83 



the other constituents of the shite besides phosphoric acid are found in 

 this mass. Herr Schwackhofer imitated the mode of forming these balls 

 by taking bo.ys' marbles and keeping them for several days in a solu- 

 tion of phosphate of soda or of iron, and observed the transformation 

 into phosphate of lime. Au acid phosphate of lime is first produced, 

 which is subsequently changed into the insoluble salt. lu nature this 

 process must have been a long time in progress, but the result was sure 

 to be attained ultiraately. As to quality, this phosphate promises to be 

 of very decided value, showing a i)ositive superiority over that of the 

 Sombrero Islands. It occurs in immense masses, and, in fact, is appar- 

 ently almost inexhaustible. 



New stuffing- foe. cushions. — A material which has come quite ex- 

 tensively into use in Germany, as a substitute for hair, in the stuffing 

 of saddles, «&c., consists of a mixture of flax-seed and tallow. The ad- 

 vantage of this substitute consists primarily in the fact that the mobility 

 of the seeds, one upon the other, prevents the packing or settling in any 

 particular place, as often happens in saddles stuffed with hair, thus 

 causing any given jiressure to be readily and uniformly distributed over 

 any given surface. The tallow serves the purpose, too, of keeping the 

 leather flexible, and of jireventing the absorption of perspiration, pro- 

 tects the article itself, and jirevents the back of the animal from becom- 

 ing galled. Animals with sores or galled spots on the back can be 

 ridden with saddles stuffed with this material without any great incon- 

 venience. The tallow also has the effect of preventing the rotting of the 

 flax-seed, and is to be added in sufficient quantity to give the requisite 

 softness to the entire mass. An aromatic odor can be imparted by in- 

 troducing oil of turpentine, or camj^hor powder, and the durability 

 considerably increased thereby. One part of tallow to from six to ten 

 parts of flax-seed may be used, according to the temx)erature. 



Cultivation of esparto grass. — Considerable attention is now 

 being paid in Europe and Algiers to the cultivation of a fibrous plant, 

 which is called «(/'« in Africa, utoclia in Spain, but in commerce is usually 

 known as the esjmrto grass, {Macrocliloa tenacissima.) This plant thrives 

 throughout the entire coast of the Mediterranean, both in Europe and 

 in Africa, and its cultivation is extending very rapidly, in consequence 

 of the demand for it as a material for paper-making. It grows in very 

 sterile regions, even in the sands of the Sahara, and thrives under ex- 

 cessive heat and in a dry, arid soil. It is peculiarly valuable on account 

 of its great tenacity and its resistance to fermentation, for which reason 

 it is used for sail-ropes and the rigging of vessels. The demand for 

 this substance may be estimated from the fact that it was first brought 

 into notice in 1802, when a cargo vv^as transported from Orau to Eng- 

 land, and that the amount sent out has risen from 10,000 quintals in 

 1863 to 370,000 in 1870. The value of this export from the Province of 

 Oran, in Algiers, alone amounted to $1,500,000. 



Absorption of nitrogen by plants. — Dr. Cameron, in referring 

 to certain experiments of Wagner, in which it was ascertained that 

 maize grew and developed seeds in a solution in which kreatine was the 

 only nitrogenous substance present, the kreatine being absorbed un- 

 changed, remarks that, from his own exi^eriments, he has found that 

 plants may absorb unchanged, and apparently derive nitrogen from ^o- 

 tassic nitrite, potassic cyanurate, and potassic ferro-cyanide. 



Effect of germination on the fat in seeds. — In a paper read 

 before the Academy of Sciences, at Munich, by Dr. Vogel, upon the in- 



