530 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



shades of brown, yellow, and gray ; some tints of lilac and 

 violet, and a color very nearly approaching black. They are 

 not very brilliant compared with aniline dyes, but have a 

 peculiar warmth of toue which makes them especially suit- 

 able for fashion colors. In combination with the wood and 

 extract colors, as well as with the aniline dyes, very beauti- 

 ful new shades are obtained. They are generally of much 

 greater intensity than most natural dyes, and they are sol- 

 uble in water, and adhere to the fibre without any mordant, 

 although they are usually fixed by bichromate of potash. 

 They surpass in durability any known dyes, being not in 

 the least affected by either strong acids or alkalies. 1 A 9 

 October 9, 1874, 170. 



ANTISEPTIC AND PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF SALICYLIC ACID. 



Investigations by Professor Kolbe indicate that salicylic 

 acid, like carbolic acid, restrains or even prevents fermenta- 

 tion and putrefaction, and possesses general antiseptic prop- 

 erties. Thus the addition ofyoVoj or even less, of the acid 

 to a solution of grape-sugar, prevents entirely the action of 

 yeast upon it. A very slight quantity added to milk keeps it 

 sweet for a long time, without being perceptible to the taste. 

 Fresh meat treated with it has been found to keep well in 

 the air for weeks, and its possible use in the preservation of 

 meat is suggested. Experiments made in the Leipsic Hos- 

 pital, by strewing it, either alone or mixed with starch, upon 

 contusions and cancerous surfaces, showed that it destroys 

 the fetid odors without producing perceptible inflammation. 

 Likewise in amputations and in other cases it was used w T ith 

 such results as to justify the hope that it may be found in 

 surgery to have all the desirable properties of carbolic acid 

 without its objectionable ones, and that it may also be found 

 efficacious as a remedy in certain classes of diseases. Ex- 

 periments with it by administering it internally, or by ex- 

 ternal application, in cases of incipient cholera, are suggested. 

 14 <7,CCXIII.,1874, 1G5. 



IMITATION OF WALNUT. 



The following is said to be a very superior method for 

 staining any kind of wood in imitation of walnut, while it is 

 also cheap, and simple in its manipulation. The wood, pre- 



