POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



575 



working of the Livct furnace appears to de- 

 pend upon the peculiar construetiou of its 

 flues, which are so built as to utilize the 

 effect of the decreasing volume of the gases 

 of combustion traveling toward the chimney, 

 so promoting a high velocity to the air pass- 

 ing through the furnace bars and producing 

 rapid combustion with intense heat. At the 

 same time, the effect of this peculiarity of 

 construction is to cause the gases themselves 

 to move slowly through the flues, so that 

 they may part with their useful heat before 

 escaping into the atmosphere. The force of 

 draught at the furnace is such that a high 

 and constant temperature is obtained and 

 efficiency of combustion insured, while all 

 unpleasant odors inherent in town garl)age 

 are destroyed. As an example of the heat 

 economy effected, it is said that whereas in 

 previous, generators the best results ever ob- 

 tained have been three quarters of a pound 

 of water evaporated on the combustion of 

 one pound of refuse, in the Livet generator 

 over three pounds of water are evaporated 

 into steam for every pound of refuse con- 

 sumed, in spite of the fact that it is fre- 

 quently known to contain twenty per cent of 

 moisture. The temperature of the gases 

 just before entering the chimney is stated to 

 be from 300 to 400 Fahr. lower than hitherto 

 obtained. The progression of the gases is 

 partially arrested at both ends of each flue 

 for the purpose of permitting them to de- 

 posit the contained light dust in suitable 

 expansion chambers or pits which can be 

 cleaned out when desirable. This arrange- 

 ment serves to overcome the objectionable 

 dust, which in ordinary " destructors " tends 

 to choke the flues and impregnate the ah- of 

 the surrounding districts. 



Uses of Driuks. In discussing the ques- 

 tion whether Australia will become a wine- 

 drinking country. Dr. Murray Gibbs pointed 

 out that different nations had always,, fi'om 

 time immemorial, selected certain beverages 

 as national drinks, and that the fact that the 

 fruit, leaf, or grain supplying the essential 

 principle of the drink was not always indige- 

 nous to the national soil was itself a proof 

 that convenience was not the only factor in- 

 dicating the choice. Many continental na- 

 tions drink, of course, the wine of their 

 particular district, and for centuries the 



Englishman's beer was made from the Eng- 

 lishman's barley. On the other hand, the 

 universal vogue of drinking decoctions made 

 from the Eastern shrubs tea and coffee 

 shows that the popularity of a beverage has 

 no geographical limits. The character of 

 the drink adopted as national must always 

 be largely dictated by the character of the 

 soil and food, and this, in turn, is dependent 

 upon the climate of the country. Sir Wil- 

 liam Roberts has said that all beverages, 

 alcoholic or non-alcoholic, conduce to one of 

 two conditions retardation of the digestive 

 process or excitation of the nervous system. 

 The harsher climates require the stronger 

 foods, and these inasmuch as time is neces- 

 sary for their proper assimilation call for 

 checks upon a too rapid and so incomplete 

 digestion. Chief among these are the vege- 

 table acids contained in wine, and the seda- 

 tive properties of tea and coffee. 



Occupations to aMaken Dormant Facul- 

 ties. In a paper on Industrial Training in 

 Reformatory Institutions (published by C. W. 

 Bardeen, Syracuse, N. Y.) Mr. F. M. Briggs, 

 of the State Industrial School, relates a few 

 incidents of cases in which mental powers, 

 before dormant, were awakened by setting 

 pupils at work for which they had a taste. 

 "There are boys in the State Industrial School 

 at the present time," the author says, " vvhose 

 interest we could not arouse in the common 

 schools. Some were naturally so weak men- 

 tally that^ after weeks of conscientious work 

 on the part of the teacher, they were not 

 afcle to repeat from memory a four-verse 

 stanza of a poem for children. Others would 

 not apply themselves sufficiently long to learn 

 anything. Some of these boys were placed 

 in the clay-modeling and wood-carving shop. 

 The boys who had been regarded as almost 

 idiots soon began to show improvement. 

 The boys who had been especially trouble- 

 some elsewhere, in the clay work ceased to 

 be annoying. When a boy begins work with 

 clay, he seems to feel himself in the unity of 

 things and he becomes happy accordingly ; 

 and, as he sees the formless clay take shape 

 beneath his touch, a sense of power is born 

 within him which arouses and quickens him." 

 A boy who had been cruel, cunning, and vi- 

 cious, presenting no point for reaching his 

 nature, one day in the wood-working shop 



