496 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Simple Science 
By Dr. F. D. Crane 
Hardening Meat; Making Microscope 
Specimens 
1. Is there any harmless chemical 
which will turn meat hard? 2. What is 
used in cutting microscope sections? 
B. M. 
1. If you mean something that will 
harden meat and yet leave it fit for use 
as food, there is nothing except the well- 
known mixture of salt and saltpeter, 
combined with drying, that, has been used 
for many years. 
2. Microscope sections are often cut 
frozen; formaldehyde is often used, also 
a chromate, but the latter stains as well 
as hardens, which is not always an ad¬ 
vantage. Many changes of alcohol of very 
gradually increasing strength, so as not 
to distort the tissues, are also sometimes 
used: then the alcohol is replaced by 
benzine and the sample “infiltrated" with 
warm paraffin. The sections are then cut 
and the process reversed, the section be¬ 
ing stained while in weak alcohol. 
Insulator for Retaining Heat 
What is the best insulator for retaining 
heat? It need not be fireproof. How do 
the following compare: Asbestos plaster, 
mineral wool, ground cork? E. S. R. 
Mayville, N. Y. 
So lmndi depends on how the insulator 
is applied that we hesitate to decide be¬ 
tween the three excellent ones you men¬ 
tion. As it is really the air which insu¬ 
lates. ground cork might be the most ef¬ 
ficient if not packed too tight, but as we 
are always in favor of something which 
cannot possibly catch fire, we are inclined 
to advise mineral wool if you can gel a 
fluffy article, and can apply it conven¬ 
iently. 
Danger from Unexploded Dynamite 
About 30 years ago some rock clearing 
was done with dynamite, and some years 
later a rock was moved and an unexploded 
charge found. This is now covered with 
earth and rocks. Is it likely to make 
trouble in future? E. F. M. 
Attleboro Falls, Mass. 
No one can tell, but the chances are 
very much against it. Much depends on 
the way the charge was tamped in. Dyn¬ 
amite is a rather uncertain proposition, 
and has no “statute of limitations'’ to run 
in your favor. Better continue to for¬ 
get it. 
Use of Fire Extinguisher 
How are the carbon tetrachloride fire 
extinguishers mentioned in The II. N.-Y. 
to be used? F. B. 
Perry, O. 
I)o anything you can to get the liquid 
sprinkled on or about the fire. It acts 
by blanketing it with vapor, so the air 
cannot get in to feed the flame. 
Sound Vibrations 
If a tree fell in a forest and there was 
no ear within hearing distance, would 
there be any sound? JI. N. <T. 
Erie, Pa. 
This is an old trick question, and it is 
all a matter of definitions. If a tree falls 
or a butterfly lights there is a condition 
set up in the air which we call a vibra¬ 
tion. If that vibration is sufficient to 
excite the nerves of the ear, we name it 
a “sound" ; if it is not. we do not “hear’ 
it. ■ though we may perceive it in other 
ways, as air vibration. If you want to 
debate something, better follow the Greeks 
and consider that motion is impossible 
for a thing cannot move where it»is. since 
then it would cease to be there, and cer¬ 
tainly it cannot move where it is not. 
Now where it is and where it is not com¬ 
prise all space. 
A Petrified Potato 
1 send herewith a potato which has 
changed into stone. How do you account 
for it? mbs. w. c. il. 
Berwick. Me. 
The sample, which was evidently a po¬ 
tato, certainly looked like agate when 
broken, but it had not changed into stone. 
Tt. had simply dried up. But before it 
dried up the starch had been changed 
into a slightly soluble form, and the in¬ 
dividual starcdi grains bad blended into 
a gummy mass. On soaking and treat¬ 
ment with a trace of iodine, the core 
nective tissue network appeared filled 
with semi-soluble starch. IIow the starch 
was changed we cannot say, but it is not 
unusual to find a potato with some sort of 
decay or rot in it. which turns it to a 
jelly-like mass before it actually decays, 
and the bo«t guess is that something of 
this sort had taken place, and then the 
potato dried up before it could rot any 
more. 
Varnish for Wallpaper 
Flow can I remove varnish from wash¬ 
able wallpaper and what is the best var¬ 
nish to use on such paper? Mrs. w. t. 
Wortendyke, N. J. 
