Vol. XXIV. No. ic] 
POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 
155 
of a heavy iron roller. The table was then wheeled 
close up to the door of the annealing furnace, into 
which the red-hot, sparkling mass was transferred 
by a push so steadj and skilful that it drew a round 
of applause from the spectators. The men and 
boys who perform this part of the work protect 
themselves from the scorching heat as best they 
can with leather shields. They work for six hours 
at a time, and are summoned when a batch of pots 
is ready to leave the furnaces. From these heated 
regions it was a relief to pass into the room where, 
with the help of sand, the rough surface is ground 
oft' the plates of glass, reducing the thickness by 
one-half. They are then transferred to the polishing 
disks to obtain an even gloss, and are then handed 
over to skilful workmen, who, by hand-work, remove 
every speck or blemish that may remain. The 
sheets of glass standing finished in the shop ap- 
peared to be of first-rate quality. One of them, 
destined for the World's Fair at Chicago, was fifteen 
feet by twelve. 
Some idea of the quantity of gas employed in the 
manufactories of Kokomo may be formed from the 
fact that each of the sixty pots in use in the Dia- 
mond Plate Glass Works consumes about 70,000 
feet per day — a total of about 4,000,000 feet every 
twenty-four hours. All this is supplied gratis. 
In laying out the programme for the day, suffi- 
cient time had not been allowed for the serving 
of the excellent dinner provided by the hospitality 
of Kokomo. Consequently the time for the depart- 
ure of the train had passed before everyone had 
dined, and then a further delay occurred before the 
track could be again secured. At Marion, therefore, 
although a deputation headed by the Mayor wel- 
comed the visitors, time only was allowed the presi- 
dent of the Association, Professor Goodale, for a 
brief response from the platform of the car. At 
Alexandria a delegation of citizens from Muncie 
joined the train, and, as had been done by Kokomo, 
presented each visitor with newspapers, souvenirs, 
and a badge representing a flame of gas shooting 
high above a derrick. Everything possible to make 
the visit to Muncie a success had been planned, and 
the visitors were to have been shown the various 
uses of natural gas; but, owing to the delay at 
Kokomo, a large part of the programme was 
omitted. The train, however, ran over a belt road 
to the pulp mill, where cord-wood was seen to be 
converted into paper; and an address, limited by 
order to ten minutes, was delivered by Dr. Phinney, 
on the geology of the gas field. The train then 
passed to the entrance of the base ball grounds, 
where the visitors, after being hospitably served 
with lemonade, claret-cup, and cigars, entered two 
trains of street cars drawn by dummies, and were 
taken through the principal parts of the town to the 
station, where their own train awaited them. 
It had been expected by Anderson that the scien- 
tists would arrive in time to see something of the 
city by daylight; consequently a large delegation 
of citizens, with as many carriages as could be 
collected, assembled at the station at the hour when 
the train was due. It was, however, 7 P. M. before 
the Association reached Anderson, and the visitors 
— as much to their own regret as that of their hosts 
— had to forego the drive through the city and 
proceed at once to supper, each having received 
before leaving the car a complimentary ticket for 
that meal, naming the hotel which was to entertain 
him, and a free pass for the street cars. Supper 
was then served to about four hundred people with- 
out delay, and all were soon assembled in the park 
to witness a marvellous display of natural gas. 
A pipe from a neighboring well had been led under 
the river, and the gas lighted as it rose like a geyser 
through the water, covering it with a sheet of flame. 
After this weird and beautiful scene, guests and 
hosts gathered in the Music Hall, for the exchange 
of speeches of welcome and thanks. At 10.30 P. M. 
the train was entered again, and a run of an hour 
brought the scientists back to Indianapolis, tired, 
but delighted with the care and forethought that 
had marked the arrangements of the day, with the 
hospitality that had everywhere welcomed them, 
and with the instructive sights that they had seen. 
Two other excursions there were which, though 
on a smaller scale, were equally satisfactory. On 
Friday the sections of physical and mechanical 
science were taken by a special train to Terre Haute, 
to hold their sessions in the Rose Polytechnic Insti- 
tution of that city. The party, conducted by Pro- 
fessor Mendenhall, ex-president of that institution, 
was handsomely entertained by the citizens of 
Terre Haute, and returned satisfied that their wel- 
come had been hearty and sincere. 
On Monday the botanists, under the leadership 
of Professor Coulter, of Crawfordsville, were taken 
by an hour's railway ride and a drive of seven miles 
to a ravine known as the "Shades of Death." 
Here they were permitted to rove at will, and, 
contrary to prohibitory notices, gather what they 
would of the flora it contained. The scenery was 
charming, and there was ample diversification. 
Some botanists struck immediately into the woods, 
and returned with many colored fungi, and the 
parasitic plants known as beech-drops {Epiphegus 
Virginiana) and cancer-root {Vonopholis Ameri- 
cana) ; also specimens of the somewhat rare orchid, 
Pogonia pendula. Others followed the little stream 
and even climbed down beside a water-fall, enjoyed 
the luxuriant growth of the ferns, and collected 
fine specimens of Asplenium angustifolium, and the 
equally rare or local Camptosorus rhizophyllus, 
which, rooting at the apex of its elongated fronds, 
has obtained the name of the walking-leaf. At 6 
P. M. a horn collected the party at the little hotel, 
where supper was found tastefully laid out on flower- 
bedecked tables, under the shade of the trees. 
