science and Invention

Lake County Press, Issue 2182, 15 August 1907, Page 7

science and Invention

VAEIOUS species of wasps both in this and other countries build their nests of paper manufactured by themselves. The material used is decayed wood which the wasp rasps oft', and afterwards mashes into a pulp with its teeth. The pulp oo formed is spread out layer upon layer, and allowed to dr , when it hardens and forms coarse paper. The nests f'oui d in the British Isles are usually small but a snecies of wasp found in South America and Australia builds a huge nest. So many layers of pulp are used that a kind ot coarse cardboard is formed so strong that it will resist rain and wind, and will sometijies last four or five years. THfc CUii. UK iOH-iMLLLED EGGS. Poultry writers havo been repeatedly telling us that soft-shelled eggs were caused by an insufficiency of lime in the food consumed by the hens. Such, however, is not the case. Tho soft-shelled egg is a case of arrested development, due to nervous interference with the functions of the oviduct. The laying of incompletely developed eggs corresponds to abortion in mammals, and can likewise be brought about by extreme mental disturbance. In experiments conducted at an experiment farm, recently, the writer was able to cause the production of soft shelled eggs by continued excitement of confined hens. It \va3 also shown that the hen's system on an ordinary diet contains enough calcium carbonate for the formation of about five or six eggs. If lime was withheld from the food, ilio hen alter baring laid this number of eggs, will stop laying. When liuic was given in limited quantities the hens laid apparently normal eggs, but only as frequently as tho lime furnished would supply shell material. Careful weighings proved that eggs thus produced, though apparently normal, were actually thinnershelled than normal eggs from tho same hen. But little is known about the pr jcess and control of egg formation, and further study should yield facts of both scientific interest and practical bearing.

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gajs Professor Mai'solin Bcrthclot : Before many moro decades have passod •the entire conditions of life may bo changed, and wo shall be compelled to all our present theories, social, cconorau, and even moral, for tliey will have no moreapp""ation than the original ideas on light of a blind man wlio has suddenly received the use of his eye 3. In the first place agriculture and all the multitudinous pursuits connected with, or dependent directly or indirectly with the reproduction of living beings—animal and vegetable—that now serve for the alimenation of mankind will have disappeared. There will be no more shepherds or husbandmen, In place of the farms of to-day we s'aill have factories in which artificial foods will bo produced, more savoury and easier of digestion and assimilation than any of the products which Nature furnishes us with at the present time. The old problem of how to maintain existence by means of the cultivation of the soil will, in a word, have been totally suppressed by chemistry. There will no longer be seen fields of waving grain, nor vineyards, nor meadows filled with (locks and herds, and man, ceasing to live himself by carnage and the destruction of other living creatures, will inevitably improve in disposition a far higher plane of morality than at prcscLt.

pxiffl r Vi "KING.

Although "Western push and energy are fast driving out many of the primitive appliances from Eastern countries, yet ol<3 customs die hard, and the traveller may yet come across scenes which remind him of Biblical descriptions. As soon as he has crossed from European Bussia over the Caucasus Mountains into the provinces of Georgia and Armenia, he feels that he has entered a strange part of the world, the manners and customs are so different from thoso of Europe. The baking of bread furnishes one example of this. In the villages the oven is usually a holo in the ground three or four feet deep and as many in diameter, narrowing towards the opening in the top, and a charcoal fire is built in the bottom to heat it. The dough is mixed in a trough, formed then into balls with the hands, and afterwards rolled out on a circular or oval stone until it becomes a sheet about 3 feet long, 15 inches wide, and eighth of an inch thick. This sheet is carefully spread out over a form like a pillow of the proper shape. It is then seized by thn baker, who bends down into (he oven and sticks the dough against the wall, where it holds fast, and is baked in a very few minutes. The sheet is then pulled out by means of a hook, and is hung on the wall of the shop to cool and dry. At some places these thin sheets are baked in beds of hot ])obblcs. The bread contains no salt, and resembles pieces of brown paper in appearance.

Di.Y.Ci.i FOR THE MOUSK-OtP.

In no discovery of the past fow yoars ha public interest been so centred and retained as in the application of electricity for domestic purposes. A year ago the first electrical house in Schenectady was the wonder of the world. To-day there are several homes in tho great Electrical City, and elsewhere, wherein all the heating, cooking, lighting, and power is supplied by electricity, and there arc thousands of houses partially equipped with the electrical devices. Invention and research have been constantly at work perfecting new devices to bo installed in the electrical homes. The three very latest utensils are the electric corn popper, electric milk warmer, and the electric shaving mug. The new electric shaving mug will be welcomed with delight by tho travelling men. It is small enough to be readily carried, and ".liiere the hotel is equipped with electric lights it will supply all the hot suds and hot water a man wants to shave with. The soap disc is easily removed, which turns the vessel immediately into a half pint water heater, to put the finishing touches on the shave. Another invention which is destined to become a necessity in every household where baby rules supreme is the electric milk warmer. When baby wants something to eat in the night (and he or she usually does), some one must get up and warm milk on the stove, else there will be no rest in the house that night. Now all this is changed. A turn of a switch at the haul of the bed. and the milk, made ready before retiring, is instantly heating, and by the time papa has his feet in his slippers it is warm enough to be given the child. The electric dialing dish has been wonderfully improved, and the new utensil is the result of careful study and experiment. Welsh rarebits a la electricity are now easy enough. The new dish is of handsome design, and once connected with the electric light socket, (lie simple throwing of a switch prepares it for immediate use. There is no ilame, soot, useless heat, danger, or giving outof 'alcohol' at the critical moment.