We doubt if you can remove the var¬ 
nish without at the same time removing 
the coating on the wallpaper that makes 
it. “washable,” since that is also a sort of 
varnish. However, you can try equal 
parts of benzine and denatured alcohol, 
with due precautions as to lights in the 
room, as the mixture is very inflammable. 
As to the varnish to be used in future, we 
can only suggest a very pale copal var¬ 
nish if you can get a good grade. A gen¬ 
uine white shellac or sandarac might do 
fairly well. 
Homemade Shampoo 
What is a good shampoo for home use? 
Tampa, Fla. J. A. P. 
The basis of all good shampoos is a 
coeoanut oil soap. You can get cocoanut 
oil in small lots under the name of “nut 
butter” or “nut margarine,” and to this 
other oils may be added to give body, to¬ 
gether with a slight excess of carbonate 
of potash. An equal mixture of cocoanut. 
cottonseed and lard oils, saponified with 
caustic potash (caustic soda makes it too 
insoluble, but can be used), and with 
about five per cent excess carbonate of 
potash, will shampoo even with hard 
water. It is impossible to say just how 
much caustic potash will be needed; it 
varies with the oils a little. Start with 
eight or 10 per cent of the weight of the 
oil in water, five times the weight of the 
oil, and add either.more potash or more 
oil after boiling a few hours. Then add 
the carbonate of potash and allow to set¬ 
tle or strain when cold. It will work as 
well or better if not quite clear. 
Perfuming may be avoided by adding 
a few drops of tar. You then have a “tar 
shampoo,” but if you must perfume it 
stick to the simple oil like spike lavender 
and rosemary; the excess of carbonate 
will kill the finer odors. 
March 26, 1921 
The Coming of Spring 
(Continued from page 494) 
to defend yourself or move away. So last 
Fall it shared the fate of the other bushes 
around our border. 
Daddy takes a circle around the brush 
pile and selects a spot on the south side 
where he stops to sort his kindling. While 
he is starting the blaze we mount the old 
rail fence close by and gaze off specu¬ 
latively into the dim suggestive stillness 
of a fine growth of hickory, oak and 
chestnut. George climbs up. too, not to 
rub and purr, but in the semi-crouching 
attitude of a wild creature sensing dan¬ 
ger. He is with us. but not of us. glar¬ 
ing fearfully into the quiet shadows, and 
shunning Elsie’s touch as she tries to re¬ 
assure him. peering upwards uneasily at 
the movement of some shifting limb, lis¬ 
tening perhaps for the ghostly padding of 
the soft gray feet of an ancient enemy. 
Ah ! Daddy has a flame started. Out¬ 
lined sharply against a background of the 
blue-black snow cloud which has covered 
the sun. the ever wonderful beauty of its 
glow catches us by the throat. We are 
overcome by the elation peculiar to watch¬ 
ers of fire in open places. How many 
lonely wanderers have been soothed and 
strengthened in the light of a simple bon¬ 
fire since the world began. Little squeaky 
voices come from the burning wood, and 
little Jane laughs and claps her hands. 
Daddy pushes the outside limbs up to 
the center of the pile with a long stick, 
but after a time even these are consumed 
and we find ourselves looking down upon 
a heap of smoking ashes. Must we go? 
Judging by the hands of Daddy’s watch, 
it is time to start back. So we loiter back 
to the sand knoll. Somehow the disap¬ 
pointments of the year just past have be¬ 
gun to seem as mere incidents; we tell 
ourselves that he who makes no mistakes 
does nothing. Then suddenly we face 
back to the woods and search the tree 
tops with eager eyes There he is. a 
red-breasted thrush in the top of a big 
maple ; under the spell of his silvery notes 
we are aware of the pushing leaves of 
daffodils, the smell of moist brown earth 
—the stirring of dormant creatures be¬ 
neath it. the awakening of a new year. 
We have heard the Spring song of the 
first robin. 
On ahead is our destination, a little 
gray house with a thread of thin smoke 
that seems to welcome us home. Elsie 
wonders in excited tones how many eggs 
the hens have laid, and little Jane is clam¬ 
oring for more speed, hoping Daddy will 
gallop. I can almost see those stockings 
waiting. Ixist time? No. indeed; just 
plav time. mrs. f. ii. unger. 
Gut tfie Cost of filter Comfort 
Sectional View of Convector 
Note triple casing and corruga¬ 
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galvanized l ron that prevent heat 
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