THE TECHNOLOGIST. [March 1, 1865. 



Iritiitiftr $tos. 



We learn from the ' Chemical News ' that a M. Richter, of Stuttgart!, 

 has devised a novel means of extracting the juice from grapes. Instead 

 of pressing them in the ordinary way, he puts them in a drum provided 

 with a suitable strainer, and rotating at the rate of 1,000 or 1,500 times 

 a minute. The process is said to have the following advantages over the 

 ordinary method : — The time required for the operation is greatly 

 lessened, the whole of the must from one cwt. of grapes being obtained 

 in five minutes ; the quantity of juice is increased by five or six per 

 cent. ; "stalking " is rendered unnecessary ; and the agitated must is so 

 mixed with air that fermentation begins comparatively soon. 



The Society Imperiale cT Agriculture has offered a prize ©f 2,000 

 francs, to be given in 1867, for the best analyses of the following woods : 

 — Oak (heart- wood) of the age of at least forty years (Querctis robur 

 or pediinculata) ; ash (Fraxinus excelsior), of the age of at least twenty- 

 five years — the whole of the wood except the liber and bark ; pine 

 (Pinus maritima or sylvestris) of the same age, and poplar (Populus tre- 

 mula or alba) of the age of twenty years. Analyses of the same trees 

 five years old are also to be made, with the view of comparing the com- 

 position of wood of different ages. Specimens of the woods and of the 

 principles obtained from them must be sent with each paper. 



The Coa*l-tar Colours. — The trade in coal-tar dyes, which began 

 in 1860, continues to expand, amounting probably to from a quarter to 

 half a million annually. The colours are magenta, various shades of 

 blue and violet, purple, yellow, orange, and green. The dyes are sent 

 from London to Lancashire and Yorkshire and other places, to be used 

 in the preparation of silk and cotton velvets, printed calicoes, delaines, 

 merinoes, finished cottons, silks, ribbons, flannels, and fancy and flannel 

 shirtings. An export trade is beginning to China and the United 

 States, the dyes being sent in their solid form to save freight. It is said 

 that several thousand pounds are annually spent in defending the 

 patent. 



Beet Sugar in Germany. — How the manufacture of beet sugar con- 

 tinues to prosper in the States of the Zollverein may be judged by the 

 following figures, condensed from a recent official report : — " In 1863 

 there were about 250 factories in operation, which used up more than 

 36,000,000 cwts. of beet root. Twenty years ago only 5,000,000 cwts. of 

 beet root were worked up into sugar. Then 18 cwts. of beet root were 

 required to produce one cwt. of sugar ; now only 12 cwts. are needed. 

 The duly levied produced 9,000,000 dols. The enormous profit derived 

 from the cultivation is well known. In Austria alone 18,500,000 cwts. 

 of beet root are grown, and 14,500,000 cwts. are worked up by 125 facto*- 



