12 



we know it to-day. In 1853 Duugeness 

 Lighthouse was lighted by electricity. 



Mr. Lewis then gave an interesting de- 

 scription of the Canterbury Electricity 

 Works. As showing the increased use U> 

 which electricity is put, the lecturer stated 

 that in 1879 the Town Clerk of Liverpool, 

 giving evidence before a Parliamentary 

 Committee, said they had a 20-horse power 

 engine driving a fountain during the day- 

 time, w^hich could very well drive a dynamo 

 .and light Liverpool during the evening. 

 To-day Liverpool has about 55,000 horse 

 power connected. Later some practical 

 demonstrations were given. Mr. Lewis ex- 

 plained the principle of the lamp and heat- 

 ing apparatus, and how an electric lamp 

 is made. By the kindness of Messrs. 

 Siemens Bros, a lamp in various stages of 

 manufacture was shown. Some experi- 

 ments were indulged in with the " Tricity " 

 cooker and oven, which were on view. The 

 lecturer also showed a '* Magic" vacuum 

 cleaner, which picked up pieces of paper, 

 etc., and collected them in a collecting bag. 

 With electricity at IJd. per unit (price in 

 Canterbury) Mr. Lewis showed what can be 

 done for a penny : Run a sewing machine 

 for 20 hours, w.arm the shaving water every 



morning for a month, run an electric piano- 

 for 6^ hours, lift 2^ tons 75 feet in 4 min- 

 uies, knead 6 sacks of flour into dough, 

 clean 3.500 knives, saw 200ft. of deal timber, 

 clean 50 pairs of boots, warm curling tongs 

 every day in the year for two minutes, and 

 twice on Sundays. As illustrating the enor- 

 mous power of electricity, the lecturer 

 stated that one ton of coal will evaporate 

 1,600 galfons of water in a boiler, giving 

 16,0001bs. of steam, which will develop 

 1,600 horse power in a steam engine, the 

 engine in turn rotating an electric dynamo 

 which will send out 1,000 units of electrical 

 energy per hour. These 1,000 units could 

 be used for lighting 40,000 16 candle-power 

 lamps, 2,000 arc lamps, driving 1,400 horse- 

 power of electric motors for propelling 80 

 tramcars, or for cooking electrically meals 

 for 2,000 ])eTSons. 



At the close the president, Dr. Wills, 

 spoke of the advantages of electricity from 

 practical and personal experience, empha- 

 sizing the fact that with electricity there 

 were no smoke, no fumes, no smell, etc. 



The lecturer thanked the meeting and 

 also Mr. Boydell Shallis for his assistance, 

 and Messrs.' E. J. Philpot and the A. E.G. 

 Co. for the loan of the various apparatuses. 



THE FLIGHT OF BIRDS. 



LECTURE BY THE REV. L. H. EVANS, M.A. 



The following is a summary of a paper 

 read by the Rev. L. H. Evans before the 

 members of the East Kent Scientific Society 

 on the i2th March. 



The flight of birds, explained the lecturcT, 

 is the poetry of motion, and poets and 

 scientists have vied with each other in pay- 

 ing it their admiration. Mention is made 

 in Job of the flight of the hawk and the 

 eagle as striking evidences of the Creator's 

 power, while both ancient and modern poets 

 paid a high tribute to its l>eauties. The 

 principles of human aerial flight, so far as 

 he understood them, had little to do with 

 those of bird flight. In two respects they 

 were analogous — first in that the flying 

 machine, like the Ixtdy of a bird, was 

 heavier than air, and second, that the alte- 

 ration of the angle of the planes governing 

 the rise and fall is of the same nature as 

 the tilting up and down of the wing margin 

 which enables the bird to alter its course. 

 Otherwise, the bird and the flying machine 

 have little iu common. Proceeding, the 

 lecturer mentioned the penguin, who used 

 his wings as an extra pair of legs, efficient 

 if clumsy, and expressed the opinion that 

 if it survived a few millions of years it 

 would pass into a cjuadruped. The ostrich 

 employed its wings like sails. The cnusos 

 which had produced those modifications were 



extremely interesting, but they must confine 

 themselves to the genuine flyers. The Rev. 

 Evans went on to descril^e minutely the 

 various parts of the wing and feathers. 

 The primary feathers {those attached to the 

 wrist) were the longest and strongest, and 

 varied considerably iu individuals as well 

 as in species. In the swift, the golden 

 plover, and many seabirds the first primary 

 is the longest, while in meml>ers of the 

 falcon tribe the second is longer than the 

 first; both species belong to those requiring 

 strong and rapid flight. If the longest 

 feather is the thiid or fourth, then the wing 

 is called a round one and ad.nptcd for 

 shorter flight. It might l>e imagined that 

 birds like the swift, albatross, etc., would 

 need a broad wing to provide a large sup- 

 porting surface, but it would seem to be a 

 rule tlvit the stironger the flight the nar- 

 rower the wing. The action and direction 

 of the wing were nest discussed, the lec- 

 turer quoting the divergent opinions of 

 various authorities on the subject. 



Pcttigrew, iu his book on Animal Loco- 

 motion, fully discusses the question of 

 flight, .and holds that the action of the wing 

 is of the nature of a screw rotating round 

 its long axis, and in consequence of this 

 action a kite-like motion is communicated 

 to the bird. As stated previously, the nar- 



