K. DOMESTIC AND HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY. 43 1 



week in a warm place, and then draw off the clear oil by the 

 upper spigot. 9 (7, July,l8lB, 109. 



BRILLIANCY OF GAS FROM DISTILLATION OF THE PINE. 



According to Professor Benevides, of Lisbon, gas obtained 

 by distillation from the pine-tree is much more luminous 

 than that from coal, the difference, according to careful com- 

 parison, being as five to one. The density is about twice as 

 great. It is rich in carbon, and requires special burners, with 

 very small apertures, so as to burn without smoke or offen- 

 sive smell, in this respect resembling petroleum. 18^.4, Oc- 

 tober 6, 1873, 60. 



EXTINCTION OF PETROLEUM FLAMES. 



A writer in Les Mondes quotes from Ommeganck, of Ant- 

 werp, a very curious and perhaps valuable method of extin- 

 guishing the flames of burning petroleum flames upon which 

 water seems to be without effect. Chloroform, this writer 

 asserts, is absolutely non-inflammable, and mixed with pe- 

 troleum in the proportion of one sixth will render the latter 

 also incombustible. More than this, if a liter of petroleum 

 be poured into a shallow dish, so as to expose a surface of a 

 hundred square centimeters, and then ignited, fifty cubic 

 centimeters of chloroform cast upon the flames will extin- 

 guish them, and render the remainder incapable of reignition. 

 In this case the quantity of petroleum would be nearly fif- 

 teen times that of the chloroform. If similar results can be 

 obtained on a large scale, it would be obviously desirable for 

 vessels laden with petroleum to carry also a supply of chlo- 

 roform. To be sure, the expense of the latter substance 

 mi "lit at first sio;ht seem to be an obstacle, but it would cer- 

 tainly be much better to expend a reasonable sum in this 

 way than to lose a vastly more valuable property in the 

 flames. 3 B, April 30, 1874, 760. 



SAFE AND CHEAP RED-FIRE. 



The mixture for red-fire, generally composed of nitrate of 

 strontia, chlorate of potash, and sulphur, frequently ignites 

 spontaneously, especially when flowers of sulphur or imper- 

 fectly dried nitrate are employed. The following mixture, 

 which can be prepared comparatively cheaply as well as 



