Puslapio vaizdai
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driven out of the tank, the fire is withdrawn, and a jet of cold water is turned upon the heater. The water is at once cooled, and it re-absorbs the gas. This forms a vacuum in the water-tank, and fresh water enters, lifting the film of oil, and restoring the apparatus to its original condition. The operation may then be repeated indefinitely, subject only to the leakage and waste of the gas. This apparatus is reported to lift water at only a fraction of the cost of steam-pumping.

Safety Train Lights.

A FLASHING light that indicates the speed and distance of a train, and shows whether it is at rest or in motion, has been introduced as a rear light on freight trains. It is formed of two lights,—one red and one white,-and designed to be placed one on each side of the rear (caboose) car, so that they may be seen in both directions on the line. A simple device for hiding the lights at intervals is affixed to each lamp so that it may be made to "flash" or alternately appear and disappear, and by suitable gearing this is connected with one of the axles of the car. While the car is at rest the lights are steadily visible, when the train moves the lights flash once for each revolution of the wheels, and thus its movement and actual speed can be easily estimated as far as the lights can be seen. Another advantage results from the fact that the white light is visible at a greater distance than the red. The engineer of a following train may from this keep within the limit of a safe distance by keeping the flashing white light fully visible and the flashing red light dim or quite obscure, and by coming to a stop the moment the flashing runs slow or stops, and the lights become fixed and steadily visible.

Memoranda.

RECENT experiments in electro-plating with aluminum, cadmium, bismuth, antimony, and palladium are reported by Mr. A. Bertrand. He obtained deposits of aluminum by decomposing the double chloride of aluminum and ammonium, a sheet of copper, forming the negative pole of a powerful battery, soon took a good white film that submitted admirably to the burnisher. The double chloride of magnesium and ammonium in an aqueous solution was readily decomposed and gave good deposits of magnesium on copper. Cadmium was deposited from the bromide, to which a little sulphuric acid had been added. The sulphate is also reported as giving strongly adhesive deposits if acidulated. Bismuth was deposited from a double chloride of bismuth and ammonium, and gave a film that might be useful in art-work. Antimony is reported as deposited from a solution of the double chloride of antimony and ammonium at normal temperatures, and deposits of palladium from the double chloride of palladium and ammonium. Hess

recommends the coating of common iron hardware articles with brass by first cleaning them with acid, giving a coat of copper, and then immersing in a bath consisting of 21⁄2 parts of sulphate of copper, 20 parts of sulphate of zinc, and 45 parts of cyanide of potassium in 300 parts of water. The anode employed should be two plates of zinc and copper of equal size, and to modify the color of the brass plating, one or the other of these may be sunk deeper in the water.

A pocket photometer, useful in estimating the candle. power or photometric value of gas or other lamps, and in determining the time of exposure in photographic work, has been recently brought out. It consists of a small tube, resembling a telescope, fitted with a number of movable leaves of waxed paper. Looking through it at any source of light shows a small luminous circle on which is painted a figure expressing the candle power of the light. Within the tube is a number of sheets of waxed paper, one or more of which may be used at once in looking at any light. With one sheet, a certain quantity of light is admitted; with two, a certain quantity of the light, expressed by the figure on the sheet, is cut off, and in this manner, more and more leaves may be added till the light is obscured. The last leaf that is thus added before the light disappears expresses the photometric value of the light.

The wire-rope system of transport has attracted increased attention of late and exhibited new im

provements and applications. The most important improvement is a new form of clutch for holding the suspended loads on the rope, and thus permitting of inclines, as steep as one in three, on the line without danger of slipping. The system has found a new field of usefulness in moving coal and goods to vessels anchored off shore in shallow waters. The rope is supported on piles set up in the water, and reaches from the shore to a barge or other landing in deep water, or it goes direct to the ship, the last post being alongside the vessel.

