that the mention of a work destined to be a standard one on ceramics naturally follows. For the study of a subject so vast and extensive, excellent general guides exist in the works of Jacquemart, Marryat, and Chaffers. These, indeed, furnish a general map or chart of the whole ceramic world; but when they are mastered, the eager collector demands a more detailed account of its separate regions or provinces. Such an one will be found in the recently published "History of the Ceramic Art in Great Britain, from the Earliest Period to the Present Day," by Llewellynn Jewitt, F. S. A.-two volumes, royal octavo, with nearly two thousand illustrations. For the subject it treats of Mr. Jewitt's work is an exhaustive one, and as the productions of the English potteries come more readily within the reach of collectors in America than those of other countries, its interest and utility are manifest. Commencing with the earliest known British and Anglo-Saxon pottery as discovered in burrows and sepulchral interments, Mr. Jewitt furnishes a general view of his subject until the beginning of the last century is reached, as at that time the great improvements in artistic manipulation and the practical chemistry of materials were gradually introduced, and the establishment and progress of each separate seat of manufacture becomes of importance. His method is, then, a combination of local and chronological treatment, tracing each pottery or porcelain work now known to us, by its products, from its small beginning to its present state of prosperity, or to (what has too frequently happened to the ingenious and inventive artisan) its extinction in failure and commercial loss. In this way are brought before the reader, and most amply illustrated by the wood-engraver, the spirited and artistic statuettes of Bow; the tasteful and richly ornamented vases and groups in the "soft paste" of Chelsea (now approaching in value to the masterpieces of Sèvres itself); the gorgeous gilding and coloring of the old Worcester china,the famous white transparent ware of Derby, produced by some secret process now lost, from whence sprung our modern Parian; the classic forms and admirable workmanship of Wedgwood, who rivaled the works of ancient Greece in the Stafford ware; Etruria, and the very rare and highly prized productions of the extinct establishments of Bristol, Plymouth, Nantgarrow, Lowestoft, etc.

A really beautiful monograph of another branch of the same subject is furnished by M. Harvard, whose "discovery" of the old cities of Holland, as charmingly described by himself, will be recollected by readers. His new work is "Histoire de la Faience de Delft." That town was one of the earliest seats of ceramic art in Europe, and its porcelain is known to rival the Oriental in its body and surpass it in ornamentation. The richly illustrated book of M. Harvard completely exhausts the subject under every possible head.

Of "The New Republic," of which I wrote last month, the "Quarterly Review " says: "It has disgusted some readers, puzzled many, and amused

is a brilliant and telling attack on the fashionable style of philosophizing, and the current scientific theories, now so boldly propagated in defiance of the old standard of belief. The scene is laid at a country house, near town, where the guests are assembled to spend a Sunday. Under fictitious names, they comprise most of the literary and scientific notabilities of the day, who may be recognized, not by unwarrantable personal allusion, but by an amazingly correct and spirited reproduction of their various sentiments and views on great social, theological, and scientific questions, often rising to true eloquence. A reader familiar with modern literature will have no difficulty in discovering under their pseudonyms, Mr. Ruskin, Dean Stanley, Mr. Singleton ("Violet Fane"), Professors Clifford, Huxley, Tyndall, Doctor Pusey, Mr. Swinburne and many others. Nor is the book merely dry discussion on the great question-the true end of life; the dialogue and accompanying incidents are managed with so much life and charm that the attention is constantly excited, and the reader is beguiled into a higher style of thought almost unconsciously. Altogether, the book is a remarkable one, as the reception it has met with fully proves.

Among the volumes brought out by some of the various reproductive processes is the facsimile of the first sketch of "The Christian Year," by Rev. John Keble. The book is an exact copy of the beautiful MS. of the author, presented to a friend. It contains about forty of the poems as originally written without a single interlineation or correction. To make the volume a perfect repreentation of Mr. Keble's MS., the prefatory matter, including an interesting comparison of the subsequent changes and various readings of the poem, is printed separately, so that in the book itself the purchaser possesses identically the highly prized gift of its almost sainted author, from whose posthu mous papers a valuable " Commentary on the First Chapter of St. John's Gospel" has also just been published.

Though inferior in interest to Dr. Schliemann's book, the work of General Cesnola on "Cyprus" forms a very handsome and richly illustrated volume. The other great antiquarian works promised, as Wilkinson's Egyptians," Dennis's "Etruria," and Brugsch's "History of Egypt," are slightly delayed in their appearance, and will not be brought out until the spring.

