March, 1907.] 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



A Brazilian Linen Plant. 



The American Consul-General at Rio de Janeiro has re- 

 cently sent an account to Washington of a plant which he 

 considers likely to exercise an important influence upon the 

 textile world in the near future. It has been described as 

 Ganhamo braeiliensis, and is a common weed in Brazil, 

 reaching a height of 12 to 18 feet within 12 month-. When 

 carefully cultivated it matures within three months, and 

 three crops can be produced in a year. The fibre has all the 

 necessary qualities required for high-class use; strength, 

 fineness,' flexibility, and adaptability lor bleaching, dyeing, 

 &c. Everv part of the plant can be utilised for some indus- 

 trial purpose, more especially fur the manufacture of writing 

 paper. The cultivation was commenced with the assistance 

 of the State Government, and is now said to have en 

 from the experimental stage successfully, and its influence 

 will be felt at once, the products of the plantations having 

 been contracted for by British interests at a highly re- 

 munerative rate. The production has been patented in the 

 United States. The plant belongs to the Mallow family- 

 Malvaceae, and although recently de-crib, d as a new species, 

 prove-, to be the same a- the plant previously known as 

 Hibiscus rail <<it us, Cav. 



Mycorhiza and the Fixation of Free 



Nitrogen. 

 Moller has demonstrated 1 li< r. Deutsch. /.'"'. Ge& U.) that 

 the dichotomouslv-branching mycorhiza present on the roots 

 of certain coniferous trees, Picea excelsa and Pinvs montana, 

 is of no use in fixing' free nitrogen for the tree. This is 

 opposed to the view previouslv held by Muller. 



The Eared Elm of Hampstead. 

 This famous old tree, which has just been removed, was 

 situated on the Spaniards' Road side of Heath House, and 

 has long been an object of interest to visitors, on account of a 

 very large protuberance projecting from the trunk a shorl 

 distance' from the ground. The protuberance resembled, in 

 general form, a human ear, and an account of its origin 

 and structure, was recently given 1>\ Sir Samuel VVilks to 

 the members of the Hampstead Scientific Society. Micro- 

 scopic examination showed the sub-lance of the protuber- 

 ance to consist of wood, the result of .111 outgrowth of 

 " callus," which trees produce to heal wounds. In tin- pre- 

 sent case probably a large branch was broken off, leaving 

 a long wound deep in the centre of the tree and shelving 

 off to the surface. This was the reason for the growth 

 being one-sided, and for a large projecting boss of wood 

 being formed as its foundation. 



CHEMICAL. 



By C. Ainsworth Mitchell, B.A. (Oxon.), F.I.C. 



Chrysalis Oil. 



The continual rise in the price of oils and fats has made it 

 profitable to recover the oil contained in waste material, such 

 as leather cuttings and wool waste, for manufacture into 

 lubricants or soap, and experiments have been made to 

 determine the value of other hitherto neglected sources of 

 fat. Among the most recent of these may be men: 

 Dr. Lewkowitsch's investigation ol the nature of the oil 

 to be obtained from the chrysalis of the silkworm. The oil, 

 after extraction by means of a suitable solvent, was dark 

 brown in colour and bad an odour recalling that of fish 

 oils. It could be clarified by filtration through fuller's 

 earth, but on standing for some lime, threw down a floccu- 

 lent deposit. Its specific gravity at 40" ('. was 0.9105, or 

 practically the same as thai ol rod liver oil, which it also 

 resembled in certain other physical and chemical charac- 

 teristics. The proportion of oil yielded I > % the chrysalides 

 was about 27 per cent., and although the dark colour would 

 prevent its being used for the best soaps ii could probabl) 

 be advanlageoush employed in lite manufacture of those ol 

 a lower grade, 



Neon in Mineral Waters. 

 Argon and helium are almost invariably present in the 

 rare gases in natural mineral springs, and the researches 

 of M. Moureu show that neon is also a frequent constituent. 

 The method be has employed is that used b\ Sir James 

 Dewar, which is based upon the power possessed b) 

 nut charcoal of absorbing the ran gases with the exception 



of helium and neon, the spectra of both of which can then 



be identified in the residual mixture. By this means M. 

