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September 10, 1898.] Scientific American. 163

green is produced artificially and the bitter oil is even better than the natural product, as ins no prussic acid. Artificial sugar, not sac- has been produced in the laboratory, but not commercial scale, and artificial alcohol has also ade. There are great possibilities in the utiliza- by-products and waste products of all kinds. einist has recently discovered the means for g the spent yeast of breweries in the making of extract substitute. 

s hope the day will never come when the older s of eating with which we are familiar will be ded by artificial foods, though this would please getarian friends...If we had fifty articles of diet tificial albumen, there is no reason to believe e should be any better off than we are at pre- Indeed, we would probably require almost as ood as we do now for the waste material which man economy requires. Artificial foods have been very popular, and are not considered very . It is very probably that if the time ever when a considerable portion of our food is pro- n the laboratory, the world will be attacked by [[?]] epidemic of dyspepsia as it has ever before

is both an index of the civilization attained and in the attainment, and as eating and drinking a finer art, life became more refined and man- ore attractive. There is, indeed, a sentimental it, and while living would be immensely simpli- e great institution of society, the dinner, would ecome a thing of the past and Brillat-Savarin become as antiquated as Lycurgus. We would "return to nature" with a vengeance, but not way of which Rousseau dreamed. The subtle connected with all our favorite dishes would aporate, and we doubt if we could endure very have our food produced in the laboratory of reat syndicate instead of in our own private ory-the kitchen. 

ARMAMENT OF OUR NEW WARSHIPS.
nother page we publish the official drawings gest of the findings of the Naval Board which d the wrecks of Cervera's fleet. We wish to rticular attention to the tabular analysis of -fire of our fleet, showing the number of hits each caliber of gun, adn the ratio of the num- it to the number of guns engaged for each cl- he data contained in the table is among the luable of all that has been gathered during and it is to be hoped that it will exercise a l influence upon the designs for newer and -to-date ordnance which we presume are being d by the Bureau of Ordnance for the arma- our future warships. 

comparison of the relative efficiency of each nd type of gun, as shown by the ratio of hits o number of guns employed, it must be borne that the table takes no account of the number each gun fired-it is based merely upon the ally scored and the number of guns that could ght into action. However, as the Spanish were at all times within range, at least of the ns, it is reasonable to suppose that all of the t could be brought to bear were actively en- hroughout the whole of the engagement, and number of hits for each gun is a test of its rel- ciency. 

ures in the table are a powerful indorsement oid-fire type of gun. Commencing with the "record of the 13-inch gun, and 88/100 hit per he 12-inch, there is an increase as the caliber es, the 5-inch rapid-firer scoring 2 1/2 hits and h rapid-firer 4 hits per gun. The low figure for nder is due to the range being too great, and degree the 6-pounder was similarly affected. tly then we ought to aim at reducing the nd increasing the rapidity of the heavier arma- our warships. As we recently pointed out, 10- on guns are being built of equal penetrating our 13-inch 60-ton guns, and there are 8-inch ns whose penetration is equal to that of our 7-ton guns. The smaller modern guns are not re rapid in their fire, but their trajectory is tter and the chances of scoring a hit are that tter. If only a few out of every hundred shots h the mark, it is an obvious advantage to argest number of shots in the shortest space and for this kind of work a gun that weights ons is altogether too slow. In view of the estruction worked by such 8-inch shells as did he cruisers, it would seem desirable to retain future shine especially as an 8-inch between the Italian dialects of Lombardy, Sicily, and Tuscany. On the island of Luzon there are six dialects, some of which are the Tagala and Bisaya. The latter is very coarse, while the former is more polished and peculiar, and to such a degree that a Roman Catholic missionary who had a thorough knowledge of everything pertaining to the islands was accustomed to say that the Tagala language had a thorough knowledge of everything pertaining to the islands was accustomed to say that the Tagala language had the advantages of four of the principal tongues of the world: that it was mysterious like Hebrew; that it had the articles of the Greek, as well for appellations as for proper nouns; that it was as elegant and copious as Latin; and that it was as well adapted as Italian for compliments and negotiations. 
 The natives make use of but three vowels, and have but twelve consonants, which they express differently by placing a dot above or below them. They have learned from Europeans to write from left to right, instead if from top to bottom, as they formerly wrote. 
Pal, leaves were formerly used for paper, and an iron style for a pen. They use writing for correspondence only, as they have no books of science or history. The missionaries have had religious works printed in the various dialects of the islands.
 The natives of the Moluccas have a very pleasing way of corresponding with their friends. They arrange flowers of different colors in a bouquet in such a way that the receiver understands, by examining the varieties and their shades (which represent so many characters), what his friends intended to say to him. 

