Part 22

The report states, that since the law took effect, July 1848, over 90,000 lbs. of drugs of various kinds have been rejected and condemned in the ports of the United States. Of these, 34,000 lbs. was included under the comprehensive title of Peruvian bark, 16,343 lbs. rhubarb root, 11,707 lbs. jalap root, about 2000 lbs. senna, and about 15,000 lbs. of other drugs. The agitation of the bill which preceded the passage of the law had its effect abroad, and the supply of adulterated drugs from foreign markets has greatly decreased. The domestic supply, has on the contrary increased. Within a recent period, quinine in considerable quantities has been found in the market, adulterated to the extent of some twenty or twenty-five per cent. These frauds were undoubtedly perpetrated by or among our own people. The material used for the adulteration of the quinine was found, on analysis, to be _mannite and sulphate of barites_, in nearly equal weights. The latter article has long been used for this purpose, but not until lately has _mannite_ been detected in the sulphate of quinine. It seems to have been ingeniously substituted for salicine, and a somewhat similar substance prepared from the poplar bark; which articles have heretofore been extensively used for like purposes. The ingenuity consists in the fact, that it is much more difficult to detect the adulterations when effected by the admixture of _mannite_, than when by the admixture of salicine, &c., while the former can be furnished for less than one-fourth of the expense of the latter.

For some years past an extensive chemical establishment has been in operation at Brussels, in Belgium, built up at great expense and care, and expressly designed for the manufacture, on a large scale, of imitations of all the most important foreign chemical preparations used in medicine; while, at the same time, an agent was travelling in this country making sales, and soliciting orders in all the principal towns on our sea-board. The articles were prepared and put up with consummate skill and neatness; and the imitation was so perfect that it was impossible for the unsuspecting purchaser to distinguish them from the genuine, notwithstanding that, in some instances, they did not contain over five per cent. of the substances represented by the label. Since the law went into effect at the port of New York, not a single package has been presented for entry. Dr Bailey states, however, that he has been informed that the persons formerly connected with the Brussels firm, are now in this country engaged in the same iniquitous business; hence the adulterations spoken of.--_Annual of Scientific Discovery_, p. 188.

23. _To restore Decayed Ivory._--Mr Layard, in his explorations among the ruins of Nineveh, discovered some splendid works of art carved in ivory, which he forwarded to England. When they arrived there, it was discovered that the ivory was crumbling to pieces very rapidly. Professor Owen was consulted to know if there was any means of preventing the entire loss of these specimens of ancient art, and he came to the conclusion that the decay was owing to the loss of the albumen in the ivory, and therefore recommended that the articles be boiled in a solution of albumen. The experiment was tried, with complete success, and the ivory has been rendered as firm and solid as when it was first entombed.

24. _Ivory as an Article of Manufacture._--There are several sorts of ivory, differing from each other in composition, durability, external appearance, and value. The principal sources from which ivory is derived are the western coast of Africa and Hindostan: Camaroo ivory is considered the best, on account of its colour and transparency. In some of the best tusks the transparency can be discovered even on the outside. The manufacturers have a process by which they make poor ivory transparent, but it lasts only for a short time. A third kind of ivory, called the Egyptian, has lately been introduced, which is considerably lower in price than the Indian, but in working there is much waste. By an analysis, the African ivory shows a proportion of animal to earthy matter of 101 to 100; the Indian, 76 to 100; and the Egyptians, 70 to 100. The value of ivory consumed in Sheffield, where it is much used in making handles for cutlery, is very great, and nearly 500 persons are employed in working it up. To make up the weight of 180 tons consumed in that place, there must be about 45,000 tusks, whose average weight is nine pounds each, though some weigh from 60 to 100 pounds. According to this, the number of elephants killed every year is 22,500; but allowing that some tusks are cast, and some animals die, it may be fairly estimated that 18,000 are killed every year merely for their ivory, which is contrary to the usual belief that the ivory used comes from the tusks cast by living elephants. These estimates, it will be seen, are for Sheffield merely.

