1855.] 



SHIP CANAL ACROSS THE ISTHMUS OF SUEZ. 



Dijoa the shock, which was rather slight, was felt in the direction of 

 north-east to soath-west. The accounts received from Italy, Switzer- 

 land, and part of Germany agree in stating that the shock extended 

 to all these countries. The time indicated varies from 10 to 20 

 minutes past 1, but the variation is probably only caused by difference 

 of clocks. Among other places where the shocks where felt were 

 Erbach, in the Odenwald, Carlsruhe, Friburg, the Baden Oberland, 

 Stutgardt, Ravenburg, Esslingen, Plochingen, &c. In most of the 

 places two or three oscillations were felt ; they went from the north- 

 east to the south-west, and were strong enough to shake the windows, 

 ring bells, and displace light articles of furniture, but the barometer 

 and thermometer underwent no variation. The sky was cloudy at the 

 time, and the wind blew from the south-west. A letter from Milan of 

 the 2.5th says : — " A severe shock of earthquake was felt at Milan this 

 day, in the direction of east to west. It lasted five seconds, but 

 caused no damage. Most of the clocks in the town stopped, and the 

 thermometer fell from 27° Reaumur to 14° (93° to 03.}° Fahrenheit). 

 The weather was rainy, and on the following morning there was a 

 a thick fog." — GalignanCs Messenger. 



Ship Canal auross tile Istlinuis of Suez* 



M. de Lesseps is now on his return from Egypt to Paris, probably to 

 make the necessary arrangements for carrying out the project with 

 which he has been so long occupied, and for which, it is believed, ho 

 has at last obtained the consent of the Ottoman Porte, that of the 

 Viceroy of Egypt having been long ago and very readily given. This 

 project is the important one of cutting a ship canal through the Isthmus 

 of Suez, and thus making an expeditious and easy direct passage for 

 ships of large size from the Mediterranean into the Indian seas. The line 

 originally traced out for this canal was from Tineh to Suez, the nar- 

 rowest point of the Isthmus ; but, this, from a congregation of difficul- 

 ties not then sufficiently studied, and from data and calculations errone- 

 ously founded, it was deemed necessary to abandon ; the more so as 

 the cost could not be less than 300 millions of francs, whereas that for 

 the canal of greater length now proposed is estimated at no more than 

 240 millions. The establishment of a canal at the narrowest part of 

 the Isthmus is besides surrounded with such difficulties of 'execution 

 that the authors of the project now approved of by the Pacha of Egypt 

 have decided in preference of the line by Alexandria and Cairo. The 

 port of Alexandria and the roadstead of Aboukir are exempt from the 

 obstacles to navigation which the Nile creates north-east of the Delta. 

 A current running along shore from west to cast carries away from 

 Alexandria the mud brought down by the river, and keeps the waters 

 of this part of Egypt clear and deep. By opening the canal at Alex- 

 andria the enterprise is saved the considerable and costly works neces- 

 sary at Tineh. Canals of communication between the Mediterranean 

 and Indian seas not only existed from the most distant period, but ves- 

 tiges of them are still found, agreeing with the plan now proposed. 

 There was, however, a very inportant difference between the ancient 

 canal and that now in question ; which is, that the first was almost ex- 

 clusively devoted to internal navigation, and probably had but little 

 depth of water. The present dimensions of the English ships trading 

 between India and Europe oblige to enlarge the proportions of the pro- 

 jected canal. It is proposed to admit of the passage of large ships of 

 war, and to maintain the necessary depth of water. The difficulty 

 does not consist in the works to be executed for constructing the canal 

 and locks, and for finishing all the other requisites, but in finding the 

 means for feeding the canal to a depth for large ships. After extended 

 surveys it has been found that the water supply cannot so readily be 

 procured from the two seas as had been conceived, and that recourse 

 can be more easily and conveniently had to the waters of the Nile, for 

 that river has been ascertained, contrary to former belief, to have an 

 elevation considerably above that of the sea. — Civil Engineer and Archi- 

 tects Journal. 



