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pressions on the mind, which have nothing to do with the senses, are discovered in every judgment that we make, and hence the independence of the soul from the action of the senses is postulated. But he takes care to stop short of the further results to which Kant's stern and inflexible reasoning carried him. He scouts the idea that we know nothing at all of this world because we can only know the impressions upon our senses and soul. That would carry him into a negation of all things, and finally of God himself; but the term, atheist, is evidently the most intolerable of all to Mr. Shairp's sensibilities. As a poet and a champion of poetry, nothing could be more appropriate than to see Mr. Shairp ranging himself against the encroachments of the materialists and drawing his sword in defense of the ideal. Plato, not Aristotle, is the camp for him.

ford Brooke, Leslie Stephen and Max Müller furnish a good deal of the matter. The strongest private conviction expressed is the general one already noticed of the existence of God in nature and a soul in man. Concerning poetry, he says:

"I have said that the range of poetry is boundless as the universe. Whenever the soul comes into living contact with fact and truth; whenever it realizes these with more than common vividness, there arises a thrill of joy, a glow of emotion. And the expression of that thrill, that glow, is poetry. The range of poetic emotion may thus be as wide as the range of human thought, as existence. It does not follow from this that all objects are alike fit to awaken poetry. The nobler the objects, the nobler will be the poetry they awaken when they fall on the heart of a true poet. But though this be so, yet poetry may be found springing up in the most unlikely places, among what seem the dryest efforts of human thought, just as you may see the intense blue of the Alpine forget-me-not lighting up the darkest crevices, or the most bare and inaccessible ledges of the mountain precipice."

Agreeable and pleasant reading though it may be, there is nothing in this little work to prove the new professor a man of much force. Ossian, for instance, whose claims might have been urged with especial | fitness by a Scotchman, is passed over with an evasive paragraph or two, as if he were afraid to come to any conclusions of his own, either because of inadequate consideration of the subject, or -what is likelier-out of regard to his Lowland audience. Indeed, one need not look for strong expressions of opinion or new theories on any of the numerous subjects that arise in the course of so fruitful a theme, but only for a good presenting of well-known views. Canon Mozley, Ruskin, Stop-poetry to express this.

Physical science, says Mr. Shairp, deals with the outward object alone. Poetry has to do with the object plus the soul of man. From the meeting and combined action of these two forces, the outward object and the soul, there arises a creation, or emanation, different from either, but partaking of the nature of both. And it is the business of true

THE WORLD'S WORK.

New Method of Propagating Soft Plants. THE usual method of preparing cuttings of softwooded plants is either to take the cuttings entirely off the parent plant, or to cut them half-way through | and let them remain on the plant till the granulations appear. An improvement on this is to snap or break off the cutting so as to leave it hanging by a bit of the skin. This serves to hold the cutting to the plant and to keep it from wilting, while it saves the plant from the severe check that would follow its complete removal. In a short time the "callous," or granulations, appear and the hanging cutting may then be removed and planted at once in a pot, when, after a few days shading it takes root and begins to grow. The advantages of this method are found in saving the parent plant, for the hanging cutting still demands sustenance from the roots and thus stimulates and preserves the plant in health. At the same time, new shoots break out below the broken cutting, and these form new cuttings in less time than by the old method when the plant is checked by the severe cutting back. Labor and time are also saved by omitting the work spent in setting and tending the cuttings in a propagating tank.

VOL. XV.-30.

Dairy Ventilation.

A SYSTEM of under-ground air-pipes laid up and down a hill from a dairy for the purpose of securing fresh air of a uniform temperature has been already described in this department. Another form of ventilating-pipe adapted to dairies on level ground employs a brick or stone pipe of a pointed arch section 37.7 centimeters (14 inches) high and 30.5 centimeters (I foot) wide at the bottom, laid in a straight line in any direction for a distance of 15.78 meters (150 feet). This air-duct is laid 2.74.5 meters (9 feet) under ground, and rises by an easy curve to the surface at one end, and enters the bottom of the dairy at the other. The temperature of the earth at this depth is 48° Fahrenheit at all seasons of the year, and the air passing through the duct has this fixed temperature on entering the dairy. In summer, the air of the dairy can be lowered to any desired point above this by letting the hot air escape from the top of the building, and in winter, the fresh air entering the dairy is raised to this point by passing through the duct, whatever the outside temperature. A little fire heat in the dairy will set the air in the duct in motion, and thus the room is readily kept at any desired temperature

at small expense. Another advantage reported for this system of ventilation is the freedom from danger of souring in the milk during thunder-storms, as the air taken from the duct is free from the germs of putrification. This under-ground air-duct might also be useful in supplying fresh air raised to 480 in winter for a hot-air furnace at a material economy of fuel.

