184 



THE LANCASTER FARMER 



[December 



well, because it pays well, that stimulates 

 self-intest, which is a ruling passion among 

 men. It urges him to brave the billows of the 

 deep, the tomahawk of tlie savage, the knife 

 of the barbarian. It makes him heedless of 

 the piercing rays of a tropical sun, or the 

 penetrating cold of the polar regions. 



Agriculture and manufactures furnish the 

 articles upon which commerce flourishes. In 

 hoary atiticjuity the Egyptians were charac- 

 terized for wealth and intelligence. They 

 were a highly agricultural and commercial 

 people, and carried the diversion of labor to 

 a stale of perfection scarcely equalled in 

 times. The commercial spirit which immor- 

 talized Alexandria iu Egypt gave reuown to 

 Carthage, Sidon and Tyre, and Venice, Hol- 

 land and England in more recent times. 



During the middle, or dark ages, agricul- 

 ture languished in many of the kingdoms 

 and empires of the old world, owing to the 

 ignorace of the people, the rapacity of the 

 nobles, and the insecurity of property. Culti- 

 vation of the earth was not understood as it 

 is in our times. Implements to stir the ground 

 were few and wretched, manures were ne- 

 glected, roads and bridges and the means of 

 conveyance almost unknown. Our agricul- 

 tural products in variety surpass computation, 

 and in quality defy the imagination. Is it, 

 therefore, any wonder that progressive farm- 

 ers acknowledge the benefits resulting from 

 associations amongst them ? As we are a 

 thinking, inventive people, full of enterprise 

 and public spirit; and as long as we area 

 progressive, intelligent people it were idle to 

 suppose that we can not influence the ad- 

 vancement of the noble calling of farming by 

 associating together and examine practical 

 matters relating to it. 



Let us consider the multitude of mankind 

 on the globe, and see how few of this vast as- 

 sembly have the patience and endurance to 

 examine and industriously apply themselves 

 to master any subject, or think long and care- 

 fully to reach just conclusions upon any pro- 

 position. And yet notwithstanding these de- 

 fects of the popular mind, the amount of 

 practical knowledge possessed by our people 

 iu the latter half of the nineteenth century is 

 no trifling matter, as is exemplified in the 

 agricultural history of our country. 



A SINGULAR PHENOMENON.* 



At the May meeting of this society atten- 

 tion was incidentally called by our President 

 to the whitening of the varnished woodwork 

 of the doors, windows, etc., of the house of 

 Dr. M. L. Herr, near his residence, during 

 the heavy thunder-storm of the night of May 

 IS. 1 found also that some chairs which had 

 been left out during the same night in our 

 school campus were whitened in a similar 

 manner. 



A very natural inquiry was, what was the 

 cause of this singular phenomenon. Var- 

 nished surfaces, as is well known, are whitened 

 by heat, as the white spots and rings frequent- 

 ly seen on tables iu restaurants and dining- 

 rooms abundantly illustrate, but it did not at 

 fir.st occur to me tliat the phenomenon under 

 consideration might be due to the same cause. 

 In order to answer the question more intelli- 



gently, I made a series of experiments to 

 show the action of vaiious substances, and of 

 the same substances under different condi- 

 tions, on varnished surfaces. 



It was at first supposed that the rain which 

 fell during this storm was either charged with 

 some substance not usually found in rain 

 water, and hence not in the air, or over- 

 charged with some common ingredient of the 

 air. Hence an attempt was made to produce 

 with some of the rain water which had been 

 collected a result .similar to that produced by 

 the rain upon the house and chairs by soaking 

 pieces of varnished wood in the water. But 

 a permanent change was not effected in the 

 varnished surfaces ; they whitened while in 

 the water, but acquired the natural color after 

 they were removed from the water. A similar 

 result was produced by using distilled water. 

 It was, therefore, concluded that il the effect 

 had been produced by any substances con- 

 tained in the water, the substances must 

 have been a volatile one, or one not readily 

 held in solution. 



In order to ascertaiu whether or not the 

 water had contained anything to which the 

 result could be attributed and which had es- 

 caped from it after it had been collected, pieces 

 of varnished wood were soaked in water, or 

 subjected to a spray of water, into which had 

 been introduced in small quantities substances 

 with which the air might have been charged 

 during the storm. The following were the 

 results obtained : 



When the wood was placed in water con- 

 taining a little ammonia the varnished sur- 

 face was slightly decomposed, but did not 

 change iu color, and about the same result 

 was obtained by soaking a piece of the wood 

 iu water containing a trace of nitric acid. 

