(1) that the separation of the particles of carbon should be as complete as possible, and ( 2 ) to have the greatest available number of these particles disseminated throughout the flame. The limit of the separation of the solid particles was the point at which the flame began to smoke; and the stage of the combustion process at which the greatest degree of luminosity took place was just the point before the emission of smoke began. Another consideration was, that the higher the quality of gas the sooner did the point arrive at which it began to smoke. In order to insure a perfect separation of the carbon particles, the gas should be burned at a very low pressure; and, moreover, the temperature of the flame should be as high as possible, in order that the carbon particles may be very highly heated, and also that a greater number of them may be maintained in the state of incandescence. In the Siemens' burner the gas is heated to a temperature of from 600° to 700° Fahr., and thus the flame temperature is greatly increased. BIRDS AND BEASTS have their epicurean tastes and will go through a good deal of labor for the sake of a very little tit-bit. In Australia there is a species of pigeon (Carpophaga spilorhoa) which feeds, or, rather, takes a sort of appetizer, on the fruit of a Combretaceous plant, named Terminalia melanocarpa. This fruit is little more than a hard stone, an inch long, with the thinnest kind of a sarcocarp. It certainly can afford no nourishment to its greedy devourers, but must be enjoyed solely for the extremely bitter, and to human beings, very unpleasant taste. THE AXIAL MOTION OF THE EARTH.-Foucault made his experiment in the church of St. Genevieve, in Paris. Here he suspended under the dome a pendulum, some two hundred feet in length, performing its vibrations in eight seconds. A graduated circle was drawn on the floor beneath it, and hour after hour, and day after day, the measured swing of the heavy ball was found to be precisely in accordance with the theory that the earth turns on its axis once in twenty-four hours. The apparent changes in the direction of its motion were explicable in no other way, and the hypothesis was thus demonstrated beyond the possibility of a doubt. The globe on which we dwell was seen to go round, and Foucault was the scientific hero of the day. The idea recently occurred to the writer while viewing the Washington Monument, that a grand opportunity was there presented for repeating Foucault's experiment, as a pendulum of any desired length could be employed, and with the aid of our most perfect appliances it could be carried out on a scale which would secure the most satisfactory results, and it would add another feature to the many attractions which already bring visitors thousands of miles to the capital of the nation.-S. L. Denney, in Scientific American. CORRESPONDENCE. BUSH HILL, NORTH CAROLINA, Third mo. 1st, 1885. "Will the condition of man never be meliorated?" plaintively asks that good man, Job Scott, when wit nessing, in 1793, a riot in the North of Ireland about an enlistment, deploring the torrents of blood that had been shed in war, and noticing the fact that at that time England and France were engaged in hostilities, And how stand we now-ninety two years after Job Scott's lines were penned? Happily in this land peace and good will towards all nations, especially towards England, and small and I hope not increasing armaments. In Europe? Every country borne down by enormous military and naval expenditure; France at war with China and Madagascar, simply from the lust of conquest; England engaged in a fearful struggle in Egypt, brought about by the cruelty and rapacity of a former ruler in that country (Ismail Pasha), and the fact of her subjects having lent immense sums to that ruler. Temperance, both in this country and England, despite all the various evil agencies arrayed against it, is making way;-is peace making equal progress? I fear not. And why? Because there are so few religious people that are thorough in the cause, so few who hold the old Quaker doctrine, or rather, I should say, the views of the early Christians as to the unlaw. fulness of all wars, and are prepared to stake their all if put to the test of their principles. We have several members of the Society of Friends, including John Bright, in the House of Commons in England; but I never heard that any of them lifted up the voice against all war, in an effective manner at all events. John Bright, though he nobly battled against the insane war cry in 1854, when England went to war with Russia, and passed through in consequence, to use his own words, "torrents of abuse," never, so far as I know, went in uncompromisingly for the old Quaker doctrine of George Fox. We seem, therefore, many of us, like the advocates of moderation in drinking, to be holding at best a halting testimony. Then again we all know the immense influence of the press, and yet I could name a leading daily New York paper, largely patronized by Friends, that is continually giving prominence to views repugnant to all, whether new or old Quakers. This is a thing that should be looked into, "for how can a fountain send forth sweet water and bitter?" I saw in this said paper a notice of the late Col. Burnaby, who died fighting in the Soudan, by one who professed to have been his intimate friend. He was a man of wealth, and a certain influence, but he seemed never happy except when engaged in