1 92 Domestic Intelligence. 



breakers, raised their heads above the surf, and do they now 

 receive the sun-shine as well as the impulse of the waves ? 



We will proceed one step farther : are there any decided- 

 ly volcanic appearances on the great Eastern water-shed of 

 the North American continent ? Is there an indubitable cra- 

 ter, a fragment of pumice, trachyte, obsidian, compact or 

 cellular lava, or a current which may be supposed ever to have 

 flowed, from an " ignivomous' 1 mouth or fissure : any thing 

 and every thing connected with this subject is interesting, 

 provided it bear the stamp of sober and intelligent observa- 

 tion. Apocryphal stories, fables, and dreams of the imagi- 

 nation, would be as useless as undesirable. — Editor. 



II. DOMESTIC. 



I . On the use of soapstone to diminish the friction of ma- 

 chinery, in a letter to the Editor, dated, 



Boston, Aug. 6, 1827. 



Dear Sir : My time and attention having been very much 

 occupied with the duties of my profession, since I was at 

 New Haven, I had almost forgotten your request, that I 

 should communicate for your inspection, such facts as I could 

 learn, relative to the use of steatite or soapstone, as a means 

 of reducing the friction of machinery. I have observed in 

 the July number of the Franklin Journal, a short article copi- 

 ed from the Edinburgh Journal, in which reference is made 

 to this use of soapstone. The fact is simply stated, that " it 

 facilitates the action of screws, and from its unctuosity, may 

 be employed with much advantage, for diminishing the fric- 

 tion of the parts of machines, which are made of metal." 



I understand that soapstone has been used for this purpose 

 in the extensive manufactories at Lowell, for about two years, 

 and with great profit and success. Besides answering the 

 purpose to which it is applied, very much better than any oth- 

 er substance that can be procured, it saves a great deal of 

 trouble and expense. It is first thoroughly pulverized and 

 then mixed with oil, tallow, lard, or tar, which ever may be 

 the best adapted to the use for which it is designed. It is, of 

 course, important to procure that which is free from grit ; 

 and it can be purified, in a good degree, by mixing the pow- 



