354 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



atmosphere, and a strong and vigorous state ol 

 health : and it has of late been sufficiently as- 

 certained that tonic stimulants, and especially 

 the stimulant property of sea-salt, whether mix- 

 ed with the food mechanically or chemically, as 

 in salt marshes, is the best and most effectual 

 mode of cure. The food of Merinos, in Spain, 

 is therefore constantly enriched with salt ; and 

 Lord Somerville justly attributes the healih of 

 his flock of upwards of two hundred merinos, 

 which he purchased in Spain, to the use which 

 he has for many years made of this article on 

 his farm. A ton of salt is the proportion em- 

 ployed annually for every hundred sheep. 

 iSce GoocCs Stjstcin of Medicine. 



SAMrEt Parkes, an eminent Chemist of London, 

 member of many learned and Philosophical Societies, 

 including tlie Massachusells Agricultural Sociely, has 

 presented to the Institution, last mentioned, a vciy va- 

 luable -work, entitled " Chemical Essayx, jirincipalbj 

 relating to the Arts and Manufactures of the British 

 Dominions.^'' This work is interesting and amusing as 

 well as useful. It contains a compendious view of the 

 latest and most important discoveries in the arts which 

 more particularly minister to the necessities, comforts 

 and conveniences of mankind ; and embraces ahnost 

 every topic, which gives to civilized man a superiority 

 over the savage, who depends solely on the chase, and 

 the chance productions of the waters and the wilder- 

 ness for a precarious and miserable subsistence. 



Although this work is not particularly devoted to 

 agriculture, it embraces many articles, of importance 

 to the cultivator, and therefore coming directly within 

 the plan of our publication. Besides, the arts are all 

 near relations, and whatever is of use to any one will 

 prove auxiliary to all. We have, therefore, made the 

 following quotations from the '■'■ Chemical Essuys'''' which 

 we cannot but believe will prove acceptable to out 

 readers. 



MANUFACTURE OF STEEt. BV THE ANXIENTS. The 



ancients, it is believed, had some peculiar me- 

 thod of makino; steel. This suspicion is ground- 

 ed on the hardness of some cf their statues, as 

 well as on the nature of the Egyptian obelisks, 

 which are carved with a variety of figures, and 

 yet are made out of porphyry, which resists the 

 tools of modern times. Dr. Lister (in a paper 

 read before theKoyal Society )complains that this 

 valuable secret is now lost. According to Aris- 

 totle and Pliny, the ancient steel was made by 

 keeping forged iron for a certain time in melt- 

 ed cast iron. 



.RA^■CID TAl.LOW, OU TALLOW CO.VTAINING WHAT 

 CHEMISTS CALL THE SEEAHC ACin, HOW PURIFIED. 



Old tallows may in general be sufticiiBntly puri- 

 lied trom their rancidity by mel(ing them upon 

 lime water, and giving a considerable agitation 

 to the whole mixture ; for when the water is 

 again sutferod to subside, it will be found to be 

 offensive in smell, and to have subtracted most 

 of the impurities of the tallow. Should the tal- 

 low, however, be found not t.o be sufficiently pu- 

 rified, a repetition, of the process would com- 

 jjletely effect it. 



.\n ingenious friend assures me, from his own 

 experience, that if new rum be exposed for a 

 liight to a severe frost, and (hen removed to a 

 heated room, and thus alternately for a week or 

 two, it will in a short lime have acquired a fla- 

 vor equal lo old spirits. 



RAYS OF THE SUN, CLIMATE, Lc. — The sun"s rays 

 appear to have no power of giving heat unless 

 they impinge against a solid body. The focus 

 of the most powerful burning glass, if directed 

 on mere air, does not produce the sm;tllest de- 

 gree of heat. Thus Mons. Charles the aeronaut, 

 found the air in the neighborhood of Paris to be 

 47° ; and when he had ascended to the height 

 of eleven thousand feet, only 21° or 11° below 

 the freezing point. It has sometimes been im- 

 agined that difference in the climate is occa- 

 sioned solcty by the relative situation of the dif- 

 ferent countries with respect to the sun ; but 

 nothing can be more erroneous, as appears 

 from the state of the Andes, which may be ad- 

 duced as a complete refutation of the idea ; for 

 between the base and the summit of the moun- 

 tains every degree of temperature may be found 

 The city of Quito, situated about the middle of 

 one of these, experiences a mild and temperate 

 climate, while the sands beneath it are intense- 

 ly hot and the ground above it covered with 

 perpetual snow. 



The country on the borders of the Albany Ri- 

 ver, in the southern parts ot Labrador, are in the 

 same latitude with Great Britain; and yet the 

 cold is so severe, and the snow so perpetually 

 on the ground, that the lands lie entirely uncul- 

 tivated. The climate of Newfoundland which 

 is situated still further south is more like that 

 of the north of Russia than England. Dr. Ro- 

 bertson supposes that the difference of temper- 

 ature between certain parts of Europe and si- 

 milar latitudes in America is equal to twelve 

 degrees, and that a place thirty degrees from 

 the equator in the latter, is as warm as those 

 which are situated at eighteen degrees from it 

 in the former. 



