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PROCEEDINQS OF THE POLYTECHNIC ASSOCIATION. 66)) 



whole structure. Buildings containing weaving apparatus must therefore 

 be made with unusually strong foundations and heavy walls. Tlie object 

 of the new invention is to remedy the eflect of the boater, which presses 

 the filling only after the shuttle has passed beyond the warp, by a beater 

 which o|)erates continuously with the shuttle, thus accomplishing by a 

 series of pressures what was formerly done by a blow. The new machine 

 seemed to operate with great precision. The speaker invited the members 

 to inspect the loom in practical operation. If it has the merits claimed 

 for it, an entire change in the system of weaving will be effected. 



New Steam Experiments. 



Dr. Rowell exhibited some indicator cards, made by the new experi- 

 mental steam engine, at the Metropolitan Mills, and said the members of 

 the Association would soon be invited to witness its practical operation. 



The following interesting items of scientific intelligence were read by 

 the Chairman: 



On Vegetation in Darkness. 



M. Boussingault, in a communication to the French Academy of Sciences, 

 read on ilay 18, gives an account of experiments which prove that the 

 growth of a plant in the dark is supported entirely at the expense of the 

 seed. 



Phosphorus and Sulphur. 



M. Lemoine, in a memoir to the French Academy, gives the chemical 

 characteristics of a compound made by heating phosphorus and sulphur, 

 and dissolving them in the bisulphide of carbon. The compound separated 

 has the formula of 2 P 3 S, which is invariably produced, whatever may 

 be the quantity of each element employed. 



Bromide of Potassium. 



Henry Behrend gives, in The London Lancet, several cases in which the 

 Bromide of Potassium was used, as first recommended to him by Dr. Brown 

 Sequard, for the purpose of producing drowsiness. It seems to be bene- 

 ficial in those cases in which the nervous element predominates, and where 

 opium and its preparations fail to produce any good results. 



Imphee. 



This Northern sugar cane has been cultivated in Cayuga county, in this 

 State The yield per acre was from 121 to 180 gallons of sirup. 



Ratan Splints 



These splints have been invented and used in England for the treatment 

 of fractures, and other injuries where the use of such appliances are indi- 

 cated. The}' are constructed of from four to seven pieces of cane cut of 

 equal lengtli and fixed parallel to each other by means of copper wires 

 passing through th(; sides at given distances. The advantages of these 

 splints are their lightness and flexibility, admitting air between the rods, 

 and thus favoring the functions of the skin. 



