not bring the roof-tree of that most respectable and desirable edifice about the ears of its ideal owners. But it is fair to say that Norris does not show that sympathy with things English that many of the greatest writers of English fiction have shown. He has foreign ideas. He knows the boulevards as well as the south of England, and criticises from a foreign stand-point. It is likely that his novels have small success in his own land, and will find chiefly, if not only, in America readers whose perspective is sufficiently distant to allow of an estimate of what is good in his work and what is overdrawn. His important figures in this novel are all of a mixed type,—not pure English, changed either by blood or education, and they are opposed to strictly English types by no means to the advantage of the latter. Whether Mr. Norris has promise is a question. He certainly has achievement of no mean degree of excellence. Dr. Robinson's "Studies in the New Testament."* IT would not be strange if "Studies in the New Testament," by an active minister, should "seem like sermons"; but if they seemed to be good sermons that would not greatly discredit them. Though these papers of Dr. Robinson's were not prepared for the pulpit, they might well have been used in it; if they are a little more colloquial and pictorial than the average sermon, they are for this reason a little better suited to the pulpit than the average sermon. Dr. Robinson's style is picturesque and entertaining; his illustrations are copious and generally pertinent; his sympathy with human beings is warm and genuine; and his insight into spiritual things often quick and sure. Some of his descriptive and hortatory passages border on the sentimental; the warmth of his imagination tends, now and then, to a perfervid rhetoric; but these slight blemishes probably add to the effectiveness and popularity of his essays. Dr. Robinson's interpretations of Scripture are for the most part unusually felicitous, and his native wit and mental alertness make him an entertaining teacher. Many of the studies, as those on "Christian Love," "Piety Tested at Home," "The Christian Citizen," "Saving Faith," and "Love as a Force," are full of stimulating and practical suggestions. Against the unordained ministry, and its present assumptions of authority and function, he makes bold to utter a sturdy protest. "We do not believe," he says, "that the mass-meeting system is the best for convert. ing souls, and retaining those who are apparently gathered. Some of us distrust this whole system of promiscuous assemblies in 'gospel' services, with laymen giving Bible-readings,' as flinging reproach upon the churches. Is there no gospel any. where but in them?" And the story for whose truth he vouches-of the man who went into raptures over the preaching of Moody in the Hippodrome, declaring that "if the regular ministers *Studies in the New Testament. By Charles S. Robinson, D. D., pastor of the Memorial Church, New York City. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. would preach as that Moody does, they would have half the town running after them," and then discovered that the preacher whom he supposed was Moody was his wife's minister, whom he had never heard-gives point to the contention of the author that there is a savor of cant in the clamor for more popular "gospel" services. Palustre's "La Renaissance en France."'* In spite of civil and foreign wars, dismemberment through the policy of independent princes, and conquest by English kings, France still contains a wide range of ancient monuments in her churches, abbeys, town halls, and ruined chateaux. It is the pleasant task of M. Léon Palustre to describe, in the temperate language of a man of taste and with the quiet interest of an archæologue, such of these remains as belong to the great movement in the arts which the exiled Greeks are believed to have started in Italy in the fifteenth century. Though steam was not, and though travel was difficult and slow, both in France and from France into Italy, it did not take so very long, after all, for the fresh notes of the Renaissance to reëcho throughout the northern kingdom. Much more of the architectural and sculptor's work of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries has perished than remains behind, even in a mutilated condition. And for that result, unfortunately, the changing taste and want of good sense on the part of priests, monks, nobles, and kings, not to speak of well-meaning burghers, have much to do. Yet it is evident that from the large material left M. Palustre can pick very striking and suggest. ive examples; these have been handsomely and firmly etched for the work by M. Sadoux and others. He begins above the French line in Flanders, for the very good reason that to understand the architecture of the nearest French districts the reader needs to know something of the conditions of the building and the sculptor's art there. Flanders, Artois, and Picardy furnish pictures and interesting, lightly touched disquisitions for the first installment, while monuments in Isle-de-France occupy the following seven: Normandy, Brittany, Guienne, the Orléanais, Languedoc, and Burgundy with Franche Comté, are among those to be reviewed, each in two installments respectively, and the work will be complete with the thirtieth install. ment, and consist of three thick tomes. A word might be said of the colored initial