far before
Dr. Readman became aware that another application for letters patent
for producing phosphorus had been made by Mr. Thomas Parker, of
Wolverhampton, and his chemist, Mr. A.E. Robinson. Their joint patent
is dated December 5, 1888, and was thus applied for only seven weeks
after Dr. Readman's application had been lodged.

It appeared that Mr. Parker had conducted a number of experiments
simultaneously but quite independently of those carried on by Dr.
Readman, and that he was quite unaware--as the latter was unaware--of
any other worker in this field. It was no small surprise, therefore,
to find during an interview which took place between these rival
inventors some time after the date referred to, that the two patents
were on practically the same lines, namely, the production of
phosphorus by electricity.

Their interests lay so much together that, after some delay, they
arranged to jointly work out the process, and the result has been the
formation of a preliminary company and the erection on a large scale
of experimental plant in the neighborhood of Wolverhampton to prove
the commercial success of the new system of manufacturing phosphorus.

Before describing these experimental works it may be as well to see
with what plant Dr. Readman has been working at the Cowles Company's
works. And here we may remark that we are indebted to a paper read by
Dr. Readman at the Philosophical Institution, Edinburgh, a short time
ago; this paper being the third of a series which during the last year
or two have been read by the same scientist on this branch of chemical
industry. Here is an abstract giving a description of the plant. The
works are near the Milton Station, on the North Staffordshire Railway.
The boilers for generating the steam required are of the
Babcock-Wilcox type, and are provided with "mechanical stokers;" the
steam engine is of 600 horse power, and is a compound condensing
horizontal tandem, made by Messrs. Pollitt & Wigzel, of Sowerby
Bridge. The fly wheel of this engine is 20 feet in diameter, and
weighs 30 tons, and is geared to the pulley of the dynamo, so that the
latter makes five revolutions for each revolution of the engine by
rope driving gear, consisting of eighteen ropes. The engine is an
extremely fine specimen of a modern steam engine; it works so silently
that a visitor standing with his back to the engine railings, at the
time the engine is being started, cannot tell whether it is in mo