sea,

tinental representatives of science, nothing certain is known about the publication of his journal. "Livingstonia. A Journal of Adventures in Exploring Lake Nyassa and Establishing a Missionary Settlement," by Captain Young, the commander of the first European vessel ever launched on that inland is a narrative of great interest. It is edited by Rev. H. Waller, who performed the same office for Dr. Livingstone's last journals. The most important general work on Africa ever published is the book enlarged and founded on Professor Hellwald's German work forming a portion of his | "Earth and Man." It is entitled "Compendium of Geography and Travel in Africa," and is edited and extended by Keith Johnston, and brought out under the auspices of Mr. Edward Stanford,—the two names best known to all who are conversant with geographical literature in England. As a condensation of existing knowledge, with the addition of much original information, its value is great. The name of the editor is sufficient authority for the maps, and the ethnological and Livingstonia features of the continent are thoroughly treated in appendices by Professor A. H. Keane. It is intended to continue the series, and the volumes respecting the other portions of the globe are now intrusted to the scientific men most competent to do justice each to his subject. "The Country of the Moors: A Journey from Tripoli, in Barbary, to the Holy City of Kairwan," is a pleasant volume, recording some eventful experiences in a rarely trodden track, by Mr. Edward Rae, who seems re gardless of climate, as his last book, "The Land of the North Wind," describes his adventures within the Arctic circle. His account of Mohammedan fanaticism connects his book with Major Osborne's work, "Islam Under the Khalifs of Bagdad," a continuation of the important work commenced by his "Islam Under the Arabs,"-the most thorough review of the spirit and results of that faith ever brought within the reach of the English reader. In another portion of the globe, the list of recent books of travel is completed by "Fifteen Thousand Miles on the Amazon and its Tributaries," by C. Babington Browne and William Lidstone. The authors were members of an expedition for the exploration of the Amazon and its tributaries and the neighboring territory, sent out by the Amazon

Possessing more

Steam Navigation Company. than ordinary facilities on this account, they accomplished within two years the ordinary work of five, and their handsomely illustrated volume furnishes the most full and trustworthy account of that region ever accessible to the public. The only recent contribution to the literature of the war in the East is "The Armenian Campaign: Diary of the Campaign of 1877 in Armenia and Koordestan," by C. Williams, attaché to the staff of Muktar Pasha.

The general reader may be pleased at the production of the first complete and uniform edition of the works of George Eliot, elegantly printed in new and legible type on fine paper, about to appear in monthly volumes, to be completed in eleven, within the present year. It will include the dramatic writings, besides some shorter stories hitherto uncollected, and commences with "Romola,"-a work formerly unattainable in the same style as its fellows from being issued by a different publisher. The elegant edition of Sir Henry Taylor's works, also for the first time, comprises in one series his "Notes from Life and from Books," lately very scarce. The complete works form only five volumes, as the author of " Philip Van Artevelde” has always been more solicitous of writing well than writing much. A new and enlarged edition of "A Manual of English Literature, Historical and Critical, with Appendix of English Metres," by Thomas Arnold, forms now the best small work on the subject. The writer's acquaintance with early English literature has been shown by the editions of "Beowulf" and of Wyclif's English works from the Oxford University press. His book is accordingly not a compilation, like most of its kind, but one of original criticism and literary history, embodying a great amount of information in a small compass. "A History of English Humor, with an Appendix on Ancient Humor," is written by Rev. A. G. L'Estrange. His theme is so extensive that two modern-sized volumes seem scarcely sufficient to do it justice. "The History and Poetry of the Scottish Border, their Main Features and Relations," is by Professor Veitch of Glasgow, in one volume. A handsome volume in small 4to, “St. Kilda, Past and Present," by George Seton, Advocate, shows what strange extremes of civilization may be experienced even within the limits of the British Isles.

"Muslin" Glass.

