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The following ingenious method of keeping beer on draft excluded from air, and thus preventing it from turning sour, has recently been devised. A slate cistern is formed, having a wooden lid, fitting accurately, fioating on the surface of the liquid. The sides of the lid are beveled, so that a sharp edge is presented to the walls of the cistern, and along this edge a strip of india-rubber or canvas is attached,which forms, with the bevel on the upper side a V-shaped space, into, which wet sand or other suitable material is packed, in order to keep the canvas in close contact with the cistern and exclude the air from its contents. A hole is formed in the lid,, provided with a stuffing box, through which a pipe passes, into the liquid, and the connection to the beer engine is made in the usual way. The end of the pipe in the liquids is. not open, but has perforations at about an inch from the extremity—an arrangement which prevents any sediment from escaping with the fluid. The action of the device is very simple : Atmospheric pressure acting on the lid forces it to. descend as the liquid is removed from under it, and thus a constant flow is obtained by means of the engine. By letting the cistern into the ground, the temperature of the liquid will, remain nearly uniform the year round. The New York Times says that about two years ago several Japanese silk worms were imported and placed on some alanthus trees in Washington street. The result is that this year the alanthus trees are overrun with Japanese silk worms. This fact accounts for the huge dark-colored, broad-winged insects that are to be seen flying in almost all parts of Brooklyn. Pkof. Loomis, with a party of six or seven other savants, are going to start, ma Norfolk, for western North Carolina, for the purpose of witnessing and making observations with regard to the eclipse which takes place next August. They intend sojourning in the neighborhood of Ashville, or the elevated regions about Middle Springs, and afterwards purpose returning home by way of Tennessee, Virginia, etc. S. T. Clements, D.D.S., writes to the Dental Cosmos that although wax and resin, shellac varnish, and liquid silex are recommended for mending plaster models, neither, in Lis experience, can compare with sandarac varnish. Saturate the broken surfaces thoroughly, and press them well together. Allow it to dry, and the model will stand all the manipulation required. Patentees of car-heating devices will be glad to know that a law exists in Ohio that every railroad in the State shall, when necessary to heat any of its cars, do so by heating apparatus so constructed that the fire in it will be immediately extinguished whenever the cars are thrown from the track and overturned. The same law provides that cars shall be lighted by candles only.
