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Mataura Ensign, 3 November 1911, Page 6

In the Museum of Natural History afc Soleure, in Switzerland, there is said to be a bird's nest made entirely of steel. There are a number of clockmaking shops at Soleure, and in the ' yards of these shops are often found lying disused or bdoken spaings of clocks. One day a clockmaker noticed in a tree in bis yard a bird's nest of he found that a pair of wagtails had built a nest entirely of clock springs. It was more than four inches across, and perfectly comfortable for the birds. For some time past a company in Ja-pan has been engaged in expoiting the use of volcano ash in combination with Portland cement mortar. This combination is slid to be particularly valuable in the construction of works submerged in salt water. It is claimed that the.cement thus formed possesses greater tensile strength and is denser than ordinary Portland cement. It is also more resistant to the percolation of water.