THE demand for translucent glass in building and furnishing has led to the use of acids in etching, grinding, abrasion by the sand-blast, painting and burning, and other methods of destroying the transparency without making the glass perfectly opaque. All of these processes have their advantages and give highly decorative work, either in two colors or in plain glass. A new method of making an orna

mental semi-transparent glass, called "muslinglass," has been introduced that admits of the use of a number of colors on the same sheet of glass. By this process the glass is first carefully cleaned, and is then covered with a thin coating of vitrifiable color or pigment. This coloring matter is mixed with gum-water into the form of a thin paste, and when evenly and carefully spread on the surface of the glass is suffered to dry. A gentle heat may be used

to hasten the evaporation of the water and fix the pigment on the glass. When the gum is dry, a stencil is laid over the glass, and, by means of a stiff brush, the pigment is rubbed off where it is exposed by the design cut in the stencil. These parts are to be transparent, and they may be left in this condition without any further ornamentation if it is desired. To add other colors, or to decorate these blank places, the process is continued by placing lace, muslin, or embroidery of a suitable design, in keeping with the pattern of the stencil, over the stencil at the exposed places. The plate, with the stencil and the lace, is put in a frame, to keep them in position, and is then put into a tight box. In this box is a small quantity of dry color of a different tint or shade from the first pigment, and by means of an air-blast the dry powder is blown over the glass. It lodges on the exposed parts of the stencil and the spaces between the threads of the lace, and when the surface is well coated, the plate is carefully taken from the box and submitted to the action of hot steam. This causes the gum to soften on the exposed parts, and the dry powder sticks to the surface wherever not protected by the threads of the lace. On cooling the plate, the lace and the stencil may be removed, and the glass, with the two pigments adhering to it, is put in the furnace and burned in the usual manner. The colors are fused into the glass just as they lie on the plate, and the pattern of the stencil and the transparent places, more or less covered by the lace, are permanently decorated in the two colors. It will be noticed that by this most promising method of treating ornamental glass any number of colors may be laid on one sheet in any desired pattern. The present range of colors may be also greatly enlarged by placing one pigment over the other, and thus blending them into new tints and shades.

Water Pressure Regulator.

THE use of water under pressure for domestic and manufacturing purposes, as in the Holly system, often necessitates the employment of some means of controlling the pressure of the water so that it may remain constant at the delivery pipes under varying pressure in the street mains. An apparatus designed for this duty, and easily adjusted to any size of service pipe, has been brought out and is reported to be reliable and effective. It consists of a tubular chamber of iron having an inlet for the water at one side near the top, and a delivery pipe at the opposite side near the bottom. On top of this chamber is fastened a cylinder open at the top and connected with the chamber at the bottom. At the bottom is fixed another of somewhat smaller diameter. In the center of the chamber is a diaphragm having an opening in the middle of the same diameter as the top cylinder and in a vertical line with it. In the two cylinders, above and below, are pistons, fitting water-tight, and joined together by a rod that passes through the opening in the diaphragm. On this rod is secured a cone-shaped valve that closes the hole in the diaphragm when drawn

up against it. Attached to the piston in the lower cylinder is another rod extending below and designed to support a weight that may be fastened to the lower end. When in position and ready for use, the water is let on from the main and fills the upper half of the chamber and tends to push up the piston in the upper cylinder, and this lifts the rod bearing the conical valve and thus closes the opening into the lower half of the chamber. To counterbalance this upward pressure, weights are placed on the rod extending below the lower cylinder till the weight exceeds the water pressure when the valve opens and the water flows through the apparatus, escaping at the outlet. Now if the press. ure in the mains increases beyond the weight, the water lifts the weight and closes the valve just in the proportion that the pressure exceeds the weight. In this manner the varying pressure continually adjusts the valve, and the pressure at the delivery pipe remains constant. If the pressure falls below the weight, then the valve opens wide and the water flows through the regulator without obstruction, and at its initial pressure. It will be seen that by this device any required pressure at the service pipe may be fixed by the weight, and when once adjusted the regulator delivers the water at a uniform pressure, so long as the initial pressure exceeds the weight.

Economy of Fuel.

