1818.] Scientific Intelligence. 389 



in this rock are similar to that which forms the cliff first 

 spoken of. 



The principal island was named by its discoverers after the 

 celebrated Dr. Hutton, from the disposition and relative situation 

 of the strata being, as was supposed, most easily accounted for 

 upon the hypothesis of their igneous origin. 



IV. On Metallic Watering {Moire Metallique). By M. Baget.* 



Metallic watering is a new art, which was discovered by acci- 

 dent ; it depends upon the action of acids, either pure, or mixed 

 together, and in different degrees of dilution, on alloys of tin. 

 The variety of the designs resembling mother-of-pearl, and 

 reflecting the light in the form of clouds, and the multiplicity of 

 the objects of art which are executed with the substance, have 

 drawn upon it the attention of the admirers of new discoveries. 



The first attempts that I made to obtain this metallic watering 

 have not been altogether unsuccessful, and believing that they 

 may prove of some benefit, I shall describe the different mixtures 

 which I employed ; it is, however, necessary to observe at the 

 outset, that the English tinned iron is preferable to the French, 

 as this last is not capable of producing such beautiful forms. 

 First mixture : we must dissolve four ounces of muriate of 

 soda in eight ounces of water, and add two ounces of nitric acid. 

 Second mixture, eight ounces of water, two ounces of nitric 

 acid, and three ounces of muriatic acid. Third mixture, eight 

 ounces of water, two ounces of muriatic acid, and one ounce of 

 sulphuric acid. 



Process. — One of these mixtures is to be poured warm upon a 

 sheet of tinned iron placed upon a vessel of stone ware ; it is 

 poured on in separate portions, until the sheet be completely 

 watered ; it is then plunged into water slightly acidulated, and 

 washed. The watering that I have obtained by the action of 

 these different mixtures upon tinned iron, imitated very closely 

 mother-of-pearl and its reflections ; but the designs, although 

 varied, were quite accidental, or rather depended upon the 

 manner in which the tin crystallizes, at the surface of the iron, 

 in coming out of the bath in which it is tinned, and does not 

 present to the eye any thing particularly beautiful. By heating 

 the tinned iron to different degrees in different parts, in order to 

 change the form of the crystallization of the tin, I have attempted 

 to produce designs corresponding to the places where the heat 

 is applied. My trials have been successful; I have obtained 

 stars, fern-leaves, and other figures. I have likewise obtained a 

 beautiful granular appearance by pouring one of the above mix- 

 tures cold upon a plate of tinned iron at a red heat. 



We may, 1 think, after some farther experiments, succeed in 

 forming whatever designs we please. The success of the process 

 depends principally upon the alloy of tin which is applied to the 



* Journ. de Pliarm. for January, 1818. 



