November 29, i88g.] 



SCIENCE. 



369 



hence the limit is 310 feet, and the worl<ers object to more than 

 250 feet. The drawing-up of the oil is as primitive as every thing 

 else. The rope is fastened round the neck of the ball-shaped pot, 

 and, being lowered, is allowed to fill by sinking in the oil below. 

 The oil thus raised is poured into another pot of the same shape, 

 but much larger ; and twelve of these are packed on each country 

 cart. 



— Among some mineral samples lately forwarded by Dr. Bel- 

 grade to the Mines Department for examination from a newly dis- 

 covered lode in the Broken Hill district. New South Wales, were 

 three in which the analyst, Mr. Minage, detected the presence of 

 platinum. According to the Engineering and Mining Journal, 

 sample No. i, ochreous felspathic rock, yielded, on assay, platinum 

 at the rate of i ounce 9 pennyweights 9 grains per ton ; gold, a 

 minute trace ; no silver. No. 2, compact ferruginous claystone, 

 yielded, platinum, 6 pennyweights 12 grains per ton ; gold, a 

 minute trace ; no silver. No. 3, ferruginous felspathic rock with 

 green carbonate of copper, yielded, platinum, a strong trace (under 

 5 pennyweights per ton) ; no gold or silver ; a small quantity of 

 platinum metals, iridosonine, iridium, etc. This discovery is of in- 

 terest, as it is the first recorded instance of the occurrence in New 

 South Wales of platinum iti situ in a lode. Platinum has been 

 found in alluvial deposits in the Bathurst, Clarence, and Richmond 

 River districts, but not in paying quantity. 



— Mr. Joseph C. Arthur, in a recent bulletin issued by the Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station of Indiana, summarizes as follows the 

 results of some experiments on stinking smut (known as "bunt " 

 in England): It is one of the most destructive diseases to which 

 the wheat-crop is subject ; not that it deteriorates the total prod- 

 uct, but it causes a complete loss of a part, not infrequently of half 

 or more, of the crop. It probably occurs to some extent through- 

 out all wheat-growing regions, but most prominently in Indiana, 

 Iowa, and adjacent States, as well as in California and Europe. It 

 is caused by a fungus growing inside the wheat-plant. There are 

 two species of this fungus, differing only in microscopic characters, 

 — Tilletia iritici, with rough spores ; and TiUetia fwtens, with 

 smooth spores. The latter is most common in the Mississippi val- 

 ley. Spores of the fungus, which are very nearly or quite in con- 

 tact with the germ end of the wheat-grain, or touching the young 

 plantlet between its attachment to the seed and the first joint, can 

 grow into the tender tissues of the plant as the seed sprouts, and, 

 drawing nourishment from the juices, develop along with the wheat, 

 and finally produce spores in the kernels. A single spore may thus 

 cause all the heads of a stool of wheat to smut. The disease does 

 not spread from plant to plant or from field to field, but the infec- 

 tion always takes place at the time the seed sprouts. No remedy 

 can be applied after the grain is sown, but the disease can be pre- 

 vented by sowing clean seed in a clean soil, and covering well. If 

 a farm is already infested, seed known to be pure can be obtained, 

 or the smutty seed can be purified by thoroughly wetting with a 

 solution of blue vitriol, using one pound or more to a gallon of 

 water, and either sow damp or first dry with plaster or slacked 

 lime. Take care that the thre.'^her, storage bin, fanning mill, 

 seeder, sacks, and every thing else coming in contact with grain to 

 be used as seed, are thoroughly disinfected, if they have previously 

 been used for smutty wheat. Do not follow smutted wheat with 

 wheat again for one, or, better still, for two years, but with some 

 other crop. Do not apply stable-manure or permit stock to run on 

 land to be put into wheat, if smutty grain or straw has been used 

 for feeding or bedding. Where there is danger of infection, do not 

 sow wheat on wet or insufficiently drained land, and use a variety 

 of wheat least affected by smut. The cost and trouble of ridding 

 a farm of stinking smut, and keeping it free, are very slight compared 

 to the loss which is likely to result from inattention. The statements 

 just made regarding stinking smut apply equally well to black smut, 

 with the following exceptions : black smut is more common every- 

 where than the other, and causes a loss greater than is usually 

 supposed, but which rarely reaches the large percentages of stink- 

 ing smut ; it is caused by a fungus {Ustilago segeium) of similar 

 habits to the other smut, but, unlike that, is not confined to wheat, 

 but attacks other small grains as well ; the means of clearing a 

 farm of black smut are essentially the same as for the other, but 



with the differences that wheat, oats, rye, and barley are all sus- 

 ceptible to the disease, and cannot follow one another when clear- 

 ing the soil of the spores ; and that grain with hulls requires longer 

 soaking with blue vitriol than hulless grain. 



