itself readily to modifications which will
be necessitated by the use of some of the newest forms of burners and
ventilating gas lights.

[Illustration]

In conclusion, I wish to draw attention to an important discovery I have
made in reference to blackened ceilings, for which, up to the present
time, gas has been chiefly blamed. I have long entertained the belief
that with a proper burner it is possible to obtain perfect combustion,
without any smoke; and a series of experiments with white porcelain
plates hung over some burners used in my own house proved conclusively
that the discoloration which spread itself all over my whitewashed
ceilings arose from the state of the atmosphere, which in all large
towns is largely mixed with heavy smoky particles, and from the dust or
dirt created in rooms by the use of coal fires as well as from the smoke
which, more frequently than one is at first supposed to imagine, escapes
from the fire-place into the room. I therefore, in two of my best rooms,
which required to have the ceilings whitened every year, substituted
varnished paper ceilings (light oak paper, simply put on in the usual
way, and varnished) instead of whitewash. I also changed the coal fires
for gas fires. These alterations have gone through the test of two
winters, and the ceilings are now as clean as when they were first done.
The burners have been used every night, and the gas fires every day,
during the two winters. No alteration has been made in the burners
employed, and no "consumers" have been used over them. If the varnished
paper ceilings are tried, I am sure that every one will like them better
than the time honored dirty whitewash, which is simply a fine sieve.
This fact is clearly shown by the appearance of the rafters, which,
after a short time, invariably show themselves whiter than the spaces
between.

* * * * *

ANDERS' TELEPHONE.

Mr. G.L. Anders' telephone, shown in the accompanying cut, combines in a
single apparatus a transmitter, A, a receiver, B, and a pile, C. The
transmitter consists of a felt disk, a, containing several large
apertures, and fixed by an insulating ring, c, to a metallic disk, d,
situated within the box, D. The apertures, b, are filled with powdered
carbon, e, and are covered by a thin metal plate, f, which is fixed to
the insulating ring, c, by means of a metallic washer, g. Back of the
transmitter is arranged the receiver, B, which