Chemical Science. 635 



deed, I have frequently made four or five perforations in the space 

 of an inch square, without any fear of starring the glass, as it is 

 technically called. 



When it is required to perforate glass globes, or the upper part of 

 wine bottles, the wood support is of course unnecessary, as the figure 

 of the vessel gives sufficient strength without it. Wine glasses or 

 tumblers may also be easily perforated in a similar manner ; but I 

 mostly employ another process for them. These being made of a 

 softer sort of glass, require only to be moved by the hand backwards 

 and forwards in the manner of drilling, on the sharp point of the file, 

 with the occasional assistance of a little oil and emery. Indeed, any 

 sort of glass may be perforated in this manner with ease, but I think 

 not so quickly as by the method of punching. 



All the varieties of china and earthenware may be perforated by 

 either of the above processes with certainty ; and the ingenious ex- 

 perimentalist will find no difficulty in turning to account many other* 

 wise useless articles by its assistance. 



It may not be amiss to mention here an easy method, which I 

 have occasionally employed with success, for separating the bottoms 

 of phials from the other parts, &c. ; I pour a small quantity of sand 

 or emery into the angular turned up part of the vessel, with a few 

 drops of water to moisten it ; then, by means of a piece of wood having 

 a sharp point, I press the moistened sand, &c. into contact with the 

 glass, and by gently turning the bottle round, bringing the point of 

 the wood and the sand into contact with every part of the lower end 

 of the phial in succession ; by these means, the surface is quickly 

 scratched, and immediately after a fracture takes place all round 

 the bottle, which instantly separates the bottom ; this effect does not 

 take place with all sort of bottles, but in very many it does. J. M. 



$ III. NATURAL HISTORY, $c. 



1. CIRCULATION OP FLUIDS IN VEGETABLES. 



A BRIEF account of some remarkable observations upon this pheno- 

 menon has reached us just as we were going to press. We should 

 have been glad to have inserted the paper entire, but it is indispen- 

 sable that the coloured figures that illustrate it, should accompany 

 the author's remarks, which are moreover so desultory, that we 

 cannot but hope they will be followed by some more exact state- 

 ment. Professor Ch. H. Schultz of Berlin, the author of these ob- 

 servations, has discovered that there is a visible circulation of fluid 

 in all plants, not only in the lower orders, such as Chara, Nitella, 

 &c. in which it has been long since described by Amici, but also in 

 the most perfect flowering plants. He more particularly describes 

 its appearance in the stipulee of Ficus elastica, Alisma plantago, and 



