Substitute For Rubber

-Daniel M. Lamb, of Strathroy, Canada, ia th au thor of a method of produoing gum from the milkweed plant, orother plnts of the asclepia faruily, and flax and other seeda which consiat in maoerating and ferment ing the substanoes, and tben, b; evaporation, reduoing the resultin] liquid to a thiok, gummy maas. The gum thuB obtained may be cheaply produced, and it is alleged to kav many o the valnable qualities of rubber. It i insoluble in water, may be vulcanizec with sulphur, eto. The prioe of pure rubber is now very high, and the discov ery of an economical substituto is a mat tar of the greatesl importance in the arts. A recent official paper printed in England, concerning the annual number o oonviotions for drunkenness in Englanc and Ireland, presenta some interesting flg ures. While, out of every 10,000 Englieih men, 59 are annually convicted of break ing the law against drunkenness, out o the same number of Irishmen 147 are found guilty of the same offense. In England 4 1-2 per cent. of the total con viotions represent habitual offenders. In Ireland the ratio is 14.7. In Liverpoo the proportion is 327 oonvictions to ever; 10,000 of its population, while in Dublii the proportion is 416 to 10,000. London deriy, whioh is the smallest place on the list, has 1,142 dunkards in every 10,000 o the population, and half of these are hab jtual drunkards.