Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1847-01-08
Chemical Thaumaturgy.

The agency of heat in the expansion Of oil,
or any other liquid belongs tn another sci
ence than hydrostatics thus we are naturally
led to examine what was the extent, or raih-
er how much sc can trace, of those preten-
ded miracles for which the ancients were in
debted to a practical knowledge of chemis-
try. Passing TO more elevated ideas. we
may recall the example of Aclepiodotus.
who chemically reproduced the delelerious
e1halations of "A sacred grotto, which proves
that a science so prolific of apparent mira
cIes was not unknown in the temples. 9th
er facts tend to confirm this opinion. Mar
cos, the leader Of one of those sects which.
in the earlier ages Of the church, endeavored
to amalgamate with Christian doctrines. par
ticular dogmas and rites of initiation, filled
three cups Of transparent glass with colour
ess wine during his prayer the fluid in one
Of these cups became blood-red, in another
purple, and in the third an azure-blue. Alta
later period, a well might be seen in an E.
gyptlan church, the waters Of which, when
ever they were placed in a lamp. became of
a sanguine colour. In addition to these
seeming miracles, probably borrowed from
the mysteries Of some ancient temple, let us
add one Of later times. At the court of the
Duke of Brunswick, Professor Beyruss
ll'tlIASNh liiul ulo tbhI SIbulu uttblGlt Itu-
and, TO the Amusement Of the prince and his
other guests, it actually became of that col
cur. Nj. Nogel, who relates the fact, does
not reveal the secret made use of by Bev-
russ but he observes, that by pouring lime
water on the juice of the beet-root, a colour
less liquid is obtained and that a piece of
cloth STEPPED in this liquid and quickly dried,
becomes red In a few hours, simply by con-
tact with the air and further, that the effect
is accelerated in an apartment where cham
pagEe and other wines are being plentifully
p rured out. 1t has been proved by recent
experiments, that wool dyed by orchil Of a
violet colour, or stained blue by the acidula-
ted ~sulphate Of indigo, in a bath ofhydro-sul-
phuric acid, becomes colourless, vet resumes
the blue or violet colour on exposure to the
free air. Either explanation applies TO the
modern fact, and indicates the possibility of
reviving ancient prodigies it also discovers
the manner in which, amidst flaming torches
and smoking incense, in the sanctuaries of
Polytheism, the veil concealing the sacred
things may have been seen to change from
white 10 a deep blood-red hue, and which
spectacle was considered as the presage of
frightful disasters. Blood boiling on the al
tars, or upon the marbles, or in the bases Of
the temple, was also indicative of peril and
calamity. In Provence, in the sixteenth
century, when a consecraled phial filled with
the blood of st. Magdalene, in a solid state,
was placed near her pretended head, the
blood became liquid, and suddenly boiled
The sam phenomenon was exhibited in the
cathedral of Avellino, with the blood of St.
Lawrence and also at Bissegali, with that
Of st. Pantaleon, and of two other martyrs
In the present day, at an annual public cere-
] manu- Of Naplas Z,p,, - Al. Ill r -.
J%anuaIis, collected and dried centuries ago,
became spontaneously liquefied, and rises in
a boiling state to the phial that ~encloses it,
These phenomena may be produced by red
dening sulphuric ether with orcanneite (On-
Osma, Linn.,) and mixing the %tincture with
spermaciti. This preparation, at ten degrees
above the freezing point ~(centigrade,) re-
mains condensed, but mells and boils at
twenty. To raise it to this temperature, it
is only necessary to hold the phial which
contains it, in the hand for some time. II q