25. _Flexible Ivory._--M. Charriere, a manufacturer of surgical instruments in Paris, has for some time been in the habit of rendering flexible the ivory which he uses in making tubes, probes, and other instruments. He avails himself of a fact which has long been known, that when bones are subjected to the action of hydrochloric acid, the phosphate of lime, which forms one of their component parts, is extracted, and thus bones retain their original form and acquire great flexibility. M. Charriere, after giving to the pieces of ivory the required form and polish, steeps them in acid alone, or in acid partially diluted with water, and they thus become supple, flexible, elastic, and of a slightly yellowish colour. In the course of drying, the ivory becomes hard and inflexible again, but its flexibility can be at once restored by wetting it either by surrounding it with a piece of wet linen, or by placing sponge in the cavities of the pieces. Some pieces of ivory have been kept in a flexible state in the acidulated water for a week, and they were neither changed, nor injured, nor too much softened, nor had they acquired any taste or disagreeable smell.

26. _Air-Whistle._--Mr C. Daboll, of New London, Connecticut, has invented a whistle that speaks with a most "miraculous organ" whenever its services are required for the purpose of alarm or warning. It is designed for the use of vessels at sea or on the coast, as on our eastern shores, where dense fogs prevail, and vessels are liable to come in collision before they are conscious of each other's approach. Its great advantage is its power of communicating sounds for a distance of from 4 to 5 miles, far exceeding the largest bells. An experimental one has been placed on Bartlett's Reef, and the pilot of the "Lawrence" states that he has heard it when about 4 miles off from Bartlett's Reef, _against the wind_, which was blowing quite fresh at the time. This was on a clear day, and when the whistle was blown at his request, and also by advice of the inventor, so that the distance might be marked. It is probable that, under the same circumstances, the tones of a bell could not have been heard more than from one half to three-fourths of a mile. The pilot of the steamer "Knickerbocker" reports, that he _made the whistle_ during a dense fog, thirteen minutes' running-time of the steamer, before coming up with the station where it is located. He therefore must have been some four or five miles distant from it when he heard it.

This whistle consists of an air chamber or condenser, of boiler iron sufficiently strong to resist almost any pressure, an air-pump, and a whistle similar to the ordinary ones used on locomotives. By means of the air-pump operating into this chamber, a pressure of air is obtained in it of any required amount,--say one, two, or three hundred pounds to the square inch. When the air is so compressed, it is made to operate the whistle by simply opening a valve, and gives a distinct clear sound.

A memorial has been presented to the Treasury Department, signed by most of the commanders and pilots of the steamboats running through Long Island and Fisher's Island Sounds, setting forth the advantages to be derived to navigation from this whistle, and urging that it be introduced into the light vessels, and at all stations where the government intends to afford protection to navigation.--_Annual of Scientific Discovery_, p. 70.

27. _Curious Electrical Phenomenon._--We learn from a letter from a gentleman connected with the Bay State Mills, at Lawrence, Massachusetts, some facts with reference to a new and curious application of electricity which has been introduced in those mills. The electricity is generated by the motion of the machinery, and is employed for lighting up the gas burners. It exists in large quantities in the card-rooms, where there are many belts running on iron pulleys, and, in the cold dry atmosphere of winter, often producing serious damage to the quality of the cording. The manner in which it was discovered that this electricity could be applied to "lighting up," is somewhat curious. When the gas was first let into the pipes in the mills, one of the overseers discovered fire setting out from one of the pipes near a belt, and on examination it was ascertained that a small stream of gas was escaping. It was surmised that it had been ignited by the electricity, and to prove it, an experiment was tried. Near a large belt in the carding-room was a gas-burner, and on a bench between them there was placed a small quantity of wool, which is a non-conductor of electricity. If a person stood upon this wool, reaching one hand within two or three inches of the belt, and touching the gas-burner with one finger of the other, the escaping gas was at once ignited with an explosion like that of a percussion-cap,--the body of the operator thus being made the medium for conducting the electricity.

The writer adds,--"We shall be able to make a great saving of expense in the woollen manufacture, as soon as we can discover an effective method of conducting the electricity away from the cards, as we shall then be able to dispense entirely with the use of oil on the wool, we shall save at least $30,000 per annum, when the mills are in full operation."--_American Annual of Scientific Discovery_ p. 117.

