1829.] Varieties. 



The French Librarian — The appoint- 

 ment of M. Cajsar IMoreau to the house- 

 hold of the young Duke of Bourdeaux must 

 afford the highest satisfaction to every ad- 

 mirer of indefatigable industry. His statis- 

 tical tables relative to this country, are a 

 monument of well-regulated application that 

 has never been equalled, and every lover of 

 literature looks forward with interest to the 

 result of his labours in the French king's 

 library. Years, of course, must elapse be- 

 fore they can be communicated to tlie pub- 

 lic ; and, in the interim, another gentleman 

 has started up to take possession of some 

 ground bordering upon what M. Moreau 

 wiU hereafter occupy. This is a JI. Ven- 

 touillac, who, with incredible industry, has 

 collected from every authority the opinions 

 and character, of every French book, we 

 cannot say, but of the most valuable works 

 in the French language, so as to enable the 

 scholar and amateur to decide at once in the 

 selection of a library, or to ascertain the most 

 valuable sources of information on any given 

 subject. Considering how innumerable ate 

 the French writers on almost every topic, it is 

 not surprising that many omissions should be 

 discoverable : these, however, we shall expect 

 to see supplied in another edition, wliich, of 

 a work so useful, we doubt not will be 

 speedily required. 



Cement for Hard Stone, Porcelain, 

 Glass, ^-c. — This cement is a product of 

 nature, which, without being very abundant, 

 may suffice, nevertheless, for all the purposes 

 to which it can be appMed. Tlie large 

 snails, which are found in great numbers in 

 gardens and woods, and which, in some 

 parts of Europe, are used for the table, at 

 the extremity of their body have a vesicle 

 filled with a substance which seems to be 

 greasy and gelatinous, and is of a whitish 

 colour. AVhen this is taken away from the 

 snail, and applied between two bodies, liow- 

 ever hard they may be, and these bodies are 

 united by being placed in contact through- 

 out their whole extent, they adhere so 

 strongly that a blow or violent shock will 

 frequently break them in a different part 

 from that where they have been joined. To 

 allow of this natural glue producing its fuU 

 effect, it is only requisite to afford sufficient 

 time for its becoming perfectly dry. 



Jelly from Bnckshnrn — It is well known 

 how completely the late war, and the conti- 

 nental blockade, threw the French upon 

 their own resources. We have had occasion 

 to speak, in this journal, of their beet-root 

 sugar, &c. The following substitute for 

 ixinglass ha-s been just made public in one 

 of tlieir best scientific periodicals, and tlie 

 process is spoken of as one wliich hiis been 

 successfully applied. It consists in mace- 

 rating four ounces of rasped stagshorn, 

 during ten minutes, in eight ounces of water 

 acidulated with a draclim of hydrochloric acid ; 

 then wa.sh it with two or three waters, to 

 remove the salts, wliich are formed and 

 soluble, and which, at a later stage, would 



343 



impair the transparency of the jelly, or 

 render necessary clarification with the white 

 of an egg. This stagshorn, thus washed, 

 is then boiled for half an hour in some fresh 

 water ; this short space of time is sufficient 

 to remove whatever gelatine it may contain : 

 then press it strongly through inen, and 

 filter the warm water. By treating this 

 liquor with the proper quantity of sugar and 

 other ingredients, after a slight boiling and 

 cooling, a perfectly transparent jelly is 

 obtained fit for the preparation of blanc- 

 mange, &c. 



Aristolochia Glancea. — The different inan- 

 ner in which vegetables exert their organic 

 powers to effect the destruction of insects, is 

 not unworthy of a brief notice. Some ac- 

 complish it by means of elastic or irritable 

 actions, adhesive substances, and so forth*; 

 but we have another plant in our green- 

 houses, the glauceous birthwort (Arist. 

 glaucea), that effects these purjioses without 

 any of these means, but principally by con- 

 formation. The whole internal surface of 

 the tubular flower is beset with minute 

 strong spines pointing downward ; these 

 present no impediment to the descent of 

 the animal which may seek for the sweet 

 liquor lodged upon the nectarium at the 

 base of the blossom ; nor is there any ob- 

 struction provided for its return, by means 

 of valves or contractions, the tube remaining 

 open ; but the creature cannot crawl up by 

 reason of thfe inverted spines, and to prevent 

 its escape by flying up the tube, the flower 

 makes an extraordinary curve, bending up 

 like a horn, so that any winged creature 

 must be beaten back by striking against the 

 roof of this neck as often as it attempts to 

 mount, and falling back to the bulbous 

 prison at the base of the flower, dies by 

 confinement and starvation, and there we 

 find them : a certain number of these perish- 

 ing, the blossom fades and drops off. 



Hercnlanenm and Pompeii. — The acci- 

 dental discovery of these two subterranean 

 cities has done more to improve our know- 

 ledge of antiquity, or rather of the habits, 

 usages, and manners of the ancients, than 

 could be effected by any other means. 

 The structure of their houses, their furni- 

 ture, the various implements for domestic 

 purposes, the state of the advancement of 

 the mechanical arts, have been displayed in 

 a manner which has had the effect of almost 

 carrying us into those distant times. Last 

 year an oil-mill was found in one of the 

 houses of Pomjieii very fat superior to any 

 now in use in Italy. It was formed of lava, 

 and consisted of a concave and convex 

 hemisphere fitting into each other, and 

 having rotatory motions in opposite direc- 

 tions. By a neat mechanical contrivance, 

 these two stones were ))reventcd from ap- 

 proaching eacli otlier in tlie first Jnstancc so 

 nearly as to break tlic stone - but merely to 

 crush the pulp of the olive, so that tliis fruit 

 oil must have liceii of singular purity. 

 A^'■hen this lias been pressed olf, the convex 



