the music of the electric wire will tell of the work of Corliss and his contemporaries and successors who made these things possible, and all kingdoms and races, all nations, will revere the name of James Watt, the genius to whom the world is most indebted for the beginnings of all this later and grander civilization which has converted the slow progress of earlier centuries into the meteor-like advance of to-day toward a future as grand and as mighty and as noble as humanity shall choose to make it.

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IMPROVED HAND CAR.

[Illustration]

In the accompanying illustration we show a new design of hand car, being introduced by the Courtright Manufacturing Co., of Detroit.  It will be seen that the apparatus for propelling the car is very different from the mechanism generally used.  An upright framework secured to the platform carries a large sprocket wheel, which is connected to a smaller one upon one of the axles by means of a chain.  The larger sprocket wheel is rotated by means of a triangular shaped lever attached at the lower corner to the crank of the sprocket wheel and having a handle at each of its upper corners.  It is hinged upon a fulcrum which slides upon the two vertical rods shown in the illustration.  It will be seen that this gives a peculiar movement to the handles by which the operators propel the car, but it has been found that the motion is an excellent one, and it is claimed that a higher speed can be obtained with the mechanism here shown than with any other now in use.  There is practically no dead center, as in the case where the ordinary crank and lever is used.  A number of leading roads have given the car a trial, and being well satisfied it, have given orders for more.  The company claim that a car with 20 in. wheels can easily be made to attain a speed of 15 miles an hour by two men.—­Railway Review.

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THE CONIC SECTIONS.

By Prof.  C.W.  MACCORD, Sc.D.

In Fig. 1 let D be a given point, and O the center of a given circle, whose diameter is FG.  Bisect DF at A. Also about D describe an arc with any radius DP greater than DA, and about O another arc with a radius OP = DP + FO, intersecting the first arc at P, then draw PD, and also PO, cutting the circumference of the given circle in L. Since PD = PL, and DA = AF, it is evident that by repeating this process we shall construct a curve PAR, which satisfies the condition that every point in it is equally distant from a given point and from the circumference of a given circle.  Since PO-PD = LO, and AO-AD = FO, this curve is one branch of the hyperbola of which D and O are the foci.

[Illustration:  FIG. 1]