red thickness it is passed between
rollers. The result of this annealing process will be a smooth
surface, fully equal to the brightness of pure copper.' Let me add to
this, as a finish to transatlantic matters, that a Mr Allan, at St
Louis, having observed that in washing-machines only the linen on the
outside of the heap was perfectly cleansed, has patented a new
machine, which comprises a chamber or tub with a narrowed neck, in
which a plunger is inserted; and this, 'with the clothes wrapped
around it, passes through the narrowed neck of the chamber, and
pressing forcibly on the water confined within, drives it violently
through the body of the clothes, carrying the dirt with it.'

Science is not idle in France, notwithstanding the social
perturbations: some of our engineers are talking about the trials of
electro-magnetic locomotives recently made on one of the railways in
that country, and are rather curious as to what may be the result. To
travel without the whiz and roar of steam would be a consummation
devoutly desired by thousands of travellers. And among the topics from
the Academie, there is one important to the naval service--M.
Normandy's apparatus for converting sea-water into fresh water.
Briefly described, it is a series of disks, placed one above the
other, communicating by concentric galleries, and placed in a
vapour-bath at a pressure a little above that of the atmosphere. 'The
sea-water,' says the inventor, 'circulating in the galleries heated by
the surrounding vapour, gives off a certain quantity of vapour, which,
mingling with the atmospheric air, introduced by a tube from the
outside, finally condenses as perfectly aerated fresh water in a
refrigerator, which is also in communication with the atmosphere. No
other means of agitation or percolation is so efficacious or
economical.' The apparatus, which is free from the defect of
depositing salt while distillation is going on, is rather more than
three feet in height, and eighteen inches diameter. It will yield two
pints of water per minute, at an expenditure of about 2-1/4 lbs. of
coal for each 45 lbs. of water.

Next, Monsieur Rochas proposes a method for preserving limestone
monuments and sculptures for an indefinite period. This material, as
is well known, is very liable to disintegrate, and the remedy is to
silicify it. Specimens of limestone so prepared were exhibited to the
Academie, but without any explanation of the process. We know that