880 I'liAysACTio.xs of the Amebican Institute. 



would be rendered nueertain during tlie winter months, and it is also 

 liighly explosive. All machines of this nature are dangerous, and 

 should never be put in practice. The gas cannot be conveyed through 

 cool pipes any distance. We have numerous machines for cooking 

 and lighting, but none of them are practical, and never should be 

 nsed by the public. 



Mr. Tousley replied by denying most emphatically that the gas 

 was explosive, the material is always under control. Street gas 

 would condense more than that of this machine. At the late fair of 

 the American Institute this machine was placed fifty or sixty feet 

 from the building, and the gas was passed through an ice-box, and 

 though the weather was very cold, there was no condensation of the 

 gas in the pipes. The naphtha at no time is exposed to the air. 



Dr. D. D. Parmelee said it is only a question of time when an 

 exphjsion will take place in this machine. There is no apparatus 

 based on this plan that is safe. The mixture of atmospheric air with 

 the gas renders" it very unsafe. A certain quantity of benzine has to 

 be stored for use, and this is a dangerous product, and should not be 

 used ; it is only safe in the chemist's laboratory. 



Mr. Tousley stated that the naphtha is mixed with the air only 

 when in actual use, about one inch of the naphtha is exposed at a 

 time, and this is pushed forward as fast as it vaporizes. It is not exposed 

 till the light is burned. The air never comes in contact with the 

 vapor till it is used. There will be no residuum after a years use. 

 The reservoir is placed away from the house and can be put under 

 ground. 



Dr. Rich stated that to make this gas safe we must do away with 

 the dangerous properties of naphtha. 



Dr. Parmelee remarked that the vapor of gasoline is heavier than 

 the air, and so it will accumulate in the lowest places, cellars, &c., 

 it is not like our street gas, which is lighter and ascends. 



Feathered Oaks. 



]\Ir. Nicholas Xolan exhibited a model of his improved apparatus 

 for ])ropelling vessels. It consisted of oars suspended two at each 

 side of the vessel, and operated by gearing. As one pair propels the 

 vessel, the other pair is feathered and moved in a reverse direction. 



Mr. Hamilton E. Towle said he doubted the efficiency of tkis 

 method of propulsion. It was complicated, and the principle had 

 been used before and abandoned. 



