gleanings. 
A Chimney Worth Sweeping. 
A rritMAN iournal gives the result o£ an experiment performed 
snot witli which the inside surface of an old Hue, puliod 
rrduTnrtho llte alterations at the Royal Mint at Berlin, was 
■found to be thickly caked. This Hue had served for many years as 
an outlet for the smoke given olT by the furnaces in which the bul¬ 
lion undergoes fusion before its conversion into coinage; and it oc- 
eurred to the arcliitect superintending the repairs in question that 
it might be worth while to analyze the soot linhig the chimney 
through which fumes of boiling gold and silver had passed in such 
quantities The liquefaction of the less precious metal requires a 
temperature of 1000 °, wliilst that of gold cannot be effected under 
laiO*: It is usual to strew the surface of these metals, when in a 
liquid state, with charcoal, in order to hinder evaporation; but at 
such flcrco heat as that indicated above some evaporation is bound 
to take place, and its results were made manifest by the yield of 
four pounds’ weiglit of pure gold, valued as something under four 
thousand marks ($1000), obtained from the soot that was scraped oft 
the inside of the chimney in question.—J’oiirnal of ChemUtry. 
An area 
Of ninety-three tliousand acres has been planted with trees in 
Kansas, under the new law relating to arboriculture. The cot¬ 
ton tree was largely planted on account of its rapid growth, and 
six thousand acres were set with walnut trees The expectation is 
that this will operate, in course of time, to relieve the climate of its 
extreme dryness. 
Fan Painting. 
Autistio fan-painting, as an industry, seems likely to receive a 
valuable inifietus through the exertions of Mr. E, Ban'ington Nash. 
This gentleman, who is an enthusiast on the subject, is about to open 
a school in London especially for pupils in this fascinating branch 
of pictorial art, tvith a view to providing “profitable employment 
ifor gentlewomen of artistic ability, and to retain some poi*tion of the 
£100,000, which enormous figure represents the value of the annual 
imports of fans of an artistic character into England. ” The stun ex¬ 
pended in the United Stales in the same direction must be at least as 
large, and the interest shown hi the recent exhibition of fans at the 
rooms of the New York Society of Decorative Art suggests that the 
foi-mation of a special class iii fan painting, with a view of providing 
■“ profitable employment for gentlewomen of artistic ability " might 
be well worth considering on our side of the Atlantic.—Arf Amateur, 
Japanese Houses. 
A Japanese house is really a double affair. The most expense is 
put into the roof, which is of splendid heavy tile in all the towns 
and villages. On the isolated farm houses straw thatch is used more 
extensively. The roof Is sustained by uprights framed into it, which 
have their foundations on the ground. The floor is generally about 
two feet above the ground, and is divided into rooms by paper par¬ 
titions, which are in sections and slide in grooves. They can, at 
pleasure, be entirely removed, leavirg, if necessary, the entire area 
in one room. The sides of the buildhig. or at least one or more, are 
also in sections, which slide in grooves and are removed during the 
day, if required. Generally there is a space left for a passageway 
between the outside and the inner partitions forming the rooms, so 
that in ivinter the rooms enclosed only by paper screens ore mode 
waim and comfortable by the protection of the outer shell when 
slid into position, while in summer the facility with which all parti¬ 
tions are removed insures good ventilation. Very many of the 
houses are built with an interior court, devoted to ornamental shru’os 
and flowers, showing an admirable degree of sesthetic taste in the 
people. 
Use of Both Hands. 
A PERSON who has the equal use of both hands is called nmbidex- 
^trous, ns though possessed of two doxtera, or right hands. A man in 
Now York is a remarkable example of this, and ho claims that it is 
.not a born gift,- but an acquirement within the power of any.porson. 
Recently ho lectured upon the subject, and began his illustratiori by 
showing on the blackboard what he called the best test of ambidex¬ 
terity, the wrtting signatures. He wrote his own name with both 
hands at once, backwnfd' and fonvard, right side up and up side 
down, and in half-a-dozcn,dlffereat.ways. 
“This,” said Mr. Woodward, “ is a valuable accomplishment for a 
bnnlc president or railroad official; for he who can write his name 
twice while another is wwiting it once, deserves three holidays a week 
or double pay.” 
