ON GASEOUS EXPLOSIONS. 22? 



In 1886 Fr. Siemens read a paper — published in the ' Zeitschrift 

 des Oesterreichischen Ingenieur und Architekten Vereins,' 1886 — 

 entitled ' Die Entwickelung der Regenerativ-Oefen,' in which he further 

 confirmed his previous statements. In this communication he stated 

 that the radiating effect of luminous flames had been originally put 

 into operation at his Dresden glass works in 1877 and in his Bohemian 

 glass works in 1878, but the results were not published for commercial 

 reasons. 



Mr. Jeremiah Head read a paper on the Siemens' glass ovens before 

 the British Association (Section G) at the Birmingham meeting in 1886. 

 He pointed out that with direct heating the furnace must be small, 

 whereas with radiant heating the furnace can, and must be, large. 

 He stated that in these large spaces dissociation did not take place, 

 although the temperatures were very high. 



Mr. Fr. Siemens published another paper in the ' Civilingenieur ' in 

 1886, entitled ' Die Verhiitung des Schornsteinrauches,' in which he 

 stated that the highest temperatures were observed where the flame 

 did not come into contact with the furnace walls. Hence the highest 

 temperature must be due to radiant heat. He again remarked that 

 the surfaces in contact with flame not only hindered combustion, but 

 promoted dissociation. 



Gustav Westmann published a scientific inquiry into the ' Siemens ' 

 method of glass heating in a paper, entitled ' Siemens' Freier Flam- 

 menentf altung, ' read before the ' Verhandlungen des Vereins zur 

 Beforderung des Gewerbfleiss^s.' 1886. An experiment on a large 

 scale, lasting 24 hours, was made with a glass furnace, in which 25 tons 

 of glass were melted by the gasification of five tons of coal and five tons 

 of lignite. Full particulars of all the measurements are given, and it is 

 shown that the thermal efficiency was 41 - 9 per cent, and the tempera- 

 ture 1200° C. 



Excavations on Roman Sites in Britain. — Report of the Committee, 

 consisting of Professor J. L. Myres (Chairman), Professor E. C. 

 Bosanquet (Secretary), Dr. T. Ashby, and Professor W. Kidge- 

 way, appointed to co-operate with Local Committees in Excavations 

 on Roman Sites in Britain. 



The Committee have placed the grant of 51., made at Winnipeg in 1909, 

 at the disposal of the Liverpool Committee for Excavation and Re- 

 search in Wales and the Marches, for the. study of the remains of 

 animals and plants found in the recent excavations on Roman sites at 

 Caersws in Montgomeryshire, and at Carnarvon. The investigation is 

 not yet completed, and the report of its results must be held over until 

 1911. 



The Committee ask to be reappointed, with a further grant, 



