80 
Intelligence, 
Hydraulic Ram . 
The hydraulic ram of M. Mongolfier has been constructed at 
Schaff hausen by counsellor Fischer in a very ingenious manner 
The machine has the form of a beautiful antique altar, nearly in the 
style of that of Esculapius, as represented in different engravings, 
A bason about six inches in depth and from eighteen to twenty in 
diameter receives the water, which enters into pipes three inches 
in diameter, that descend in a spiral form into the base of the altar. 
The water by its weight puts in motion a valve ; a third nearly of the 
water escapes, but the rest by the pressure of the valve is forced 
into the receiver, and thence rises in very narrow pipes. As it as- 
cends slowly the resistance of the air makes no sensible impression, 
so that by means of this machine, which continually acts by itself, 
water may be conveyed from a lake or a river to houses situated on a 
mountain. M. Fischer has conveyed water by it to a castle which 
stands at the height of several hundred feet above the level of the 
Rhine. Tilloch , voh 20. 
Water-proof Cloth . 
It is well known that for some years past several methods have 
been tried to render cloth impermeable to water, and the inventors of 
this process have kept the discovery a mystery. There was, how- 
ever, reason to suppose that some fat oil made the basis of their re-' 
cipes. A bottle of this liquor, the efficacy of which was known, 
having fallen by chance into the hands of M. Vauquelin, he was de- 
sirous to discover the composition of it. The following is the man- 
ner in which this chemist thinks it is composed, bating the propor- 
tions. Soap and strong glue, or any other gelatin, are dissolved in 
water. With this solution is mixed a solution of alum, which, being 
decomposed, forms in it a flaky precipitate, composed of oil, alumine, 
and animal matter. Weak sulphuric acid is then added, to redis- 
solve apart of the alumine, and to render the precipitate lighter, and 
to prevent it from falling to the bottom. But the alumine, when 
once combined with the oil and animal matter, does not redis- 
solve entirely in the sulphuric acid ; for this reason the oil always re- 
mains very opake, and neither rises nor is precipitated. It may rea- 
dily be conceived, that too large a quantity of sulphuric acid must 
not be added. M. Vauquelin does not know whether this be exactly 
the process, but by following it he has been able to obtain a similar 
liquid, which possesses the same properties. Ibid, 
