302 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 
acid. He proposes to use other woods than oak, and states that his 
method increases the price of wood but four francs the stére. 
5. Manufacture of Artificial Stone for Grinding, and other pur- 
poses; by F, Ransem, (Chem. Gazette, Aug, 1845, p. 36. )—The 
method consists in cementing fragments of stone, by a soluble silicate 
of soda, and consolidating the mass by pressure. The cement is 
formed by dissolving 100 lbs. of crystallized carbonate of soda in 50 
gallons of water, rendering the soda caustic by lime, and evaporating 
to 20 or 25 gallons: then place the solution in a boiler, with 100 lbs, 
of finely broken flints, or other siliceous material, and heat for 10 or 
12 hours under a pressure of about 60 Ibs. to the square inch, stirring 
it frequently. After this, the undissolved portion is filtered out, and 
the cement is ready for use; its degree of concentration may be varied 
by the addition of more of the siliceous material, or more water. 
To make millstones, one part of powdered flint, or powdered pipe 
clay, and three or four of fragments of buhr-stone, or other suitable 
substance, are mixed with one part of the cement; the whole is sub- 
jected to heavy pressure in iron moulds, and afterwards is allowed to 
dry at the ordinary temperature for 24 hours; it is then putin a drying 
oven, and the temperature gradually raised to that of boiling water, and 
in this way completely dried. For stones of other kinds, granite, com- 
mon sand, or any other similar material may be used, with one fourth 
to one sixth of the siliceous cement. By using very fine material, 
a coating for walls may be made. jb. a 
6. A new method of Blasting ; (Chemist, July, 1845, p. 310.)—M. 
Courseraissé has found, that by enlarging the hole, for blasting, at 
bottom, either by chemical or mechanical means, much greater effect 
is produced by the powder, and the rock is lifted and rent, without being 
thrown to a distance. Ina limestone rock, he uses hydrochloric acid 
for the enlargement of the hole required, applying it through a tunnel, 
in three or four successive doses. J. L. 8. 
MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE, 
1. Natives of Australia, (Ethnography and Philology of the Exploring 
Expedition, by H. Hatz.)—The natives of Australia are of the middle 
height, few of the men being above six or under five feet. They are 
slender in make, with long arms and legs, and when in good condition, 
their forms are pretty well proportioned. Usually however their wan- 
dering life, singular habits, and bad food, keep them extremely meagre } 
and as this thinness is accompanied by a protuberance of the abdomen, 
it gives to their figures a distorted and hardly human appearance. 
* The stére is equivalent to 35-317 cubic English feet. 
* 
