NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 1 September 1909, Page 51

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Que.tions for reply in coining issue to b* t+ Wired nofc lmter than MOXDAT night. Toko.— The dea<t bird forwarded by you was submitted to " Ornif^lcgist," who kir.dly xep'iea as follows:— ibe little bird you <aaut is a redpoll (Aegiothus linana), a com,•mon enough imposed bird, which can be found in many place? near Dunedin in little flocks. It is a perching bud, and T>elongs to the family of Fringilhda. This 'is probably * y&ung .'emale, ih.ugh fu;l sized; the male bird hes rather more 'colour on bead and breast. Jl P., North-East Harbour.— The sample* of xesin obtained from a bore-bole wf» sent. to Prcfesccr Park, who )e»orts that it - Tesembles the tre-e-guni ct tbe kauri and maiai. The kauri a+ one time flourished over the whole of the South Island, but that was away back in middle tertiary time — that is, "in the brown coal r— riod. Fossi! kauri gum, known as ambrit, is generally darker and den«ei than the -sample submitt:d for examination, anJ the professor thinks that it is of comparatively iece.it Origin Inquirer writes • " I have a native clematis trained upon a lattice, and growing vigorously. This winter the enclossd parasito has appeared upon it, and has also thriven vigorously. Will you pleas? tell me what it is, and if it is injurious tc the clematis?"' The sample forwardjd was submitted to Mr G. M. Thcmson. F.L.S.. who kindly reports :— The swol'.en condition of tlie branches of clematis sent by " Inquirer " is due to the development of a fungus parasite. This group of organisms has never been worked out in New Zealai.d. The orgsaiism in question belongs appaie-ntly to the group Uredinese and the genus Pucoinla. It is very similar to P.uccinia fusea, a parasitic fungus which tita-eks the garden arenome. and causss such thickening of the tissues of the stems and leaves as to drain away all nutriment from the reproductive organs, and thus prevent. flowering. This form is certainly very injurious to clematis. Watback. — The two samples of stone forwarded by you were submitted to Professcr Waters, ot the Otago School of Mires;" who kindly reports : —Both samples ohow iron pyrites of no value, and on testing no gold was found, the only m-eial of va'.ue likely to occur. Fakmeb, Kelso. — Presumablj ycu ref-er to the art union held in connection with the athletic carrival. The drawing was taking p aco as we went to press, on bhs evening of the 31st August. The lesull was to appear in the Otago Daily Tiui2s of ]st September. Kew Chum, Gore. ?rites:— Can rubb2r hosLe purchased that can stand t pressure of 400 ft, and, if so. what wruld be the pnto, and where can it bo purchased? Yc= Price. 12s 6d per foci. Messrs A. and T. Burt's, Patterson and Bcrr's, and other hardware merchants. Anxious. — Replies to your questions could only bs given after examinations by expert. If the roots cf the teeth are found something might ba done, but th<> c!ent:st would have to examine the .eath before he could decide whether ar.y attempt shouJJ be mads to preserve them. The charge i.«, as far as possible, regulated by the financial position of the patient. Tbe same remarks apply to your eyasight. You hay« your teeth and eyes examined b}specialists. If you cpnnot afford to pay their' chargos you cou'd apply to M:e Charitable Aid author, ties in your district to authorise you to take advants-ga of tha outdoor department of the Duuedm Hospital, where specialists give their servi.e; ■without fee cr reward Anxious — The clipping you enclosed v.uh your question is an r.dverupement for the third ingredient niar.tiored in the precenption AYe know nothing of its merits cs v remedy for the comp : aint mentiont<L Alßsmp.— We understand -there- is a firm in the Kaikorai Valley which buys buch old articles as you mention, but we cannot supply particulars Tzkxis. — The cost of an asphalt tennis court would deppnd to a considerable exteiii en the facilities for procuring material. In Dunedin the cost of a single court would be about £45. and for a double court £30. at probably less. If you communicate