slaughter, and when I lived in Birmingham and he was a Parliamentary candidate for that town, he said, with an awful imprecation, that 'he wished England were at war with Russia." He had really no more call to go to the Soudan than the writer of this, as his regiment was not ordered therehis act was purely voluntary. Yet we are told he died a death that as a true soldier he would have chosen! His sword was never drawn in the cause of true freedom, and had the civil war in this country been raging would have been offered to the South; and this is the now, we should have found, as a Tory, that his services man a Northern paper, supported to a certain extent by Friends, holds up to our admiration! Therefore I say that unless we wash our hands thoroughly from all complicity with the worldly, THOUGH the safety of a believer never changes, swaggering war spirit, whether in the press or elsewhere, yet his sense of safety may change. it is in vain for us to expect the blessing of the Highest on our efforts. Unfortunately republics, as well as monarchies, are saturated with the war spirit, and we must show that we are really followers of the Prince of Peace, irrespective of all politics and parties. SAMUEL DARTON. "IF the victorious general should burn the cities, and lay waste the country, and destroy the inhabitants of the kingdom which his sword had won, would the glory of his victory be so great-would its triumphs be so lasting, as if in the plenitude of his power he had exercised a wise forbearance and clemency; had persuaded the citizens to submit entirely to his authority, constrained them to conform to the language and in stitutions of their conquerors, and to acknowledge a loyal allegiance to their new sovereign?" The lesson taught in the above, found in last week's Friends' Review, from the pen of Thomas Kimber, is this: If Jesus Christ, our "victorious general," should, by His baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, "burn out," "lay waste," "destroy,” “annihilate❞ the old life and nature, "the old MAN," "body of sin," "the carnal mind," would the glory of His victory be so great as if He had persuaded the "carnal mind" to submit to His authority; had constrained him to be "subject to the law of God?" I. Penington was right in the language quoted by Bro. Kimber; let us have it again; italics are mine: "The Lord God is perfectly able to redeem from sin in this life. He can cast out the strong man, cleanse the house and make it fit for Himself to dwell in. He can finish transgression and sin in the heart. He can make His saints more than conquerors." Bringing into subjection is conquering, but through Christ we are to be more than conquerors. I have never yet seen any of Penn's writing that taught the subjugating theory. This is the only quotation from him in the article, "The active and passive obedience of Christ Jesus affects our salvation throughout; as well from the power and pollution of sin as from its guilt." "As well." How well? How well is the guilt of the soul affected? It is done away, removed, gone. The "power and pollution" "is affected as well." "But that the way is long, the travel hard, that there is need of much repentance," &c., sounds like expressions of another who "was mystical at times on some points of faith," although he had a good experience. If the way is necessarily long, then many cannot reach it in life, for hundreds die soon after conversion. W. P. SMITH, TEMPERANCE NOTES. A BILL to submit a Constitutional Prohibitory Amendment to the people of Oregon has just passed both Houses of the Legislature of that State. A CASE has just been decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, in which was involved the question whether the prohibitory law of Kansas is consistent with the Constitution of the United States. The case came up to the Court from the Supreme Court of Kansas; and as it stood before the latter court, it was a proceeding instituted by the Attorney General of the State to remove from office the District Attorney of Saline County in Kansas, because he refused to prosecute persons who were guilty of selling intoxicating liquors in the county in violation of the prohibitory liquor law, enacted by the Legislature of the State. The District Attorney claimed that this law was null and void, because inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States. The Supreme Court of Kansas ruled against him on this point, and rendered a judgment removing him from office. He then, by a writ of error, carried the case to the Supreme Court of the United States; and this court affirmed the judgment of the court below. Chief Justice Waite, in stating the opinion of the court, referred to two cases in which the court had considered the same question, and then said that "the question is now no longer open in this court." IN A CERTAIN TOWN of our acquaintance, says the New Orleans Christian Advocate, the undertaker is also a saloon-keeper. In the front room are his liquors, with all the equipments of an average groggery. Separated by a very thin partition in the rear are his coffins, and not far from the back door is the cemetery. The association is suggestive. It is altogether appropriate for the man who deals in whisky to have a stock of coffins on hand. He who mixes the drinks ought to trim the casket. And then, how suggestive the gradation! In the front room, whisky; in the back room, coffins; at the back door, the cemetery. Abridged from the