584 



KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



A PATENT has recently been taken out by 

 gentlemen interested in this city for reducing 

 to solid extract the Polygonum Amphibium, 

 (Swamp Smart-weed,) for tanning purposes. 

 This plant grows most abundantly in the 

 swamps and low grounds of the West, and its 

 tanning properties have long been known 

 and utilized in a limited way, but it is not 

 generally understood that it is far superior to 

 oak or hemlock bark for the purpose. Pro- 

 fessor Samuel Aughey, of the Nebraska State 

 University, found 17.01 parts tannin in 100 

 of the dried tops, and 21.02 in 100 of the 

 rhizomes or underground stems, while oak 

 contains only from 6 to 10 per cent and hem- 

 lock still less. We examined some samples 

 of calf-skin that had been immersed in a so- 

 lution of this extract for only thirty days and 

 which seemed to us perfectly tanned. The 

 material is not only naturally abundant, but 

 is easily cultivated, so that it need never be- 

 come scarce nor dear, and there seems to be 

 no reason why an immense and successful in- 

 dustry may not be put into operation right 

 at home, to the advantage of all classes of 

 citizens. 



On the 25th of November some defect in 

 the machinery of the elevator at Meyer Broth- 

 ers' store caused the car, which was loaded 

 with sulphur in barrels to fall from the fourth 

 to the basement floor. When the car struck 

 the lower fl jor the barrels were bursted open 

 by the concussion and the sulphur took fire. 

 The question is, what ignited it ? If, as is 

 generally believed, it was the result of fric- 

 tion between the car and the iron check-ways, 

 we must suppose that these irons were heated 

 to redness, since sulphur does not ignite at a 

 temperature below 560°, while iron shows 

 dull red at 400°. It is more probable that 

 the wooden frame-work of the car was ignited 

 by the friction and communicated the flame 

 to the sulphur. 



Professor F. Hahn, of Leavenworth, 

 Kansas, in proposing a new coal shaft at that 

 place and basing his calculations upon the 

 experience of Major Hopkins in sinking that 

 ab the State penitentiary, gives the sum of 

 $30,282 as a very close approximation to the 



actual cost of reaching a workable vein of 

 coal with citizen labor. The vein at the pen- 

 itentiary was reached at 713 fee.t, and is 

 twenty-one inches in thickness ; estimated to 

 yield by June, 18S2, 6,000 bushels daily. At 

 Rosedale, Kansas, the shaft sunk by Capt. 

 Ira Harris is 326 feet deep and the vein is 

 21 inches thick. This shaft cost but about 

 $15,000. With these successes before us 

 there is no reason to doubt that similar re- 

 sults would follow mining for coal at this 

 city; and with coal at ten cents a bushel, 

 which Prof. Hahn estimates to be one hundred 

 per cent profit to the owners of the mine, an 

 impetus would be given to manufacturing 

 that nothing else could give. 



The recent news from the Jeannette shows 

 that Prof. Towne was not far out the way in 

 his article in this number of the Review upon 

 the probabilities of her safety, when he pre- 

 dicted that Capt. DeLong might emerge from 

 the Arctic basin by way of Spitzbergen in 

 1882. It appears that he had made nearly 

 as much of the northwest passage as Nordin- 

 skjold did when his vessel was caught and 

 crushed by the ice about three hundred miles 

 northeast of the Lena River, in Siberia, and 

 almost due east of Spitzbergen. 



The total value of the product of the twen- 

 ty-two field crops raised in Kansas, in 1881, 

 is $91,910,439.27, or more than 30 per cent 

 greater than in any previous year in the his- 

 tory of the State. The two that contribute 

 the largest share of this immense total are 

 wheat and corn; the former making $21, 704,- 

 275.80, and the latter $44,859,963.29, 



We have received from the mayor and 

 town clerk of Plymouth, England, a cir- 

 cular announcing the intention of the people 

 of that city to erect a monument to the mem- 

 ory of Sir Francis Drake, who left that place 

 on the 15th of November, 1577, on his ever 

 memorable voyage around the globe. It is 

 a worthy object, and all English speaking' 

 people should gladly avail themselves of the 

 opportunity to contribute to it. Subscrip- 

 tions may be sent to the treasurer or to Chas. 

 F. Burnard, Mayor. 



