FOREIGN NOTICES. 



333 



procured; over the glass, a layer of fat (lard and 

 suet) is spread, about half an inch thick, with a 

 kind of plaster knife or spatula; into this the flow- 

 er buds are stuck and ranged completely over it, 

 and there left from 12 to 72 hours. Some houses 

 have got 21)00 and 3000 such frames; as they are 

 filled they arc piled one over the other; the flow. 

 ers arc changed so long as the plant continues in 

 season, sometimes over a time of 2 or 3 months. 

 For oils of the same plants, coarse linen cloths 

 are imbued with the finest olive oil, and stretched 

 upon a frame made of iron; on these the flowers 

 are laid, and suffered to remain a few days. This 

 operation is repeated several times, after which 

 the cloths are subject to great pressure to remove 

 the now perfumed oil. As we cannot give any 

 general rule for working without misleading the 

 reader, we prefer explaining the process required 

 when we come to speak of the individual flower 

 or plant. 



Whenever a still is named, or the article is said 

 to be distilled or u drawn," it must be understood 

 to be done so by steam apparatus, as this is the 

 only mode which can be adopted for obtaining any 

 thing like a delicate odor, the old plan of having 

 the fire immediately under the still, conveying an 

 empyreumatic smell to the result has become ob- 

 selete in every well regulated perfumatory. The 

 steam-still differs from the one described only in 

 the lower part or pan, which is made double, so 

 as to allow steam from a boiler to circulate round 

 the pan for the purpose of boiling the contents, 

 instead of the direct fire. In macerating, the heat 

 is applied in the same way, or by a contrivance 

 like the glue-pot, as made use of now-a-days. 

 This description of apparatus will be found very 

 useful for experiments, which we will suggest by- 

 and-bye. The perfumes, as found in the shops of 

 Paris and London, are either simple or compound; 

 the former are called Extracts and the latter Bou- 

 quets, which are mixtures of the Extracts, so com- 

 pounded in quantity that no one flower can be dis- 

 covered as {predominating over the odor of anoth- 

 er ; and when made of the delicate-scented flowers 

 carefully blended, they produce an exquisite sen- 

 sation on the olfactory nerves, and are therefore 

 much prized by those whose wealth enables them 

 to indulge in such pleasures. In a future article 

 we shall explain the mode of obtaining the simple 

 extracts, and if space allow, detail the formula for 

 a few of the most approved bouquets, waters, &c. 

 as Eau dc Cologne and Arquebuzade. P. Gar- 

 deners' Chronicle. 



Extinguishing Fire. Several months have 

 now elapsed since we drew attention to a most im- 

 portant contrivance for extinguishing fire with 

 out water. Arrangements for the sale of the ap- 

 paratus being now complete, we gladly return to 

 the subject. We are so much accustomed to regard 

 water as the only available material which can be 

 employed in case of conflagration, that the attention 

 of scientific men has hitherto been diverted from de- 



vising means of applying other well-known agents 

 possessing the same power. And yet water is but 

 a feeble ally, even when it can be had ; while the 

 having it at command involves such heavy and cost- 

 ly apparatus that it can scarcely be called availa- 

 ble, unless in cities. As for country houses, vil- 

 lages or rural property, that may be said to be, by 

 our present arrangements, consigned to almost in- 

 evitable destruction in case of fire. 



It has occurred to Mr. Phillips, a naval officer, 

 that other agents may be employed, and with far 

 greater effect than water, in extinguishing fire. 

 We all know that flame cannot exist for an instant 

 in carbonic acid gas, or in the air called nitrogen; 

 but the difficulty has been how to obtain any such 

 instantaneous and ample supply of them as would 

 be capable of arresting a conflagration. That 

 difficulty has been wholly overcome. By the sud- 

 den ignition of a mixture of charcoal, gypsum, 

 and saltpetre, in a vessel containing water, a pro- 

 digious volume of carbonic acid, nitrogen, and 

 aqueous vapour is instantaneously extricated, and 

 when directed upon a fire, as instantaneously ex- 

 tinguishes it. or, as Mr. Phillips says without 

 exaggeration, annihilates it. 



The apparatus by means of which this great re- 

 sult is obtained is not bulky, nor costly, nor liable 

 to get out of order, nor tedious in its application, 

 nor dangerous to keep, nor difficult to apply ; it is 

 the reverse of all these. With an apparatus 

 which might, without the slightest inconvenience, 

 be kept in a lady's bed-room, not bigger, in fact, 

 than a muff-box. we have ourselves seen a fire of 

 timber-shavings, tar, and combustibles, blazing so 

 fiercely that it could not be approached within 20 

 feet without inconvenience, extinguished in a few 

 seconds by a lad. Such a fire would not have been 

 put out by a common fire-engine in a quarter of an 

 hour, even if the machine, the men, and the water 

 were all at hand when it broke out. 



Persons in cities may be indifferent to fire, be- 

 cause they have the great insurance companies in- 

 cessantly on guard ; yet even they are not free 

 from the most fearful risks. A curtain catches 

 fire, wood- work follows, the firemen are sent for, 

 they arrive, the flames are extinguished (perhaps) ; 

 but the room at least is gutted, and the house is 

 left a wreck, with windows smashed, and the fur- 

 niture and fittings ruined by the inundation that 

 is employed, An •' annihilator" in a dwelling- 

 house would render all this impossible ; for, in its 

 employment, nothing is perceptible except its mar- 

 vellous efficiency, brought about by a cloud of 

 pure vapour, scentless and incapable of soiling a 

 muslin window curtain. A single discharge of 

 this vapour would instantaneously extinguish tb.6 

 fiercest fire that ever raged in a London chimney. 

 If it is attended with these advantages even in 

 a city, how much is its value enhanced when we 

 consider the unprotected, and unprotectable, con- 

 dition of all sorts of country property? Mansions 

 and cottages, stables, ricks, and timber-yards, can 

 scarcely be said to enjoy any protection from fire. 