Charcoal as a Deodoriser and Dislufbctant.* 



There are many substances known to the chemist which are distin- 

 guished by possessing what are termed antiseptic properties ; that is, 

 they possess the power of checking or impeding decomposition in other 

 bodies ; they are, in fact, powerful conservators. There are a few 

 other substances which add to this antiseptic power another still more 

 remarkable : this is the property of absorbing and firmly retaining the 



•London Arttzan. So* s^po (Xinadian Journal^ Vol. III., p. 1P6. 



foetid exhalations and products of decomposition, so that an infected 

 atmosphere, or solid or fluid matter, may be rendered sweet and whole- 

 some by their mere contact. The substance which enjoys in the 

 highest degree these conjoined powers, is common charcoal. Perhaps 

 there is not within the range of chemistry a more remarkable instance 

 of the forcible influence which one sort of matter is capable of exerting 

 over another, than is to be found in the action of charcoal upon gaseous 

 bodies of every kind. Under ordinary circumstances, and relatively 

 to mechanical forces, wo know that the mere condensation of the per- 

 manent gases into a very greatly diminished bulk is a problem not too 

 easy to solve. How extraordinary and powerful must, then, be the 

 attractive force which not only condenses these gases to a most re- 

 markable extent, but which is capable of retaining them for an in- 

 definite period in this state of condensation! It has been ascertained, 

 by experiment, that freshly-burned wood charcoal placed in an atmos- 

 phere of either of the following gases will, in the course of twenty-four 

 hours, absorb the quantity stated in the table. 



Ammonia 90 



Muriatic Acid 85 



Sulphurous Acid 65 



Sulphuretted Hydrogen 55 



Nitrous Oxide 40 



Carbonic Acid 35 



Bicarburettcd Hydrogen. 35 



Carbonic Oxide 9-42 



Oxygen 9-25 



Nitrogen 7-50 



Carburetted Hydrogen... 5-00 



Hydrogen 1-75 



The numbers indicate the number of volumes of gas respectively 

 which one volume of charcoal can absorb ; but it may be remarked 

 that the extent of the absorptive action increases as the temperature 

 at which the experiment is made diminishes. The action is also not 

 confined to these substances while they are in the free gaseous state ; 

 those which are soluble in water are removed in their solution by the 

 same means ; so that water contaminated by the gases which arise 

 from rotten vegetable matter is rendered perfectly pure and inodorous 

 by mere filtration through a layer of charcoal, or even by placing a few 

 pieces of fresh charcoal in the vessel containing it. Unlimited ex- 

 perience has shown that the most foetid substances may be rendered 

 perfectly odourless and innoxious by means of charcoal; and what can 

 be more valuable, in a sanitary point of view — or rather, what may be 

 more valuable, if we chose to avail ourselves of it to the utmost — than 

 the knowledge of this fact? The dangerously unwholesome state of 

 the densely-crowded and populous towns arises from the accumulation 

 of malarious exhalation, in consequence, first, of the overcrowding of 

 the dwellings, and secondly, from the want of proper sewerage and 

 ventilation. If any cheap and ready means could be employed for 

 preventing or destroying these exhalations, how much may be done 

 towards assisting and establishing a complete and effective sanitary 

 reform ! 



In speaking of the practical application of charcoal to this purpose, 

 we must consider it as possessing the distinct properties both of an 

 antiseptic and of a disinfectant ; and it is in this respect that the use 

 of charcoal is particularly advantageous when compared with that of 

 the chemical agents which may be employed for a similar purpose. 

 In an infected atmosphere it is well known that provisions are more 

 prone to run into a state of decomposition than when the air around 

 them is fresh and pure. It is, therefore, difficult to preserve either 

 solid food, or even water, in a state fit for human consumption, where 

 the atmosphere is charged with a poisonous eflluvia, as is so often the 

 case in dwellings of a certain class. Under such cu'cumstances, what 

 a valuable sanitary agent charcoal may be rendered by virtue of its 

 antiseptic properties ! Meat, fish, or any matter readily obnoxious to 

 decay, may be preserved for a very considerable time if kept surrounded 

 with pieces of charcoal ; and even if incipient decomposition bo 

 established, it may, in a similar manner, be immediately checked, and 

 tho material rendered wholesome and fit for food. As a disinfectant, 

 charcoal is even more off'ective. The admixture of charcoal in powder 

 with the contents of cesspools or sewers will wholly deprive them of 

 odour ; tlic most fcetid sewage liquor, mixed with a little charcoal 

 powder, and afterwards filtered to remove the solid matter, could not 

 be distinguished from the purest water, either by appearance or smell. 

 It is the same with the soil from cesspools : after being mixed with a 

 proper quantity of charcoal, every trace of mal-odour is removed, and 

 the mixture may be transported from place to place without the least 

 oftenco against public convenience or prejudice to the public health. 

 The mere scattering of a layer of the powdered charcoal over the surface 

 of soil effectually prevents the efflu\na from escaping, and, undoubtedly, 

 the exposure of a considerable surface of the same material, in shallow 

 trays, for instance, would in a great measure, if not entirely, purify 

 the infected atmosphere of ill-vcutilatcd dwellings. 



