The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1880-11-12
Miscrll
Discoveries Made by Accident.

Valuable discoveries have been made and
valuable inventions suggested, by the veriest
accidents.
An alchemist, while seeking to discover n
mixture of earths that would make the most
durable crucibles, one day found that he had
made porcelain.
The power of lenses, as applied to the telc-
| scope was discovered by 4 watchmakers APP
prentice. While holding spectacle-g glasses
between his thumb and finger, he was startled
at the suddenly enlarged appearance Of n
| neighboring church-spire.
The art of etching upon glass was discov-
cred by a Nuremberg glass-cutter. BY acct
dent, few drops of aqua FORTS fell upon his
spectacles. He noticed that the glass became
corroded and softened where the acid had
touchedit. That was hint enough. He drew
| figures upon glass with varnish applied the
corroding fluid, then cut away the glass
around the drawing When the vanish was
removed, the figures appeared raised upon n
| dark ground.
Mezzotinto owed its invention to the simple
accident of the gun barrel of sentry becom-
/ ing rusted with dew.
The swaying to and fro of q chandelier in
| cathedral suggested to Calico the applica-
| ton of the pendulum.
The art of lithographing was perfected
through suggestions made by accident. A
poor musician was curious to know whether
| music could not be etched upon stone as well
| as upon copper.
After he had prepared his slab, his mother
asked him to make memorandum of such
clothes rs she proposed to send away to be
washed. Not having pen, ink and paper con-
venient, he wrote his list on the stone with the
etching preparation, intending to make copy
of it at leisure.
oIo En- 81,
stone, he wondered what effect aqua forts
would have upon it, He applied the acid,
and in few minutes saw the writing stand
ing out in relief. The next step necessary
was simply to ink the stone and take off an
impression.
The composition of which printing-rollers
| are made was discovered by a Salopian print
err Not being able to find the pelt-ball, he
| linked the type with piece of soft glue which
| had fallen out of a glue-pot. 1t was such an
| excellent substitute that, after mixing molasses
/ with the glue, to give the mass proper con-
| sistency, the old petit was entirely discard
| ed.
The shop of Dublin tobacconist, by the
name of Lundyfoot, was destroyed by fire
While he was gazing dolefully into the
/ smoudering ruins, he noticed that his poorer
neighbors were gathering the snuff from the
cansters. He tested the snuff for himself,
| and discovered that the fire had largely i'm
proved its pungency and aroma.
TWAS hint worth profiting by. He secur-
| ed another shop, built lot of ovens, subjected
the snuff to heating process, gave the brand
a particular name, and in a few years became
rich through an accident which he at first
thought had completely ruined him.
The process of whitening sugar was dis,
covered in curious way. A hen that had
L I'll will hor
muddy feet into a sugar-housc. She left her
tracks on a pile ofsugar. 1t was noticed that
| wherever her tracks were the sugar was
whitened. Experiments were instituted, and
the result was that wet clay came TO be used
in refining sugar.
The origin of blue tinted paper came about
by mere slip of the hand.
The wife of William East, an English paper
maker, accidently let blue-bag fall into one
of the watts of pulp. The workmen were as
tonished when they saw the peculiar color of
the paper, while Mr.. East was highly incensed
over what he considered grave pecuniary
loss. His wife was SO much frightened that
she would not confess her agency in the mat
ter.
After storing the damaged paper for four
years. Mr.. East sent it to his agent at London,
with instructions to sell it for what it would
bring The paper was accepted as a "pur
posed novelty" and was disposed of at quite
an advance over market price
Mr.. East was astonished at receiving an
order from his agent for another large invoice
of the paper He was without the secret, and
found himself in dilemma. Upon mention.
ing it to his wife, she told him about the acct
dent. Hekept the secret, and the demand for
the novel tint far exceeded his ability to sup
ply it.
A Brighton stationer took fancy for dress,
ing his show window with piles of writing.
paper, rising gradually from the largest to the
smallest size in use; and, to finish his pyramids
off nicely, he cut cards to bring them to a
point.
Taking these cards for diminutive note.
paper, lady customers were continually want
ing some of "that lovely little paper" and the
stationer found it advantageous to cut paper
to the desired pattern.
AS there was no space for addressing the
notelets after they were folded, he, after much
thought, invented the envelope, which he cut
by the aid of metal plates made for the pur-
pose.
The sale increased so rapidly that he was
unable to produce the envelopes fast enough
so he commissioned dozen houses to make
them for him. and thus set going an import
ant branch of the manufacturing stationery
trade.
"A tramp woke up suddenly with cold
t9Weats standing in great beads uDOn his fore