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had its origin in a terrible fright-that, in fact, the child waking up in the middle of the night, had seen his father dragging the pedlar's body down-stairs to its ready-made grave in the garden. But it could scarcely have been anything more than surmise on the part of those who whispered this strange story to each other. In any case, a year or two later, Marvel Groote brought matters to a characteristic climax by setting fire to the house in one of his drunken fits and making it at the same time his own funeral pyre. After that, Bosy and his mother disappeared; and as years passed away, their names and very existence were almost forgotten.

A quarter of a century had come and gone when Bosy Groote found his way back alone to the ruined home of his youth. The place had an uncanny reputation, and had never been rebuilt. The sands had gradually encroached on it till what had formerly been a smiling garden, was now as waste and barren as the rest of the shore. Cottagers from the neighbouring village who wanted to build a pigsty or inclose a patch of ground had made a free use of the materials which were here ready to their hands; and there is little doubt that had not Bosy returned, the whole house would have disappeared piecemeal in the course of a few more years. Such as it was, however, Bosy now made it his home. Five years had passed since his return. How he lived, no one seemed to know or care. He had no friends, was intimate with no one, and, so far as was known, no foot but his own ever crossed his threshold. In summer, when the weather was fine and the days long, he would wander about the country-side with his fiddle, playing at merry-makings and junketings of various kinds, and be rewarded by sixpence here or a shilling there, together with as much to eat and drink as he wanted, and now and then with permission to sleep in a barn or outhouse. Bosy, in fact, was a familiar figure within a circuit of twenty miles round Boscombe. It was generally held that he was not quite right in his mind, though in what particular he differed from other people no one seemed able clearly to define. Others there were who held that he was just as sane as his neighbours, and that it was only to serve his own ends that he rather encouraged the idea of his being mentally deficient. Be this as it may, every one looked upon Bosy as being thoroughly harmless-although, curious to relate, little children seemed to have some instinctive dread of him, and always ran to their mothers the moment they set eyes on him.

Occasionally during the winter, Bosy would disappear from his usual haunts for three or four months together, and no one ever knew what became of him at such times. If questioned, he would say: 'I've just come back from a visit to the man in the moon. He and I are old cronies. I play to him, and he sings to me; only he has such a queer, cracked voice, that it makes me nearly die of laughing to hear him. But I'm glad to get back again, for it's mortal cold up there, I can tell you.'

It only now remains to be explained how Captain Avory and Bosy Groote came to be on such intimate terms. When the captain was a boy, he spent a year at a school at Boscombe Regis; but this was a fact which he now kept

carefully to himself. One day, when out walking, accompanied by his master's Newfoundland dog, he had come across a poor decrepit, half-witted lad who was being buffeted and cuffed by halfa-dozen boys bigger than himself. Young Avory had at once taken sides with the weaker; and by threatening to set his dog on the lad's tormentors, had effectually scared them away. Bosy Groote had never forgotten this service; and when the two men met more than thirty years later, they mutually recognised each other. More than once since then, the captain had found his way to Hoogies.

The flask was nearly empty, and they had refilled their pipes more than once before the captain and Bosy brought their talk to an end. When they had arranged all preliminaries to their satisfaction, the captain opened the canvas bag and proceeded to count out ten bright new sovereigns into his companion's long lean hand. "There will be ten more for you,' he said, 'as soon as what we have to do is fairly completed.'

The moment Bosy's fingers closed on the gold, he gave utterance to a peculiar half-idiotic chuckle, which even startled the captain for a moment.

'By Jove!' he muttered, 'I should not like to be here alone with him at night if he thought I had much money about me.-Don't forget,' he said as he rose, 'that you are to be at the Cottage not a minute later than eight o'clock on Monday evening next. It will be quite dark at that time; but should any one be about, wait till he is gone before you open the garden gate. Mrs Avory will be prepared to receive you, and will give you some supper. I shall not reach the Cottage till about half-past nine. You clearly understand?'

'Of course I understand, my noble prince; I ain't neither deaf nor stupid. I'll be there to the time, never fear.-What a lark it will be, though, for the poor gentleman. Ho, ho, ho! I can't help laughing; it will be such fun for all of us, but 'specially for him!'

