when the lamp is only partially filled with kero¬ 
sene, because then t here is a larger space for 
the explosive mixture, which acts in the same 
way as a larger load of powder in a gun. 
Again, many people suppose that there can be 
no danger of n lamp explosion unless the whole 
body of the oil in a lamp is heated to the Hash¬ 
ing point; that because the temperature of our 
rooms never rises to 120°, there can ho no dan¬ 
ger in using oil whose Hashing i>oint is 120°. 
Hut Dr. Bakp.r, Sci rotary of the State Board of 
Health of Michigan, has proved by experiment 
with lamps that an explosive mixture may form 
and the lamp may explode w hile the body of oil 
hi it is not above 85 F. The temperature of 
the body of oil is not the only factor to be con¬ 
sidered, because different parts of the lamp be¬ 
come very unequally heated, ir you will touch 
the brass collar of a lamp which has been burn¬ 
ing for some time, you will find it quite hot, and 
the tube supporting the wick is still more strong¬ 
ly heated. The formation of vapor will be de¬ 
termined by the hottest part of the lamp which 
comes in contact with tho oil. When the com¬ 
bustion is imperfect from any cause, tho brass 
fittings of the lamp become excessively heated. 
Dr. JSakkii found in his experiments, that when 
the chimney was removed and the lamp con¬ 
tinued to burn, the teiuperuturo of the brass 
collar rose very rapidly in every instanco; in 
one ease, in fourteen minutes it rose to 161° F. 
In this last instance very rapid explosions occur¬ 
red by the side of tho wick, and to prevent tho 
whole lamp from exploding the light was ex¬ 
tinguished. In none of these experiments did 
the temperat ure of the body of tho oil rise above 
85° F. Many persons on leaving a room will 
‘“turn down the lamp” to save oil, but such 
economy is very liable to cause a lamp explosion, 
which is anything but economical. If a light is 
not needed in a room, cither extinguish tho lamp 
or leave it burning with tho usual blaze. s. 
have a tendency to absorb liquids. Tho internal 
heat of tho earth occasioned tho reduction of 
carbureted metals, and this gave rise to hydro¬ 
carbons. Other chenysts than Mendelijcff have 
shown, experimentally, that something very like 
petroleum can be produced artificially, by imitat¬ 
ing in the laboratory the process above describ¬ 
ed. Sl'KNCISK. 
$m|)tcmcntsi unit |ttarliincnj 
STOVER’S 
AUTOMATIC 
WIND ENGINE. 
Wo keep experienced men 
to erect our Mills, put iu Force 
or Ijift rumps. House Valves 
unit lie se r v u l r Tanks, By- 
(Iranis: an<1 in Xcw I 'ork State 
Wi' h<ii)C pul liu more than all 
ulhem roni Miu'i/, during the 
past two years. 
Water forced from wells or 
springs to elevated points. 
Write for Circulars and full 
particulars, slating the nature 
of your wants, to 
IA US. SMITH it co„ 
Knlniim/.im. llicli. 
SCIENTIFIC AND USEFUL NOTES, 
The electric current moves through tho Atlan¬ 
tic cahlos only 6,125 miles per second, whereas 
it travels through insulated wires over ground 
288,000 miles per second. 
A vial of oil of pennyroyal placed on the 
stand at the head of your bod will drive either 
you or the mosquitoes out of the room. A dab 
of tho oil on your forehead will keep the mos- 
quitooB away, and everybody else, too. 
TfiF. force of the wind is easily measured by 
an anemometer. Seven miles an Lour is a gentio 
air ; fourteen miles a light breeze ,- twenty-one 
miles a good steady breeze; forty miles a gale; 
sixty miles a heavy storm; and eighty to one 
hundred miles is a sweeping hurricane. 
The discovery of the satellite of Mars is 
owing to the fact that this planet is many mil¬ 
lions of miles nearer the earth at present than 
tor nearly eighty years. Take a good look at 
Mars now; you will not see him so big anil 
bright again for nearly a century to come—and 
it is a triile doubtful if you will thou. 
Where screws are driven into soft wood and 
subjected to considerable strain, they are likely 
to work loose. In such eases tho use of glue is 
recommended. Prepare tho glue thick; im¬ 
merse a stick about half the size of the screw 
and put it into tho hole; then immerse tho 
screw and turn it homo as quickly as possible. 
A simple means of temporarily changing the 
colors of natural flowers is by immersing tho 
stems in liquid ammonia. Tu Ibis way blue, 
violet and purple flowers are changed to green, 
and white ones to yellow. The natural color re¬ 
turns iu a few hours. Another interesting pro¬ 
cess is a method for coating natural flowers, as 
well as leaves, with silver, by the application of 
electro-metallurgy; simply electro-plating them. 
Tho most delicate ornaments can thus be ob¬ 
tained, | reserving with exquisite detail the out¬ 
line anil form of each leaf an<l petal. 
