Port wine                  25.83
Ordinary port              23.71
Madeira                    24.42
Sherry                     19.81
Lisbon                     18.94
Bucellas                   18.49
Cape Madeira               22.94
Vidonia                    19.25
Hermitage                  17.43
Claret                     17.11
Burgundy                   16.60
Sauterne                   14.22
Hock                       14.37
Champagne                  13.80
Champagne (sparkling)      12.80
Vin de Grave               13.94
Cider from 5.50 to          9.87
Perry (average)             7.26
Burton ale                  8.88
Edinburgh                   6.20
Dorchester                  5.56
Brown stout                 6.80
London porter (average)     4.20
Brandy                     53.39
Rum                        53.68
Gin                        51.60

The figures set down opposite each liquor, exhibit the quantity of alcohol per cent. by measure in each at the temperature of 60 deg..  Port, Sherry and Madeira, contain a large quantity of alcohol; that Claret, Burgundy, and Sauterne, 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  The pots are then withdrawn, and suffered to cool; and by this operation the hardest cast metal is rendered so soft and malleable, that it may be welded together, or, when in a cool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..