The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-10-02 00:00:00

,EMENT TO THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

history and criticism, and the history of our race. As
Pliny and others have referred to the existence of these
treatises, or rather libraries, there can be no doubt of
their genuineness, and the importance of the discovery
can, scarcely be over-rated
CORROSIVE SUBLIMATE EATERS.—A singular illus-
tration of the effect of mixed substances upon the
human constitution, when in a state of disease, is pre-
sented in the use of a mixture of opium with corrosive
sublimate by the confirmed opium-eaters of the East.
The drug, in its usual form, gradually loses its effect
upon the habitual consumer, so that the dose must be
increased from time to time, if the influence of the
drug is to be maintained. But at length even this
resource fails to inveterate opium-eaters in Constanti-
nople, and no increase of dose will procure for them
the desired enjoyment, or even relieve them from
bodily pain. In this emergency, they have recourse
to a poisonous corrosive sublimate. Mixing at first a
minute quantity of this substance with their daily
dose of opium, they increase it by degrees till they
reach the limit of ten grains a day, beyond which it is
usually unsafe to pass. This mixture acts upon their
long-tortured frames, when neither of the ingredients,
taken alone, will either soothe or exhilarate. But the
use of the new medicine only protects a little longer
the artificial enjoyment, which has become a necessary
of life, finally bringing to a more miserable termination
the career of the debilitated and distorted Theriaki.—
Professor Johnston's Chemistry of Common Life.
THE STEAM ENGINE AND THE HUMAN BODY.—
James Watt, when first devising his first engine,
knew well that the rapid combination of the oxygen
of atmospheric air with the combustible fuel in the
furnace produced the heat and force of the engine ;
but he did not know that in the living body there is
going on, only more slowly, a similar combination of
the oxygen of the air with the like combustible matter in
the food, as this circulates after digestion in the form
of blood through the lungs, which combination pro-
duces the warmth and force of the living animal. The
chief resemblances of the two objects are exhibited
strikingly in the following tables of comparison, where
are set forth nearly the same things and actions, with
difference in the names.

TABLE OF COMPARISON.
THE STEAM ENGINE IN ACTION TAKES :
I.—FUEL, viz.—Coal and wood, both being old or
dry vegetable matter, and both combustible.
2.—WATER.
3.—AIR.

AND PRODUCES:
4.—STEADY BOILING HEAT OF 212 degrees by quick

combustion.
5.—53.101 CE from the chimney, or air loaded with car-

bonic acid and vapour.
6.—AsuEs, part of the fuel which does not burn.
7.—MOTIVE FORCE, of simple alternate push and pull
in the piston, which, acting through levers, joints,
bands, &c., does work of endless variety.
B.—A DEFICIENCY OF FUEL, WATER, OR AIR, first dis-
turbs and then stops the motion.
9.—LocAL DAMAGE from violence in a machine is
repaired by the maker.

THE ANIMAL BODY IN LIFE TAKES :

I.—Foos, viz.—Recent or fresh vegetable matter
and flesh, both being of kindred composition, and
both combustible.

2.—DRINK (essentially water).
3.—BREATH (common air).

AND PRODUCES:
4.—STEADY ANIMAL HEAT of 98 degrees by slow com-

bastion.
S.—FOUL BREATH from the windpipe, or air loaded

with carbonic acid and vapour.
6_.—ANIMAL REFUSE, part of the food which does not

burn.
7.-IVIonvE FORCE, of simple alternate contraction
and relaxation, in the muscles, which acting through
the levers, joints, tendons, &c., of the limbs, does
work of endless Nariety.

B.—A DEFICIENCY OF FOOD, DRINK, OR •BREATH,
first disturbs, and then stops the motion and the
life.

