winters, and the ceilings are now as clean as when they were first done.  The burners have been used every night, and the gas fires every day, during the two winters.  No alteration has been made in the burners employed, and no “consumers” have been used over them.  If the varnished paper ceilings are tried, I am sure that every one will like them better than the time honored dirty whitewash, which is simply a fine sieve.  This fact is clearly shown by the appearance of the rafters, which, after a short time, invariably show themselves whiter than the spaces between.

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ANDERS’ TELEPHONE.

Mr. G.L.  Anders’ telephone, shown in the accompanying cut, combines in a single apparatus a transmitter, A, a receiver, B, and a pile, C. The transmitter consists of a felt disk, a, containing several large apertures, and fixed by an insulating ring, c, to a metallic disk, d, situated within the box, D. The apertures, b, are filled with powdered carbon, e, and are covered by a thin metal plate, f, which is fixed to the insulating ring, c, by means of a metallic washer, g.  Back of the transmitter is arranged the receiver, B, which consists of an ordinary electro-magnet with a disk in front of its poles.  The pile, C, placed behind the receiver, consists of a piece of carbon, h, held by a partition, i, and covered with a salt of mercury, and of a plate of zinc, l, which is held at a distance from the mercurial salt by a spring, m, fixed to the insulating piece, n.

[Illustration:  ANDERS TELEPHONE]

When the button, o, which is a poor conductor, is pressed, the zinc plate, l, comes into contact with the mercurial salt, and the circuit is closed through the line wire 1, the pile, the receiver, the transmitter, and the line wire 2, while when the button is freed the current no longer passes.  The apparatus, then, can serve as a receiver or transmitter only when the button is pressed.—­Bull. de la Musee de l’Industrie.

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BROWN’S ELECTRIC SPEED REGULATOR.

When the sea is rough, and the screw leaves the water as a consequence of the ship’s motions, the rotary velocity of the screw and engine increases to a dangerous degree, because the resistance that the screw was meeting in the water suddenly disappears.  When the screw enters the water again, the resistance makes itself abruptly felt, and causes powerful shocks, which put both the screw and engine in danger.  Ordinary regulators are powerless to overcome this trouble, since their construction is such that they act upon the engine only when the excess of velocity has already been reached.

Several remedies have been proposed for this danger.  For example, use has been made of a float placed in a channel at the side of the screw, and which closes the moderator valve by mechanical means or by electricity when the screw descends too low or rises too high.