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Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1605, 25 August 1874, Page 333

Science, Art, and Manufracture.

To Harden Tools. According to J. Scheuszleder, watchmakers and engravers harden their tools in sealing-wax. The article is made white hot and thrust into sealing-wax, allowed to remain a moment, then withdrawn and thrust into another place, and this treatment is continued until the steel is cold, and will no more enter the wax. The hardness thus attained is extremo, and comparable to that of the diamond ; in fact, steel hardened in this way may be used for boring or engraving steel hardened by other processes, the tool being previously moistened with oil of turpentine. To Preserve Shingles.—The following is said to be a useful recipe -.—There is a good deal better way of preserving shingles than to paint them. We have seen shingle roofs kept till 50 years old only by the application of lime. Here is a very effective way for preserving shingles:—Take a potash kettle or large tub, and put into it one barrel of wood ashes lye, 50H) of white vitriol, 51b of alum, and as much salt as will dissolve in the mixture. Make the liquor quite warm, and put as many shingles in it as can be conveniently wetted at once. Stir them up with a fork, and when well soaked take them out and put in more, renewing the liquor as necessary. Then lay the shingleß in the usual manner. After they are laid, take the ' liquor that is left, put lime enough to make it into whitewash, and apply it to the roof with a brush or on old broom. This wash may be renewed from time to time. Salt and lye are excellent preservatives of wood, The House-fly's Parasite.—Our common house fly is not a unfrequent victim of parasitic visitation. A fungus called the emjntsa musce, originating from the germination of a single spore brought in contact almost anywhere with the body of the insects pervades after a time its whole interior, and while leaving the surface uninjured, emphaticaliy eats out its substance. AVhen the animal's life is nearly exhausted he comes to rest, and fungoid shoots put forth from his body on all sides, clothing him apparently with a kind of fur, consisting of filaments each bearing a fructification of innumerable spores. The harvest of spores becomes very conspicuous when the unfortunate animal makes his last stand upon the window pane, formiug a thin film over the glass to a considerable distance around him ; and if by any chance a healthy individual of the same species comes within the limit of this infected area, the disease which has destroyed his fellow will be sure to attack him also. Medical Aspects of Tobacco Smoking.—Dr E. B. Gray, who describes himself as having long been a moderate smoker, and watched the effect of the habit on himself and others, offers in the Food Journal what he believes to be the true answer to the question, "Is smoking injurious 1 " First of all (he remarks) there must be .an understanding about the quality of the tobacco to be smoked. Bad— i.e., rank, quickly intoxicating and prostrating tobacco (certain kinds of shag and cavendish, for instance) must always be injurious. So too with regard to quantity, even good tobacco smoked to excess will to a certainty be injurious to the smoker, sooner or later, in some way or another. Next, as to the smoker. There are people to whom any tobacco, however smoked, is simplv poison, causing even in small doses vomiting, and alarming prostration. Such people never get seasoned to its effects, even after repeated trials ; and if they are wise they will for ever leave it alone. No one can enjoy smoking or smoke, with impunity when out of health. The phrase "out of health," though it may sound vngue, is definite to frame a general rule. A man with a bad appetite will, if he smoke, most assuredly eat still less—a noteworthy fact for smokers or others recovering from wasting illness or "off their feed," from whatever cause. This* effect of tobacco, while an evil to the sick man, becomes a boon to the starved man who cannot get enough to eat; and ample illustration of this was furnished among the French and German soldiers in the recent war. Again, no man should smoke who has a dirty tongue, a bad taste in his mouth, or a weak or disordered digestion. In any such cases he cannot relish his tobacco. It is a golden rule with smokers, that ths pipe or cigar that is not smoked with a relish had better not be smoked at all. Indigestion in every shape is aggravated by smokers, but most especially that form of it commonly known as atonic and accompanied with flatulence. ' Diarrhoea, as a rule, is made worse by smoking. One of the commonest and earliest effects of excessive or untimely smokingSs to make the hand shake. This give the clue to another class who ought not to smoke —persons namely, who have weak, unsteady nerves, and suffer from giddiness, confusion of sight, and similar ailments.—This being all that can be said in fayor of tobacco by an advocate in its behalf, we think that all, whether addicted to its use or not, would do well to take the advice contained in the words, '! If they are wise, they will for ever leave it alone,"