letters, large type, and great wide-margined pages of this edition de luxe, were it not almost a matter of course that a book of the kind issued by Quantin would have all the tasteful accessories usual in such cases. It is only in France that such editions are not rarities. Yet attention may be called to the fine doublepage picture by Sadoux Lancelot of the ruined bridge and gallery of the Château de Fère, in the Tardenois, for the etching; to that of the chapel of Tilloloy, for the sake of the curious façade itself, *La Renaissance en France. Par Léon Palustre. Dessins et Gravures sous la direction de Eugène Sadoux. Paris: A Quantin. Tome 1. Livraisons 1-3. New York: J. W. Bouton. and, for curiousness of figure and face, to the portrait of the sculptor Jean Trupin, sculptured at Amiens by himself, with his chisel and mallet in hand, cutting out a figure in stone. Judging by the early numbers, this will be a most fascinating and instructive work. Scudder's "Stories and Romances." THERE is a vein of healthy and unaffected sentiment in Mr. Scudder's stories. His characters, all vividly drawn, without any attempt at startling originality, trace themselves gently against a background of Boston brick wall or New England rural scenery. They are the children of the soil, and possess the mental and physical features which the literary tradition has seized upon as being especially characteristic of New England. The author takes a situation which appears to him interesting, and his quaint fancy and delicate humor never fail to make it equally so to his readers. The remaining four sketches in the volume are inferior to those which we have selected for criticism, although "A Story of the Siege of Boston" exhibits a minute familiarity with pre-revolutionary men and manners, as, indeed, we would expect from the author. "Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John" points a sound moral, but we can find no special significance in the juxtaposition of the names of the four evangelists. "Do not even Publicans the Same?" deals with an original experiment, undertaken in good faith by a somewhat fantastically conscientious young man, who attempted to carry out literally Christ's injunction to invite the poor, the maimed, the blind, and the lame to dinner. Mr. Hapgood brought together a motley company of six, answering all the requirements of the Biblical command, and would undoubtedly have had a more successful dinner if the spirit of the present age were as sincerely democratic as that of the earliest Christian era. We cannot but regret that this pleasant little volume ends with a discord. For "Nobody's Business" is utterly untrue, both to the laws of reality and of fiction, if interrupted at the point where the author drops the thread of his discourse. Of course frauds, like the one perpetrated by Bardwell, may be temporarily successful, but in that case, Mr. Scud. der owed it to his readers to pursue his history up to the moment where the vengeance of Fate overtakes him, as inevitably it must. The first of the stories, or, we should rather say, of the romances (accepting the term in the sense in which Hawthorne used it in his preface to "The House of Seven Gables "), is entitled, "Left over from the Last Century," and must have been composed while Mr. Scudder was under the spell of the "Twice-told Tales," or the "Mosses from an Old Manse." At all events, no one would deny that the idea of a young man becoming so completely absorbed in his grandfather's history as actually to repeat a portion of his life under modified circumstances, belongs to the order of inventions which we have come to associate with the name of Hawthorne. There is not the remotest suspicion of borrowing, but merely an atmosphere, or spiritual aura, as Goethe called it, which agreeably recalls the master of romance. Especially quaint and charming is Antipos Wiggleworth's antiquarian courtship of the granddaughter of the lady whom his grandfather had loved, by means of the defunct lady's letters to the defunct gentleman. "A House of Entertainment," the second of the series, is distinctly not a romance but a novelette, and contains many pleasant and mildly entertaining pictures of Shaker life. "Accidentally Overheard" is the story of a young gentle-lishers. man who hears a lady, whose face he fails to see, declare to a female companion that she is in love with him; and the rest of the tale is naturally devoted to the hero's efforts to clear up the perplexing mystery. In "A Hard Bargain," Mr. Scudder is, we think, at his best. The description of the old, rusty-looking habitués of the ancient and respectable pharmacy, who eat lozenges and choke over their own feeble wit, suggests an intimate acquaintance with the life of small towns, and is so forcibly localized that one has only to shut one's eyes to make the whole scene, with its minutest details, vividly, and, as it were, corporeally, present. The old miser Bice, too, who has bartered away his soul, and is anxious to buy it back again, is a very happy inspiration, and the vengeance which overtakes him at the death of his child, which he has starved on cheap arrowroot, is as poetically just as it is psychologically true and convincing. * Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. An Exhibition of Wood-Engravings. AN exhibition of wood-engravings is to be given in the Boston Museum next fall, under the management of that institution. For the following