408 Domestic. 



granted by Congress to that state for the support of schools, 

 should be sold, and the proceeds vested in the stock of the 

 United States, or in some other fund which shall be perma- 

 nent and productive. The committee further reported, 

 " that in order to collect information on the subject, submit- 

 ted to their consideration, Commissioners ought to be ap- 

 pointed to report to the next General Assembly, a bill to es- 

 tablish and rpgi:late common schools, accompanied by 

 such information on the subject, as they may be able to col- 

 lect." 



25. The blue Iris affords a good test liquor. — Extract of 

 a letter from Professor Olmstead of N.Carolina University. 

 In my late experiments on the acids, wanting a test liquor, 

 and red cabbage being out of season, I was induced to try 

 the petals of the garden im, then in blossom (I believe some 

 people call it the blue lily, and others the flower-de-luce) 

 I have never tried any test more sensible, or more elegant 

 both for acids and alkalies. When prepared with care it is 

 reddened by blowing through it, and still more by passing a 

 stream of carbonic acid through it, — a sensibility which 

 was confined by Bergman, and after him by Thomson and 

 others to Litmus alone. Besides its greater delicacy, it has 

 another great advantage over cabbage ; its blue colour is 

 permanent, or appears so, as far as I can judge from a tinc- 

 ture that has been kept for six or eight weeks ; and from 

 the size of the petals and the abundance of colouring mat- 

 ter they yield to diluted spirits, it is more convenient than 

 violets. In a subsequent letter, Professor O. remarks : 

 The colour faded after some weeks. It is necessary to 

 mention that the petals afford the most delicate and sensible 

 colour when they first put out ; and the sensibility is further 

 increased, by carefully selecting the part most richly col- 

 oured, and then, on infusing it, if the first tinge be greenish, 

 by turning off the vv'ater and adding a new supply. For 

 common experiments, however, the infusion will be suffi- 

 f.iently delicate and sensible witliout these precautions. 