Mr. Louis J. Jennings, formerly of the "New York Times," and now London correspondent of the "New York World," has exchanged his task of tracking the devious course and crooked pathways of "the Ring," for more pleasant wanderings in "Field Paths and Green Lanes in Surrey and Sussex." The record of these excursions makes a very delightful book, showing how much that is virtually remote and strange to the dweller in cities lies within his reach, and what scenes of the picturesque are available even in a few hours' holiday. The literary veteran, Dr. Doran, has poured the contents of his well-filled commonplace book into a discursive book—" London in the Jacobite Times,"

two volumes full of the gossip so dear to the lovers of the last century and its literature as exemplified in the writings of Horace Walpole.

"Democracy in Europe, a History," by Sir Thomas Erskine May, is a book that will live in our libraries. In it the author endeavors to trace the fortunes of democracy and political liberty throughout the history of Europe, both ancient and modern. Commencing with the political history of Greece and Rome, he follows the light of the torch of freedom through the dark ages to the establishment of the Italian, Swiss, and Dutch republics, to the development of constitutional freedom in England.

The new volume of Professor Ihne's "History of Rome" leaves the conquering people masters of Italy and prepared to try their strength against the

rest of the world. His book is a very important one, and by many good authorities it is considered as likely to rival or supersede that of Professor Mommsen on the same subject.

"The Life of Pius IX.," by Thomas Adolphus Trollope, just published in two volumes, 8vo, possesses claims to notice from the author's great familiarity with Italian history and long residence in that country.

The new volume (third) of the "Life of the late Prince Consort," by Theodore Martin, carries the narrative through the period of the Crimean war, and shows a profuse employment of private papers and documents relative to current events and living persons quite new to history, and not altogether commendable.

New Portable Battery.

A NEW galvanic battery employing paper as a vehicle for the liquid has been brought out. It is made on the plan of the Daniell cell and consists of a circular disk of zinc and another of copper, the two being placed one over the other, and separated by a number of disks of paper. These paper disks are first bound together in a mass, and are then soaked in a saturated solution of sulphate of copper, care being taken to wet only one-half of the bundle. The bundle of disks is then turned over and the other half is soaked in a solution of sulphate of zinc. When well saturated the liquid is allowed to drain away, the paper retaining enough of the solution to carry on the work. The zinc disk is placed at the end of this mass of paper next the part soaked in the zinc solution, and the copper disk is placed at the other end. A copper rod, insulated from the paper and the zinc, passes through the bundle to the copper disk and serves to keep the whole in position. The rod also passes through the slate cover of the glass vessel in which the battery is kept and makes one of the poles. This battery, depending only on the moisture held in the paper, is portable and is reported to remain constant for a year. When needing renewal, it is only necessary to re-soak the lower part of the paper in sulphate of copper, or to put in new zinc or fresh paper. The battery has been found useful in medical applications, and as a battery for field telegraphing.

Appliance for Locating Obstructions in Tubes. PNEUMATIC transmission has always labored under the objection that the carriers sometimes become wedged and stuck in the tubes so that they cannot be moved, and all the traffic is, for the time, at a stand-still. The chief difficulty in such cases is not in the removal of the carrier, but in locating the position of the obstruction in the tubes. To deter

mine accurately the location of such obstructions, a pistol and an electric chronograph are now employed. The pistol is fired at the open end of the tube, and the resulting sound wave travels through the tube toward the obstruction. At the same instant, the firing of the pistol is electrically recorded on a very sensitive chronograph. The pulsation of sound meets the obstruction in the tube and is at once reflected, and, traveling back to the open end of the tube, meets a delicate diaphragm, and thus records its return by means of the chronograph. The temperature of the tube having been found, the exact speed of the sound wave may be ascertained, and by comparison of the speed of the wave with the time recorded by the chronograph, the precise distance the sound wave traveled may be found in centimeters. Half of the distance over which the sound moved is the distance of the obstruction from the end of the tube. To insure accuracy, the sound is allowed to re-echo from the diaphragm and to make excursions to the obstruction and back till it is exhausted, and the successive measurements thus made give greater precision to the work. The location of the obstruction having been determined, it is easy to cut the tubes at the right place.

