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horses of Flanders, while the Shetlands oulj- produced a race of ponies. 

 But his principal argument was that on classifying the towns of Eng- 

 land, so far as their water-supply was known, according to the degrees 

 of hardness of the waters; the/ average of the death-rate was least in 

 those towns supplied with hard water, and increased as the waters be- 

 came softer and softer, until it was highest in those where. the water 

 supplied was most soft. These statements, however, were met with 

 much vigor by several speakers, among the most eminent of whom 

 was Mr. Wanklyn, who endeavored to show that the deductions of Dr. 

 Letheby were based upon incorrect premises, and that the case was 

 vevy far from being proved. 



Coloring matter of wine. — A method of distinguishing genuine 

 red wine from the false, according to Cotteni, consists in mixiug fifty 

 parts of the liquor to be tested with six parts of nitric acid of 1.40 spe- 

 cific gravity, and heating the mixture to IDO^ or 200° F. Under these 

 circumstances natural wine experiences no change after the lapse of an 

 hour, while that which has been artificially colored loses its tint in five 

 minutes. 



Use of the skin of the opossum for gloves. — The Australian 

 papers are congratulating the people of that country upon the demand 

 that has lately "sprung up in England for opossum skins, to be manufac- 

 tured into gloves, as they appear to furnish excellent material for this 

 purpose. As the opossum is considered a great nuisance in Australia, 

 by its destruction of trees and injury to orchards, gardens, &c., it is an- 

 ticipated that the very great call for them will do much toward keep- 

 ing these animals in subjection. It is hardly necessary to say that the 

 species in question is very different from the well-known opossum of the 

 United States. 



Xew article of concentrated food. — A concentrated prepara- 

 tion of food, somewhat similar in comi)osition and character to the cele- 

 brated '-peas pudding" used in the late French and German war, is 

 made by Mr, Batty, of England, by first reducing peas to a fine state of 

 division, either by boiling and then rubbing them down, or by grinding 

 into meal. To this meal he adds a quantity of Liebig's extract of beef 

 and a small quantity of the concentrated essence of meat. He then in- 

 troduces a mixture of fresh vegetables, such as carrots, turnips, onions, 

 &c., reduced to a pulp. Mint may be introduced in the form of dry 

 powder, and celery maybe used in the form of an essence. Pepper and 

 other condiments are added to suit the taste, and salt, as may be re- 

 quired. 



Dynamite in artesian-well boring. — Dynamite, so extensively 

 used for blasting in mines, tunnels, &c., has lately been applied in Den- 

 mark to a new i^urpose of great utility, viz : as an aid in boring artesian 

 wells. The owner of a large estate wanted water for his dairy, and 

 commenced boring for it. For 80 to 90 feet no difficulty occurred, when 

 a stratum of flint was struck, so unyielding that it appeared advisable 

 to give up the enterprise, but, as a last resort, dynamite was tried with 

 the best possible result. Two pounds of dynamite, in a flask provided 

 with isolated conducting wires, were lowered down the well-cleaned bor- 

 ing to its bottom, upon the impenetrable flint, and then exploded. The 

 j)ercussion was barely perceptible at the surface of the ground, but the 

 water in the bore was thrown up many yards. The bore, however, filled 

 again immediately, and it became evident that not only the flint layer 

 was pierced, but also that strata, rich in water, were opened so as to 

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