ation is divided into
three bouts of about 36 hours, two nights and a day, each, with
intervals of a day. The first is the production of three essays on the
four assigned books; the second of five essays on the five classics;
the third of five essays on miscellaneous subjects. The strain, as may
be imagined, is very great, and several victims die in the hall. The
literary ambition which leads old men of 60 and 70 to enter not
unfrequently destroys them. Should any fatal case occur, the coffin
may on no account be carried out through the gates; it must be lifted
over or sometimes through a breach in the wall. Death must not pollute
the great entrance. At the end of the third trial, the first batch of
those who have completed their essays is honored with the firing of
guns, the bows of the officials, and the ministry of a band of music.
Three weeks of anxious waiting will ensue before a huge crowd will
assemble to see the list published. Then the successful candidates are
the pride of their country side, and well do the survivors of such an
ordeal deserve their credit. The case of those who are in the last
selection and are left degreeless, for the stern reason that some must
be crowded out, is the hardest of all.

* * * * *

HIGH SPEED ENGINE AND DYNAMO.

We illustrate a high speed engine and dynamo constructed by Easton &
Anderson, London. This plant was used at the Royal Agricultural
Society's show at Doncaster in testing the machinery in the dairy, and
constituted a distinct innovation, as well as an improvement, on the
appliances previously employed for the purpose. The separator, or
whatever might be the machine under trial, was driven by an electric
motor fed by a current from the dynamo we illustrate. A record was
made of the volts and amperes used, and from this the power expended
was deduced, the motor having been previously carefully calibrated by
means of a brake. So delicate was the test that the observers could
detect the presence of a warm bearing in the separator from the change
in the readings of the ammeter.

[Illustration: IMPROVED HIGH SPEED ENGINE AND DYNAMO.]

The engine is carefully balanced to enable it to run at the very high
speed of 500 revolutions per minute. The cranks are opposite each
other, and the moving parts connected with the two pistons are of the
same weight. The result is complete absence of vibration, and
exceedingly quiet running. Very l