g98 Transactions- of the American Institute. 



but that other bodies and particularly moUon bismuth, participatS 

 in this extraordinary property of expanding near the point of soli- 

 dification. ]\Ii\ Tribe, in a paper read before the London Chemical 

 Society, expresses the opinion that the analogy between water and 

 bismuth is imperfect, since in the case of molten metal, there is 

 no perceptible range of temperature through which it expands on 

 cooling. The act of solidification is itself accompanied by an 

 increase of bulk, but there is no evidence of this expansion taking 

 place prior to the act of crystalization. 



NEW SINGEING MACHINE. 



Mr. J. A. Miller, of New York, has made an improvement' in 

 the procsss of removing the nap or protuding fibers on the surface 

 of cotton cloth before it is dyed or printed. Usually the cloth is 

 passed rapidly either through a flame or over a red hot semi- 

 cylindrical bar of copper. The new plan is to nin the fabric 

 between two revolving copper cylinder, w^ hich are kept at a 

 white heat; by this means the downy coating is removed simulr 

 taneously from both sides, and the cloth can be passed automati- 

 cally and continuously thi'ough the several processes of singeing, 

 bleaching and printing. Another common process is to remove the 

 nap by shearing, but the fabric is liable to be injured in this way. 

 Cloth prepared by the burning process presents a . smoother sur. 

 face, and when printed its colors are cleai* and brilliant. 



INDUCnOX CXDIL. EXPERIMENTS. 



The Psu:is correspondent of The London OJiendcal Jffews described 

 some interesting electrical experiments made by M, Rondel of 

 Brive. If, while the current of a pile passes through the primary 

 wire of a coil, one of the extremities of the secondary wire is 

 brought near, one of the extremities of the iron core,, sparks can be 

 drawn of remarkable intensity and brilliancj!^; if, at the same time^ 

 the other end of the secondary wire is put in communication with 

 one of the poles of the pile, a great increase takes place in the 

 brilliancy of the spark. Then on touching with the hand the iron 

 core, and placing the free end of the wire in contact with the skin, 

 a redress takes place, and a smart, stinging sensation is felt. This 

 last experiment was made upon a coil, the core of which completely 

 isolated in a glass vessel, was eight millimeters in diameter. M. 

 Eondel made the same experiment with another bobbin, the soft 

 iron core of which was twelve centimeters long, five wide and 



