, 1874-10-03
sPARKS or. SCIENCE,

Sparks: OF. SCIENCE,
oss o.. na,r.7Ay-rnAtaa.
TITO cara on ono CT tho ratlwaya iu pruhuia
hayo boon lighted With gau for h yoar past, aul
tito osporlnlont llau proved 80 sncceBsful TINT Il
will probably lead to tho use Of thin illuminating
material Oh nil tho raitvayn of Germany. THO
Ras is manufactured from oil. and is richer in
hylro.carbon thai common btrcctgap. IT ID COM
prcsscd 10 Htx atmospl,oroB, in cylindrical ro-
celvcrs foot long mud from 1915 to 70 ihches IN
diameter. II more tuan two rocosyeys aro to 10
collucctod, the connecting tnboa aro 1{.nch
boro, very strong. A regulator ID introduced ib.
tern,odialo botwoon tho burnor9 and tho re-
coiyorn, In which tho roqualto low lrcsBlro is
40 ateatlily sustained TINT trcn'or, .'or
concurniona will not .rorcoptlbly Niroct
It. THO regulator conn!stn Of a cast-Iron
oIrcnlar yosuel. 10 inches In ala,nolcr ant Q
incllus In ltoi3ht, tlo orontop OF whlcl.is closed
gaa-t1ght by 4 ilo1ibio incmhrane.: tho contrnl
I,otuk Of tho membrane Is armed With n rnolal
dl1l;. uconnoutctf. With n lover nctinR on tla
snpply-satyo communicating with tho gas~hod-
rootioua ia sufficient to furnish nil tho pressure
needed to mnintain tho oiilux at tho burner.
Whom tho supply in the regulator is low, tho.
attppiy-yalse is oponoi by tho depression Of tho
membrane. Al tho gaH ntrnamg .intn tho rdgu-,
lntor,, tho n1ombrato, rlacA. and .tlo Gupply-
yalYa is gradually c1oaed, Tho Iluminasson Ii
thus moro ntcat yguBta1iod than ia the gas ielg
p citics. though tlso prenairo In tho gaB-
holders gradually falls OF. "a Hlngle'holt'or, ofG
forty-ilyo to uixty-Beyon l,oura Tho Intensity Of
the light, By photometric determination, iB equal
to that Of ten candles. wlio tito light Of ortllna
ry con1-gag uaed in ox1ctly the. samo manner,
would oqua that Of but throe-a'ld-a-lall candles.
fft fha 1ivht
| canateB; thu Argnnd la1nps n1nniiy employed
give tlla light Of but four candles. The ontiro
apparatus, except tito burnern and their protoct-
| Ing lattorns, il carried undor tho catn. There
Heeng to he 10 possibility OF accident from ita
ugo, except such aa might result from explosion.
INCREASE OF DRUNKENNESS IN unnAr nN1rA1S.
| Tho l.oY. W. Caine gayo, to tho lato meeting Of
lhn Dritiall AuHociatlon for the Advancement OF
Science, como ss.tistcn upon tho :" Increase Of
Drunkenness Among tho Working Clnsses,"
! which aro Of painful signiAcalco. According TO
| his report tito quantity of spirits drank In tho
United Kingdom in 1879 waa &c, 872, ,18J gallons,
OF ., 500 gallons moro than Ill 1871. IN 1873
| tho consumption OF homo Gp1rlta amounted to
90 5o GALLONS; Of foreign npiriu; II, ,223, ,709
gallons Of rine 1s,327,1ol GALLONS; total, 57,-
d59, OH gallons. In addition, to this thoro was
consumed 1,076,si4,0l1 gat1ous Of beer, End
about is, ,500, 900 gallonu OF British wine, cider,
| ctc.,--naking anultota OF 152 sos l5G Ealcnn
Of spititnoua and malt li1nora drunk In tho
| Dec, VI, 1873. Tlo committals for lrunkeunos3
| wnro:.