Sunday School Times. THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON SYSTEM. One of the greatest blessings which the world enjoys to-day is the system of International Bible study, whereby millions upon millions of people, young and old, are engaged week by week in the examination of the same portions of Scripture, and are stimulated to an interchange of thought on themes of the highest possible importance. Not in the Sunday schools alone is this agency a chief factor of intellectual and moral activity. It is a mighty power in the homes and in the common schools, in the colleges, in the theological seminaries, and in all the pulpits of Christendom. It directs the publishing interests of both Europe and America to an extent never approached by any other single impulse since the invention of printing. It taxes the energies of both religious and godless scientists and explorers, and specialists in various lines. It sways popular discussion on the platform and in the secular press. It brings men of every shade of religious. opinion face to face with each other and with the word of God. It promotes, at every step, intelligent personal religious conviction, and a spirit of intelligent Christian liberality. Wranglings over differences in denominational dogma no longer satisfy so many hearers as formerly, nor are pulpit essays a sufficient pabulum for a Bible-studying congregation. The Bible itself becomes a new centre of interest in pulpit and in pew, and the spirit of Bible truth comes into unprecedented prominence above mere dogmatic phraseology; and so the highest Christian unity is promoted throughout Christendom. It is unmistakably true, that at no time before were so large a proportion of the Christians of the world engaged in the interested study of these lessons as at the present hour. It is also true, that there was never a time when so small a proportion of those who are familiar with these lessons were inclined to censure their method, or to find fault with their details. Yet it is, nevertheless, a truth, and this truth it is which has prompted this writing, that now, at the approach of the beginning of a third seven years' course of these lessons, there is a revival of the very same criticisms of, and the very same complainings about, these lessons and their plan, which were met and swept away in their tenfold force and prominence before the beginning of the second full term of study, and. in their hun dred-fold force and prominence before the beginning of their first term. seeds are winged. and, therefore, evidently designed University of Herman Strecker, naturalist, of Reading, Pa. He is a stone cutter, a day laborer but known all over the world as an authority on butterflies. His scientific labors, it is said, are done at night after his day's work is over and on Sundays. He makes his own drawings on stone, writes his own descriptive matter, sets the type and does the printing himself. He has the largest collection of butterflies in the world, Two years ago he published a catalogue of North American species of butterflies which is the most com. plete ever issued, since it contains all the synonyms. In this publication he gives long lists of names of foreign countries where he has collectors working for him. He has collectors in every known island. In his collection are hundreds of specimens which no other museum possesses.-Philada Public Ledger. The system of International lessons is one thing. The detailed method of that system is another thing. There are those to-day, as there have been those all the way along from the beginning, who are opposed to the system itself. To them it may be well to say, that the system of International lessons is quite as firmly established in the Sunday-schools of America, as is a republican form of government in the United States of America; moreover, that there are relatively no more advocates of an abrogation of this system, among those who are now sharers in it, than there are advocates of a monarchical system among the citizens of our republic. But, apart from the question of the International lesson system DR. LEIDY, President of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, recently said that in spite of the as a whole, there are various opinions as to the better method of Bible study to be observed in that manufacture from the drift, and which were used as a many reported discoveries of implements of human system; and a statement and discussion of those claim to prove man's existence in the far-distant various opinions we reserve for a subsequent edito-geologic ages, he had never seen any which he would rial. The system itself stands. There is little use in its discussion. Its method may wisely be considered, at a time, like the present, when its discussion has a possibility of influencing those who are to fix its method for its third seven years' term. ITEMS. DR. ELIZABETH REIFSNYDER, a graduate of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, now a medical missionary at Shanghai, China, performed last year an important and successful surgical operation upon a Chinese woman, a patient in a hospital at Hankow. This being the first time that success has attended the operation referred to in China, the reputation and influence of Dr. Reifsnyder will be thus deservedly increased and extended, to the great advantage of her mission work and that of her associates. AT A late meeting of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, T. Meehan