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Show ;,... . Potatoes as Penholders. "It is surprising, " says a commercial commer-cial traveler, "how general the use of potatoes as penholders is becoming in hotels. I have seen them in use in great hostelries of the east, whose owners wouldn't hesitate for a moment to spend $ 10 for a dosk ornament to hold pens used by the guests in registering. The mixture of starch, glucose and water wa-ter in the potato seems well adapted to take up the impurities of ink and to keep the pen point clear -and bright, while the alkaloid of the potato, known as solanine, doubtless has something to do with it in the same line. These elements ele-ments readily take up the tannate of iron, which is the body substance of ink. Chemically speaking, starch is the first base of a potato, and sugar or glucose is its second base. Thus is the humble potato finding another way in which to serve the uses of mankind. "New York Tribune. |