Polytechnic Association Proceedings. 555 



solvents mentioned, and thus the process is repeated until the bleach- 

 ing is completed. In bleaching wool or silk, the same method is 

 used, except that the alkaline liquid is a weak solution of soap, and 

 the only acid employed is sulphurous. 



WATER SUPPLY FOR LONDON. 



Two schemes have been proposed for supplying London with 

 pure water. One is to collect fom- small streams in Wales, forming 

 the headwaters of the river Severn, in six reservoirs, four of which 

 are to be of large size. From these the water will be conducted 

 through two aqueducts, each twenty miles long, to Masten Mere, 

 when they Avill unite. From thence the water will be earned to 

 Stanmore and discharged into service reservoirs, two hundred and 

 fifty feet above high-water mark. There would be one hundred 

 and seventy miles of aqueduct and ten miles of large piping. The 

 cost of this is estimated at neary £9,000,000 sterling. The other 

 scheme is still bolder, as it will require an aqueduct of about two 

 hundred and fort}' miles. Three lakes which receive a part of the 

 rain fall of the Cumberland hills, lying in the northwest corner of 

 England, are to be united, and from Ullswater, the largest lake, 

 it is proposed to make a continuous aqueduct to Harrow, near Lon- 

 don, where the reservoir would be two hundred and twenty feet 

 above high-water mark. Neither plan would be brought into com- 

 petition with the present water companies, whose property would 

 be purchased by the new company. No definite action in relation 

 to either plan has yet been had. 



ESTFLAMJIABLE CLOTHING. 



Ladies' light dresses may be made fireproof by means of the 

 tungstate of soda. Although since the introduction of crinoline 

 frightful accidents have been more frequent, no serious attention has 

 been given to any plan for remedying the evil. Quite lately, how- 

 ever, a sudden death, caused by a lucifer match, has prevented the 

 union of the houses of Savoy and Hapsburgh - Lorraine. The 

 Archduchess Matilda, the affianced bride of the Crown Prince of 

 Italy, was looking out of the Imperial Palace at Schonbriim, and in 

 changing her position trod on a lucifer match, which had been 

 negligently dropped on the floor. Instantly her long light dress 

 was on fire, and was not extinguished until too late. After a short 

 interval of extreme sufifering, she expired. The London Lancet 

 says the public mind is now in a ripe condition for the enactment 

 of the most stringent precautions against fatal accidents from burn- 



