214 
or even on a smooth ceiling, supported by 
the atmosphere pressing against the vacuum 
they-are enabled to form in the cavities of 
their fect. It is the same also with the 
geoo, a rat-like animal, which in India runs 
up and down the faces of the smoothest 
walls, in chase of flies and insects. The 
bones of the walrus flipper in a surprising 
manner, representing a gigantic human 
hand, capable of spanning twenty-eight 
inches or more; although these animals 
sometimes weigh a ton and a half, there 
seems little reason to doubt their capa- 
bility of supporting this great weight by 
pedalian suction against a mass of ice. 
Method of obtaining Flowers of different 
Colours on the same Stem.—Split a small 
twig of elder bush lengthways, and having 
scooped out the pith, fill each of the com- 
partments with seeds of flowers of different 
sorts, but which blossom about the same 
time ; surround them with mould, and then 
tying together the two bits of wood, plant 
the whole in a pot filled with earth, pro- 
perly prepared. The stems of the different 
flowers will thus be so incorporated as to 
exhibit to the eye only one stem, throwing 
out branches covered with flowers analagous 
to the seed which produced them. 
Wine.— Great portion of the wines of 1823 
and 1824 suffered a change, in consequence 
of which they became discoloured and lost 
their value. An apothecary at 'Thoulouse 
assures the world that he has discovered 
the means of restoring their natural colour, 
by the addition of a small quantity of tartar. 
The Smell—A French army surgeon 
lately communicated to the Philomathic So- 
ciety of Paris the case of a soldier who had 
been under his care, and who preserved the 
faculty of distinguishing odours, although 
that part of the fifth pair of nerves which 
runs into the nasal cavities had been en- 
tirely destroyed. 
cently made by distinguished physiologists, 
lead to the opinion that neither is the olfac- 
tory faculty destroyed by the complete de- 
struction of the olfactory nerve, hitherto 
considered as exclusively devoted to that 
funetion ; it remains to be decided in what 
manner the sensation of smell is perceived. 
Weevils. ecident has discovered to a 
French farmer a very simple mode of de- 
stroying weevils in corn warehouses. Hap- 
pening to place some sheep skins, with the 
fleece on, in the corner of a granary in 
which there was a large quantity of corn, 
he was not a little surprised to find them, a 
few days after, covered with dead weevils ; 
he repeated the experiment several times, 
and always with the same success. At last 
he ordered his corn to be stirred up, and 
Varieties. 
Other observations, re- . 
[Avue. 
not a single weevil remained in it. It ap- 
pears, therefore, although the cause has not 
yet been ascertained, that greasy wool, when 
in the neighbourhood of weevils, attracts 
and destroys them. : 
Spinning Machines.—Mr. Molyneaux, of 
Stoke, Somersetshire, has obtained a patent 
for an improvement in spinning flax, cotton 
wool, and silk. The contrivance is ex- 
tremely simple, and consists in the adapta-. 
tion of a peculiar kind of spindle and bob- 
bin, which is applicable to spinners’ frames 
in general; the spindle has no flyer, and 
the bobbin turns upon a horizontal axle, re- 
ceiving the filaments of whatever material is 
about to be spun ina direct line from the 
drawing-rollers, or from copts or creels, in- 
stead of having it conducted at a consi- 
derable angle through the arm of a flyer; 
the bobbin and the carriage in which its 
horizontal axle is suspended is made to 
spin round rapidly, by means of a cord from 
a drum, as in the old spinning-frames, by 
which the twist is given uniformly to the 
whole length of the filaments of flax, cotton, 
or silk under operation ; and the taking up, 
or coiling of the thread, thus spun upon the 
bobbin, is effected by a wheel affixed to the 
axle of the bobbin, which is turned by the 
friction of a horizontal plate, attached to 
and revolving with the carriage. 
New Vapour Engine.-—Mr. Samuel Mo- 
rey, an American gentleman, has inyented 
a vapour engine, which in the opinion of 
competent judges promises to answer well 
in practice. The vacuum in the cylinder is 
produced by firing an explosive mixture of 
atmospheric air and vapour from common 
proof spirits, mixed with a small portion of 
spirits of turpentine. A working model has 
been set in motion and kept at work, with- 
out elevating the temperature of the fluid 
from which the vapour is produced to a 
higher degree than that of blood heat. 
Should no unforeseen difficulties present 
themselves in its operation on a large 
scale, it will be the greatest improvement 
which has been made for many years, parti- 
cularly in its appliication to locomotive en- 
gines, as the weight of the materials re- 
quired to keep it in action for a consider- 
able length of time will be so small as not 
to be worth mentioning. 
Coal Mines. —A Mr. Wood, who resides 
near Newcastle, has proposed a plan for 
avoiding the dreadful accidents and loss of 
human lives so frequent in coal-mines, in 
spite of the safety lamps, by causing artifi- 
cial explosions at preper times, when the 
workmen and animals are removed, and 
thus clearing the pit of its inflammatory hy- 
drogen gas. 
