Miscellanies. 187 



been employed for scarcely any other purpose than that of the tan- 

 ner, and yet it is applicable to a great variety of uses. If thread, 

 cords, nets, coarse linen, &c. be steeped in it, they acquire great- 

 er firmness and durability. Fishermen have long resorted to this. 

 Nothing is more apt to spoil than skins, and yet this preserves them. 

 It is the same with hempen and linen cloth. They contain much 

 gummy and resinous matter, which with tannin, forms an envelope and 

 thus adds to their durability. Linen ought not to steep more than 

 eight or ten days in this solution : it acquires a very brown color. 

 When this color fades the operation may be repeated. 



The best method of preserving nets and cordage is the follow- 

 ing; — disolve two pounds of Flemish glue in fifteen gallons of wa- 

 ter, — dip the nets, &c. into this solution and then steep them in a 

 strong solution of oak or chesnut bark, — the tannin combines with 

 the gelatin, and forms, between the fibres of the hemp, a solid net 

 work which adds great strength to the cords. Any bark which con- 

 tains tannin may be employed in making a decoction; so bones, par- 

 ings of skin, remains of fish, &,c. and generally all substances con- 

 taining gelatine may be used in making a gelatinous solution. Fish- 

 ermen who often throw away on the shore gelatinous fish, may use 

 them for this purpose. — Jour, des Connais, Usuelles. 



i 



5. Use of diablotins, or crackers of fulminating poivder. — Trav- 

 ellers in Germany use these crackers for the purpose of being awa- 

 kened by the detonation when any one attempts to enter the room 

 without permission. They are fastened acrossUie crack of the door 

 as if to seal it. ' 



These explosive papers are made by taking strips of half an 

 inch to an inch wide and of a convenient length. By means of a 

 little gum water or paste, a small quantity of coarsely pounded glass 

 is attached to one end, on one side of each strip about one fourth of 

 an inch. A little fulminating powder is spread over the glass and the 

 moistened end of the paper, and it is dried in the air: two of these 

 strips are then laid with their covered surfaces nearly in contact and 

 so that their uncovered ends may project different ways. A narrow 

 strip of paper or parchment is then wrapt round the coated 6nds and 

 fastened to one of them, but not binding them so tightly as to prevent 

 their being drawn, by taking hold of the projecting ends, one over the 

 other. The friction occasions their detonation. 