_List of Patents granted for Scotland from 22d March to 22d June 1850._

1. To JAMES HIGGINS, of Salford, in the county of Lancaster, machine maker, and THOMAS SHOWFIELD WHITWORTH, of Salford aforesaid, "improvements in machinery for preparing, spinning, and doubling cotton, wool, flax, silk, and similar fibrous materials."--22d March 1850.

2. To FRANCAIS VOUILLON, of Princes Street, Hanover Square, in the county of Middlesex, manufacturer, "improvements in the manufacture of hats, caps, bonnets, and other articles made of the same or similar materials."--26th March 1850.

3. To WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66 Chancery Lane, in the county of Middlesex, civil engineer, "improvements in the manufacture of knobs of doors, articles of furniture, or other purposes, and in connecting metallic attachments to articles made of glass, or other analogous materials."--26th March 1850.

4. To JONATHAN CHARLES GOODALL, of Great College Street, Camden Town, in the county of Middlesex, card-maker, "improvements in machinery for cutting paper."--27th March 1850.

5. To CHARLES FELTON HAILSMAN, of Argyle Street, in the county of Middlesex, gentleman, "improvements in machinery for spinning or twisting cotton, wool, or other fibrous substances."--28th March 1850.

6. To ROBERT MILLIGAN, of Harden, near Bingley, in the county of York, manufacturer, "an improvements mode of treating certain floated warp, or welt, or both, for the purpose of producing ornamented fabrics."--28th March 1850.

7. To ROBERT WHITE, and JAMES HENDERSON GRANT, both of Dalmarnock Road, Glasgow, North Britain, engineers, "certain improvements in machinery, or apparatus to be used in mines, which improvements, or parts thereof, are also applicable to other purposes of a similar nature."--11th April 1850.

8. To WILLIAM M'LARDY, of Manchester, gentleman, "certain improvements in machinery or apparatus for preparing and spinning cotton and other fibrous substances."--15th April 1850.

9. To JOHN SCOFFERN, of Essex Street, in the county of Middlesex, M. B., "improvements in the manufacture and refining of sugar, and in the treatment and use of matters obtained in such manufacture, and in the construction of valves, and in such and other manufacture."--17th April 1850.

10. To JAMES BUCK WILSON, of St Helens, in the county of Lancaster, rope-maker, "certain improvements in wire ropes."--22d April 1850.

11. To THOMAS SYMES PRIDEAUX, of Southampton, gentleman, "improvements in puddling, and other furnaces."--26th April 1850.

12. To CHARLES COWPER, of Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the county of Middlesex, "certain improvements in the treatment of coal, and in separating coal and other substances from foreign matters, and in the artificial fuel and coke, and in the distillation and treatment of tar and other products from coal, together with improvements in the machinery and apparatus employed for the said purposes," being a communication.--26th April 1850.

13. To VIDIE LUCIEN, late of Paris, in France, but now of South Street, Finsbury, French Advocate, "improvements in conveyances on land and water."--26th April 1850.

14. To ROBERT DALGLEISH, of Glasgow, in the county of Lanark, in Scotland, merchant and calico printer, "certain improvements in printing, and in the application of colours to silk, cotton, linen, woollen, and other textile fabrics."--27th April 1850.

15. To ETHIAN CAMPBELL, of the city of New York, in the United States of America, philosophical, practical, and experimental engineer, "certain new and useful improvements for generating and applying motive power, and for propelling vessels."--30th April 1850.

16. To ROBERT REID, of Glasgow, in the county of Lanark, manufacturer, "certain improvements in weaving."--3d May 1850.

17. To MAXWELL MILLER, of Glasgow, in the county of Lanark, coppersmith, "certain improvements in distilling and rectifying."--3d May 1850.

18. To THOMAS KEELY, of the town and county of Nottingham, manufacturer, and WILLIAM WILLIAMSON, of the same place, frame-work knitter, "certain improvements in looped or elastic fabrics, and in articles made therefrom; also certain machinery for producing the said improvements, which is applicable in whole or in part to the manufacture of looped fabrics generally."--8th May 1850.

