1825.] 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



251 



iiire llie eve t>v their flriring liijht. A commnn 

 caiullp roqiiin s to be snuffed 10 times in an hour. 

 Wicks are better for heina: lirst dipped in wax: 

 inilecd, mould cmdles of tallow, are greatly im- 

 proved liy one lourth of white wax. 



Bv the result of minute observations, it ap- 

 pears th.Ua pound of common cindles, 12 in the 

 pound, burn 41 hours, 21 minutes; a pound of 

 mould candles, 5 7-8ths in the pound, 42 hours, 

 39 minutes ; a pound of commnn candles, 8 in 

 the pound, 3 1 hours ; and a pound of mould can- 

 dles. 4 in the pound, :Hi hours, 20 minutes.— 

 Hence mould candles are more economical than 

 common candles, if they remain at rest while 

 burning. 



Economy in Candles.— \n such candlesticks as 

 are not made to slide, the candles are frequent- 

 ly permitted to burn in the socket to great waste, 

 and to the injury of the candlestick ; this may 

 be prevented by taking out early the short piece 

 of candle, placing it between three common 

 pins stuck in an old cork, and [)utting the cork 

 in the candlestick. A poimd of candles 10 to the 

 pound, will give a greater quantity of light by 

 one fourth, than a pound of G in the [)Ound; be- 



or more elevated fountains, or water of satura-l Burnint^ Sprin^n. — There are several springs 

 tion, with which the springs are connected, or on tlie farm of Mr Allen lyoomis, in Middlesex, 

 some elastic gases confined in the earth, which K.Y. from which is emitted a giis .ns inflammable 

 by their repellent force may protrude the waters as gunpowder. Mr L. has, by means of pump- 

 to tlic surface. Adjacent high lands naturally logs, conveyed the gas from one of these springs, 

 indicate tlie first csuse, and I may ventnro to say, about twenty rods to his dwellijig, ivhere it an- 

 that there can be no ebullition of water from an swers all the purposes of oil and fuel, for light 



extended level surface, except from the latter 

 cause. 



It follows from the foregoing, that boring for 

 water, in order that it may flow above the sur- 



and heat. lie burns it in cooking stoves as well 

 as others, and so powerful is it, in combustion, 

 that if the doors be shut, it throws the girdles 

 from the top, to obtain vent ; if confined, it would 



face of the earth, can only be successful in those | burst the strongest stove. Tubes are used for 

 places, where, if it were not for the pressure ofi lighting the different rooms, 

 the superincumbent earth, there would other-] ^^^^^^ 



wise be springs or fountains; but asthere are few j Food and Physic. — If you have a severe cold 

 places, where the circumstances necessary fori and are very hoarse have some water-gruel pre- 

 the production of s|)rings do exist, there are still 1 pared in the ordinary way ; when nearly ready 

 fewer, where they exist and cannot find an out- slice in two or three good onions; simmer it 



again twenty minutes; pour it out; put in a 

 lump of butler, with pepper and salt, and eat it 

 (with bread if you are hungry) ; go to bed soon 

 after; the next morning, if you are not quite 

 well, you will be much improved, and willing 

 to try a second dose, which will certainly effect 

 a cure. 



let ; and here are the only places, where boring 

 could advantageously be emploved, at least in 

 my opinion. J. MANSFIELD, 



Prof, rtf Philos. MiWy .academy. 



R.\fL ROADS AND CANALS 

 A comparison has been made of the relative 



cause the tallow is more perfectly consumed in advantages of railways and canals, in a provincial 



consequence of a greater surface of wick being 

 exoosed to the air. In large wicks the tallow 

 is not burnt but distilled away. 



Communicaledfur Ike Jhnerican Farmer. 



THEORY OF SPRINGS — AND BORING FOR WATER. 

 Mililary Academy, W. Pninl, Jan. 25, 1825. 

 Dear Sir — Jared Mansfield, Esq. Professor of 

 Natural Philosophy, at the Military Academy, 

 has, in compliance with your request, just hand- 

 ed me the enclosed remarks, which you are at 

 lilerty to insert, if you think proper, in the 

 American Farmer. 



With great regard, 

 I remain your obedient servant, 



S. THAYER. 

 T^one of the theories of springs, or emana- 

 tions of water from the earth, have, as yet, been 

 supported by an exocriinentum crucis, and on that 

 account, our philosophy of them must be consider- 

 ed as hypothetical. 1 consider the common depth 

 of wells in any country, or region of the earth, as 

 the point of saturation, or where the communi- 

 cated particles of the earth, whether siliceous, 

 or argillaceous, are completely saturated with 

 water ; and where there exist no causes to di- 

 minish the quantum of fluid in ordinary seasons. 

