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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



quently required. The lenses should be as 

 large as the face of the wearer permits, so 

 that the eyes may be well covered in their 

 ordinary lateral movements. The reflections 

 from the edges of frameless glasses which 

 annoy many may be avoided by slightly dull- 

 ing the polish on the lower edge. The glasses 

 should be worn as close to the eyes as pos- 

 sible without touching the lashes. Occasion- 

 ally, when the lashes are especially long, 

 with feathery or uneven ends, they should be 

 neatly trimmed with the scissors, which is 

 best practiced when the eyes are closed. It 

 is also to be borne in mind that the subject 

 has an artistic aspect, and that by giving 

 proper consideration to this phase much 

 may be done to remove the prejudice which 

 frequently attaches to the wearing of 

 glasses. 



The Niagara Reservation. The Com- 

 missioners of the State Reservation at 

 Niagara, in their report for 1890, insist on 

 the importance of making adequate provis- 

 ion for permanent improvements at Niagara, 

 and especially of the restoration of the 

 territory of the reservation to a state of 

 natural simplicity and beauty. The work 

 of restoration has for several years presented 

 itself as that which should principally en- 

 gage the attention of the board. Its appli- 

 cations to the Legislature for appropriations 

 do not, however, seem to have been appre- 

 ciated. But, in 1889, the grant of $15,000 

 for " repairs of roads, bridges, and better- 

 ments," enabled them to make a beginning, 

 and they created a breakwater for the pro- 

 tection of the shore of Goat Island against 

 erosion. Besides this $15,000 the appro- 

 priations for the maintenance and improve- 

 ment of the reservation have in all not ex- 

 ceeded $75,000 since 1883; in return the 

 commissioners have paid into the treasury, 

 from the "earnings" of the reservation, 

 $24,395, leaving $50,604 as what the res- 

 ervation actually cost the State for mainte- 

 nance during seven years. " To educated 

 tourists, whether native or foreign," the 

 commissioners say, " the disinclination of 

 this great and prosperous State to provide 

 means for the restoration of the scenery of 

 the Falls of Niagara must appear somewhat 

 surprising if not inexplicable. The fame of 

 no other natural phenomenon in the world 



equals that of New York's great cataract." 

 The popular approval of the State's acquisi- 

 tion of the falls has been exhibited so often 

 and in so many ways that it can not be mis- 

 taken ; and public condemnation, also often 

 shown, of propositions to mar the falls for 

 the sake of money-making schemes, has been 

 significant, and gratifying to all who are in- 

 terested in Niagara. 



Firing Porcelain with Petrolenm. The 



porcelain manufacturers of Limoges, France, 

 have been seeking for many years means of 

 cheapening the cost of firing their wares, 

 the expense for fuel there being two or 

 three times greater than in England and 

 Bohemia. Wages were reduced and new 

 processes were tried without securing the 

 object aimed at, till at last petroleum and 

 residuum oils were tried, when results 

 were gained far better than had been an- 

 ticipated. The heat was found absolutely 

 pure. No gases or smoke discolored the 

 china, which came from the kiln whiter and 

 in better condition than when it is fired by 

 the heat of wood. In the muffles there was 

 a decided advantage. The delicate colors, 

 which show at once the presence of the 

 slightest quantities of gas, were perfect. 

 Consul Griffin thinks that this new discovery 

 promises to revolutionize the whole porce- 

 lain industry. It is estimated that, by em- 

 ploying these oils, there will be a reduction 

 of some fifteen or twenty per cent in the 

 cost of making china. 



NOTES. 



The New Jersey Weather Service, organ- 

 ized in December, 1887, has already accumu- 

 lated many valuable meteorological data. It 

 has, at the request of the Superintendent of 

 the Eleventh Census, prepared and forwarded 

 a table showing the mean annual tempera- 

 ture and the mean annual rainfall, deter- 

 mined from observations made at fifty-eight 

 stations, together with the length of each 

 series from which the mean was determined ; 

 it has furnished the State Board of Health 

 complete annual reports of twelve stations; 

 and has distributed weather indications, cold- 

 wave and frost warnings, and, during the 

 growing season, weather-crop bulletins. As 

 established and now in operation, it is an 

 organization of voluntary observers, co-oper- 

 ating with the United States Weather Serv- 

 ice, the State Agricultural Society, and the 

 State Experiment Station ; the national serv- 



