Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1879)
February, 1879. THE WEST SHORE. 49 uiyoeliuui uu uuiaueu it work. there is as yet no apparent law governing the distribution of this fungus among the trees of thia genua. As I am informed by Messrs. Towles & Co., who hare had large experience with the tree, it attacks equally well those trees which grow either in moist or in dry soil. Another striking peculiarity of this fungua, and one wherein it ia an exoeption to those previously mentionod, is to be found in the fact that when the tree dioa its ravages cease entirely. In the cases of fungi destroying the Douglsas spruce and the lir tree of the Sierras, before montioned, we have seen the fungus continuing its work after the death of the treo, and be coming the most active agent in completing its destruction In this instance, however, IT the wood is not so far honeycombed as to crush under weight., tt makes a durable railway tin. Again, if sufficiently sound to bold a nail, it is us durable as any kind ol timber fur the pur pose of fence posts. Once fallen to earth, the giants of the forest bid deliauoo to every form of parasitic growth. Tkanhmittinu Power my Ki.Kiri'Rnrrv Profs. Klihu Thomson and Kdwin J. Houston have an important article in the journal of the Franklin Institute for January, concerning thu practicability of the transmission of powertolong distances by means of electricity. 11 lias Ihioi stated by an ominent electrician that the thick ness of the cable required to convey thu current that could be produced by the power of Niagara would rcniiiro more copper than exists in the enormous dcuoaits in the Lake Superior region Another statement estimates the coat of the cable at about 00 per lineal foot. Profs Thomson and Houston on the contrary assert that it is possible, should it lie deemed desir able, to convey the total power of Niagara , distance nf .MM, miliw or more hv Connor cahl not exceeding one-half of an inch in thickues Sitrmii..,! its tln.,.r,,ti,.,l nnnsi, teratoma. tllOV say the important fact still remains, that with a cable of very limited sise, an enormous quan titv of nower may bu,transfcrred to conaiileralili ilistancus. The burning of coal in the mines, and the conveyance of the power generated by the How of rivers, may therefore be regarded as practicable, always, however, remembering that a loss of about 60 ', will be almost unavoidable. GLASS CLOTHING. It may aoem a trausparent falsehood to state that people wear glaas clothing, but thia sort of apparel may yet come into use. Glass would seem to be about the last thing to think of as clothing; but it is novertheluw true that glass- loth ia being made in (iormany. If people whu live in glass houses should not throw stones, it ia to be hoped that had boys clothed in glaai may give up their stone-throwing nrnpenaitioa, not to mention snow-lialling, and, If ao, the era M glass clothing will tie hailed with pleasure. The following particulars of tho process are translated for tho Detroit Frtt 1'rein from tho llerrnhut, by Hermann Fruoaulf, of that oity: 'At liaudentrei, the artist and the glass. spin ner, A. I rengel, of vieiiua, lias uatabliahed ma glass business, ottering carpet s, cuffs, collars, veils, etc., of glass. Me not only spina, but als.. weaves glaas hoforo the eyes of the people. The otherwise brittle glass he ehangea into pli able threads, and uses them for making good, warm clothing. It aoumla like a myth; but Mr. I 'rengel introduces certain ingredients, which are his secret, ami thereby ehangea the entire nature of tho glaas. He haa just finished white, curly glass mull for a lady in St. Petersburg; ho ehargea 4(1 thalera (KM I for them. Also ladies' hats nf glasa, with glass feathers. A remsrkablo feature nf this glaaa material ia that it ia lighter than leathers. Wool made of glass esuuot lie distinguished fmin the genuino articlo. Mr. Prengel s glass inventions are something ao extraordinary and useful for clothing, etc , as glass is a non-con ductor, that it will probably cause an entire revolution in dreaa material." Tii is -mis-in s or Heat nv Mm Plates, Mr. John Collins, of the Bolton Iron and Htecl Company, Pennsylvania, has been making some experiments on tno relative ubbh wasuawsasj i.owcr of iron and steel boiler plates. The at paratua used by him consisted nf exactly similsr plates of steel or iron 112 inches square, '23 100 of an inch thick, supported on glass logs, nested by a "Hunsen burner consuming eqnsi quanta ties of gas, maintained at constant pressure o two inches, and a basin three inohes in diame tr placed in center of plate, containing mer curv in which s delicate thermometer was im mersed. The temperature of the meroury was then rsised from 20 C, to 100 C, and relative !,,,,,. noted The avenue gain in time of Steel over iron plates of equal thickness is 18. When the relative thickness of the plates as used in boiler building is taken, thu gives an average gain of about 10. In steam boiler trials, where boilers are similar in all respects, say thickness and material, the actual gain in working 20 days of 12 hours each shows actual evaporative power of 20 in favor of steel. In another series of a similar nature by Htucken tholta, the results gave 19 6; and 20. in favor of steel. A TIMID Bostonian has married a lady whoa weight verges clnaady upon 200 pounds. "My dear " says be to bar, "shall I help you over the fence!" "No," y bl bim- """'P th" leasts). " OaaKD-ATHEB to his hopeful: "My aim, which wonld you rather hav. what iyon go .homo -a Utile brother or aiaterr' GrantUoo. "Well. I would rather hare a little pony. Hi t-KwiiKAT. Tho name conies from lieech wheat, because tho sued resembles thu lieech mast in shape, but has been corrupted into buckwhoat It is a native of Aaia, aud was