862 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ings could have a new aspect ; and again, 

 round a family lantern, groups might gather 

 to read, sew, or engage in games, and thus a 

 bome-felt pleasure could quiet restless spir- 

 its, craving questionable or illicit amuse- 

 ments. More true enjoyment might be ob- 

 served in such groups than on the piazzas of 

 fashionable resorts. Landlords could arrange 

 for the periodical sweeping of roofs, as well 

 as of the halls and stairways, and, among a 

 very large class of the respectable poor, 

 pride would stimulate to a tidy and deco- 

 rative care of their home parks." By a lit- 

 tle alteration in structure the upper stories 

 of houses, now stuffy places enough, could 

 be made light and air^, and attractive as re- 

 sorts or play-rooms in inclement weather. 

 This recalls the papers contributed by Mr. 

 Bunce in " Appletons' Journal " several years 

 ago, in which a similar utilization of the 

 roofs of the tall houses just then coming 

 into fashion, or their conversion into gar- 

 dens, was advised and illustrated with pleas- 

 ing descriptions of what might be. 



Adolf Sntro's Water-Power.— Mr. Adolf 

 Sutro's aquarium at San Francisco, though 

 at a higher level than the ocean, is fed by 

 sea-water in sufficient quantities to furnish 

 a strong constant stream by the action of 

 natural forces only. How it is done has 

 been told, in the California Academy of Nat- 

 ural Sciences, by Mr. Theodore H. Hittell, 

 who indicates also what may be a new eco- 

 nomical power. The aquarium is on the 

 lee side of a jutting rock. Through this 

 rock, and leading out to its exposed face, is 

 a short tunnel, while on the face of the rock 

 most exposed to the rollers of the ocean is 

 an excavated hollow place or basin, the bot- 

 tom of which is several feet above high- 

 water mark. As the rollers come in they 

 dash violently against the face of the rock, 

 rise in mingled water and foam to a very 

 considerable height, and splash over into 

 the basin. The water thus caught in the 

 basin does not fall back into the ocean, but 

 runs through the tunnel into the aquarium 

 and maintains its high level. Between that 

 level and the level of the ocean in the cove, 

 where there is no rock to dash against and 

 no splashing, there is a fall, as indicated by 

 the running stream, of several feet — enough 

 to furnish very valuable water-power. The 



principle of gaining a head of water thus 

 applied may obviously be made of great im- 

 portance at many points along the coast. 

 Though the main body of water to be caught 

 is thrown up only during high tide, there is 

 hardly any limit to the amount that may be 

 thus secured, provided the basin is large 

 enough and not too elevated. 



Fast Railway-Trains. — Some remarkably 

 fast time has been made recently by trains 

 between London and Edinburgh, in conse- 

 quence of a rivalry between the Northwest- 

 em and the Great Northern Railways. The 

 journey formerly took nine hours, but last 

 summer the former road reduced the time to 

 eight hours and a half. Its rival then made 

 it eight hours, and, on August 6th, the Scotch 

 Express, on the Northwestern, covered the 

 distance in eight minutes less. The times of 

 the runs made without stopping on this trip 

 were: Euston to Crewe (158 miles), 2 h. 

 56 m. ; Crewe to Preston (52^ miles), 51m.; 

 Preston to Carlisle (90 miles), 1 h. 38 m. ; 

 Carlisle to Edinburgh (100| miles), 1 h. 45 m. ; 

 the average speeds attained being the high- 

 est yet reached. On the second day of the 

 accelerated service, this train, consisting of 

 an engine with six coaches, made the run 

 from Crewe to Preston in fifty minutes, and 

 that from Preston to Carlisle in ninety min- 

 utes. This is claimed as beating every pre- 

 vious record. 



Sagacity of the Blood-honnd.— The blood- 

 hound is declared by Dr. Gordon Staples, 

 from his own somewhat wide experience, to 

 be one of the most sagacious of all dogs. 

 '■ His wisdom when quite a puppy is some- 

 times astonishing. When only six months 

 old, he will often show to his master that he 

 has already come to the conclusion that life 

 is real and earnest, and not meant merely to 

 romp and play in. I have had a puppy at 

 this age take me quite in charge, as it were, 

 giving himself all the airs and manners of a 

 dog of seven years old, and going on watch 

 at nightfall as serious as a sentry in an ene- 

 my's country. He would look up in my face 

 as much as to say : ' There's nobody in this 

 wicked world worth a thought except you 

 and me, master, and you don't count as far 

 as defense goes; if you please, I'll do the 

 watching for both.' As a rule, the blood- 



