SCIENCE AND INVENTION.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume VI, Issue 8, 21 January 1905, Page 5 (Supplement)

SCIENCE AND INVENTION.

HOW TO MAKE PEARLS LAST. Pearls, according to an authority, deteriorate with age, aud particularly with damp. They require to be treated carefully, as they are somewhat soft and porous by nature. If they are kept in cottonwool in a dry place, they will last 100 years and more without change. As a reply to the contention that pearls must be worn if they are to retain their lustre, this same authority the’ other day produced a pearl ring in which the' gems had become discoloured although they had been constantly worn. He considered that there was little foundation for Mie theory that pearls could be revived by a sea bath.

GRAIN LIFTER FOR HEADERS. The improved grain inter is adapted for removable attachment to any header or like machine, and is especially designed for straightening individual stalks of the grain, so that the heads need not be lost in the cutting. The device is not intended for use upon, grain lying flat upon the ground, but particularly for use in connection with grain upon which the header can be readily worked, or grain in which the heads have sagged down from any cause, so as to be below the level of the platform of the machine when the platform is at its lowest point. The body of the device consists of a bar, preferably tubular, and a series of lifting arms or fingers carried thereon, and located at desired intervals apart along the length of the bar. The lifting fingers are formed of spring steel rods, which project horizontally forward from the body bar, and are bent upward and backward at their outer ends. To prevent the fingers from turning in the body bar, they are made with rectangular shanks, which fit info rectangular openings in the bar. T3lO grain lifter is mounted in hangers secured to the header. A pair of crank arms are secured to the body bar, from which suitable connections extend to an adjusting lever. The latter may be operated to raise or lower the lifting fingers, according to the condition of the grain to be operated upon. It is evident that the device will very effectually raise the majority of the heads of grain which may have dropped from any cause, and carry these heads upward, so that the grain can he acted upon at a suitable point below the heads, and be cut by the sickle blades of the machine. All the operating parts of the device are carried rearward, beneath the platform of the header, so that it can be readily attached thereto, and will in no manner interfere with the proper operation of the machine. The inventor of this improved grain lifter is Mr Jacob Mees, of Lane, So. Dak., U.S.A. THE WAY TO WASH YOUR HANDS. It is difficult to realise that we live in an age of hustlers when we read the way a German physician recommends his patients to wash their hands. “The hands must be first carefully washed with potash, soap and water, and then with a 5 per cent of carbolic acid, or one per thousand solution of chlorine water. When the finger-nails are dry and break easily, vaseline rubbed on a*ter washing the hands will do a world of good. Manicures first bathe the hands a long time in hot water, then with scissors and knives clean and cut the nails, remove the superfluous skin about the onyx, then polish the nails with buckskin and fine powder, washing the hand again in hot water with soap. After drying, the nails are polished with a fine brush, and are finally rubbed with a rosy unguent to give them a shell-pink. FIREMANS MASK AND -SMOKEJACKET. 'I ho Metropolitan Fire Brigade, says the Scientific American, now havfc among their outfit, not only at the Southwark headquarters, but also at all the loading sub-stations, a number of ingeniously contrived apparatus which are something more than mere masks enabling the fiiemen to enter smoky buildings, being regular jackets and maskjs combined, and the wearer being supplied with fresh air by means of pumps, precisely as though ho were a diver entering the depths of the sea. In most of the big refrigerating works in England these jackets and masks are kept handy, much as fire-extinguishing apparatus are kept, so that in the event of any accident happening in Hie ammonia chambers, the rescuers may venture in with perfect safety to themselves, and effect the work of rescue. The London fit emen arc thoroughly well versed in the use of these jackets and masks, and in considerable fires where their use is necessary they are taken on the engine in sets of two or four, together with the necessary air pumps, which supply pure air to the communicating pipes. Another class of Loudon public servants who understand the use of this invaluable apparatus are the men who work in the great sewers of London. It happens by no means infrequently that a party of three or four men taking their way through the main sewers, jack-booted and up past their knees in water, suddenly chcounter an accumulation of mephitic gas. Probably one or two of them may contrive to escape, leaving their companion or companions unconscious in the .water or in the flat-bottomed boat which is sometimes used in the great sowers oi London. Forthwith a rescue party is organised, and the Fleuss apparatus or another of the same kind is brought into requisition, with the result that the men overcome are without difficulty brought

safely to the bottom of the manhole, then raised to the street surface.