19. To PETER ARMAND LE COMTE MOREAU FONTAINE, of 4 South Street, Finsbury Square, in the county of Middlesex, patent agent, "certain improvements for the production of heat and light, which improvements are applicable to ventilation, and the prevention of explosions," being a communication.--9th May 1850.

20. To ETHIAN BALDWIN, of the city of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, "a new and useful method of generating and applying steam in propelling vessels locomotive, and stationary machinery."--9th May 1850.

21. To JACOB CANNON, of Hyde Park, in the county of Middlesex, gentleman, "improvements in melting, moulding, and casting sand, earth, and other substances for paving, building, and various other useful purposes."--20th May 1850.

22. To GEORGE JACKSON, of Belfast, Ireland, flax-dresser, "improvements in heckling machinery."--24th May 1850.

23. To FREDERICK ROSENBERG, Esquire, of Albermarle Street, in the county of Middlesex, and CONRAD MONTGOMERY, Esquire, of the Army and Navy Club, Saint James's Square, in the same county, "improvements in sewing, cutting, boring, and shaping wood."--24th May 1850.

24. To GEORGE FORD HAYWARD, of St Martins Le Grand, in the county of Middlesex, "improvements in obtaining power," being a communication.--27th May 1850.

25. To JOSEPH BARRANS, of St Pauls, Deptford, in the county of Kent, engineer, "improvements in axles and axle-boxes of locomotive engines, and other railway carriages."--27th May 1850.

26. To SAMUEL FISHER, of Birmingham, in the county of Warwick, engineer, "improvements in railway carriage-wheels, axles, buffer, and draw-springs, and hinges for railway carriage and other doors."--28th May 1850.

27. To THOMAS CHANDLER, of Stockton, Wilts, "improvements in machinery for applying liquid manure."--28th May 1850.

28. To THOMAS DICKSON ROTCH, Esquire, of Drumlamford House, in the county of Ayr, North Britain, "improvements in separating various matters usually found combined in certain saccharine, saline, and ligneous substances."--28th May 1850.

29. To HENRY COLUMBUS HURRY, of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, civil engineer, "certain improvements in the method of lubricating machinery,"--29th May 1850.

30. To SIMON PINCOFFS, of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, merchant, "certain improvements in the ageing process in printing and dyeing calicoes, and other woven fabrics, which improvements are also applicable to other processes in printing and dyeing calicoes and other woven fabrics."--30th May 1850.

31. To WILLIAM MACALPINE, of Spring Vale, in the county of Middlesex, general dresser, and THOMAS MACALPINE, of the same place, manager, "improvements in machinery for washing cotton, linen, and other fabrics."--31st May 1850.

32. To CHARLES ANDREW, of Compstall Bridge, in the county of Chester, manufacturer, and RICHARD MARKLAND, of the same place, manager, "certain improvements in the method of, and in the machinery or apparatus for, preparing warps for weaving."--31st May 1850.

33. To JAMES PALMER BUDD, of the Ystalyfera iron works, Swansea, merchant, "improvements in the manufacture of coke."--31st May 1850.

34. To JOHN DALTON, of Hollingsworth, in the county of Chester, calico printer, "certain improvements in and applicable to machinery or apparatus for bleaching, dyeing, printing, and finishing textile and other fabrics, and in the engraving of copper rollers, and other metallic bodies."--5th June 1850.

35. To FREDERICK ALBERT GATTY, of Accrington in the county of Lancaster, Manchester, manufacturing chemist, "a certain process, of certain processes for obtaining carbonate of soda and carbonate of potash."--5th June 1850.

36. To JULES LE BASTIER, of Paris, in the Republic of France, but now of South Street, Finsbury, in the county of Middlesex, gentleman, "certain improvements in machinery or apparatus for printing."--6th June 1850.

37. To WILLIAM ROBERTTON, of Gateshead Mill, Neilston, in the county of Renfrew, in that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called Scotland, machine maker, "improvements in certain machinery used for spinning and doubling cotton and other fibrous substances."--7th June 1850.

38. To FRANCIS TONGUE RUFFORD, of Prescott House, in the county of Worcester, fire-brick manufacturer, ISAAC MARSON, of Cradley, in the same county, potter, and JOHN FINCH, of Pickard Street, City Road, in the county of Middlesex, manufacturer, "improvements in the manufacture of baths and wash tubs, or wash vessels."--10th June 1850.

