90 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



buildings. They have also the recommendation of combining dryness 

 with facility of ventilation. London Ailienccum. 



AMERICAN QUEENSWARE. 



THE manufacture of Queensware, like that of glass, is rapidly ad- 

 vancing in this country. There are at Liverpool, Ohio, seven dif- 

 ferent establishments, giving active exercise to a large amount of cap- 

 ital, and employing upwards of 180 workmen. They turn out more 

 than $70,000 worth of the ware annually, and the Pittsburg Gazette 

 says : 



" The ware which is of two colors, either of a light yellow or of 

 a dark mahogany hue, is as strong and well glazed as any we have 

 ever seen, while the patterns are, in many instances, very chaste and 

 graceful. This branch of our manufactures has sprung up within the 

 past few years, and has already driven the English yellow ware from 

 our market. It is sold in vast quantities in New York, Philadelphia, 

 and the other Eastern cities, as well as in Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Louis- 

 ville, St. Louis, New Orleans, and the rest of the Western towns." 



At Zanesville, Ohio, there are also large factories. 



CALCINED GRANITE AS A MATERIAL FOR FICTILE PURPOSES. 



^ 



MR. ARCHIBALD M'DONALD has lately been engaged at the Seyton 

 Pottery, Aberdeen, in making some experiments upon calcined gran- 

 ite as a substitute for clay in the manufacture of pipes and other earth- 

 en-ware articles. He states in a note to us, that the material stands a 

 strong fire and is not affected by transitions from heat and cold. The 

 native color of the stone can be nearly retained in the formation of 

 busts, statues, vases, urns, and general pottery, as also in chimney- 

 pieces, spouts, &c. In such articles as are intended to withstand the 

 effects of great heat, where an extract only of stone is used, the color 

 cannot be kept so well, as, for example, in retorts and crucibles; but 

 any preparation of the material, when once properly finished, may be 

 heated to whiteness without injury. The experiments have been car- 

 ried on under great disadvantages, but have thus far all been satisfac- 

 tory. Practical Mechanic's (Scotch) Journal. 



THE EFFECT OF STEAM UPON TIMBER. 



M. VIOLITTER has lately presented to the French Academy 

 a very able communication on the desiccation of different kinds of 

 wood by steam. He ascertained that steam raised to 482 degrees Fah- 

 renheit was capable of taking up a considerable quantity of water, and, 

 acting upon this knowledge, he submitted different kinds of oak, elm, 

 pine, and walnut, in pieces about 8 inches long and half an inch square, 

 to a current of steam at 7% pounds' pressure to the square inch, which 

 was afterwards raised to 482 degrees. The wood was thus exposed 

 for two hours. It was weighed before it was exposed to the steam, 

 and afterwards placed in closely stopped bottles until it became cool, 



