ccx GENERAL SUMMARY OF SCIENTIFIC AND 



the crowded streets of cities, and the substitution therefor of sub- 

 terranean lines, tlie latter system has been in successful operation in 

 the cities of Continental Europe and in England for the past twenty 

 years. In many instances, for example, on the Continent, there are 

 long lines of underground telegraph extending through the conn- 

 try, notably the lines connecting the German fortresses ; and the 

 cable laid directly on the surface of the ground in several cases suf- 

 fices to insure jDermanent and reliable telegraphic communication 

 between countries situated on opposite sides of the Alps and other 

 mountains of Europe. AjJivpos of this toj^ic, we note the appear- 

 ance of a report that a subterranean line will be laid down between 

 the cities of Halle and Berlin, and that in the future all the German 

 telegraphs will be underground. The advantages of the under- 

 ground or cable system as compared with the aerial are obvious. 

 It obviates, to a large extent, the numerous causes of interruption of 

 communication resulting from the breaking of wires, whether by ac- 

 cident or malice, accumulations of sleet, ice, etc., or the frequent fall- 

 ing of poles ; it largely obviates the evil of the general imperfection 

 of insulation, so severely felt by telegraph operators during a long 

 spell of wet weather to say nothing of the disfigurement of the 

 streets and highways by posts and wires, which no amount of inge- 

 nuity can make sightly or attractive. That the unsightly pole sys- 

 tem, with its many objectionable features, which have long since 

 f)ractically eficcted its banishment as a nuisance from the cities of 

 Europe, should still be suffered to exist in this country, which of all 

 others has contributed more than any other to improve the art of 

 telegraphy through the achievements of a host of ingenious invent- 

 ors, is one of the puzzles of the day, and afi^ords a conspicuous exam- 

 ple of indifference to the introduction of a demonstrated improve- 

 ment that is eminently un-American. 



In the province of illumination, perhaps the most noteworthy do- 

 mestic event of the past year was the successful inauguration of the 

 Lowe water-gas process at the Manayunk Station of the Philadel- 

 phia Gas Trust. In our Record of last year we gave a brief descrip- 

 tion of the modus operandi of this very interesting process, to which 

 w^e must refer our readers for details, remarking only in this place 

 that the gist of the process is the simultaneous decomposition of 

 steam and petroleum in the presence of incandescent carbon (an- 

 thracite), in a vertical chamber termed the generator ; the fixation 

 of the resulting mixed gases by their passage through an intensely 

 heated mass of fire-brick, in a second chamber called the superheat- 

 er; and the subsequent washing and purification of the product ac- 

 cording to the usual methods employed in the ordinary coal gas- 

 works. The Utica works, which uji to the jDresent year were the 

 largest that have been erected, and which were alluded to in our 

 summary for the year 1875, had a daily capacity of about 200,000 



