MISCELLANY. 



509 



judge, say they are a little smaller than in 



the English towns." 



The Uses of Asbestos. The mineral for- 

 mation called asbestos which term denotes 

 rather a peculiar form assumed by sundry 

 minerals than any particular species is 

 coming to be used very largely in practical 

 mechanics and manufactures. The name 

 asbestos, signifying indestructible, was given 

 by the ancients to various amphibolic and 

 augitic minerals, which occur in long, hair- 

 like crystals, placed side by side, forming a 

 fibrous mass. These crystals may easily be 

 taken apart, and, as they are very elastic 

 and pliant, have been used to manufacture 

 a sort of cloth. The Romans used some- 

 times to envelop the bodies of their dead in 

 a wrapping of this fabric, thus keeping their 

 ashes separate from the ashes of the funeral- 

 pile, for fire does not consume asbestos. We 

 even read of napkins and articles of dress 

 being made of thi3 material when soiled 

 they were cleansed by being subjected to 

 the action of fire. In ancient times the 

 wicks of the ever-burning lamps in temples 

 and shrines were often of asbestos, and at 

 the present time the Greemlanders make a 

 like use of it. A few years ago a Mr. Au- 

 desluys, proprietor of a large asbestos-de- 

 posit in the vicinity of Baltimore, com- 

 menced the manufacture of a paper con- 

 taining about 30 per cent, of asbestos. 

 Characters written on such paper, in com- 

 mon ink, are still legible after it has been 

 subjected to the action of fire, and it is like- 

 ly that advantage will be taken of this 

 property of asbestos to manufacture a pa- 

 per for important records. The great ob- 

 jection to all the asbestos paper so far made 

 is its want of toughness, its friability. The 

 Journal of the Society of Arts makes mention 

 of an asbestos paper covering for roofs, but, 

 as this mineral is not proof against moisture 

 as it is against fire, experience alone could 

 determine its value for that purpose. But, 

 perhaps, the most important service yet ren- 

 dered by asbestos is the furnishing us with 

 a fire-resisting packing for piston and pump 

 rods, the necks of revolving retorts, etc. 

 Asbestos packing was used for the piston 

 of a locomotive on the Caledonian Railway 

 from July 27 to November 18, 1871, and was 

 then as good as when it was first put in ; 



while the best common packing would have 

 lasted not above two months. It is better 

 to make rings of asbestos, and put them on 

 the piston, than to wind it round. There 

 are very extensive deposits of this impor- 

 tant mineral within the limits of the United 

 States, that found on the eastern slope of 

 the Green Mountains and of the Adiron- 

 dacks being of the best quality for fineness 

 and tensile strength. The fibre of New 

 York and Vermont asbestos varies in length 

 from two to forty inches, and resembles un- 

 bleached flax, when found near the surface ; 

 but when taken at a greater depth it is pure 

 white, and very strong and flexible. It is 

 found also in considerable quantities in the 

 Tyrol, in Hungary, Corsica, and Wales. 



British Scientific Expedition. The en- 

 lightened liberality of the British Govern- 

 mant in fitting out the steam-corvette Chal- ' 

 lenger, 2,306 tons, for a scientific voyage 

 around the globe, receives the heartiest 

 commendation from the English press, and 

 from the whole world of science. The com- 

 mander of the corvette, Captain Nares, R. N., 

 is a distinguished seaman and explorer, and 

 the second in command, Commander J. P. 

 Maclear, R. N., is scarcely less eminent. 

 We have space only for the names of a few 

 of the scientific men who go out on this 

 cruise. The director is Prof. Wyville 

 Thompson, and he has under him J. J. 

 Wild, of Zurich ; J. Y. Buchanan, of Edin- 

 burgh, chemist ; H. N. Mosely, naturalist ; 

 Dr. Von W. Suhm, do. ; John Murray, Edin- 

 burgh University, do. The vessel has been 

 thoroughly repaired and fitted for her work, 

 with auxiliary screw, two engines of 400 

 horse-power each, boats, 40 dredges, etc. 

 She carries an abundance of traps, har- 

 poons, scientific apparatus, etc. The route 

 of the vessel will probably be, first, to Gib- 

 raltar and the Bay of Biscay ; thence to 

 Madeira, St. Thomas, the Bahamas, Ber- 

 muda, and the Azores. From the Azores she 

 will sail for Bahia, touching at Fernando 

 Noronha. Thence she crosses to the Cape 

 of Good Hope, from which point her course 

 is southward to the Crozetts and Marion 

 Islands and Kerguelen's Land. Thence her 

 direction will still be southward, as far as 

 the ice will permit, and then the vessel will 

 steer for Sydney, New Zealand, the Camp- 