THE waste of heat by the escape of unconsumed gases from coal burned in the furnaces commonly in use is excessive, and experiments are constantly being made to secure a more perfect combustion of the fuel to save the heat thrown uselessly up the chimney and to prevent the production of smoke. Among the later and more promising of these experiments is one employing two fires, one fire designed as a gas-producer, and the other as a gasconsumer. This double fire system, or twin furnace, has been applied to steam-boilers, and from the reports of experts, it is said to give excellent results. The twin furnace is applied to horizontal tubular boilers, either by placing a fire-box at each end of the boiler or side by side at one end. By the first plan, the boiler is set in brick-work, with a fire-box at each end, and with a bridge between them, precisely as if a second fire-box was placed in the empty space behind the bridge of an ordinary boiler. The doors for the two fires are at the side, and the chimney is at the opposite side, half-way between the ends of the boiler. The flues of the boiler open at each end into a chamber that communicates, by means of a flue over the top of the boiler, with the chimney. Fire-brick doors, or horizontal dampers, are hung on rods in these chambers, and by means of chains and suitable lifting apparatus they may be raised or lowered so as to close or open traps or doors at the top and bottom of these chambers, the dampers being so arranged that while the top or bottom of one chamber is open, the top or bottom of the other chamber is closed. A movement of the apparatus reverses this, and the position

of the dampers is changed.

In operating the twin furnace, a fire is started, say, in the rear or left-hand fire-box. The flue-door is open next the fire, and the smoke and unconsumed gas pass into the rear chamber, and as the damper above is closed, they pass through the flues to the front chamber and thence upward into the chimney. When the fire is bright, the dampers are reversed, and the front fire is started. The smoke and unconsumed gas, finding no escape through the chamber, pass over the bridge into the rear fire-box. Here the unconsumed gas meets the hot air from the first fire that is now at a white-heat, and at once takes fire and is consumed as it flows on into the flues toward the chimney. This process continues till the rear fire needs more fuel, when the position of the dampers is reversed. Fresh coal is put on the rear fire, and the unconsumed gas turns to the right or toward the front over the bridge and sweeps over the front fire that is now burning brightly. The gas, supplied with fresh hot air, breaks into flame as before, and flows on into the front chamber, and thence through the boiler flues from front to back (right to left) to the chimney. When, in turn, the front fire needs replenishing, the dampers are changed again, the current of the products of combustion is reversed, and the two furnaces change duties, one making gas, the other consuming it. Another form of twin furnace has the two fire-boxes placed side by side at the front, the space under the boiler being divided by a brick wall extending the whole length of the boiler. In this form of furnace, a single damper of fire-brick, pivoted at one end, is placed between the two fires so that it may be shut down over either one at will. The fire being started in one of the fire-boxes, the smoke and unconsumed gas pass backward under the boiler to the rear and through an opening in the dividing-wall to the opposite side of the boiler, thence along the outside to the front again. Here the damper is open, and the gases move through the other fire-box to the flues of the boiler, and thence to the chimney in the usual manner. When the fire is burning brightly, the position of the damper is changed, and the second is started. The gas from this fire passes backward under the boiler, forward along the side, and then through the first fire. Here the unconsumed gas and smoke meet with fresh supplies of hot air and are immediately burned. When the first fire needs more fuel, the process of gas-making and burning begins again in the other direction. This novel form of furnace presents features of practical value as a gas-consuming furnace and fuel economizer. The waste of fuel and heat in ordinary furnaces results from the escape of gas driven off and sent up the chimney before it can be ignited. By passing it over a second fire, where fresh supplies of highly heated air are combined with flame, it is set on fire and consumed before escaping to the open air. The twin furnace is already in practical operation, and, so far as tried,

is reported to show no smoke at the top of the chimney with Cumberland coal, except for a few seconds, just as fresh fuel is placed on one of the two fires, and except when only one fire is lighted. A decided saving of fuel is also reported.

out.

Memoranda.

A COMBINED scoop and weighing apparatus for the use of tea and sugar dealers has been brought The scoop is of the usual form, and has a double stem or handle, one stem sliding within the other. A spring balance is secured within the hollow handle and supporting the inner stem that is attached to the scoop. Friction-rollers are placed on the stem so that it will play freely in the outer handle, and, by means of a spring-catch, the stem may be fixed in any position desired. To use the apparatus, the catch is pressed by the thumb, while the handle is grasped in the hand, and the sugar or other material to be weighed is gathered in the scoop. The scoop is then held upright, the catch is released, and the weight of the scoop is thrown on the spring. By means of a pointer and scale on the handle the weight may then be read. A set-screw is added to the apparatus for compensating for the wear of the spring by usage.

