548 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



2d. It can be clone in either small or large quantities, and not only pro- 

 duces more flour but at the same time more glutinous nourishment. 



3d. It is not attacked by the weevil and is therefore fit for storing against 

 seasons of scarcity, 



4th. The pellicle produced makes an excellent vellum-like paper which is 

 largely sought after in France by booksellers. 



Petroleum Gas. 



According to a report made by M. G. Brower fifteen gallons of crude 

 petroleum will make 1,200 cubic feet of gas, equal in illuminating power 

 to about 3,500 cubic feet of coal gas. The cost of this amount of light, 

 the price of crude oil being twenty-four cents, is only five dollars and a 

 quarter. 



Conductors of Electricity. 



' The conducting power of metals when heated decreases from zero to 100 ' 

 Centigrade, about twenty-nine per cent. Thallium and iron exceed this 

 average and nickel and cobalt fall short. The following is the order of 

 conducting power of the most important metals: silver, copper, gold, zinc, 

 cadmium, cobalt, ii'on, nickel, tin, thallium, lead, arsenic, antimony, 

 bismuth. 



Chemical Manufactures on the Tyne. 



Mr. J. C. Stevenson presented to the British association for the advance- 

 ment of science, an interesting account of chemical operations on the Tyne. 

 The principal crude materials used are salt, chalk, coals, sulpljjir (including 

 pyrites), French limestone^ resiu and tallow. The principal finished pro- 

 ducts are soda ash, crystals of soda, bicarbonate of soda, bleaching powder 

 and soap. The value of the annual production exceeds five million dollars. 

 In America this kind of manufacture is almost unknown. We use more 

 soda compounds for soap making than any other nation. These are all 

 imported, although the crude material required in the chemical processes 

 for making soda ash are here both cheap and abundant. 



Electricity and Magnetism. 



This subject, continued from the last meeting, was here resumed. 



Dr. Jerome Kidder exhibited his electro-magnetic machine, for medical pur- 

 poses, and spoke of cases where it had been beneficial. He also electro-plated 

 some brass articles held in a solution of the cyanide of silver while the 

 electric current was passing through his body. 



Dr. Parmelee. — Electricity lias been in use for a long time for medical 

 purposes; its action on the body, by producing shocks and twitching of the 

 muscles, induced medical men to expect great results from its use, but in 

 these expectations I may say they have in most cases been disappointed. 

 There are, however, cases where this machine may be necessary; as far as 

 the electric shock tends to bring tlie lungs into action, it is no doubt bene- 

 ficial. Literary men are injured by not allowing full play to the lungs. 

 When our attention to an}' subject is intense, we are apt to hold the breath; 

 this is exceedingly injurious. I believe a large portion of the ill-health of 



