SCIENTIFIC GOSSIP. 



119 



A chap con nobbut do his best, 

 An, that aw'U do for thee,' 



Leavin to providence all th' rest, 

 Au' we'st get help'd tha'll see. 



An' if thy lot's as bright an' fair 



As aw could wish it, lad, 

 Tha'll come in for a better share 



Nor ivcr blessed thi dad. 



Aw think awst nut ha' lived for nowt. 

 If, when deeath comes, aw find 



Aw leave some virtuous lasses. 

 An' some honest lads behind. 



An' tho' noa coat of arms may grace 



For me, a sculptor'd stooan. 

 Aw hope to leave a noble race, 



Wi' arms o' flesh an' booan. 



Then cheer up, lad, tho' things luk black, 



Wi' health we'll persevere. 

 An' try to find a brighter track— 



We'll conquer niver fear ! 



An' may God shield thee wi' his wing 



Along life's stormy way. 

 An' keep thi heart as free throo sin, 



As what it is to-day. 



J. H. 



MtniUU (^mliii. 



Novel use of the Diamond — A diamond machine for perforating 

 rocks is actually at work Boring a tunnel on the Bourbonuais railway in 

 France. The common black diamond of Borneo is used. The diamonds 

 are inserted in a steel ring fixed at the end of an iron tube, and the whole 

 aparatus is then made to rotate. The hollow of the tube receives the 

 nucleus cut out of the rock. It is said to progress at the rate of a metre 

 per hour. 



To detect Wood Fibre in Paper. — Add nitric acid and gently warm. 

 A brown stain will be quickly produced. Sulphate of aniline has also 

 been recommended. 



Artificial formation of- Cells ' — Dr. Montgomery, in a paper read 

 before the Royal Society, shows that every variety of ' cell ' with Avhich 

 the physiologist is acquainted, may be produced artificially in the substance 

 called myeline. A typical cell with nucleus and nucleolus and so-called 

 cell-wall was always present in his experiments. Even discs resembling 

 blood-corpuscles were formed. The author concludes that his experiments 

 overturn all physiological theories founded on the assumption of the 

 existence of ' vital forces.' 



Bleaching. — Bolley recommends the hypochlorite of magnesia for this 

 piirpose, as possessing many advantages over the ordinary bleaching 

 jiowder. This much is certain, that it is not so injurious to the tissues 

 exposed to its action as the cliloride of lime. 



