THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
63 
nutritive Qualitiea of which attention was flrst 
drawn by Humboldt, and has found tliat the vei^- 
^jtable product really possesses many of the char- 
aeteristies of (iow's milk. 
— Eighteen young hidies who graduated at the 
Boston Institute of Technology last year have 
found lucrative positions as designers in chintz, 
<;alico, wall paper or floor coverings. 
— Those who yet cling to the old-time faith in 
the moon's influence upon the weather may be 
interested to learn that so emin(nit a scientist as 
♦Sir William Thomson has recently felt called upon 
to de(;lare that careful observation with the baro- 
meter, thermometer and anemometer have failed 
to establish any such influence, and have proved, 
on the contrary, that if there is any dependence 
of the weather upon the phases of the moon it is 
only in a degree so slight as. to be quite imper- 
ceptible to ordinary observation. 
— A mining superintendent a!; the West says 
that by the use of the chronograph he ascertained 
tlie fact that the long pnmp-bobs in his mine 
moved down at the top before they stopped com- 
ing up at the bottom— tha,t is, they went both 
ways at once. This seems absurd, but is rational, 
for the pump-bob being 3,500 ft. long, and made 
of wood, some time elapses before motion at one 
end is transmitted through to the other. It would 
be interesting to know exactly where the neutral 
j>oint is. — Meehaidcal Enrjiaeer. 
— Mr. Jardine, M.P., has recently had erected in 
the grounds at Castlemilk, England, a sun dial of 
extraordinary dimensions. It consists of a large 
twenty triangular-sided stone, supported on a 
pedestal thirteen feet high, and is after the style 
of Queen Mary's dial in Holyrood grounds. 
There are fifteen dials. Two indicate Greenwich 
time, two tell the time of night by the moon ; the 
others indicate the rising and setting of the sun, 
the length of the da y . W.W when it is noon at the 
principal places overtlie globe, the sun's declina- 
tion, etc. 
— Prof. M. W. Harrington refers to two kinds of 
changes on \\m moon's surface which may be I'e- 
garded as fairly established. The flrst is the land 
slides, which may doubtless be caused by the. 
great alterations of temperature to whieh the 
inoon is subject. Many of these slides may be 
easily recognized with good telescopes. The 
second form of change is illustrated by craters, 
which have been provento be differfMit in size and 
shape from what they were recorded by earlier 
observers. Many other changes have been sus- 
pected, but they are of a m(n-e uncertain and 
doubtful character. 
-The Editors of The American Naturalist de- 
sire information as to whether honey or other 
bees are carnivorous, and publish some not'^s 
showing that they lap the juice of fresh meat. In 
this country at least, one. if not several, honey 
bees have been noticed by a reliable observer rest- 
ing on a piece of meat in a butcher's shop in 
Providence, K. I., and lai^ping with their mouth- 
liarts the fresh meat, ap|)areiitly feeding upon 
the juice of the beef. Dr. H. Mueller also eon- 
tributes to the same magazine his brother's (Fritz 
Mueller) observati(»ns on carnivorous bees, and 
shows that not only wasps, but also numerous 
honey and wild stingless Brazilian bees, species 
j of Melipona and Trigona, have been observed by 
him in Brazil. Any information of a similar 
nature, if carefully made, is desired. It is possi- 
ble that bees may not actually eat raw flesh, 
though wasps are known to do so, but simply 
visit exposed meat to sip the sweet juice, just as 
butterflies are known to be attracted by decaying 
flsh, and lap or suck in the fluid standing on the 
lish. 
practical |)ints. 
Red Ants.— The judicious use of oil of turpen- 
tine wil I ett'ectually exterminate red ants. It may 
be injected into cracks and crevices in closets 
and elsewhere fvom an ordinary sewing machine 
oil can. 
Preservation of Gr3im.e.~Forest and Stream 
gives st)ortsiuen this advice: " Kill the owls; kill 
the hawks; kill the foxes; kill the skunks; kill 
the red squirrels. Remember that this destru(i- 
tion of vermin me;ins something toward the 
in-eservation of the game supply." 
Frosting- Brass Work.— The English Mechanic 
gives this formula for frosting brass work to give 
it an ornamental finish: "Boil in caustic potash, 
rinse in clean water, and dip in nitric acid till all 
oxide is removed ; then wash quickly, dry in box- 
wood sawdust, and lacqin^r while warm." 
Stove Blacking-.- It is said that the most last- 
ing i)olish is obtained by flrst brushing the stove 
with a syrupy mixture of himpblack and soluble 
glass, and letting dry for twenty-four hours. 
Then apply a syrupy mixture of blacklead and 
mucilage, and polish by brushing before the last 
coat dries. 
Black Leather-Varnish.— A black leather- 
varnish, which is said not to crack or peel off", 
maybe prepared thus: Rosin, 30 parts; turpen- 
tine, 30 })arts; oil of turi>entine, 30 parts; san- 
darac, GO parts; shellac, 120 parts; alcohol (90 
per cent.). 900 parts. Digest, then add lamp- 
black, ifi parts, pi-eviously triturated with a little 
alcohol. 
Salicylic Acid in "Wooden Vessels.— The 
preservative and antiseptic action of salicylic acid 
cannot be relied on when brought into contact 
with any liquid substance in wooden vessels or 
casks. The salicylic acid under these circum- 
stances speedily disappeai's, being apparently ab- 
sorbed and decomposed by the wood tissue. 
When this acid is used as an addition to drinking 
