A method is described for identifying soil microbial strains which may be bacterial degraders of pollutants. This method includes: Placing a concentration of a pollutant in a substantially closed container; placing the container in a sample of soil for a period of time ranging from one minute to several hours; retrieving the container and collecting its contents; microscopically determining the identity of the bacteria present. Different concentrations of the pollutant can be used to determine which bacteria respond to each concentration. The method can be used for characterizing a polluted site or for looking for naturally occurring biological degraders of the pollutant. Then bacteria identified as degraders of the pollutant and as chemotactically attracted to the pollutant are used to innoculate contaminated soil. To enhance the effect of the bacteria on the pollutant, nutrients are cyclicly provided to the bacteria then withheld to alternately build up the size of the bacterial colony or community and then allow it to degrade the pollutant.

This invention consists of a transcutaneous bilirubin detector comprising a source of light having spectral components absorbable and not absorbable by bilirubin, a handle assembly, electronic circuitry and a fiber optic bundle connecting the assembly to the light source and circuitry. Inside the assembly is a prism that receives the light from one end of the fiber optic bundle and directs it onto the skin and directs the reflected light back into the bundle. The other end of the bundle is trifucated, with one end going to the light source and the other two ends going to circuitry that determines how much light of each kind has been reflected. A relatively greater amount absorbed by the skin from the portion of the spectrum absorbable by bilirubin may indicate the presence of the illness. Preferably, two measurements are made, one on the kneecap and one on the forehead, and compared to determine the presence of bilirubin. To reduce the impact of light absorption by hemoglobin in the blood carried by the skin, pressure is applied with a plunger and spring in the handle assembly, the pressure limited by points of a button slidably carried in the assembly that are perceived by …

Patent for card holders meant to help better display business cards and other forms of advertisement on surfaces such as windows.

Patent for the combination design of kitchen cabinets that include a refrigerator component.

Patent for a device that combines a railroad level and a railroad gauge. This invention provides a compact tool that determines the condition of tracks as to level and gauge.

Patent for a cleaning device that navigates narrow openings of containers, such as bottles and jars, and opens to clean the interior walls of the receptacle.

Patent for a knee pad to be used by berry or cotton pickers, or other workers that are often in a kneeling position. The knee pad consists of a frame made of "one piece of spring wire of rather coarse gage, a roller revolubly attached to the front end of the frame, and cloth or canvas stretched across the frame" (lines 23-27). The cloth is easy to remove and replace.

Patent for a means of reducing wear in the working barrels of pumps. The pumps made in this wat are specially adapted for operations in water or oil wells where the fluid being pumped is is mixed with sand and sediment.

Patent for improved overflow control for separating tanks, accounting for, "slime thickness, settling tanks, separating tanks, and the like," ensuring, "uniform overflow." (lines 8-10; 27), with instructions and illustrations.

Patent for a rotary boring drill to be used in mining and drilling.

Patent for an improvement to sacks, as used in picking berries, to protect the bag from deterioration caused by dragging of the sack on the ground.

Patent for a shield for vehicle wheels that can be used for advertising.

Patent for an improved churn for aerating cream by forcing air down a pipe into the churn.

Patent for an apparatus for expressing the fluids out of paraffin compositions and separating the scale therefrom. Illustrations included.

Patent for an automobile tire pump that can be used with any size tire.

Patent for an ax handle. The handle is a tubular handle which also includes hingedly connected part fitting into the eye of the ax head. Illustration included.

Patent for a more efficient and simple cotton stalk chopper with the ability for the chopping drum to be moved up and down in the on and off positions.

Patent for a drying machine for stone, clay and related substances that will not burn the materials.

Patent for a horse detacher that easily connects and unconnects to the swingletree.

Patent for removing boll weevils from cotton plants. The device brushes the weevils into the furrows where they are crushed. Illustration included.

Patent for an improved juice extractor including a way to remove the strainer for easy cleaning or replacement, a swivel for the handle, and an overall more efficient device.

Patent for a knee pad for cotton pickers with a pneumatic cushion.

Patent for a saw filing and gumming machine for sharpening gin saws.

Patent for a tree heater for putting under small trees to protect them from cold weather.