K. DOMESTIC AND HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY. 451 



Marseilles, to the preservation of beer in bottles, by heating 

 thirty minutes in a water -bath at 115 to 118^, and then 

 allowing it to cool rapidly. The taste is rendered somewhat 

 milder by the operation, but with storage this effect ceases 

 to be noticeable. When bottled with carbonic acid, and 

 well corked, it is very effervescent. To preserve it a long 

 time, the temperature should be higher, ranging between 

 115 and 130, and it is even well to repeat the heating after 

 several months. 5 (7, XV., 1874, 115. 



GLYCERIC AS AN ILLUMINANT. 



Pure glycerin, it is said, may be burned in any lamp so 

 arranged that the wick shall not be elevated above the sur- 

 face of the liquid, since the sirupy consistence of the mate- 

 rial prevents it from ascending an elevated wick. The flame 

 is, like that of alcohol, almost colorless. The ready miscibil- 

 ity, however, of this substance with others has given rise to 

 a number of experiments to determine whether the flame 

 could not be colored with foreign substances. The results 

 of these experiments are said to have been quite satisfactory. 

 By introducing into the glycerin substances rich in carbon, 

 it appears that the flame is rendered suitable for illuminat- 

 ing purposes. It is possible, in view of the cheapness of this 

 material, and its non-volatility save at a high temperature, 

 that this property may find extensive application. 



IMPROVED REFRIGERATORS. 



An important improvement seems to have been made in 

 reference to the preservation of meat and other food in the 

 inventions of M. Kellier, who demonstrates by actual exper- 

 iments that methylic ether can be so employed to produce 

 cold as to assure the transportation of viands to very great 

 distances without suffering from the atmospheric tempera- 

 ture. The ordinary refrigerators constructed by his sys- 

 tem are said to have preserved meats for two months with 

 perfect freshness. Very suggestive is the construction of a 

 cistern as employed by him for the preservation of viands 

 in every household. This cistern replaces the ordinary mov- 

 able refrigerator, and is simply a well, the temperature of 

 which is kept very low, and into which the viands to be pre- 

 served are lowered by a proper frame suspended from a pul- 



