Miscellaneous . 93 



fe flaky precipitate, composed of oil, alumlne, and animal 

 matter. Weak sulphuric acid is then added, to re-dissolve a 

 part of the alnmine, and to render the precipitate lighter, 

 and to prevent it from falling to the bottom. But the 

 alnmine, when once combined with the oil and animal 

 matter, does not re-dissolve entirely in the sulphuric acid ; 

 for this reason the oil always remains very opake, and 

 neither rises nor is precipitated. It may readily be con- 

 ceived, that too large a quantity of sulphuric acid must not 

 be added. M. Vauquelin does not know whether this be 

 e.saclly the process, but by following it he has been able 

 to obtain a similar liquid, which possesses the Same pro- 

 perties. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



A knowledge of one of the most fertile countries of 

 Europe has lono- been prevented by the inaccuracy of the 

 charts and topographical descriptions. A society of en- 

 crincers, at the head of which is don Salvador de Ximene?, 

 is about to remove this defect. They are now employed, 

 under the auspices of the government, to draw up plans 

 of the principfJ towns of Spain, and to prepare a general 

 chart of the whole kingdom. 



'ihe learned will recollect the notice taken of the Ignis 

 Grcecus, in a letter from friar Bacon to the celebrated 

 Matthew of Paris. M. le Baron d'Archin, the librarian of 

 the elector of Bavaria, has discovered an old Latin manu- 

 script of the 13th century, which not only imparts the 

 secret, which was supposed to be lost for ever, but speaks 

 of a composition similar to the gunpowder now prepared. 

 An account of it will be soon published; but if we might 

 ha;5ard a conjecture on the subject, it v/ould appear, that this 

 manuscript was a part of the correspondence between the 

 two extraordinary ecclesiastics we have named, of Oxford 

 and Paris. 



A person at Petersburgh is in possession of a manuscript 

 in the Russian language, written as early as A. D. lOCO. 

 It is adorned with some beautiful miniatures, executed by 

 Grecian artists. The proprietor has refused 20,000 rubles 

 for this valuable relic ; and it will be a curious fact, if, 

 from such a source of information, it should be discovered 

 ihat Russia, the history of which seems to have been in- 

 volved in impenetrable darkness, should, at the period ad- 

 verted to, have been the most accomplished and enlightened 

 nation of Europe. Some additional light on that country 

 ia expected to be derived from the cabinet of M. Bausse, at 

 the university of Moscow. The first division of that col- 

 5 lection 



