Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-09-01
FORTUNES ny DISCOVERIES.
Many Important Inventions Brought
About by Accident.

Quicksilver was discovered by lucky
chance. A cooper in Carnioa, having
one evening placed n new tub under
dropping spring, in order TO try IL II
would hold water when he came in the
morning found 1t so heavy that he could
hardly move 1t. At first he thought that
the tub was bewitched, but at last per-
ceivlng Il shining fluid at the bottom, he
went 10 Laubach and showed II TO an
apothecary. who Immediately dismissed
him with a small gratuity, bidding him
bring some more of the same stuff
whenever he could meet with it. This
the poor cooper frequently did. being
highly pleased with his good fortune: till
at length, the affair being made public,
several persons formed themselves into
a society in order to search farther into
the quicksilver deposits thus so unex-
pectedly discovered. and which were des-
tined 10 become the richest Of their kind
in Europe.
Another important discovery is record
cd TO have resulted from the uninten-
tiOnal application of intense heat.
Charles Goodyear had for years expert
mented In vain. hoping to deprive india
rubber OF its susceptibility TO the action
Of heat and cold COnversng with a
friend on the subject. he emphasized an
assertion by throwing a piece of sui
phured rubber across the room. 1t light
ed upon the stove. and when he picked
IL up a few days afterward he found the
intense heat to which it had been sub
jected had conferred upon the india rub
Der just the quality he had so long striven
10 impart 10 IL.
Tho idea of using gas az being lighter
than air for balloons is said to have
been suggested 90 Jacques Montgolher
by a work of Priestleys. IL Is also
narrated that one day while boiling water
in a coffee-pot, the top of which was
covered with paper folded in spherical
form. MontgOlier saw the paper swell
and rise and that hence he took the idea
Of a light machine made buoyant by in
fatiOn and traversing the air. Ascer-
tanning that a balloon and car could be
kept suspended by a supply Of heated
air. after some experiments Monigoiier
and ha brother made a successful as
cent at Versailles. in the presence Of the
royal family and numerous spectators.
Another important discovery was made
by purely accidental circumstances
Cornelius Drebbel placed in his window
some extract of cOchineal, with when
he intended 10 fill thermometer; into
this soNe aqua-regia dropped from a
broken pNial standing just above 1t, and
Drebbers purple liquid was converted into
a beautiful scarlet one. How this came
TO pass puzzled him not a little but
he ascertained that the aqua-reeia had
dissolved some OF The tin of the window
frame on its way 10 the cochineal. Tell
ing this to his son-in-law Kuffelar. n dyer
at I.eyden. the latter turned the infOrma-
ton TO such good account that "kuffe-
lars Color" as II was called. proved a
little gold-mine TO it's godfather.
One OF the principal causes of pros
perity of the StanOrdshire pottery manu-
facture was the discovery Of a cheap. du-
rable glaze applicable alike TO brown
ware and white ware, and greatly in
creasing their usefulness by making the
surface impervious TO water. The dis
coyery, according 10 Shaw. the historian
of that county, was due purely to ac-
cident
At Stanley Farm, situated few miles
from Burslem NOW the very centre OF
the pOtteries district. a maid-servant
was one day heating q strong solution
of common salt, 10 be used in curing
pork During her temporary absence
from the kitchen the liquid boiled over.
Being I'm an unelazed. earthen vessel.
the solution. spreading over the out
side, produced a chemical action. which
she little understood. and which did not
compensate her for the scolding she re-
ceived.
Some Of the clements OF the liquid
combined with some Of those of the
hfghly-heated brown clay surface TO
produce a vitreous coating or enamel
which did not peel of when the vessel
was cold The humble brown ware YES
sci acquired historical celebrity. \ Burs-
lem potter. learning what had taken place
saw that glazed ware might possibly hit
the taste OF the public; he introduced
the system Of glazing by means OF com
mon salt. system al once cheap, easy
and durable: and Staffordshire has made
many a million sterling BY the discov-
cry.