POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



285 



weight of fat, and nearly two fifths of nitro- 

 genous matter. This would give it about 

 double the nutrient value of beef. The 

 Japanese prepare it by soaking the beans 

 in water for twenty-four hours, then grind- 

 ing them in a stone mill with the purest 

 water obtainable, so as to form a thin pulp. 

 The pulp is heated to boiling, when more 

 water is added, and it is boiled again ; then 

 more cold water is added, and it is allowed 

 to stand. The liquor is then strained out 

 through a bag, and brine is stirred into 

 it. This effects a coagulation, and the curd 

 is pressed as in making cheese. Prof. W. 

 Mattieu Williams has obtained soluble ca- 

 sein by treating peas in a similar manner ; | 

 and he remarks that all peas and beans will \ 

 yield soluble casein when so treated. Prof. 

 Williams estimates the cost of producing 

 the bean-curd, equal if not superior to the 

 best cheese made in the dairy, at about 

 threepence per pound. 



Whaling in Spitzbergen Waters. — Whal- 

 ing has been carried on in the Spitzbergen 

 seas during the last forty years, according 

 to Captain Gray, of the steamer Eclipse, of 

 Peterhead, by the aid of the traffic in seals, 

 with whose products the gaps in the cargo 

 of whale-products were filled ; but since the 

 introduction of steam - vessels, in about 

 1860, the seals have been so completely ex- 

 terminated that it no longer pays a vessel 

 to go in search of them. Steam has also 

 been to a great extent the ruin of the Green- 

 land whale-fishing. The whales are reced- 

 ing farther and farther into the ice, where 

 it is impossible to follow them. So far as 

 can be judged, there are probably no fewer 

 whales now than there were forty years 

 ago, but they are more inaccessible, as they 

 are being yearly frightened farther back by 

 the noise of the steam-engines. Notwith- 

 standing the greater difficulty in penetrating 

 the ice at such a time, a " close season " is 

 welcome to the whale-fisher, for the whale 

 will only appear in the neighborhood of 

 field-ice, and in open seasons the ice is con- 

 stantly broken up by the swell. In some 

 seasons the whales are later in appearing 

 than in others ; but the usual time is about 

 the 20th of May, and from that time the 

 fishing is prosecuted till about the end of 

 June, when the whales disappear. A new 



branch of enterprise has been developed 

 within a few years in fishing for the small 

 " bottle-nose " whale. These whales yield 

 no bone, but give about a ton each of an 

 oil equal in lubricating power to the south- 

 ern sperm-whale oil. Since they began to 

 be hunted, more than two hundred have 

 sometimes been killed in a season by a single 

 ship ; but there are signs that the trade is 

 being overdone. The oils, formerly the 

 main-stay of the fisheries, were at one time 

 largely used for lighting collieries and street- 

 lamps ; but for a good many years back 

 they have been principally employed by jute 

 manufacturers for lubricating purposes. 

 Since the discovery of the great llussian 

 petroleum-wells at Baku, however, the de- 

 mand for the seal and whale oils has greatly 

 fallen off ; but whalebone is now at a higher 

 price than ever. Captain Gray regards the 

 prospect of finding a new and lucrative 

 whale-fishery in the antarctic seas as very 

 hopeful. 



Railways as Fosterers of Trade. — The 



history of railway construction in India il- 

 lustrates in a remarkable way how rapidly 

 traffic is developed as soon as facilities arc 

 opened for it. Until within a year or two 

 past the Government of the country consid- 

 ered that it was unlikely that any railway 

 in India would pay that did not pass through 

 a dense population. The Government was 

 averse to constructing railways in Burmah 

 till business interest urged it so strongly 

 that the experiment was tried, when, to the 

 surprise of the administration, the Burmah 

 Railway paid about five per cent as soon 

 as it was opened. In the same way the 

 Government denied the possibility of ex- 

 tensive traffic upon the Eajpootana and 

 the Indus Valley railways, which were con 

 structed solely for strategic purposes through 

 a poorly populated country, and a narrow 

 gauge was all that it would afford. Yet so 

 rapidly has the country been brought under 

 cultivation, and the population has increased 

 so fast, that in 1885 the Indus Valley Rail- 

 way carried one hundred and thirty -six 

 million mile -passengers and two hundred 

 and ninety-three million mile-tons of goods 

 and grain, and paid '7"32 per cent on its 

 capital ; and the Rajpootana line carried 

 three hundred and fifty-eight million mile- 



