In the industries, driving pulleys are now beginning to be provided with cork in order to secure an adhesion of the belting. In carpenter shops these bands of cork are now advantageously replacing rubber ones for covering the pulleys over which the band saw runs. The stoppers of nursing bottles are now being replaced by hygienic ones of cork, which, being very cheap, can be changed as soon as the presence of ferments is suspected. Cork is likewise employed in the manufacture of children’s toys; it serves, for example, for fixing the wig on dolls’ heads. Is it necessary to recall the cork of pop-guns and pistols, and the cork battledores and shuttlecocks used for playing with indoors? These few data will serve to show that but few products are capable of so many diverse applications as cork is; and the question may be asked whether it would be possible to substitute anything else for it, in case the supply should become exhausted. The manufacture of stoppers and of the various objects that we have just enumerated furnishes a considerable quantity of chips, which along with the waste derived from the collecting of the material, and with old, second-hand corks, constitutes the crude material destined to supply certain important industries, which, for the sake of completeness, must be mentioned. We have first the cork powder industry, which manufactures powders of various degrees of fineness. The coarsest powder is used for packing fragile objects, on account of its elasticity, coupled with its lightness, which permits of a great saving in freight charges. The finest powder forms, “liegine” or “suberine,” whose balsamic properties are well known to hygienists, and which may be used as a substitute for lycopodium, starch and fecula as an application to the skin of babes. Under the name of “zifa powder,” an insect powder has been made composed of cork and phenol. Fire lighters have likewise been made from cork powder; but this and the last named application have not amounted to much. We cannot enter into much detail in regard to the manufacture of linoleum, notwithstanding the interest that it presents. The manufacture began in Scotland, and is tending to settle in our own country. Linoleum is made by intimately mixing cork powder with oxidized linseed oil. The paste thus prepared is spread over canvas if the intention is to manufacture carpets, but over paper if it is desired to make hangings. The color of linoleum, which is the same as that of cork, only a shade darker, can be enlivened by colored designs. When applied to damp walls, linoleum is capable of receiving oil paintings of a more stable nature than those executed upon wood, which warps, or upon other building materials, which crack, such as plaster, for example. It can also be used for decorated ceilings for public halls, cafes, etc.; and when such ceilings become black through smoke and dust, they can be washed.