Xx AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
November, 1912 
What You Gain by Using 
Cabot’s Shingle Stains 
1 Soft, rich, and beautiful coloring effect. 
2 Thorough preservation of the wood.* 
3 Low cost in both material and labor. 
4 Guaranteed fast colors. 
For Shingles, Siding, and other Exterior 
Woodwork 
Send for samples of stained wood. Free. 
SAMUEL CABOT, Inc. 
131 Milk Street 
Agents at all central points 
Z a ; 5 ***Wood treated with Creosote is not subject to dr 
=) ~ ey <p , ” > + pee y rot or 
Stained with Cabot’s Shingle Stains. Myron Hunt and other decay, "—Century Dictionary. 
Elmer Grev. Architects, Los Angeles, Cal. 
Complete Your Heating System 
With a MARVEL THERMOSTAT 
The ‘* Marvel”? controls the heating system as a governor controls an engine. It automatically con- 
trols the drafts so the heater gives the desired temperature regardless of changing conditions out doors. 
By constantly having the fire under perfect control there is no waste fuel—no fire danger from overheated 
apparatus—the drafts require no attention whatever from any person—and the life of the heater is greatly 
increased. Your coal lasts longer and the ash pile is smaller. The *‘Marvel’’ also opens the drafts of the 
heater before you arise in the morning and warms up the home while you sleep. The °‘ Marvel’? is a 
necessary part of any heating system and ** Mases Any Heater A Better Heater.”? An annual dividend of 30 
to 40% is received on the investment with unknown comforts and conveniences included. You owe it to 
yourself to send for more information—information why you need the “‘ Marvel’? and why it is etter than 
similar appliances. 
AMERICAN THERMOSTAT COMPANY, Dept. A, Elmira, N.Y. 
JUST PUBLISHED 
Scientific American 
Reference Book 
Edition of 1913 
it contains 608 pages and 1,000 illustrations, is substantially bound in 
cloth, and the cover carries a special design 
printed in three colors 
Albert A. Hopkins 
Compiler and Hditor for Part I. STATISTICAL 
A. Russell Bond 
Compiler and Editor for Part II. Scienvriric 
INFORMATION, — Editor | vot Cyclopedia of INFORMATION. Editor of Handyman's 
Formulas, Handbook of Travel, Ete. Mem- Workshop and Laboratory : 
ber of the American Statistical Associa- ee 
tion. 
The editorial staff of the Scientific Amenican receives annually over fifteen thousand 
inquiries, covering a wide range of topics—no field of human achievement cr natural 
phenomena is neglected. ‘The information sought for in many cases cannot be 
readily found in text books or works of reference. In order to supply this know- 
ledge in concrete and usable form, two of the Editors of the Scientific American 
have, with the assistance of trained statisticians, produced a remarkable Refeience 
Book, containing over seventy-five thousand facts, and illustrated by one thousand 
engravings, for which the entire world has been scoured. Immense masses of 
government material have been digested with painstaking care with the collabora- 
tion of government officials of the highest rank, including cabinet officers, and assisted 
by competent professors of world-wide reputation. 
Owing to the printing of an edition of 10,000 copies, we are enabled to offer 
this book at a merely nominal price. The purchase of the book is the only adequate 
way to judge of its merits. An elaborate circular, showing specimens of illustrations. 
together with four full-size sample pages, will be sent on request. 
Part I. Chapter VII. Chapter XIII, Chapter I. 
STATISTICAL IN- RAILROADS. PATEN'YS, ‘TRADE- CHEMISTRY. 
OP an J “ iB MARKS AND COPY- 
FORMATION, Chapter VIII. ACHES, Chapter II, 
Chapter I. THE PANAMA CANAL. ASTRONOMY AND TIME, 
POPULATION AND SO- Chapter XIV. 
CIAL STATISTICS. Ee ON GR SETA ARMIES OF THE Chapter IIT, 
PELEGRAPIIS AN y METEOROLOGY 
Chapter II. Ree WORLD. IETEOROLOGY. 
FARMS, FOODS AND ; J Chapter XV. Chapter IV. 
