------------------ HOW THE DEAF MAY HEAR. About 1738, a merchant of Cleves, named Jorissen, who had become almost totally deaf, sitting one day near a harpsichord, while some one was playing--and having a tobacco-pipe in his mouth, the bowl of which rested accidentally against the body of the instrument--was surprised to hear all the notes most distinctly. By a little reflection and practice, he again attained the use of this valuable sense; for he soon learned--by means of a piece of hard wood, one end of which he placed against his teeth, while another person placed the other end on _his_ teeth--to keep up a conversation, and to be able to understand the least whisper. The effect thus described is the same, if the person who speaks rests his stick against his throat or his breast; or when one rests the stick which he holds in his teeth against some vessel into which the other speaks. ------------------ DRYING WOOD FOR VIOLINS. Some amusing instances are related of the efficiency of "the Application of Heated Currents to Manufacturing and other Purposes," once patented by Davison and Symington. Thus, a violin had been in the owner's possession for upwards of sixteen years, how old it was when he first had it is not known. Upon being exposed to this process, it lost in eight hours no less than five-sixths (nearly five and two-thirds) per cent. of its weight. This there is every reason to believe was owing to the blocks glued inside, for the purpose of holding the more slender parts together. Instrument makers would do well to see that all parts, however mean their position in the instrument, are properly seasoned, or divested of moisture; for surely water cannot improve sound. A violin-maker of high reputation, having an order to make an instrument for one of the first violinists of the day, was requested to have the wood seasoned by the new process; only three days were allowed for the experiment, in which the wood was seasoned and sent home. The two heaviest pieces were reduced in weight 2-1/2lbs., which is equal to two pints of water. It is ascertained that, by this means of drying, the effect of age has been given to the instrument made from the above wood; and it became _first fiddle_ in the orchestra of Her Majesty's Theatre. The wood had been in the possession of its owners for eight years; and it was sent from Switzerland, in the first instance, as dry wood.[6] ----- Footnote 6: In proof of the economy of Messrs. Davison and Symington's invention applied to the manufacture and cleansing of brewers' casks, it is stated that through its adoption at Truman's brewery, Spitalfields, a saving of 300 tons of coals was effected annually. ------------------ COLUMBUS'S OWN SHIP JOURNAL.