NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2200, 30 April 1896, Page 38

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Questions for reply in coming isiut to be received net later than Monday night.

SiJBScniBER, Drummond.— Corrotive sublimate is chloride of mercury, which can be bought from chemists in powder or chrystals, and is easily soluble in hot water. The use of a solution of mercury in nitric acid can I e effected in the following simple manner : — After the upper face of tbe copperplate is well cleaned by washing with dilute»nitric acid and subsequently with clean water, mercury, on which a little dilute nitric acid has been first poured, is well rubbed all over it with a coarse rag in such quantity as the plate will hold. Another approved mode of amalgamating a copperplate is as follows : — First scour the face with wood ashes and fine sand by means of a coarse rag of scrubbing - brush till it is bright metallic all over ; than, after washing it with dean water, brush it over with a soft brush with a solution of cyanide of potassium (ioz to a pint of water). Next, for amalgamating the face, prepare a mixture of fine sand and powdered sal ammonic in equal parts with a small quantity of mercury and so much water as to render the mixture like thick cream Rub this with a Bcrubbing-brueh well all over the face, sprinkling during this operation aa much mercury on as the plate will hold. Leave the mixture on the plate for about an hour, then brush it off with clean water aud again apply the cyanide solution with a soft brush, adding some mercury to make sure of the plate having absorbed as much of the metal as it can hold. J. R. — (1) A dressing of three tons of g*s lime per acre will kill grace and weeds, but you will not be able to sow a grain crop for three months after it has been applied, or clover or turnips for four months. (2) Caustic gas lime put on as a top-dressing would certainly injure the surface roots oi fruit trees. Allow the lime to stand in heaps for 12 months before applying it in this manner. Mildew. — Dissolve gaits of lemon in water and apt>ly to the mildewed part, afterwards wailiing out the salts of lemon, which in poison, J. M., Flag Swamp.— (t) Recruits for the Permanent Artillery fores require to have rone through one years efficient service in the Volunteer force unless they have served in the military, naval, or colonial forces. They must be under 28 years of age. (2) Applications aie to be sent in to the officer commanding permanent militi* at Dunedin, Ac., giving address, age, certificates of character, health, &c. The minimum height for artillery is sft Din, for torpedo sft 6in. Skull.— lt is the skull of a weasel. W. G.— We cannot hear of any Dunedia syndicate conducting prospecting operations at the Thames, but several small, parties of two and three members have gone up to the district with the object of prospecting on their own account. Nature —The specimen you send is a prawn. Quber Querist.— (l) The gorae blight hai not been identified yet, bnt Mr Kirk, biologist, visited Canterbury a week or two baok for the Surpose of investigating it, and will report in ue course by means of a leaflet, which we shall reprint. (2) No doubt they would grow for a time, but being subject to the same influences which caused the blight they would prob*bly succumb to it also. Jack , Bragg.— (l) "Kissing Cup's Race," by Campbell Rao Brown, is to be found' in the "Colonial Reciter" No. 4 ; price Is (sd, postage included, at Braithwaite's Book Arcade, Princes street. (2) We cannot say where " Pardon, the son of Reprieve," is obtainable. Anxious Student. —You can only obtain it f cem the Education departments of the several colonies mentioned. Write to the Minister for Eiucation in each case. J. E., Strath Taieri.— (1) The next leap year will be 1904. (2) The Julian calendar afamnes the length of the tolar year to be 3fi6id»yßi whereas it is 11 minutes and a few seconds less. This annual error, a small one doubtless, nccumulated as years rolled ou, and began to be fully recognised about the b-gioning of the- sixteenth century. As in 1582 ihe vernal equinox occur; ed at a date (March 11) 10 days earlier than it did at the time of the Council of Nice in 325 a.d , Pope Gregory XIII published a bull, dated ilarch 1, 1552, arm lling" 10 days, so that what would have been Teclconed October 5, 1582, was to be reckoned October 15. In order also that the displacement might not recur, it was fuither ordained that three of the leap years which occur in 4GO years should be considered c mmon years. The three leap years selected to be rtduced t) common yeats were thoeu which close the centuries (t.e. which end with 00) arid are not divisible by 400 Thus, 16 0 was leap y-ar, 1700 and 1800 wore coiqmon years, 1900 will be a common year, 2"00 will be hap year, and so on. This method of adjusting the days to the year is colled the Gregorian calvndar, or the new style. X. L. — We see no reason yrh,y you should not be able to depend on getting papers at Buenos Ayres We send papers there. already as well as to other places in South America, and receive no complaints as to non-arrival. A Subscriber, Roxburgh.— Take two parts very dry limerubbish and onepart coal ashes, also very dry, and both lifted fine. In adryvlace, on a dry d*y, mix them, and le*v« *Jm1»& tbe mWm

of the heap as bricklayers do when making mortar. Into this pour boiling hot coal tar ; mix, and when as utitf as mortar put in 3in thick where the walk is to be ; the ground should be dry and beaten smooth ; sprinkle over it coarse sand. When cold pass a light Toller over it ; in a few tl«y8 the walk will be solid and waterproof. Screenings may be substituted for the lime, rubbish, and coal ashes. R. M.— Shall endeavour to find out in time for

next issue. A. B.— Section 135 of the Municipal Corporations Act fixes the maximum rate at Is 3d in the

pound, not Is, as you seom to think. Nemesis —(1) Yes. Every person who sells bread of deficient weight is bound to make good .the deficiency at tha time of sale or pay a ponalty. (2) Yes. (3) Yes. (4) There soerus to be,no thing to prevent any person aggrieved prosecuting for offences against the aot whether or not there is

a local inspector. Sherpowner —Section 6 of the Stock Act reads : " Every owner of long-wcol or crossbred sheep shall, every year,' dip, or cause to be clipped, all such sheep of which he is the owner ; provided that on the application of such owner, any inspector, if satiefioi that, owing to want of Vator or other sufficient cause, the dipping caisnot b8 done by the 30ch d»y of April, may, by Writing under his hand, grant an extension of .time for a period not exceeding 31 days. For every sheep not dipped as aforesaid, the owner is liable to a penalty of not less than threepence, nor more than two shillings." W. C. B.— lt is impossible to name the vine from the specimen you send. The American varieties form a class quite distinct from the European rpecies or those ordinarily grown in Europe, be- * longing to a distinct species— Vitis labru3ca, which is a native of North America. They seemto be of two quite distinct types, the. foliage being latge and very deeply lubed. They are - nearly all possessed of extraordinary vigour of i constitution, and are remarkably free in growth. They have not been much subject to the ravages of mildew, or even the phylloxera, on which ttccoaut th*y have b^-en largely used aB stocks in -th? J?rench vineyards on which- to , graft the European grapes, ao as to avoid these ■ pests, and with' some success. The vines ate very hardy, and ripen fruit freely in the open air in America, whore the European grapea cannot be cultivated with success. Their cultivation ou the open wall in this country is certainly worthy of a fair trial. No doubt a vine belonging to this class would show vigour of growth and ripen its fruit in Mosgiel even in a ' season such as the past, which has not been very favourable to vine culture, even in vineries. There is, of course, everything in how a vine is placed for sun and shelter to ensure its bearing

and ripaniog its fruit. ' ScoTTiK.-Lady Nairne is the composer of "The land 0' the leal."