THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
105 
round lead ball, running freely, but 
nearly filling the bore ; then, placing the 
gun vertical, he seized the upper end and 
pressed his thumb forcibly on the mouth. 
The gun was then " fired " by an assis- 
tant; the thumb remained in position, 
and the ball was heard to fall back in the 
bore. Thereupon, after recharging the 
weapon with the same ball, he shot the 
latter at a pine board about 1 inch thick 
or a pane of glass, and it passed through. 
The experiment, M. Colladon says, is 
without danger, if the operator is quite 
sure of the strength of his thumb, if the 
gun is more than 32 in. long, and if the 
ball is spherical, and nearly fills the gun, 
in which it must act like a piston. 
Nature's Dressing for a Wound. 
A FEW years since, while standing in 
the shade during the heat of the day, 
a toad hopped along at my feet and at- 
tracted my attention from having what 
appeared to be a very large forearm. 
Stooping down, I found that from the 
shoulder to the elbow-joint the fore-leg 
was encased in earth, which was very 
smooth, dry and hard. Inquisitiveness 
being well developed, I had, of course, a 
natural inclination to see what was inside, 
so holding "toady," with a piece of stick 
I broke the crust of hardened mud, and 
found, to my surprise, a large flesh wound 
extending from the shoulder to the elbow, 
half of the muscle being bruised and raw. 
From the smoothness of the work, I 
judged the dressing had been made from 
dry earth and the spittle of the toad, as it 
would be seemingly impossible for it to 
handle mud and apply it in such a man- 
ner. 
I thought nothing more of the matter 
for a year or more, until one night one of 
my children retired with a very sore toe 
from some unknown cause, and about 
midnight was wild and restless with pain. 
I arose and opened the ulcerated part, 
and afforded him relief for the time being ; 
but the pain returned, and by the next 
hour he was as restless as ever. After 
trying to give relief in various ways I 
thought of the toad, and, taking an old 
stocking, I put some mud, made of clay 
and water, into the toe part, and drew it 
on the child's foot. In 10 minutes he was 
asleep, and slept well the remainder of 
the night, and in the morning the toe 
appeared nearly well. 
I have found that a mixture of earth 
and spittle is preferable, and I have used 
it since upon every occasion where reme- 
dies are necessary for the relief of ulcers 
or healing flesh wounds, and prefer it to 
any ointment or liniment that I have ever 
seen or made during many year's experi- 
ence as a druggist— Correspondent of 
Phrenological Journal. 
The Effect of Printer's " Display." 
A CURIOUS case came under the notice 
of the English inspectors of explo- 
sions of a quantity of honey which was 
imported into England in packages, bear- 
ing a label which, at first sight, conveyed 
the impresion that they contained dyna- 
mite, and a good deal of alarm was ex- 
cited, and the attention of the Lord Mayor 
was called to the circumstance that cases 
containing apparently a dangerous exi)lo- 
sive were being conveyed about London. 
However, on investigation it appeared 
that the honey was in the comb, inside 
boxes, the tops and bottoms of which 
consisted of thin sheets of glass, and 
several of these were enclosed in a large 
outer package. It was, of course, neces- 
sary that the packages should be very 
carefully handled, and in order to secure 
this the importers had had recourse to 
the extraordinary device of placing upon 
each package the label : " Handle gently 
as dynamite. A drop of one inch will 
cause certain destruction to the con- 
tents." The words "handle gently," 
"dynamite" and "certain destruction" 
being printed in much more prominent 
type than the rest, the label presented 
the appearance described. As the use of 
a label of this sort did not constitute an 
offence agaist the explosives act, the in- 
spectors did not further concern them- 
selves in the matter. 
To Bleach Bones and Skeletons. 
BONES may be bleached in several 
ways, though, in the main, the 
methods do not differ very much from 
each other. In the first place, it is neces- 
sary to get rid of all extraneous matter, 
such as attachment of ligaments, mus- 
cles, etc. Next they may be laid for 
several months in cold water, after which 
they should be boiled with weak lye. In- 
stead of macerating them in cold water, 
they may be treated with lye at once, but 
it is not so easy to get rid of the fatty 
matter in this manner. Some others do 
not use potash at all ; but, after having 
boiled the bones in water, they dry them, 
and then place them in naphtha for sev- 
eral weeks. After the fat has been ex- 
tracted, they are generally white enough 
for all ordinary purposes. Still, they 
may be rendered whiter by immersing 
them for about twelve hours in a moder- 
ately dilute solution of chloride of lime 
(1 part of chloride of lime mixed with 50 
parts of water, and strained). Finally 
the bones must be washed with water 
until the latter has completely exhausted 
every trace of chemicals or solvents em- 
ployed on them. All bones do not stand 
treatment with potash equallv well ; the 
more slender, frail, and flexible a bone, 
I 