(To be concluded.)

THE MONTH:

SCIENCE AND ARTS.

THE Canadian Pacific Railway is now completed, and on the 8th November the first through-train from Montreal arrived at Vancouver. The line is two thousand eight hundred miles long, and the average speed, including stoppages, was twentyfour miles per hour. With the advantages open to travellers by the construction of this railway, it will before long be possible to travel from Liverpool to the Pacific in ten days.

The Madrid Commission appointed to investigate the question of the efficacy of inoculation as a remedy against cholera-a question which has raised such fierce discussions in Spain for and against the originator of the operation, Dr Ferran -has issued its verdict. The Commission is of opinion that the inoculations cannot be considered inoffensive, and that the epidemic is actually propagated by them. Nor is it demonstrated by the results that the inoculations secure immunity from cholera. Moreover, the person

inoculated is for the first few days rendered more susceptible to contract any other form of disease. This adverse verdict will be a sore disappointment to those who believed that an antidote to a most terrible disease had at last been found.

From experiments lately carried out in the Aquarium at the Inventions Exhibition respect ing the sleep of fishes, it appears that sleep is common to certain fish, and that all take rest at intervals. Roach, perch, gudgeon, tench, and some others rest periodically; and among marine fish, dory, conger-eel, dogfish, and all flat-fish seem to have the same instincts. Others seem to be ever wakeful, although they rest occasionally. The pike is an example of these latter. This fresh-water shark, though he may poise himself motionless for hours together and appear to be lethargic and lazy, is nevertheless always wakeful, and on the lookout for the wherewithal to satisfy his voracious appetite. At the Brighton Aquarium, not long ago, we observed how in one tank a beautiful company of silvery herrings were sailing unceasingly round a central rock. We were informed that the busy crowd rested, suspended in the water, directly the lights were extinguished every night.

ship's compass. Upon examination by experts, the umbrella was found to be powerfully magnetised. Its owner had probably stood with it at some time near a working dynamo-machine, and magnetic induction had done the rest. We may remind our readers of a fact not generally known, that the steel parts of watches are often affected in the same way if their owners bring them near such machines, and a correct timekeeper can be rendered quite untrustworthy in that manner.

The explosion of the one hundred and forty tons of dynamite which were used to destroy Flood Rock-the great obstruction in New York Harbour-was successfully carried out last month. The shock lasted forty seconds, and was accompanied by a huge mountain of water, which rose to a height of two hundred feet above the spot where the mine was laid. Although the tremor caused by the shock was felt for many miles, it occasioned no damage to property. Timid people can take some comfort from this last circumstance; it shows that the villainous threats which have been made to destroy our cities by dynamite are simply impossible of realisation. In the case before us, the work of preparation has occupied the time and labour of skilled engineers for ten years, while of course they had the countenance and assistance of the authorities in all they did. Criminal attempts would have to be made under far different conditions.

All old sailors know that the best ropes that can be made are those produced from Manila hemp-fibre, and they also know that lives will often depend upon the trustworthiness of such Mr Joseph Thomson's expedition to the Niger a rope. Hitherto, no inferior fibre was known some nine months ago, which we briefly chronicled that could be mixed with true Manila without at the time, has just terminated, and he has ready detection. But unscrupulous dealers have returned to England, having accomplished his discovered in a fibre known as Sisal hemp-mission with the greatest success. It will be which comes from Sisal, Yucatan, in the Gulf remembered that he went out under the auspices of Mexico-an adulterant which, while resem- of the African Trading Company to secure the bling true Manila hemp, has the advantage of being much cheaper. A fact, too, with which they do not care to concern themselves is, that the new material possesses only half the strength of that which in other respects it imitates so well.

Messrs Frost, well-known rope-manufacturers, have recently pointed out that a ready test exists for detecting rope which has been thus sophisticated, a test of such a simple nature, that any

one

can make it without special apparatus. Taking three pieces of rope-one of pure Manila, one of Sisal, and one of the two fibres mixed together they separate the untwisted threads, and roll each into a little ball between the palms of the hands. The three little woolly balls are now burned on an iron shovel, with the result that the pile of ash which each leaves is quite different from the others. The Manila hemp gives a grayish-black ash; the Sisal, a whitish gray; while the adulterated rope furnishes a residue in which each tone of colour is readily distinguishable. This simple and ready test of such a really important article of commerce will, it is hoped, make shipowners and those of whom they buy their ropes both more careful of the quality of the goods supplied.