The quantity of pins now produced daily In 
England is said to he 50,000,000, of which Bir¬ 
mingham produces 87,000,000, leaving some 13,- 
000.000 to London, Warrington, Stroud, and 
Dublin, where the artielo is also made, The 
weight of wire consumed annually in the pin 
manufacture of England is set down at about 
1,275 tons, one-eighth of this being iron wire, 
used in the production of mourning and hair 
pins. The consumption of brass wire amounts 
to 2,500.000 pounds, valued at nearly 3600,000, 
and of iron wire some 345,000 pounds, worth 
about $36,000—to these values being added, of 
course, those for wages, paper, ornamental en¬ 
velopes, boxes, wear aud tear of machinery, 
manufacturers’ profits, etc. Mourning, hair, en¬ 
tomological, and japaunocl pins- that is, those 
stuck in rows—realize a larger profit than pins 
Bold by weight. Taking it altogether, tho pin 
manufacture of the United Kingdom is not over¬ 
estimated, it Is thought, at the aggregate 
amount of $1,000,000. In the United States, 
the weight of pins produced in a year is set 
down at 1,120,000 pounds. 
SUBSCRIBERS 
Aden In Wanted, 
It has become quite common for 
“ Club ” and other Agents, in their 
competition, to “ cut ” the regular 
prices of papers, taking subscriptions 
for what they can get. 
We make the best and olieiiimst, CKJpr Press Screws 
in market. Send for Circulars aud Prices. 
HtJMSUY A CO., Seneca Falls, N. Y. 
ATTENTION, OWNERS OF HORSES! 
A the ZINC (HILI.A It 
HC-; V PAD is the only reliable 
■ SWfcri . M Pad fortiori.' necked Horses. 
M\ V 1 1| mu to prevent Kit!I ins, ever 
\ t \ / I p r onii ee d, nnd lias been 
V-—r* /M area tty Improved. Belngor 
’v, 45 / # metal. It always retains its 
iQr medicinal virtue; this do 
other pud has. Over a mil¬ 
lion in use. For sale tiv bamepg m-'kers In *.|*es to 
warrant a lit. MuiiufM by ZINC COM.A R PAD Co., 
Huchanuti, Midi. Ask your liurucns milker for them 
Such methods are unfair, and in 
ure all who are concerned 
CHAMPION OF THE WORLD! 
So Decided at the Centennial. 
THE ORIGIN OF PETROLEUM 
subscribers that we shall firmly main¬ 
tain our regular prices, and promptly 
refuse all subscriptions that are taken 
under rates. 
The production of Petroleum, or rock oil, 
gives so much employment to labor aud capital 
iu this country, its exportation adds so materially 
to our national wealth and its various products 
enter so freely into the arts, manufactures and 
domestic economy of tho world at large t hat any 
fresh light thrown upon its origin cannot rail to 
he interesting to an intelligent mind. Until 
recently tho opinions as to its origin was based 
on the assumption that, it had been derived from 
vegetable aud animal organisms. Gome supposed 
that it was the product of the decomposition of 
woody fibers, somewhat analogous to coal ; 
others that It was produced by the distillation of 
shales and coal; others that its origin was due 
to the decomposition of low forms of marine 
vegitatiou; while others maintained that by the 
complete chemical changes at present taking 
place in the interior of the earth, petroleum is 
being eontmualiy sot free. The general opinion, 
however, has been that it is a primary productof 
the decomposition of the marine animal or vege¬ 
table organisms, ehielly the former, and that 
nearly all varieties of bitumen are products of a 
subsequent decomposition of petroleum. 
At a recent meeting of the Chemical Society of 
St. Petersburg, however, Prof. Mendelijeff 
sought to combat some of these old notions and 
to substitute a new theory on the subject. In 
addition to the sources just enumerated, many 
geologists have maintained that the decomposi- 
tiou of mineral matter in the lower strata of tho 
earth produced this oil. Mendelijeff goes beyond 
these and believes that tho true source is to be 
found much lower down. According to his the¬ 
ory tho sandstones in which it is found are 
not its original source, as is shown from the fact 
that no carbonized animal remains are found iu 
it. There ought aho to be other products of or¬ 
ganic decomposition, if that was the starting 
poiut; we must search lower down, even below 
the Silurian, as the mineral oil in the Caucasus 
is found iu the Tertiary, and i u Pennsylvania in 
the Dovovian aud Silurian. As however, in the 
rocks below tho Silurian there was very little or¬ 
ganic life, the formation of such a great quanti¬ 
ty of petroleum could scarcely be traced to such 
a limited source. Mendelijeff, therefore pro¬ 
poses a substitute for (be organic theory. He 
goes back to the nebular hypothesis of Laplace 
and applies Dalton's law of the original gaseous 
condition of the material of the earth, and tak¬ 
ing into consideration the density of the earth 
and the vapor density of the elements, he arrives 
at the conclusion that the interior contains many 
metals and the chief among them is iron ; finally 
he assumes the presence of carburetie cum. 
Manufnctnrcd with or without Fertilizer and Grass 
Seed At.ttMfiimniitM. Also, the Davis' Patent Hoc 
Shifter mikI Spring Tubes. 
