Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1882-05-27
OlScOverics Made BY. Accident

Stcoii'-cl'lSS niatcr)
Discoveries Made by Accident.
Valuable discoveries have been made. ana
valuable Inventions suggested by the vcriest
accidents.
An alchcmist, while seeking TO discover =
mixture of c:rths that would make the most
durable crucbles, one day found that nc had
made porcc' ain, " '''',
lhe power of lenses, us applied to the telc.
scope, was discovered by Il watchmaker,s m.
prentice. While holding spectaclc-glasscs
between his thumb and finger. he was star.
tied by the suddenly enlarged appearance
OF Il ncighboring church spire.
The art OF etching upon glass was dis
covered by u Nurcmburg glass-cuttcr. By
accident few drops of aqua forts fell ,lpon
his spectacles. He noticed that the gIass
became corrodcd and soltcncd where acid
had touched it. That was hint enough. lie
drew figures upon the glass with varnish,
applied tho curroGing fluid. then cut away
the glass around the drawing. When the
Valnlsh was removed the figures appeared
raised Oh Il dark ground.
Mezzotlnto owed its invention to the sim
pie accident of the gun-barrcl of sentry
becoming rustrd with dew.
The SMaying to and fro OF Il chandelier in
cathedral sugg stel to Calico the appli-
cation Of the pend ll,m.
The art of lithographing was perfected
through suggestions made by accident. A
poor musician was cur Gus to know whether
music could not be etched upon stone as
well as upon copper. After he had prepar-
cd his slab his mother asked him TO make a
memorandum Of such clothes us she ,,ropo-
sod TO send away to be washed. Not having
pen. ink and paper conyc, ca he wrote the
list on the stone with the etching prcpara-
ton, intending to make IL copy of it at leis-
Lrc. a few days later, when about to clean
the stone, he wondered what effect aqua
fortls would have upon it, He applied the
acid, and IL Il few minutes saw the writing
standing out in relief The next step ncccs-
saly was simply to ink the stone and take
oil an impi, sSion.
The composition ofwhich prntng-rolers
arc made was discovered by Salo,, an prin-
ter. Not being able to find the peclt-ball he
mixed the type with Il piece of soft glue,
which had fallen out of Il glue pot. II was
such an excellent substitute that, after mix
ing molasscs with the glue, to give the mass
proper consistency, the old peltball was en-
tircly discarded
The shop OLA tobacconist, by the name
OF Lundytoot, was destroyed by fire. While
he was gazing dolefully into the
smoudering ruins, he noticed that
his poorer neighbors were gathering the
snul from the canisters. He tested
t,le snuff himself, and discovered that
the li'e had largely improved its pungency
and aroma. 1t was Il hint worth proIiting
'y. He secured another shop, built Il lot of
ovens, subjected the snuff to Il heating pro-
cess, gave the brand Il particular name, and
in few years became ric,l through an acci-
dent which he at first thought had complete
ly ruined him.
The process Of whitening sugar was dis
covered in 4 curious way A hen that had
gone through u clay puddle went with her
muddy feet into II sugar house. She left her
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 bluc-tinted paper came about
bya mere slip of the hand. The wife of
VIM. East, an English papcrmakcr. acci-
dcnt:lly let Il blue-bag fail into one of the
watts of pulp. The workmen were astonish-
ed when they saw the peculiar color of the
paper, while Mr.. East was highly incenscd
over what he considered grave pecuniary
loss. His wife was so much frightened she
would not confess her agency in the matter
After storing the damaged paper for 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 Il
''purposcd novelty" and was disposed of ut
quite an advance over market price Mr.
East was astonishcd at receiving an order
from his agent for another large invoice of
the paper. He was without the secret and
found himsclfin q dilemma Upon men-
tioning it to his wife, she told him about the
accident. He kept the secret and the de-
mand for the novel tint far exceeded his
ability supply it.
y Brighton stationer took fancy for
dressing his show-window with piles of
writing paper, rising gradually from the
largest to the smallest in use, and to finish
his pyramid of nicely he cut cards to bring
them to Il point. Taking these cards for
diminutive note-paper, lady customers were
continually wanting some of "that lovely
little paper and the stationer found it adj
vantageous to cut paper to the desired pat
tern. AS there was no space for addressing
the notelets after they were folded he, after
much thought, invented an envelope which
he cut by the aid of metal plates for that
purpose. The sale increased so rapidly that
he was unable to produce the envelopes fast
enough, 80 he commissioned dozen houses
to make them for him. and thus set going
an important branch of the manufacturing
trade e-,Sjeufifc Cun01i1n