Jan. 20, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



71 



and air are admitted into a chamber mounted on a suit- 

 able stem, which is closed at the top by a disc of gauze 

 or perforated material, which will resist the heat of in- 

 candescence, and which may be mounted in a frame of 

 incombustible material, such as asbestos. Above this is 

 amounted a chimney of glass or tale. The gas and air 

 are received, mixed, and heated in the lower portion of 

 the transparent chamber, and thence proceed to the 

 gauze, through which (before ignition) they pass to the 

 chimney, at which they are ignited, and thereafter the 

 gas and air are consumed at the "gauze," and render it 

 incandescent, so that it sheds a clear, steadj', and intense 

 light. 



A Smokeless Furnace. — Mr. A. Schreiber, of Dresden, 

 Saxony, has patented a smokeless furnace. This inven- 

 tion relates to furnaces fitted with transverse fire-bars 

 and with an air-passage at the back of the furnace in front 

 of the bridge. The front part of the furnace, for a short 

 distance from the dead plate, is made level, from whence 

 the bars are made to rise in a curve to the back of the 

 furnace. The latter bars are also raised at their centres 

 above the level of their ends, and the lower edges of 

 their webs are curved forward for the purpose of assist- 

 ing the entrance of air from the ash-pit. An inverted 

 bridge is built in the flue a short distance behind the 

 ordinary bridge, to deflect and mix the heated gases and 

 render combustion more perfect. 



Improved Means of Kolding Come Foundations in 

 Bee-hives. — An improved means of holding comb foun- 

 dations in bee-hives is the subject of a patent of Mr. 

 J. W. Abbott. By this invention the comb foundations 

 may be quickly and securely fixed in their frames in 

 such a way that no harbour is afforded for the wax moth. 

 The invention consists in cutting a double longitudinal 

 groove in the underside of the top bar of the frame in 

 which the foundation is to be suspended, the groove ex- 

 tending the whole length of the comb foundation. The 

 double groove is formed by two parallel grooves, 

 separated only by a parting strip so thin as to be flexible 

 laterally. In the one groove is received the edge of the 

 comb foundation, which just fills the groove, and in the 

 other is driven a packing piece of wedge-shaped section, 

 whereby the parting strip is clamped against the comb 

 foundation, and the latter is tightly gripped in its groove, 

 both grooves being thus completely filled up. 



Electrical Fire Alarm. — Messrs. Petit and Bresson, 

 of Vittoria, Spain, have patented an electrical fire alarm. 

 The invention relates to apparatus which, when a sudden 

 elevation of temperature occurs near it, makes or breaks 

 electric contact, and thereby causes a signal to be given. 

 For this purpose a bar of metal of considerable trans- 

 verse section has stretched on it and in front of it a fine 

 wire of the same metal. The middle of this wire is 

 pressed against by a spring, and carries an electric con- 

 tact piece either in or out of contact with conductors 

 leading to an alarum. Upon gradual change of tempera- 

 ture both the bar and the wire expand equally, and the 

 electrical contacts remain unaltered ; but when there is 

 a rapid elevation of temperature near the apparatus the 

 wire expands more rapidly than the bar, and the spring 

 pressing on its middle gives it such flexure that the con- 

 tact piece which it carries is moved out of contact, 

 thereby opening the electric circuit of the alarm. 



ANNOUNCEMENTS. 



The Smithsonian Institution. — Professor Samuel Pier- 

 pontLangley, LL.D., the assistant-secretary of this Institution, 

 has been appointed secretary in the place of the late Dr. 

 Spencer Baird. 



Photographic Exhibition. — An exhibition of photographs 

 and photographic apparatus and appliances will be opened in 

 the Galleries of the Albert Institute, Dundee, on February i6th 

 next. All communications should be addressed to the Secretary. 



Geology. — Professor Bonney commenced on Wednesday 

 last at University College a course of sixty lectures on Petro- 

 logical. Physical, and Stratigraphical Geology. On Friday he 

 commenced a course of about twenty lectures on Economic 

 Geology. 



Photographic Chemistry. — Professor R. Meldola, F.R.S., 

 will shortly deliver a course of six lectures upon this subject 

 at the Finsbury Technical College. The course will begin 

 on Wednesday, January iS, at 730 p.m., and be continued 

 on successive Wednesdays. Instruction v/ill also be given 

 in the laboratory in the testing and valuation of photographic 

 chemicals. 



Cambridge. — A grant, not to exceed ;^i5o, has been made 

 from the Worts Travelling Scholars' Fund to Mr. M. R. 

 James, B.A., Fellow of King's College, for the purpose of 

 archaeological research in Cyprus, Mr. Smith, of Trinity, to 

 whom the grant was made on November loth, being unable 

 to undertake the journey. At Clare College there will be an 

 examination on Wednesday, March 14th, 1888, when six 

 scholarships, of values varying from ^80 to ^40, will be 

 awarded provided properly qualified candidates present 

 themselves. The scholarships will be awarded for Classics, 

 or Mathematics, or Natural .Sciences, and are open to the 

 competition of persons who have not yet commenced resi- 

 dence in the University and are under nineteen years of age. 

 The scholarships will be tenable for one year, but subject to 

 extension or exchange for foundation scholarships. Candi- 

 dates for a Natural Science scholarship are required to send 

 their names, with testimonials of good conduct and certifi- 

 cates of birth, to the Rev. W. Raynes, Senior Tutor, on or 

 before Saturday. March 3rd. 



Royal Institution. — The following lectures have been 

 arranged : Mr. G. J. Romanes, M.A., F.R.S., ten lectures — 

 "Before and After Darwin" — on Tuesdays, January 17th to 

 March 20th. Mr. H. Herkomer, M.A., A.R.A., Slade Professor 

 of Fine Art in the University of Oxford, three lectures — on 

 Thursdays, January 19th, "The Walker School"; January 

 26th, "My Visits to America"; February 2nd, " Art Educa- 

 tion.'' Mr. C. H. H. Parry, M.A., Professor of Musical His- 

 tory and Composition at the Royal College of Music, four 

 lectures on " Early Secular Choral Music, from the Thirteenth 

 Century till the Beginning of the Seventeenth," with illustra- 

 tions, on Thursdays, February 9th, l6th, 23rd; March 1st. 

 The Rev. W. H. Dallinger, LL.D., F.R.S., three lectures on 

 " Microscopical Work with Recent Lenses on the Least and 

 Simplest Forms of Life," on Thursdays, March 8th, 15th, 22nd. 

 The Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., seven 

 lectures on " Experimental Optics," illustrated by electric 

 light, on Saturdays, January 21st to March 3rd. Mr. William 

 Archer, three lectures on " The Modern Drama ; French, 

 Scandinavian, and English," on Saturdays, March loth, i/th, 

 24th. The Friday evening meetings commence on January 

 20th with a discourse on " The Diffraction of Sound," by Lord 

 Rayleigh. 



Victori.x University, Manchester. — The following ap- 

 pointments to vacant examinerships have been made by the 

 Council : — 



Chemistry— A. V. Harcourt, M.A., F.R.S., Reader in 

 Chemistrj- in the University of Oxford. 



Engineering. — J. A. Ewing, B.Sc, Professor of Engineering 

 in University College, Dundee. 



English Language and Literature. — T. Arnold, M.A., Fellow 

 of the Royal University, Ireland. 



Geology.— T. G. Bonney D.Sc, LL.D., F.R.S., Professor 

 of Geology in University College, London. 



German Language and Literature. — Franz Lange, Ph.D., 



