Se OOOO be = 
1825. ] 
tailed in the Ann. de Chim. See also the 
Phil. Mag. No. 319. It is black as carbon ; 
and does not oxidate in water or in muriatic 
acid. At a temperature but slightly ele- 
vated, it burns with great intensity, and 
forms zirconia. 
The Blue Lias Limestone, of Aberthau, 
in Monmouthshire, so celebrated by Mr. 
Smeaton for its water-setting lime, has on 
analysis been found to consist of 
Carbonate of lime.........-++- 
SAMATIINA = 6. 2 lsle ls os sie 3 diets 
ICH, Aae See a Sa Bs tae 
Carbonaceous matter, moisture, 
BNGMTONS a ssiee sree eeiead VOSS 
100°00 
A Man who could converse on different 
Subjects, and, during the time, correctly count 
Seconds and Minutes of Time, of the name 
of J. D. Chevalley, was met with by M. 
Chayannes, in 1823, at Wuarrens in Switz- 
erland, who related, that since 1789 he had 
possessed the. power of thinking and talking 
without interrupting a counting of time, 
which had become almost habitual with 
him. Of the fact above stated, M. Cha- 
vannes has related various proofs in the Bid. 
Univ. vol. 27. 4 
Acupuncturation, or the pricking of parts 
of the body, which may be suffering pain 
from any local cause, with the points of 
galvanized needles, for affording ease to the 
patient, as recommended by M. Clouquet, 
has lately been the subject of numerous 
experiments by M. de Pelletier, which 
throw doubts on the fact of galvanism hay- 
ing any thing to do in causing the allevia- 
tion of pain, which is found almost uni- 
formly to follow acupuncturation. 
The preservation of Fish during long Jour- 
neys or, Voyages, may, it is said, be effected 
by removing their entrails, and sprinkling 
the internal and externa] surfaces with a 
mixture of sugar and pounded charcoal, 
which will, fora considerable period, prevent 
the least taint, ard may be washed clean 
off, previous to cooking the fish so pre- 
served. j 
That Metals, in contact with Water, 
develope Electricity, although faintly, has 
been ascertained by M. Becquerel, by a 
very delicate course of experiments, de- 
scribed in the dnn. de Chim. Zinc, iron, 
lead, tin, copper, &c., communicate posi- 
tive electricity ; and platinum, gold, silver, 
&e., give out negative electricity. 
Projected Canals and Roads in North 
America.—The following lines have re- 
cently been surveyed, with the view of 
cutting canals, viz. between the Potomac 
and Ohio Rivers; between the Ohio and 
Lake Erie ; between the Alleghany and 
Susquehannah Rivers; between the De- 
Jaware and Raviton and Barnstaple Rivers 
Spirit of Philosophieat Discovery. 61 
and Buzzard’s Bay; and between Boston 
Harbour and Narraganset Bay. The com- 
pletion of the canal, near Washington City, 
between the eastern branch of the Potomac 
and the Tiber Rivers. Lines for great public 
roads from Washington through the south- 
ern states to New Orleans, and others are 
also under survey. 
The President of the Mexican Republic, 
on the 4th of November last, is said, in 
pursuance of an order of the Sovereign 
Congress, to have adyertized for plans and 
proposals for cutting open a communica- 
tion between the Pacifie Ocean and the 
Gulph of Mexico, across the Isthmus of 
Tehuantapac (a project surely worthy to be 
the object of a British company), and 
for rendering navigable the following rivers, 
viz. the Alvarado, the Panuco, the Bravo 
del Norte, the Santiago, and the Colorado 
of the West. 
For preserving valuable Engraved Copper- 
plates from the oxidation and wear which 
they suffer in being cleaned for use, after 
laying by for some time, Dr. Mac Cullock 
recommends their being varnished, either 
with common lac or with caoutchouc var- 
nish, after being carefully cleaned from ink 
before putting them away; and when 
wanted for use, to dissolve the varnish by 
means of spirits of wine. 
That whenan Acid combines with an Alkali, 
Magnetic Action is excited, has been inferred 
by M. Becquerel, from several experi- 
ments, described in Brande’s Quarterly 
Journal of Science, No. 35. Immediately 
on. the mixing or bringing them into gal- 
yanic contact, positive electricity leaves the 
acid solution, and negative electricity leaves 
the alkaline solution, and at the same time 
a magnetic needle, placed in the circuit, is 
affected. 
Strychnia has been proved to be the Active, 
Principle of the Upas Poison, by MM. Pel- 
letier and Caventon, in the Annales de 
Chimie. The strychnia of the upas, they 
found to be an unchrystalizable fixed sub- 
stance, soluble in water and alcohol, and 
not precipitable by acetate of lead ; its pro- 
portion, in upas, is very small, notwith- 
standing its powerful action on the ani- 
mal economy, when used for poisoning 
arrows. 
Crystals of Bitumen, which, after long 
standing, had been deposited by rectified 
petroleum, were lately exhibited to the 
Royal Academy of Medicine, at Paris ; 
they were opaque and small, and possessed 
none of the properties of the diamond, as 
some might have expected. M. Sido men- 
tioned having seen compressed polyhedrous 
crystals formed in bitumen. : 
Silicum, the metal of silica, or flint, has 
lately been obtained in a separate state, by 
M. Berzeliny, who finds it to be incombus- 
tible 