Improved Method of Sinking Tube Wells. THE tube wells so much used in this country are usually sunk in the ground by means of heavy blows, from a pile driver, delivered near the top of the pipe. By this plan it sometimes happens that when the point of the tube meets an obstruction the tube is bent, or it acts as a spring, and the power is thus wasted. A new method of driving such wells employs a long iron weight that may be dropped in the interior of the pipe. The pipe with its steel point having been started in the usual way, a tripod is set up over the well to hold the pipe in place, and above this is an upright, carrying a wheel over

which a rope may be passed to sustain the weight. By this arrangement the blows are delivered on the inside of the pipe at the bottom, just where they are needed. Another plan is to inclose the lower part of the weight with a circular casing, to keep out sand and dirt, the weight moving freely in the casing, and, by means of a shoulder, bringing it to the surface when the work is finished. Another method employs a smooth, steel-pointed pipe, 130 centimeters long and somewhat smaller than the well tube. This is driven first, and the tube with the perforations is screwed on above it. The weight or hammer used is made of two iron pipes placed one within the other. The annular space between them is filled with lead, and at the bottom is a packing to act as a piston. At the top is a valve opening upward. On letting this weight fall in the interior of the tube, the air is driven out of the long hammer through the valve and a blow is struck at the bottom of the well. On raising the hammer a partial vacuum is formed, and when it again falls the pressure of the atmosphere is joined to the weight of the hammer, thus adding to the force of the blow. By all of these methods the tube is saved from injury, as only the steel point receives the force of the blows needed to sink the well. While these methods are more complicated than those usually employed in this work, they have the merit of being founded on correct principles, and the advantage of preventing waste of time and material.

Plaiting Machines.

THE free use of “plaits" in making up all kinds of dress goods has led to the manufacture of a number of appliances for facilitating the work of plaiting. The most simple of these machines is a flat board on which the fabric may be laid and folded in various ways over and under a number of long steel needles. To keep these needles in place there is a raised edge on both sides of the board, and the needles are dropped into slots cut in these ̧edge-pieces. To facilitate the work the needles are secured by means of eyes at the ends to one of these edge-pieces to keep them in reach till laid down on the fabric, and to assist in removing them when the work is finished. In using the plaiter the needles are first turned back out of the way and the fabric is laid down on the board. A fold is then made by hand, and a needle is laid down to hold it in place. Then another plait is made and more needles are put in position over the work. In this manner, box, side, knife, rose, and other varieties of plaits may be quickly and easily laid out and secured in place by the needles, and when the board is covered, a hot iron is passed over the work to fix the cloth in its new shapes. The needles may be then withdrawn by removing the edge-piece to which they are fastened. Another form of plaiter uses both sides of the board, one side being smooth for ordinary work and the other cut in parallel grooves for "cord plaiting." The needles are hinged on a movable edge that may be turned round so that the needles may be used on either side of the board. Suitable locking appli

ances are provided for holding the movable edges in place, and by means of an extra set of holes in the edge-piece, additional needles may be used if desired. Every form of plait may be made with this apparatus by simply adjusting the needles to the requirements of the work. Another form of plaiting machine dispenses with the needles and uses a knife mounted on a frame and having a reciprocating movement imparted to it by simple machinery. The fabric is passed under the knife, and is pushed forward at each movement, and is thus folded and doubled into the required shape. The length of the stroke of the knife decides the width of the plaits, and, as this may be adjusted within certain limits, any width of plaits may be continuously produced as long as the machine is kept in motion. This machine measures the width of the plaits automatically, and performs the work quickly and accurately, and with only the power needed to turn a small hand-crank. A larger and more effective plaiting machine, designed for the use of wholesale dress-makers, combines the reciprocating knife for forming the plait and a device for pressing the fabric as it passes through the machine. This apparatus is secured to a bed-plate of iron that may be fastened to the table by means of clamps. At the front of the machine, is a knife hinged at each end and having a handle at the back. The cloth is passed under the knife, and by means of the handle, a forward and backward, combined with a vertical, motion is given to the knife, and the cloth is pushed and folded into the required plaits, and is then pushed under the heater. The heater is a cast-iron box containing a hot iron, and supplied with an adjustable weight. Each movement of the plaiting knife lifts the heater and pushes a plait under it. The knife is then withdrawn to make a new plait. movement lifts the heater, pushes out the plait under it, and inserts a fresh one. By this arrange ment the speed of the work regulates the time the plait is under the pressure of the hot-box. Appliances are added for adjusting the width of the plaits, and the pressure of the hot-box and the machine will plait any kind of fabric, thick or thin, with hemmed or plain edges. Simple plaiting of narrow material may be done on this machine at the rate of a yard a minute, and for general work it is a useful invention as it combines both plaiting and pressing in one apparatus.

Memoranda.