Pasi, of Italy, recommends the use of perchloride of iron and sea-salt in solution as a tanning liquid. The perchloride of iron has the advantage of being a disinfectant, thus preventing much of the unwholesomeness attending the usual methods of tanning. The solution is reported to tan the hides at a gain of one-half the time needed where bark is used.

A new form of foundations for buildings has been made the subject of some recent experiments. Trenches were cut down to the hard-pan and then filled with water. Sand was then sifted into the water till the trenches were filled with the mingled sand and water, and when the sand had settled into a compact mass concrete was spread over it, and on this the walls were erected.

The gum of the Prosopis glandulosa or mesquite of Texas has been examined to test its value as a mucilaginous gum, and it is reported as almost identical in properties with the common gum-arabic. The mesquite is a mimosa, several species of which may be found in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The gum exudes from the stem and branches of the plant, and large quantities of the gum have been gathered and sold within the past

season.

In the manufacture of files a new method of making round files has been tried. Fluted bars of steel are twisted in a spiral, and the teeth are cut on the spiral ribs thus formed. The fluting of the file gives a convenient means of clearing away the refuse from the work.

Fox, and trotted away, with the Remark that Welsh Rabbits never agreed with him, and were far inferior in Quality to the animate Variety.

Moral.-The foregoing Fable is supported by a whole Gatling Battery of Morals. We are taught (1) that it Pays to take the Papers; (2) that Invitation is not Always the Sincerest Flattery; (3) that a Stalled Rabbit with Contentment is better than No Bread, and (4) that the Aim of Art is to Conceal Disappointment.

The Good Samaritan.

A CERTAIN Man went from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among Thieves, who beat him and stripped him and left him for dead. A Good Samaritan, seeing this, clapped Spurs to his Ass and galloped away, lest he should be sent to the House of Detention as a Witness while the Robbers were released on Bail. Moral.-The Perceiver is worse than the Thief.

A VENETIAN merchant who was lolling in the lap of Luxury was accosted upon the Rialto by a Friend who had not seen him for many months. "How is this?" cried the latter; "when I last saw you your Gaberdine was out at elbows, and now you sail in your own Gondola." "True," replied the Merchant, but since then I have met with serious losses and been obliged to compound with my Creditors for ten Cents on the Dollar.

Moral.-Composition is the Life of Trade.

The Two Turkeys.

AN Honest Farmer once led his two Turkeys into his Granary and told them to eat, drink and be merry. One of these Turkeys was wise and one foolish. The foolish Bird at once indulged excessively in the Pleasures of the Stable, unsuspicious of the Future, but the wiser Fowl, in order that he might not be fattened and slaughtered, fasted continually, mortified his Flesh and devoted himself to gloomy Reflec tions upon the brevity of Life. When Thanksgiving approached, the Honest Farmer killed both Turkeys, and by placing a Rock in the interior of the Prudent Turkey made him weigh more than his plumper Brother.

Moral.-As we Travel through Life, Let us Live by the Way.

The Glow-worm and the Famished
Nightingale.

A FAMISHED Nightingale, who had been singing to very Thin Houses, chanced to encounter a Glow-worm at Eventide and prepared to make upon him a Light Repast. The unfortunate Lampyris Splendidula besought the Songster, in the sacred Name of Art, not to quench his Vital Spark, and appealed to his Magnanimity. "The Nightingale who needlessly sets Claw upon a Glow-worm," he said, "is a Being whom it were gross Flattery to term a Luscinia Philomela." The Bird, however, turned a deaf Beak to these Appeals and was about to douse the Glim, when the Glow-worm cried out, "Beware, lest I give you the Heartburn; remember how Herod and Luther died of a diet of Glowworms," and while the Nightingale (who was by no means a bad Bird at Stomach) was considering these Propositions, escaped, hanging out false Lights to baffle his Enemy's Pursuit.

