Gleanings from the International Exhibition. 65 



Egyptian tomb, the date of 1900 years B.C., the time of the patriarch 

 Abraham. The collection comprises earrings, necklaces, seal rings, 

 and amulets ; the workmanship of which is of the most beautiful 

 description. The most interesting object in this case, however, is a 

 model of what was termed the Boat of Death, in which is represented 

 the carrying away of the soul of the departed. A small silver image 

 of the deceased queen is placed in the boat, and the rowers sit on 

 either side. [In cases near this there are beautiful specimens of 

 extremely delicate modern filagree ornaments, both gold and silver, 

 from Nubia. It is interesting to contrast this work with that exe- 

 cuted by the same race nearly 4000 years ago.] 



Rapid Growth of Vegetables in High Latitudes. — In a valuable 

 treatise on the vegetable productions of Norway, which has been 

 published by Dr. Mueller, in connection with the Norwegian de- 

 partment of the Exhibition, some extraordinary facts are related 

 respecting the influence of the long duration of light, during the 

 summer months, on the growth of vegetables in the higher latitudes 

 in Norway. At seventy degrees N. it was found that ordinary peas 

 grew at the rate of three and a half English inches in twenty-four 

 hours for many days in summer, and that some of the cereals also 

 grew as much as two and a half inches in the same time. Not only 

 is the rapidity of growth affected by the constant presence of light, 

 but those vegetable secretions which owe their existence to the in- 

 fluence of actinic force on the leaves, are also produced in far greater 

 quantity than in more southern climates; hence the colouring 

 matter and pigment cells are found in much greater quantity, and 

 the tint of the coloured parts of vegetables is consequently deeper. 

 The same remark applies to the flavouring and odoriferous matters, 

 so that the fruits of the north of Norway, though not equal in 

 saccharine properties, are far more intense in flavour than those of 

 the south. 



Utilization of Waste Ttn Plate. — The utilization of waste pro- 

 ducts is now a subject attracting much attention. Among the more 

 remarkable of these processes we may specially direct notice to that 

 shown by Kuhn, in the Austrian court, by which the tin from the 

 useless scraps of tinned iron plate is obtained in a pure form. It is 

 stated by the discoverer that the labour of four men can produce 

 yearly from perfectly valueless tin cuttings three hundred weight 

 of pure tin, with a large proportion of malleable iron and other pro- 

 ducts. 



Disintegrated Black Lead. — The chemically-disintegrated gra- 

 phite of Mr. Brodie is a subject of great interest, as it affords a ready 

 means of obtaining a chemically pure black lead, that by mechanical 

 pressure can be aggregated into a solid mass, and employed for those 

 purposes for which the best and most expensive plumbago has 

 hitherto alone been applicable. The outline of the process may be 

 thus stated : the impure plumbago is mingled with chlorate of 

 potash, and then acted upon by a mixture of nitric and sulphuric 

 acids ; these not only give rise to the evolution of gaseous chlorine 

 compounds, but also dissolve up and remove many of the impuri- 



VOL. II. — NO. I. F 