The Alhydic Chain.

THIS apparatus consists of a number of long, slender bags of canvas made air-tight and joined together by means of short copper pipes. The chain is designed to be used in raising sunken ships where the vessel is too deep to be conveniently reached by divers. The first step in raising a ship is to lower self-fastening grapnels to different parts of the ship, and by fastening buoys to these, to mark her position on the surface of the water. A steamer provided with powerful air-pumps, and having a large number of the empty bags forming the chain, is then brought up and a number of the bags are fastened together with a self-fastening grapnel at the end and lowered overboard till the grapnel finds a strong hold on the ship. If divers can be employed to fasten the chain, or if the submarine mole can be used, the work becomes the more simple. Having, in either of these ways, secured the end of the canvas chain to the ship, the steamer moves round and round the buoys, paying out the empty chain for one or two turns. The air-pump is then started, and the chain is blown up, causing it to swell and fit under the vessel. More chain is paid out till it is wound round the vessel several times, and then it is charged with air to its fullest capacity. The displacement caused by the expanded bags eventually causes them to float and lift the ship to the surface. This alhydic chain has the advantage over the single bag plan of making a continuous piece, so that if one bag fails to find a hold on the ship, it still exerts its lifting power through the others. The flexible character of the chain also prevents injury from catching and tearing on sharp points of the wreck. The same idea, carried out with a light rubber hose, might be useful in recovering small objects from deep water.

Uniting Iron and Steel.

IN uniting cast-iron and cast-steel, as in iron carwheels with steel tires, a new process in welding employs a thin sheet of iron so placed in the mold that it will separate the steel from the iron when both are poured at the same instant into the mold. The aim of this diaphragm of sheet-iron is twofold,—first, to keep the steel and iron from actual contact, and, secondly, to serve as a weld to unite them. The thickness of this plate is a matter of careful adjustment. It must be sufficiently thick to resist the flow of the metals on each side, and thin enough to eventually weld them together. This device has been used with success for some time, and has been applied to a variety of forms where one part of the casting requires the tenacity of iron and another part demands the hardness of steel.

Mending Appliance for Sewing-Machines. A NEW attachment for the sewing-machine has been introduced that enables the machine to mend or "darn" holes in any kind of fabric. It consists of a small steel ring having a hole in one side, and having a delicate spiral spring affixed to the top of the ring. To use the mending attachment the thread is passed though the hole in the side of the ring and downward. The ring is then slipped over the needle of the machine with the spiral spring inclosing the needle. The thread is then passed through the eye of the needle as for sewing. In placing the cloth with the hole to be closed on the machine the fabric is fed up to the needle and stitches are made through the cloth along one edge of the rent or hole. The stitch passes over the opening, leaving a knotted thread reaching from side to side. This is repeated, forward and back. ward and crosswise, or in any direction, till the crossing stitches make a close web over the hole. By this simple device the sewing-machine becomes a mending-machine, repairing and closing over openings in any kind of fabric. The appliance is specially useful in repairing table-linen, though it can be used for mending any fabric from sails or stockings.

New Portable Kitchen.

