94 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



surance companies in Akron, Ohio (where the paint is best known), 

 have issued circulars to the effect that they will insure buildings the 

 roofs of which are well covered with this paint at lower premiums 

 than those covered with tin or zinc, as they consider it a better fire- 

 proof. It forms a complete stone covering, impervious to the action 

 of the weather and of lire, and the longer on, the harder and more 

 permanent it seems to become. The chocolate-color produced with a 

 slight mixture of white lead forms a coating through which not a 

 particle of moisture can penetrate. It never, we are informed, peels 

 off, and cannot fade, as it is the natural color of the substance. 



Hunt's Merchants' Magazine. 



> 



\ 



NEW PAINT. 



MR. W. LONGMAID, of London, has lately taken out a patent for a 

 new way of treating the oxides of iron and obtaining products from 

 them, for making paints. The mode of operation, which certainly 

 has the merit of being novel, is as follows. The oxide of iron is re- 

 duced to a powder, and then resin or tar is mixed with it in the pro- 

 portion of 10 or 15 per cent., the larger quantity being preferable. 

 The resin or tar, if used dry, should be pulverized, but when used in 

 a semi-fluid state, it is mixed directly with the oxide and dried after- 

 wards. The materials, being mixed, are put into retorts of cast-iron, 

 which are about five feet long, and the only opening is closed with a 

 cover. The retorts are then placed vertically in a furnace with the 

 cover downwards to allow the escape of the gaseous matters evolved, 

 and are allowed to remain at a fixed temperature for two hours after 

 the gases have ceased to escape. After this they' are suffered to 

 cool gradually, and the product obtained is a dark-colored matter, 

 which when used as a pigment with oil forms a paint. If the escap- 

 ing gases are preserved, they produce a volatile oil and an inflammable 

 gas. 



SUBSTITUTE FOR FRESCOS. 



A METHOD of wall-painting has been invented at Berlin by a M. 

 Fuchs, which promises to supersede the difficult al fresco process. It 

 is stated to be much more durable and better adapted to the changes 

 of a northern climate than the Italian method. An experiment was 

 made a year ago to test the power of the colors to resist a very 

 destructive agent, the result of which has just been ascertained. In 

 {September of last year a portrait on stone was painted according to 

 the new process by Kaulbach, and given for trial to the director of 

 the Royal Museum. It has ever since been deposited in the chimney, 

 exposed to a twelvemonth's smoke, and when recently taken out it was 

 covered by a thick coating of soot that was removed with difficulty, 

 but the painting beneath was found uninjured, with the colors clear 

 and briefht. 



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