February 24, 1888.] 



SCIENCE. 



93 



with the main circuits there should be run an auxiliary continuous 

 current circuit from the central station, of a capacity of, say, ten 

 per cent of the power to be supplied. This continuous current 

 would have two uses : in the first place, it would excite the field- 

 magnets ; and, in the second, it would start the motor. This last 

 could be accomplished by having a commutator on the motor-shaft 

 that would reverse the current through the armature every time an 

 armature coil passed a pole. Now, by a simple switch, we could 

 first turn on the continuous current, which would start the motor, 

 and then, when the armature had reached its proper number of 

 revolutions, we could turn the handle a little further, and make the 

 alternating circuit through the armature, at the same time breaking 

 the continuous circuit. 



To prevent the stopping of the motor on the sudden application 

 of a load, there should be some form of friction-pulley on the shaft 

 that would turn just before the motor had passed its maximum 

 possible work. 



The easiest way to decide which of the possible forms of motor 

 is best, is to experiment on them all. It is not necessary to experi- 

 ment on a number of motors of each form : but if we make suitable 

 observations, and know how to draw deductions from our results, 

 we can tell very closely, from experiments on one motor, what are 

 the capabilities of the type. 



Gas-Engines and Wind-Mills for Electric Lighting. — 

 Up to the present there have been few private houses supplied with 

 electric lights. The central stations have been placed in the more 

 crowded business portions of the towns, and lights have not been 

 distributed at great distances from them. There are other reasons 

 why incandescent lights have not been more rapidly introduced : 

 the general public has not had sufficiently brought before it the ad- 

 vantages of electric lighting over gas from an artistic and hygienic 

 point of view; it has been considered mainly from the standpoint 

 of cost as compared with gas. In many cities gas is supplied over 

 extended areas, embracing sometimes the suburbs for miles around. 

 For the more wealthy suburban inhabitants it would be easy to 

 light their houses by electricity, using a gas-engine for power, and 

 employing a storage-battery in connection with the dynamo. Some 

 figures obtained at the late electrical exhibition in New York will be 

 of interest. We find, if we consider a five-foot gas-burner as giv- 

 ing a light of i6-candle power, that 130 feet of gas supplied to a 

 gas-engine will give as many incandescent lamps, these being fed 

 directly from the dynamo, as would 150 feet of gas burned directly. 

 If we use a storage-battery, and allow it 70 per cent efficiency, we 

 have 30 incandescent lamps using 186 feet of gas, to 150 feet for 

 the gas-burners. To the expense of the electric light, moreover, 

 we must add the interest on the plant, depreciation, breakage of 

 lamps, etc. These items will perhaps double the expense of the 

 electric light. The cost could, however, be reduced if two or three 

 people living close together would use the same plant : it could be 

 still further reduced if cheap fuel-gas could be supplied for the 

 engine. As far as cost goes, then, the electric lights supplied in 

 this way would be more expensive than gas ; but for people of 

 means, the greater beauty of the light, and its healthfulness, to- 

 gether with the many smaller offices the electricity could be made 

 to perform, would repay the increase in cost. Where there is no 

 gas, it has been proposed to use wind-mills. Mr. A. R. Wolff 

 states that a properly constructed wind-mill will govern itself for 

 all velocities of wind exceeding six miles per hour ; further, that on 

 the average, for at least eight hours out of twenty-four, the wind 

 exceeds this velocity. " Total calms in excess of two days' dura- 

 tion are practically unknown in the United States." If these 

 figures are correct, it is evident that we can use wind-mills in con- 

 nection with storage-batteries for supplying light to country houses. 

 It should be borne in mind, however, that isolated plants of this 

 kind must have a capacity very much greater than the mean power 

 required ; and in this case, where we may have calms of two or per- 

 haps three days' duration, the capacity must be sufficient to last 

 over this time. Counting the interest and depreciation, and the 

 breakage of lamps, it will probably be found that the cost will be 

 greater than that of oil ; but there is no comparison as regards 

 convenience and beauty, and it is probable that the wind-mill will 

 be used as a source of power for lighting the houses of rich country 

 people. 