THE UNDEVELOPED RESOURCES OF CUBA
 Whether Cuba becomes permanently a part of the United States or not, American brains and capital will largely contribute toward the development of many hitherto unsuspected resources, and the island that has so long suffered from misrule may be expected to blossom as the rose. Probably no more promising field for making money through legitimate and wisely directed toil has presented itself to the American youth in this century than does the "Pearl of the Antilles," now that the last vestiges of Spanish oppression have disappeared.
  While sugar and tobacco have been the principal commercial products of Cuba, their importance may soon be equaled by others less generally known. The soil and climate of Cuba are eminently adapted to all tropical fruit and vegetable culture. In fact, these products grow so luxuriantly and naturally there that the natives raise all they need for home consumption without any effort. Bananas grow wild in the most extravagant manner, but the variety is poor and needs only a little scientific culture to make it equal to any imported into the United States. We import some 15,000,000 bunches of bananas into this country every year, and Cuba could produce every one at a nominal cost. Probably the banana, next to the cocoanut, is the best poor man's fruit. It grows without much cultivation, and hence it is the lazy man's fruit as well. But when we come to oranges and pineapples, it is quite a different matter. These two fruit require cultivation and the most careful handling from the time the plants are started until the fruits reach market. 
  The Cubans and Spaniards were never willing to pay the price of labor and attention required to make the raising of pineapples and oranges profitable. Long before the war the industry, such as it was, had drifted into the hands of Americans, who systematically cultivated a few plantations, and shipped their products to the United States. The native owners of an orange grove would gather their fruit by shaking the trees or rapping the limbs with poles. Fruit thus harvested and shipped to this country was naturally in poor condition, and half the cargo would decay on board the steamers. The oranges were packed in barrels with th same system was employed in this work than an American would give to potatoes.
 It was only natural that shipping oranges to the United States under such conditions should prove unprofitable, and that in time energetic Americans should go into the business and raise and ship oranges at a good profit. Oranges grow as easily in Cuba as they do in Florida or California. There are thousands of semi-wild groves scattered throughout the island which produce fruit so inferior that they are of little value for market purposes. These trees, however, can be budded and grafted with fine Florida orange, and in two years they can be made to yield large crops of exquisitely flavored fruits.There is an opportunity for making a fortune in securing these neglected trees such as the early growers found in Florida when they first realized the value of the wild Indian orange trees [cuts off]
Florida orange is to the semi-wild product of the old Indian groves. It is believed that fully as fine pine-apples can be raised in Cuba as ever came out of an English hothouse. The soil, the climate, and all other conditions are favorable to the perfect development of the fruits, provided the owner is willing to give the necessary labor and intelligence required for the production of all fancy fruits. It is this knowledge and skilled labor that Americans can and will supply.
Other fruits of great commercial value flourish in Cuba like the proverbial green bay tree. Lemon tree reach a superb size there, and the fruits are equal to the famous imported La France lemon of the Mediterranean shores. But no effor has been made to raise lemon groves systematically. Cocoanuts are native products of the island, and they trive without apparent effort in the rich soil. The grape fruit, shaddock, lime, and similar semi-tropical fruits, which have obtained a small foothold in Florida, grow wild in Cuba. Many little known fruits, such as the guavas, sapotas, sapodillas, and kumquarts, are commonly found in all parts of the island. Many of these have peculiar flavors, and it requires a residence in the island to make one acquire a taste for them. On the other hand, there are many tropical fruits raised in Cuba that only need to be tasted by Americans to be appreciated. These can be cultivated with every prospect of success. 
But if fruits are important products of the Cuban soil, what must one say of the vegetables? These grow and yield crops about every month in the year. Tomatoes are as plentiful as sands on the seashore. Vines never cease to produce fine tomatoes. In midwinter it is possible to purchase in Cuba corn, celery, lettuce, tomatoes, and artichokes cheaper than in our American cities in midsummer. The plants simply revel in the warm, moist climate.
Winter market gardening must, therfore, figure prominently in the future Cuban industries. Good market land is cheap and plentiful. With ten to twenty acres, an enterprising American farmer could raise all the  vegetables he could use, and ship enough to the United States to pay him a moderate income. The truck gardening of Cuba has been even less developed than its fruit industries. The vegetables need not come in competition with those from our Southern States, for the time of shipping them north would naturally be in the early part of our winter. Then consignments of fresh vegetables direct from Cuba, in fast steamers, would find ready purchasers in many of our principal cities. We may soon expect to have watermelons in March and April, green pease in December and January, and tomatoes all the year round.
Market gardening in Cuba would be the easiest sort of work that a farmer could undertake. With considerably less cultivation than we give to our gardens and farms in the United States, fruits and vegetables produce remarkable crops, and, without fertilizers, the same land continues to raise plants and their fruits with prodigal luxuriance. 
Onions and potatoes raised in Cuba are equal to any imported from Bermuda, and they could be shipped to the United States at less cost than from the latter place. In a very few years American brains and industry could monopolize most of the trade in tropical fruits and winter vegetables, which is now controlled largely by alien West Indian planters. 
The effect that all of this development of latent Cuban industries would have upon our coast trade can readily be imagined. Already several new steamship lines are in the course of preparation for what is expected to be an active trade with Cuba when the war ends. it is the opinion of shippers that the trade with the islands, when once begun, will develop quickly, and new industries will spring up with such a marvelous rapidity that the "booming" of our own Western States in the past will be completely cast into the shade. 
Besides the fruit industry, it is expected that Cuban mines will show unusual resources, and that much of our machinery will be needed to develop these. Iron ore is so plentiful in various parts of the island that American steel manufacturers have established mills there in the past, ans one American firm has nearly $3,000,000 invested in iron mines near Santiago. The copper mines of Cuba are also known to be rich, but the real extent of their contents is not definitely realized. In the great mountain chains that rib the center of the island gold and silver have also been discovered, but so far no mining for the precious metals has been attempted. Under the Spanish rule the mineral resources of Cuba have never been thoroughly examined, and no one has ever attempted to mine systematically for such products.