— In a recent letter to the company engaged in introducing the 

 magnolia anti-friction metal, mentioned in these columns a few 

 weeks ago, the chief engineer of the steamship " Owego " gives a 

 very favorable report of its use on that vessel. The " Owego " is 

 said to be the fastest vessel on the Great Lakes. She is 2,500 tons 

 burden, and has triple-expansion engines of 3,000 horse-power, 

 with cylinders 28, 42I, and 72 inches in diameter respectively, and 

 4i feet stroke. Some time ago the metal used in the low-pressure 

 crank-pin bearing, fourteen inches in diameter by sixteen inches 

 long, heated till it melted and ran out. Magnolia-metal was sub- 

 stituted, since which time, the engineer states, " the chill has not 

 been off the brasses, although we have encountered weather that 

 would lift the propeller-wheel out of the water." 



— The lecture committee of the Nineteenth Century Club re- 

 ports that its programme this season has been arranged so as to 

 give a greater preponderance to literature and art, in order to meet 

 the criticism of last winter that the subjects were too much of a 

 political and ethical character. It was not, however, originally in- 

 tended that Miss Edwards's address should be on the "Art of the 

 Novelist ; " but this topic seemed preferable because her other ad- 

 dresses will be delivered in New York and Brooklyn before she will 

 appear before the club. The following is the list of subjects and 

 speakers as thus far arranged ; subject, of course, to unforeseen 

 changes. A star against a name indicates that the speaker is not 

 yet positively engaged. Nov. 22, 1889, " The Pulpit and Politics," 

 Rev. Henry Van Dyke, D.D. (Presbyterian) : discussion by Mr. R. 

 R. Bowker (Episcopalian), Rev. Amory H. Bradford, D.D. (Con- 

 gregationalist), and Hon. Jno. A. Taylor (Unitarian). Dec. 13, 

 " The Construction of a Play," Mr. Bronson Howard : discussion 

 by A. M. Palmer, Mr. Dion Boucicault.* Jan. 10, 1890, " Russian 

 Nihilists and Novelists," Professor H. H. Boyesen : discussion by 

 Mr. Hamilton W. Mabie (associate editor of the Christian Union), 



and . Jan. 31, " The Political Relations of the United 



States and Canada," Professor Goldwin Smith (of Toronto) : dis- 

 cussion not yet settled. Feb. 21, "The New Southern Literature," 

 Mr. Thomas Nelson Page (of Virginia) : discussion by Mr. Richard 

 Watson Gilder and Mrs. Maud Howe Elliott. March 1 8, " The Art of 

 the Novelist," Miss Amelia B. Edwards : discussion not yet settled. 

 April 4, an address by Hon. Seth Low on some topic, probably 

 educational, not yet determined upon. April 25, " The Eastern 

 Question," Hon. Oscar S. Straus (ex-minister to Turkey) : discus- 

 sion by Mr. George Kennan. The following are proposed and 

 held in reserve : " Folk Music," by Mr. Frank H. Potter ; " Nation- 

 alism," by Hon. T. W. Higginson ; * " Psychical Research," by 

 Rev. Minot J. Savage, D.D. ; * " The Roman Church and the 

 Schools," by Hon. W. Bourke Cockram ; * " English Socialism," 

 Mr. Percival Chubb;* " The Organization of Charity;" "Dress 

 Reform." Friday evenings have been taken this year instead of 

 Wednesdays because last year many members of the club were 

 unable to attend on the last-named day. On other days the assem- 

 bly rooms are not to be had. Accordingly the house committee 

 has engaged the rooms for the above dates ; Miss Edwards's lec- 

 ture, however, being on Tuesday, by the special favor of the man- 

 ager of the Opera House. The following orders have been made 

 with regard to the conversational meetings provided for by vote at 

 the last business meeting of the club : ist. That the (our members' 

 meetings to be held the coming winter at private houses be con- 

 ducted informally and conversationally, as far as due regard to 

 order will permit. 2d, That the president designate some mem- 

 ber of the club to preside over and conduct each of these meetings. 

 3d, That the person so designated shall, at least ten days prior to 

 the meeting over which he is to preside, select and give to the sec- 

 retary the subject to be discussed, which must first be approved by 

 the lecture committee of the club. The secretary shall thereupon 

 give at least one week's notice to all the members, of the time and 

 place of such meeting, together with the subject to be discussed. 

 4th, No vote shall be taken upon any subject of discussion at any 

 of these meetings. 