Then the lecturer ivrote a love-letter in French with one hand, and 
a business letter in English with the other, simultaneously. After- 
wai’d, at the same time he wrote such words as Fontainebleau and 
Constantinople. Xa an atiiletic exercise, club swinging and dumb¬ 
bell shaldng sink into stupidity beside tliis. The most dlffloult thing 
to do is to draw a square with one hand and a circle with the other. 
Then ho attempted the task. The ends of the circle did not meet, 
and it tvas not round; besides, the square looked like a parallelogram, 
but the audieuce applauded. 
Finally,'Mr. Woodward drew, with both hands, symmetrical geome¬ 
trical 11 glues, which ho called decorative designs, employing the right 
hand on the right side of tho figure, and the left hand on the left side. 
He sketched seven of these flgui'es in a minute and a half, and said, 
“I will challenge the best draughtsman in New York City to per¬ 
form this task in an hour and a quarter with one hand, and he may 
select his own design.”—C/irtsfton Advocate. 
An old Portrait. 
An aged Now York ailist named Seymour claims to have discov¬ 
ered a genuine portrait of Peter Stuyvesant, supposed to have been 
painted in Holland in 1018, when tho future director-general of tho 
colony of New Netherlands was a handsome young man of thli^ 
years. The picture is on a walnut panel found among some rubbish 
in the cellar of the building in which the artist has his studio. He 
was about to split the board to make picture wedges, when he de¬ 
tected the outlines of a portrait tlu'ough the coat of paint in which 
it was concealed. He removed the paint and brought out a beauti¬ 
ful portrait. In tho upper right-hand comer of the panel is a shield 
with the inscription, “Petrus Stuyvesant,” 1618.” The artist’s 
theory is that the portrait was covered in tliis way to evade the ex¬ 
cessive customs duties which were at that time imposed on works 
of art, and that it was thrown aside when received, and has been 
dealt with as a useless piece of rubbish ever since. He values tho 
“ find” at S5000.—Boston IVanscripf. 
How Corals Grow. 
Prof. Le Conte says the popular idea in regard to corals is that 
these animals are little insects, that.they build as ants and bees do, 
and when they are alarmed they disappear into their little burrows, 
and these reefs are accumulations of millions of these little insects 
in generation after -generation. The fact is, tho coral animal is a 
polyp belonging to the group of radiata; that it consists of lime¬ 
stone deposits in the shape of a cylinder with top and bottom disks, 
sui-mounted -with tentacles, containing a stomach and enveloped 
with gelatinous organic matter. The tentacles or arms are pro- 
videefeaoh with a mouth for the absorption of food. The animals 
that build reefs are not much larger than pinheads. Reef-building 
, corals will not grow at a depth of over, one hundred to one hundred 
and twenty feet There have been reef-building corals found at a 
depth of one thousand feet, but they were dead—drowned by being 
carried below their depth.- This confines them to coast lines dnd 
submarine banks. Corals will not grow where the temperature is 
lower than sixty-eight degrees at any time—that is, the ocean,.not 
the air. Therefore they are confined to the tropical regions. They 
will not grow except in clear salt water; hence there is always a 
break m reefs opposite the mouth of a river. Finally, they demand 
free exposure to the beating of the waves. 
A Famous Old Rosebush. 
The celebrated rosebush at Hildasheim, in Hanover, believed to 
be 1,000 years old (ti-adltion says it was planted by Charlemagne), 
never bore so many roses as this season. The shoots grafted on its 
tnmk in recent years are giwing admirably. The bush stands at 
the outer wall of the cathedral crypt. Its branches extend about 88 
feet high, and 84 feet in width. It is an object of much curiosity. 
Black Pearls. 
DiviNa for black pearls employs a large number of men and boats 
oft the coast of Lower California. Traders supply the vessels and 
diving apparatus upon tho stipulation that the pearls that are found 
are to be sold to them at simcifled rates. These jewels.ore of much 
beauty and highly prized. A year’s production is worth on an aver¬ 
age from S500,e0J to S1,0.0,COO. 
