vinegar. In a few hours the whole mass became firm, and the beaker-glass was loosely covered with paper and placed at the closed window of a low attic room. After ten weeks it was found entirely unchanged in consistency, color, odor, or flavor; and tasted, prepared with the gravy, like freshly cooked meat, although the lowest temperature of the room during the whole period was 4540, and soiled clothing, fruit, etc., had been kept in the same room. He recommends the process for army use.-28 C, June, 1874, 468.

PATENT COOLING APPARATUS FOR LIQUIDS.

The following apparatus for cooling water, wine, milk, beer, etc., has been patented in Vienna, and is claimed to be the most efficient and convenient, and at the same time the cheapest. It consists simply of a tube, most conveniently made of tin, with a tight-fitting cover, which is rapidly packed, by aid of a wooden stamper, with pounded ice and salt, either mixed or in alternate layers; this is to be plunged into the liquid that is to be kept cool.-5 C, XXXVIII., 1874, 303.

REMOVAL OF DRY PUTTY.

According to an English journal, the difficulty of remov ing hard putty from a window-sash can be obviated with great readiness by simply applying a piece of heated metal, such as a soldering-iron or other similar implement. When heated (but not red-hot) the iron is to be passed slowly over the putty, thereby rendering the latter so soft that it will part from the wood very readily.-18 A, August 18, 1874,

601.

PASTEUR'S PROCESS WITH WINE AND BEER.

The supposition that wine treated according to Pasteur's method ceased to be liable to deterioration, even with access of organic spores, because the matter necessary for vegetable growth was separated from the liquid in the operation, was not substantiated by the experiments of Nessler, who found that such wine when exposed to the air exhibited acetous vegetation, in consequence of which vinegar was formed. Absolute exclusion of air is therefore necessary for the complete preservation of wine so treated. Application of the process has also been made, with the most satisfactory results, at

Marseilles, to the preservation of beer in bottles, by heating thirty minutes in a water-bath at 115° to 1181°, and then allowing it to cool rapidly. The taste is rendered somewhat milder by the operation, but with storage this effect ceases. to be noticeable. When bottled with carbonic acid, and well corked, it is very effervescent. To preserve it a long time, the temperature should be higher, ranging between 115° and 130°, and it is even well to repeat the heating after several months.-5 C, XV., 1874, 115.

GLYCERIN AS AN ILLUMINANT.

Pure glycerin, it is said, may be burned in any lamp so arranged that the wick shall not be elevated above the surface of the liquid, since the sirupy consistence of the material prevents it from ascending an elevated wick. The flame. is, like that of alcohol, almost colorless. The ready miscibility, however, of this substance with others has given rise to a number of experiments to determine whether the flame. could not be colored with foreign substances. The results of these experiments are said to have been quite satisfactory. By introducing into the glycerin substances rich in carbon, it appears that the flame is rendered suitable for illuminating purposes. It is possible, in view of the cheapness of this material, and its non-volatility save at a high temperature, that this property may find extensive application.

IMPROVED REFRIGERATORS.

An important improvement seems to have been made in reference to the preservation of meat and other food in the inventions of M. Kellier, who demonstrates by actual experiments that methylic ether can be so employed to produce cold as to assure the transportation of viands to very great distances without suffering from the atmospheric temperature. The ordinary refrigerators constructed by his system are said to have preserved meats for two months with perfect freshness. Very suggestive is the construction of a cistern as employed by him for the preservation of viands in every household. This cistern replaces the ordinary movable refrigerator, and is simply a well, the temperature of which is kept very low, and into which the viands to be preserved are lowered by a proper frame suspended from a pul

ley. The mouth of the cistern is then closed, and the accumulation of water at its bottom is removed by a small forcepump.-13 B, III., 180.

NEW MODE OF MAKING BREAD.

Cecil proposes the following process for making bread: After washing the grain well with water, and removing the empty shells, it is hulled by means of a revolving cylinder, with roughened interior, and then soaked for from six to eight hours in a thin, sour paste at 77°; then mashed with rollers, and converted into dough, with the addition of salt and water, which is baked as usual.-14 C, CCXVI., 1875,

94.

CLARIFYING AND REMOVING FUSEL-OIL FROM LIQUORS.

