Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 39.djvu/882

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862
THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

quently required. The lenses should be as large as the face of the wearer permits, so that the eyes may be well covered in their ordinary lateral movements. The reflections from the edges of frameless glasses which annoy many may be avoided by slightly dulling the polish on the lower edge. The glasses should be worn as close to the eyes as possible without touching the lashes. Occasionally, when the lashes are especially long, with feathery or uneven ends, they should be neatly trimmed with the scissors, which is best practiced when the eyes are closed. It is also to be borne in mind that the subject has an artistic aspect, and that by giving proper consideration to this phase much may be done to remove the prejudice which frequently attaches to the wearing of glasses.

The Niagara Reservation.—The Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara, in their report for 1890, insist on the importance of making adequate provision for permanent improvements at Niagara, and especially of the restoration of the territory of the reservation to a state of natural simplicity and beauty. The work of restoration has for several years presented itself as that which should principally engage the attention of the board. Its applications to the Legislature for appropriations do not, however, seem to have been appreciated. But, in 1889, the grant of $15,000 for "repairs of roads, bridges, and betterments," enabled them to make a beginning, and they created a breakwater for the protection of the shore of Goat Island against erosion. Besides this $15,000 the appropriations for the maintenance and improvement of the reservation have in all not exceeded $75,000 since 1883; in return the commissioners have paid into the treasury, from the "earnings" of the reservation, $24,395, leaving $50,604 as what the reservation actually cost the State for maintenance during seven years. "To educated tourists, whether native or foreign," the commissioners say, "the disinclination of this great and prosperous State to provide means for the restoration of the scenery of the Falls of Niagara must appear somewhat surprising if not inexplicable. The fame of no other natural phenomenon in the world equals that of New York's great cataract." The popular approval of the State's acquisition of the falls has been exhibited so often and in so many ways that it can not be mistaken; and public condemnation, also often shown, of propositions to mar the falls for the sake of money-making schemes, has been significant, and gratifying to all who are interested in Niagara.

Firing Porcelain with Petroleum.—The porcelain manufacturers of Limoges, France, have been seeking for many years means of cheapening the cost of firing their wares, the expense for fuel there being two or three times greater than in England and Bohemia. Wages were reduced and new processes were tried without securing the object aimed at, till at last petroleum and residuum oils were tried, when results were gained far better than had been anticipated. The heat was found absolutely pure. No gases or smoke discolored the china, which came from the kiln whiter and in better condition than when it is fired by the heat of wood. In the muffles there was a decided advantage. The delicate colors, which show at once the presence of the slightest quantities of gas, were perfect. Consul Griffin thinks that this new discovery promises to revolutionize the whole porcelain industry. It is estimated that, by employing these oils, there will be a reduction of some fifteen or twenty per cent in the cost of making china.



NOTES.

The New Jersey Weather Service, organized in December, 1887, has already accumulated many valuable meteorological data. It has, at the request of the Superintendent of the Eleventh Census, prepared and forwarded a table showing the mean annual temperature and the mean annual rainfall, determined from observations made at fifty-eight stations, together with the length of each series from which the mean was determined; it has furnished the State Board of Health complete annual reports of twelve stations; and has distributed weather indications, cold-wave and frost warnings, and, during the growing season, weather-crop bulletins. As established and now in operation, it is an organization of voluntary observers, co-operating with the United States Weather Service, the State Agricultural Society, and the State Experiment Station; the national serv-