Popular Science Monthhj 



207 



reptitiously abstracted, so that the num- 

 ber remains approximately the same. 

 This is done either by the medium her- 

 self or by the assistant, who collects the 

 pellets and superintends the blindfolding 

 of the medium. 



Often the original slips are left on the 

 table, and no dummies are substituted. 

 If this is done, all of the questions 

 must be written on previously- 

 prepared pads containing a carbon- 

 sheet so that an imprint of the 

 question is obtained. 

 Sometimes the under 

 side of one of the sheets 

 of paper is prepared by 

 soaping it thinly. This 

 is pressed upon the 

 lower sheet; and the 

 medium has only to 

 rub the lower sheet 

 with lamp-black or 

 charcoal to obtain 

 an imprint of the 

 message. 



If the "message" is 

 placed in an envelope, 

 and this is sealed, the 

 medium can often see 

 what is written on the 

 pad simply by rubbing 

 over the envelope with 

 a small sponge dipped 

 in alcohol. The envelope will at once 

 become transparent. Nothing will do but 

 alcohol, which dries out almost at once, 

 wdthout wrinkling the envelope, which can 

 be stood upright, on the table, for a few 

 moments, while drying, 



Deep mystery, but not to those who 

 know the Uttle ways of fake mediums 



To obtain an imprint of the message rub 

 the paper with lamp-black or charcoal 



Reducing the Egg Loss Due to 

 Breakage in Shipment 



AS spring approaches, the cackle of 

 L the corn-belt hen is the prelimi- 

 nary announcement of the shipping of 

 millions of white and brown eggs to the 

 large cities of the East. The eggs leave 

 their shipping points packed in cases 

 supposed to insure their safe de- 

 livery, but the fact remains, as 

 ablished by Government inves- 

 tigations, that two 

 dozen eggs out of 

 every thirty dozen 

 cased, reach their des- 

 tination in a cracked, 

 mashed, dented or 

 leaky condition. 



For New York city 

 alone, this means that 

 one hundred million 

 eggs are annually 

 found to be in a 

 damaged condition 

 following their arrival 

 from the shippers. 

 This causes an annual 

 loss of three milliondol- 

 lars to poultry dealers. 

 An inspection of 

 crates shows that they 

 have been carelessly 

 nailed up. On the other hand, the Gov- 

 ernment inspectors find that nineteen 

 eggs in each case are cracked before 

 being loaded on the car, and that careless 

 packing in old and flimsy cases accounts 

 for the additional breaking of five more 

 eggs in a case. 



To eliminate this tremendous loss, 

 shippers are resorting to all sorts of 

 packing methods. Some have found the 

 old-fashioned splint basket, when packed 

 with excelsior as a shock absorber, to 

 cause the least damage. For one hun- 

 dred eggs or larger shipments, a barrel 

 with the eggs packed securely in excelsior, 

 has met with partial success. The or- 

 dinary egg crate has been discarded 

 where shipments are made over a con- 

 siderable distance. Some shippers are 

 packing each egg so that it is the center 

 of a ball of excelsior. This is an expen- 

 sive as well as a laborious method but it 

 does insure full protection for the ex- 

 ceedingly fragile egg. 