39. To BARON LOUIS LE PRESTI, of Paris, in the Republic of France "improvements in hydraulic presses, which are, in whole or in part, applicable to pumps and other like machines."--10th June 1850.

40. To ARTHUR ELLIOT, machine maker, of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, and HENRY HEYS, of the same place, book-keeper, "certain machinery for manufacturing woven fabrics."--14th June 1850.

41. To CHARLES COWPER, of Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the county of Middlesex, patent agent, "improvements in instruments for measuring, indicating, and regulating the pressure of air, steam, and other fluids, and in instruments for measuring, indicating, and regulating the temperature of the same, and in instruments for obtaining motive power from the same."--14th June 1850.

Transcriber's Notes:

Punctuation was standardized. Words in italics are surrounded by underscores, _like this_. Accent marks in French and spaces after apostrophes in Italian were standardized. Greek was transliterated.

Footnotes were numbered sequentially, indented and moved to follow the paragraph or table in which the anchor occurs.

The book originally contained two Tables of Contents, the second of which pertained to the ensuing volume. The second Table of Contents was removed from this edition.

Several tables in the Climate of Whitehaven article were too wide to display on a standard computer screen. The tables were divided, with the left-most column replicated, for ease of reading.

Hyphenation of the following words was standardized:

juxta-position to juxtaposition starfishes to star-fishes steam-boats to steamboats sub-divided to subdivided

Archaic and obsolete spelling was retained. The following were adjusted:

'he' to 'be' - ... all animals must be referred to ... 'nimals' to 'animals' ... habits of those animals,... 'alogether' to 'altogether' ... are altogether tropical,... 'phemonena' to 'phenomena' ... the most striking phenomena ... 'acquatic' to 'aquatic' ... in the aquatic animals ... 'thes pecimens' to 'the specimens' ...comparison of the specimens ... 'Cystoseirites' for 'Cystosceri'es' ... the two Cystoseirites ... 'archaiologcal' to 'archaeological' ... archaeological researches ... 'metmorphic' to 'metamorphic' ... igneous and metamorphic rocks,... 'circumcribed' to 'circumscribed' ... remains circumscribed as it ... 'Artic' to 'Arctic' ... around the Arctic Sea ... 'Saskatchawan' to 'Saskatchewan' ... the Mackenzie or Saskatchewan ... 'heholding' to 'beholding' ... ever finding or beholding it,... 'hippotami' to 'hippopotami' ... killing the hippopotami ... 'languge' to 'language' ... words I collected of their language ... 'Boabob' to 'Baobab' ... Two of the Baobab variety ... 'trachite' to 'trachyte' ... columnar basalt, trachyte, and many ... 'reremains' to 'remains' ...destitute of organic remains,... 'may' to 'many' ... uncertainty in many cases,... 'analagous' to 'analogous' ... they are analogous to fishes;... 'Ichthysaur' to 'Ichthyosaur' ... the Ichthyosaur, with their ... 'carniverous' to 'carnivorous' ... large carnivorous fishes ... 'tailess' to 'tailless' ... below the tailless Batrachians.... 'circomvolute' to 'circumvolute' .... the circumvolute nautilus.... 'fortell' to 'foretell' ... may foretell a higher progress ... 'emperical' to 'empirical' ... my empirical law,... 'hypothethis' to 'hypothesis' ...conditions of Kirkwood's hypothesis.... 'appears' to 'appear' ... these appear to be:... 'arsenuous' to 'arsenious' ... arsenious and arsenic acid,... 'Novia' to 'Nova' ... New Brunswick and Nova Scotia;... 'Pittsburg' to 'Pittsburgh' ... great bed of Pittsburgh, extending ... 'N.U.' to 'N.H.' ... and at Hanover, N.H., about 560 feet.... 'thoraci' to 'thoracic' ... at the thoracic region,... 'Packydermata' to 'Pachydermata' ... type of the Pachydermata.... 'sufficently' to 'sufficiently' ... iron sufficiently strong to ... 'Conard' to 'Conrad' ... and Conrad Montgomery, Esquire,...