vol.. XIII. NO. 5. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



37 



CHI.ORIDB OP SODA. 



Such is tlie (iisinlectiiig .-liKl |)ii]il'yiiig nature of 

 the Cliliiride of Sod-i, tliut tlie writer saw n neat's 

 tongue, last FiiHay, taken from u pickle tuli in a 

 tainted and offensive condition, and after lieiiig 

 washed in sevei-al tiilis of pure water, and soaked 

 in pure water for hours, it still retained its oH'eii- 

 Biveness, when a wine-glass full of fresh Cliloride 

 of Soda was poured into one cpiart of water, and 

 the tainted tongue washed therein for five minutes, 

 Jind it hecaine as sweet as though just taken warn] 

 Troin the ereature's njoutli ; the same tongue was 

 then washed in pin-e water and l)oiled, and a sweet- 

 er piece of meat was never served upon the tahle. 



At this time the writer was suffering from an 

 iiiflamed and swollen cheek, in coiisei|ucnce of a 

 decayed tooth ; it occurred to hijn to try the ex- 

 perinient on his face, he accordingly took one tea- 

 spoonful with twenty of pure walei', and with a 

 soft hrush washing the inside of his check and the 

 whole month therewith, ii soon relievcl tlie pain, 

 «ml allayed the iuflammation, and the swelling 

 gradually subsided. I do not say that every thing 

 called the Chloride of Soda will perform these 

 things, but this was fresh made, hy an excellent 

 cliemist. — Philad. U. S. Gazette. 



PURIPICATIOW OP THEATKES OF DISSEC- 

 TION, <S:c. 



A SPECIAL commission was lately ap|iointed I'or 

 the purpose of ascertaining the hest metlrod of dis- 

 infecting anatomical theatres of their stench and 

 unwholesome elHuvia. They tried a multitude of 

 cxpeilients, hut found thai the use of simple char- 

 coal i)owder is much the most efficacious. Sojne 

 of this powder was Mended with and sprirdiled 

 over the putrid contents of the bowels one day, 

 and on the next it was always found that their of- 

 fensiveness was in a great measure removed ; and 

 if the students rubbed their hainls well with the 

 charcoal before they washed them, all unpleasant 

 smell was most certainly got rid of. This i)ractice 

 lias been tried extensively at the ilissecting am])hi- 

 theatre of the La Pitie Hospital, and from its sim- 

 plicity and efficacy is now constantly adopted there. 



One great advantage of the charcoal is that it is 

 a harmless substance, and that it does not even 

 cause the steel instruujents to rust, which unfortu- 

 nately is apt to be the case if the preparations of 

 chlorine are used as a disinfecting agent. — Revue 

 Mediccde. 



_ CHOLERA. 



Mr. S. p. Hildreth, of Marietta, Ohio, says — 

 " Not a single death by cholera, that terrible 

 scourge, which has visited and made sorrowful so 

 many places in the West, both above and below 

 us, has occurred in Marietta. It may, perhaps, be 

 attributable to its naturally healthy location, to the 

 wide airy streets and cojnmons, to the cleanly and 

 sober habits of the people, and to the great abun- 

 dance of shade trees, which every where deck our 

 streets and door yards. It was observed, several 

 years since, while the disease was yet cojitined to 

 the eastern continent, that regions thickly covered 

 with woods, and towns and villages in which grass 

 plats and trees abounded, suffered much less, and 

 in many instances not at all, from the cholera. It 

 may be philosophically accounted for in the known 

 j)roj)erty which the dense foliage of trees possesses 

 of decomposing the poison which generates mias- 

 matic fevers, and with which the cholera was 

 closely allied, from its prevailing mostly in dis- 



tricts subject to these diseases. VVhalevcr may 

 have been the cause, the inhabitants of Marietta 

 have great reason for gratitiule and jiraise to that 

 Ucing wlio ruleth the destinies of man." 



DRAINIWG. 



■ Ponds — which have no natm'al outlet, may yet 

 in most cases, be drawn off" by sinking u well, or 

 hole, through the stratum of clay, or other close 

 earth which holds the water, until a stratum of 

 gravel shall be found, into which the water of the 

 pond may be carried, when it will sink away. The 

 well, or hole, should be filled up with stones, and 

 the waters of the pond directed by ditches into it. 

 Frequently the bottoms of ponds are found to be 

 line rich earths, and well worthy of cnliivalion. 

 The draining of such ponds is also highly reipii- 

 sile, ibr the purpose of avoiding the viiastna which 

 proceeds from them, and which is so productive of 

 fevers. — Fanner^s Assistant. 



Ill draining loiv grounds, the great object is, to 

 give the main stream the shortest and best conise 

 throngh all the extent of ground to be drained. 



When the line for the ditch has been fixed, it 



should be marked off" by stakes The new line 



will probably cross in many places the serpentine 

 lied of the stream : the work should he commenced 

 in the dry season, and on the dryest jiarts of the 

 laiul, if any are too wet for the operations requireil. 



