5 12 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



pressed into the form of bricks, when it be- 

 comes an excellent fuel. 



The material used for capping cham- 

 pagne, beer, and mineral-water bottles, sup- 

 posed to be simply tin-foil, turns out on ex- 

 amination to consist almost entirely of 

 lead. Dr. Wittstein, after analyzing a great 

 many of these capsules, states that the 

 proportion of tin in their composition varies 

 from one to ten per cent., all the rest being 

 lead ; and that the prevalent habit of clos- 

 ing the top of the bottle with the cap after 

 the cork has once been drawn is a danger- 

 ous one, as the acid contents of the bot- 

 tles even in minute quantities, in contact 

 with the cap at the mouth of the bottle 

 will rapidly dissolve the lead, and thus give 

 rise to a poisonous solution. 



One of the most distressing, because 

 rarely remedial forms of chronic mania, says 

 the London Lancet, is that produced by the 

 mental shock of fire. The patient wears a 

 peculiar aspect, in which suspicion is one 

 element, and a settled look of panic another. 

 Photographs of such inmates of asylums are 

 remarkably uniform in their representation 

 of this expression. The great fire at Chi- 

 cago has produced a large number of luna- 

 tics, no fewer than 250 sufferers from it 

 having been adjudged insane by the courts 

 of Illinois. Considering the privations, 

 however, to which the houseless victims 

 of that conflagration were in many cases 

 exposed, other causes than fire-panic may 

 be credited with a share of the result. 



According to Yan Beneden, as quoted 

 in the American Naturalist, an excellent 

 method of preparing for preservation and 

 study such jelly-like and perishable organ- 

 isms as medusae, ctenopbora, noctilucEe, 

 etc., is to immerse them for from fifteen to 

 twenty-five minutes, when fresh, in a weak 

 solution of osmic acid, when, after washing 

 several times in water, they may be kept, 

 for weeks or months without impairment, in 

 alcohol. The acid colors a portion of the 

 tissues brown, but this rather facilitates 

 than hinders study, as it brings into view 

 certain structures that are otherwise less 

 clearly visible. The agent also hardens the 

 substance of the animal, so that it may be 

 handled without danger of disorganization, 

 and readily cut into sections if desired. 



Fever is the most prolific cause of death 

 in India, and, in ordinary years, carries off 

 many more victims than all other diseases 

 together. The returns, exclusive of Bengal 

 and the northwest provinces and Burmah, 

 give upward of 900,000 deaths from fever 

 in 1871, and the total number in all India 

 cannot be far short of 1,500,000. At least 

 half of these lives might be saved by put- 

 ting quinine in every native druggist's shop 

 at one rupee per ounce. 



The United States Light-house Board 

 have under charge 179 sea and lake coast 

 lights, 394 river and harbor lights, 22 light- 

 ships, and 33 fog-signals, that are operated 

 by steam or hot-air engines. 



The Gazette des Campagnes recommends 

 dipping the end of plant-slips in collodion 

 before setting them out. The collodion 

 should contain twice as much cotton as 

 the ordinary material used in photography. 

 Let the first coat dry, and then dip again. 

 After planting the slip, the development of 

 the roots will take place very promptly. 

 The method is said to be particularly effi- 

 cacious with woody slips, geraniums, fuch- 

 sias, and similar plants. 



Chloride of cobalt, sometimes used as 

 the basis of a sympathetic ink, is, accord- 

 ing to Siegen, a powerful poison. A grain 

 killed a frog in half an hour. Four and a 

 half grains killed a strong rabbit in three 

 hours. The poison acts directly upon the 

 muscles of the heart. Nitrate of cobalt is 

 equally poisonous, and acts in a similar 

 way. 



Camphor-wood promises to become, at 

 no distant day, an important article of com- 

 merce. It grows freely in tropical coun- 

 tries, without cultivation. The tree attains 

 large proportions, being sometimes found 

 fifteen feet and upward in diameter, and of 

 proportionate height. It is very valuable for 

 carpenter's work, being light, durable, and 

 not liable to injury from insects. Its aro- 

 matic perfume is well known. The wood 

 is strong and very .durable, and is especial- 

 ly serviceable in ship-building. Camphor- 

 wood piles have been known to remain in a 

 good state of preservation over a hundred 

 years. 



Ixtle-fibre, which grows abundantly on 

 the southern shores of the Gulf of Mexico, 

 is remarkable for its lustre, strength, and 

 flexibility. Within the thin envelope which 

 forms the leaf, there is a perfect skein of 

 thread of extraordinary tenacity, length, 

 and fineness. The outer covering can be 

 easily removed by a chemical process, and 

 the whole fibre made available without fur- 

 ther expense. The plant, it is said, can be 

 brought to New York for less than fifty 

 dollars per ton. 



In a French industrial establishment, 

 employing 630 men, chiefly vegetarians, 

 the sick fund was constantly in debt. The 

 director of the establishment took measures 

 for the introduction of butcher's meat into 

 the food of the men, and the effect was 

 such that the average loss of time per man, 

 on account of illness or fatigue, was re- 

 duced from fifteen to three days per an- 

 num. Thus the animal food saved twelve 

 days' work a year per man. 