 Near the surface of the earth, evaporation, and 

 the tendency of this fluid, by its weight, to de- 

 scend, necessarily render the parts adjacent to 

 the surface, comparatively dry and unsaturated; 

 insomuch, that no water generally can be obtain- 

 ed by excavation, before you come to the point 

 of complete saturation of the earth, by the wa- 

 ter ; whenever we have arrived at this point, 

 or below it, the water oozes from the earth, 

 from hydrostatic pressure, as from the sides of 

 a vessel in which it is confined, and constitutes 

 what are commonly calleil well«. 



If ever water is found to emanate from the 

 surface of the earth, or above this general lev- 

 el of the point of saturation, as in the case of 

 springs, it must, on hydrostatic principles, be ow- 

 ing to some peculiar, or local causes, wliich pro- 

 trude the waters above their natural heights in 

 the earth. The causes may either be superiour 



per. The writer calculates the degree of 

 resistance a carriage or vessel meets with either 

 from friction or the pressure of water, in each 

 of these modes of conveyance. From these cal- 

 culations, it appears that a horse will draw a 

 load 10 limes as great upon a rail-way, and 30 

 times as groat upon a canal, as he will upon a 

 good road. When the horse moves at the rate of 

 two miles an hour, therefore a canal is the most 

 advantageous mode of conveyance ; but vvhen 

 the speed is increased, the case is very different. 

 With regard to the expense, the writer esti- 

 mates the cost of a railway at three times the 

 cost of a good turnpike road, and thait of a canal 

 about nine or ten times. If railways, therefore, 

 should come into general use, two thirds of the 



ImportatU Discovery. — Dr Geitner, a skiWal 

 chemist at Schneeberg, in Saxony, has invented 

 a new metallic compound, the qualities of which 

 very much resemble those of silver. It ismall- 

 leable, and is not subject to rust or tarnish. — 

 Candlesticks, spurs, &,c. have already been fa- 

 bricated wth this composition — and it is highly 

 probable this discovery will lead to great alter- 

 ations in the manufacture of goods. 



To make Seating Wafers. — Take very fine 

 flour, mix it with glairc of eggs, isinglass, and 

 a little yeast; mingle the materials ; beat them 

 well together, make the batter thin with gum 

 water, spread it even on tin plates, and dry it in 

 stoves ; then cut them for use. Fou may 



expense of transporting commodities would be make them what color you please, by coloring 

 saved, as, though the first cost of the railway is , the paste, say with Pirazil or Vermillion for red, 



Indigo &.C. for blue, &c. 



three times that of a road, the same force will 

 move ten limes the weight over it. Railways 

 then, it is obvious, afford prodigious facilities 

 over any other mode of conveyance both as it 

 regards time and expense ; and there is scarce- 

 ly any limit to the rapidity of movement these 

 iron pathivays will enable us to command, or to 



the improvmenls in trade, commerce, and even ! whatever you have laid it upon. 

 agriculture, which they will allow us to efl'ect. 



To lake off insianthj a Copy from a print or 

 picture. — Make a water of soap and alum, with 

 which wet a cloth or paper ; lay either on a 

 print or picture and pass it once under the roll- 

 ing press : vou will have a very fine copy of 



Organic Remains — The Sussex, (Eng.) Adver- 

 tiser Newspaper, gives an account of some re- 

 markable Organic Remains, found in forming 

 the tunnel under the road at Kemp Town, 

 Brighton. These are represented to belong to 

 the elephant and horse, and it is conjectured 

 by the writer are antediluvian. It is also men- 

 tioned that a Mantil has discovered in the iron 

 sand-stone in that neighborhoud, the teeth and 

 bones of a herbilerous reptile of immense size, 

 and resembling in character the Iguana of the 

 new world. We are ralher staggered at seeing 

 it estimated at sixty feet in length — a prodigious 

 lizard ! 



To Chan Pictures. — Make a lye with clear 

 water and wood ashes ; in this dip a sponge and 

 rub the picture over, and It will cleanse it per- 

 fectly. The same may he done with white nine 

 with the same effect. 



Dandelions. — This plant makes a pleasant 

 sallad in the Spring, while the leaves are hardly 

 unfolded. It is m\ich used by the French, who 

 eat it with bread and butter. It may be blanched 

 by culture. 



Horseradish. — One drachm of the fresh-scrap- 

 ed root of this plant, infused with four ounces of 

 water in ariose vessel for two hours, and made 

 into a syrup with double its weight of sugar, is 

 an approved recipe for removing hoarseness. — 

 A tea spoonful of this has often proved suddenly 

 effectual. 



Onions. — A few fresh walnuts or raw leaves 

 of parsley, eaten immediately after dinner, will 

 speedily removetbat disagreeable taint which al- 

 ways infects the breath after partaking of onions, 

 garlic, or shallots. 



Hooping Cough. — A plaster of gum galbanum, 

 applied to the chest, cures this complaint. 



[An English publication. 



