256 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



small Norway spruce, the branches and 

 leaves of which were of a golden tint. He 

 said that, when plants had little food, or 

 lost their fibres in wet soil, and thus could 

 not not make use of food, the yellow 

 tint was generally seen in their leaves. 

 Judging that something analogous must 

 have happened to the spruce, he, on exami- 

 nation, found its roots thickly enveloped by 

 the mycelia of a fungus, which destroyed 

 the young rootlets as fast as they were de- 

 veloped. Only a few trees in his grounds had 

 been attacked two years ago; but during 

 the past two seasons the fungus had spread 

 underground from plant to plant, till now 

 there were over one hundred diseased. He 

 had supposed the fungus to be of the micro- 

 scopic kind ; but in October last the myce- 

 lia developed into a brown agaric with a 

 pileus about two inches broad, but the ex- 

 act species of which he could not deter- 

 mine. He suggested that, as the phenom- 

 ena in the case of what is known as " peach- 

 yellows" were of the same nature, those 

 who had the opportunity to examine might 

 find the roots attacked by a fungus in the 

 same way. 



It is stated in the Cincinnati Gazelle 

 that Mr. S. A. Bell, of Plainfield, Ohio, has 

 found under an ancient mound a quantity 

 of fragments of bones of very young chil- 

 dren, with the tooth of a rodent animal, 

 which had been used as a neck ornament. 

 These relics were discovered in a large bed 

 of coal and ashes, indicating that the fire 

 had covered a space of twenty-five feet in 

 diameter. It is supposed that the children 

 were the victims of some bloody sacrificial 

 rite. The mound under which the relics 

 were buried was of medium size, and its 

 materials had been transported from a con- 

 siderable distance, and from several different 

 points. 



It is universally admitted that asphalt 

 makes a perfect pavement in all respects, 

 except that it is very slippery under certain 

 conditions, that is, when covered with mud. 

 Hence, if an economical method of keeping 

 the surface clean can be devised, this kind 

 of pavement is to be preferred to all others. 

 Impressed with this belief, the London Com- 

 missioners of Sewers have directed experi- 

 ments to be made as to the best mode of 

 cleansing, and the several asphalt compa- 

 nies have united in offering a premium for 

 any improved plan of effecting this purpose. 



Analysis of asparagus -shoots, by A. 

 Yogel, shows that the extremities contain 

 no sugar, though the stem, three or four 

 inches below, contains 1.7 to 2 per cent. 

 The explanation is, that the sugar is used 

 up in the formation of cells, which goes on 

 actively in the shoots. The same is the 

 case with potato-shoots. 



Absolutely pure iron is said to have 

 been produced by a Russian chemist, by 

 means of the galvanic batteiy. During the 

 process, a large quantity of hydrogen was 

 disengaged from the ordinary iron used. 

 The pure iron is a silver-white metal, very 

 malleable and ductile, and so soft as to be 

 readily cut with a pair of scissors. It is 

 very different from iron which has hitherto 

 been supposed to be pure. It oxidizes very 

 rapidly, and water is decomposed by it by 

 the rapid absorption of oxygen. 



It is proposed to apply the sand-blast to 

 the quarrying of slate, either for slabs or 

 roofing-slates, thus preventing much of the 

 waste inevitable under the present imper- 

 fect methods of quarrying. As this waste 

 frequently amounts in weight to as much as 

 nine times the weight of the marketable ar- 

 ticle produced, it will be seen that there is 

 a wide margin for the profitable use of this 

 invention. The process is also applicable 

 to quarrying stone, and for cutting hard 

 rocks in railroad tunneUng. 



The " quick-signal railroad lantern " is a 

 very useful contrivance, and destined to su- 

 persede the common lantern on all railroads. 

 This lantern is furnished with a mech- 

 anism whereby in the fraction of a second 

 a white light may be changed to ruby, and 

 vice versa. This is effected by means of a 

 small inverted cup of ruby glass which sur- 

 rounds the flame, having of course an open- 

 ing above for the escape of smoke. The 

 cup may be depressed beneath the flame, 

 and then the lantern gives a white light; or 

 it may inclose the flame, and then the light 

 is red. 



Harness and other articles of leather 

 which are injuriously acted upon by the 

 ammoniacal exhalations common in stables 

 may, according to Prof. Artus, be thorough- 

 ly and effectually protected by the addition 

 of a little glycerine to the oil or blacking 

 with which their surfaces are treated. 



Iron is not volatile, except at very high 

 tempeiatures, like gold and platinum. Dr. 

 Eisner, director of the Berlin Porcelain- 

 Works, has tried the experiment of subject- 

 ing a small piece of iron, in an unglazed 

 crucible, to a long-continued exposure to a 

 temperature of over 3,000 Cent., when he 

 was distictly enabled to recognize minute 

 needles of crystallized iron on the cover of 

 the crucible, the result of vaporization. 



Cut flowers may be kept fresh for a fort- 

 night, it is said, by dissolving sal-ammoniac 

 or chlorhydrate of ammonia with the water 

 in which the stems are put, in the propor- 

 tion of about 75 grains per quart of water. 

 The experiment is one which can be easily 

 made. 



