The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1913-10-15
Apparent BIunders Made
Discoveries
WHICH WERE OF MUCH VALUE
Curious CaSeSWhere Process.
eS We're Brought Out
Unwittingly.
OLD STORY OF HEN AND SUGAR

Valuable discoveries have been
made and valuable inventions sug-
gested by the veriest accidents. An
alchemist, while seeking to discover
q 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 telescope, was discovered by
a watchmakers apprentice. While
holding spectacle glasses between
his thumb and finger he was start
led at the suddenly enlarged appear
ance of a neighboring church spire.
The art of etching upon glass was
discovered by a Nuremberg glass
cutter. BY accident few drops of
aqua forts fell upon his spectacles.
He noticed that the glass became
corroded and softened where the
acid had touched it. That was hint
enough He drew figures on glass
with varnish, applied the corroding
fluid, then cut away the glass
around the drawing. When the
varnish was removed the figures APP
peared raised upon a dark ground.
Mezzotint owed its invention to
the simple accident of the gun bar
rel of sentry becoming rusted with
dew.
The swaying to and fro of
chandelier in a 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 GU
rious to know whether music could
not be etched upon stone as well as
upon copper. After he had prepar-
ed his slab his mother asked him to
make memorandum 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, intending to make a
copy of it at leisure. A few days
later, when about to clean the stone,
he wondered what effect aqua FORTS
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 i'm
preston.
The composition of which print
by Salopian printer. Not being
able to find the pelt ball, he linked
the type with a piece of soft glue
which had fallen out of glue pot.
1t was such an excellent substitute
that, after mixing molasses with the
glue, to give the proper con-
sistency. the old pelt ball was en-
tirely discarded.
The shop of Dublin tobacconist
by the name of Lundyfoot was des-
trOyed by fire. While he was gaz-
ing uOle1ully INTO the SmOluerlnS
ruins he noticed that his poorer
neighbors were gathering the snuff
from the canisters. He tested the
snuff for himself, and discovered
that the fire had largely improved
it's pungency and aroma. 1t was
hint worth profiting by. He secur-
ed another shop, built lot of ovens.
subjected the snuff to a heating pro-
cess, gave the brand peculiar
sname. 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 a 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. II was
noticed that wherever her tracks