IS6 



NATURE 



[June 15, 1! 



amygdalina, calophylla, colossea, cordata, ficifolia, globu- 

 lus, tctraptera, and several others ; of other characteristic 

 Myrtaceae, the genera Callistemon, Syncarpia, Agonis, 

 Melaleuca, Beaufortia, and Leptospermum ; of Legumi- 

 nosae, Acacia, Gompholobium, Kennedya, Clianthu;, 

 J'latylobium, &c. ; of Epacrideae, Leucopogon, Richea, 

 Epacris, Lissanthe, and Styphelia ; of Proteaceae, Banksia, 

 Grevillea, Xylomelum, Telopea, Hakea, Lambertia, Maca- 

 damia, Petrophila, &c. ; of genera belonging to other 

 natural orders, taking them in the order they occur in the 

 pictures : Phyllocladus, Uoryphora, Casuarina, Pimelea, 

 Prostanthera, Billardiera, Exocarpus, Anigozanthus, Xan- 

 thorrbasa, Kingia, Cephalotus, Cheiranthera, Xanthosia, 

 l.eschenaultia, Stylidium, Johnsonia, Trichinium, Isotoma, 

 Byblis, Actinotus, Nuytsia, Doryanthes, Fusanus, Come- 

 spermum, &c, &c. In conclusion I may state that there is 

 a complete index to the catalogue, so that it is possible to 

 ascertain what plants are figured by reference thereto. 

 W. Botting Hemsley 



AN ELECTRIC EAILWA V 



THE following account of the electric railway of Breuil- 

 en-Auge is taken from an article by M. Gaston 

 Tissandier in our contemporary, La Nature. The subject 

 of electric railways, which has recently claimed public 

 attention ; and the recent construction on a commercial 

 scale of a practical electric railway in the department of 



Fie. 1 — The kcomotive, with dynamo electric motor and driving-gear. 



Calvados in France derives additional interest from the 

 fact that the motive power is, in this instance, furnished 

 by electric accumulators. We propose to give a general 

 description of the railway, but will first briefly state the 

 object for whbh the line has been cons'ruc'cl. 



The linen-bleaching establishment of M.Paul Duchesne- 

 Fournet is situated at Le Breuil-en-Auge, and is a large 

 concern to which most of the linen fabrics manufactured 

 at Lisieux are sent to be bleached. The complete pro- 

 cess of bleaching consists in successively exposing the 

 linen pieces first to the action of chlorine, then to alka- 

 line baths, lastly to the sun's rays. The last operation is 

 of course conducted out of doors by laying out the linen 

 in the open meadows. Each length of linen measures 

 about 100 metres, and the establishment boasts a bleach- 

 ing ground of 15 hectares (37 acres). The operation of 

 taking up the pieces is laborious, necessitating several 

 workmen. 



M. Clovis Dupuy, engineer-in-chief of the works, pro- 

 posed a mechanical device for picking up the linen pieces 

 by the aid of a railway which carried the requisite 



Fie 2. — The Faure accumulators in the tender. 



mechanism. But a railway worked by a steam-engine 

 could not be tolerated in the bleaching field, as the smoke 

 produced by the burning fuel and the ashes projected 

 from the funnel would play havoc with the linen laid out 

 beside the line. M. Dupuy therefore determined to build 

 an electric railway, the construction of which is now 

 fini ? hed, and which works very satisfactorily. 



The electric railway of Le Breuil-en-Auge passes the 

 end of each of the many plots upon which the linen is 

 laid out, there being a piece of straight line 500 metres in 

 length, and twenty-one branch lines. The total length is 

 2040 metres. The rails are of the narrow gauge of 08 

 metre (2 feet 7^ inches). 



The train is driven by a locomotive shown in Fig. 1, 

 the driving machinery being a Siemens' dynamo-electric 

 machine working as a motor. The currents to drive the 

 motor arc suppked from a battery of Faure accumulators 