with W. B. Manley, 340 Castle street, he would inspect the proposed site and give you an estimate. Inquisitive.— (l) A person can manufacture and sell any article of his own invention without taking out a .patent, provided, of course, that the article is not ot a poisonous nature or intended for an illegal purpose. The patent laws are intended to protect an inventor and prevent others from munufacturing or selling his invention or a colourable imitation thereof. It in fa<;t, grants a monopoly for a time. (2) The cost of patenting an article is not regulated by the value of the article patented. The charges are uniform— namoly, lodging an application foi a patent with provisional specification. _ 10s; filing complete specification, 10s r obtaining letters patent, **; at or before expiry of fourth year, £5; at or before expiry of seventh year, £10. If the application is opposed, the coste will m-junt up. (3) Al«r. Thompson and Co., 165 Princes street, and Mr J. M'Gralh, 204 Princes street. WW- T New Plymouth.— Mr H. M. Davey, consulting engineer. Princes street replies : -Yes you can raise the water out of the •p't 'if there is any to raise; I say this seeing that in many situations and soils the wat>=r you would put into the pit would percolate away. Run your Jin pressure pipe to the pit, bend it down and end in a "J" with -a nozzle at the end pointing'upwards. I think that l-Bin to 3-16 m .nozzle should do. but it .can be rhymered' larger if necessary. Probably the best "form of prpe, using shop maWiate. wotHd be "to begin with either an inch socket over the jet or she llin to lin diminishing socket which would he rather more bell-mouthed, then » very short bit of inch pipa. say 2ln cr 3in long, and another lin to liin diminishing secret, and the rest of the uptake ljin pipe. It is possible, however, that pretty well any pizec? pipe in reason would do, and you can try some rough temporary ones of light make to see which size is the ba= lv and let the editor know, if you will. The intake oould have a b 3 nd at the top of the pit to direct the water where you wish I have seen iuch an arrangement used" whare thera were no high-pressure systems in a louse of more -hafl one storey to elevate the watsr to on upstairs bath from a copper. Of course, it somewhat coaled -the water, but if nearly boiling 1 , it was still too hot to use, even with the cold jst mixed with it. EMC Waip:.ata.— lf you are r rignt'handea man, try the experiment, after which you may pose cs an authority. Ii ycu are left-handed, ask » right-lianded friend to undertake ths experiment. Miner, Waikaia, wants tok'W what kind of oil is used for making oilskins; if anything else k necessary besides o1 ; hew to make it black; would white drill do to make a coat with? Linseed oil of good quality is lb« kind of cil a cd. Nothin" else is used with rbe oil, wh ca. should bt wel> boiled without ourning it. Brush the cloth with it. Hang up the clot.b. in a col, airy place to dry. After i<t is thoroughly dry — this is most important — it ljoa-y- be Treated in the sam. manner twioa again. To impart a black colour add a sufficient quality cf lampblack to produce the shade required to the ci! wr-en it i.s tc bo supplied foi cba second tnd third tim*. White drill should serve the purpose auite well. Here is a method of making cloth waterprco! : Dissolve 2i!b alum in lOgal boiling wa'cr. In a _ separata- vessel dissolve tho same quantity of sugar of lead in another lOgal of water. Mix the two solutions. The clo:h should be -well handler! ir. this sc/lution until evsry part is penetrated 1 ; theu it ii squeezed a->d dried in the air. cr m a warn* apartment. Then wash die cloth in cod water and dry again, when it is fit f;r uso, cr, if it is considered necessary, the whc'i process may be repeated. The liquor will appsar curdled when the alum and lea-d solutions pxe mixed together. This is the result cf double decomposition. The sulphate of lead is taker into the pores of (he cloth, and it is unaffected by rain ii mois-ture', and yet the clctfi is not rendered airhgnt. Hydraulic. — Mr F. J. Williams, C.E . has kind'y replied to your question as to the cheapest method, combined with efficiency and dur?'bility, of raising half a head of water 20ft by water power, the water available bring four or five head with ability to secure a fall of 12ft to loft. T'ao cheapest method of raising the ivatc. would be by metins of an oveT3hoi water wheel. Taking available workirg head at 12ft. and the quantity of water 'it foil- pluice heads, yoi could obtain, with a well-con-structed overshot wheel, givii g an effi.iency of 65 per ceiit., 3J hors-e power. It would take about 2i horse power to rai&e half a sluice head of water (oi 187 gallons per minute) to a height cf 20ft The most suitable pump ' uld bj of the centrifugal type, .raiad as a 4iii. It w-au'd reqiiir; to bo belt driven, a« they work more efficiently at a high speed. Care should be taken that th. quantity c-f warc-r i-tated is availabV. as many disappointments arise from overestimating the upply. T f the delivery pipes are any length, frictional lo«se: must a!& l^e taken into 'consideration.