has been paid to its cultivation until 

 the last few years; but, in consequence of the 

 attention of planters being called to it by the 

 directors of public gardens, and a demand hav- 

 ing sprung up for it in the United States, a great 

 number of young trees have been recently 

 planted, and more attention is now paid to its 

 cultivation than ever before. The exact acreage 

 under cultivation could not be ascertained, but 

 it is estimated that this year's crop will not ex- 

 ceed ten to twelve tons. In the course of four 

 or five years, a crop of forty to fifty tons is 

 looked for. The gathering of the crop begins 

 about the end of May and lasts four or five 

 months. 



M. Henri Moissan has recently obtained pure 

 fused Molybdenum by means of the electric 

 furnace. Its density is 9.01, and it is as mallea- 

 ble as iron, and capable of being forged. It 

 forms a steel by cementation, Jmuch harder than 

 the pure metal, when heated in contact with 

 carbon. 



Its use has been suggested in place of Man- 

 ganese in the Bessemer process, as any excess 

 of metal remaining in the iron would be as mal- 

 leable as the iron itself, and would allow of 

 being tempered. 



