SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY. 627 



Experiments with Ammonia and Flowers. — A French journal states 

 that Professor Gobba has lately made a series of experiments for the pur- 

 pose of determining the changes which ammonia produces in the colors of 

 different flowers. For this purpose he merely makes use of a dish in which 

 is poured a small quantity of common aqua ammonia. Over this he places 

 a funnel, in the tube of which are inserted the flowers to be experimented 

 upon. In this way he has shown that blue, violet, and purple flowers change 

 to a beautiful green ; deep red carmine flowers to black, white to yellow, etc. 

 These changes are most striking when the flowers have several different 

 tints, in which the red lines are turned green, the white yellow, etc. An 

 interesting example is that of the fuchsias, with white and red flowers, 

 which in consequence of the ammonia vapor become yellow, blue, and green. 

 If, when these changes have taken place, the flowers are immersed in pure 

 water, they preserve their new colors for several hours, after which the}- 

 gradually resume their original tints. Another observation due to Dr. 

 Gobba is that the flowers of the asters, which are naturally inodorous, ac- 

 quire a very agreeable perfume under the influence of ammonia. The 

 flowers of the violet asters also become red when they are moistened with 

 a diluted solution of nitric acid. Again, these same flowers, if exjDosed in 

 an ojjen box to the vapor of hydrochloric acid, become after some hours of 

 a beautiful carmine red, which they preserve, after being dried in the dark, 

 if kept in a dry, dark place. Our readers may like to try some of these 

 experiments. — Boston Journal of Chemistry. 



A Deep Well. ^-English geologists have watched with great interest the 

 progress of a well which has been bored for the benefit of a London brewery, 

 and which has just been successfully finished. At 150 feet the clays and 

 gravels were passed, and the upper chalk began , from 490 to 812 feet the 

 work lay through hard lower chalk and marl ; at 840 feet, gault ; at 1,004 feet 

 the solid green-sand was reached below which water is always found. The 

 work was done with a diamond drill. One crown of diamonds has cut 400 

 feet ; but the strata have proved of very varied hardness, and the flints in 

 the chalk have occasionally delayed the speed of the work. When there are 

 no mishaps the progress is 14 or 15 feet a day. The value of the diamond 

 crown of the boring tool is about $500. 



The city of Providence, R. I., is excited concerning its waterwoi-ks. A 

 Cornish steam engine in use, which is estimated to have cost $580,000, is 

 said to be cracked and disabled. As a preliminary to giving the public an 

 education in respect to waterworks and engineering, so that intelligent 

 measures shall hereafter be adopted, the Providence Evening Press has is- 

 sued an illustrated "extra," containing a descriptive history of the inven- 

 tion of the Cornish steam engine, beginning with the attempts of a centu- 

 rj ago. The "extra"' is illustrated. Probably the moral to be enforced is 

 to buy somebody's pump. 



