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Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 40, 27 March 1863, Page 2

Postage Stamp Album. — A popular amusement amongst young ladies for some time past has been the collection of foreign postage stamps. An album has been published containing a description of every known variety of timbre poste, so that a par- „ tially obliterated stamp may easily be recog- 1 nised ; and on the page opposite the description are spacas for mounting the stamps described, so that any collector may, at a glance, see all his deficiencies. We fear that there are not many persons who have succeeded in collecting all ; for we find that above eleven hundred varieties have spaces allotted them, and there are also some blank leaves at the end that are not included. Two maps are also given. The Bendigo Advertiser relates a very extraordinary snake story, well calculated to startle even Professor M'Coy himself : — " A man named Gilbert Henderson, of the Leicester reef, whilst out shooting the other day, on Sunday Morning Hill, killed a brown I snake, measuring 4 feet 9 inches in length, and on opening the reptile found interred within the brown snake a carpet snake, measuring 3 feet 6 inches. He has preserved them, and they may both be seen at Mr Henderson's cottage, on the Leicester licef, and will be found worthy of a visit from naturalists." Alcohol from Coal Gas. — We read in Cosmos the following description of a patent taken out by the Sieur Castex, in December, 1854: — "In burning organic matter, the smoke which is disengaged can be entirely absorbed by concentrated sulphuric acid. J This sulphuric acid, mingled with water, and ; distilled, yields alcohol. To facilitate the absorption of all the smoke of the organic matter, it is made to press over a substance like coke, wetted with sulphuric acid. Before sending out coal gas, it may be treated according to this method." M. Berthelet first mentioned to the Academy, his synthetic mode of preparing alcohol in January, 1855.