Oct. 12, 1&88.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



399 



flexible pipe, as also with an elevated reservoir. As the 

 tide falls it operates the ram by means of a valve, and 

 continuously raises the water until the tide again rises. 



Electric Lamps. — An electric arc lamp has been 

 patented by Mr. F. C. Phillips. The invention relates to 

 the adjustment of arc lamps. On a spindle are rigidly 

 mounted two wheels, to which are attached chains. To 

 the free end of each of these chains is fixed an electrode. 

 The chains are so arranged on the wheels that the elec- 

 trodes suspended on the chains counterbalance each other, 

 and by this arrangement the electrodes approach or 

 recede from each other simultaneously, and at a relative 

 speed, depending on the relative diameters of the two 

 wheels to which the chains are attached. 



Musical Instruments. — A tension-regulating device 

 for the strings of musical instruments has been patented 

 by Mr. W. Fischer. It consists essentially of an angular 

 block for each string, pivoted upon its vertex in the 

 framing of the instrument. The rear shank of this block 

 is screwed down on to the framing, so as to move radi- 

 ally the other shank, which is provided with a pin, to 

 which the string is secured. This pin consists of a screw, 

 fastened in the block, by means of which tension is given 

 to the string, being finally adjusted and tuned by the 

 screw in the rear shank of the angle lever. 



Varnish. — An improvement in the manufacture of 

 varnish, paint, etc., has been patented by Mr. A. G. 

 Wass. The object is to utilise the waste products 

 evolved in the refining and distillation of mineral oils 

 and in the manufacture of gas. In the first case the waste 

 product is an acid tar, and in the other case a tarry 

 residue. These products arc subjected, in a vessel, to a 

 certain heat, and a proportion of rosin added. The products 

 so treated are then thinned down with turpentine until 

 the desired liquid state is attained, when it is allowed to 

 cool, and the product can be used as a varnish, paint, 

 enamel, etc. 



Chairs. — A chair with an adjustable back and foot-rest 

 has been patented by Mr. F. Vogel. The invention con- 

 sists in the means by which the adjustment may be varied 

 by the sitter without leaving the chair. The back is 

 hinged at the rear of the seat, and the foot-rest to the 

 front of the seat. These rests are connected by cords 

 passing through the arms of the seat, in such a manner 

 that by depressing the foot-rest the back is raised, and by 

 depressing the back the foot is raised. At the passage of 

 the cord through the arm is arranged a friction-brake, 

 acting automatically, for securing the back and foot-rest 

 in the position given to them. 



Electrical Measurements. — An apparatus for mea- 

 suring electric currents has been patented by M. A. de 

 Khomistry. The invention is based upon the unequal 

 expansion of different metals, the essential part con- 

 sisting in fixing together two or more strips of different 

 metals to form a compound conductor, through which the 

 current to be measured is then passed. This conductor 

 thus becomes heated, and its unequal expansion will 

 cause a curvature of same. If one end be fixed the other 

 end will move according to the heat developed in the 

 conductor. This motion is transmitted to a pointer on a 

 graduated scale. The same method may be applied to 

 making and breaking contacts and such-like purposes. 



TECHNICAL EDUCATION NOTES. 



School of Art Wood-carving.— The School of Art 

 Wood-carving, City and Guilds Institute, Exhibition Road, 

 South Kensington, has been reopened, after the usual 

 summer vacation, and we are requested to state that one or 

 two of the free studentships in the evening classes, main- 

 tained by means of funds granted to the school by the 

 institute, are vacant. To bring the benefits of the school 

 within the reach of artisans, a remission of half-fees for the 

 evening class is made to artisan students connected with 

 the wood-carving trade. 



The Goldsmiths' Company and Technical Education. 

 — The Goldsmiths' Company have made a proposal to the 

 Charity Commissioners which, subject to the approval of 

 Parliament, has been accepted by that body, whereby the 

 buildings, with seven acres of land, at present occupied by 

 the Rojal Naval School at New Cross, will be acquired by 

 the Commissioners oat of the surplus funds of the City 

 parochial charities. From the same source the Commissioners 

 will set apart an endowment of ^2,500 per annum, which 

 will be met by the Goldsmiths' Company by the appropria- 

 tion out of their corporate funds (not trust funds, but funds 

 over which they have absolute control) of an annual endow- 

 ment of a similar amount. The institute is intended to be 

 called the Goldsmiths' Company's (New Cross) Institute. As 

 soon as possible after the vacation a scheme will be prepared 

 for the establishment of the institute upon the above basis, 

 with provisions for the constitution of a governing body and 

 for defining the work of the institute. This scheme will have 

 to be laid before Parliament for approval, and the arrange- 

 ment between the Charity Commissioners and the Goldsmiths' 

 Company is necessarily made subject to that approval. 



The People's Palace. — On October 5 th the Master of the 

 Worshipful Company of Drapers (Mr. J. H. Daniell) per- 

 formed the ceremony of openirg the new technical schools 

 of the People's Palace for East London. These schools 

 have been erected and will be equipped at the expense of 

 the Drapers' Company, which has made a donation of ^20,000 

 for that purpose. The class-rooms and workshops are not 

 yet fully equipped, but in some cases work has been already 

 begun, and before long the whole building will be utilized 

 for the various purposes for which it has been erected. It em- 

 braces, among other apartments, engine rooms, electric and 

 chemical laboratories, workshops lor pattern-making and 

 moulding, and for brickwork and masonry, an admirable 

 lecture-room (which will be used on every week night), a me- 

 chanical drawing room, a building construction drawing room, 

 a photographic studio, and a printing room. There will be two 

 departments of education in this school— a day school in which 

 the courses of instruction are arranged to extend over a period 

 of two years, and an evening school in which classes will be 

 held for apprentices, artisans, and foremen, in the scientific 

 principles connected with the special industries in which 

 they are employed, together with practice in the laboratories 

 and instruction in the workshops. In the day school there 

 will be courses of mathematics, mechanical and industrial 

 drawing and science, with laboratory practice and the use of 

 tools. Special efforts will be made to give those pupils who 

 intend to follow the engineering, building, or other construc- 

 tive trades, a thorough practical knowledge of drawing, con- 

 struction, and mechanics, together with sufficient workshop 

 instruction to enable the lads leaving school at the age of 

 fifteen to understand and execute an ordinary working 

 drawing. To those who are to be trained especially as 

 engineers, the course of study will include drawing, 

 the principles of pattern-making from drawings and to 

 measurement, metal turning and lathe work, and construc- 

 tion of models from drawings of their own execution. The 

 object of the school is to develop the faculties of the pupils 

 by means of a systematic course of technical and manual 

 training. It is not, however, intended to teach a trade, but 

 simply to provide each pupil with an education which will 

 fit him for making ready progress in any trade which he may 

 subsequently be engaged in. 



