POLTTECHNIC ASSOCIATION PROCEEDINGS. 647 



then add thirty or forty pounds of warm water, poured in a thin 

 stream. 



EAETH EATEN IN BORNEO. 



A sample of a kind of clay eaten by some of the lowest class of 

 natives in Borneo, was sent to Batavia for analysis; the following 

 is the result: 



Pit cool rosin (organic matter, volatile at a red heat).. . 15.4 per cent. 



Pure carbon 14 . 9 do 



Silica 38.3 do 



Alumina < L*r.7 do 



Iron pyrites 3.7 do 



100.0 do 



ALUM CJRYSTILIZATIONS ON FLOWERS. 



A correspondent in The American Journal of Pharmacy de- 

 scribes a plan for making a beautiful parlor ornament. "Wrap 

 baskets of pliable copper wire with gauze. Into these, at the 

 bottom, tie violets, ferns, geranium leaves, chrysanthemums — in 

 fact, any flowers except full-blown roses, and sink them in a solu- 

 tion of one pound of alum to the gallon of water, after the solution 

 has cooled; as the colors will then be preserved in their original 

 beauty, and the crystalized alum will hold faster than when from 

 hot solution. When a light coating of distinct crystals has com- 

 pletely covered the articles, remove carefully, and allow them to- 

 drain for twelve hours. Flowers are thus preserved in their 

 beauty and freshness for a long time. 



NEW PROCESS FOR EXTRACTING POTASH. 



M. Tessi6 de Mothay, of France, has succeeded in producing on 

 a large scale, fluoride of silicium {aJcef) and fluosilicic acid (alakif). 

 By the action of this acid on the chloride of potassium of the 

 Strasfurth mines, he extracts caustic potash and the carbonate of 

 potash, and with the facilities he now has he expects to soon 

 deliver to the trade at a cheap rate, one ton of potash per diem. 

 The first process depends on the reaction which takes place when 

 two equivalents of silica (aket), three equivalents of fluoride of 

 calcium {calcamef) and four equivalents of carbon are melted in a 

 closed crucible. At about the melting point of iron it was found 

 that a large quantity of fluoride of silicium was evolved, and analy- 

 sis proved that the fluoride of calcium had parted with more 

 than half of its fluorine. The process used by Tessi6 de Mothay 