The old admonition, Do not speak to the man at the wheel,' which appears on most steam-vessels, may now possibly have to be supplemented by another to the effect that umbrellas must not be brought near the compass needle. On a recent occasion, such an apparently innocent instrument seriously interfered with the correct working of a

good-will of the natives and their rulers, and to open up a large district to the civilising influences of commerce with Britain. The traveller speaks well of the prospects of a good trade in the region which he has explored, and he tells us that the country is densely populated, not by naked savages, but by Mohammedan tribes. He humorously describes them as having a passion for voluminous wrappings-people who take fourteen yards of cloth to make a pair of trousers, and quite as many for a turban.' The country is not unhealthy, and is extremely fertile.

In the middle of last month, a shower of fine sand fell in various parts of Italy and Sicily. The chief of one of the Italian observatories reports that the phenomenon was accompanied by a strong south-west wind. The shower of dust obscured the view of the neighbouring mountains, and the plants were all covered with an abundant reddish-yellow layer of sand. In the Times, the phenomenon is described at length as a 'shower of meteoric sand;' but there is no proof given that the falling particles had their origin beyond the confines of the earth.

The telpherage system of automatically transporting goods from one place to another by the agency of electricity, which was invented by the late Professor Fleeming Jenkin, has now assumed practical shape; for a rodway on this principle was opened last month at Glynde, in Sussex. The line is a double one, and consists of horizontally laid steel rods supported at intervals on Tshaped poles eighteen feet high. The cross-piece of the T is eight feet long, and one of the steel

appears that none of our British firms possessed the necessary plant to carry out such an order, except at a price that was far in excess of that demanded by the Belgian firm, which already has made steel sleepers for use in that country.

rods rests at either end. Trough-shaped buckets, each holding about two hundredweights, are suspended on light frames furnished with grooved wheels which run on the steel rods. A train of ten such buckets is driven by an electro motor, and the duty of the present system is to convey clay from the pit to a siding, whence it is carried in trucks to some cement works. The opening of this novel mode of conveyance aroused much interest. It is said to work well, but in several minor details can be improved.

The use of automatic sprinklers for the extinction of fires seems now to be attracting very general attention among owners of mills and warehouses. According to Professor Sylvanus Thompson, of the Finsbury Technical College, one English firm alone has fitted up no fewer than twenty thousand of these contrivances in different parts of the country. Mr Thompson gives it as his opinion that as insurance rates rise with the risk, it will in many cases pay better to put up sprinklers, than to insure. We may remind our readers that these sprinklers are immediately put into action by any sudden rise in the temperature of the apartment where they are placed. An incipient fire is thus smothered at the time when water can do the best service, that is to say, at the very first outbreak.

The question of the possibility of heating steam-boilers, and more particularly the boilers of marine engines, by means of liquid fuel, has, as we have on former occasions hinted, for many years occupied the attention of engineers. In Russia, the problem has been already solved, both in the case of railways and steam-vessels, many of the latter which run on the Caspian Sea being served with fuel of that kind. In Britain, innumerable experiments have been made in this direction without affording any practical result; but at length a trading vessel of eight hundred tons burden, the Himalaya, has been fitted with the necessary apparatus, which is found to work in the most satisfactory manner. This apparatus consists of a coil of pipe conveying superheated steam from the boiler, with a smaller pipe within it at its point of delivery, for the reception of the liquid fuel, which flows from tanks on deck. The rush of steam carries the petroleum forward in the form of spray into a combustion chamber which occupies the place of the ordinary furnace. The Himalaya formerly carried two hundred and forty tons of coal, and her consumption of that fuel was estimated at nine tons per day. This bulky fuel is now superseded by oil. The advantage of the latter over the former is obvious so far as saving of space is concerned. Early in November, the Himalaya reached Granton from London, when it was found that the consumption of oil on the voyage had been little over eight gallons per hour, costing about one pound per day, which, when compared with the cost of coal, is one-seventh. It may be added that in addition to the saving in coal, a corresponding saving in labour was effected, two firemen doing the duty of five.

