INDUSTRY, INVENTION, COMMERCE 



651 



The specific gravity of alcohol varies with its 

 purity, decreasing as the quantity of water it 

 contains decreases. This property is a con- 

 venient test of the alcoholic strength of liquors 

 that contain only alcohol and water; but on 

 account of the condensation that invariably 

 takes place on the mixture of these two liquids, 

 it can be applied only in connection with special 

 tables of reference, or by means of an instrument 

 specially adapted for the purpose. Its very low 

 freezing-point renders it valuable for use in 

 thermometers for very low temperatures. Alco- 

 hol is extremely inflammable, and burns with a 

 pale-blue flame, scarcely visible in bright day- 

 light. It occasions no carbonaceous deposit 

 upon substances held over it, and the products 

 combustion are carbonic acid and water. 

 The steady and uniform heat which it gives 

 during combustion makes it a valuable material 

 for lamps. It dissolves the vegetable acids, the 

 volatile oils, the resins, tan, and extractive mat- 

 ter, and many of the soaps; the greater number 

 of the fixed oils are taken up by it in small 

 uuantities only, but some are dissolved largely. 

 When alcohol is submitted to distillation with 

 certain acids a peculiar compound is formed, 

 called ether. It is alcohol which gives all intoxi- 

 cating liquors the property whence they are so 

 called. Alcohol acts strongly on the nervous 

 system, and though in small doses it is stimulat- 

 ing and exhilarating, in large doses it acts as a 

 poison. In medicine it is often of great service. 

 Annuity, a sum of money paid annually to 

 a person, and continuing either a certain number 

 of years, or for an uncertain period, to be deter- 

 mined by a particular event, as the death of the 

 recipient or annuitant, or that of the party 

 liable to pay the annuity; or the annuity may 

 be perpetual. The payments are made at the 

 end of each year, or semi-annually, or at other 

 periods. An annuity is usually raised by the 

 payment of a certain sum as a consider- 

 ation whereby the party making the payment, 

 or some other person named by him, becomes 

 entitled to an annuity, and the rules and prin- 

 eip|e> |y which this present value is to be corn- 

 have been the subjects of careful investi- 

 gation. The present value of a perpetual an- 

 nuity is evidently a sum of money that will 

 yield :m interest equal to the annuity, and 

 payable at the same periods; and an annuity 

 of this description, payable quarterly, will evi- 

 dently be of greater value than one of the same 

 amount payable annually, since the annuitant 

 has the additional advantage of the interest on 

 three of the quarterly payments until tli 



'f the year. In other words, it requires 

 pre>-nt capital to be put at intmM to 



yield a iriven sum p,-r annum, payable quarterly, 

 than to yield the -ame annual Mini payable at! 



f each year. The present value of an 

 annuity for a lit: od i- a sum which, if 



will at tin- end of that 



amount equal to the sum of all the pay 



"f the annuity and int. Test ; and. accord- 



if it be proposed t<> invest a certain sum 



v in the purchase of an annuity for a 



iriven number of years the comparative value of 



may be prm-rlv .-timated. the rate of 



interest being given. But annuities for uncer- 



tain periods, and particularly life annuities, are 

 more frequent, and the value of the annuity is 

 computed according to the probable duration of 

 the life by which it is limited. Such annuities 

 are often created by contract, whereby the gov- 

 ernment or a private annuity office agrees, for 

 a certain sum advanced by the purchaser, to 

 pay a certain sum in yearly, quarterly, or other 

 periodical payments, to the person advancing 

 the money, or to some other named by him, 

 during the life of the annuitant. Or the annuity 

 may be granted to the annuitant during the life 

 of some other person, or during two or more 

 joint lives, or during the life of the longest liver 

 or survivor among a number of persons named. 

 If a person having a certain capital, and intend- 

 ing to spend this capital and the income of it 

 during his own life, could know precisely how 

 long he should live, he might lend this capital 

 at a certain rate during his life, and by tatting 

 every year, besides the interest, a certain amount 

 of the capital, he might secure the same annual 

 amount for his support during his life in such 

 manner that he should have the same sum to 

 spend every year, and consume precisely his 

 whole capital during his life. But since he does 

 not know how long he is to live he agrees with 

 the government or an annuity office to take the 

 risk of the duration of his life, and agree to pay 

 him a certain annuity, during his life in ex- 

 change for the capital which he proposes to 

 invest in this way. The probable duration of 

 his life therefore oecomes a subject of compu- 

 tation; and for the purpose of making this cal- 

 culation tables of longevity are made by noting 

 the proportions of deaths at certain ages in the 

 same country or district. Founding on a com- 

 parison of many such tables, the British Govern- 

 ment has empowered the postmaster-general to 

 grant annuities, which are probably more closely 

 adjusted to their actual value than those of 

 insurance companies and other dealers in annu- 

 ities. In the United States the granting of 

 annuities is conducted by private companies or 

 corporations. The following are the approxi- 

 mate rates of the best managed companies: In 

 consideration of $1,000 paid to a company, the 

 annuity granted to a person aged 40 would be 

 $52.75; aged 45, $58.10; aged 50, $64.70; aged 

 55, $73.50; aged 60, $86.20; aged 65, $100; 

 aged 70, $123.45; aged 75, $145.95; aged 80, 

 $180.15. The purchase of annuities, as a sys- 

 tem, has never gained much foothold in America 

 the endowment plan of life insurance, by 

 which after the lapse of a term of years the in- 

 sured receives a sum in bulk, baim; pn 

 Massachusetts, however, passed a law in 1907 

 with the direct purpise of encouraging annuities. 

 Automobile. >r Motor-Car. Anauto- 

 matic-pmprllini: vehicle, the motive power of 

 which is furnished by coal-oil, gasoline, electric- 

 storage battery, compressed air, etc. They are 



usually supplied with two gearings, one for a 

 low rate or speed and the second for more rapid 



movement. 1 1 iey are largely in use in America 



irope, taking the place of the horse-drawn 



M and delivery wagons. In the larger 



they are cm hire for public use, and have 



largely replaced hark* and cabs. The engine 



or dynamo is usually placed beneath the driver's 



