Cutting Things under Water.
By Scientific American
WHEN science was in its infancy, much of its fact was mixed with nonsense, and some of the nonsense shows a wonderful vitality. A case in point is the recent republication of a nonsense bit that was current at least forty years ago. It is a recipe for cutting glass with shears or scissors. The statement is that sheet glass can be cut with the greatest ease with a pair of scissors if the glass is kept under water and kept in a level position. That there is not a word of truth in it any one may easily prove on a trial, with the result of dulling a pair of shears. There is one cutting process that can be better done under water than out of water; that is, the paring of onions. When pared under water the acrid emanations, so unpleasant to the mucous membrane of eyes and nose, are dissolved or held in the water. But neither the quality of glass nor the power of scissors is changed by immersion in water.—Scientific American.