The use of lantern projections as a basis or sketch in painting drop scenes, theatrical scenery, and large pictures, is attracting the attention of scenic artists. The plan is to project photographs or other pictures upon the scenery as upon a screen, and to trace or paint the chief features of the landscape or interior upon the canvas from the projection. This saves all trouble in drawing the perspective, or in enlarging the picture to the required size, as the lantern can be adjusted to any projection from one to fifteen meters (from 391⁄2 inches to 50 feet, 10 inches), with all parts of the picture in their natural proportions.

Wire ropes for mines, elevators, and the transmission of power are now being made of the comparatively new alloy, phosphor bronze. These ropes are said to retain their pliability after long use and to resist the action of the corrosive waters found in mines.

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It brings to me the fullness of a feast,

Like the great Romans knew in olden days, Rich with the dainty perfume of the East, That Horace used to praise.

This faint, soft odor tells of Java's isle,

Girt with its radiant belt of shining sea, And calls up dreams of other days, where smile The faces dear to me.

Here, too, I greet the essence of the cane,

That waves its feathery leaves on Cuba's shore, And sends its sweets across the wind-swept main, To add to comfort's store.

In those square boxes, rich with figures quaint, Lie crisp, green leaves from populous Cathay, That make a beverage would tempt a saint Back to his home of clay.

No doubt these dates from distant Joppa came, And grew where glows the sands of Araby; They hold enshrined the hot sun's burning flame, Sent from a cloudless sky.

These raisins came from Malaga I know;

They have the purple light of sunny Spain, Caught when the morning first began to show Along Granada's plain.

And yonder figs from Smyrna, grew where rise
The slender minarets Damascus holds;
Ah, what a dainty sweetness shrouded lies
Within their creamy folds!

That flaky cheese, with such a tickling twang, Which gives the palate zest to take some more, Was made where maidens bright in gladness sang, On the Miami's shore.

The wheat whence came these crackers crisp and white, Grew on the western prairie's level sweep,

Where Mississippi rolls in silent might

On to the boundless deep.

Cousin Will.

I STROLLED last night in musing mood,
Reflecting on my lonely state;
Till, wearied out at last, I paused

And leaned upon a garden gate.
The old moon's mellow radiance hung
In golden mists among the trees,
Faint odors, borne from distant flowers,
Ebbed idly on the evening breeze.

As thus I stood, absorbed in thought,
I pressed against the gate too hard,
It opened with a sudden jerk,-

I found myself within the yard.
A form came gliding down the walk;-
Soft arms embraced me, as, perplexed,
I stood one blissful moment, while
A sweet voice soothed my ear; the next
It rose into a shriek, then sobbed:

"O sir, how could you keep so still! When all the time I know you knew

I thought you were my cousin Will."

These stars are moons, or rather months; Just five have flitted since that night, And two of these have calmly shone Upon our wedded life. It quite Surprises me to think of it.

And she is queenly, tall and fair, With lustrous eyes, and such a wealth Of well we call it auburn hair.

"So late?" I've just come from the club; My wife sits silent, but a light,

Unseen before, lurks in her eye.

Once more I muse on that calm night When first she met me at the gate,

And wonder, while her eyes flame still,

If ever I, in days to come,

Shall wish it had been cousin Will.

PHILIP MORSE.

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O Love! is love but an affection
Of the cerebral convolution?
Or but a sequence of selection
Depending upon evolution?

Say, Love is love but kinematic
Vis viva found by calculation?
Or ecstasy a state x static?

Or "plus" a term for ad (d) oration?

Or, Love! is love a thing magnetic ?
Are hearts responsive to the action
Of other hearts drawn sympathetic
Within the sphere of your attraction?

Tell, Love is love some rare elixir
Caught from scarce herbs, distilled in fractions,
And formulated by the mixer

In "Philosophical Transactions ?"

Speak, Love is love atomic power,

By chemic art brought from infinity? Do hearts like alkali and sour,

Loving, form one through pure affinity?

Then what is love? Ah, theme prolific,
Not like Tyndallian undulation;
'Tis known but by un-"scientific
Uses of the imagination."

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PARK BENJAMIN, JR.

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