150 Substitute for Borax.—Safe Coach. 
chemical action is evidently null. We must therefore ascribe 
them to a physical cause; but they depend neither on heat nor 
light. It follows then, that probably they are owing to electri- 
city. 1 will endeavour to ascertain this—likewise whether the 
cause, be it what it may, cannot be produced by bringing into 
contact two liquids, or even two gases ; from which, perhaps, we 
shall derive means for explaining a great variety of phenomena.” 
XXV. Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 
SUBSTITUTE FOR BORAX. 
Sutpaate of strontian has been lately discovered in consider- 
able quantity at Carlisle, 34 miles west of Albany, in the State of 
New York. It is found imbedded in clay slate, forming very ex- 
tensive strata. A common smith has made a curious discovery 
respecting this substance: having tried it as a substitute for bo- 
rax, it proves to be the most useful flux that was ever employed in 
brazing and welding. By employing a very small quantity of it 
in powder, instead of clay, he welded with ease the most refrac- 
tory steel : in brazing it is found preferable to borax, remaining 
more fixed at a high temperature. : 
SAFE COACH. 
In a country in which there is so much travelling as England, 
every improvement calculated to lessen the risks of being overset 
in stage coaches should be patronized by the public. The vehicle 
invented, or so improved as to give it all the characters of a new 
invention, by Mr. H. Matthews of Gretton Place East, Bethnal 
Green, is precisely of this description. We have inserted a wood- 
cut, which, with a few words of description, will convey to our 
readers a very correct idea of its advantages. 
In coaches of the common construction a great load of lug- 
gage is usually carried on the top, and the wheels approach each 
other so closely, that the towering pillar requires very little incli- 
nation to either side, to carry the centre of gravity beyond the 
centre of the base, and overset the coach. In the new coach the 
wheels are made to cover a wider base, and the luggage is stowed 
at the bottom and under the seats, which are so contrived as to 
allow 5 cubic feet more luggage than can be stowed in all parts 
of the present coaches : by which means the centre of gravity has 
only a height of 3 feet 6 inches, instead of 8 feet 9 inches, as in 
the common coaches, and all the luggage is under lock and key 
and impervious to wet. The wheels are fastened on with lock 
and key. That the safety of passengers will be greatly increased 
by this improvement is quite obvious; but this is not all: the 
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