334 Transactions of the American Institute. 



To Prevent Rust. 

 The protection of polished metal from rust, which is done by dis- 

 solving one part by weight of paraffine in three parts of petroleum, 

 and using it as a varnish on the surfaces to be protected. Paraffine is 

 a white solid, which may be obtained through almost any druggist or 

 storekeeper, and is very cheap. This is one step ahead of using mutton 

 tallow, just as the next thing mentioned is ahead of the old method 

 of coloring butter with carrot juice or annatto. 



„ To Color Butter. 

 Dr. Quesneville, a Frenchman, describes a new yellow coloring sub- 

 stance, which he states to be especially useful in coloring butter. The 

 carrots were shred, dried and pounded to powder, then digested in 

 bi-sulphide of carbon, a volatile liquid obtained by the action of 

 ignited charcoal on sulphur in a retort of peculiar construction. The 

 coloring matter is dissolved out from the carrots, and the rapid evapo- 

 ration of the bi-sulphide leaves it behind in a fine powder. 



Pine-leaf Hats. 

 And now for variety we close with mention of a new use for pine 

 leaves or straw, namely, pine-straw hats, which the writer saw last 

 summer in the fair of the Mechanics' Institute in San Francisco. The 

 straw was braided into flat strips about an eighth of an inch wide, and 

 these were sown together to form a brown and not unsightly head- 

 gear with a narrow brim. The best were made of the leaves, six or 

 seven inches long, of the digger pine of California, but one or two 

 were from the shorter straw of South Carolina pines. This is a 

 mechanical item, but it may be noted that pine-straw has been the 

 subject of much chemical treatment. Some years since a foreign 

 chemist succeeded in extracting a loose white fibre from it which was 

 mixed with cotton and linen in the fabrication of cloth. Some have 

 also suggested that pine leaves contain resinous matter enough to make 

 them available in the manufacture of illuminating gas, but, so far as 

 the writer knows, this has never been practically tested. 



Orange Culture. 

 Mr. ~W. Day, Jr., Daytona, Florida— Nearly all authorities ascribe 

 the nativity of the orange ( citrus aurautium ) to Asia, but any one 

 visiting the immense wild groves of Florida, some of which may be 

 reckoned by the square mile, will find it difficult to arrive at any 

 other conclusion than that it is also indigenous to the soil of our 