brought into Kurope either by the Crusaders flOO or 700 years ago, or into Sjiain by Moors. It ilid nut reach Knglaiid until within mo last 2.10 years, but just in time to come over with some of tho oarlieat settlers in America, it was first cultivated by the Hudson river hutch, and by the Swedes on the Delaware. Tho Dutch mention it as early as 11110, and from what they asy on the subject it is quite certain they than knew quite as much about buckwheat oskes as was ever worth knowing. From these two center- of early settlement the cultivation apresd ovur Now York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania; following the colonists into the new homos they cleared up in the forests as certainly a tho follows in tho nslhwsy of the west ern nioneer. making bis home wherever the white man builds his cabin. These tin.. -slabs have always been iinmoiiso producers M I k slmst urowiuu two-thirds of the whole 1,1, raised, now amounting U many million bushels annually. It cultivation is rapidly exbn inline through the mirth slid northwest, " . I Ml..,,.., until the present annual product is oo,wu,uuu of bushels To Count Zmc- The 7VrWoiW, gives the following process tor permanently coloring sue The metal must lie oiilU purr, as must also tli materials of which the following U la on p.... .l : Tartrate de ouivre, 30 grains ; potass --- 40 uraius l sail diatilloe, 400 grains. After briug submitted for two minutes to the 4,..n ,,f this bath, tic sine lakes a violet tint ; after three minutes immersion, it beoomos a deep blue ; in four sua s uaii unnum, gn-. o in six and a half minutes, purpl. I runs Pie. for each peeled snd grated .,1,1 ,. U-a euti of sugar, and one lablr spoonful of oorn stareh dissolved in eold water, lvr this noar a tea cup of boiling water ( rust One part of white floor, on part i... H,.ur one Irt corn meal. Shorten it with butter or condensed milk, rwlaoad ona third. Us two crests. BVOLUTION AND SPONTANEOUS GKN KKATION. Raw, W. II. Dalinger, who is well known through hia combat against the theory of spoil tanooiia generation, lately delivered a levlurs in Loudon on the relations between his theory and that nf the evolutionist. According to the re port in ron, there were, he said, many admirera of the theory of evolution who held that miles spontaneous generation was admitted, the tiieory was incomplete, .lust as in water thorn ia tho Niteutiality of forming crystalline pat tenia in suuw and ice, ao they hold that in or ganic matter generally, there ia potentiality of forming protoplasm. No living structure eon tains any known element that la not met with in the inorganic world, aud the only chemical difference known ia the combination of tho . I. uienta. Hut tho lecturer urged that evolution and spontaneous generation were two distinct questions that need very accurate study siart. The developmental progression of all living forma from simple protoplasm, ia a very dilferent question from whether living protoplasm can be aHiiitaneously evolved from the Inorganic world. For himself, if facta were brought for ward to supSirt spontaneous generation, he should I m IkiiiihI, were they valid faeU, to SO cept the theory. He had, however, ilevoled much lalmr, and th time of year In the rigid investigation of some of the faeU that bear upon the question, and these he would describe. It had seemed to him, in studying what hail boon written, that there were two lines of work that needed following out very uloaely. Due was a series nf thermal eaiierimente, to deter mine with eisulness what Is the "daath point" of an organism, or a "germ." The other was to watch the life history of some forms of innusda and see if they did reproduce. D was this sec ond line he hail Ukeu up. The most carefully nil. In. 't. .1 experiments of the tl rat groups have I to the conclusion that if all germs sre . eluded from septic liquids no III aplivara, I. ile Ins oiperimouU I. el conclusively shown that in. ma. I- do roirHluoo from renlal pMsrl n. is. and the life history of ruivrselve geuota linns had U-eii w stched. The tiatursl Infer- nee smdna to Im that monads originate only mm previously existing monads, add if this la true of them, it U not improbable that ohsarva. turns conducted with squal ear will show the same with M gar. I to haoUria. Wiim la Hi t in One bundled pounds of Hour eoutalu, of dry material, HI pounds, and of natural water, in pounds, wmis lou pounds nf breed would contain, in addition to th M pounds of dry aubaUuue and the HI pounds ol natural water, .hi siuniia in soiled water. loaves of bread Income lighter in wight by baking, because during th sr. uses a larger qiiaulity of water is .In. mi off, and yet th re sou why bread, which contains fully to ol water after baking, r-'.sms so much nf this liquid, ia Is . sine during the baking lbs atari li is i onve ill .1 into gnlo, wl.e li holds water u"l" strongly thsn atarch due; snd also Issoaua th gluten ol Hour, when once thoroughly wet, la very difficult to dry again, forming a tonaeioua coating round every hollow iwll in th bread, retaining the sin) walnr. Again, In dry ernat which forms round tb bread In hakteg I nearly iniHirvlno t.. water, ami prnU In moisture wltbni fnun eeoapiug. To i itvs-i tin Hun Ammonia should not b used on the hair; il Interna thagloa and softness, i luting the hair to (sieom hank ami dry. Th ht war to elmnso the hair, and keep the aralp healthy, I to beat up a frk egg, and rub it well lute the hair, or, if more con veniant, nib it into the hair without testing Hub th egg in until a lather I formed ; wt th hands in warm water, softened with bursa , by the lime s Istber is formtd, th aralp la eUn, then rtna th egg all out ia basin of warm water containing a tehlespootn'sl of powders! borax, after that rlrts in est of elaar warm water.