The next

To loosen a hard, tenacious clay on the bottom of a bay to enable a steam-dredge to work with ease in deepening the water, a plow has been used with advantage. Steam power was supplied from the shore, and by means of a wire-rope the plow was dragged over the bottom of the water. A diver walked behind the plow to guide it, and to supply him with air, a boat with the air-pumps followed the plow. At the end of the row the plow and wire were taken over the water and the next row was started from the shore. It was found that the diver could work in 6.30 meters (twenty feet) of water in

ease and safety, and that the plowing materially assisted the work of dredging. The same plan might be useful in removing sand bars in rivers wherever the current is sufficiently strong to carry away the loosened drift and sand.

In sheathing iron ships with wood to prevent the corrosion of the iron, efforts have long been made to find some means of securing the wooden planking to the iron that would not set up a galvanic action and thus injure the iron. This has now been accomplished by the use of wooden bolts, having iron heads, and driven from the inside of the iron skin of the ship. These bolts are reported to be strong and durable, and to be entirely free from galvanic action. Yellow metal sheathing is applied over the wooden planking precisely as in wooden ships.

A convenient apparatus for the sick-room where cold drinks are wanted is recommended by "Les Mondes." It is made by placing two vessels (presumably of glass), one within the other, and filling the inner vessel with a solution of nitrate of ammonia. The outer vessel may be a goblet, and the inner vessel is formed in the shape of an inverted truncated cone, and has a cover that is large enough to cover the goblet. For a goblet of water 150 grammes of the nitrate of ammonia are placed in the inner vessel, and water is added till it is filled. To hasten the action, the solution should be stirred as the water is put in. The water in the goblet is soon reduced about 22 degrees Fahr., when the inner vessel may be removed. To use the solution again it is only necessary to spread it in the sun till the water evaporates and the nitrate recrystallizes.

The

The waste scraps of gutta percha, so often thrown away as useless, may be formed into caps for bottles by dissolving them in benzole. Dissolve the gutta percha in benzole over a gentle heat till a moderately thick fluid is formed, and then add vermilion or other coloring matter to suit the fancy. corked bottles are then dipped in the mixture, as in making capsules is reported to give capsules that are This method of making caps in hot sealing-wax. impervious to air and all ordinary liquids, and the process has the merit of being simple, easy and cheap.

The new alloy, known as manganeze bronze, has been made the subject of some recent experiments to test its strength. A cold rolled rod sustained a strain of 34,000 kilograms (34 tons) before stretching, and displayed an ultimate strength of 40,000 kilograms per 6 square centimeters (1 square inch), length. This places the alloy on a par with steel, with an elongation of only 11.6 per cent. of its and in its elastic limit somewhat above it. The alloy has been made in the form of wire, plates and tubes, and in all these forms it is reported to be superior to brass, and as it retains its qualities under great heat, it would seem to be valuable for boiler and

condenser tubes.

The search for tannin materials has been rewarded by the discovery and application, upon a commercial scale, of the valuable properties of the wild "sweet fern," so abundant in New England. This hitherto useless product affords a good extract of tannin, and a manufactory has been erected to utilize the crop of fern in Maine.

Autre Temps, Autre Mœurs.

POISED upon a budding spray
On a morning of the May,
Love, with fickle wings unfurled,
Half decides to fly away.

Stay, Love, stay!

Now, when skies are blue and clear,
You have grown so dear, so dear!
Stay, Love, stay!

Clinging to a withered bough
That the wind beats to and fro,
Love, his bruised wings folded close,
Trembles 'mid the falling snow.

Go, Love, go!

Since the summertide has gone,
All your pretty songs are done—
Go, Love, go!
JULIE K. WETHERILL.

A Visit to the Asylum for Literary Lunatics. WHEN I entered the asylum-as a visitor merely, not as a patient, I assure you-a cheery little man came to meet me and in a cheery little voice-a

voice doubtless made to order, it fitted him so well -he introduced himself as Mr. Keesir, the warden, and expressed his willingness to show me around at once. While I was investigating he answered all my questions briskly.

“What are literary lunatics?” he replied to a query of mine, “That's easy to say. They are monomaniacs. And their one weak point is in some way literary. They have a passion for the collection or creation of the trifles of literature, the curiosities of letters. There are men here who make and collect macaronics, echo-verses, anagrams, chronograms, telegrams, epigrams, epitaphs, palindromes, centos, acrostics, impromptus, bouts-rimés, inscriptions, paronomasia, puzzles, and other curious quips and quirks. Walk into our parlor and I'll introduce you to some of our patients with pleasure."