Moral.-Let the Dead Past bury its Dead; Act, act in the Living Present.

The Grasshopper and the Ant. A FRIVOLOUS Grasshopper, having spent the Summer in Mirth and Revelry, went on the Approach of the inclement Winter to the Ant, and implored it of its charity to stake him. "You had better go to your Uncle," replied the prudent Ant; "had you imitated my Forethought and deposited your Funds in a Savings Bank you would not now be compelled to regard your Duster in the light of an Ulster." Thus saying, the virtuous Ant retired, and read in the Papers next morning that the Savings Bank where he had deposited his Funds had suspended. Moral.-Dum Vivimus, Vivamus.

The Honest Newsboy.

A NEWSBOY was passing along the Street, when he chanced to discover a Purse of Greenbacks. He was at first inclined to conceal it, but, repelling the unworthy Suggestion, he asked a Venerable Man if it was his'n. The Venerable Man looked at it hurriedly, said it was, patted him on the Head, gave him a Quarter, and said he would yet be President. The Venerable Man then hastened away, but was arrested for having Counterfeit Bills in his possession, while the honest Newsboy played pennyante with his humble Quarter and ran it up to $2.62. Moral.-Honesty is. Sometimes the Best Policy. The Socratic Chimpanzee and the Shallow Baboon.

A CHIMPANZEE who had long viewed with Envy the Popularity of a Shallow but Pretentious Baboon, asked him to account for the presence of the Milk in the Cocoa-nut. The Baboon replied that his Questioner believed in the Darwinian Theory that Monkeys degenerated into Men; an answer which so delighted the Spectators that they tore the Chimpanzee into Pieces, while the Baboon's work on the Conflict of Science and Orthodoxy attained a Hundredth Edition.

Moral.-A Hard Question turneth away Argu

ment.

The Prudent Tiger.

A PRUDENT Tiger having observed a Procession bearing the Remains of a Sainted Brahmin to the Tomb, communicated the Intelligence to his Wife, who said, "My dear, we are almost out of Meat, and though the Deceased, from the Austerities of his pious Life, was in poor Condition, I make no Doubt that among his surviving Friends we may encounter others more Succulent." "Miserable Tigress," exclaimed her Lord, "cannot you see that if we permit the Deceased to be canonized, Pilgrimages will be instituted to his Tomb, and the Producer and Consumer will be brought together in accordance with the True Principles of Political Economy? Rather let us, then, offer a Chromo for each new Pilgrim." This prudent Advice being followed, the Tiger enjoyed a Free Breakfast Table to the End of his Days.

Moral.-Beware of Breaking the Egg that Hatches the Golden Goose.

The Hare and the
Tortoise.

THE Hare once challenged the Tortoise to a Trial of

Speed. The Hare frisked about merrily, paying little attention to his Rival, or jeering him for his Slowness. The Tortoise, however, plodded along steadily and had well-nigh reached the Goal, when the Hare observed his Progress. Away darted the Hare like lightning and won the race.

Moral. The race is not always to the Slow.

"How Women Love Dress!"
BY W. W. CRANE.

HE sat by a window at twilight,
And placidly puffed his cigar.
He gazed on a neighboring sky-light,
And thought of his bank stock at par.
Two voices came upward, as high as
The place where he sat, from the street;
Two ladies, on "gored" and on "bias,"
Were holding communion sweet.

Then he mused upon feminine folly
And fashion's absurd excess;
And he said with a tone melancholy:
"How women do rave over dress!

"Just get any two of them started

"J

And they'll talk for a month about clothes." He spoke like a hero, strong-hearted, Who all such frivolity loathes.

"And the way they oppress the poor creatures Who build all those dresses and things! They'd like to make marks on their features For a little mistake in the strings."

Here a knock at the door. Then a waiter And a new suit of garments appear. "Oh, they've come, have they? Strange they're

not later.

Quick, light up the whole chandelier!"

One glance from a proper position
Suffices their fate to decide;
The linings are only Silesian,

The trowsers a trifle too wide.

"Well, if I don't pitch into that Schindler! I never did see such a bilk.