These curious diving dresses,* «s may bo called, since they enable the er to breathe in an otherwise. element, ale often carried on board ish warships, so that in the event of plosion or similar accident* rescues can'flH effected before men unconscious or wo‘ ed can he wholly suffocat' d smojj&V bp gas. J' THE TEMPERATURE FOR DRAIN WORK. After long experiments and practice, Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson found that 64 degrees Fahrenheit is the best temperature in which to conduct mental labour. If it falls below this the mind becomes drowsy and inactive, aud if it rises much above there is a relaxed state of the body and mind, which soon leads to fatigue and exhaustion. It is important that the temperature be the same in all parts of the room, and that it be maintained. A COMING EARTH TERROR, fl A column of solid rock hig’h arfl several hundred feet thick (says Scieuc® Siftings) has been squeezed up througll the month of the crater of old Mount E® lee, the volcano which suddenly, as will remember, burst forth and swal away life and property on the Martinique a couple of years ago. such amazing phenomenon has ever beheld by the eyes of science, and geologists of the civilised world are watching and studying this extraordinary new activity. Somewhere down in the bowels of the earth a pressure is being brought to bear oji the molten interior of the earth like the squeezing of a giant nut-cracker. Up through the volcano, filling completely tbp mouth of the crater, rises this mass of white-hot and soft rock, which is cooled by the air and rises suddenly upwards for more than half a mile abov£ the top of the mountain. The measurements and other observations now being made are exceedingly interesting. The whole subject becomes absorbing when one speculates upon the tremendous force lying buried in the bowels of the earth, which pushes this giant stone finger further and further heaven words, and upon the hitherto undreamed of spectacle of this same force, suddenly augmented a thousandfold, ejecting the mighty stopper of this crater as though it wore the cork of a champagne bottle. The possibility of such a spectacle is reasonably deduced from the fact of the existence of a sufficient force to create and thrust upwards such an enormous weight of stone. What would be the effect if this stopper were suddenly to become a projectile? To what awful height would it soar? Where would it land? And

ably cL ; rim had < t within <.l>M'rvi*d " wt-re for:. lowjtlg c % ; thing tin. and smol nee the I '? e y 4<ki* v\ as t hri. ijurii T r I;H3 - markable activity ber the ha listed jrfl ally therC jf a finest weight of the low. ' and 1 ii< ' n time I.• rs Cl them "J en sister at ‘■'i’ell " wh - v - y, Wi In did it (I rd it And tli glasses - .

-Tomato-preserve is improved by the addition of sliced oranges.

Tarts o£ orange marmalade are improved with a Sprinkling of frosted almonds—chopped/ almonds coated with white of eg£ anA sugar.

Pears combined with pineapple—one fifth as much pineapple as pear —will be liked.

Jelly of apples and pears will have the pear flavour and the apple firmness.

Though the season has gone by for strawberries and raspberries, her suggestions in regard to these fruits are worth keeping for another season. Strawberry jam mixed with gooseberries is ever so much nicer than strawberry Jam plain. To five quarts of strawberries add two quarts. of gooseberries, either green or just turning rod. When making gooseberry jelly or jam, the vanilla bean will be found to help out the deliciousness of the result.

Gooseberries, currants, and raspberries l equal parts make a most appetising

Try combining elderberries with green grapes, gooseberries, or crab apples for jelly, sauce, or pie. You will not be disappointed with the result.

Either for roly-poly or jam, black currants improved by the addition of red currants.

Ripe fed currants, with ripe gooseberries, make another good mixture for preserves and pies. Black raspberries, if stewed with some red, juicy cherries, make a good sauce. Stew gently, so as to keep the fruit whole, if possible, as it is more sightly. Peach jam with grated pineapple will please you.

And lastly, though dried fruit is not especially appealing at this season, if you must use it. evaporated peaches and apricots* 'afd more appetising than either

alone. In making pickles use none but the vest cider vinegar. To purify the air of a damp cellar strew Ifhatcoal about floor and shelves.

Whole cloves will more effectually exterminate moths than camphor, tobacco, or cedar shavings. When a man goes into the kitchen to help his wife, she has to drop everything and wait on him.

To remove peach stains, soak in milk

for 48 hours if coloured goods, or if on white clotn rub with lemon juice and salt. -A loaf of stale bread, is almost as good as when newly baked when wrapped-elose-ly in a towel and steamed through thoroughly. Turpentine applied with a bit of flannel will (especially when the stains are leep) restore thy whiteness of ivory knife handles. f Chloride of.dime is an infallible prevenve of rats./ It should be put down their ’es and spread about whereevcr they are to dish to send to a neighbour invalid is blanc mange moulded in and served in a nest of whipped n or brightly-coloured fruit jelly. pices in pickles should be used whole, y bruised if desired, but preferably • ound; if ground, they should be p in thin Uiuslin bags. ermilk is at all times good for the exion, and also is a fine preventive of sunburn and freckles, therefore trough the summer months should be whoever it is possible to get it all . white *onions make very nice es. They are easily prepared, requirjnly to have boiling brine poured over a four days -in succession, when they drained and placed In jars, then covz d' v2 Jgar. A nice rensh jan be made by cutting a piece from the stem ends of ripe tomatoes. Remove pulp and mix with an equal quantity of chopped cucumber; replace in the tomatoes, and serve on a lettuce leaf, with mayonnaise. • The pulp of peaches, as well as apricots, makes a delicious water ice, combined with the acid of lemon juice. Peelbed and’ rubbed through a puree sieve e.ither the pulp of nine plump, ripe peaches or the pulp of a dozen luscious apricots. Add the juice of three lemons. Boil rapidly a quart of water in which , pint of sugar has been dissolved. Add he, fruit pulp and freeze.