 When a jet of water heavily charged with 

 air was projected against a varnished surface 

 the varnish remained unchanged, neither was 

 any change effected by charging the water- 

 spray with carbonic acid. Water was then 

 allowed to drop upon a varnished surface 

 placed in an atmosphere strongly impregnated 

 with ozone, but even this energetic substance 

 seemed to have no efl'ect upon the surface. It 

 was concluded from the results of these ex- 

 periments, therefore, that the surfaces were 

 not whitened by anything contained in the 

 water. 



It was known that hot water would whiten 

 varnish, and experiments were now made to 

 ascertain the minimum temperature of water 

 required to produce the effect. The water 

 was first heated to 100° F., and at this tem- 

 perature it readily changed the color of a var- 

 nished surface to a permanent whiteness. 

 Then, reducing the temperature of the water 

 by small amounts, and subjecting varnished 

 surfaces to its action, it was found that the 

 whitening became gradually less decided and 

 less readily produced until the temperature of 

 about !)U' F. was reached, when the water 

 ceased^ to have any effect upon the surface. 



There is probably no record of the tempera- 

 ture of the air in this region during the mght 

 of this storm. It is hardly probable, Iiowever, 

 that the temperature was beyond or even 

 nearly up to 90^ F. 



It now occurred to me that the action of 

 falling rain upon the surface whitened wa.s 

 not correctly rejiresented by soaking var- 



nished wood in still water, but that to show 

 the action properly the water should fall from 

 a considerable height slowly upon the surface. 

 Accordingly an apparatus was adjusted by 

 means of which this could be effected, and 

 the action of the water was found to be con- 

 siderably modified. It was found that water 

 at a temperature of 85-' F. falling upon a 

 varnished surface through a height of six feet 

 produced an effect similar to that produced 

 by the rain on the woodwork of Dr. Herr's 

 house ; it will be remembered the lowest 

 temperature of still water that would 

 whiten varnish was found to be about 90^ P. 

 This more energetic action of dropping water 

 was doubtless due to the heat produced by the 

 striking of the drops. When a solid falls 

 through a considerable distance upon a sur- 

 flice, a measurable quantity of heat is gener- 

 ated by its stroke. As may be learned from 

 any text-book on Natural Philosophy, the con- 

 verse of Joule's equivalent is that a weight of 

 772 pounds falling one foot would generate 

 sufficient heat to raise one pound of water 

 one degree Fahrenheit. The strokes of a 

 liquid must likewise produce heat as do the 

 strokes of a solid. 



It will be remembered that this rainstorm 

 was accompanied by a strong wind, the action 

 of which was to greatly increase the velocity 

 of the rain, and consequently the amount of 

 heat generated. The conclusion reached 

 therefore is that the whitening of the var- 

 nished wood-work of Dr. Herr's house was 

 caused by the blowing of a warm rain with 

 great velocity against the house. 



It might be added, this whitening of var- 

 nished surfaces is due to the action of heat on 

 the resin of which the film is generally large- 

 ly composed. Varnishes are prepared by dis- 

 solving resins in alcohol, oil of turpentine, 

 etc., and when they are applied to surfaces 

 the solvent either entirely, or almost entirely, 

 evaporates, leaving a transparent coating con- 

 sisting either entirely, or almost entirely, of 

 resin. The varnish film is not often com- 

 pletely whitened, but its outer surface only 

 becomes white. The action of alcohol In re- 

 storing the color is that it dissolves the white 

 film, and produces a thin layer of alcoholic 

 varnish. 



Selections. 



CARPETS. 



Carpets play such an important part in 

 household arnameiitations, and vary so great- 

 ly in price and quality, that a few hints in re- 

 gard to the attractiveness and durability of 

 the different kinds may not be without in- 

 terest to our readers. Among the novelties 

 in this line are wood carpets, formed of strips 

 of hard wood mounted on linen crash, and 

 coming, like ordinary carpets, in roll. It may 

 be laid on any floor, dining-room or hall, and 

 makes, when waxed, a very good dancing sur- 

 face. For summer it is especially desirable, 

 on account of its freedom from dust and the 

 readiness with which it may be swept, while 

 in winter it is only necessary to lay down a 

 few mats or rugs in order to give the room 

 the air of cosy warmth so cheerful when the 

 snow is flying without. This carpet retails at 

 from »1.25 to S1.50 per yard, and will last a 

 lifetime. Mattings are also excellent fpr sum- 



