VARIETIES. 
8 
and  artists  are  generally  found  extremely  reluctant  to  employ  a  large  amount  o 
time  so  unprofitably  as  the  drawing  of  a  complicated  machine  in  perspective 
demands.  These  photographs  can  now  in  a  few  seconds  accomplish  what  it 
require  hours  for  the  artist  to  effect ;  and  in  point  of  accuracy  the 
instrument  must  ever  have  the  preference.  But  great  as  will  eventually  be 
the  boon  which  this  new  application  of  photography  will^confer  on  the  practi- 
cal art  of  wood  engraving,  it  may  be  made  more  extensively  valuable,  as  a 
cheap  form  of  producing  pictorial  objects.  By  Mr.  Langton's  process  por- 
traits, landscapes,  &c,  could  be  produced  on  any  smooth  piece  of  wood,  duly 
prepared:  and  thus  even  wooden  snuffboxes,  hand  screens,  &c,  maybe  deco- 
rated with  portraits  or  scenes  from  nature,  or  copies  of  works,  of  art,  at  a 
cost  much  less  than  daguerreotypes  on  metal  plates.  Indeed,  it  is  difficult  to 
say  where  the  applications  and  uses  of  this  new  process  may  not  extend- 
The  inventor  does  not  limit  his  invention  to  its  use  in  wood  engraving,  but 
claims  for  it  an  equally  useful  and  valuable  application  in  other  directions, 
in  connexion  with  practical  art. — London  Civil  E?igineer  and  Architect's 
Journal}  and  Franklin  Inst.  Journal,  for  Dec.  1853. 
New  Preparation  of  Iodine.  By  M.  Renault. — At  the  meeting  of  the  Aca- 
demy of  Medicine  of  Paris,  of  July  19th,  M.  Lecanu  read  a  report  upon  the  re- 
searches of  M.  Renault,  a  pharmacien  of  Paris,  which  had  resulted  in  the  dis- 
covery of  anew  combination  of  iodine,  which  was  offered  as  an  occasional 
substitute  for  cod-liver  oil. 
Direct  experiments  being  wanting,  chemists  have  concluded  by  analogy, 
that  iodine  precipitated  albumen,  as  chlorine  is  known  to  do.  This,  how- 
ever, is  not  the  fact.  On  the  contrary,  albumen  will  dissolve  considerable 
quantities  of  iodine.  While  water  will  only  take  up  a  trace  of  this  metalloid } 
a  quart  of  water  impregnated  with  six  ounces  of  the  white  of  egg  will  dis- 
solve two  and  a  half  drachms  of  iodine  entirely.  M.  Lecanu  thought  that 
the  albumine  iodee  of  M.  Renault  might  be  of  great  therapeutical  utility.  M- 
Gibert  vehemently  opposed  the  conclusions  of  the  report,  on  the  ground  that 
they  were  unsupported  by  clinical  experiment. — Virginia  Med.  and  Surg. 
Journal ,  from  Bulletin  de  PAcademie  Imperiale  de  Medecine.  July3lst. 
Varnish  for  Applying  Leather. 
Alcohol,  .  .  .20  gallons. 
Shellac  (2d  orange),     .  .  35  lbs. 
Rosin  f  clean)       .  .  20  " 
White  Turpentine,       .  .  10  " 
Lampblack  (pulverised),  .  4  " 
Bruise  the  shellac  and  rosin,  and  early  next  morning  put  them  in  the 
alcohol  and  stir  ten  or  twelve  times  during  the  day,  which  will  prevent 
the  formation  of  lumps  and  will  nearly  dissolve  it  in  one  day.  Next 
day  add  the  turpentine  and  stir  five  or  six  times;  third  day  stir  in  lamp- 
black, powdered  and  sifted. 
The  above  is  truly  excellent,  and  before  adopting  the  process  it  gave  us 
trouble;  it  is  prepared  in  a  whiskey  barrel.  Isq  heat  is  employed. — E.  S.  Fret. 