details we are indebted to the courtesy of Mr. A. V. S. Anthony: BOSTON, May 26, 1881. The exhibition is to open October 15th. Proofs should be sent to the "Curator of the Art Museum," on or before October 10th. It is intended to make the exhibition representative of the present status of American wood-engraving. It will embrace all contributions sent that come from responsible sources or from American pub. There will be three or more of the galleries devoted to the exhibition. Should the number sent from any individual engraver be excessive, and the room devoted not warrant, then a jury shall select the best, in its judgment, unless special instructions are sent covering special conditions of the reproduction, giving every contrib utor an equitable space on the walls. It is intended to give the name of the subject, the artist, the engraver, and the owner, in the catalogue. For this purpose it is desirable that the whole story should be written on the back of each proof, and the directions as to the place where they shall be sent at the close of the exhibition. Later, the Museum will issue circulars, of which a number will be sent to your office, asking your kind coöperation. I ought to add that, aside from the current status of the art, it is intended to make the exhibition his. torical; so, for that purpose, all engravings of the past will be gladly welcomed. The Museum is fire-proof, and will carefully guard all contributions. THE WORLD'S WORK. Recent Progress in Iron Founding. WHILE there is no change of importance to be observed within the past fifty years in the methods used in simple iron founding, it may be observed that American practice in this ancient art has recently risen to a remarkable degree of perfection. The very fine castings produced by some of our stove foundries suggested the application of cast-iron to the reproduction of various art-works in bronze, silver, and brass. Experiments were recently made in an ordinary stove foundry with such tools, materials, and labor as could be found, and using some antique brass-work for patterns. Very great pains were taken to secure the best materials for molding, fuel and iron, and the work was given to skillful stovefounders who had never been employed on any artcastings,—the aim in this respect being to bring the work to a commercial, as well as art basis. The result was sufficient to warrant an exhaustive series of experiments, to ascertain what degree of fineness could be obtained with such men and materials. Antique swords and ornamented helmets, brass sconces, Persian bronze and silver plaques, Japanese bronze trays with foliage in low relief, and many other fine works, were tried as patterns and with marked success. An examination of the foundry, while in operation, and a large number of castings in imitation of these and other works, warrants the belief that a new field of art-industry is now fairly established in this country. Among the pieces seen in cast-iron were the "Siege of Troy" shield by Cellini, a copy of a brass plaque with head of Shakspere, showing very fine work in imitation of fabrics, a work in repoussé after Teniers, some copies of medallions ornamented with foliage and flowers, and designed for wall decoration, and a copy in iron of a bronze Japanese tray, only one-sixteenth of an inch thick. All the work is in simple cast-iron and is not designed to have any special finishing. Some of the work was polished to show the natural color of the iron, and others were copper-plated and oxidized, or otherwise treated to imitate other metals. In the work no novelty of materials or methods is employed, and the results are obtained wholly by skill in manipulation and in choice of metal. The iron used is chiefly American, with a slight mixture of Scotch pig. The castings have already attracted great attention among architects and others interested in metal work, and will no doubt do much to bring fine copies of decorative work of this class within the reach of all. Improvements in Boat-Building. THE materials of which canoes are made in this country are wood, paper, and canvas, with a decided preference for wood. The method of putting the wood together has been copied from common row-boat building, and the greater part of the canoes here are made on the " "lap-streak plan. Within the last two years a new method has been tried, and sufficient time has now passed to enable canoeists to form an opinion of its merits. The idea underlying the new method of construction is to make a seamless boat of uniform thickness throughout, of the same finish outside and in, and without ribs. The materials are thin veneers, laid one over the other, and firmly fastened together with water-proof cement. The veneers, as far as can be learned from an examination of some of the boats, appear to be taken from the log by cutting round it as in making veneers for wall decangles so as to break or cross the grain of the wood, oration. Three veneers are used, placed at right the two outer veneers being placed with the grain at right angles with the keel of the boat. No joints or seams can be seen on the boats, and the inference is that, in cutting the veneer, a log as long as the canoe is used, and the strip is sufficiently wide to form one half or side of the boat. These veneers, when cemented and cut to shape, are placed under heavy pressure and molded into the exact shape of half a canoe. Two of these sides are then