General Notices. 81 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



Art. I. General IS otices. 



Bones. — That world-renowned chemist, Liebig, says, that a single pound 

 of bone dust, contains as much phosphoric acid, as one hundred pounds of 

 wheat. From this we can easily perceive that there are bones wasted on 

 every farm in this State, sufficient to manure the entire wheat crop. This, 

 to many, will doubtless appear strange, but, nevertheless, true. 



Warmth of a Covering of Snoio. — At the French Academy of Science, 

 (March 14th, 1848,) M. Arago read a communication on the warmth im- 

 parted to the earth, by a covering of snow, and respecting which, there has 

 hitherto been much scepticism. M. Arago stated that M. Boussingaulthad 

 ascertained the truth of the theory, beyond the possibility of doubt, during 

 the past winter. He found that a thermometer plunged in snow, to the 

 dept of a decimitre, (about four inches,) sometime marked five degrees of 

 heat greater than at the surface. — {^Medical Times.) 



New Food. — What will science do next? From Mr. Walsh's instruc- 

 tive letters ia the Living Age, we learn that Flandin, a French chemist of 

 the first order, has discovered a means of depriving the flour and fecula of 

 the common horse-chestnut, of its bitter property, so as to render it excellent 

 food. In the quantity and quality of the nutritive principle, it comes near- 

 est to wheat. The method of transubstantiation is simple and cheap. The 

 pulp of the chestnut is reduced to flour, or the fecula is extracted ; then 

 carbonate of soda is added in the proportion of 1 to 1^ to the 100. Thus, 

 120 or 180 pounds of flour, with the addition of two pounds of carbonate 

 of soda, becomes, after being washed with cold water, perfectly good ali- 

 ment. The carbonate costs only a few cents the pound. Mr. Flandin re- 

 marks that a horse-chestnut tree, planted at the door of a peasant, repre- 

 sents for him the value of a field of potatoes. It is believed that the pro- 

 cess for the purification of the horse-chestnut, may be applied to many oth- 

 er vegetable tissues. — {Newspaper .) 



Culture of Lisianthus Russellianus . — This beautiful and much esteemed 

 plant was introduced into this country, in 1835, from Mexico. Beino^ found 

 to be capable of producing ripe seed in abundance, a large stock of plants 

 was soon diffused among our best cultivators, who hailed it with delight. 

 Nevertheless, strange to say, its successful cultivation, except in a few in- 

 stances, still remains a desideratum — a fact amply proved by the paucity of 

 really well cultivated plants produced at our great metropolitan exhibitions. 

 Having been somewhat more successful than some of my neighbors, in 

 growing and flowering this plant, truly magnificent, when well manao-ed, I 

 will give my plan, which is as follows : — I sow early in spring ; I first fill 

 a 6 inch pot half full of potsherds, over which I place 1 inch of sphagnum 

 moss ; I then fill the pot within 1 inch of the top, with rich light sandy soil. 

 When all is pressed down equal, and firm, and a smooth surface made with 

 the bottom of a small pot, I sow the seeds, and cover it very slightly with 

 VOL. XV. — NO. 11. 11 



