Feb. 3, iSS8.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



119 



to form a rigid curtain rod, and to its lower edge is 

 fastened tlie curtain. 



Trouser Stretcher. — IVIr. J. H. Johns, of New North 

 Road, Islington, has patented a trouser stretcher. The 

 stretching device consists of an eccentrically pivoted 

 roller and a fixed piece, the two being placed parallel, 

 and the roller extended from the fixed piece by any con- 

 venient means, the suspending devices having holes 

 therein as bearings for the pivots of the rollers. When 

 a pair of trousers is to be stretched, it is folded at the 

 knees over the stretching roller, which then has that part 

 of its periphery which is farthest from the pivots at the 

 nearest position it can reach to the clamping device. The 

 trousers being clamped, the roller is, in order to effect 

 the stretching, turned over away from the clamping 

 device, and is fixed in any desired position according to 

 the amount of stretching required. 



Sculling Apparatus. — An apparatus for concentrating 

 the power of a sculler has been patented by Mr. T. P. 

 Wood, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The object of this in- 

 vention is to transmit the muscular power exerted by 

 the legs to the handles of the oars. The apparatus con- 

 sists of a belt about 3 inches wide which runs around 

 the body and over the sacrum of the scuUer with a small 

 pulley attached to it near each hip-joint. Around such 

 pulley runs a cord, one end of which is attached to the 

 sliding stretcher, and the other to the handle of the 

 scull. One end of a strap about li feet long is attached 

 to a band which runs around the right thigh of the 

 sculler, and the other end to the left thigh. This strap 

 is connected to the boat behind the sculler in such a 

 manner that if the boat capsized the sculler would be 

 set free, and it prevents the sculler from slipping off' the 

 seat during the stroke. 



Safety Attachment for Watches. — Mr. A. M. Clark 

 (a communication from Mr. H. D. Martin-Pouget, of 

 Paris) has patented a safety attachment for watches 

 which is contained in a hollow case of cylindrical form, 

 provided with a ring at lower end for attachment to the 

 bow of the watch. The attachment consists of one or 

 more pairs of claws pivoted to a head at the inner end 

 of a longitudinal rod sliding through the upper end of 

 the casing and terminating in a swivel for attachment to 

 the watch-chain, the points of the claws passing through 

 longitudinal slots at opposite sides of the case. The 

 claws are normally held retracted by a spiral spring. 

 If the chain be pulled at for the purpose of abstracting 

 the watch, the claws will be projected outwards and 

 catch in the pocket-lining, but the watch can be readily 

 withdrawn from the pocket by the wearer by taking 

 hold of the case, the claws then remaining in their 

 retracted position. 



Snow Remover. — An improved apparatus for clearing 

 snow has been patented by Mr. E. Burton, of Nine Elms, 

 engineer. The invention relates to a machine for re- 

 moving loose snow from the middle to the side of public 

 thoroughfares in order to facilitate vehicular traffic. 

 The machine consists essentially of a row of scrapers or 

 brushes mounted side by side upon a suitable framing, 

 and set obliquely to the line of progress of the machine, 

 which is mounted upon wheels, and provided with shafts 

 and a driver's seat. These scrapers deflect the snow to 

 one side of the thoroughfare as the machine advances ; 



they are free to slide up and down independently, to 

 permit of their following the inequalities of the road sur- 

 face, on to which they are pressed by springs, and they 

 may be raised simultaneously when the machine is out 

 of work, or to pass over an obstacle, by means of chains 

 attached to the scrapers, and a winding roller above 

 operated by a handle within reach of the driver, the same 

 motion relieving the downward bearing of the springs on 

 the scrapers. 



ANNOUNCEMENTS. 



University of Edinburgh. — Mr. John Rankinc has been 

 appointed to the chair of Scotch Law. 



Douai (France). — The University of this town has been 

 removed to Lille, much to the regret of the inhabitants. The 

 University of Douai was established in 1 560. 



Dublin. — Dr. R. F. Scharff has been appointed curator of 

 the Natural History Department of the Science and Art 

 Museum, Dublin. He has been an assistant in the museum 

 for some months. 



The Chair of Botany at Edinburgh University. — It 

 is understood that Professor Bayley Balfour, of Cambridge, 

 will be a candidate for the Chair of Botany vacated by the 

 death of Professor Dickson. 



Cambridge.— Sir Fredk.Augvistus Abel, C.B.,D.C.L.,F.R.S., 

 has been appointed Sir Robert Reade Lecturer. Mr. H. D. 

 Rolleston, B.A., of St. John's College, has been appointed 

 Demonstrator of Patholog}'. 



The Melbourne Exhibition. — The Victorian Government 

 has assented to the proposal of France that the time allowed 

 for the admission of exhibits to the Melbourne Centennial 

 Exhibition should be extended to March ist next. 



Prize for Electric Light Installation. — The Socidte 

 Industrielle of Amiens offers a prize for " The best electric 

 light installation in industrial works." The Installation must 

 give as good an illumination as a gas system of not less than 

 300 gas jets, it must be proved to be cheaper than gas made 

 on the premises, and the light must have been in operation 

 for a year. Detailed plans and descriptions must be sent in 

 before the 30th of April next. 



French Scientific Honours. — The French Academy of 

 Sciences have announced the awards for the current year in 

 a recent number of tlieir Comptes Rcndtis. In chemistry the 

 Prix Jecker has been divided between M. Arnaud for his 

 work on the new alkaloid cinchonaminc which he has suc- 

 ceeded in isolating from the bark of Rcmijia purdiana ; and 

 M. Haller, the Professor in the Faculty of Science at Nancy, 

 for his interesting researches on the camphors. 



Entomological Society of London. — The following 

 gentlemen have been elected as Officers and Council for 1888 ; 

 —President, Dr. David Sharp, M.B., F.Z.S. ; Treasurer, Mr. 

 Edward Saunders, F.L.S. ; Secretaries, Mr. H. Goss, F.L.S., 

 and the Rev. Canon Fowler, M.A., F.L.S. ; Librarian, Mr. 

 Ferdinand Grut, F.L.S. ; and as other Members of Council, 

 Mr. Henry J. Elwes, F.L.S. ; Sir John Lubbock, Bart., M.P., 

 F.R.S. ; Mr. Robert M'Lachlan, F.R.S. ; Mr. P. Brooke 

 Mason, M.R.C.S., F.L.S. ; Mr. Edward Poulton, M.A., F.L.S.; 

 Mr. Osbert Salvin, M.A., F.R.S. ; Mr. Henry T. Stainton, 

 F.R.S. ; and Lord "VValsingham, M.A., F.R.S. 



The Pharm.\ceutical Society. — The following gentlemen 

 have been appointed Examiners for the Pharmaceutical 

 Society of Great Britain for the ensuing year, and have been 

 approved by the Privy Council under the provisions of the 

 Pharmacy Act, 1868, viz. :— England and 'Wales— James 

 Benjamin Barnes, Thomas Porter Blunt, John "William 

 Bowen, Octavius Corder, George Claridge Druce, John 

 Fletcher, Samuel Gale, Alfred "William Gerrard, Thomas 

 Edward Greenish, Francis Ransom, "William Henry Symons, 

 Alfred Edward Tanner, George Spratt Taylor, and John 

 Clough Thresh. Scotland— William Inglis Clark, David 

 Brown Dott, Adam Gibson, William Gilmour, Alexander 



