m5 



FOR GENERAL READERS. 



Vol. I.] 



November, 1887. 



[No. 9. 



PAGE 



Current Events 193 



General Notes 196 



The Utilisation of Refuse 200 



Edison's New Laboratory 20T 



New Method of Preserving Butter , . 202 



Softening Water ( iHiis.) 203 



The Telephone : Its Principles, Con- 

 struction, etc. — IV. (il/iis.) 204 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



Technical Education Abroad 206 



Meteorites {il/us.) 207 



Functional Activity 208 



The Preparation of Arrowroot 208 



Work of Art by a Blacksmith 20S 



University College, Dundee : — 



Opening Address by Prof. Car- 



nelley 209 



PAGE 



North of England Institute of Mining 

 and Mechanical Engineers : — 

 Presidential Address by Sir Low- 

 thian Bell, F.R.S. (continued.) 210 



Reviews 214 



Scientific Meetings and Exhibitions 215 

 Applications for Patents 216 



CURRENT EVENTS. 



Sanitary Science. — While in England we have had the 

 annual congress of the Sanitary Institute, almost at the 

 same time there was held in Vienna the International 

 Hygienic Congress. The President of the Sanitary Institute, 

 Lord Basing, made no attempt to discuss the subject from 

 its scientific side, but dealt chiefly with recent legislative 

 enactments and the " policy of sewage." In his opinion 

 further legislation is required on such subjects as the con- 

 struction and use of sewers and drains, scavenging, the 

 protection of the sources of water supply, and the control 

 of infectious diseases. At the same time he showed that 

 since the passing of the Public Health Act in 1875, the 

 average death-rate throughout the country had diminished 

 from 20'9 to i9'3 per thousand. At Rugby it had been 

 reduced from 24 to 12, at Dover from 28 to 14, and at 

 Salisbury from 40 to 16. At Matlock it had fallen from 18 

 to 9, and he was of opinion that with care and suitable 

 legislation the average rate might well be reduced from 19 

 to 14 per thousand. 



At Vienna there was a very large and influential gather- 

 ing, and many subjects of importance were brought forward. 

 In an address by M. Brouardel, he expressed the opinion 

 that typhoid fever is far more dangerous than cholera, and 

 that 80 per cent, of the cases are caused by polluted water, 

 and that therefore the condition of the water supply must 

 always be a very important consideration in hygienic 

 administration. Herr Pettenkofer gave an address on 

 hygienic instruction in Universities and technical schools, 

 and spoke strongly of the importance of spreading the prin- 

 ciples of sanitary science among all classes of society. He 

 spoke very favourably of the advances made in England, 

 and prtived by statistics that our rate of mortality had 

 been sensibly reduced by attention to sanitary require- 

 ments. 



On the subject of quarantine, he denied that the English 

 were responsible for cholera coming to Europe through the 

 Suez Canal, and said that we were frequently visited by the 

 disease before the Suez Canal was opened. Since that time 

 the epidemic has appeared in many European countries, 

 while Great Britain, which now stands accused, and has 

 suffered much from cholera in former times, remains free 

 from it. Why, he asked, do not the English, in spite of their 

 enormous traffic with India, where the cholera is never 

 extinct, transfer the disease to their own country ? On 

 looking more closely into the matter, he said it must be 

 admitted that England's immunity from cholera since 1866 

 was not caused by quarantines and other expensive obstruc- 

 tions to international traffic, and he hoped that Italy, France, 

 Spain, Russia, Germany, and Austria would follow England's 

 example. 



Foreign Competition. — It is well known that as a rule 

 the Germans are methodical and careful in studying in 

 detail the best means of attaining their end, and if in 

 some cases they are somewhat slow to imitate, they cer- 

 tainly bring skill and technical knowledge to bear on their 

 processes of manufacture. They also give much more 

 attention to the testing of their products than is usually the 

 case in England. An instance of this was lately referred 

 to in Industries, in which attention was called to the care 

 with which gunpowder made in Germany is tested prac- 

 tically by the manufacturers. The German Company who 

 make the " cocoa " powder now used for large guns have a 

 test ground adjoining their factories, and there every batch of 

 powder made is tested, not in a small experimental piece, 

 but in a six-inch gun. If the velocity of the shot is too 

 high and the pressure developed in the gun too great, the 

 batch of powder being tried is mixed with a weaker batch. 

 If, on the other hand, the velocity and pressure are below 

 the prescribed limit, the batch on trial is mixed with a 



