Important Discovery

We luke iho fulluwingf from the N. York Couricr onrt líiiquirer: "A vew method i snid to linve becrr dïscoveied n Englaijd, ulienby tcood can be rendered ns hurd and durable as fró'n or stone; iiid it s furilicr a;crtcd tlial ihe expeiiment hos been trled wtfh so nntcli t-uccess thnt woodtn rails, thus piepared, liave been succcssCiilly feiibslittitcd (pi ihe ircui rails in comaióli uso. Tliis cost of lienvy ïi oír ratte, of ilie most approvcd kiüil, k Hnitl to bi n l-'nrl.-md riót fur frdin .7,000 per mili1: -rails üiidf by ilie new tnctliod jt is uíutcd con be luid (low i) fur 8 K;0 por mile. Tiie ii'nr.Uü.1 roport of ihe P;ite':t office, for the 'ast ypar, makes mentiöi) of ihe discovery aü one likely to be of vaat importance to ttiis coiiiitiy. The woodtn rnils liave been used on the Dover Ruilroud. and otliers lafd down it Vanxliall, for cwpciimeiif, have endurcd a yvüfa travel without n'ny perceptible injun-. - Tl. e proceka of preparing the limber is simply this:- "The picces, nfter ha?inj been preparcd by the carpemer and joiuer for tlieir pluces, are introduccd into u.n immense iron cylinder, whicfi is then exhau&ted by an uir pump. A soltition of the s'.i'pliate of ron is then hjected, uhich iminediately enters into the exIiausled pores of the v.-ood. The wood is then withdrawn. and placed ágaiñ in a similar vaciium, ín a solution of iho rniuiate of lime, which, coming in contact with the siilphalë of iton within Ihe wood, decomposes it, and forms an insoluble eúlpháte of lime, or gypsum, with:n ihe wood; and the mnriatè of ron, the other new compound, goes about lts bus'ness. So the wood becomes thorouglily impregnnted with stone ns hard ns a rock, and yet il is as tough as it was belbre."