478 ANNUAL KECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



cies. The number of explosions is not found to have any- 

 apparent dependence upon the direction from which the 

 wind blows. The results place it beyond the possibility of 

 a doubt that the escape of the fire-damp, and the consequent 

 explosions, are related mainly to the conditions of atmos- 

 pheric pressure, and that a careful watch over the barometer 

 is, above all, necessary in each colliery. 12 ^4,X., 158. 



CANAL THROUGH THE ISTHMUS OF CORINTH. 



The contract for cutting a canal through the Isthmus of 

 Corinth has been granted to a capitalist in Athens on the 

 following terms: The canal is to be twenty-seven feet deep, 

 and one hundred and forty in width at the bottom. Near the 

 middle of its extent there is to be a dock, having: a surface 

 of 400,000 square yards. The whole is to be done in six 

 years. The precautionary deposit is fixed at 300,000 francs, 

 and the concession is to last for ninety-nine years. The cost 

 is estimated at about $4,000,000. 8 JB, November 8,1873,456. 



THE SCZAROCH. 



The Russians, it is said, have adopted a new shell, which 

 from its formidable character, as shown in recent experi- 

 ments, is attracting much attention on the part of military 

 authorities. The following description of the new projectile 

 is going the rounds of the scientific press : It is well known 

 that the ordinary elongated bolt will not permit of a ricochet 

 fire, and as this species of firing is very effective against masses 

 of troops, the loss is a matter of considerable moment. The 

 sczaroch, as the new projectile is called, is either a percus- 

 sion or a time shell, combined with a shot. The latter 

 ricochets beyond the point of explosion of the bursting 

 charge. The shell portion is a simple iron cylinder, to one 

 end of which is secured by a thin sheet of lead a spherical 

 shot. On leaving the gun the combined projectile acts like 

 an ordinary elongated shell, but as soon as the explosion 

 of the charge takes place the cylinder flies in pieces, while 

 the shot, impelled with the additional velocity, ricochets for 

 hundreds of feet ahead. In firing at batteries, it is claimed 

 that the double effect of this projectile comes into excellent 

 use, as the shell might be exploded among the guns, while 

 the ball would strike far in the rear among the reserves; or 



