enable them to make discoveries interesting to the arts and the sciences. The names of the eight Frenchmen, in the order in which they descended, are as follow: Debeer, secretary to the ambassador Alquier; Houdouart, chief engineer of bridges and causeways attached to the army of Italy; Wickar, painter; Dampierre, adjutant-commandant; Bagneris, physician to the army of observation; Fressinet and Andras, French travellers; and Moulin, inspector of posts. No. 3. Description of the Valve Siphon of the late Mr. AMI ARGAND, Inventor of the Lamps with a Double Current of Air.* (With an engraving.) THIS improvement, though simple, is ingenious, and particularly adapted to large siphons, that require to be removed from one vessel to another. A valve, as E, or H, pl. I. fig. 2, is applied to the foot of the shorter or ascending leg of a siphon AB, BC, at the other foot of which a stop cock F is placed. The cock being open, and the foot E immersed in any liquid in a vessel IK, by moving the leg E perpendicularly downward and upward, the liquid will gradually ascend through the valve E, till it runs out at the point L. The pressure of the air on the surface I will then be sufficient, to force the liquid through the valve E, as long as this remains beneath it; and thus Nicholson, vol. xviii. p. 61. From Sonnini's Bibliothèque Physico-économique, Nov. 1806, p. 117. it will continue to act as a common siphon, and the vessel will be emptied, unless supplied from some reservoir, as N. As soon as the siphon is filled, and begins to discharge the liquid at L; or at any period while it continues full; if the cock F be turned so as to stop it, it may be very safely and conveniently removed to any other vessel; as the cock will prevent the liquid from running out at one end, and the valve at the other: and the moment the extremity E is immersed in the liquid in another vessel, and the stop cock F turned, it will act again as before. The siphon may be filled in this way in a clear liquid, and then removed into a vessel of the same kind of liquid, that has a sediment at bottom, which would be disturbed by moving it up and down. This however may not always be convenient: Mr. Argand therefore makes an aperture with a short perpendicular tube O in the horizontal branch BB, through which, by means of a funnel, D, the siphon may be filled, while the cock F is shut; so that it may be inserted into the liquid, and made to act without disturbing it. When the siphon is thus filled, or when the funnel D is not required, the aperture at O is closed by the stopple G. For the convenience of carrying the syphon, as well as for packing it up, or cleaning it, the horizontal and perpendicular branches are made to take asunder at the joints MM. The nozzle L is likewise made to take off, as it is frequently more convenient for the fluid to be drawn off perpendicularly. NO. 4. Observations on the Various Uses to which the Sunflower may be applied. By the EDITOR. THE advantageous employment of this plant does not appear to have been sufficiently appreciated. The object of this essay is to attract the attention of those who may have it in their power to pursue the enquiry to its full elucidation; and it is expected, that this may be readily accomplished by persons residing in the country, with little expense or trouble to themselves, and with real benefit to the community, if their experiments shall satisfactorily demonstrate the presumed merits of this very common and luxuriant product of the vegetable kingdom. In a letter, published in the first volume of the American Philosophical Transactions, from Dr. Otto of Bethlehem to Dr. Bond, we have an account of the oil produced from the seeds of the common large sunflower," by methods very similar to the extraction of linseed oil; one bushel of the seeds yielded about three quarts of oil; and he states that it was frequently used on sallad, for which it answered very well. The committee, to whom the specimen sent was referred, report it to be thin, clear, and agreeable to the taste, and are of opinion, that it "will supply the place of olive oil for the above, and many other purposes; and may, therefore, be looked upon as a valuable discovery to America. Immediately following this communication, is an essay by Dr. J. Morgan, "on the expressing of oil from sunflower seed," in which we are informed, that it is found from experiments, that a bushel of the seeds will yield, on expression, near a gallon of mild oil. And he gives the account, from a correspondent at Lancaster, of certain results upon this subject, from which we learn, that one hundred plants, set about three feet distant from each other, &c. "will produce one bushel of seed, without any other trouble than that of putting the seeds into the ground, from which he thinks one gallon of oil may be made." "By an estimate made, it appears, that one acre of land will yield to the planter between forty and fifty bushels of seed, which will produce as many gallons of oil." The remainder of the essay is taken up with many valuable observations on the mode of expression, and on other points connected with the subject, which are unnecessary to be here transcribed, since the whole of the original communication will be advantageously read, by any one who finds an interest in the present essay. Mr. John Saunders, of Gloucestershire, (England) has called the attention of the public, in Dickson's Agricultural Magazine, No. 6, to "the use of the seed of the great sunflower, (Helianthus annuus) as a food for swine, rabbits, poultry, &c." in which communication he reckons that an acre will produce from fifty to sixty sacks, (weight of sack not mentioned,) the profit of which, at the low rate of two shillings and sixpence per sack, is estimated at four pounds sterling per acre. He remarks likewise that the stems partake so much of the nature of wood, that, when perfectly dry, they may be burnt as fuel, an acre affording from three to nine waggon loads. He suggests also their use by wattling and other modes, to enclose sheep, and to guard them from the inclemencies of the weather; and that, where there are dry walls, with the aid of rafters and hurdles, they might be converted into an excellent covering for temporary sheds in the fields, and about the homesteads, for pigs and other animals. He recommends the leaves as an excellent green food for rabbits, or as serving for litter when dried. The plants, too, he affirms, will remain a long time after they are ripe, without shedding their seeds, through neglect of gathering, and are not liable to be injured by The mode of culture is given in the same magazine, son states the use of the oil in printing; and of the cake, after expression of the oil, in feeding a pair of small oxen, who eat it greedily, and throve well upon two pounds a day. He further states the oil to be as fine transparent sweet oil as ever was produced from almonds; and that eighty pounds weight of clean seed produced eight quarts of oil, part of which he used in lamps, and found it burn with great pureness and brilliancy. In No. 9 of the above mentioned magazine, a writer conceives, that it may be successfully cultivated for the purpose of supplying clothiers with oil, instead of using the Florence oil imported from the Levant, and which is sold to them when it becomes rancid, for the purpose of softening their wool, when preparing for the loom. We have another writer on the subject in the 27th No. a Mr. John Wright, who estimates the crop produced by him at not less than twenty quarters of seed to the acre; though he considers it a tedious crop to harvest, from its ripening at so many different periods: he nevertheless appears to think well of it upon the whole. I have thus collected a mass of facts, which altogether, I think, render this plant worthy the attention of the farmer, and afford adequate encouragement to a fair trial of its real importance, in affording a most important article . |