1853] 



MEAN RESULTS OF METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 



the remaining distance to Kedgeree it is carried over ground on 

 bamboo poles, 15 feet high, coated with coal-tar and pitch , arid 

 strengthened at various distances by posts of saul wood, teak, and 

 iron wood from America. The bamboo posts are found to resist 

 the storms which have uprooted trees, the growth of centuries: 

 Though the bamboo soon decays, its amazing cheapness makes 

 the use of it more economical than that of more durable and 

 more costly materials. The branch road from Bishlopore to 

 Moyapore passes through a swamp ; the conductor runs on the 

 foot paths between the island villages, and for some miles crosses 

 rice swamps, and creeks on which no road or embankment ex- 

 ists. 



The most difficult and objectionable line was selected to test 

 the practicability of carrying the conductors through swampy 

 ground, and it has been perfectly successful. The Huldee River 

 crosses the Kedgeree line half way, and varies in breadth from 

 4,200 to 5,800 feet A gutta percha wire, secured in the angles 

 of a chain cable, is laid across and under the river, and the chain 

 is found to afford perfect protection from the grapnels of the 

 heavy native boats which are constantly passing up and down. 



The overground lines differ totally from those in use in any 

 .other country in this important respect No wire is used. In- 

 stead of wire a thick iron rod, f of an inch diameter, weighing 

 one ton to a mile, is adapted — the heaviest wire elsewhere used 

 being only one cwt. to the mile. The advantages of these sub- 

 stantial rods are these : they possess a complete immunity from 

 gusts of wind or ordinary mechanical violence ; if accidentally 

 thrown down they are not injured, though passengers and ani- 

 mals may trample on them ; owing to the mass of metal, they 

 give so free a passage to the electric currents that no insulation 

 is necessary ; they are attached from bamboo to bamboo without 

 any protection, and they work without interruption through the 

 hardest rains; the thickness of the rods allows of their being- 

 placed on the posts without any occasion for tire straining and 

 winding apparatus, whereas the tensiou of wire exposes them to 

 fracture, occasions expense in construction and much difficulty in 

 repairs ; the thick rods also admit of rusting to take place with- 

 out danger to an extent which would be fatal to a wire ; and last- 

 ly, the rods are no more costly than thin wire, and the welding 

 occasions no difficulty. 



The importance of this discovery of the superiority of rods 

 over wire will bo fully appreciated in a country like India, where 

 the line must often run through a howling wilderness, tenanted 

 by savage beasts or more savage men. 'Ihe lines must there- 

 fore, protect themselves, and this is secured by the use of thick 

 rods. 



The entire expenditure on this line was about 450 rupees a 

 mile., and it is estimated that the future overground lines will be 

 at the rate of 350 rupees a mile for a double line, river crossings 

 and erection of offices being a separate charge. The pecuniary 

 returns from the Calcutta and Kedgeree line were originally cal- 

 culated at about 200 rupees a month, but they have been more 

 than three times that amount. A rupee is about 56 cents U. S. 

 currency. 



Treatment of Foreign Wines. 



At a recent evening meeting of the Royal Institution, Mr. 

 Brockedon, F.R.S., gave the following interesting particulars rela- 

 tive to the Treatment of Foreign Wines. 



" The wine when pressed is not vatted in large quantities, but 

 placed in casks which have been sulphured, to check fermentation 

 and preserve its sweetness as far as possible. During the winter 



following the vintage, it is racked two or three times, and in the 

 following spring, about March, the bottling commences. 



'• In order to obtain the wine with perfect brightness, into each 

 bottle is put a wine glass full of liqueur, which is- prepared by 

 dissolving fine candied sugar in wine till it becomes a rich syrup. 

 If the wine is to be made pink, a red wine is used ; if pale, white 

 wine'. This liquor produces a fresh fermentation in the bottle, by 

 converting the sugar into alcohol and carbonic acid gas. Every 

 bottle on being filled and corked is laid on its side on a frame 

 having holes made through it, into which the neck of the bottle 

 is inserted. As the fermentation advances, every bottle in suc- 

 cession is dexterously shaken gently on its axis every day, to pre- 

 vent any adhesive deposit on the side of the bottle ;■ and each day 

 it is lifted more and more upright in the frame until the foul por- 

 tion rests only in the downward neck of the bottle. It is then 

 ready for degorgement) a process by which the foul deposit is 

 removed. The bottle is carfully held in such a position,that when 

 the string which holds the cork is cut, the deposit is blown out by 

 the force of the gas within. The foul matter only is allowed to 

 escape by the skilful use of the fore-finger of the operator, which 

 stops the flow until the effervescence subsides under its pressure. 

 He then quickly and dexterously fills up the bottle from the con- 

 tents of another already purified. It is then passed with great 

 rapidity under a machine, by which a large cork is forced into 

 the bottle, and is then as rapidly tied. It is- afterwards wired 

 and stacked away in vast and cool caves, some of which, thou- 

 sands of yards in extent, have been excavated in the solid chalk 

 of the hill side. These stacks of bottled Champagne are so in- 

 geniously made, that though they may each contain from 1,000 

 to 10,000 bottles, any one of them can be withdrawn for exami- 

 nation. In a warm spring the extent of bursting in these bottles 

 is a cause of great loss. In April, 1843, Madame Cliquot, of 

 Rheims, lost 400,000 out of her stock for that season of 1,600,000 

 bottles. Further destruction was checked by obtaining from 

 Paris ten or twelve waggon loads of ice, which strewn in the 

 caves lowers their temperature. 



" When the wine is thus stacked, the merchants visit the caves 

 to buy, and it is scarcely recommended to their notice, unless 

 the breakage can be shown to be not less then ten per cent. It 

 is this loss, and the cost of labour in preparing, that enhances so 

 much the value of the wine of Champagne. 



" The condition of the wine in the bottle can be easily ascer- 

 tained by a simple means. A fine hollow needle can be thurst 

 through the cork, and a taste obtained from the pressure within, 

 through the tube. On withdrawing the circular needle, the elas- 

 icity of the cork closes the puncture." — Jour. Soc. Arts. 



Mean Results of Meteorological Observations, 



Made at St. Martin, Isle Jesus, Canada East, (nine miles 

 west of Montreal,) for 1852 ; by Ci-ias. Small wood, M. D.* 



Barometric Pressure. — The readings of the barometer are all 

 corrected for capillarity, and reduced to 32° F. The means 

 are obtained from three daily observations, taken at 6 a.m. 2 p.m. 

 and 10 p.m. 



The mean \height of the barometer in January, was 29-607 

 inches, in February 29-902, in March 29-952, in April 29-470, 

 in May, 29,539, in June 29-489, in July 29,555, in August, 

 29-668, in September 29-645, in October 29-689, in November 

 29-615, and in December, 30,011 inches. The highest reading 

 was in December, and indicated 30-329 inches, the lowest was in 



* The geographical co-ordinates of Ihe place are 45° 32' N lat. and 73° 36' 

 "W. long. ; height above the level of the sea US feet. 