THIS apparatus is designed for a traveling kitchen and consists of an upright stove or furnace, hung between a pair of wheels that it may be drawn by one or two horses. The stove is, like some kinds of portable steam-boilers, hung on pivots at the sides, so that it will accommodate itself to the movements of the carriage. The stove has a firebox at the base, and a direct-draft chimney at the top. Within the stove are two copper cylinders or boilers, placed one within the other; the outer cylinder is fitted with pipes for the water and safety valves, and is practically a steam-boiler. The inner cylinder is tinned on both sides, and has a lid that may be fitted on steam-tight; a short piece of pipe connects the two vessels at the top. In making soups, and in cooking other food, the meat or other material is placed in the inner cylinder, and the cover is put on steam-tight. The fire circulating about the outer boiler causes the water to boil, and the steam passes over into the cooking vessel and cooks the meats by steaming and boiling. Such a kitchen, drawn by two horses, can make, while on the march, soup for 250 men in three hours. The carriage also carries in the forward part all the cooking utensils, and the kitchen is thus complete in itself. The kitchen has been adopted by one of the European armies.

Compound Locomotives.

THE compound type of engine, where one cylinder receives the steam direct from the boiler and after using its expansion to a limited degree sends it on to another and larger cylinder, is almost universally used for marine engines, and in part for stationary engines, and has recently been applied to locomotives. Three engines for passenger service have

now made a united run of over 2,500 miles, and may be considered as something more than experiments. The engines have two cylinders, placed on the outside, that are fitted to the wheels in the usual manner, and one of these is somewhat larger than the other. When the locomotive is to be started, or when more draft is required in the fire, a new form of valve, called the undoing valve, is employed to turn the steam into both cylinders at once, and the exhaust is thrown into the stack to increase the draft. The undoing valve is the only addition to the engine, and excepting in this and the differing sizes of the cylinders, the locomotives do not depart from the common type. When the speed is attained, or when the draft is sufficient, the new valve is changed and the steam goes to the smaller, highpressure cylinder, the exhaust is taken to the larger cylinder on the other side of the engine, and after farther expansion the steam is finally thrown into the stack. It will be seen that the engine gives only half the number of "coughs" or ejections at the stack, and thus loses half the draft. The engines are reported to do continuous work in dragging heavy excursion trains over a sea-side road at a decided economy of fuel.

Shrinking on Tires by Hot Water.

THE uncertain and irregular results that follow from the use of direct fire heat in expanding tires has led to some experiments in the use of hot water. An iron tank of suitable size for car-wheels, and filled one-quarter full of water, is prepared and steam is turned into the water till it is raised to 212 Fahr.; the tire is plunged into this by means of a crane, and is left submerged for fifteen minutes; it is then taken out and at once put on the wheel. By this method three men can set the tires on from 12 to 15 wheels in a day of eleven hours. The difference between the tires and wheels must be very small, being only 0.75 millimeter to a meter, and this is ascertained by gauges of great precision, as a very slight deviation will not allow the tire to go on or will leave it loose when cold. In practice it has been found that where on the same road 37 per cent. of the fire-heated wheels ran loose, and five per cent. were broken in a six-years' trial, only one per cent. of the water-heated tires became loose and only a single wheel was broken in a threeyears' trial. While tired car-wheels are not much used in this country, this plan of using hot water in expanding tires may be of value in setting wagonwheels. The water bath has the advantage of heating the tire uniformly and expanding it equally in every direction.

New Form of Plastering.

A NEW style of wall and ceiling plastering has been introduced that offers some advantages in ease and speed in covering the walls and in securing the plaster against falling and fire. In place of spreading the plaster on laths fixed to the wall, it is prepared in solid blocks or slabs, and these are nailed to the rafters or joists. The slabs are made of any

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convenient shape or size by a simple process that may be carried on in the building or at the plasterer's shop. A smooth, hard surface is prepared, and a sloping edge is set up to give the slabs a beveled edge, and on this is spread a layer of plaster of Paris. Upon this, and securely bedded in it, is spread a sheet of canvas or other heavy fabric, or a layer of some loose fibers; laths are then laid along two opposite sides of the slab, and over all is spread a thick layer of common plaster; before this sets it is brushed over with a coarse broom to give it a rough surface to make a key for the finishing coat of plasWhen the plaster has set, and the slab is hard and dry, it is raised to its place and fastened there by nails driven through the laths. The finishing coat is then applied in the usual way, covering the division between the slabs so that the surface is uniform. Such a system of plastering has the advantage of quick and cleanly work at a saving of labor, and making a wall covering that will not fall in masses when wet, nor take fire at the back as two laths are bedded in the plaster.

ter.

