e, contain less; and that Brandy contains as much
as 53 per cent. of alcohol. In a general way, we may say, that the
strong wines in common use, contain as much as a fourth per cent. of
alcohol.

_Extraordinary Effect of Heat_.

During Captain Franklin's recent voyage, the winter was so severe,
near the Coppermine River, that the fish froze as they were taken out
of the nets; in a short time they became a solid mass of ice, and were
easily split open by a blow from a hatchet. If, in the completely
frozen state, they were thawed before the fire, they revived. This is
a very remarkable instance of how completely animation can be
suspended in cold-blooded animals.

J.G.L.

_Method of Softening Cast-Iron_.

The following method of rendering cast-iron soft and malleable may be
new to some of your readers:--It consists in placing it in a pot
surrounded by a soft red ore, found in Cumberland and other parts of
England, which pot is placed in a common oven, the doors of which
being closed, and but a slight draught of air permitted under the
grate; a regular heat is kept up for one or two weeks, according to
the thickness and weight of the castings. The pots are then withdrawn,
and suffered to cool; and by this operation the hardest cast metal is
rendered so soft and malleable, that it may be welded together, or,
when in a cool state, bent into almost any shape by a hammer or vice.

W.G.C.

_Washing Salads, Cresses, &c._.

A countryman was seized with the most excruciating pain in his
stomach, and which continued for so long a period, that his case
became desperate, and his life was even despaired of. In this
predicament, the medical gentleman to whom he applied administered to
him a most violent emetic, and the result was the ejection of the
larva, and which remained alive for a quarter of an hour after its
expulsion. Upon questioning the man as to how it was likely that the
insect got into his stomach, he stated that he was exceedingly fond of
watercresses, and often gathered and eat them, and, possibly, without
taking due care, in freeing them from any aquatic insects they might
hold. He was also in the frequent habit of lying down and drinking the
water of any clear rivulet when he was thirsty; and thus, in any of
these ways, the insect, in its smaller state, might have been
swallowed, and remained gradually increasing in size until it was
ready for the change into the beetle state; at times, probably,
prey