It vy ill mow VVlieiit, Itye, Oats, Peas, Barley. Buok- 
wtaimi, Corn, Clover und Timothy Seed, Phi*ter, 
1 . 1(00 A-lets, Guano. Bone Dust and tho different 
PD(s.|ih/ite*, add plant Corn ami. I It, arm fur the crop 
tucen*fatty, Manufactured by 
.1 011\SON, GKItF. Ac TRUMAN, 
IIwfl'o, Tioga Co., N. V. 
A liberal discount to flash Hustomers. 
Send for iiescrlntive circular and Report of tho 
Jmines of the Centennial. Principal Agencies : 
NASI! \ illtO., li Church St., Now Vorlc. 
NASH i IlltO., HurrlShura. Fli. 
1C. II. WHITMAN, 117 VV. Pratt St.. Balto.. Md. 
GKO. H. FOWLER. Detroit, Mloli. 
li, O. STtLKS, 1 } ot...r:iI Agent, O wego. N. V. 
"Whenever notified of such instan 
ees, we shall carefully investigate the 
facts, and sever all business relations 
with the offending party. If’ the 
money has reached us, it will be re¬ 
funded and the paper stopped, with 
an explanation to the subscriber of 
our reasons for so doing. 
MEDAL MACHINES 
New York State Agricultural Works. 
These stringent measures are neces 
-TVJpAH*. 
sary for self - protection, the pro¬ 
tection of the interests of our local 
1st Premiums at all Competitive Trials. 
It nil wav. Chain nml Dover Heine Powers, 
Threshers and Cleaners. Threshers and 
{shakers. Clover II ulirrs, Peed Cut* 
ler». Wheel Ilorse Itnkes, llorse 
Pileliforks, Shingle Machines, 
Straw Preserving It ye Thresh¬ 
ers, Portable Sienrn-Einiines, 
Cider and Wine Mills and 
Presses, Dog and Pony 
Powers, Em., Ecu, 
WHEELER <&. MELICK CO., 
ALBANY, N. Y. 
Send stamp for Circular and report of Centennial 
trial. 
agents, and in justice to out* subscrib 
DIRECTIONS FOR SENDING SPECIMENS 
SINGLE SUBSCRIPTION PRICE 
One fear - - - $2.50 
Six Months - - - 1.30 
The following are the instructions of the De¬ 
partment of Entomology of Cornell University 
to those sending specimens, aud as we are con¬ 
stantly receiving specimens from our own cor¬ 
respondents, which are so crashed that it is im¬ 
possible to identify them, we ask our entomolo¬ 
gical friends to be guided by these plain direc¬ 
tions : 
'“Letters desiring information respecting in¬ 
sects should be accompanied by specimens. If 
possible there should be sent specimens of eggs, 
larvae, and pupae, as well as adult insects, and 
anything else that may illustrate the habits of 
the species, such as nests, cocoons, part of plant 
infested, etc. Send also as full an account as pos¬ 
sible of the habits of the insect in question, 
using great care especially as to dates. 
Larvaj (i. e. grubs, caterpillars, maggots, etc.) 
should be packed alive in a tight tin box along 
with a supply of their appropriate food ; airholes 
iu the box are not needed ; and the tighter the 
box is, the fresher will the food, as well as 
the specimens keep. Other specimens may be 
packed with a little cotton in a small pasteboard 
box. To kill insects, saturate a little cotton with 
benzine, ether, or chloroform, and place it with 
the specimens to be killed under an inverted 
tumbler.” 
Osgood’s Patent Combination.” 
5 Ton Stock SCALES. $ 50 ! 
Fully warranted , unit guaranteed the. strongest, most 
accurate, ami durable Scales of like capacity made In 
tlie United States. 
“ Osgood's Patent” 4 Ton Ikon Lever 
. € Wagon Scale. #35 
‘Osgood’s Patent” 4 Ton Wood Lever 
Wagon Scale. 830 
“Gay’s Patent” 4 Ton Scale Irons.SSCiO 
BINGHAMTON SCALE WORKS, 
Binghamton, N. Y. 
IN CLUBS OF FIVE OR MORE 
One Year - - - $2.00 
Six Months - - - 1,10 
&nsiu vancc 
Our Premiums please everybody 
We want good Agents. 
Address 
RURAL PUBLISHING CO., 
Or WATERTOWN, N. Y. 
Insures only Farm Property and Private Residences. 
Capital. $-400,000 OO 
*uri»li|H ... .. S.tO.0-4‘4 70 
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Nci ■'urpiiii over Cnpitnl and 
Unnerve .... ISO.313 03 
T«lul Ain’t paid by this Com- 
luiuy lor Losses. ‘4,089.0 1-4 
John r. Coofkm. Pros’t. Isaac Mi-nson, Seo’y. 
J. A. Sherman, V. Pres. H. M.Stkvf,nh, Ass’tSec. 
Hiram Dewey, General Agent. 
78 Duane St., New York 