The greater part of the digging and removing of 



the earih [hy plough and broad hOes] may be done 



at very small cost compared to spade work There 



is generally no need of digging low enough to divert 

 at once the stream to the new course — it will be 

 sure to take the new and straighter course at every 

 rise of the water ; this operation may be hastened 

 by opening well the upper end of the new channel 

 at each crossing place, and somewhat obstructing 

 the old passage jnst below by the tow of a tree or 



other rubbish To stop the water entirely from 



the old channel would prevent its being filled up 



As the old channel for a long timew'ill convey the 

 stream, it serves to keep the new work in differ- 

 ent dry sections, to be o|)ened as may be conven- 

 ient. Adjoining sections should be connected as 

 soon ns possible (and by the s|(ade if necessary) so 

 as to have the benefit of any flood of rain that may 



occur When streams are thus straightened, and 



llieir sides kept clean and smooth, they will carry 

 off' cpiantities of water that could not be kept with- 

 in the former stream even if four or five times the 

 superficial' extent. — Mstract, art. 57, S.Jlgr. 



SHEET IRON GIGS. 



These gigs are continuing to grow as rajiidly nu- 

 merous as they are increasing in public estimation. 

 A very beautifully fitted up one was this week fin- 

 ished by • Messrs. Reed and Hanna, and Messrs. 

 Walker, for tlie Paisley Canal. Two others are in 

 state of great forwardness for Dublin ; and several 

 others for various canals, are also in preparation. 

 This business of gig making has extended to John- 

 stone, also, where there are six or seven of them 

 getting forward for various canals both in Scotland 

 and Ireland. Steam coaches will find in these 

 gigs most powerful competitors to contend with. 

 The increase of trade on all the canals on which 

 they have been introduced is astonishing. The 

 hustle at the basin here and at Port Eglinton by 

 the hourly departure is quite enlivening, and we 

 understand the travelling by the Forth and Clyde 

 Canal is increasing in a most astonishing degree. 

 Indeed, from the speed they have attained, and the 



low price charged to Fclinburgli, Stu'ling, Alloa, 

 &c. no other result could be ex|)ected. — PaisUy Ad. 



A NOVEI. AGRICULTURAI. FEAT 



— Was performed in Rhode-Island a lew days 

 since, h was a ploughing match on a trial of 

 skill in the use of the idoiigh, among fifteen com- 

 petitors. The projector engaged fifteen jiloughs, 

 with the teams, to p'longh filieen acres "of green 

 sward," jiaying each a tiiir cojnpensation, and of- 

 fering a premium for the best performance, accord- 

 ing to certain specified rules. A connnittee was 

 a|ipointed to superintend the performance and ex- 

 amine the work. The trial cnjployed sixty head 

 of cattle, and was completed in from six to eight 

 hours. It must have been a j]leasant and exhilar- 

 ating spectacle. Of such sports we have ton few 

 in this country. The desire for excitement unfor- 

 tunately takes, in most cases, a more pernicious 

 direction. It would be a national benefit if it 

 could be converted into such innocent and profit- 

 able channels. The revival of a taste for these 

 rural competitions would do much to soothe the 

 acrimony of mere party squabbles, towards which 

 the thirst for occu]iation and excitement now 

 leads, make the use of ardent spirits a less general 

 resort, and relieve the tedium of too much leisure 

 by the stimulus of rational amusement. — Bait. Am. 



DRY ROT. 



An officer of the navy, now dead, was informcil 

 by the Rev. G. Williams, of Rhicolos, in North 

 Wales, that it had been found from long experi- 

 ence, that the water in the reservoirs for supply- 

 ing the [uecipitate pits at the copper mine works, 

 at Parry's monnlain, in Anglesea, has the projier- 

 ty of preserving timber from decay and dry rnt in 

 a surprising manner, by the short process of steep- 

 ing it therein a few weeks only ; and that it has 

 surli a powerful effect in hardening the wood »s 

 to bhmt the sharpest tools. It consequently is 

 found necessary to shape and fit the wood com- 

 jdetely Ibr the use intended, before it is put into 

 this water for seasoning. 



The water at Parry's mine is impregnated with 

 copper, snl))huric and vitriolic acids. It is preserv- 

 ed in large reservoirs for supplying the [U'ecipitate 

 pits, which are filled with old iron that attracts the 

 copper from the water. 



It appears that the fiu'mers when they find their 

 timber for agricultural purposes too green for im- 

 mediate use, stec]) it for a few days in the copper- 

 water, which has the power of extracting the sap, 

 and fitting it for use jiroperly seasoned. 



I understand that a complete transmutation takes 

 place in the iron ; it gradually becomes incrusted 

 with the copper, wdiilst at the same time the acids 

 act as a corrodant ; so that a piece of iron thrown 

 in, after a certain titne, comes out cojiper, but 

 whether weight for weight, or size for size, I do 

 not recollect. 



The Admiralty, I believe, are in the posses- 

 sion of this information ; if, however, the present 

 method of immersing ships and timber in sea- 

 water is successful in curing or preventing the dry 

 rot, we certainly cannot obtain a more easy or 

 cheap method of gaining the desired end. The 

 component partsof sea-water, common salt, marine 

 magnesia, and salenite, are very dissimilar to those 

 of the mineral waters of Parry's mine, and it will 

 be curious if both, nevertheless, produce the same 

 effect upon wood U. S. Journal. 