ETHNOLOGY. 

 Christmas Customs in Newfoundland. 

 The Rev. Moses Harvey of St. John, Newfoundland, describes 

 in the Montreal Gasette an interesting Christmas custom observed 

 in Newfoundland. Formerly, he says, at this season, ' mumming' 

 was carried on to a large extent ; but the practice at last became 

 an intolerable nuisance in the streets, and was put down by law. 

 Firing salutes on Christmas Day, once a general custom, has also 

 been prohibited, to the greater comfort of every one. A curious 

 custom prevailed hereon St. Stephen's Day (Dec. 26). It was called 

 ' The Burying of the Wren.' Bands of boys and youths, with some 

 rude musical instruments, went about the streets on that day carr)'- 

 ing a green bough, to which were fastened ornaments of colored 

 paper and either a dead bird or the figure of one. They called 

 at the doors as they made their rounds, and sang a rude doggerel, 

 of which the following was the burden : — 

 " The wren, the wren. 



The king of all biids. 



On St. Stephen's Day 



Was caught in the furze. 



Though he is Utile, 



His honor is great, 



So rise up, kind lady. 



And give us a treat. 



Up with the kettle 



And down with the pan, — 



A penny or ' tuppence ' 



To bury the 'wran. ' " 



The contributions thus levied by the youngsters were spent in the 

 purchase of cakes and sweetmeats. 



The custom is now almost extinct, but some faint and forlorn 

 attempts are still made by a few boys to keep it up, and in a few 

 years it will probably pass into oblivion. It is curious to find that 

 a similar ceremony was once practised in the Isle of Man. In 

 Waldron's works, published in 171 1, in describing the Isle of Man, 

 the author says, " Here, on the 24th of December, towards evening, 

 all the servants have a holiday. They go not to bed all night, but 

 ramble about till the bells ring in all the churches, which is at 

 twelve o'clock. Prayers being over, they go to hunt the wren, and, 

 having found one of these poor birds, they kill her and lay heron a 

 bier with the utmost solemnity, bringing her to the parish church, 

 and burying her with a whimsical kind of solemnity, singing dirges 

 over her in the monks' language, which they call her knell, after 

 which Christmas begins." It is evidently the same ceremony, in 

 an altered form, that is practised here. What is its origin, how it 

 came here, or whether it is kept up elsewhere on this side of the 

 Atlantic, is not known. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 



Harvard Reminiscences. By ANDREW P. Peabody. Boston, 

 Ticknor. 12". Si-25. 

 This work, by the venerable professor of Christian morals at 

 Harvard College, will be of much interest to graduates of the col- 

 lege, both younger and older, and by no means devoid of interest to 

 the general reader. The author's reminiscences relate to the time 

 when he was undergraduate, theological student, and tutor, but do 

 not cover the period of his professorship, which he has now held for 

 so many years. The state of things at Harvard in those olden 

 times was so different from the present, that we can hardly repress 

 a smile as we read of it. Thus, Dr. Peabody tells us that a stu- 

 dent's room was usually destitute of all the means of comfort, and 

 even of the tokens of civilization ; that carpets were almost un- 

 known, and friction matches entirely so ; and that the entire furni- 

 ture of the room, except the feather-bed, would not have sold for 

 more than ten dollars. The relations between professors and stu- 

 dents is described as one of mutual hostility ; the students, in par- 

 ticular, considering the faculty as their natural enemies. As regards 

 study. Dr. Peabody thinks that the best scholars did more work, and 

 the poorer ones less, than they do now. The administration of the 

 college affairs is described as loose and unbusinesslike until the 

 elevation of Josiah Quincy to the presidency, when a thorough re- 

 form was carried out under that distinguished leader, whose pre- 



