NOTES 'BY THE EDITOfc. VII 



use a large amount of coal heretofore regarded as useless. In the 

 Whelpley and Storer furnace, described on page 211, by the use 

 of pulverized fuel in reducing the sulphides also in a state of fine 

 powder, there is a great saving of metal. When we reflect upon 

 the facts that the loss on the production of bullion in this country, 

 from lack of economy in the reduction of ores, amounts this year 

 to 25,000,000 dollars ; and that the waste on coal, from the inabil- 

 ity to burn the fine dust, amounts to more than twenty-five per 

 cent, of the whole amount mined, we may form some idea of 

 the importance of a process which has thus far yielded signal 

 advantages. 



The problem of ascending mountains by railroads having steep 

 gradients and sharp curves, by means of a third or central rail 

 upon which run a pair of horizontal wheels, has been successfully 

 solved by the passage over Mt. Cenis of a train of cars, with passen- 

 gers and freight, from St. Michel to Susa, a distance of forty-eight 

 miles. The summit of the pass thus ascended is more than 6,300 

 feet above the sea, and over 3,800 feet from the initial point on 

 the French side. This was originally an American invention, 

 patented many years ago in this country. This would seem to 

 settle the question of the feasibility of ascending by rail such 

 ascents as the Hoosac mountain. 



The processes for making artificial stones for building and orna- 

 mental purposes have been so perfected that man's work in this 

 direction surpasses that of nature, in that the artificial stones 

 are more indestructible and compact than the natural ones ; easily 

 moulded to any form or applied to any surface ; applicable in thin 

 films to walls or wood-work, rendering them uninflammable and 

 water-proof; multiplying correctly and cheaply the master-pieces 

 of the sculptor's art as photography multiplies pictorial represen- 

 tations of objects ; and opening a branch of artistic and profitable 

 industry, the extent of which can hardly at present be estimated. 



The use of petroleum as fuel for domestic purposes, and for the 

 generation of steam in stationary, marine, and locomotive boilers, 

 seems to combine economy of space, time and labor, safety, and 

 cleanliness, as shown by carefully conducted experiments in Bos- 

 ton, New York, and Pennsylvania. The fuel is cheap, and the 

 apparatus for its use simple, inexpensive, and durable. The ques- 

 tion of the most perfect utilization of the heating power of fuel is o 

 vast importance, in view of the occasional inadequate supply and 

 high prices of coal ; it involves the water and land transportation 

 of the whole civilized world, and consequent commercial prosperity 



