57^ 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.  [March  i,  1893. 
he  can  strike  a light  now  as  compared  with  the 
tedious  method  in  use  before  phosphorus  matches 
were  invented.  He  estimates  that  the  gain  of  these 
extra  ten  days  represents  for  the  United  States  alone 
an  aggregate  economy  of  sixty-two  million  pounds 
sterling  per  annum.  Human  liquid  sewage  is  no 
longer  in  demand  for  phosphorus,  but  it  s used 
for  making  smelling  salts.  2,200  tons  are  daily  taken 
out  of  the  cesspools  of  Paris  to  be  converted  into 
ammonia. 
THE  RESURRECTION  OF  RAGS. 
Lord  Playfair  lovingly  de=cribes  the  utilisation  of 
rags.  He  considers  that  the  competition  for  cotton 
and  linen  rags  is  a better  indication  of  civilisation 
than  even  the  consumption  of  soap.  In  1S87  England 
used  b.  of  paper  per  head,  the  United  States  101b. 
Germany  91b.,  France  81b..  and  Italy  41b.  Bla?k  coats 
when  they  are  used  up  beyond  possibility  of  survival 
are  sent  to  France,  Russia,  and  Poland,  to  be  made 
into  caps.  The  British  red  jacket  when  worn  out  goes 
to  Holland,  where  the  Dutch  imagine  it  to  be  the  best 
protection  against  rheumatism,  when  worn  on  the 
chest. 
When  old  woollen  rags  have  reached  their  fourth 
stase  of  degradation,  so  that  they  are  unfit  for  the 
shoddy  maker,  they  are  still  economically  useful. 
They  are  then  mixed  with  other  degraded  waste, 
such  as  shavings  of  hoofs  and  horns,  and  the  blood 
of  slaughter-houses,  and  are  melted  in  an  iron  pot 
with  wood  ashes  and  scrap  iron.  This  process  pro- 
duces the  material  out  of  which  the  beautiful  dye 
Prussian  blue  is  made. 
THE  TRANSMUTATION  OF  SMELLS. 
In  the  utilisation  of  waste  substances  it  is  very 
odd  that  some  of  the  nicest  things  come  out  of 
the  nastiest  materials.  For  instance,  fusel  oil  is 
the  stinking  product  of  the  distillation  of  spirits. 
It  is,  however,  utilised  to  make  oil  of  grape  and 
oil  of  cognac.  Oil  of  pine-apple  is  made  by  the 
action  of  putrid  cheese  upon  sugar,  or  by  dissolving 
rancid  butter  with  alcohol  or  oil  of  vitriol.  The 
ladies’  favourite,  Eau  de  Mille  Fleurs,. is  made  from 
the  drainings  of  cow  byres.  Gas  tar,  however,  is 
the  great  resource  of  all  utilisers  of  waste.  It  is 
from  gas  tar  that  they  make  saccharine,  turkey-red, 
and  all  the  aniline  dyes.  Coal  tar  has  destroyed 
the  cultivation  of  madder,  which  used  to  be  used 
in  making  turkey-red,  and  at  any  moment  it  may 
destroy  the  whole  of  the  Indian  indigo  industry. 
At  the  close  of  his  article  Lord  Playfair  says : — 
THE  UTILIZATION  OF  RATS. 
Of  all  living  things  rats  seem  to  be  among  the 
most  repulsive ; and  when  dead  what  can  be  their 
use  ? But  even  they  are  the  subjects  of  production 
in  industrial  arts.  In  Paris  there  is  a pond  surroun- 
ded by  walls  into  which  all  dead  carcases  are  thrown. 
A large  colony  of  rats  has  been  introduced  from 
the  catacombs.  The  rats  are  most  useful  in  clearing 
the  flesh  from  the  bones,  leaving  a clean-polished 
skeleton  fitted  for  the  makers  of  phosphorus.  At 
the  base  of  the  wall  numerous  shallow  holes  a^e 
scooped  out  just  sufficient  to  contain  the  body  of  the 
rats  but  not  their  tails.  Every  three  months  a great 
battue  takes  place,  during  which  the  terrified  rats 
run  into  the  holes.  Persons  go  round  and,  catching 
the  extending  tails,  pitch  the  rats  into  bags,  and 
they  are  killed  at  leisure.  Then  begins  manufacture. 
The  fur  is  valuable  and  finds  a ready  sale.  The 
skins  make  a superior  glove — the  gant  <h  rat — and 
are  especially  used  for  the  thumbs  of  kid  gloves, 
because  the  "skin  of  the  rat  is  strong  and  elastic. 
The  thigh  bones  were  formerly  valued  as  tooth-picks 
for  clubs,  but  are  now  out  cf  fashion;  while  the 
tendons  and  bones  are  boiled  up  to  make  the  gelatine 
wrappers  for  bon-bons. 
Surely  I have  established  my  thesis  that  dirt  is 
only  matter  in  a wrong  place. 
THE  MIRACLES  OF  CHEMISTRY. 
