Alexandria daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1803-1808, 1804-08-03

ans arrived in This cig5, from G4iiina:e, a3s
Saturday last.
The concealment of a secret n the arts
conducive to public health or TIC lnterests
ofcoinmerce, is a fraud committed I'll she
stock of public knowledge. Nothing dis
tinglishes the heightened era IN wiaeil sc
live, more than the iiberal:ty win winch
discoveries are, communicated, contrasted
with sthe gloomy ages of aichemy,
Fhe mannaer of refining canphor has
been for ages only known 10 the Dutch,
and latterly to one or two sordid indivldu'
ais amcng ourselves, who basely concealed
it. lanes W~oodhouse, VI. D. profcssoro Of
chemistry in the university of Pennsyiva.
MA, has lately added this to his other nu-
merous and brilliant discoveries, and with
an honorable Iiberality has pulicly explain
ed it in his lectures. Nsthing seems diff
6cult when kaown, and this process sSsci.
ther complex nor hard TO be performed.---
1t simply consists In putting the foul cam
phorin a broad shallow balloon or mattrass
with a wide neck, loosely stepped with
paper, and placed in a sand bath; upon
applying a sufficient heat, the camphor
sublimes, adhering TO the upper part OF the
glass. And here IS the mighty secret by
which a nation has been enriched |; d secret
which eluded a Presley and a Lavoisier,
discovered BY the ing E nuity < industry Of
one OF ourselves, Of a native American,
who seems des med TO throw a lustre On the
country of his birth.
To prepare it IN a large way, the num-
Der of vessels must be proportloaaSly IN
creased, they should be a5ou, Is inches in
diameter by II Or "a in height.
That a substance so volatile, that it care
fully wrapt up and laid By for a few weeks.
OF. going to look for it nothing snail be
found, should thus endure a considerable
heat without being ia ANY degree dasslpa,-
ed, appears singular bus where is the SCI
ence that abounds with such wonders as
chemistry To whom should we feel equal
obligations as to the philosopher who no
hly discloses4the fruits of his arduous re-
searches
TYRO.
The following extract from the celebrat-
edwork Of J. L. ALBERT, an eminent ply
stefan in France, on pernlclous levers,
| which he terms ataaic intermittent, publish
ed three: years ago, VIII prove that chemi-
cal science has discovered tests Tor detect.
| inp the existence of inOisibI, boisons in the
| atmosphere. as far as its salubFlous quality
depends upon the proportion OF It's constr
tuent principles or, IN az much as tins may
be destroyed by gazeous fluids that are
| diseugaged from putrid substances and
| which are deleteriaus for living bodies.
The proportion Of oxygen in the at.
! mosbheric air is not the only cause OF its
f! salubritv andhowever perfect ~eaafameters
might be, we could not come at its real
| ANALYSIS unless we were able to detect
| whatever substances, combined with aque-
Gus vapors, were emitted from ponds,
/; marshes, or any stagnant waters. ouch IN
! vestigation would be more successful when
ever the temperature increases the eSIoaff-
! sion of the atmospheric air.
With this view we may employ any such
! vessel similar TO ta&t o. our plate the sim
plicity and cheapne s Of which surpasses
| even that ofthe apparatus devised by the
! AcQdemg del G1mento, to ascertain the de.
erees of moisture IN the ar. 1t should
De a glass vessel, ike an inverted cone, and
suseended on a fat bcttomed5aso on or cup;
is point might be truncated, SO that's could
stand on any kind Of receiver. Now th's
comic vessel being filled up with ICE aad CO.
= red its ext al eurfa 9 willie csiccesthas
| the surrouadiag air, the AQUEOUS particles
| Of which will be s adaally condensed on i.
! run down and collect in the reservoir, until
- -,,,- he obtained tor