350 SCIENTIFIC NOTES. 



The Paris Technologists for March and April have been received. 

 Among the papers in these we may mention the Manufacture of Vinegar 

 from the Juice of the Beetroot and its Residues, of well-flavoured Alcohol 

 from the Saccharine Juice of the Sorgho and of Maize ; the Manufacture of 

 Dextrine and Glucose Products, on the Preparation of Pure Nickel, and on 

 Bed, Blue, and Green Colours Extracted from Creosote. 



The two first numbers of the present volume of the Annals of 

 Agriculture in the Colonies, edited by Mr Paul Madinier, are also 

 to hand. Considerable attention is being given in its pages to Cotton 

 Cultivation ; and it contains also a great variety of miscellaneous statistics 

 and details on colonial affairs generally. 



The Popular Science Review. No. 3. Hardwicke. 

 Every successive number of this review is marked by increased attraction. 

 The papers in the present are of general interest, and fully bear out the title 

 of popularising science. Mr. Robert Hunt contributes one of his admirably- 

 written articles on the Subject of Light and Colour ; Mr. W. Fairbairn 

 treats of the Great Exhibition Buildings, Past and Present, and the Appli- 

 cation of Iron in their Construction ; Mr. Gore shows how Science is 

 applied to Electro-plate manufactures ; Mr. Hargrave tells us how Precious 

 stones are Artificially imitated, and various other eminent and talented 

 writers contribute to make this one of the most important periodicals of 

 the day. 



Publications Received. — Catalogue of the Victorian Exhibition, 

 1861, with prefatory essays indicating the progress, resources, and physical 

 characteristics of the Colony, &c. Melbourne : Printed for the Com- 

 missioners. Descriptive Catalogue of a Collection of the Economic Minerals 

 of Canada, and of its Crystalline Rocks sent to the International Exhibition 

 of 1862, by Sir W. E. Logan. Montreal : John Lovell. Catalogue of Con- 

 tributions to the International Exhibition from Natal, drawn up by Dr. 

 Mann, F.R.A.S. The Exchange, No. 1 and 2. 



Irhntifit JhiiB. 



Application of Asbestos. — Asbestos, which is so abundant in many 

 localities, has hitherto been very little used commercially. On the 

 Continent and in Corsica it is used for packing fragile and valuable articles. 

 Some of the more flexible varieties have been woven into articles which are 

 unaltered by fire. It is employed in some kinds of gas-stoves, and the 

 Greenlanders twist the fibres into lamp-wicks. In America, this mineral 

 may be procured at the rate of l^d. per pound. It has been tried there for 

 paper-making, and for the manufacture of steam-packing, in both of 

 which applications it is said to be serviceable. Its property of resisting 

 heat, and its bad conducting power, would render this material particularly 

 valuable in connection with steam-machinery. Mr. Audesley, the pro- 

 prietor of considerable deposits of asbestos, near Baltimore, has introduced 

 asbestos paper into the States, with some success. It would seem well 



