102 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



hard, and, therefore, unfit to be used as a material for v^eavin^ 

 cloth. To obviate this, I first take the purified sponge, and im- 

 merse it in water containing from 10 to 20 per cent, of glycerine, 

 then squeeze it dry, after which it will be entirely soft and elastic. 

 It is then cut into small pieces and put through the carding pro- 

 cess, and then felted. Only certain qualities of sponge are capable 

 of being spun. One of them is the kind known as ' chipoul,' 

 which has comparatively a long fibre. The felted sponge may be 

 used for hat bodies, carpets, etc. ; the sponge-cloth for clothing, 

 etc. 



" Sponge thus prepared may be worked in the preparation of 

 fibrous and textile fabric, with or without the admixture of other 

 ingredients or fibres ; for instance, it can be used to advantage in 

 connection with woollen and other similar substances." — Scientific 

 American. 



Composition Fuel. — The mixture of tar, coal-dust, sawdust, tan 

 bark, peat, and other inflammable refuse stuflp, and the pressing 

 the same into blocks, for the purposes of fuel, is very common, 

 and several patents have been issued for varieties of such mixtures. 

 Washington Stickney and Nathan B. Chase, of Lockport, N. Y., 

 have lately obtained one of these patents, and they say : — 



"The coal consists of screenings and other fine portions, which 

 accumulate in great abundance in coal-yards, and hitherto have 

 been considered comparatively valueless. The tan bark .used 

 (commonly called spent tan bark) is also comparatively useless 

 and very abundant. These, with other ingredients, hitherto coii«- 

 sidered of little or no value, are so combined as to form a cheap 

 and convenient fuel, and may be compressed, by mechanical 

 power, into blocks convenient for use. The coal tar cements the 

 whole, making a solid mass, which may be readily ignited, and is 

 well adapted for common fuel, especially for summer use. 



" The above ingredients are combined in the following propor- 

 tions, to wit: Coal, 3 parts; tan bark, 2 parts; sawdust, 2 parts; 

 peat, or other fine woody or vegetable matter, 1 j^art ; coal tar or 

 pitch, 1 part, or sufficient to cement the whole ; or they may be 

 combined in a greater or less proportion of either, securing substan- 

 tially the same result. The whole mass may be easily ignited 

 with shavings or paper, or more readily by the application of a 

 small quantity of benzine and a match." — Scientijic American. 



To render Paper and Paper-liangings Water-procrf. — Rischer rec- 

 ommends to size with a thin paste of glycerine and starch (equal 

 parts), with which for colored paper at the same time the paint is 

 applied, and afterwards with a solution of Japanese wax in 5 or 6 

 times its bulk of alcohol. About & scruple of wax is said to be 

 sufficient to give a water-proof coating to a sheet of paper. 



Tobacco Paper. — This article is manufactured by a Hamburg 

 firm as a substitute of the expensive " leaf" of fine cigars, and 

 has acquired considerable reputation abroad. The composition, 

 aside no doubt from a variable amount of flavoring substances, is 

 given as : — 



Woody fibre -f- moisture, 91.69 per cent. 



Aqueous extract, incl. albumen, gum, veget. acids, . . 7.63 " 