called attention to fine specimens of cones from a cedar of Lebanon planted by Johns Hopkins on the grounds which are now those of the University bearing his name. It had been for a long time supposed by botanists that this species was sparsely confined to the top of Mount Lebanon. A species so closely related as to make its origin from the same ancestral stock entirely probable had been found in the Himalaya Mountains, and the question had been asked why the species had not been found in the intermediate districts. It is probable that the tree was at one time widely distributed, and that it died out over the intervening space in consequence of the peculiarity of the cones. These are so close as to resemble solid blocks of wood, and the scales never open, although the contained consider undoubtedly genuine. EARLY MEETING HOUSES IN PHILADELPHIA.-The first building for religious worship which went into secular uses was the Bank Meeting of the Society of Friends, on the west side of Front street, between Race and Vine. Originally it was a frame building, put up in 1685 It was replaced in 1703 by a brick structure, 38 feet front and 50 feet deep. The ground there was naturally higher than the grade of the street, and the people went up to the meeting-house lot by steps rising occasionally in use for evening services, was closed in from the sidewalk. The Bank Meeting, which was 1789, and the members united with the Key's Alley Meeting and other congregations. The building was torn down, replaced by others, used as stores and dwelling-houses, which have since been supplanted by another generation of stores. THE GREAT MEETING HOUSE.-The "Great Meeting-house" of Friends, at S W. corner of Market and Second streets, was the principal place of worship of the sect. It was built of brick in 1695, and was nearly of a square shape. The roof rose on each side to a central lantern, which gave light to the interior. In 1755 the house was enlarged and somewhat changed in the form of the roof. For more than 100 years the "Great Meeting house" was the cathedral-so to speak-of the Quakers, the great centre of movement, religious and benevolent, and at times even political. It was torn down in 1804, and replaced by stores on Market and Second streets. A new meeting-house was built on the lot used as a burying ground from the year 1690, on Arch street, at the S. E. corner of Fourth. -Phila. Public Ledger. It is not much speaking, but much faith that is needed. RED LETTER DAYS. I said one day, a year ago, I took a ledger fair and fine, And now, I said, when days are glad, I'll write with bright red ink the line, And write with black when they are bad, I will not heed the changing skies, But if there comes some sweet surprise And if to any that I love, A blessing meets them on the way, When first I meet in some grand book, Through some "gate beautiful" of time, Can hold sweet converse with the skies; Ah! then my soul may safely write This day hath been most good and bright. What do I see on looking back? A red-lined book before me lies, A shadow, it must be confessed, In some dim future far away. Then look with grateful wonder back, For you will find-there is no fearThe red days far exceed the black. Selected. A. B. MARCH WINDS. With life and health in their exultant forces The wild March winds are blowing fresh and free; Joyous, yet terrible in their resources, Unseen, yet working in their ordered courses A mighty destiny. The forests tremble at their salutation,. For death may lurk in their tempestuous path, When, gathering strength with every fierce pulsation, They march through sea and land in indignation And thresh the heavens in wrath! They bid the young corn wave its shining lances O winds of March, God's chariots overflowing So may we teach our laggard souls the story The power of endless life! -Sunday at Home. SUMMARY OF NEWS. FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.—Advices from Europe are to the 17th inst. GREAT BRITAIN. In the debate on the 10th in the House of Commons on the Redistribution bill, a Liberal member offered an amendment in favor of disfranchising the Universities, but it was rejected by 260 votes to 79. On the 13th, Premier Gladstone announced that an agreement had been attained between England and Russia, by which neither the Russian nor the Afghan forces would advance any further on either side of the frontier. To the question whether this was a permanent or a temporary arrangement, he replied that it was without any specified time limit. He could best describe it by saying that it was to last as long as there was occasion for it. It provided against a rupture of friendly relations between the two countries in case of a collision between Afghan and Russian outposts before instructions could reach the commanders. This agreement is not cordially received by the press generally, being regarded as a virtual surrender to Russia of the frontier demanded. It is reported, also, that the Government is pushing forward military preparations on a scale much exceeding the possible needs of a Soudan campaign, which is thought to indicate a belief that a struggle has been averted only temporarily. It is asserted that on the recommendation of Earl Dufferin, present Viceroy of India, large grants have been made from the Indian treasury to the Ameer of Afghanistan, to put into complete repair the forts of his territory, particularly those of Herat ; the work to be supervised by English engineers,, and the additional guns needed to be forwarded from Woolwich Arsenal. Sir W. V. Harcourt, Home Secretary, has prepared a bill for introduction into Parliament, authorizing the Government to amend all British treaties, with a view to include power to surrender persons charged with murder, malicious wounding or conspiracy to murder any ruler, sovereign or member of a royal family, or persons charged with the illicit manufacture or storage of explosives; proof to be established as under the present system. IRELAND.