506 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. IV., No. 95. 



racy and elaborate detail. The author states that a 

 kind of pigment ink was discovered somewhere be- 

 tween 2697 and 2597 B.C. It was employed for writ- 

 ing on silk with a bamboo rod. Afterward an ink 

 was prepared from a certain stone, which is still 

 known in China as Che-hei. It was not until about 

 260 B.C. that they began to make an ink from soot or 

 lampblack. The soot was obtained by burning gum- 

 lac and pine wood. This ink was made first in round 

 balls, and very soon supplanted the stone ink. For 

 a considerable period the province of Kiang-Si appears 

 to have had a monopoly of ink-making. Under the 

 dynasty of Tang, 613 to 915 A.D., there was a special 

 officer, called an inspector, who had charge of its 

 manufacture. He had to furnish the Chinese court 

 with a certain quantity of this ink annually. Some 

 of the factories seem to have been 'Royal Chinese' 

 factories. The emperor Hinan Tsong (713-756 A.D.) 

 founded two universities, to which he sent three hun- 

 dred and thirty-six balls of ink four times a year. 

 The most celebrated factory in China is that of Li- 

 Ting-Kovei, who lived in the latter part of the reign 

 of Tang, and made an excellent article. He made 

 his ink in the shape of a sword or staff, or in round 

 cakes. The test of its authenticity consisted in 

 breaking up the rod, and putting the pieces in water: 

 if it remained intact at the end of a month, it was 

 genuine Li-Ting-Kovei. Since the death of this 

 celebrated manufacturer, there seems to have been 

 no perceptible advance made in the making of India 

 ink. In the manufacture of lampblack, nearly every 

 thing is used that will burn. Besides pine wood, we 

 may mention petroleum, plant-oils, perfumed rice- 

 flour, pomegranate bark, rhinoceros horn, pearls, and 

 musk. Nor does fraud seem to have been entirely 

 wanting. According to the best Chinese authorities, 

 the best India ink smells like musk, and the addition 

 of musk not only serves to give poor goods the re- 

 semblance of finer ones, but also actually makes them 

 more serviceable. The binding-agent is the most 

 important m ingredient next to the lampblack. In 

 former times glue made from the horns of the rhi- 

 noceros and of deer was employed : now only ordi- 

 nary glue and isinglass are used. Good Chinese ink 

 improves with age, and should not be used until a 

 few years after it is made, but must be entirely pro- 

 tected from moisture. In using, it should only be 

 rubbed backwards and forwards, as, for some unex- 

 plained reason, rubbing it round and round hardens it. 



— D. Wedding, says the Athenaeum, has been mak- 

 ing experiments showing that the capacity for weld- 

 ing increases with the amount of silicon present, and 

 decreases with any excess of manganese. The latter 

 acts by interfering with the crystalline structure of 

 the iron, and confirms Ledebur's idea that all adven- 

 titious bodies influence welding in proportion to their 

 amount. 



— Capt. Walker of the steamship Para at Phila- 

 delphia, Nov. 17, reports that on two successive oc- 

 casions he thinks his vessel was saved by the use 

 of oil. In one instance he was running before a 

 heavy gale in the Formosa Channel, China, and the 



sea was remarkably high. His vessel was in great 

 danger of being pooped, as she was coal laden and 

 very deep. He concluded to try oil, and hung two 

 canvas bags upon each quarter. Sufficient oil oozed 

 through the canvas to answer his purpose, and the 

 sea ceased breaking at once. Only four or five gal- 

 lons of oil were expended in twelve hours. 



Capt. Petersen of the Norwegian bark British 

 Queen reports that about one year ago he com- 

 manded a vessel which was trying to make the port 

 of Valencia, Spain, in heavy weather. Just before 

 making the breakwater, the wind hauled ahead, and 

 he was forced to let go his anchor. The storm in- 

 creased, and seas swept over the vessel fore and aft. 

 He lowered a canvas bag of oil from the jibboom, 

 and the seas no longer broke over the vessel. 



— The students of Berlin university have organ- 

 ized a new association among themselves, — a society 

 of students of the science of dentistry. They have 

 added the American stars and stripes to their banner 

 in acknowledgment of the debt this science owes to 

 the United States. 



— Mr. Spence Paterson, British consul at Reykja- 

 vik, writes to the London Standard that on Sept. 9 

 he visited Cape Reykjanes, the south-west point of 

 Iceland, in order to observe the volcanic island which 

 recently appeared off that cape. It was first seen by 

 the light-keeper at Reykjanes on July 29, and had 

 then the shape of an irregular truncated cone, with 

 a slight hollow on the top, and a projecting shoulder 

 on the north side. No earthquakes or other volcanic 

 manifestations accompanied its appearance; but on 

 Aug. 5 a series of severe shocks occurred, which 

 split the walls of the lighthouse, and damaged the 

 lamps. For several days rain and fog obscured the 

 island. When next seen, its shape had altered: part 

 of the south side had fallen down into the sea, form- 

 ing two little mounds, and leaving a steep, almost 

 perpendicular face on the south. The height of the 

 island is about two-thirds of its length. It lies 

 about west-south-west of Reykjanes. Two officers of 

 a French war vessel, who recently visited Reykjanes, 

 estimate its distance from the coast at nine or ten 

 miles, but Mr. Paterson believes it to be consider- 

 ably greater. When first seen, the upper part of the 

 island was perfectly black; but it has now begun to 

 whiten, owing to the droppings of the myriads of 

 sea-fowl which frequent the adjacent coast and 

 neighboring islands, and seem already to have taken 

 possession of the new land. The neighborhood of 

 Reykjanes is noted for volcanic manifestations. 

 Islands have from time to time risen and sunk there; 

 and only a couple of years ago a violent eruption 

 occurred near the spot where the new island lies: 

 columns of smoke and steam rose out of the sea, 

 and large quantities of pumice were thrown up, and 

 floated ashore on the neighboring coast. Nature of 

 Nov. J 3 gives pictures of the past and present ap- 

 pearance of the island. 



— Dr. Finsch, the German explorer, left Sydney in 

 the Samoa on Sept. 10, to explore the Phoenix and. 

 Union Islands. 



