A Defence agoinsf Fire. -Ql 



^"sks, formed into piles which communicated with each 

 other. Besides other results, the following were observed : 



1st, That a spark cannot be obtained, as in common 

 electricity, at an explosive distance, but at the point of 

 contact. 



2d, That Coulomb's electrometric balance does not indi- 

 cate electric tension in the ratio of the number of pairs of 

 disks, or of the -strength of the pile. 



3d, That the powcr'of a very formidable apparatus is re- 

 quired to kill a small animal. 



4th, That Galvanism, applied after death, can determine 

 movements of inspiration and expiration. If a lighted taper 

 be placed near a small aperture made in the trachea, the 

 •flame at the moment when the Galvanism is applied is drawu 

 into the breast by the impulse of the air passing into the 

 lungs, and extinguished when the air issues,. 



3th, That comractions can be produced in the head and 

 forehead of a large animal — a horse, for example — by pla- 

 cing it at a vcr\' great distance, and making it communicate 

 with the pile by one conductor, while the other is formed 

 by the common reservoir*. 



XVIT. IrttelUgence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



A DEFENCE AGAINST FinE. 



It ROFESSOR Palmer, of Hamburgh, has lately discovered 

 a means by which all inflammable matters, such as wood, 

 paper, linen, &c., can not only be secured from burning, 

 but also be speedily extinguished when on fire. These 

 means consist in a powder composed of one ounce of sul- 

 phur, one ounce red ochre, and six ounces of copperas water. 

 To render wood incombustible, it is first daubed over with 

 cabinet-maker's glue, after which the powder is strewed 

 over it : and this operation, when the wood becomes dry,- 

 is three or four times repeated. When the powder is to be 

 applied to linen or paper, plain water is employed in the 

 room of glue: in other respects the process is the same, 

 with this^dilfcrencc atone, that the operation is performed 

 only once or twice. When the powder is used for articles 

 already on fire, two ounces are sufficient to extinguish a 

 square foot of surface. Professor Palmer intends to publish 



* This sentence is ambiguoii?. \Vc have translated it literally, liow- 

 evtr, from ilic frtnch Journal in whicli it appeared. — Edit. 



a full 