brought together over the keel, and the keelson is laid over the joint, and the whole is fastened together by screws passing through the keelson and through the veneers into the keel. By this arrangement, the joint between the two parts of the seamless sides is made secure from actual contact with the water either without or within. The keel is level, and continuous from stem to stern, and the joints between the two pieces of veneer at the ends are closed by brass moldings riveted on and making the stem and stern-post. This method of construction gives a seamless, water-tight boat, precisely alike on both sides, admirable qualities for speed, dryness, and cleanliness. There are no corners and hidden recesses where bilge-water may lodge. To insure strength and dryness, a deck of the same material is laid over the boat, the joint between sides and deck being closed by a bar on the inside and a light molding on the outside. In the canoes examined, sealed compartments at each end make them safe, as it has sufficient flotation for Canoes of all mod safety, even when full of water. els, both for paddling, sailing, cruising, and hunting, are made in this manner, and even row-boats of moderate dimensions. The canoes examined were of the "Shadow" model, and, while there appears to be some objection to this model for a paddling canoe, the general opinion seems to be that the method of constructing the canoes is admirable, as they are light, strong, safe, and durable. The workmanship and fittings of the boats appeared to be excellent. Regenerative Gas-burners. AT the time these gas-burners were first made the subject of experiment, some account was here given of the principle on which they were constructed. They have now been greatly improved, and on trial have effected a great saving in gas by obtaining more light from the same quantity burned in the same time. The gas and the air needed for combustion are heated by the flame of the lamp. In the center of the lamp is a glass vessel, having a metal top or chimney. Surrounding the top of this chimney is a cylinder of white porcelain, having a flange or projection around the lower end. The gas escapes through a ring of small holes just under this cylinder, and when lighted the jets unite and form a ring of flame all around it. The bottom of the glass vessel opens by means of a horizontal pipe into another pipe that passes outside of the lamp and upward to the chimney. The course of the draft is, therefore, downward through the cylinder, and on its passage it heats the gas and the air needed for combustion. This is the principle of the well-known regenerative furnace. The luminous intensity of a flame depends on its temperature, and by heating the gas before it is burned, and by heating the air needed to feed the flame, the temperature is raised greatly, at a decided gain in the light. From experiments made recently in Paris, it appears that the useful effect of one cubic foot of gas in an ordinary street burner equaled 2.59 candles. In the regenerative lamp, the same amount gave 6.76 candles. Counter-Seat. THE legislature of this State having passed a law compelling store-keepers to provide seats for their employés, it has been suggested that our inventors should bring out and patent a seat suitable to the narrow space behind a counter. The suggestion may have been made in a spirit of grim humor, yet it is true that patents are often given for things that never should be patented. This providing a storeseat seems to be one of these cases, because the royalty that might be charged on the seat would tend to check the introduction of a wise and humane measure now enforced by law. The space behind a counter is usually too narrow for a chair or stool. A flap-seat, hinged at the back and held up by cords or a hinged prop beneath, would take up valuable room when not in use, and would involve time and trouble in raising or lowering. There is a bracket-seat secured to an upright casting of iron, designed to turn freely on a pivot, and allowing the seat to swing under the shelves or cases. This seat is, however, patented. Now, as a suggestion made in print and freely given to the public becomes public property, it cannot be patented, and another plan is here proposed, in the hope that it may prove of general value. It has been suggested to us by a medical inspector in the navy, that a flat board be arranged in the casing holding the shelves or drawers, behind the counter, as a horizontal slide, designed to form a seat when drawn out, and to be pushed back when not in use. At the back of the seat should be a cord passing over a pulley and having a weight suspended from the end. By such an arrangement the person wishing to use the seat would draw it out, and keep it in place by sitting upon it. When no longer needed, the mere act of rising would release the seat and it would be drawn back by the weight. Such a seat should have a stop to prevent it from being drawn too far out to give a secure bearing, and a sunken finger-catch, for taking hold of it in pulling it out and to save the inconvenience of a projecting handle. It is believed that this sugges. tion covers the ground contemplated by the law, and it has the merit of cheapness and convenience. less patented by some one before the 20th day of July, 1881, this form of counter-seat is to be considered as public property, and any one can use it without let or hindrance. Novel Gas-producer. Un