736 Transactions of the American Institute. 



November 7, 1867. 

 Prof. S. D. TiLLMAJj^ in the chair; J. Wtatt Reid, Esq., Secretary. 

 Xhe Chairmau read the following notes ou applied science: 



JASPER. 



This mineral is now procured to almost any required extent at 

 St. Gervaise, Savoy, where. a quarry has a depth of sixty-six feet, 

 and a surface of at least twenty-four thousand square yards. 



KOOMISS. 



Dr. Stahlberg, physician to the factories of Sorga, in the Oural, 

 read a paper before the French Academy of Medicine, on the effi- 

 cacy of koomiss, or fermented mare's milk, in the treatment of 

 pulmonary diseases. Its use is said to lessen the secretion of the 

 mucous membranes, and afford better nourishment. The Khir- 

 gheses prepare the best kinds of this beverage, and administer it 

 with success to those who have a tendency to consumption. 



PENDENCY OF THE EPIGLOTTIS. 



Sir Duncan Gibb stated, in a paper read before the British Asso- 

 ciation, that about eleven per cent of the Europeans examined by 

 him, had the epiglottis hanging down over the windpipe, instead 

 of erect, thus retarding respiration and preventing clearness in 

 singing and speaking. He had also examined nearly three hun- 

 dred Asiatics, and both males and females had a more or less 

 pendent epiglottis, which would account for the fact that none 

 were fine singers. 



NEW MIXTURE FOR MATCHES. 



Prof. Bottger has found that a mixture of eight parts of teroxide 

 of thallium and one part of penta sulphide of antimony (commonly 

 called golden sulphuret), has the property of igniting l:>y friction. 

 A mixture of teroxide of thallium and powdered sulphur ignites 

 with a sharp explosion when struck. The picrate of thallium may 

 be exploded in the same manner. However, the scarcity of thal- 

 lium will prevent any use of these compounds for commercial 

 purposes. 



THE LAW OF DIFFUSION. 



One of Herr Merz's methods of exhibiting the phenomena of 

 diffusion is, to remove a portion of the shell of an c^g, by means 

 of hydrochloric acid solution {thalad), so as to leave the membrane 

 exposed, and to suspend the egg in water from the arm of a bal- 