Liquors prepared by the following method, patented by Plattner, are said to surpass those of France and Holland in fineness and flavor, as they are altogether free from fusel-oil, and possess a peculiar brilliancy. After the digestion of the ingredients necessary for any particular liquor with potato whisky is finished, the liquid is sweetened with crushed sugar and strained, and one ounce of pure starch, half an ounce of very finely powdered prepared albumen, and half an ounce of milk-sugar are added for every two gallons, and the whole mass is well shaken several times, and then allowed to rest for twenty-four hours, when it will be found beautifully cleared, without filtration.18 C, May 5, 1875,

287.

BOHLKEN'S WASHING-MACHINE.

This machine is highly recommended by a German journal, and acts by squeezing rather than rubbing the clothes. It consists essentially of a cylindrical vessel, which is fitted in a frame in such a way that it can be fixed in a vertical or horizontal position at pleasure, and the whole frame can be rotated by means of a crank. The cover can be fitted on it water-tight, with rubber bands and screw clamps, and a heavy zinc cylinder, of nearly the same height but smaller in diameter, is placed within it, but not fastened. clothes, previously soaped and soaked and boiled, are packed in the vessel in a vertical position, rather loosely, around the zinc cylinder, and it is then filled with boiling soap-suds, and

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the cover fastened upon it. It is then turned into a horizontal position and rotated for fifteen minutes, part of the time to the right and part to the left. The zinc cylinder is thus rolled upon the clothes, and operates by pressure, and not by friction.-5 C, XIV., 1875, 108.

A NEW SUBSTITUTE FOR COFFEE (SACCA COFFEE).

Lehfeld, of Hamburg, has introduced into the market an article intended to be added to ordinary roasted coffee, prepared from the pulp of the berries and the membranes surrounding the beans. It is claimed that while it is much cheaper than coffee, it imparts a fuller and stronger flavor to the beverage, and exercises a preservative effect upon the aroma and other qualities of the coffee, when ground with it, so that it can be kept without deterioration.-6 C, May 13, 1875, 188.

IMPROVED DWELLINGS, AND THEIR EFFECT ON HEALTH AND
MORALS.

Mr. Charles Gotliff, in a paper read before the Statistical Society of London, states that in 1841 his attention was first turned to the subject of the importance of the improvement of dwellings occupied by the laboring classes. On the fifteenth of September in that year an association was formed for the purpose of providing the laboring men with an increase of the comforts and conveniences of life, with full compensation to the capitalist. During the four subsequent years the stock of this association had been taken up to the extent of $100,000. Other societies were also formed for the same purpose, and at the present time 6838 improved dwellings, capable of containing a population of 32,435 persons, have been erected in London by these agencies. As regards the advantages of these habitations, Mr. Gotliff, from personal knowledge and exact inquiry, finds that in the case of the 1060 families accommodated by the Metropolitan Association of London, the rate of mortality during the past eight years has not exceeded 14 per thousand. This diminished death-rate is shown to be accompanied with a very small proportional number of deaths from zymotic and developmental diseases and from violence. The death-rate is even lower in these improved

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houses than in those country districts with which they can be compared. That the low death-rate does not follow from the specially favorable ages of the inmates is shown by the results of the census taken in December last, which shows that in these houses, out of every 1000 inmates, 330 were under and 670 were above ten years of age. On the average, therefore, the inmates were younger than in the population of London generally; since in that city 237 per thousand are under ten years old. If we compare the death-rate of children under ten years old in these model houses with the death-rate of children under ten years old in London generally, we find that it is 24 per thousand in the former, and 48 per thousand in the latter. In fact, the figures show that the population of the model houses is much more healthy than that of the mixed population of London. There is therefore a saving of disease as well as a decrease of deaths; and the advantage conferred upon the inmates, in the shape both of economy of time and the economy of expense, must be very considerable. In these houses the average population is at least four times more to the acre than in the most densely populated parts of London, forming an irresistible argument in favor of the increase and extension of this class of buildings.

But besides this great decrease in the rate of mortality and disease, and the increase in the density of the popula tion, a great check seems to be given to immorality and crime. Indeed, the improved dwellings of the Metropolitan Association, in the facilities they offer for the detection of crime, actually tend to its discouragement and suppression. There are twelve sets of dwellings in different parts of the metropolis, accommodating in all 5300 persons. At each of these points a superintendent and a laborer reside, which of ficers, in performing their duties, become acquainted with the tenants, their occupations and pursuits, and are instrumental in speedily detecting and removing any bad characters. About twenty years ago, in one of the dwellings of the association, a working distiller established himself with an illicit still. The rent was regularly brought down to the collector, to prevent him seeing inside of the door of the tenanted rooms, and all went on most satisfactorily until the occupant of one of the basements of the dwelling stated his