260 Chronicles of Science. [April, 



It appears that in the utilization of the cane sugar existing in 

 Madder-root, there is a fair field of profitable experimental research 

 still left open and untouched. Madder-root, and especially the 

 Zealand madder, is rich in cane sugar, containing between 14 and 

 16 per cent. The extraction of this sugar, without interfering with 

 the tinctorial value of madder, and by means different from those 

 whereby that sugar is now utilized — viz. fermentation and making 

 of alcohol — is a problem still to be solved. Some 10,000,000 kilos, 

 of madder are, at the very lowest estimate, consumed annually, and 

 the bulk of the sugar therein contained is utterly lost. 



"We have received, from Mr. H. N. Draper, a pamphlet, from 

 which we learn that the use of methylated ether as an intoxicant, 

 instead of alcohol, is very general in the counties of Londonderry, 

 Antrim, and Tyrone. The quantity taken at one time is from two 

 to four drachms, and the dose is repeated twice, thrice, or even four 

 and six times daily. Mr. Draper treats the subject in its relation 

 to the inland revenue, and also to insurance companies, the former 

 suffering by the practice to the extent of 56667. per annum, 

 while the risks of the latter are increased by such an inflammable 

 liquid being stored and handled by people ignorant of its properties. 



As a new disinfectant M. Paquet proposes the use of thymol, the 

 stearopten of the essential oil from Ptychotis ajoivan, an umbelliferous 

 plant growing in India. In the undiluted state, this substance is a 

 caustic, and is used in dentistry for the cauterization of hollow teeth ; 

 its advantage in this respect being that it has not an unpleasant 

 taste, and, being very aromatic, does not affect the breath as carbolic 

 acid does. Its aqueous solution is a strong antiseptic, and possesses 

 disinfectant properties in a very high degree. 



MM. Sepulchre and Ohressir have perfectly succeeded in utiliz- 

 ing the slag of the iron blast furnaces for the manufacture of paving 

 stones, which withstand a crushing weight of more than 400 kilos, 

 per square centim., and have answered for the purpose of paving 

 several streets at Brussels and Paris, and stood heavy traffic, far 

 better than even the celebrated Quenast stones. The streets paved 

 with this material at Brussels have a heavy gradient. 



The fatty matter contained in sheep's wool, technically known 

 as snint, is likely to become of considerable commercial importance. 

 It contains some 40 per cent, of potassa ; and when ignited this 

 alkali becomes thereby intimately mixed with strongly-nitrogenized 

 animal charcoal. M. Havrez points out the profit to be derived 

 from the use of snint for the manufacture of prussiates and cyanides, 

 and M. Schattenmann, prussiate and cyanide manufacturer at Boux- 

 willir, near Strasburg, states that results of experiments made with 

 snint by him on large scale, are decidedly favourable to the use of 



