206 Miscellanies. 



generally considered a highly important interest of society, viz. the 

 means of a rapid locomotion. It is edited with much industry and 

 ability, and must be of great value to civil engineers, and to all in any 

 way engaged in railroads and steamboats, and it is not destitute of in- 

 terest to the man of theoretical science. In the miscellaneous depart- 

 ment we find an extensive range of scientific notices, and at the con- 

 clusion of every number, a table of the current prices of railroad 

 stocks, with the original cost of each. The numbers average 88 pa- 

 ges each, and are sold at Is. Qd. No. 37, which commenced the 6th 

 volume of the new series, is dated March, 1839. 



9. To remove Carbonic Acid Gas from Wells, S^c. — Prof. Hubbard, 

 of Dartmouth College, writes : " Saussure, in his experiments upon the 

 property possessed by ignited charcoal of absorbing gases, showed, that 

 of carbonic acid gas, it absorbs 35 times its volume in 24 hours. Seve- 

 ral years ago, I availed myself of this property in purifying a well of 

 carbonic acid gas, and in my lectures have urged others to do the same, 

 and the result in all cases of its use has been successful. 



" As is well known, the extinguishment of a lighted candle in a well, 

 if there be no odor, indicates the presence of carbonic acid gas. In this 

 case, half a peck or more of ignited charcoal in a kettle should be let down 

 by a cord nearly to the surface of the water. The glow is immediately 

 deadened, combustion ceases, and the absorption of the gas begins. The 

 lighted candle will show the progress of the experiment ; in an hour the 

 coal may be drawn up and reignited and let down again, and this repeated 

 till the whole is removed. A well containing 8 feet in depth of the gas 

 above the water was purified by two processes, and another with 26 feet 

 of gas during an afternoon. 



" The certainty of this remedy, and the facility with which it may be 

 applied, give it a superiority over the ordinary modes of purification by 

 explosion of gunpowder, &c." 



10. The Katakekaumene — Dr. Daubeny (Description of Volcanos) 

 has quoted from Strabo a notice of the Karaxsxav/nsvs near Smyrna. 

 The term (from the Greek) implies — a region completely burnt by 

 fire. Strabo says " it is without trees, with the exception of the vine. 

 The surface of the ground is cindery, and the mountains and rocks 

 are black as if they had been calcined. Some, he adds, have supposed 

 the country to have been affected by fire from heaven, but it is most 

 probable that so large a tract of country should have been burnt by 

 fire from the earth." 



Of this remarkable district Mr. Hamilton has given the following 

 notice. 



