Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1880-10-28
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DISCOVERIES MADE BY ACCIDENT.

DISCOVERIES MADE BY ACCIDENT.
Valuable discoveries have been made, and
valuable inventions suggested, by the Verlest
accidents.
An alchemist, while seeking to discover a
mixture of earths that would make the most
durable crucibles, one day found that he bad
made porcelain.
The power of lenses, as'applied to the tele-
scope, was discovered by a watchmakers ap-
prentice. While holding spectacle-glasses be-.
tween his thumb and finger, he was startled
at the sudden enlarged appearance of neigh
boring church spire
The art of etching upon glass was discov-
cred by Nuremburg glass-cutter. By acci.
dent, few drops of aqua fortis fell upon his
spectacles. He noticed that the glass became
corroded aud softened where the acid had
touched it. 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 varnsh was
removed, the figures appeared raised upon a
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 chandelier in
cathedral suggested to Galileo 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 we'll
as upon copper. After he had prepared his
slab, his mother asked him to make memo
randum of such clothes as she proposed to
send away to be washed. Not having pen,
ink and paper convenient, he wrote the list
on the stone with the etching preparation, in.
tending to make copy of it at leisure. A
few days later, when about to clean the stone,
he wondered what effect aqua fortis would
have upon it. He applied the acid, and in a
few minutes saw the writing standing 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 Salopian prin-
ter. Not being able to find the pelt-ball, he
linked the type with piece of soft glue which
had fallen out of glue pot. 1t was such an
excellent substitute that, after mixing molas
ses with the glue, to give the mass proper
consistency, the old pelt ball was entirely dis
carded.
The shop of Dublin tobacconist, by the
name Of Lundyfoot, was destroyed by fire.
While he was gazing dolefully into the smoul-
dering ruins, he noticed that his poorer neigh.
bors were gathering the snuff from the canis.
ters He tested the snuff for himself, and
discovered that the fire had largely improved
its pungency and aroma. 1t was a hint worth
profting by. He secured another shop, built
lot of ovens, subjected the snuff to heat
ing process, gave the brand particular name,
and in few years became rich, through an
accident which he at first thought had COM
pletely ruined him.
The process of whitening sugar was dis.
covered in curious way. A hen that had
gone through clay puddle went with her
muddy feet into a sugar-house She left her
tracks OH pile of sugar. 1t was noticed
that wherever her tracks we're, the sugar was
whitened Experiments were instituted, and
the result was that wet clay came to be used
in refining sugar.
The origin of the bluetinted paper came
about by mere slip of the hand. The wife
of Wi liam East, an English paper.maker,
accidently let blue bag fall into one of the
vats of pulp The workmen were astonished
when they saw the peculiar color of the paper,
while Mr.. East was highly incenssd over
what he considered grave pecunary loss.
His wife Was so much frightened that she
would not confess her agency in the matter.
After storing the damaged paper for four
years, Mr.. East sent it to his agent in London,
with instructions to sell it for what it would
bring. The paper was accepted as "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 mentioning it to his wife,
she told him about the accident. He kept
the secret, and the demand for the novel tint
far exceeded his ability to supply it.
A Brighton stationer took fancy for
dressing his show. window with piles of wri-
ting 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 wanting some of "that lovely lit
tie paper" and the stationer found it advan-
tageous to cut the 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
vas unable to produce the envelopes fast
enough, so he commissioned dozen houses to
make them for him, and thus set going an
important branch of the manufacturing sta
tionery trade.