Proposed Change in the System of Gauging Wire.

THE size of wires and thin plates of gold, copper, iron and other metals has been everywhere measured by the use of various steel gauges. The measuring appliances are made in a great variety of forms, and the numbers upon them make the commercially recognized sizes of plate metal and wire. This numbering of the gauges is entirely arbitrary, and varies with the different makers of gauges, so that the name of the maker of the gauge must be known as well as the number of the gauge. More than this, all these gauges are subject to wear, and unless provided with compensating appliances become in time valueless as instruments of precision. A Committee of the American Institute of Mining Engineers having been appointed to examine this matter, recently reported that, in view of the confusion and uncertainty now found in the measurement of metals by wire gauges, the use of fixed gauges and the use of numbers to express the diameters of wires be abandoned. In place of these numbers the committee recommend the expression of commercial sizes in thousandths of an inch or the fractions of a millimeter; in place of the numbered gauges the millimeter screw gauge is recommended. This gauge is a steel frame fitted with a micrometer screw. The screw is accurately cut and fitted, and the great space through which the lever of the screw passes in comparison with the advance due to the pitch of the screw makes it a means of very minute measurements. The head of the screw is divided into equal parts so that a single movement of the screw head expresses extremely minute measurements between the end of the screw and the rest where the plate or wire to be measured is placed. These micrometer gauges are fitted with compensating appliances to recover the loss due to wearing, and will measure accurately till worn out. This change in the system of measuring wire recommends itself for simplicity and uniformity. The present

confusion of gauges and sizes would be corrected by the use of actual measurements, and the micrometer gauge would make a standard for universal reference.

Memoranda.

A SOLUTION of calcium chloride in glycerine is proposed as a convenient substitute for the sand bath. It is said to be easily regulated, and to be useful for temperatures varying from 572 to 626

Fahr.

The cracks sometimes seen in common mortar are attributed by M. Decourneau to the uncombined quicklime it may contain. To neutralize this he employs a fine siliceous powder, mixed with diluted nitric acid. The mortar thus made is said to be free from this defect, and stone made from it resembles natural stones and may be cut, sawn or otherwise treated.

To preserve the juices of lemons, currants, oranges and other fruits, the juice, when fresh, is expressed and mixed with some kind of cooked meal, either with or without the addition of sugar, and is then made up into cakes and baked. These cakes are then ground up into a kind of fruit farina. Juices thus prepared are said to keep their flavor indefinitely, and the farina may be used as a substitute for fresh fruit.

Dr. Himly, of the University of Kiel, suggests a simple test for flour adulterations. A small quantity of the flour to be examined is placed in a common test-tube 3.2 centimeters (3-8 in.) in diameter, and 13 centimeters (about 5 in.) long, and enough ⚫ chloroform is added to fill the tube three-quarters full. The mixture is then shaken and placed upright at rest, and is kept thus till the various substances in the tube find the levels due to their specific gravity. In time the clear flour will swim at the top, and the lime, chalk, plaster, bone-dust, marble and other impurities, will gather in layers at the bottom, and thus indicating their proportion and character. Unadulterated flour leaves a filmy gray or brownish deposit, that is probably due to the stone-dust from the grinding. But this is not easily mistaken for the white deposits from the adulterations.

The success attending the efforts to toughen glass have led to a number of processes for improving the quality of glass, and among these is one for compressing glass under heavy metallic rolls. This compressed glass is reported to be even tougher than the "La Bastre glass" (already described here), and has the advantage of greater freedom in working, so that larger picces can be produced. The compressed glass has a fibrous texture, quite unlike the crystalline structure of the tempered glass. By the use of engraved rolls, the glass may also be ornamented at the same time that it is compressed.

A new process for making artificial black walnut from red beech, alder and other woods, is announced. The wood thoroughly dried and warmed is given one or two coats of a liquid composed of one part,

by weight, of extract of walnut-peel dissolved in six parts of boiling water. When the staining coat is half dry it is brushed with a solution of one part of bichromate of potash in five parts of boiling water; and after this has dried the wood is rubbed and pol. ished. This stain is reported to be firm and of an excellent color.