The Midland Railway Company are about to try the experiment of substituting steel sleepers for the wooden ones hitherto in use, and with that object, have ordered a sample lot of five thousand, which will be made in Belgium.

It

The street tramways of Birmingham are about to be remodelled, and the town-council have unanimously decided to adopt the cable system of traction. This system has already been extensively applied in America; but as yet we are able to point to only one example of it in this country-namely, on Highgate Hill, London, where it continues to work satisfactorily.

An essay upon 'Paper and the Industries connected with it,' which was recently read before the Académie des Sciences by M. Bontarel, contained some remarkable statistics. In the United States alone, paper is made to the amount of half a million tons annually, while at the beginning of the century none at all was made in that country. In Europe, that amount is just doubled. The value of the raw material on this side of the Atlantic is worth twenty millions sterling. There are also some wonderful figures given regarding the number of steel pens and lead pencils, which in these days are in such demand among civilised nations.

A New York journal tells us of a traveller who recently brought from certain Peruvian sepulchres a collection of petrified human eyes, which he handed to a jeweller to be set in gold and arranged as a necklace. The workmen while executing the order became ill one after the other, and their indisposition was supposed to be due to the mineral poisons used in the embalming process. The whole story is rather a ghastly one, and we are glad to see that Professor Flower, of the British Natural History Museum, has destroyed its most repulsive feature. He says that the objects referred to are not human eyes, but the dried crystalline lenses of the eyes of a species of cuttlefish which were used as ornaments by the ancient inhabitants of South America, and are often found in their graves.'

It seems but the other day that our troops were armed with the Snider rifle, the performance of which was such a marked improvement upon that of the old muzzle-loader. But the Snider was soon replaced by the Martini-Henry; and now even that wonderful weapon of precision is to be superseded by a new army service rifle. In the new arm the diameter of the bore is reduced, the weight of the bullet is reduced also by as much as one-fifth, while the powdercharge remains as before. By these and other means, the muzzle velocity of the bullet will be greatly increased, and the trajectory lowered, while the recoil will be less, and the general accuracy of shooting much improved. It is not yet decided whether a detachable magazine, which would practically turn the weapon into a repeating rifle, is to be added.

In one of those ingenious romances by Jules Verne in which science is so pleasantly blended with fiction, a submarine boat is described. This boat travels on or under the water at the will of its captain, sinks or rises to the surface, and is used for the destruction of other vessels, should occasion arise. The romance has become a reality.

The Nordenfelt submarine boat, recently publicly tried in Sweden, will do nearly all that was credited to its imaginary prototype. Such a vessel armed with torpedoes and able to creep beneath the vessels of a hostile fleet totally unperceived, is a possibility almost too terrible to contemplate. Its invention, however, need not be deplored, for it brings us nearer to that time when instincts of self-preservation will compel every nation to seek arbitration rather than

war.

down from Baku to Batoum. Its duty will be to carry petroleum from the one place to the other, a distance of five hundred and thirty miles.

INVENTIONS.*

A NEW LIFE-BUOY.

A LIFE-BUOY possessing several most novel and useful features has recently been brought before The Telegraph Construction and Maintenance the public. The body of the invention is a large Company are now carrying out an experiment on circular copper case, in shape similar to the our east coast which may in its results be of the familiar cork and canvas life-buoys. In order greatest commercial importance not only to our- that its utility shall not be destroyed by the selves but to other nationalities. They have accidental presence of a crack or puncture, this demonstrated the possibility of holding constant circular copper case is divided into eight watercommunication by telephone with a light-ship tight compartments. There is a recess in the moored ten miles away. Such light-ships are metal containing a spirit-flask and a whistle. At plentiful enough on our east coasts, where they opposite sides of the buoy, the two ends of a chain guard vessels from running aground on the are attached, and the loop thus formed, which is innumerable sandbanks which abound there. Sig-pendent about three feet, is intended as a foothold nals from such light-vessels are made when for the man overboard.' An attached loop of rope any ship runs aground, and there are never wanting hardy men who will launch their boats from the coast when such signals are seen or heard. But it is obvious that if each floating beacon were in electrical communication with the mainland, the exact place of a ship in distress could at once be telephoned, and much time in that way saved. Having practically demonstrated to them that the thing is possible, the authorities will surely lose no time in arranging that every light-ship on our coasts shall be in electrical communication with the shore.

