CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 265 



chrome, and colored or porphyrized enamels, are a great resource in this new 

 method of painting, for if there be no chemical combination hi all these appli- 

 cations of color, there is at least a very powerful adherence determined by 

 the silicious cement, of which the hardening is doubtless facilitated by the ex- 

 cessive division wherewith it is presented to the action of the air." 



M. Kuhlmann has further succeeded hi using his silicated colors for designs 

 on paper-hangings, on cotten and woolen cloth, and in letter-press printing. 

 "The processes,'" he says, " differ very little from those in use in the various 

 modes of printing. One important condition is to maintain the silicious colors 

 in a uniform state of humidity during their application, whether the applica- 

 tion take place with blocks of wood or metal, or by having recourse to type. 

 All the colors that I have applied," he adds, " on stone, wood, metal, or glass, 

 serve for printing on paper or woven cloths. Typography, color-printing, the 

 application of gold or silver in powder or in leaf, can ah 1 be executed with the 

 same facility, taking care, with certain colors, to keep out sulphur in the prep- 

 aration of the silicates. Ultramarine is fixed hi cloths with more solidity 

 and economy by the silicate of potash than by the methods now hi use." 



Here we have a wide range of applications arising out of M. Kulhmann'3 

 discovery, and that the range will be extended is not doubtful. "We may add 

 that by grinding the charcoal used in the preparation of Indian-ink with sili- 

 cate of potash hi solution, a writing-ink is obtained almost indestructible by 

 chemical agents ; and the same solution, mixed with a decoction of cochineal, 

 gives a red ink, the color of which resists for a long time the action of chlorine 

 and the acids. 



New Cements. A cement recently patented by Captain Scott, R. A., 

 "Woolwich, England, is prepared by mixing quicklime and carbonate of lime 

 in such proportions as enable them to form, when properly treated, a sub- 

 carbonate. These substances are then to be reduced to a powder, and mixed 

 with hot or cold water, and can be used as mortar or for molding purposes. 



Another English patent has been used during the past year for making a 

 cement, by calcining charcoal with chalk and the oxyd of zinc. After being 

 well calcined hi a proper kiln these materials are suffered to cool, then ground 

 to powder, and hi that state are fit to be mixed with water and make a good 

 cement. 



PLASTIC COMPOUTSTD FOE USEFUL AND OENAMENTAL 



PURPOSES. 



The following is the description of an invention, for which patents have re- 

 cently been obtained, by J. H. Scoutetten, of Metz, France. It refers to the 

 manufacture of a paste, composed of vegetable and mineral substances, the 

 number and quantity of which varies according to the purpose for which the 

 paste is required. Thus gutta-percha, caoutchouc, pitch, resin, wax, gum- 

 lac, oxyd of iron, golden sulphuret of antimony, ultramarine, chrome, zinc 

 white, etc., may be used. 



Manufacture of the Paste. A steam engine serves to furnish steam to two su- 

 perposed hollow cylinders. These cylinders are themselves moved by the steam. 



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