Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1858-09-25


between that and boiling water The cent?
grade thermometer more conveniently divides
the same interval into hundred degrees
The tallow, therefore, into which it pleased NJ,
l}outigny to thrust his finger, as mcrriy as
little Jack HornCr put in his thumb and pull
ed out plum, was exactly three times as hot
as boiling water. In like manner, an intru-
sive finger or thumb may be plunged with
equal safety into boiling water, after having
been wettcd with ether.
M. Boutigny's bold experiment had been
forcstallcd by NJ Alphonse Michel, who pass
ed his finger, without any previous prccau-
ton, through jet of glowing melted metal,
as it flowed from the furnace. Messicurs BOu-
tigny and Michel, the fact has been repeated
and verified by the illustrouS natural phlOS-
ophcr, NJ. Dcsprctz; by NJ. Desdouit, whose
recklcSsncss alarmed NJ. Boutigny himself; by
NJ A. Percy, professor Of natural philosophy
at Lyons; by NJ. lc Docteur Legal, Of Dcppc;
and by NJ. Conc, professor at Laval, who re-
lates that his friend NJ. Covlct was the first to
begin handling the dangerous playthingS, that
they passed their fingers through lets of cast
iron, and that they plunged their hands into
mouldS and cruciblrs full of melted iron that
had just beon tapped, and whose radiatcd
heat was scarcely Supportablc at cOnsidcra-
bic distance. They varied their experiments
for more than a couple Of hours Madame
Covlct who was present, allowed her little
daughter, child eight or ten years old, to
put her hand into n crucible full Of glowing
melted iron which was done with impuntv
| When their hands were immersed in the melt
ell metal, after making use of SulphurouS acid
as the previous moiStening liquid, every one
oil this vcnturcsomc party experienced a SEN
sation of cold.
The origin of NJ. Boutigny's apparently
reckless exposure Of his person to the danger
of burning and even consumption by fire, and
the first hint Of the principles on which he
explains its possibility, was as complete an
accident as Ncwton's discovery Of gravitation
from the fall of an apple. One evening, Mons.
Is. was cXpcrimentaizing on the relative den
sites Of various starchcs. lie put some ether
into a glass vessel called an (pr0uccttf; he
then added the starch, closed the mouth of
the tube with the tip of his forcfngcr, and
shook it violently. lie next placed the eJ,ron-
rette on its stand, and noted the time the
starch took to prccipitatc. That which was
bulky of equal density, or the dcnscSt of equal
bulk; and this result sufIiccd for the special
object which he wanted to attain.
As the ether which he employed for
each experiment was very small in quantity,
he threw it out into fire place, in whizh were
some brands Of wood that still retained their
heat. Every time that the ether fell upon
brand beautiful blue light strcamcd from it,
which had nothing in common with the or,li:
nary flame ofcthcr. The phenomenon strong
" excited his curiosity, and induced him to
repeat the experiment by daylight, and in
crucihcS. Consequently, he slightly heated
n patina cruciblc over a spirit lamp and pour.
cd into it Il few drops Of ether. They asSum-
cd spherical form, and without moistcning
the cruciblc that held them. The cruciblc
removed to dark place, was found to he full
of beautiful blue vapOrS. The cXpcrimcntor
discovered, by means Of a slip of blue test
paper, (1mI'iCr dc tourbCSoI) that the internal
temperature of the cruciblc was very high
whilst that Of the little sphcroid within was
very low. In fact, the slip of paper turn.
cd brown in the cruciblc, whilst its cx-
tremity, plunged in the cthcr-Sphcroid, re-
maincd perfectly intact,
Such was the hazard or lucky accident that
lead to the discovery of Ths Spher0ilal state.
Its diScovcrcr does not say that similar acr-
dents have not happened to others about the
same time. lie assumes to he no more than
the secretary and the interpreter of a chance
event At first, he traced out a narrow circle
connected with this phenomenon, every point
Of which Inc proposed to explore successivcly;
but he soon found that the circle widened ev-
cry day, till at last. he is obliged to confess
that it is boundlcSs. Without presumption,
he ventures to assert that the discovery opens
n wide career to physical and chemical cxpe-
rmcnts, and is likely to bring about impor-
tant notifications in several theories, which,
in the actual state Of science, are regarded as
sufficient and true And thusa scientific rev.
Olution, or at least great step in advance,
will 6c owing to the precipitation of few
grains of potato starch. For the thousandth
time We find the greatest results brought
about by the slightest causes. The blowing
up of stcamb boilers, whether for boats or for
locomotives, is to be rendered next to impoS.
siblc The mystery of firc-balls from heaven
will be explained; mctcoroogsts will have to
erase from their chapter on lightning form
Of meteor which has no anology to lightning
propcr-namcly, to that which darts in zig-
zag or straight lines Such balls of fire will
hcnceforth bc styled "spheroidal lightning ~
The indulgence of gcoogists has to be en-
treated for u new theory as the formation Of
coal, which is more than suspected to have a
completely different origin to that at present
assigned to it. 1t is simply carbonate OF
: hydrogen (cdrJwre ThydIwgCne) condensed
and passing into spheroilal state, and 50
prcciptated from the atmosphere during its
gradual process of cooling, ages ago. The
pre-. .ttamitC plants found mixed up herewith
arc merely accidental additions swept into il
at u long postcrior epoch, by floods and wa.
ter courses. In short, coal-basin is simply
q dish of stcwcd vegetables. of which thu
sauce, the coal itself, is the primitive basiS.-
To have curried fowl, veal, or fish, you first
prepare the curry itself, and then add the
thing to be curried, whatever it may be; OK.
actly so Of the palms and tree ferns found il
coalmines, and of the vegetable tissue which
the microscope detects in the substance of tn,
coal itself. Coal is a species of dark -coorcd
mdydnndiSe invented before cooks or kitchen.
were thought Of, for the preparation of pre-
+ Adamite salad. The origin and tho futur,
destiny Of coal are thus summed up: Goa
came from the atmosphere by precipitation
and returns to the atmosphercby combustion.
Such are samples of what may be dcducc(
from the observation of drop of cold watcl
dancing on tho surface of a rcd-hot iron plate
The sphcroidal state, thcn--un expression
which has now taken its permanent place il
scientific language-is the phrase employed
by NJ. Boutigny to denote the molecular mod