Periodicals Books

COPEMAN & PINHEY'S LIFE RAFTS. The experiments with life saving appliances which Mr. Copeman brought before the delegates of the Colonial Conference, on the 13th April, at the Westminster Aquarium, had a particular interest, due to the late and lamentable accident which befell the Newhaven-Dieppe passenger steamer Victoria. In many cases of this nature, loss of life must rather be attributed... more...

THE NEW LABOR EXCHANGE, PARIS. The new Labor Exchange is soon to be inaugurated. We give herewith a view of the entrance facade of the meeting hall. The buildings, which are the work of Mr Bouvard, architect, of the city of Paris, are comprised within the block of houses whose sharp angle forms upon Place de la Republique, the intersection of Boulevard Magenta and Bondy street. One of the entrances of... more...

THE STUDY OF MANKIND. Professor Max Muller, who presided over the Anthropological Section of the British Association, said that if one tried to recall what anthropology was in 1847, and then considered what it was now, its progress seemed most marvelous. These last fifty years had been an age of discovery in Africa, Central Asia, America, Polynesia, and Australia, such as could hardly be matched in any... more...

AMERICAN AËRONAUTS.BALLOON ENTANGLED IN A TREE.Scattered here and there in this matter-of-fact, utilitarian age of Business one finds instances of that love of daring for its own sake, with an insatiable longing for new scenes and novel sensations, which in the days of chivalry moved the mass of men to put saddle to horse and ride off Somewhere seeking Something—just as occasional trilobites, lonely... more...

THE COMPOUND STEAM TURBINE. Last year the whole of the lighting of the Newcastle Exhibition was effected by the agency of seventeen of these motors, of which four were spare, giving in the aggregate 280 electrical horse power. As the steam was provided by the authorities of the exhibition, it was good proof to the public that they had satisfied themselves that the consumption would not be extravagant... more...

DATES AND THE DATE PALM. Even those whose knowledge of the customs of the Orient extends no further than a recollection of the contents of that time-honored story book, the "Arabian Nights," are doubtless aware that, since time immemorial, the date has been the chief food staple of the desert-dwellers of the East. The "handful of dates and gourd of water" form the typical meal and daily... more...

[1] Iris Persica. Persian Iris. Class and Order. Triandria Monogynia. Generic Character. Corolla 6-partita: Petalis alternis, reflexis. Stigmata petaliformia. Specific Character and Synonyms. IRIS Persica corolla imberbi, petalis interioribus brevissimis patentissimis. Linn. Syst. Vegetab. p. 79. Sp. Pl. p. 59. IRIS bulbosa præcox minus odora Persica variegata. Moris. hist. 2. p. 357. XIPHIUM... more...

A VISIT TO THE CREUSOT WORKS. Here we are at the great forge (Fig. 1), that wonderful creation which has not its like in France, that gigantic construction which iron has wholly paid for, and which covers a space of twenty-four acres. We first remark two puddling halls, each of which contains 50 furnaces and 9 steam hammers. It is in these furnaces that the iron is puddled. The ball or bloom thus... more...

I have the honor this evening of addressing a few remarks to you upon the subject of influence machines, and the manner in which I propose to treat the subject is to state as shortly as possible, first, the historical portion, and afterward to point out the prominent characteristics of the later and the more commonly known machines. The diagrams upon the screen will assist the eye to the general form... more...

THE RAPHAEL CELEBRATION AT ROME. The most famous of Italian painters, Raffaele Sanzio, whom the world commonly calls Raphael, was born at Urbino, in Umbria, part of the Papal States, four hundred years ago. The anniversary was celebrated, on March 28, 1883, both in that town and in Rome, where he lived and worked, and where he died in 1520, with processions, orations, poetical recitations, performances... more...