It has been calculated that the Kimberley diamond region has produced since the year 1870 more diamonds than were yielded by all the mines in the world during two centuries preceding that date. The selling price since 1882 has been reduced nearly one-half, and it is generally admitted that over-production is responsible for this. People who have capital locked up in the form of these costly gems have reason, therefore, to be anxious about their reduction in value. There is also the possibility that science will point out how carbon can be artificially produced in its purest crystalline form, so as to become the veritable diamond. Indeed, the problem has been already solved, but the gems produced have been very small, and the cost of getting them far out of proportion to their market value.

Our American friends are fond of the colossal in every way. Their last work, which they facetiously call the eighth wonder of the world, takes the form of a huge model elephant, compared with which the largest known specimen of the living animal is but a pigmy. The erection was at first intended for an hotel; but the idea has degenerated into a mere show-place, which in the hands of a Company is to attract sightseers. With a length of one hundred and fifty feet, and a height of nearly one hundred feet, the edifice presents features of engineering skill which are well worthy of remark. Built of timber, the structure is covered with a skin of tin-plate. The entire weight of the building, if it may be called so, is one hundred thousand It is situated on Coney Island.

tons.

The longest conduit ever made will be represented by the pipe which it is proposed to lay

and a metal ring are for the purpose of suspending
the buoy, in readiness for use, over the vessel's
side, and also, when it has been called into
practical requirement, of hoisting it with its
human burden upon deck. But the feature of
the Whitby Buoy upon which it may mainly
rest its chief claim to usefulness and novelty
is its illuminant. On opposite points on the
outside of the invention are metal loops, through
which run tubes having above a length of about
a couple of feet, and having small canisters
tain quantities of calcium, which, as it may be
attached immediately below. These canisters con-
necessary to explain to the less scientific of our
between lead and gold in hardness, and present
readers, is a yellowish-white metal intermediate
in chalk, stucco, and other compounds of lime.
When calcium is placed in contact with water,
the latter rapidly decomposes, with the result
that lime is formed, and hydrogen escapes
Owing to the construction of the canisters, when
the buoy is thrown into the sea, the water comes
in contact with the chemical, and flames are at
the tubes. The calcium contained in the canisters
once produced automatically at the summit of
is sufficient to produce an illuminant capable of
burning for one hour. It should be mentioned
that the buoy is furnished with supplementary
hand-lights, and that flags, upon staffs of a foot
or so in length, are in readiness to be attached
to the ends of the metal tubes.
contrivance is primarily constructed with a view
Though the
to be used by one individual, it possesses a buoy-
ancy capable of sustaining two or more men upon

the surface of the water.

One of the chief advantages possessed by the buoy is the easy method by which it admits of being hoisted on board with its living freight. Preceding contrivances have necessitated the lowering of a boat, a feat which, in a very high sea, is attended with great difficulty and danger, and which sometimes is actually impossible. The various means by which any one overboard in possession of the life-buoy can, with his flags, his lights, and his whistle, effect the end which is so

These inventions, and others that may follow, are not all necessarily recent.

Journal

desirable, and indicate his whereabouts, must commend themselves to every one. The Whitby' Life-buoy is being supplied by Messrs J. W. Gray and Son, of 115 Leadenhall Street, London, to the royal navy, and bids fair to supersede the old service-buoy.

The invention was recently formally put to trial from the royal yacht Osborne, in the presence of the Prince of Wales, Lord Charles Beresford, and a distinguished gathering, when the results were such as to give general satisfaction. Lord Charles reports that it is vastly superior to the service-buoy,' and that he 'never saw anything more perfect.'

