June 14, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



453 



for the filthy water supplied to almost half the people of the State, 

 it is of incalculable value, and there should be no delay in securing 

 its health-giving benefits. 



The artesian wells bored at various points on the Atlantic coast 

 between Sandy Hook and Cape May continue to yield a supply of 

 good and wholesome water, and some very satisfactory ones have 

 been sunk along the Delaware. 



THE MEDBERY UNDERGROUND SYSTEM. 



We have to record this time another instance of the moving in 

 cycles of human progress. As the first water-pipes for distributing 

 water through towns were made of wood, to be afterwards made 

 of iron and iron and cement, so now an inventor has produced a 

 wooden pipe, not necessarily for use in conveying water, but more 

 especially for use as a conduit for electric conductors. This pipe is 

 made from long wood fibres, separated, washed free from saps and 

 gums, and then moulded while in a pulpy state into the requisite 

 size and shape, being subjected to great hydraulic pressure. After 

 this it is treated and hardened by a chemical process, that, it is be- 

 lieved, renders it impervious to moisture, acids, or gas. The pip- 

 ing looks not unlike iron, but is, of course, much lighter, and is 

 made in sections which can be joined by threads, like iron pipes, 

 with a sleeve coupling. The pipes can be made continuous, thus 

 preventing gases or moisture coming in contact with the enclosed 

 wires. Each conduit is divided into four or more compartments. 



being properly cemented. The branch wire is then connected with 

 the extension from the clamp H, and, when it has been passed 

 through the first length of the branch conduit F, the branch con- 

 duit is screwed into the threaded hole in the side of the cap C, or, 

 preferably, cemented into place. The branch line can thus be ex- 

 tended as far as may be desired. Thus far in the process, connec- 

 tion has been made with one wire only, either the negative or the 

 positive wire, but of course the connection with the other wire will 

 be made in a similar manner. 



The system as above outlined is being introduced by the Ameri- 

 can Indurated Fibre Company of Mechanicsville, N.Y., from whom 

 further information may be obtained. It may be mentioned that 

 satisfactory practical work with it has been done by the Bell Tele- 

 phone Company of Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- 

 pany, and other parties. 



EDIBLE MUSHROOMS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



For several years past the division of microscopy of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture has been in receipt of numerous 

 letters from regular correspondents and others, from which it ap- 

 pears that in various localities, representing almost every section 

 and climate of the Union, there are found large quantities of edible 

 mushrooms and other allied fungi ; few of which, however, are 

 utilized, owing to the inability of the great majority of the people 

 to distinguish the edible species from the poisonous ones. To ob- 



FIGS. I AND 2. — THE MEDBERY UNDERGROUND SYSTEM. 



as shown in the illustrations ; and the wires occupy separate ducts, 

 which precludes the possibility of cross- circuits. The question of 

 insulating wires is one of considerable importance, and the ex- 

 penditure is necessarily very great ; but in this conduit, by reason 

 of the high insulating power of the material, expensive insulation of 

 the wires is avoided. 



Another noteworthy feature of this system is the method of dis- 

 tributing to houses and street-lamps. Usually it is necessary to 

 make provision for this when laying the conduit, which is neces- 

 sarily very expensive ; but by this system side taps and connections 

 can be as easily made at any time after the conduit is laid, and 

 without serious expense, as will be explained from the accompany- 

 ing illustrations. Figs. I and 3. 



When desiring to make connection with the main line, the con- 

 duit is exposed at any point, and an opening is cut in it in any 

 preferred manner. It is usually drilled. The wire is then lifted 

 from its resting-place in the conduit, through the hole in the con- 

 duit; and the two parts of the metallic clamp C, being first sepa- 

 rated, are put over the wire, and firmly attached thereto by means of 

 a screw. The clamp has a chamber into which a suitable metal 

 or solder is melted or fused, making a perfect contact and per- 

 manent joint. The two sides of the casing or connecting box 

 (which, it will be seen, has a recess or hollow interior) may be 

 filled with suitable insulating-cement while in a plastic state, and 

 they are then placed about the conduit in such a manner that the 

 extension of the clamp H projects through the neck of the casing, 

 as shown in the cut. ' The bolts are then inserted in the lips of 

 distributing-duct B, and screwed up. The cap C is then applied, 

 and forced firmly down upon the tapering neck of the casing, after 



tain some clear and trustworthy criteria by which to make this 

 essential distinction has been the object of the various communica- 

 tions received ; and in view of the highly nutritious properties of 

 this class of esculents, and of the great possible value of their ag- 

 gregate product as indicated by the vast quantities produced in 

 countries where attention is given to their cultivation, the impor- 

 tance of a satisfactory answer to these inquiries will be readily ap- 

 preciated. This answer is given in a little pamphlet on twelve 

 edible mushrooms of the United States, illustrated with twelve 

 colored types, by Thomas Taylor, M.D., microscopist of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 



RoUrausch and Siegel, who claim to have made exhaustive in- 

 vestigations into the food-values of mushrooms, state that " many 

 species deserve to be placed beside meat as sources of nitrogenous 

 nutriment ; " and their analysis, if correct, fully bears out the state- 

 ment. They find, in loo parts of dried MorcJiella escult-nta, 35.18 

 per cent of proteine; in Hclvella esculenta, 36.31 per cent of pro- 

 teine, from 46 to 49 per cent of potassium salts and phosphoric 

 acid, 3.3 per cent of fatty matter, and a considerable quantity of 

 sugar. The Boletus cdulis they represent as containing in 100 

 parts of the dried substance 33.83 per cent of proteine. The nitro- 

 genous values of different foods, as compared with the mushroom, 

 are stated as follows: "proteine substances calculated for 100 

 parts of bread, 8.03 ; of oatmeal, 9.74 ; of barley-bread, 6.39 ; of 

 leguminous fruits, 27.05 ; of potatoes, 4. 85 ; of mushrooms, 33.0." 

 A much larger proportion of the various kinds of mushrooms are 

 edible than is generally supposed, but a prejudice has grown up 

 concerning them in this country which it will take some time to 

 eradicate. Notwithstanding the occurrence of occasional fatal ac- 



