420 ANNUAL KECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTEY. 



plate is turned toward the front to protect it from being 

 smoked, but when the fire is fairly burning, the plate is 

 turned back at an angle of forty-five degrees, as indicated by 

 the wheel on the side of the stove. The result is described 

 about as follows: The reflection from the bright metallic sur- 

 face produces the effect of a double fire, and adds greatly to its 

 cheerfulness. In addition to this, it is claimed that the large 

 amount of heat thus reflected by the plate is, to a great exteut, 

 a clear gain, and that the efiect of its employment is readily 

 perceived in increased warmth at quite a distance from its 

 source. Furthermore, it is claimed that the rush of air usual- 

 ly passing up the chimney of an open stove or grate, and which 

 makes this excellent form of heating apparatus so expensive 

 in rapid consumption of fuel, is checked and thrown down on 

 the fuel, producing surface combustion, while the draught at 

 the base may be shut ofi*, giving a clear, bright fire, without 

 wasteful consumption of coal. Iron Age, September 30. 



METHOD or COOLING THE AIK. 



MM. Nezereaux and Garlandal have lately devised a proc- 

 ess of cooling and at the same time purifying the air in- 

 troduced into dwellings for j^urposes of ventilation. It 

 consists of a fan caused to revolve rapidly, by means of 

 Avhich the air is forced into a closed box, and made to pass 

 through a horizontal diaphragm with holes, over which a 

 very thin layer of water is continually flowing. The air, as 

 it passes through this thin film of water from below, is de- 

 prived of its organic particles, which remain in solution in 

 the water, which is continually dripping down into the lower 

 chamber and drawn off*, the air itself passing up and out 

 through a pipe in any desired direction. 13 Jj, Dec. 18, 34. 



IMPEOYEMENT IN FIRE-PLACES. 



Forestier describes an improvement in the ordinary fire- 

 place, in which by contracting the smoke-flue for some dis- 

 tance above the fire-place, and by introducing side flues for 

 the admission of fresh air, he is, he states, able to effect a 

 very material economy in the consumption of coal ; the fire- 

 place as built by him, with an open basket grate, is superior 

 to any of those described by Morian, Peclet, Grouvelle, and 

 Clement. He finds that ordinary chimneys, producing the 



