OH Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



an equal surface of moist earth." Hence we see that water, by its coolness, 

 is enabled to assimilate to itself a large quantity of moisture nightly by con- 

 densation ; and that the air, when loaded with fogs and vapours, and even 

 with copious dews, can alone advance a considerable and never-failing 

 resource. Persons that are much abroad, and travel early and late, such as 

 shepherds, fishermen, &c, can tell what prodigious fogs prevail, in the 

 night on elevated downs, even in the hottest parts of summer ; and how 

 much the surfaces of things are drenched by those swimming vapours, 

 though, to the senses, all the while, little moisture seems to fall. — Whites 

 Silborne. 



On burning Lime with parinqs of Turf, Peat, Brushwood, IfC— The sites 

 where the limekilns are to be formed, should have the soil dug up from off 

 the subsoil, and carried, or thrown to a small distance, to be returned again 

 when the operation of burning is finished, and the products removed. The 

 best form of the site is circular, say five or six yards in diameter, and the 

 following is the method in which the operation ought to be conducted. la 

 the bottom, place a quantity of furze, heath ? or ling, &c. upon which, place 

 about two feet in thickness of the parings, if they are of a sufficiently com- 

 bustible nature, if not, a layer of peat and parings to that depth. On the 

 centre of this begin to form a tunnel or flue of dry furze and peat, viz. furze 

 in the centre, surrounded by about a peat in length. On the layer of 

 parings, or parings and peat, place about six or eight inches deep of lime- 

 stones, broken to a proper size (about three or four inches square), taking 

 care to carry up the flue in the centre about two or more feet in diameter 

 clear of the limestone; then lay on these another layer of furze, &c. parings 

 and peat, about a foot deep; then limestone, carrying up the flue as before, 

 and so continue stratum after stratum, till the whole ends in a cone with 

 the flue for its apex. After this, brushwood, furze, heath, &c. parings and 

 peat must be placed around the pile, to keep altogether, and if the soil be 

 of a clayey texture, clods of clay may be piled around the whole. Having 

 done this, ascend by a ladder to the -top of the pile, and set fire to the 

 furze in the centre of the flue, and it will burn down to the bottom of the 

 pile, — set the whole into combustion,— and in the course of twenty-four 

 hours the limestones will be completely burnt. — Quarterly Journal of Agri- 

 culture. 



On packing Seeds for Exportation.— AW seeds intended for exportation 

 should be collected in a state of perfect maturity. The finer or smaller sorts 

 may be enclosed in good paper bags, but those which are larger must be 

 placed in layers, in very dry sand, and the whole be packed in air-tight ves- 

 sels. The stratification in the sand is a precaution which would alone pre . 

 serve their germinating property for many years, and during' the longest 

 voyages. Saw-dust is also a good material; but it is necessary to take the 

 precaution of placing it in an oven, as we do bran, when we wish to purify it 

 from mites, or from the eggs of other insects. Oleaginous seeds, which are 

 liable to become soon rancid, such as those of the coffee-plant, the oak, nut- 

 trees, the tea-tree, &c. require, when stratified, to be kept with great care 

 separate from each other, in sand which i3 very fine and dry. Those which 

 are of a middle size may be sent in their seed-vessels enclosed air tight, in 

 small cups or pots, by covers of glass, fixed on with putty; or of wood, or 

 of cork, imbedded in melted wax ; or, which is better, in melted pitch. 

 Juicy seeds must be separated from each other, as contact would sooner or 

 later inevitably cause a fermentation which would destroy them. The late 

 celebrated Dr. William Roxburgh dipped them into a solution of gum arabic, 

 which formed them into masses. This, as it hardened, formed a coat which 

 secured them against every principle of destruction, and enabled him to 

 transmit them from the Coromandel coast to Europe, without undergoing 

 the slightest change.— Gill's Tech. Rcpos. April, 1828. 



Ci imparting Durability to Timber. — Some remarkable facts respecting 

 the durability that may be given to timber, by artificial means, have been 

 observed at Closeburn. The proprietor of that estate has for thirty years 

 been in the constant practice or soaking all fir and larch timber, after it is 

 sawed into plank, in a pond or cistern of water strongly impregnated with 

 Inne. In consequence of t h is soaking, the saccharine matter in the wood , on 

 which the worm is believed to live, is either altogether changed or com 



