Scientific Notes . 
426 
(July. 
moisten the writing with a moderately concentrated solution of tannin, the 
excess of which is then removed by the application of the washing-bottle, and 
the paper dried at 65°. 
The same gentleman has also given, in the Bulletin de la Societe Chimique 
de Paris , a process for seasoning new casks. He proposes to eliminate all 
soluble matter from the interior of the staves by the use of crystals of soda, of 
which 1 kilo, is used per hedolitre of the contents. The cask is first filled two- 
thirds full of clean water, the proper quantity of solution of soda is added, and 
after the liquid is mixed the cask is filled to the bung. After standing for ten 
or twelve days the alkaline liquid is run out, and the cask repeatedly rinsed 
with clean water. 
Dr. J. H. Gladstone has examined some candles which are stated to have 
been recovered from the wreck of a Dutch vessel sunk in Vigo Bay during the 
war in the year 1702. As the vessel was supposed to be a treasure ship many 
attempts have been made to recover its contents, and this was successfully 
accomplished in 1875, when these candles among other things were obtained. 
They have therefore been submerged for 173 years. The wick has rotted 
away, leaving scarcely any trace of its existence, while the fatty portion has 
become a friable heavy substance, of a dull white colour. The candles bore 
evidence of having been made by dipping, for the concentric layers were easily 
separated from one another, and this facilitated the examination of the outer 
and inner portions of the same piece. Both the outer and inner portions still 
contain some of the fat apparently unchanged; they are undtuous to the 
touch, and have a fatty odour, and when heated to a little below no 0 C. they 
began to change colour ; at 140° they softened, and at 200° small portions were 
melted out. The most interesting point is, that whereas the fats have been 
in contact with a pradtically unlimited amount of sea-water for 173 years, and 
a chemical change between them has been possible, the double decomposi- 
tion has proceeded so extremely slowly that the readtion is only about half 
completed at the present time. 
Mr. T. A. Readwin records a curious instance of spontaneous metal-growth. 
About twelve years ago he put about an ounce of rolled metallic cadmium (coiled 
six times) into a clear flint-glass phial, corked it tightly, cut the cork level 
with the mouth of the phial, and sealed it very carefully. At the time the 
metal did not quite reach up to the neck of the phial. Since that time it has 
elongated more than a quarter of an inch, and, during the present year, the 
sealing wax has been broken all round and the cork forced outward more 
than one-eighth of an inch. The cork is even now fairly tight, but the 
metal follows after it to touching forcibly, and probably the cork will be pre- 
sently completely forced out. The cadmium is fast oxidising and endeavour- 
ing to uncoil itself, and the cut edges at the bottom of the phial are becoming 
foliated. 
We have received a number of biscuits and other preparations containing 
preserved solid and liquid food, both animal and vegetable, which are the 
practical results of a new process lately patented by Dr. Campbell Morfit. 
They include substances 'of the most diverse nature, such as milk, cream, 
cheese, beef, garden rhubarb, cabbage, tomato, pork sausage, and a variety 
of other alimentary products, all of which are perfectly savoury and tooth- 
some, in spite of their being more than a year old It is, however, more with 
Dr. Morfit’s process than with its present results that we have now to deal, 
for we must look upon his discovery as being yet in its infancy. Dr. Mor- 
fit’s experiments, which he has prosecuted uninterruptedly for the last two 
years, seem to prove that ordinary gelatin, when it is once thoroughly diffused 
through a vegetable or animal substance, and dried in and with it, will protect 
it from decomposition or other alteration for a prolonged period, in spite of 
atmospheric or climatic changes. This is clearly proved by the samples sub- 
mitted to us, which — although they have been exposed to the constant 
changes of temperature and moisture consequent on their having been kept 
for more than a year in the store-room of an ordinary dwelling-house — are 
