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— 206 Miscellanies. aes 
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~ generally considered a highly important interest of society, Vi viz. the 
‘means of a rapid locomotion. It is edited with much industry and 
_ability, and must be of great value to civil engineers, and to all in any 
way engaged in railroads and steamboats, and it is not destitute of in- . 
terest to the man of theoretical science. In the miscellaneous depart-- ee 
ment we find an extensive range of scientific notices, and at the con- 
clusion of every number, a table of the current prices of railroad 
stocks, with the original cost of each. The numbers average 88 pa- 
7 each,-and are gold at Is. 6d. No. 37, which commenced the 6th 
volume of the new series, is dated March, 1839. 
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9. To remove Carbonic Acid Gas from Wells, &§c.—Prof. Hunparp, 
of Dartmouth College, writes: “Saussure, in his experiments upon the 
property possessed by ignited charcoal of absorbing gases, showed, that 
of carbonic acid gas, it absorbs 35 times its volume in 24 hours. Seve- 
ral years ago, I availed myself of this property in purifying a well of 
carbonic acid gas, and i in my lectures have urged others to do the same, 
and the result in all cases of its use has been successful. 
“ As is well known, the extinguishment of a lighted candle in a well, 
“if there be no odor, indicates the presence of carbonic acid gas. In this 
- case, half a peck or more of ignited charcoal in a kettle should be let down — 
by a cord nearly to the surface of the water. The glow is immediately 
deadened, combustion ceases, and the absorption of the gas begins. The 
lighted candle will show the progress of the experiment ; ; in an hour the 
coal. may be drawn up and reignited and let down again, and this repeated 
till the whole is removed. A well containing 8 feet in depth of the gas 
above the water was sn by two processes, and another 26 feet 
of gas during an aftern 
The certainty of this see and the facility with which it may be 
applied, give it a superiority over the ordinary modes of purification by 
Hn cots of gunpowder, &c.” 
10. “The Katakekawmene—Dr. Davbeny (Description of Volcanos) 
has quoted from Strabo a notice of the Kataxexavueve near Smyrna 
The term (from the Greek) implies—a region completely burnt by 
fire. Strabo says “it is without trees, with the exception of the vine. 
The surface of the ground is cindery, and the mountains and rocks © 
are black as if they had been calcined. Some, he adds, have suppose 
the country to have been affected by fire from heaven, but it is most — 
probable that so a a tract of country should have been hye by © 
_fire from the earth.” 
Of this remarkable district Mr. Hamilton has given a ilowing - 
notice, 
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