MECHANICS AND D5EFUL ART8. 85 



nish sugar perfectly ready for packing and shipping by evening 

 of the same day. The success of the claircing in the turbine de- 

 pends in a great degree on the skill of the workman in charge of 

 the ladle ; and this skill is the result of practice and observation. 

 So also in regard to the jet of steam sent into the turbine, and 

 which must he dry, that is, heated to a degree where it ceases to be 

 moist, as moist steam would cause the sugar to melt in the tur- 

 bine, instead of drying, as happened in the beginning in Mauri- 

 tius, where the planters began by using condensed steam, which 

 is very bad. 



'* The very large and splendid crystals shown in some of the 

 samples are easily obtained ; but they cost more and are incon- 

 veniently slow in melting. Those samples in the Exposition were 

 made simply to show what can be done ; but they would be un- 

 suitable for general use, as they would take a good half hour to 

 melt in water. 



"Let any one, desirous of ascertaining the relative qualities of 

 European-made and Mauritian-made sugars, dissolve the latter in 

 a glass of water, and observe its delightful perfume. But in order 

 to have this fine odor, the sugar must not have undergone fermen- 

 tation, nor have been subjected to refining by bone-black. All 

 the Mauritian sugars made by this process have this perfume, and 

 all are, strictly speaking, raw sugars; that is, they are purified 

 by a mode of fabrication from the juice, which is not refining, 

 and which makes no change in their natural savor." — Scientific 

 Amo'ican. 



THE INVENTION OF VULCANIZED RUBBER. 



After long years of effort and disappointment, Charles Good- 

 year stood apparently as far as ever from the attainment of his 

 object; until, one day, while in earnest conversation regarding his 

 proposed invention, he emphasized an assertion by flinging away 

 at random a piece of rubber combined with sulphur that he held 

 in his hand. The fragment fell upon the stove, was subject to a 

 higher heat than that to which he ever ventured designedly to 

 subject the material ; and when it was recovered, it was found to 

 possess the qualities for which he had sought so long; cold did 

 not harden and heat did not soften the water-proof and elastic 

 mass. And thus sprang forth the germ of an invention that has 

 built up a new branch of manufacturing industry, given employ- 

 ment to thousands of operatives, and added in myriad forms to 

 the conveniences of life. — Amei-ican Artisan. 



NEW LAMPS. 



A lamp has recently been invented in France, the flame of 



w^liich is said to be as brilliant as the oxy-hydrogen and lime 



lights, while it is much less costly. Coal gas, intimately mixed 



with air, is urged with gentle pressure along a tube, and made to 



8 