No small part of the success of the Indianapolis 
meeting is due to the fact that the sessions were all 
held in one building, the Capitol, an imposing 
structure of marble and Bedford stone. The geolo- 
gists occupied the Senate Chamber, and the anthro- 
pologists the Hall of Representatives. The beauty 
and finish of the Capitol elicited admiration and 
praise at all times. Nevertheless, those who attended 
there the reception of the local committee will not 
soon forget the impressive surroundings in which 
General Lew Wallace welcomed the Association 
of Science, not only in the name of Indianapolis, 
but of the whole State of Indiana. C. 
[Special Correspondence ot Popular Science New».\ 
PARIS LETTER. 
As usual, the summer season is the one during 
which the scientific meetings are generally held, 
and, as usual, the Association Francaise pour V Ad- 
vancement des Sciences has met in one of the pro- 
vincial towns. This association, similar to the 
British Association, and to the American one, was 
founded in 1872, after the disasters of the Franco- 
Prussian war and of the Paris insurrection, by the 
efforts of a few energetic scientists, prominent 
among whom were Wurtz, de Quatrefages, and 
some others. The idea was to bring in close con- 
tact and in amicable relations the scientists scat- 
tered all over the French territory, and to give an 
impulse towards science generally. The plan was 
very successful from the beginning, and now the 
Association thrives exceedingly well. It meets each 
year in some <iilTerent town, save Paris, where it 
meets only on exhibition years. The meeting lasts a 
week, and the society is divided into sections corre- 
sponding to the principal divisions of science. 
Every member may, of course, follow the meetings 
of any or all of the sections, and some general meet- 
ings are held for the purpose of hearing some inter- 
esting address of general interest, and many excur- 
sions are made to the places of note or of interest in 
the vicinity. This summer the Association met at 
Limoges, a renowned town and center for porcelain 
work, and the attendance was as numerous as ever. 
Some physicians were, however, absent from the 
meeting, as the Berlin International Medical Con-* 
gress met at the same time, and some 150 or 200 
French physicians and scientists went to Berlin. 
For many it was a politeness in exchange for 
the one Germany had done France in sending 
some German official delegates to the Montpellier 
centenary ceremonies, prominent among which were 
the noted paleontologist, Zirkel, and the physicist 
and physiologist of world-fame, Helmholtz; but 
to none it could be a pleasure. Twenty years 
have gone by and not altered one feeling of those 
who saw 1870, but felt that French science and 
French authority had nothing to gain by keeping 
aloof and shunning international gatherings. The 
French government, therefore, in answer to the 
German one, appointed a number — some 35 or 30 — 
of French physicians and scientists, to be official 
delegates. Some very good names are on this list — 
those of Prof. Chauveau, Prof. Bouchard, Prof Ch. 
Richet, and others; — but some names of no reputa- 
tion at all were entered also, and this is to be much 
regretted. Fr.nce could have sent a staflT of good, 
well-known names, in lieu of some of the members ; 
but, as usual, most of the delegation proceedings 
were conducted in the government offices without 
the advice of competent men. The Berlin meeting 
went very well, and you are perhaps aware that 
Koch announced that he had probably discovered 
the remedy of tuberculosis. This has decided Prof. 
Grancher, of Paris, to publish earlier than he had 
been willing to, the results of investigations con- 
ducted in the same line and tending to the same 
point. But more information is required before we 
can speak of Koch's method, for he gave no particu- 
lars. MM. Grancher and H. Martin, on the contrary 
have made their facts known, and they amount to 
this : The authors vaccinate against tuberculosis by 
inoculating attenuated tuberculosis cultures, atten- 
uated in nine different degrees, and on the rabbit 
they have obtained a complete immunity against 
virulent cultures. But does this apply to man, and 
how far does it prove good for rabbits, no one knows 
yet, and time only can tell. At all events, he who 
shall discover a method of anti-tuberculosis vaccin- 
ation shall be one of the greatest benefactors 
of humanity, and his name shall stand with the 
highest. When one comes to think of the tremen- 
dous impulse given to many departments of science, 
to physiology, chemistry, medicine, and even agricul- 
ture now, by the discoveries of Pasteur, one feels, 
however, that the great part of the glory of many 
is entirely due to this great genius, who has brought 
into medicine a revolution — or evolution — equalled 
by none of those which have been effected in the 
past, recent or distant. 
While an army of scientists are working in order 
to preserve human life, engineers are not less active 
in devising new modes for destroying it. The 
latest novelty out in these parts is Paul Giffard's 
carbonic acid rifle. This sweet implement is able 
to shoot as much as one chooses, and the powder 
liquid carbonic acid — costs only two cents for three 
hundred shots. But if it explodes, the happy 
possessor is— no extra price required — shot clean 
into eternity, and perhaps a part of him into the 
interplanetary space. To speak seriously, however. 
