and are there burned with a full supply of oxygen, and no smoke is 

 generated. Herr Hempel, in following out this idea, has found 

 that the most effective way of evaporating liquids, is by applying 

 heat above instead of below their surface. He uses a " Siemens 

 inverted gas burner," bringing the flame as near to the surface as 

 possible ; there is no ebullition, and consequently no spirting, a 

 great advantage in chemical operations, 



A useful apphcation of a well known substance, is that of using 

 Asbestos for firemen's dresses ; this is already done in Paris, and 

 is to be introduced in Loudon. In England, Asbestos has been 

 employed for fronting a stage fire-proof curtain. 



The metal of the future appears to be Aluminium, to the produc- 

 tion of which so much attention is now being directed. It is a 

 most valuable alloy, one tenth added to the weak metal, copper, 

 gives it the strength of steel, while one tenth per cent, added to 

 molten wrought iron renders the metal instantly quite fluid, and 

 makes intricate castings comparatively easy. Should Aluminium 

 continue to progress towards cheapness, it will take the place of 

 copper, tin, or iron, for many domestic uses, being three and a-half 

 times as light as copper, and four times as light as silver. 



In Sweden a new glass is being made, of which phosphorus and 

 boron are constituent parts ; it possesses such highly refractive 

 power that it is expected to have marvellous results in increasing 

 telescopic and microscopic powers. 



A new and promising industry has been started by Professor 

 Schmidt, at Gratz, namely that of sponge growing. He has found 

 that small specimens planted in favourable situations, develope in 

 three years to large and valuable sponges. 4,000 such specimens 

 were produced at the cost of 225fr., or one half-penny apiece. 



To turn to another field of beneficial science, M. Pasteur has 

 been called by the people of Australia to the rescue from the plague 

 of rabbits with which the country is now overrun. His plan is to 

 sprinkle chicken -cholera broth over the herbage which the rabbits 

 eat, in the hope that they will take, and then propagate the infec- 

 tion, which will wholly or partially destroy them. The project 

 sounds well, providing the poultry and sheep abstain from this 

 seasoned pasture, but M. Pasteur declares the latter to be proof 

 against this particular infection. Should M. Pasteur succeed his 

 reward will be ^625,000. 



At Odessa some successful experiments have been made by Dr. 

 Gamaha, in inoculating Merino sheep against cat tie -plague. 



The French Drs. Roux and Versin are still prosecuting their 

 researches as to the diphtheritic microbe, and they confidently hope 

 to find a vaccine against that terrible disease. 



A most interesting operation in beneficial surgery has been per- 