In a new style of ship's anchor, simplicity, cheapness and strength have been secured by making the stock in two parts just alike, and fastened together by bolts at each end and near the center. Only one arm is used, and by making the two parts spread apart near the end so that the arm hung on the bolt that joins them may swing freely between them in either direction. The arm has a T shaped head and by means of two projections on either side of the head it is limited in its movements. closed, the arm rests between the two parts of the stock, and in falling it takes the right position to hold in the ground without regard to the way in which the anchor falls from the ship. An anchor of this pattern tested to destruction broke at a strain of 250 per cent. over proof.

When

The experiments that have been going on for the past year in making glass from slag have been concluded, and a glass suitable for bottles is now being made on a commercial scale. The slag is taken hot from a blast-furnace in a ladle and poured into a Sieman's furnace; carbonate of soda and silica are then added in various proportions, according to the quality of glass to be produced. A large manufacturing plant will soon be in operation in this line of glass-making.

In coating metals with tin and nickel, two new processes are mentioned. Kayser melts together one part of copper and five parts of pure Australian tin. This alloy is granulated and mixed with water and cream of tartar into a pasty bath. To each 200 parts of the alloy is added one part of oxide of nickel, and the articles to be plated are laid in this bath and boiled for a short time. Articles of brass and copper are thus easily plated and given a hard surface resembling German silver. Articles of iron must first be copper-plated. By adding carbonate of nickel to the bath, boiling gives a coating richer in nickel and varying in color from that of platinum to blue-black according to the amount of nickel salt used. Stobla adds to a solution of protochloride of tin a small quantity of cream of tartar. The brass, copper or iron articles to be tinned are moistened with this and then rubbed hard with zinc powder.

The floating fire-works now used at sea in case of shipwrecks have been made in the form of a bomb that may be thrown from a mortar. The bomb is thrown into the water at any distance from the ship or shore battery, and immediately takes fire on falling in the water, and burns with an intense white flame. It is only necessary to make a small hole in the shell to admit the water, and it flames the moment it is wet. For this reason it cannot be extinguished, and the bomb floats and lights up the sea for a long distance around it, plainly showing the position of hostile ships or boats.

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WHEN merry Christmas-day is done,
And Christmas-night is just begun;
While clouds in slow procession drift
To wish the moon-man "Christmas gift,"
Yet linger overhead, to know
What causes all the stir below;
At Uncle Johnny Booker's ball
The darkeys hold high carnival.

From all the country-side they throng,
With laughter, shouts, and scraps of song-
Their whole deportment plainly showing
That to THE FROLIC they are going.
Some take the path with shoes in hand,
To traverse muddy bottom-land;
Aristocrats their steeds bestride-
Four on a mule, behold them ride!
And ten great oxen draw apace
The wagon from "de oder place,"
With forty guests, whose conversation
Betokens glad anticipation.

Not so with him who drives: old Jim
Is sagely solemn, hard and grim,
And frolics have no joys for him.
He seldom speaks, but to condemn-
Or utter some wise apothegm-

Or else, some crabbed thought pursuing,
Talk to his team, as now he's doing:

[blocks in formation]

You's mos' too lazy to draw yo' bref,
Let 'lone drawin' de waggin.

Dis team-quit bel'rin, sah!

De ladies don't submit 'at-
Dis team-you ol' fool ox,

You heah me tell you quit 'at?
Dis team's des like de 'Nited States;
Dat's what I's tryin' to git at!

De people rides behind

De pollytishners haulin'Sh'u'd be a well-bruk ox,

To foller dat ar callin'

An' sometimes nuffin won't do dem steers,
But what dey mus' be stallin'!

Woo bahgh! Buck-kannon! Yes, sah,
Sometimes dey will be stickin';
An' den, fus thing dey knows,

Dey takes a rale good lickin'—
De folks gits down: an' den watch out
For hommerin an' kickin'.

Dey blows upon dey hands,

Den flings 'em wid de nails up,
Jumps up an' cracks dey heels,
An' pruzntly dey sails up,

An' makes dem oxen hump deysef,
By twistin' all dey tails up!

In this our age of printer's ink,

'Tis books that show us how to thinkThe rule reversed, and set at naught,

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