Chemistry,  like  a thrifty  housewife,  economises 
every  scrap.  The  horseshoe  nails  dropped  in  the 
streets  arc  carefully  collected,  and  re-appear  as  swords 
and  guns.  The  main  ingredient  of  the  ink  with  I 
which  I now  write  was  probably  once  the  broken 
hoop  of  an  old  beer  barrel.  The  ckippings  of  the 
travelling  linker  are  mixed  with  the  parings  of  horses’ 
hoofs  and  the  worst  kinds  of  woollen  rags,  and 
these  are  w irked  up  into  an  exquisite  blue  dye.  which 
graces  the  dress  of  courtly  dames.  The  'drers  of 
port  wine,  carefully  decanted  by  the  toper,  are 
taken  in  the  in  rmng  as  a seidlitz  powder  to  remove 
the  effect  of  the  debauch.  The  offal  of  the  streets 
and  the  wastings  of  coal  gas  re-appear  carefullv 
preserved  in  the  lady's  smelling  bottle,  or  used  by 
her  to  flavour  blanc  manges  for  her  friends.  Ail 
this  thrift  of  material  is  an  imitation  of  the  economy 
of  Nature,  which  allows  no  waste. 
In  the  Engineering  Magazine  for  November  Mr. 
Griswold  has  an  article  which  is  somewhat  on  the 
line  of  Lord  Playfair  s,  entitled  “ What  Engineering 
Owes  to  Chemistry.’’  The  writer  maintains,  not 
without  good  cause,  that  chemistry  lies  at  the  root 
of  all  civilisation.  — Recieic  of  Reviews. 
VARIOUS  NOTES. 
The  Indian  Tea  Companies’  Reports,  that  are 
now  being  published,  says  the  Calcutta  Englishman 
show  a muoh  better  condition  than  was  expected  ; 
So  far,  it  is  chiefly  Darjeeling  Companies  that  are  thus 
parly  in  the  field  with  their  teports,  owing  to  the  f«ot 
that  the  season  begins  and  closes  earlier,  but  from 
information  that  has  reached  us  and  from  the  many 
ud  interim  dividends  that  have  been  deolared  bv 
Companies  in  other  Districts,  it  seems  that  prosperity 
lias  not  been  confined  to  one  District,  and  1892  must 
be  considered  a prosperous  year  for  the  tea  industry 
notwithstanding  a short  crop  and  an  abnorma  ly  in- 
o'ement  seaern.  In  many  instances  advantage  has 
been  taken  of  a prosperous  season  to  present  a clean 
balance  Gheet  and  to  make  provision  for  a working 
capital  with  the  object  in  time  of  eliminating  the 
annual  debit  for  interest  whioh  for  years  pist  has 
disfigured  so  many  reports.  It  is  premature  yet  to 
form  an  opinion  as  to  the  coming  season,  hut  the  short 
crop  of  1892  has  proved  that  when  the  demand  ap- 
proximates to  the  supply,  the  planter  is  remunerated 
for  his  tronble,  and  investors  remove  a fair  return  tor 
their  money.  It  is  only  to  be  hoped  that  no  effort  will 
be  made  to  flood  the  London  market  in  the  present 
year. 
Indian  Tea  at  Chicago. — Indian  planters  are,  I 
think,  observes  a writer  in  a Calcutta  paper,  not 
altogether  hopeful  of  the  Chioago  Exhibition  doing 
great  things  for  their  tea.  The  Americans  have 
already  got  aeoustomed  to  cheap  inferior  tea,  and 
it  is  a slow  and  diffioult  process  to  change  the 
public  taBte.  This  was  the  difficulty  experienced  in 
Australia.  All  large  employers  of  farm  labour  are 
obliged  to  give  their  men  tea  along  with  other 
rations,  and  it  is  obviously  in  their  interest  that 
the  tea  should  be  as  cheap  as  possible.  The 
country  is,  therefore,  flooded  with  China  tea  and 
cheap  Indian  tea,  but  the  superior  infusions  have 
no  chance.  It  was  long  before  pure  Indian  tea 
could  be  purchased  in  London,  and  some  people 
argue  that  the  “ blends,”  with  which  the  publio 
were  imposed  on  for  many  years,  were  a necessary 
education  before  the  public  could  be  got  to  drink 
the  pure  Indian  beverage.  The  sellers  of  the  blend 
may  have  been  unoonseiously  educating  the  publia 
laste,  but  their  chief  aim,  I am  afraid,  was  to 
make  an  unfair  profit  for  themselves,  and  they 
deserve  no  praise  for  any  good  whioh  resulted 
from  their  evil.  Anyhow,  the  preference  for  Indian 
tea  has  got  a hold  on  the  English  publio  now,  and 
China  is  being  steadily  driven  out  of  the  market. 
It  is  to  be  hoped'  that  in  America  the  process  of 
education,  if  6low,  will  be  equally  sure,  and  that 
the  Exhibition  will  serve  as  a primary  school. 
Amerioa  is  really  a more  promising  market  than 
Australia,  and,  if  once  a start  is  made,  great 
things  may  be  accomplished. — Colonies  and  India, 
Jan,  14. 