O.—LOCAL HURT OR DISEASE in a living body is
repaired or cured by the action of internal vital
powers.
Such are the surprising resemblances between an in-
animate machine, the device of human ingenuity exe-
cuted by human hands, and the living body itself, yea,

127

the bodies of the men whose minds contrive and whose
fingers make such machines. A prodigious difference,
however, between the two is pointed at by the expres-
sion vital powers, contained in the last line of the pre-
ceding table. That difference, described in a few words,
is, that while the machine has to be originally con-
structed, and afterwards worked and repaired and
supplied with every necessary, by intelligence and
forces altogether external to it, the animal body per-
forms all the offices mentioned, and others yet more
surprising, for itself, by virtue of forces or powers
originally placed within it by the divine Author of
Nature.

THE HOUSE OF MR. ROGEES, THE POET.—OVer-
looking the Green-park, there is a house which not
only contains a choice collection of works of art, but is
also in other ways rendered so remarkable by the good
taste of its venerable and distinguished owner, that
some account of it cannot fail to be useful to our readers.
The exterior, without having much pretension, has a
fit and comfortable appearance ; near the top is an open
verandah, in which are plants and vases ; the long
garden in front is in winter thickly planted with laurels
and other evergreens, and in the summer is gaily
decked with seasonable flowers. In this house, during
three generations, Samuel Rogers, the gifted author of
the " Pleasures of Memory," has gathered round him
the most celebrated statesmen,poets, painters, sculptors,
and those who in science or in other ways were
honourably distinguished. A house so eminently
connected by associations with the great in literature,
art, and science, would, independently of other con-
siderations, be a place of general interest ; but in
addition to this claim upon our attention, the taste of
Mr. Rogers has produced an arrangement of furniture
and decoration which satisfies most eyes. Going into
the house, not from the garden side, but from Park-
place (No. 22), we find in the hall some choice Greek
and other sculptures, busts and vases of large size;
and we enter the dining-room which overlooks the
park. This room, wherein so many noted persons have
met together, is of a considerable length, and is lighted
by a bow window which occupies the whole of one end;
the curtains are of a dull red colour—in the summer,
intertwined with thinner drapery of white, the trees and
park seen pleasantly through; near the window on one
side of the room is a fine head by Rembrandt ; on the
other side the famous head of Christ crowned with
thorns, by Guido, which has been often engraved ;
other portions of the walls are covered with choice
examples of the works of Rubens, painters of the Italian
and Spanish schools, and some of the best of Sir Joshua
Reynolds's pictures ; for instance, the Strawberry Girl,
and Puck, that wonderful personification of frolic and
mischief. The walls are of a rich crimson, subdued
as that colour would be in oil painting, with a glazing
of asphaltum ; the carpet is of a very deep brown
crimson hue, mixed with grey, varying, however, from
both the walls and curtains. The cornice of the room
is much ornamented, partly gilt ; the leather cover-
ings of the seats harmonise, yet produce variety of
colour, which is enhanced by the " Vandyke brown" of
the furniture. We step up-stairs, glancing at portions
of Greek architecture, into the library, a square-look-
ing apartment, lined with book-shelves on all sides ex-
cept above the mantle-piece, where hangs a fine picture
by Reynolds, The furniture in this room—couches,
seats, table, library, ladder—are all of fine forms. On
the top of the bookcases is a variety of Etruscan vases.
Tho working patterns of the ceiling were supplied by
Flaxman, who also designed and executed the sculpture
on the mantel-piece, which is well worthy of study.
Leaving the library we pass through a vestibule, con-
taining works of art, to the drawing-room, in which
there is a glorious display of fine pictures of different
schools. The mantel-piece in this room is of white
marble, and, like that of the library, by Flaxman.
This is another instance of pure art being applied to
domestic purposes. Why should this not be more
general in the houses of the wealthy P This exquisite
work is also surmounted by vases and statuettes of
value ; and underneath a careful glazing are several
orange blossoms, pearls, and other bride's favours,
which, in a mysterious rummer, harmonise with 'the
rare works of bygone generations with which they are
surrounded, and touch the feelings. Look where you
will the eye rests on pleasant objects, and is coaxed
from place to place, as it is by the skilful painter, who,
by the cunning of his art, leads us from his bright
light and colour into his deep yet transparent shadows.
—Builder.