But few of the patients were in the handsome apartment used as a sitting-room. Some of them were reading and apparently studying at the tables. Others were walking up and down, to and fro

Here is one of our most curious cases," said Mr. Keesir cheerily, pointing to a thin young man, pacing along alone with an air of melancholy abstraction and now advanced toward us. "He is a paronamasiast, a punster. It's a confirmed case, I fear. Ah, Mr. Pughney, gentleman would like to talk with you."

Mr. Pughney gravely approaching replied solemnly:

"Talc! Do you ask for sermons in stones ? " Humoring him the warden cheerily answered: "We did expect a sermon from a Living-stone." "Indeed?—Now that Stanley is in Africa so long I suppose the natives call him Sahara's young man," rejoined Mr. Pughney sadly.

This was staggering even to cheery little Mr. Keesir.

'Stanley," continued the monomaniac, "has by this time met the Simple Simoon of the desert, and perhaps they have discussed together the works of Madame Sand."

We both drew a breath of relief as the paronamasiast gravely withdrew. Even the cheery little warden seemed chilled by Mr. Pughney's solemnity. "It's nothing to what I have to undergo sometimes," and pointing toward another patient, diligently conning and comparing books at a table near by, he said, "Here is a rarer and more disagreeable form of literary lunacy. Mr. Quin Siddons is a plagiarist-detector."

"A what?" I asked, as we walked toward Mr. Quin Siddons, and the warden answered:

"A plagiarist-detector! That is, he thinks that every word that he hears or reads is stolen from some other speaker or writer. What makes us almost despair of curing him is his wonderful memory, which rarely permits us to catch him tripping. We have kept all the new books from him, however, for nearly two months, now, and he is beginning to recover. Indeed he has not had a single severe attack since he read The Wandering Heir,' of Mr. Charles Reade."

Mr. Quin Siddons rose at our approach, and Mr. Keesir introduced me, saying:

"If you converse with Mr. Quin Siddons on literary topics, you will soon find that he knows what's what!"

Mr. Quin Siddons bowed very politely to me, and then turned to the warden, remarking, hesitatingly:

"Allow me to suggest, Mr. Keesir, that your last remark about knowing what's what, is a reminiscence of Hudibras,' Part I, Canto I, Line 149." The warden laughed cheerily, and rejoined: "I wont attempt to argue with you. You are right, I suppose. I leave you the field. Discretion is the better part of valor."

what to say, but he quickly broke the silence saying: "I suppose you too, sir, are annoyed by this perpetual stealing. This kidnapping of the thoughts of others, this everlasting never-ending pilfering. I suppose you, like me, are worn out in the struggle to detect and expose these brazen brokers in other men's originality. I can stand it no longer. I feel savage. I must cry out, or- - ugh! I sometimes fear I shall do some one a fearful injury." I condoled with him suggesting that there was a limit at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue. He started as I said this and rapidly rejoined, "Ah! you quote from Burke? Of course! Ah, ha!" 'and he sighed plaintively, “Few writers have the originality of Burke. Ah, yes, nowadays there seems to be nothing new under the sun!"

I felt like suggesting that his last remark was a plagiarism from King Solomon, but I luckily refrained and in turned asked him for a few particulars as to the various forms of literary larceny, a subject about which I knew nearly nothing, and of which he appeared to be perfect master. He bowed as though refusing a compliment which he, however, felt to be justly his due, and offering me a chair, which I accepted, he remarked:

"Plagiarism may be of two kinds,—the purloiner either appropriates the whole of his predecessor's work, or he only takes a part. The first form is naturally but little used. It is too dangerous, because too easily detected. But it exists: witness 'Beautiful Snow' and 'Rock Me to Sleep, Mother.' I may remark that men of taste and judgment never employ this form of plagiarism. Pieces of disputed authorship are generally of little value. The second form of stealing-' convey, the wise it call '—I quote, you observe, from the Merry Wives of Windsor'is far more common. A man may steal from a foreign author with little chance of detection, particularly if this writer lived in a former age. Some books now are only remembered because they have been so unmercifully plagiarized from. There are men who take a thought here and a thought there, wandering to and fro, culling flowers from every corner of the fertile field of literature, to make their own weak nosegay. There is not a line-not an idea-not an expression-not an epithet even, I assure you, in either Mr. Gray's Elegy' or Mr. Longfellow's 'Psalm of Life,' that cannot be found in the works of some of these gentlemen's predecessors. Some men seem to think themselves privileged to pilfer: even our friend Sheridan stole right and left, although he wrote in the 'Critic,' Scene I., Act I. Steal! to be sure they may, and, egad serve your best thoughts as gypsies do stolen chil dren,-disfigure them to make them pass for their