 Moureu has found traces of neon in the gases from twenty- 

 two mineral springs, and has also been able to identify 

 helium in the gases from two springs in which it had not 



previously : ted. 



Alcohol from Peat. 

 A few years ago the problem of obtaining fermentable 

 sugar on a commercial scale from sawdust was successfully 

 solved, and experiments on similar lines with peat as the 

 raw material have recently given promising- results. It is 

 well known that when starch is treated with a dilute acid 

 ii i- converted into sugars and dextrins which can be more 

 or less completely fermented by yeast, and a similar change 

 can be effected, though less completely and with more diffi- 

 culty by the action of acid upon cellulose, which forms a 

 istituent of both sawdust and peal. The first at- 

 tempts to manufacture alcohol from peat were marie in 

 187 1 by Herr '/.< tterlund, who seems to have obtained fairly 

 successful results, but little more seems to have been done 

 in ibis direction until 1905, when Herr Reynaud prepared a 

 solution of sugar by heating peat with dilute sulphuric 

 acid, and fermented this liquid by means of a yeast speci- 

 allv cultivated for the purpose. These experiments were 

 continued on a manufacturing scale during the early part 

 ol last vear at Aalborg. and some thousands of gallons of 

 spirit wire manufactured. Unfortunately, the liquid, after 

 fermentation, did not contain more than 1 per cent, of 

 alcohol, and it is qui whether the concentration of 

 so weak a " wash " would pay. A somewhat richer yield 

 of alcohol, however, seems to have been obtained in the 

 ments indep ndently carried out last year by Herr 

 I litis and Baron Fock, at Staatskosten. Ordinary peat 

 containing about 62 per cent, of water was boiled for 15 

 minutes with dilute sulphuric acid in a closed copper v. --. ! 

 under a pressure of three atmospheres, after which the 

 ma-- was expressed under moderate pressure, and the 

 filtrate neutralised with chalk and sepaiated from tl 

 suiting gypsum. It was then fermented in large- tuns with 

 .1 special yeast ami .< portion of the alcoholic product dis- 

 tilled. The dijtillati contained <;£ per cent, of alcohol corre- 

 sponding 10 a total calculated yield of 753 litres of absolute 

 1 from 225 kilos, of peai. A systematic study of the 

 effect of varying the conditions as to the amount and con- 

 centration of lb.- acid, the time of treatment and the 

 pressure, will probably lead to a process which shall produce 

 a stronger saccharine solution, and, consequently, a "wash" 

 richer in alcohol. Assuming that this can be done, or that 

 the cost of coni' -o weak a spirit is not loo great, a 

 new industry might be started in Ireland, where the bogs 

 woul I furnish an unlimited supply of the raw matt 



The Toxic Action of Rare Earths. 



The ran etals thorium, cerium, lanthanum, and 



ium are be-t known through their use in the manu- 



ol mantles foi incandescent gas burners. The 



chemical and physical characteristics of their salts have 



frequent!) been studied, but hitherto little has been known 



about their physiological action. M. Ileberl has. therefore, 



1 series of experiments 10 discover the effect of the 

 sulphates of the four metals upon animal and plant life, and 



various enzymes. He finds that guinea-pigs and 

 frogs I bill little, if at all. by small doses of these 



sails, but that lisb are killed by being placed in water con- 

 taining one part in 5,000. The toxic effect upon fish varies 

 with the nature of the metal, zirconium being the most 

 poisonou- and lanthanum the Ii 1st. Plants an- less sensi- 

 tive than fish. They an- not affected until the concentra- 

 tion of the soluti ies three pacts in 1,000, and do not 

 Unions containing as much as live 

 paiis In the case ol lower organisms, such as 



fungi and yeasts, and of enzymes, such as diastase 

 and 1 Miulsin. the toxic effect of the sulphati mium 



and thorium is comparable with thai oi mercuric chloride. 



is the sulphati um and lamb. mum appear to 



\eii in relatively large amounts. Then 



-hip hi ivv .in the toxicity and 

 the atomic weights of the rare-earth metals (viz., thorium, 



, cerium, 140; lanthanum, 138; and zirconium, 

 for the poisonous action of tin- highest and lowest members 

 of the scries is the most marked. 



