e smaller quantity of gas consumed with the albo-carbon
process than without it, and the very small cost of the enriching
material. According to our information, 1,000 cubic feet of ordinary
gas as generally used will, by the albo-carbon appliance, give as much
illumination as 3,000 cubic feet without it, and the cost of the
material to produce this result is only 1s. 6d. Experiments have been
made with this light by Mr. T. W. Keates, the consulting chemist to
the Metropolitan Board of Works, who reports very favorably upon it,
as does also Dr. Wallace, of Glasgow, who has obtained some very
satisfactory results with it. It is claimed for the albo-carbon
material that it is perfectly inexplosive, safe and portable, that it
causes no obstruction and leaves no residuum, and that the receivers
can be replenished almost indefinitely without any accumulation taking
place, so perfect is the evaporation of the albo-carbon. On the whole
the display at the Aquarium speaks greatly in favor of the new process
of gas enrichment, which, other things being equal, bids fair to find
its way into practice.--_Engineering._

* * * * *

ENGLISH AND AMERICAN HARDWARE.

Mr. Frederick Smith, Manager of the Union Land and Building Company
(limited), recently read a paper on the above subject before the
Manchester Scientific and Mechanical Society. Mr. H. Whiley,
Superintendent of the Manchester Health Department, presided. The
following is the text of the paper, as given in the London
_Ironmonger_. The lecturer said:

A spectator in any of our courts of justice will generally be struck
with the amount of hard swearing which is given to the court, under
the name of evidence. He will find one set of witnesses testifying,
under oath, to one thing, and another set, also under oath, to the
very opposite. Some prove too much, some too little, some are of a
totally negative character, proving nothing, and some are of no
character at all, and therefore are willing to prove anything. To some
extent the same phenomena are to be observed in reference to the
question of foreign competition. On the one hand the manufacturers
hold up to our affrighted vision the picture of our mills stopped, our
machine shops standing empty and idle, our hardware trade slipping
through our fingers, our ships rotting in our own and in foreign
ports, and our greatness as a producing nation for ever passed away.
On the other hand, th