F.CONOMV OF PT7EL. — In manufactories where 

 large and expensive iron boilers are employed, 

 coals impregnated with sulphur should be avoid- 

 ed ; as the sulphur, which rises during combus- 

 tion is apt to occasion a rapid decay of that part 

 of the boiler which is exposed to the action of 

 the fire. It produces sulphuret of iron which 

 wastes away as fast as it it is formed. This is 

 more particularly the case with those cast iron 

 stills, which are required to be red-hot, such as 

 the pots in which the makers of Prussian blue 

 flux a mixture of animal hoofs a id horns with a 

 caustic fixed alkali. 



Count Rumford has stated that, in general, not 

 less than seven eighths of the heat generated, 

 or which with ]iro[per management might be 

 generated frem the fuel actually consumed is 

 carried up into the atmosphere with the smoke, 

 and totally lost. How important then is it that 

 every proprietor of a manufactory should inves- 

 tigate the causes of this loss, and endeavor to 

 remove them ! 



Where the boilers are set in brick-wprk over 

 closed lire places, the most common defect is 

 that of having the fire-places too large. This 

 olten arises from the obstinacy of an unskilful 

 brick layer. It is a great want of economy to 

 employ inferior workmen to erect any kind of 

 fire-works. Whatever may be the expense I 

 have always found an advantage in having fur- 

 naces well built in the first instance. The con- 

 sequence of having the fire jdace too large is, 

 that the bars cannot be entirely covered with fu- 

 el, and the cold air rushing from the ash pit be- 

 tween the uncovered bars, actually counteracts 



the effect of a great part of the burning fuel 

 In selling stills or boilers, it should be a gener- 

 al rule to have the fire places no larger than 

 is absolutely necessary for containing as much 

 fuel as will be required to produce the intend- 

 ed purpose. 



The fire place should not only be small, but 

 it should be constructed so tiiat the whole of the 

 bottom of the boiler be exposed to the action of 

 the burning fuel. The heat which is applied 

 at the bottom of the boiler will be infinitely 

 more effective than the same portion of 

 heat, when applied to its sides. It is on tliia 

 account that some large stills and other ves- 

 sels of copper are made with the bottom lo 

 project inwards presenting a concave instead 

 of a convex surface to the action of the 

 fire. 



These considerations explain why there is so 

 great a waste of fuel whenever pots or olhet 

 vessels are healed over an open fire place ; foi 

 in this case, the heat only skims over the bot 

 torn, and passes off immediately into the sur 

 rounding atmosphere. 



The doors of closed fire-places are also as 

 improper as the fire places themselves. They 

 are usually made extremely thin, and the frame; 

 very light ; which not only occasion them soni 

 to wear out, but is the cause of their warpinf 

 and twisting. These doors are also made t< 

 fall into a rabbet, and are fitted up with latches 

 both 'of which are inconvenient, and indeet 

 useless. 



Having had many years experience in fittin; 

 up furnaces, I am decidedly of opinion tha 

 where cast iron doors are employed, an open 

 ing of ten inches should have a door not les 

 than three quarters of an inch thick ; and lai 

 ger tire places should have thicker doors i 

 propon."jn. These should be fitted up wit 

 strong wrought-iron hinges, such as will alloi 

 the doors to fall flat against the frames ; am 

 instead of moveable latches, each door shoul 

 have a large projecting knob firmly riveted ir 

 to if. 



I have found it advantageous to have tb 

 straps of the hinges thick, and of such a longt 

 as to extend entirely across the door; for whe 

 these are well riveted to the, door, they pr( 

 vent the latter from warping, however intens 

 may be the fire. 



The cast iron frames ought to be as thick ; 

 least as the doors ; and they should be two c 

 three inches broad, to enable them lo stan 

 steadily against the walls of the furnace. 1 

 setting the frames, they should be fixed inclii 

 ing a little towards the fire place: this give 

 the doors a tendency to keep shut, and rendei 

 latches useless. Bars of wrought iron., we 

 fastened, should also go, one from each corne 

 in a spreading direction, not less than eightee 

 inches or two feet into the solid mass of brie 

 work in which the boiler is to stand. 



There is a benefit arising from having Ihes 

 straps long and substantial, which may not; 

 first be apparent. They prevent the fran- 

 from receding from the brick work, the consi 

 quence of which would be (hat air would pa 

 into the fire place between the frame and tl 

 masonry, and thus impair the draught of ti 

 furnace. 



It'is also of importance in every close fir 

 jilace, to have a door to the ashpit; one th 



