179 
NOTES ON POPULAR SCIENCE. 
By Dr. J. E. Taylor, f.l.s., f.g s., Ac, Editor 
01- Science Gossip." 
Sir Charles Mills and Dr, E^infeton have b«en 
visiting France for the purpose of icquiring into the 
b=sfc irie4)ods of guarding against and esterminai.ing 
the phylloxera. South African vineysrds are just now 
suffering grievously from this pest. Sir Charles 
has drawn up a report, in which he advises 
viticulturists to study French methods at Lyons, 
M ntpollier, snd Bordeuix. Dr. Bdington describes 
the hest me- bods of grafting and planting. He is 
about to return to the Cape, in order to be there 
ht-f"rp the firsf'ing season begins. It is proposed to 
establish trial stations, in which the various kinds 
of AruBiicai vineo can be separately watfhed and 
tested. One kind, called riparia, is said to he absolutely 
free from and uras^ailable by the phylloxera. These 
Cape e.'iperim'^nts should he keetly and careful'y 
■\vatohed by Aus'raran vitiouiturist^. 
M.Leaage, a French scientist, hasjnst communicated 
the rPSiiUs of some v>-ry curious fxperiment<i he has 
been making on the influence of sa't upon the quan tity 
of starch cont ained in the tissues of thf crt'ss (Lepidium 
sativum). These show that whfn the plarts were 
witeied with solutions containing from twelve to 
fifteen grains of jalt per litre the starch disappeared 
completely. The diminution t f starch was ptoportionnl 
to the iucn a^e of salinity, 
Mr. Storch, a German chemist, has been micro- 
scopically investigatitig the causes of "oily bntt.er." 
He thought it might be due to Some particular 
kind of bacteria, but if so he failed to find one. He 
discovi red, however, that in all the butters he exsmined 
in which tue " oiliness" was a marked feature there 
were always numerous lungi present, ao Mr. Storch 
concludes they are iniurious. A different organism 
was fourd in "tallowy butti'r." Another probiide 
flavourini; of hutler in that of "turnips," although 
made from the milk of cows which have not 
fed on Ih '^e plants This al<o is be'ii-ved to be due 
to a special organism. The aromatic odour pscliliar 
to i-ourii g cream is caustd hv e bacterium, and it 
is thought tl'at butler having the eame flavour 
owes it to the sa.me ci'us \ Thesp microscopic fungi, 
tlierefo'e, give the fl avours to our bulters as well as 
odours to our wines. 
It is DOW proved that the power possei=sed by 
plants to stoie up mi..i-ral S'lbs-ances differs much 
both quantitively and q ualitatively. The object of 
lime is t'l oouveit the poisonous potassium oxaliite, 
which is found in con iderable amount, into calcium 
oxalate. Tue a-similatiou of nitric ac d takes (lace 
ill the gre. n cills "f plM.ts, and nitrogen migra es 
chiefly in ih= firm of amide* and amido-ncids, 
Wii' have by no ni6»ns learned all we can about 
ants, h^ldwe^^lall hava to take S' loraoa's advice, 
and CO si er their wa^s » good deal more before we 
do, m pit© of the researches of Huher, Lubbock, 
and M'Oook. The lutest riiscovi ry concerning ants 
is that xhey are capable • f partheuogeuesis. This 
long word djts not nigni y a crime — it oi lv means 
that the female iutect o .n b'etd f r s-veral generations 
without the aid of the mal-: It i^ a cha' aetenstio 
method of reproduction in the aphiJes, or plant lire. 
Several otiier orders of inse- ts ha' e m "ibers which 
oco:isii ually or habitually adopt, the habit, but no- 
boily hitheilo suspect^ed ants. Professor Wasmann, 
hovvi ver, has been enabled to indu-^e two sp' cies 
of ■ ur common ants to become parthenoeenetic by 
simply warming their nesta ia winter. — Australasian. 
Pi,ANTiNG IN Pir,R4K.— The Finang Gazette of 30th 
July st^ys : — Negotiatiofia are in progress for the 
purchase of fi e thousand acres of land from the 
Perak GovernniBnt on terms as reoenily advertised. 
Tliin large aoveai?e of land will be hrouaht into 
culiivaiion by ihe intending puruhajcrs as quickly 
aa possible, prlngipftUy, we understand, with coffee 
and tea; 
PLANTING IN TEAVANCORE. 
Wo have had very complete returns sent to us 
by our Travanoore friends for the plantations in the 
various plar^ting divisions of the State. They ore 
included in full detail in our Directory and the 
following Eumniary made up thereupon indicates 
how tea is slowly but steadily superseding coffee 
and cinchona " over the ferry," as in Ceylon i— 
Tbavancoee ; — Average of Plantations. 
w i; 
Ppertnade 
North and Ceu- 
tral 
Assamboo... 
Kannaadevaa „ 
1891 
Peermade 
North and Cen- 
tral 
Assamboo.. , 
Kannaadevan . 
601 2, ICQ 2,023 4,486 9,063 
377 
218 
1,9(31 
3,055 
310 
291 
1,703 
2,301 
2,898 
i,oao 
270 
6,313 
3,321 
3,350 
1,127 
.=596 
1,378 
160 
4,157 
1,356 
352 
1,234 
232 
3,871 
2,800 
2,231 
13,388 37,531 
4,987 8,589 
3,993 15,510 
2,303 5,713 
8,106 
2,273 36,286 
3,204 13,558 66,098 
Travancore has now 8,106 acres under tea, 3,204 
of coffee, and 2,304 cinchona, making up a total 
of 13,558 cultivated acres out of 66,098 acres com- 
prised in tha properties. 
The Chinese Tea men are reported to maintain a 
sort of incredulous oonohalance, even in the face 
of that almost complete capture of the English 
market by the Indian and Ceylon teas that ap- 
pears to be impending. Consul Hopkins tells us 
that, in spite of the gloomy forebodings oi 
foreigners, it is certainly true that the tea-men 
have not yet had the alleged gravity of the situ- 
ation confirmed by any general lightness of their 
pockets since the transitional period began. They 
see Bassian buyers plunging at all the crack teas 
alm ist at any cost, and even buying up in London 
what they had not been able to secure at Han- 
kow. Indian teas (adds Mr. Hopkins) are not in. 
deed to the Bussian taste, but the danger that 
threatens the teas of Central China comes from 
the rivalry of the Ceylon plant, 'he leaf of which 
gives a liquor, soft, pure, and delicate, suggestive 
of fine Niiigchow, but preserving a character of iia 
own, — Indian 
Do Toi Ls Gkow Tieed ? — This seemingly absurd 
question is seriously answered in the affirmative by 
a correspondent in a technical contemporary. Ha 
says : — ■' I called the attention of a ahopmate — a 
grizzled old veteran — to the peculiar behaviour of a 
chisel. He looked at it and handed it baok to me, 
saying — 'The tuol is all right, only a little tired. 
Lay it aside and let it rest. It will come out all 
right again, just as a man that is tired will.' I did 
not believe the old fellow, and I really thought he 
was crazy, speaking of a tool getting tired ; but, as 
thero was no help for it, the tool was laid away. I 
do not remember how long it was left to 'rest,' but 
when it was again sharpened and used it appeared to 
hold its keenest edge as well as it did before it got 
tired. Barbers tell me their razors, in constant use, 
get tired in the same way ; and wood-choppers say 
their axes seem to grow soft all at once. Possibly 
CO. stant and hard usage may cause changes in 
orys'.alJisation that would account sntisfaotorily for 
the peauliarityalluded to." — BritisJi. Quarterhj Trade 
