The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-08-28 00:00:00

SCIENCE AND ART.

IMPORTANT DISCOVERY.—It was stated a few days
since by Sir Walter C. Trevelyan, at a meeting of the
Somerset Archaeological Society, of which he is presi-
dent, that a discovery had been made in the Brendon-
hills, Somerset, of a vast quantity of carbonate of iron.
This
.metal has heretofore been obtained chiefly from
Silesia, and is used for the manufacture of steel. The
size of vein in these hills is said to far exceed that
in the continental mines, and the discovery promises
to be of great value, the amount annually expended in
the purchase of this description of iron being about
three quarters of a million sterling.
CURE FOR STINGS.—It is a fact worth knowing 'at
this season of the year, when wasps are so troublesome
with their stings, that no application will afford such
instantaneous relief as a drop of " liquor potassa"
(potash-water); indeed its effects are so unfailling,
that it may be termed a specific cure. It operates by
neutralising the injected poison, which is undoubtedly
of an acrid nature. The application of a washerwo-
man's blue bag, previously moistened, is a good
remedy, and acts almost instantaneously, like a charm.
It is said by some to be preferable to liquid potash, or
any alkaline solution. Honey rubbed on the almost
imperceptible wound, will extract the virus and allay
the pain. In the absence of honey, treacle will be
found equally efficacious.
THE GALLERIES IN THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR.—
On a fine day in May, 1782, the governor, attended by
the chief engineer and staff, made an inspection of the
batteries at the north front. Great havoc had been
made in some of them by the enemy's fire ; and for
the present they were abandoned whilst the artificers
were restoring them. Meditating for a few moments
over the ruins, he said aloud : " I will give a thousand
dollars to any one who can suggest how I can get a
flanking fire on the enemy's works." A pause followed
the exciting exclamation, when Sergeant-Major Ince
of the company, who was in attendance upon the chief
engineer, stepped forward and suggested the idea of
forming galleries in the rock to effect the desired
object. The general at once saw the propriety of the
scheme, and directed it to be carried into execution.—
Connelly.
MUSTARD OlL.—This ingredient forms one of the
most essential commodities in the markets (bazaars) of
India. The same is expressed from the mustard-seed,
and from 500 to 600 acres of ground may be witnessed
at one view, bearing ripe crops of this " sinapeous "
production. The flower or farina produced from the
seed of the above plant is remarkably pungent, and
operates as a sialologue, but the oil is divested of any
exciting taste or flavour which so particularly charac-
terises the flour of the seed. Mustard oil is used by
the natives in the operation of frying their curries,
their fish, and for other general purposes. It is, fur-
thermore, adopted as an igneous succedaneum, in pro-
moting the continuation of light in lamps and cheraugs.
It burns steadily and costs little, and may be regarded
in the light of constituting one of the most useful
and economical domestic features used throughout the
East Indies.

THE EGG PLANT.—This singular order of vegeta-
tion is a native of the East Indies, although it has been
well known in this country for many years past. It
was first introduced into England by the late cele-
brated Oriental traveller, J. Forbes, Esq., secretary
to the Bombay government, some 70 years ago. The
fruit of the above plant is highly nutritious, and
strongly recommended by the faculty to invalids and
such as are dyspepsical. If encouraged in growth to
a greater extent than it at present is, it would prove
a marketable commodity of a dietetic character. I
have had occasion, during my residence in Orissa,
East Indies, to witness some hundred acres of land
occupied by the egg plant. It is there known under
the name of the brinjall. The fruit varies in its
complexion ; some samples are quite white, resembling
an egg ; others are of a green and white hue ; whilst
that which prevails to a greater extent than either of
the former, is of a deep purple colour. It is a cheap
vegetable, and is very prolific. The natives in some
localities, where grain is scarce, subsist chiefly on the

,ARD.

brinjall. The method of preparing it for the table is 4°
to parboil the fruit, afterwards to separate the same
into halves, and broil them on a gridiron. They are
eaten with pepper, salt, and butter, after the manner
of treating the bulb commonly known as " vegetable
marrow."—Correspondent of Bell's Weekly Mes-
senger.
THE CARE OF THE EYES.—The eye is so very tender
—is such a fine piece of mechanism, that it must be
handled and treated with great care and gentleness.
Many become short-sighted at an early age, constitu-
tionally or by sickness, or by imposing too much labour
upon those wonderful organs. In health the eyes will
undergo much fatigue, but they are as capable of being
over-taxed as the arms or the limbs. Much reading
or writing, by artificial light, is very trying to the
eyes, especially if the light is unsteady, too brilliant, or
too weak. A good, full light, shaded by a light-blue
globe, is the best to read or write with during evening
hours. Upon no consideration should a man read more
than four hours at once, by artificial light, and he
should give his eyes ten minutes' rest after he has
read two hours. This is the experience we have ga-
thered from not a few persons. Those who are blessed
with strong eyes should not over-tax them, as many
zealous students do, by too much night study, or as
some merchants do, by too much night writing. There
are instances on record of a sudden loss of sight by
strong men, who had read and written by lamp-light,
as if their eyes would never fail, and their vision never
lose its power. The celebrated Euler lost his eye-sight
by an imprudent night's study, in some of his mathe-
matical calculations. The smoke of lamps is very
hurtful to the eyes, hence a good circulation of air is
as necessary for the eyes as for the lungs. A very
weak solution of the sulphate of zinc is excellent for
blood-shot or surface-inflamed eyes : we have never
known it to fail in effecting a cure in a few days.—
Literary Journal.

HORTICULTURE.

A NEW WAY TO " RAISE" BEANS.—A gentleman
in Seneca Falls (N.Y.), last spring planted some Lima
beans. Not being provided with poles, he supplied
their place by plantin., in each hill sunflowers, trim-
ming up the stalk, so that it served the purpose of a
pole. For a time all went on well, till at length, the
the sunflowers growing so much faster than the beans,
the latter were absolutely drawn up by the roots.—
New York Courier.

FRUIT.—The long continued wet, cloudy weather
which we have experienced, has induced very rapid
growth in fruit trees generally, and except such as are
well loaded with fruit, they appear in most instances to
have already made as much young wood as there is
much chance of getting matured in course of the au-
tumn. Where this is the case, it will be advisable to
go over the trees at once and stop a portion of the
shoots, beginning of course with the strongest. This
will be found to serve the end in view much more
effectually than a general stopping at this season, which
would probably be of no farther service than inducing
the production of a mass of laterals, and do more harm
than good, whereas, stopping the stronger shoots will
only throw the sap into the weaker ones, and if we
should be favoured with a fine autumn the buds and
the shoots stopped will become plump without starting
into growth, and in any case there will be fewer laterals
produced by stopping only a portion of the shoots than
there would be if the shoots' were stopped generally.
FLOWER GARDEN.—The beauty of bedding-out
plants is but of comparatively short duration in most
localities even in the most favourable seasons, and now
that they are in full flower every care should be ex-
ercised to render them as attractive as possible, keep-
ing everything in the most perfect order that the
means at command will allow. Go over the beds fre-
quently, and remedy any defect that may be. percepti-
ble, such as pegging down any plants that incline to
grow too high for the others, and keep the edges of the
masses well filled up without allowing them to become
too bulky. Where the plants are growing very rapidly
this will involve some considerable trouble in the way
of stopping the shoots, &c., but this must be attended
to sufficiently often to keep the plants within due limits,
for nothing looks worse than to see them running over
the edging, or encroaching upon the grass, and nothing
of this kind must be allowed where anything like high
keeping is aimed at. Attend to plants in vases, and do
not let these suffer for the want of water at the root,