1eco-a1cn. 1895; women. 60; total. 2,ool.
| 1s!o-Men. ,sas: won1en' Gn4 ls; total. 2a9a,
| 1871-Acn, 1,Gp3: women, 10; tosa 9,3aa.
| 1873-AIcn l,1t0 women, ai4; to:al, 2,fAt.
! 1sE!-a1cu, o,o3d; women, 1,113; tosa!, 3,ee9.
| In ono Jail wo find tho comnittaa had in
orcaae6 GD por cont in fso years. In Sianchca-
! r{r In nnHnn Nara
woro 0, 100 approximations FOR drunkenness. Hills
was.u05 less than tho pun1ber of arrests III 1872,
| tho decreaso owing to tho 1iceuning act, mud
consequent earlier uloalnE of PUBLIC itonaea, But
Tho cotmittals for all sortn Of oIfcnscs il largo
| lv increasing, s7hilo tho connttHis Of women ia
| iyo ycava bad advanced GO Fer cent. OF tho
1890 conatpittaa IN tllo Liverpool borough jnil
during tho year ending SEPT. ob. 1872 o,G71 wcro
women. Thin increase OF Drunkenness was at-
tlibutcd by a1r. Calno To tho higher weyoa Of tno
working classes, tho fewer houra Of labor, mud
tho cre.Hed facilities for obtaining intox1ratiug
liquore. 10 tho Ra1o OF liquor by grocers Io re-
fcrred tho iucloaso OF druukcuncas among
| women.
! T1iE WHEELER EXPEDITION.
On tho 1st Of Scptember, tho two parties be.
longing to tho Natural History Department. Of
tho Wheolor Expedition met ut Abiqui, on the
| lilo do Chanla, Now Mexico. DIR. Yarrow, Prof.
Cope, and o.heroeuf tho frat party, havo been
working IN tho vicinity Of San 1dcfonso. TlloY
report tho discovery in tho Rio Gr.nde, of soy.
eutcon non species OF fishes. DR.. Yarrow, whc
has charge Of Natural History, has mado 1arge
collections Of birds, insects, plants, otc. Prof
Cope, palcontologist, haa found fossil rotnaius
| OF tho rhlnoccrGs, camel, dog, mammoth doer
t bcnror, turtle md horse, and liza loarucd thai
tho, tertiary formation Govern G. largo portion
OF Now 'A1c1co. Dr.. Leon, chemist and
| [,.,t,,n fSt of 1t.r
crraaate1 a wcl|.atochea oabinot Of spec.
imene. 1Io oxlitbi!n nuArta from. tha Sierra
Dlanca, Witch has Il rich promise ut gold. and
has examined tho uliros Of. Eoeita md Placoi
haa tested for oSouo IN high a!litndca, and cx'
an,inod tho wators Of Tho Oio Calier.o,-a coliec.
tion Of ninornl sprugs near Abiqui. wlloEo tom.
ncfasuro ranges from 10S to III deg: In mis-.
callalsoo11s work, nc llea otuaiea tho lauguaEcl
Of tlo various Indian tribes he has mot, Inns
made collections OF insects aud plants, with notot
On their geographical distribution. and has
lnnda constant tcsta Of tho temperature Of thu
streams. alt. remarked tho Hpoc'os OF fish inhab
itinE tho , ean,o-horng BY the resn!tn os {: anel
Fish- Commission. The party unaor Dr.. tsarvow
In travelling nprthwsrtl toward tho GnIliuaa
Mountains, which afo said to lo rioh in fossils.
/. a NEW NoT1y. ru1Sc1r14E.
DR.. Dcins, Of GrouinSon, Inns bccn for mau,
years trying to solve tho question, How te
transform Aoat into mechanical power mora ad
v.ntageolsly than. it is dono in our common
steanl'cugines" Recently he llas pubBucd tlAs
rcsul.ao Of hla Investigations iu tho Isis, Dutct
journal devoted to physical ecionco. Tho conf
donco If Tho Doctor is 80 groat that lo ltai
finally found . successor to steam taut l1o lGs
TALON ont in aoycra! countries u patont for hlt
diacovory. Tho 1lauo Of the now mutiyo prin'
cipla is carbolou,u, but it seems to 10 simply