Science Siftings

New Zealand Tablet, 19 November 1914, Page 41

Science Siftings

By ‘ Volt.'

Cork Industry. Seventy per cent, of the world’s production of cork is obtained in Spain. During the year 1912 approximately 78,000 short tons of cork, of which 54,780 tons came from Seville. In the Seville district there are 305 cork factories, and in the provinces of Barcelona and Gerona, there are 507 cork factories. Cotton Manufacture. _ The cotton manufacture was introduced into Europe by the Arabs. 1 Abdurahman 111., about the year 930, caused it to be commenced in Spain, from which country it spread slowly to other European lands. He also established extensive manufactures of silk and leather, and interested himself much in the culture of the silkworm. The Arabs were also the authors of the art of printing calicoes by wooden blocks, a great improvement on the old operation of painting by hand. Walnut Trees Disappear. We learn from an inquiry recently mad© by the Minister of Agriculture in France that the disappearance of the walnut tree in that country is threatened. The value of its wood, from a commercial point of view, has been the cause of the trees having been cut down, and they have not been replaced except in some departments, such as Dordogne, where the total number of walnut trees existing has been estimated at about, one million. After Dordogne the departments where there are most walnut trees are Aveyron, Charentes, Drome, and Isere, but even in these departments the inquiry states that the culture of the walnut has been decreasing for at least 15 years. Aeroplanes at Sea. Warship design is already being affected by the rapid development of the hydroaeroplane, or flying boat as it is better known. American naval architects believe tnat the hydroaeroplane will be an important auxiliary arm in future sea warfare. The small size of these flying machines, combined with the fact that they can be made to alight with, certainty upon a predetermined area of small dimensions, makes it quite possible that the equipment of the super-dreadnought of the near future will include one or more hydroaeroplanes, together with a suitable landing platform. It is by no means improbable that large passenger vessels will be similarly equipped at a not very far distant date, as the value of a hydroaeroplane in the event of such a disaster as that of the Titanic might be incalculable. Seaweed. When we see the tangled masses of seaweed washed up on the beach, we little conceive that it has any commercial value. The fact is that on the British coast 400,000 tons of seaweed are collected every year. From the kelp into which it is burned chemists manufacture iodine and bromide, besides valuable chlorides ’ and silicates. Thousands of Japanese and Chines© almost live on seaweed. France collects 8,000,000 pounds yearly, which is used in the manufacture of mattresses. The Irish convert seaweed into valuable jellies, and make other useful foods out of it. All along the coast of Nova Scotia the farmers collect what is known as Nova Scotia eel grass, which is shipped daily to Boston, to be used in the wadding of airtight, noiseless, floors, besides making the finest of filling for upholstery and serving other useful purposes. Thousands of farmers make money out of collecting the grasses and marine substances that grow along the shores. By a wise provision of the law, nobody is allowed to fence it in, at least below high-water mark.