78 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



New Process proposed hy Mr. khi.kiKV.^ Administrator Ge- 

 neral of Forests, for scowering Wool. 



Wool cleansed THIS process consists in repeatedly immersing the wool 

 ^ "^ * *• in a warm chalk bath. The calcareous earth forms an ani- 



mal soap with the greasy matter of the wool. By this me- 

 thod the wool is cleansed quickly, and without affecting it» 

 quality. 



Argand's 

 lamps, with 

 bUie glass 

 chimneys. 



The light 

 enclosed in 

 alabaster or 

 Derbyshire 

 spar. 



Ar guild's Lamps. 



MR. ARGAND has made different improvements in hi* 

 lamps. The first consists in using blue glass chimneysF, 

 which render the light mild, like that of day : for the light 

 traversing a medium similar to that of the atmospheric air, is 

 modified in a similar manner. This is an important advan- 

 tage to many artists, who find it necessary to work by arti- 

 ficial light, as it is well known, that several colours do not 

 appear by it of their natural tints *. 



Another mean of obtaining a very mild, pleasant, and as 

 it were mysterious light, is to enclose the beak of the lamp 

 in a vase of alabaster or Derbyshire spar, the bottom and 

 neck of which are pierced, to admit this beak, while the body 

 of the lamp, that contains the oil, is concealed behind it. 

 A room lighted in this manner has a very curious and agree- 

 able appearance f. 

 Means of pre- Mr. Argand has likewise found the means of remedying 

 from overflow- ^^ inconvenience to which suspended lamps are liable, that 

 ing. of suffering the oil to run over, either by agitation, or from 



rarefaction of the air in the reservoir by heat. Thus consists 

 in leaving an opening in the lamp at the top, so that het 

 temperature cannot influence it ; and it will always remain 

 at the same height. 



♦ Chimneys made of the common blue glass of our glass houses, and 

 of the ordinary thickness, ■will not answer *, as I found by experience: 

 many yeat.s ago. At least they diminish the light in so great a degree, 

 that the consumption of oil to produce a given effect with them must be 

 so much more than with common glass chimneys, as to render them too 

 expensive for general use. W. N. 



•f- This is evidentlj' analogous, hut I should suppose inferior, to Count 

 Rutnford's method of using ground glass. Sec Journal, Vol. XIV, p. 22. 



He 