A 'WASHABLE' WALL-PAPER. Messrs Storey, Bros. & Co. of Lancaster have brought out a novelty which would seem to possess no little utility. It is a fabric for covering walls, to which the name of Tectoreum' has been given. While it possesses an artistic appearance, it can be repeatedly and thoroughly washed with soap and water without suffering any injury, being entirely impervious to damp. It is very durable, is as cheap as ordinary wallpaper, and can be applied in the usual way; while inasmuch as it checks the inroads of damp into a room, it can lay claim to hygienic qualities. It has always been possible to clean, by diverse means, the different articles of domestic furniture; and the only structural portions of a room which one has not been able thoroughly to wash have been the walls. With the new material in use, the walls may be scoured as freely as the floor; and the consequent advantages in the case of hospitals, schools, and other buildings, in which perfect cleanliness is so essential, will be considerable.

A WINDOW FIRE-ESCAPE APPARATUS.

platform and into the pendent bag. No difficulty is encountered here, young children, aged persons, and invalids being able to enter the vessel with readiness. The first contingent in, the operator manipulates the brake and lowers the bag to the ground; raising it again, when it has discharged its occupants, by means of the winchhandle. If there still remain any persons in the burning house besides the operator, he again proceeds to lower them in the manner described. Afterwards, he has to busy himself with his own safety, for effecting which, special facilities are afforded. He has done with the gear previously manipulated, and now turns his attention to two independent ropes, coiled on reels in the bag itself. The ends he hooks on to the iron framework, immediately afterwards entering the bag, and lowering himself to the ground by means of a small brake attached to the reels.

We are

assured that even young children of either sex can be readily instructed to use the apparatus with ease and perfect safety.

A NEW SYSTEM OF DREDGING.

A novel system of dredging, but one which seems likely to supersede former imperfect methods, has been devised recently. A vessel propelled by hydraulic power is employed, the time selected for operation being an ebb-tide, and from this vessel specially devised telescopic tubes project beneath. Water is forced through these under immense pressure, and in powerful jets or streams enters the accumulations of sand, mud, &c.-known as 'silt'-which it is desired to remove from the bed of the channel. The silt at once rises, and in accordance with one of the laws of hydraulics, is held in suspension, and carried along by the tide. The inventor of the new system-Mr B. H. Thwaite, of 37 Victoria Street, Liverpool-says that as the vessel is gradually propelled through the water, enormous accumulations of silt can be disturbed and removed in a mere fraction of the time required by the usual dredging operations.

HOW TO BECOME A PATENTEE.

By

What seems to be a useful mechanism for affording a means of escape, independent of outside aid, from the window of a house whose lower parts are enveloped in flames, has been patented by Mr H. Hargreaves, of 92 Osborne Road, Forestgate, London, E. The appliance— which is intended to be stowed beneath the By an Amending Act, passed on the fourteenth dressing-table that usually stands before the of August of this year, some slight changes were window of a bedroom-consists of a vessel or introduced in the procedure of obtaining a patent. bag capable of holding several persons, a stout Under the principal Act, complete specifications iron framework partially covered with a stretch had to be sent in within nine months of making of canvas and an apparatus for paying out and application for a patent, and had to be accepted receiving in two stout ropes. This apparatus is within twelve months of the same time. fixed inside the room just below the window- the payment of a small fee to the Comptroller, sill, and consists of an axle having at one that official may now, if he think right, extend extremity a winch-handle, and carrying two rope- the two periods by one month and three months reels controlled by a powerful hand-brake. Upon respectively; and where such extension is allowed, a fire occurring, the dressing-table is removed; an extension of four months is allowed for sealthe iron framework is turned upon its hinges ing the patent. Under the old Act, the period through the open window so as to lie at right was fifteen months. It will be seen, therefore, angles to the wall of the building; and the bag- that a patent must be sealed within nineteen to either side of which the ropes are attached-months of making the application, which otheris hoisted through the sash and dropped through wise becomes void. Previous to the passing of the projecting iron frame, immediately before the stretch of canvas. Thus the apparatus is in readiness for use; and we are told that the operations up to this point need not have occupied eight seconds. The individual who has constituted himself, or herself, the operator now assists the escaping persons on to the canvas

the Amending Act, provisional specifications and drawings were open to the public; but they are now neither open to public inspection nor are they published. Inventors who abandon their applications, do not, therefore, by their attempt to obtain a patent, let the world into their secrets, as was formerly the case. It appears that doubts

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