-A petition signed by thousands of citizens has been presented to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, asking that body to form a committee for the reception of the Prince and Princess of Wales on their visit to Ireland. It has been decided to form a Citizens' Reception Committee. The Irish Nationalists purpose to maintain an attitude of reserve during the proposed visit, abstaining both from hostile demonstrations and from hypocritical expressions of welcome. The statistics of emigration for the year 1884 show that the total number of emigrants from Ireland was 76,043, a decrease of nearly 40,000 from the emigration in 1883. FRANCE.-The Chamber of Deputies, in discussing the budget as amended by the Senate, rejected all the Senate's increased grants excepting one for the promotion of horse-racing. The budget thus modified was returned to the Senate for its further action. Considerable excitement was produced in Paris on the 13th by the action of the authorities in arresting some prominent Irish Fenians, among whom was Jas. Stephens, and expelling them from the country They were sent into Belgium. It was supposed that the same course would be taken with several others. The Chamber of Deputies has passed the tariff bill increasing the import duties on cereals. GERMANY.-The Diet of Brunswick opened on the 10th. The Minister of State announced that the situation respecting the succession to the throne was virtually unchanged. If no steps are taken to provide a successor to the late Duke within a year from his death, Tenth mo. 18th, 1884, the Government will submit to the Diet the proposals required by the Regency law, which provides a Council of Regency, composed of the Minister of State and the Presidents of the Landtag and the Supreme Court, to carry on the government, while the German Emperor will command the military force of the Duchy. The Reichstag, on the 16th, voted to grant subsidies to a steamship line to Australia and to the Australian and East Asian line. The proposed grant for a line to West Africa was rejected. EGYPT.-Zebehr Pasha, whom Gen. Gordon trusted and whom he wished to have made Governor of the Soudan, has been arrested on a charge of being im plicated in treasonable conspiracies against the Khe dive. The search of his residence after his arrest revealed documents showing that he was in secret correspondence with the Mahdi. He had been under surveillence for two years past; his wealth, chiefly acquired in the slave trade in Central Africa, was confiscated, and he was allowed a regular stipend on condition that he should not leave Alexandria without the consent of the Khedive. He has now been confined on board of a British vessel, and will be “interned ” in the island of Cypress. It is said that the British officials at Cairo urge the Government to appoint Lord Wolseley Governor General of the Soudan, to show the natives that England does not intend to abandon the country until a stable government has been secured for it. Such a step, they think, would weaken the Mahdi's position, and alienate many tribes from him. Gladstone, it is said, objects to such action, as it would be construed as a pledge by England to prolong the occupation of Egypt, which the Government does not contemplate. CENTRAL AMERICA.-President Barrios, of Guatemala, issued a decree on the 7th inst., announcing that "for the purpose of bringing about a union between the States of Central America and making them one republic," he had, with the approval of the Assembly, assumed the title of Supreme Military Chief. Nicaragua, Costa Rica and San Salvador resist this assumption, Honduras is said to assent to it. The Mexican Government has declared its intention of intervening actively, if necessary, to prevent the execution of this decree. DOMESTIC.-The Secretary of State, in response to a resolution of inquiry, has informed the Senate that he had assured the Mexican Minister that our Government would protest energetically, and use its moral influence, against the destruction of the autonomy of the Central American States. The Senate on the 16th adopted, with only 7 negative votes, a resolution declaring it to be the sense of the Senate that President Barrios should be prevented from carrying on his scheme of annexing the neighboring republics. The President has issued a proclamation warning all trespassers from the Oklahoma lands in Indian Territory. General Hatch, who was sent to the place with a military force, telegraphs that a number of persons who had collected to enter the Territory, have decided to return to their homes. ALKETHREPTA There is a large and increasing demand for this Superior Chocolate, and we would call special attention to it as an exceedingly wholesome beverage for the healthy and ailing, children as well as adults. A sample package will be sent by mail by addressing Smith's Manufacturing Co., 107 Fourth Avenue, New York. 17-260 |