IN the manufacture of iron rods and wire it is the custom to pass the iron through a bath of sulphuric or muriatic acid, to clean it and remove the scale formed in rolling. This results in a formation of hydrogen gas, which is suffered to escape, as a troublesome and hitherto useless by-product. From recent experiments, it appears the escaping gas may be caught and made useful. A loose-fitting hood is placed over the bath, dipping into the acid and making a sealed cap for catching the gas as fast as it is formed. The gas from this simple producer is led by a pipe to a well formed of iron pipe loosely filled with charcoal, over which water is allowed to trickle. This makes a washer for the gas, extracting the sulphurous acid or other impurities. It is then carried through a second well, filled with coke, over which a stream of naphtha, or gasoline, is flowing. This answers for a carburetter, and the gas thus cleaned and enriched makes a good illuminating gas. In the wire works in which the new experiments were first tried, twelve pickling baths gave four thousand cubic feet of gas per day. was more than sufficient to light the works at night, and the surplus was burned under the steam boilers. From the reports obtained, the utilization of the by. product of the pickling vats appears to be a practical success, effecting a material saving in fuel and gas. Electrical Soldering-Iron. This THE rapid introduction of electricity in all our large cities naturally suggests new applications of the current and new tools for making the heat, light, or power available in useful work. One of the most promising of these tools is an electric soldering-iron for use in tin-shops and at the jeweler's or mechan. ical dentist's bench. It consists essentially of two metallic conductors placed side by side, with a small space between them for insulation, and joined at the end by a small piece of platinum or other refractory substance having a high electrical resistance. A handle is provided, having the proper insulation and binding screws for the wires. A simple form of switch is also provided, for regulating the current. When the current flows through the tool, the platinum point is raised to a high temperature, and may be used to melt gold, silver, or solders. The idea is an excellent one, and appears to have been suggested by the Jablochkoff candle. It will, no doubt, be ultimately applied in a number of modifications to a wide field of useful work. Republicanism. (Three Generations.) FIRST. 'SQUIRE CECIL, at his high-arched gate, BRIC-A-BRAC. "There goes poor Muggins! Ah, my son, THIRD. Miss Muggins blazed in jeweled light, "She's poor, she teaches, has no style! In Europe, now — but oh! In this republic, we're compelled To a Critic. My love is not as your love is, Her eyes are brown, not blue; Her ringlets rival jet itself, Your love's are gold of hue. My love is not as your love is, My love is not as your love is, Your love, with fair and placid face, My love is just as your love is, Aphorisms from the Quarters. IT don't take no prophet to rickerlec' bad luck. Dey don't hab no loafers in de martin-box. De wire-grass lubs a lazy nigger. Dar's right smart 'ligion in a plow-handle. Twelve erclock nebber is in a hurry. Don't bet on a 'tater-hill befo' de grabblin' time. Heap o' good cotton-stalks gits chopped up fum 'sociatin' wid de weeds. Many a nice corn-silk winds up wid a nubbin in de fall. A chicken-roos' is de debbul's steel-trap, an' a grassy corn-row is his flower-garden. De mornin'-glories aint pertickler lubly to a man wid de back-ache. A sore-back mule is a poor hand to guess de weight ob a bag o' meal. A fork in a strange road don't make a man any better Kwis'chun. To-morrer's ash-cake is better'n las' Sunday's puddin'. 'Taint easy to find a man dat kin git mo''tention arter he's dead dan de Chris'mus 'possum. Countin' de stars don't he'p de meal-box. De man dat always takes de shortes' road to a dollar, ginually takes de longes' road fum it. All de jestice in de wul' aint fastened up in de cote-'ouse. A blind mule aint 'fraid o' darkness. De wood-pile don't grow much on frosty nights. A man dat pets a libe cat-fish aint crowded wid brains. De Pen'tench'ry's got some folks dat knowed how to call horgs too well. You can't spile a ripe punkin by 'busin' it. De bullfrog knows mo' 'bout de rain dan de olmanick. De little backer-wum is de bes' fixed for hidin'. De cheapes' way to he'p a man 'long in de wul' is to pile up flowers on his tombstone. Heap o' folks is like crawfishes; dey lub to back water, but dey wont stan' no crowdin' for all dat. Dar's right sharp good schoolin' in de tail ob a 'possum nebber let go a thing long as dar's a chance lef'. 'Simmons gwine take deir own time 'bout gettin' ripe. Some corn-stalks is like lots o' folks-dey fling all deir power into de blades an' tassels. You can't medger a nigger's wuk by de 'mount o' singin' he does at de shuckin'. A good 'possum-dog may tell a lie by accident, but you can't proobe it on him ef de tree's holler. De farmer dat nebber smells de day-break kin git 'long wid a mighty little gin-'ouse. A fat mule an' a straight furrer. De 'coon puts up de bes' fight; but de 'possum is heap de smartes' an' is got de bes' edication. WE have learned that the sonnet by Benjamin Disraeli published in this department for June, Beauty.' Nebber 'pend too much on de blackberry blos originally appeared in 1839, in Heath's "Book of soms. |