FORESTS. Chapter X. NAVIES OF THE MACHINE ELEMENTS 
Chapter III. WIRELESS 'TELEG- WORLD. AND MECHANICAL 
MINES AND QUARRIES. RAPHY, aN MOVEMENTS. 
es s , z Chapter XVI. 
Chapter IV. Chapter XI. AVIATION Chapter V. 
MANUFACTURES. TELEPHONE STATIS- GEOMETRICAL CON- 
y 0 AT TICS OF THE STRUCLIONS. 
Chapter V. Ss Part II. ms 
COMMERCE. WROD Chapter VI 
= : . ATTN 7. 5 
Chapter VI. Chapter XII. SCIENTIFIC IN WEIGHTS AND MEAS- 
MERCHANT MARINE. POST OFFICE AFFAIRS, FORMATION. URES, 
Net Price $S 1 »O Postpaid 
Send for large prospectus and specimen pages 
MUNN & CO., Inc., PUBLISHERS 361 BROADWAY, NEW YORK CITY 
Boston, Mass. 
fere with its use by the general reader, who 
has real need for a book which may be 
read intelligently by all who are in any way 
interested in science in general. The chap- 
ters deal with a Compilation of Earth His- 
tory, the Figure of the Earth, The Nature 
of the Materials, The Contortions of the 
Strata, The Fracture Superstructure, Earth 
\lovements, The Rise of Molton Rock, The 
Attack of the Water, The Life History 
of Rivers, The Travels of Underground 
Waters, The Forms Carved and Molded 
hy Waves, Coast Records of the Rise or 
Fall of the Land, The Glaciers of Moun- 
tain and Continent, Land Sculpture, Lake 
Basins, Origin and Forms of Mountains, 
etc. 
There is also an excellent appendix on 
the quick determination of the common 
minerals. It is an excellent book on a 
very important subject. 
A NATURAL SILK FROM THE 
BELGIAN CONGO 
T is proposed to make a commercial use 
of a native silk coming from the African 
region which does not appear to have 
been utilized heretofore. This is a silk 
found in the Belgian Congo region, and it 
is furnished by worms of the anaphe, which 
variety is widespread in the Uganda, the 
German east Africa, Cameroon and Congo 
as well as other regions. The African silk 
corporation has already begun to install 
plants of the kind in the Uganda and else- 
where, and two other firms are soon to be- 
gin work in Belgian Congo. The worms 
are very voracious and are covered with 
hairs which have a stinging effect on the 
skin. They hardly ever change their place 
except during the night in order to seek 
food or search for good places for building 
their nests. They feed on plants such as 
Abizza fastigiata, also Bridelia nucarantha 
and others. On the under side of this lat- 
ter leaf, the anaphe lays 200 or 300 eggs 
placed in piles and covered with a protect- 
ing down. About two months after hatch- 
ing, the worms proceed to make a combined 
effort in order to build a kind of nest upon 
the plants which furnish their food. The 
rest is of a silky appearance and has a color 
varying from coffee color to a rusty red. 
Of an irregular shape, the nests have a size 
ranging from that of an egg up to a child’s 
head, and they contain from 10 to 100 co- 
coons tightly pressed together. When the 
butterfly is hatched, it secretes a liquid 
which attacks the cocoon and the envelopes 
of the nest, so that it can find its way to the 
outside. It appears that this does not in- 
jure the silk of the cocoons, so that it is 
not required to smother the insect within 
the chrysalis to avoid hatching the butterfly. 
The nests must be handled under water in 
order to prevent the nettle-like action of the 
hairs upon the skin, such hairs and also 
fragments of skin being scattered through 
the nest. The silk of the envelopes and 
that of the cocoons are treated separately, 
the operation being a washing with carbon- 
ate of potash solution until no more color 
is discharged, then the silk is dried in the 
air and packages of it are sent to the fac- 
tories. The yield in the present case is 
estimated at one pound of silk thread com- 
ing from six pounds of raw silk. It does 
not seem difficult to carry on silk raising 
in this case, as the matter of acclimating the 
silk worm, which is such an important one 
with the usual kind, does not need to be 
dealt with here, either for the insect nor 
for the food plants. No diseases attack 
the insects, as far as can be noticed. 
“ie 
