346 �Ielancholy Acc ident. Mrs. Julia WhitlUg a lovel)' and estimable wmnan, of Brooklyn, lost her life, by the explosion of a spirit gas lamp while sh€ was attempting to till it when burnmg about 10 o'clock, on the evening of the 16th inst. She was the wife of Mr. John G. Whiting It appears that she had been indisposed for a few days previous, and her husband being ab -gent she endeavored to fill the lamp for the 'purpose of keeping it burning until his re-1IIru. The explosion was

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... , gcatterir,g the liquid over her person and be (Ol'e assistance could possibly be rendered she ·was burned almost to a crisp. Medical aid was immediately called in, but all attempts to alleviate her condition proved futile, and af ter lingering for a short tIme she breathed her last, suffering the mllst excruciating tor ture_ We would desire to impress upon the minds vt our readers by this fatal accident, that in no case ought Ihe globe of a campheue la.mp to be taken oIl' for the purpose of fi lling it np-it is as dangerous as gun powder. Uscs of" Wood. In addition to the numerous IBechanical uses of wood,' says Mr. Griffiths, 'ahd its chemical use as a sort of artificial heat, the chemist discovers that it is capable of the most curious change or transmutation into "ldible matter; in fact, a kind of bread may be made from wood This is effected by sel 'lcting the saw dust. of the least resinous wood ,·-·that of beacb, for example-washing it with water te remove all soluble matter, and then gently drying it in o.en; after this, it is 111tXed with marshmallow juice, and formed into cakes, which are baked at a 11igh tem perature; and these reduced to a fi ne powder, with the additioy, of a little corn flour and leaven, form a dough, whicb, when moulded into loaves, and baked, constitutes bread more palatable than that prepared in times of scar· �.ity from bran and husks of eorn, Cheap House8. From various experiments which have been made within a few years, the evidence is be coming strol\g, that the best mode of building dwelling-houses, for combining cheapness, durahility, solidity, warmth, and dryness is with unburnt brick. A number of houses