I80j.] 



Literary and Phllofophical Intelligence, 



2o7 



Mr. Stothard has found that the 

 elslticity ot the (tecl in watch-l'jjriiigs, k.c. 

 is greatly impaired by taking ofF tlie blue 

 will) fand- paper ur oihrrwile, an J, what is 

 ftill more ftriking, that it may be rcliicd 

 again by the blaing prortis, with ut any 

 previous hardening or other additional 

 ticatmcjit. 



It is not generally known that geen 

 fucculeiit plants are much better prel'erved 

 after a momentary iinmcrfion in boiling 

 water than otherwife. Tae treatment is 

 adopted for the economical prelervarion of 

 cabbage and other planis which ate dried 

 for keeping, as it dellroys the Vegetable 

 life at once, and feems to prevent an '^fter. 

 procefs of decay or mortification, by 

 vvhich the plant would have been more 

 confiderably changed, if it had not been 

 l"o fuddenly killed. 



The following is a method for prcAirv- 

 ing wood in damp fituati^ns : — " Take 

 twelve pound» of refin beat in a mortar, 

 three pounds of luli'.hur, and twelve pints 

 of while-oil, let them be melted together 

 over a fire ; ochre-powder may be added 

 to gine it a proper colour. Of this pie- 

 paration two coats are to be applied, after 

 which the wo-jd will not be fubjedl to in- 

 jury by humidity. The firil coat fiiould 

 be kid on lightly, having been previouily 

 heated ; the Cecond after an interval of 

 two or three days j a third may be added, 

 if from the peculiarity of the fitua'i u it 

 be judged expedi rt. 



Mr. Davjes Giddy has lately Jeiciib- 

 ed a fingular fa6l of the invifiblis e.Tiiffion 

 of fteam and fmoke together from the 

 chimney of a furnace ; though either of 

 theni, if fep:^ratcly emitted, is vifible as 

 uiual. — " The flue (lays he, fpeaking of 

 a fterim engine) for conveying < ff ihe 

 fmoke, and affordiiig a draft, was made 

 of rolled inn ; and the (lean), which 

 wholly efcapes from thele machmes un- 

 condenfcd, was cunducl-d inio the fame 

 tube about a foot ab.ve its inl'crtion iaio 

 the boiler : when the engine began to 

 move, neither fleam nor fmoke were feen 

 to ifl'ue from the flue ; and whtn frefh 

 coal was added, nothing more than a faint 

 white cloud became apparent, and that 

 Oily for a (liort time. Tl'.e legiftei was 

 (lowly doled, and a condcnfationof fleam 

 maniftfled itielf at a fmill ililtancc from 

 the chimney, and in the lame ([uantity, 

 as if it i)ad pioceeded iiiirtiediatcly from 

 the boiler. Tlic experiincnt was rcverl'ed, 

 and the (lean) gradually confined to the 

 boiler, jvhen the («)okc bccani* vifible, 

 till II t'jualkd in quantity and appearance 



Thefe trials were repeated a number of 

 times with unvarying fucce:s. Pains 

 were taken to aiicertain whether and ia 

 what degree the draft was affecled by the 

 admiilion of fleam into the flue j and it 

 was f Aind that while the engine worked, 

 the fire brightened each time the iteain 

 obtamed admifilon into the chimney." — 

 To elucidate this faiSt Mr. Nicholson 

 contrived the following ex^n;riinent. — • 

 " A fmall glal's tube was lluck through 

 a cork, and tiiis was prelfed into the neck 

 of the retort in which water was builing 

 over a lamp. The fteam was emitted 

 through this iiiiall aperture in a vilible jet 

 u^ wards of a foot in length. But wlien a 

 candle was held with its flanie immediate- 

 ly beneatii th.? end of the tube, the jet be- 

 came invilible. To determine wlitther 

 the water might be decompoled, or' thts 

 fleam limply expanded fo far as to be ab» 

 foibed by the air, or if condenfed to (orm 

 a vapour too thin to be i;erceived, he luf- 

 fereo the hot invifible current which h;id 

 pafi'ed through the candle to pafs through 

 a larger glal's tube: in this cafe vilible 

 fleam iflfued plentifully from tlie farther 

 end. Hence (fays Mr. N.) I am difpofed 

 to judge that the large tube having kept 

 the very hot fleam together, and cooled it 

 I'o as to render it vifible again, there was 

 little if any decompolition of the water. ^ 

 But at the fame time, when we confider 

 the dilappearance of the denfe (moke in 

 Mr. Giddy's experiment, there feems to 

 be great leafun to think that the charcoal 

 was oxygenated and galified. If lb, the 

 produfits mu(t have been expanded into 

 invilibk ifeam, hydrogen, and carbonic 

 acid. By collefting the proiiucts in aa 

 experiment of this kind, thele conjeflures 

 wdl either be vcrilicd or reluted. It the 

 former., we fliall have the decompofirion 

 of water and oxygenation of carbon at a 

 lower temperature than has Iiitherto been 

 ftiewn orexpefttd. 



MuNfio p.^RKE, with his companions, 

 who failed frtm Portfmouih a few months 

 ago, having touched at the illands of St. 

 Jago and Goree, arrived at Kayay, on 

 the river Gambia, on the 14th of April, 

 whence they were to proceed in a few days 

 nto the interior of Africa. Tiie heat 

 was at that ti'ne foexctflive, tliat the ther- 

 mometer was in tlie middle of the day 100 

 degrees iu tlie (hade, and freijuently 

 t'uce hours after (unlet it continu>d from 

 8a to 92 degrees. 



Dr. Mi LLKR, of New York, intends to. 

 pubiifli the LccVtures on Tln.ology of 

 CuARLiis NiSBETT, D.D. late Pielideut 



that commonly piuduced by a fiiuilai fti'v, «i' Pjckinfon CtfUege, in Penufylvani.i. 

 MtiNTHUxIviAe. No.13^. ■ Jik A letter 



