NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3519, 23 August 1921, Page 35

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Questions for reply in coming issue to be re* oeived not later than SATURDAY night. Questions will NOT be replied to through the post. Sport.—Mr E. Cutt-s’s Mata won the Dunedin Cup in 1880. Shamrock asks: (1) How is “Dail Eireann” pronounced? (2) Sinn Fein also; are they Gaelic words, and what is the English translation? (3) An old bus liman told me that there were male and female to “all” our native trees and that the male and female were quite separate trees. Is this so, and are they separate individuals? —- — The editor of the Tablet kindly supplies the following reply to your questions. —(i) Daily Eireann is pronounced “Dawl” (a little longer than the English word “doll”) “Ayrin.” It means the Parliament of Ireland, Eireann being the genitive case of Eire. The dative is Eirinn. (2) The Munster pronunciation of Sinn Fein is “Shing Fayn.” In other parts I think it is pronounced Shin Fayn. Sinn—we, and Fein —selves —i.e., ourselves, not, as some say, ourselves alone, which would be Sinn Fein Amliain. (3) The Hon. G. M. Thomson, F.L.S., has been good enough to supply the following interesting reply:—All the higher plants, as well as all the higher animals, reproduce sexually; they have two distinct types of reproductive cells, respectively designated made and female. In flowering plants—the group to which all native trees belong—these sexual cells are developed in the flowers, and in the majority both are produced in the same flower. The organs which contain them arc known as pollen cells and ovules. In one large section of flowering plants the sexual cells are produced in the same flower, as in fuchsia, Pittosporum, and veronica. In a second they are produced in separate flowers, which, however, are borne on the same plant. Familiar examples are begonias and vegetable marrows. and, among trees, introduced pines, as Pinus radiata, etc. Such plants are technically called monoecious. In the third section the sexual cells are in different flowers, and these are borne on different plants. These are said to be dioecious, ancl the plants can be quite accurately described as “male and female.” Examples are the large riblion wood (PI a giant bus), makomako (Aristotelia). all the Coprosmas. and most of our native species of Conifers (cedars, pines, etc.). I should say that the first section—that is, the hermaphrodite plants, .are the most numerous, and t-lie dioecious come second in point of numbers. But this could Ik? easily enough found out by going through Cheeseman’s Flora, only it would take some time to do. A Constant Subscriber.—lf you call at the office of the Government Insurance Department in your district, or at the postoffice, you will be supplied with the information you require, or if you apply to Cue nearest office for the tables and rates of premiums, etc. This booklet contains various tables for the insurance of children, and you v ill lm able to select the one which would he.-t suit the circumstances of the casco In the instance you give the rates under one table v.a uld be £l2 16s 9d per annum, but tin-re are variations in the <:onditb.r3 that you might consider more desirable. E MTU, Cardrona. Possible a manufacturing chemist, might he able to assist von ■-is he would probably know the ingredients ir- Carter’s Mixture. .Strychnine is almost indissoluble in v.ator, but dissolves readily in boiling rectified spirits, in ether, and in chloroform, but it would he rather expensive to use cither of lies*, to make up a mixture to poison rabbits. Inquirer asks to be supplied with the Maori name for a deep well or l>«,r<-, end the- pronunciation of the same, looking for a suitable nam- h r hr- p ! o* , and the dec]) water bore is Ihe only -distinctive mark about it. Perhaps sm>rstudent of Maori can supply an an. v r. The Maori Dictionary gives deep to brhohonu. liapua, gnoto, kopua. reto A spring of water is given as puna, mat aw a.: mat a tiki.

Subscriber, Bendigo: If I have £7OOO and wish to go to America to invest it according to the present rate of exchange how much less would this sum bo valued in American money? The exchange varies from day to day, with a tendency to improve as against America. To-day the dollar has depreciated, and for 203 British money you would lose 5s in the £. New Reader.—We have no information as to where “the Great M'Ewan” is at joresent. Subscriber.—All communications must be addressed to Wire mu Rat ana, Ratana, Wanganui. Vinegar asks (1) for a recipe for an oil polish that will remove dirt and finger marks from furniture. (2) Is resin added to soap ingredients merely to harden the soap, or does it assist saponification? (3) A recipe for white vinegar. (4) Where to obtain a vinegar plant. If the furniture is very dirty a good plan is to wash it with vinegar and water before attempting to polish. Allow a couple of tablespoonfuls of vinegar to a quart of lukewarm water, wring a leather out of this, and well rub the furniture. A good furniture polish is 2oz beeswax, £oz w'hite wax, \oz Castill soap, g pint of turpentine. Shred the wax and soap and put into a jar; pour on the turpentine, add half a pint of boiling water. Stand the jar by the side of the fire, stirring until the mixture is dissolved. This polish should be about the consistence of rather thin cream. Use a little at- a time, rub well in, and polish with quite clean, soft cloths. An oil polish is made as follows: —Dissolve £lb beeswax in half a pint of turpentine, add £ pint of linseed oil, and bottle. (2) Resin is added to harden the soap. It has no effect on saponification. (3) "White vinegar is acetic acid distilled from wcod and diluted with five times its volume of water. We are unable to give a recipe for it. (4) The vinegar plant is made as follows: —In a large, clear bottle put a cupful of brown sugar and a tea spoonful of acetic acid, adding as much water as will cover it. Stand the bottle in a warm place out of reach of the sun, and a vinegar plant will soon grow. The so-called plant is only a deposit from fermentation. The length of time required depends upon the activity of the process of fermentation, E. E. B. asks how to tan a calfskin. Nail the skm in a shady place, stretching most at the fore part, so they may dry nearly square. When dry, soak in water for two dlays, but take out- a? id replace them several times when in soak. After two days scrape off all fat and flc-sh. from the pelt with a blunt knife. The following method is known as the “lightning tanning process*’:—Pour five or six quarts of boiling water over two quarts of bran, then strain. Make about an equal quantity of salt water by putting into blood-warm water as much salt as will dissolve. Mix the bran and salt wafer, and to each gallon of the mixture, when no mere than lukewarm, add one ounce of sulphuric acid. Immerse the skins, stirring occasionally till tamed, which will he in about 20 minutes. When tanned, rinse in water and hang out in a shady place to dry- Pull and stretch them well till dry. By sufficient pulling they can be worked quite white and soft. Hard-Up, Gore, writes: Would you kindly advise me on this subject. We have aproperty of two sections without a proper outlet. It runs about one mile along the main sou ill railway line, with the main public road running along with the railway. We have an outlet to each corner of the two sections, and would like to know if we could get a direct entrance straight from the two steadings. I will try and! make it plain in a rough sketch. If there is any chance, who would one apply to to get it done? The gates would be- practically the only expense. It would be necessary for you to see the district engineer, Invercargill, as being in his district. Here there would be no trouble providing you have already a railway crossing, but if your access is to a local road and you can then utilise the main public road, it is a different matter entirely, as the department has no love for more crossings to the mile than absolutely necessary. If conditions ere right, however, and you aro prepared to expend a trifle there is no reason why the change should not be made. Dairyman, Weston, sets a pretty problem to be unravelled. Theer seems confiiction of evidence. Whether the samples of milk set aside were of uneven quality and tho health officer or the analysis is at fault it is impossible to say. I would advise the health officer, Dunedin, or tlie officials concerned of the position as indicated by analysis by Christchurch chemist, and suggest a refund of the guineas sent north. In any case the general position warrants inquiry by one of the farmers’ organisations. Why not the Farmers’ Union?