Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-12-10
Discoveries Made by Accident.


/ Valuable discoveries have been made,
and valuable inventions suggested by
the veriest accidents.
An alchemist, while seeking to dis
cover a mixture of earths that would
make the most durable crucibles. one
day found that be had ma ie porcelain.
The power of lenses as applied to the
telescope, was discovered by watch
makers apprentice. While holding
spectacle glasses between his thumb
aud finger, he was startled at the sud
denly.enlarged appearance of neigh
boring church spire.
The art Of etching upon glass was
discovered by Nuremberg glass
cutter. BY accident, few drops Of
aquafortis fell upon his spectacles.
He noticed that the glass became cor
roded and softened where the acid had
touched it. That was hint enough.
He drew figures upon glass with var
nish, applied the corroding fluid, then
cut away the glass around the drawing
When the varnish was removed, the
figures appeared raised upon O dark
ground.
Mezzotinto' owed its invention to the
simple accident of a gun.barrel of a
sentry becoming rusted with dew.
The swaying to and fro of a chsnde-
lier in cathedral suggested to Calico
the application OF the pendulum.
! The art of lithographing was per
fected through suggestions made by
accident. A poor musician was curious
enough 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
a memorandum of such clothes as she
proposed to send away to be washed.
Not having pen, ink and paper con-
venient, he wrote the list on the stone
with the etching preparation, intending
to make copy of it at leisure. \ few
days later when about to clean the
stone, he wondered what effect aqua
FORTS would have upon it. He applied
the acid, aud in few minutes saw the
writing standing out in relief. The
next step necessary was simply to ink
the stone and take of an impression.
The composition of which printing
rollers are made was discovered by
Salopian printer. 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 mix
ing molasses with the glue, to give the
mass proper consistency, the old pelt-
ball was entirely discarded.
The shop of q Dublin tobacconist,
by the name of Lundyfoot, was de-
stroyed by fire. While he was gazing
dolefully into the smouidering ruins,
he noticed that his poorer neighbors
were gathering the snuff from the can
listers. He tested the snuff for himself,
AID discovered that the fire had greatly
improved its pungency and aroma. 1t
was hint worth prohting by. He Sc
cured another shop, built lot of
ovens, subjected the snuff TO heating
process, gave the brand a new name,
and in few years became rich through
an accident which he at first thought
had completely ruined him.
The process Of whitening sugar was
discovered, in curious way. A hen that
had gone through clay puddle went
with her muddy feet into sugar house.
She left her tracks on pile of sugar.
It was noticed that wherever her tracks
were the sugar was whitened. Expert
ments 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, accidentally lot blue bag fall
into one of the watts OF pulp. The
workmen were astonished when they
saw the peculiar color of the paper,
while Mr.. East was highly incensed
over what he considered grave pecu-
mary loss. His wife was 80 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 at London,
with instructions to sell it for what it
would bring. The paper was accepted
as "purposed novelty" and was dis
posed Of at quite an advance over mar
ket price.
Mr.. East was astonished at receiving
an order from his agent for another
large invoice Of the paper. lie was
without the secret and found himself
in a dilemma. Upon mentioning it to
his wife, she told him of the accident.
He kept the secret, and the demand for
the novel tint far exceeded his ability
to supply it.