Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/186

 158 Sloan's Architectural Review and Builders' Journal. [August, Surveys op Jerusalem and Sinai. — Colonel Sir Henry James, Director-Gen- eral of the British. Ordnance Survey, reports that the expense incurred by publishing the survey of Jerusalem •will soon be more than covered by the profits arising from the sale of copies. The demand, especially for the photo- graphs, has been so great that it has been difficult to meet it during the win- ter months, as very few photographs can be taken. The survey of Jerusalem having- given so much satisfaction to the public, the Rev. Pierce Butler, of Ul- combe Rectory, Kent, proposed that a survey of Mount Sinai, of a considerable portion if not the whole of the penin- sula of Sinai should be made under the direction of Sir H. James, with a view to identify the route taken by the Israel- ites, and the places mentioned in the Bible. Mr. Butler had obtained the sanction of the Secretary of State to the undertaking, and had issued circulars which brought subscriptions from sev- eral noblemen and gentlemen desirous of seeing this survey made, and he had paid his passage to Alexandria, with the intention of proceeding to Cairo and Suez, for the purpose of making prelimi- nary arrangements for the expedition, when he was suddenly taken ill, and died in February, on the very day he was to have left England. Photographs in Colors. — A Paris letter says: "At a recent meeting of German photographers, Herr Grune ex- hibited a remarkable photograph repre- senting the natural colors ; at least so says the report. Another very remarka- ble invention is that of a Saxon officer, Lieutenant Miersch. By a slight altera- tion in the mechanism of the Prussian needle-gun, he renders it capable of firing thirteen shots in the minute, instead of eight as at present. But the most wonderful part of the story is, that the alteration costs only two gro- schcn, about 2^d., or five cents." Abolition op Fences. — This subject has been exercising the attention of Western farmers for some time ; and even England now speaks of the propriety of doing away with all fences. The mat- ter is easy enough. There is scarcely a township in this State that has not some protection in the way of preventing cat- tle running at large. If the laws gov- erning estrays were enforced, farmers would have no need to fence out strayed cattle. Two-thirds less fence would do on the farms, for, instead of surround- ing it with fence and then dividing it up into small fields, four or five divisions of an ordinary farm would suffice ; or even less, if the economy of fencing were carried to its fullest extent. The four divisions of a farm, containing the cereals, wheat, corn, and oats, and the grass for hay, need not be separated. The fifth division for pasture-lands would of course have to be enclosed. One fenced division then would suffice. What would be saved? First, the im- mense expense of constructing fences and keeping them in repair; second, the ground upon which the fences stand, which is no mean item. Every 2,240 yards of worm-fence takes up an acre of ground. The fencing of a single acre appropriates one-eighth of the soil. Thus, on every well-fenced farm of 100 acres, five or six of those acres, or a good-sized field, is occupied by fences, as we think, unnecessarily. Repining Sugar. — The improved pro- cess, patented in Germany by Messrs. Pierre & Massey, consists, in bringing saccharine juice, after being clarified in the usual way by means of lime and car- bonic acid, to a boiling temperature, and precipitating it with caustic baryta ; the precipitate is then suspended in water, and decomposed with carbonic acid. About 60 parts of baryta is required for every 100 parts of sugar. The sugar solution, thus purified, is afterwards evaporated.