128

MALLEABLE IRON ORDNANCE.—We made mention
some weeks ago of a wrought-iron gun, manufactured
by Mr. Dundas, at Paragon Works, North Britain, on
a principle maintained by him to be the only practi-
cable method by which guns and mortars of that ma-
terial, and of large calibre, could be made sound and
trustworthy ; the difficulty of procuring dense and
solid forgings of great bulk being well known to every
practical engineer. This gun, a 9-pounder, after being
taken to the War Department, Whitehall, for Lord
Panmure's inspection, was sent down to Woolwich to
be proved. Two heavy charges of 91b. of powder and
a ball, the usual proof charge of a cannon of this size,
were first fired from it. These produced no change in
the gun, nor displacement of its parts. Fifty rounds
of ordinary service ammunition were then rapidly fired
from the cannon, causing no change whatever. The
gun was then sent down to Shoeburyness for a further
and more severe ordeal. This it underwent some days
ago, and as thirty-six ordinary rounds more were fired
from it without any remarkable result, the charge was
gradually increased to four, five, and lastly, to six
pounds of powder, and two balls. Under this power-
ful application the gun at length began to yield, and
it finally became unserviceable at the third round of
the last series—six pounds of powder, two balls, and
a wad. In all one hundred and fifty-two rounds were
fired from it. It may not be uninteresting to give a
brief description of the method of the construction of
this gun. Four bars of iron, about an inch thick,
five inches broad, and the proper length of the gun,
are put up longitudinally into segments of a circle,
which, if placed edge to edge, form the rough outline
of the bore. The edges of these bars are then accu-
rately planed. The bars or staves are now hooped
temporarily as a cylinder by means of two rings at
the extremities, and turned in a lathe to a surface
perfectly true and cylindrical. A series of iron rings,
three inches broad, and three-quarters of an inch
thick, carefully welded, are bored to a size slightly
smaller than the barrel or cylinder ; these, being after-
wards expanded by heat, are one by one placed on the
cylinder, and plunged into cold water ; instant con-
traction ensuing, the staves are compressed more
powerfully than could be done by any artificial means,
and no appearance of a joint in the staves is percep-
tible. The exterior surface of the mass is. again turned
perfectly cylindrical, and a second series of rings
placed in like manner over the first " breaking band."
This time in the lathe the iron assumes the exterior of
a cannon, the trunnions having been previously placed
on, forged on a centre ring. .To bore the gun with
great perfection is very simple, as the boring bar can
be supported at both ends, and the breech end of the
gun being, for a few inches, bored slightly conically
with a shoulder, into which fits a solid plug intro-
duced from the muzzle ; the cannon is now complete.
Of course the best workmanship and fittings in the
manufacture of such a gun are indispensable, and
without the large planing machines, lathes, and other
powerful tools now in use, which, while they save
manual labour, do their work with unerring accuracy,
such a piece of ordnance on a large scale could not be
constructed. Since this gun was made, many improve-
ments have suggested themselves to the inventor, who
was much in doubt as to the proper proportions required
by the separate parts of the cannon, and who, perhaps
too confidently, made his gun much slighter than ser-
vice ordnance of the same calibre, this being one-third
lighter than a cast-iron nine-pounder gun. By the
substitution, also, of tilted cast steel for iron staves a
double strength will be secured, while, by corrugating
the cylinder to the extent of from one-eighth to one-
sixteenth of an inch, and turning the rings to fit these
corrugations when shrunk on, great aditional te-
nacity will be gained. Adopting these alterations,
Mr. Dundas is now engaged in the manufacture of
another • gun, which he is confident will resist every
fair means that may be used with the view of destroy-
ing it. By thus making cannon in pieces compara-
tively small, no difficulty exists in obtaining perfect
soundness and solidity in each separate part, and in-
suring equal trustworthiness in the whole. This cannot
be secured in large masses of iron, from the constant heat -
ings rendering the interior raw and crude—an evil aggra-
vated each time the mass is put into the furnace and
withdrawn, when the sUila-ce_ only is exposed to the
action of the hammer, which, even though that in-
strument be a ponderous engine, weighing six tons,
fails to compress the vast incandescent bulk on which
it descends.—Times.