keeping them in a constant temperature at all times. Near by, and in a separate building, is a high-class transit instrument, for comparing the clocks, as often as the weather permits, with actual sidereal time. In making these comparisons, no dependence upon the eye or ear is allowed, nor is it possible in this case, as the clocks and the transit observer are in separate buildings, but all the comparisons are made by means of a chronograph. This apparatus records by means of a stylographic pen, making a trace upon a revolving cylinder driven by clock-work and controlled by delicate machinery. The swing of the pendulum of the standard clock makes and breaks an electrical current that causes the pen to move aside, and, as a result, the trace of the pen is broken or dented with each swing of the pendulum. The observer at the transit instrument holds in his hand a circuit-closer in electrical connection with the chronograph, and, on observing the passage of a star across the field of his glass, closes the circuit, and the pen makes a dent in its trace. It is easy then to compare the dents on the trace marked by the pendulum and those that record the transit of the star, and the difference between these dents records the difference, in tenths of a second, between the clock and the star. At some distance from the observatory; in the office of a safe deposit company, is a second chronograph, also recording the beats of the standard clock. In the vaults of the company is a set of drawers, designed to be closed air-tight and securely locked, for containing the watches to be examined. Under the drawers is a refrigerator, with the proper water-tight tanks for holding the watches while undergoing the cold test. Next to it is an oven for the hot test. This oven is heated by hot water pipes (heated by gas), and is properly supplied with chemicals for obtaining a perfectly dry air. On the arrival of a watch for testing, it is at once removed, numbered, entered by its maker's name and number in the books, and placed, with the dial uppermost, in a compartment in one of the drawers. If it has run down, it is wound up; but in this case the tests do not begin until it has been running five days. The temperature in the drawers is maintained between 65 and 75° Fahr. at all times, and the watch is never touched except by the observer in charge. At a fixed hour every day the watch is tested. This consists in observing when its second hand passes a fixed point of the day and minute. The observer holds a circuit-closer, connected by wire with the chronograph, in his hand, and at the right instant closes the circuit, and a dent is made on the chronographic trace. A comparison of the mark with those made by the beats of the standard clock shows in tenths of a second the gain or loss exhibited by the watch in the past twenty-four hours. These tests are made on twelve successive days, and the differences are recorded. If the gain or loss exceeds ten seconds in a day, the tests go no further, as the watch is not worthy of examination, and no certificate of its rating can be given. The owner of the watch can, however, have a letter stating the amount of the loss or gain, but this is not regarded as a certificate in any sense. At the end of the twelve days, the watch is kept for one day in the refrigerator at about 40° Fahr., and then one day in the oven at a temperature of about 90° Fahr. It then returns to the ordinary temperature, and is kept for fourteen days with the dial vertical (hanging) and with the pendant up, two days with the pendant to the right, and two days with the pendant to the left. It then rests two days with the dial down, and then eight days with the face up. Each day it is tested and recorded on the chronograph, and its rating recorded. Proper limits of variations are placed at each change in position or temperature, and if the watch passes all the tests it may be rated in the first class. A certificate showing the mean of its variations, and signed and sealed by the Bureau, is given with it to the maker, and this becomes the measure of its commercial value. The purchaser, as in the case of the thermometer, has a right to demand the certificate, both as a guarantee of its value and a record of its rate of variation. Cheaper watches, in being rated, may go through fewer changes of temperature or position and examinations, and are rated in lower classes, and receive certificates to that effect. Watches that do not obtain certificates are not necessarily valueless. The letter stating their rate of variation gives the truth about them, and while not the highest-class watches, they may be very good, and sell accordingly. Clocks and chronometers are examined in essentially the same way, except that in the case of clocks, their variations under changes in barometric pressure also enter into the tests. While only a few of the leading makers of watches and thermometers have availed themselves of the advantages of the Bureau, and while it has only been in operation for a short time, public interest has been awakened in the subject, and the Bureau, it would seem, has a wide and useful field before it. The system of buying watches and glasses by certificate is entirely new in this country, but it has been found to work well in Europe, and it cannot fail to be of great benefit, both to trade and science. The Bureau is under the control of Winchester Observatory, of Yale College, and is protected by every possible precaution to secure accuracy of observation and truthfulness in the reports. American Progress in the Manufacture of THE use of colored or stained glass in windows, and so disposed as to represent figures or pictures, is a very old art, and in its history it appears to have passed through two stages. At first, it was arranged in geometrical forms or simple pictures, depending upon the form of the cut pieces of glass for the outlines, and upon its varying thickness for shades of color. Afterward, glass was painted to heighten the effect of the picture, and this style of work has continued to the present day. While stained glass windows are still made without the use of paint, they are not common, except in the representation of mere conventional figures, or in windows where only simple masses of color are used, without regard flower in relief. The thick parts are dark, the thinner portions are light, and in its place in the window, with light from the outside, it looks like a lily painted with more than common skill. In fact, it would be impossible to paint on glass any such delicate grada. tions of color as are here obtained. Fruit is represented by a mass of glass of varying thickness, and thus it is shaded in a manner that could not be obtained by painting. Added to this, is the further effect gained by the specular reflection from the raised surface of the glass, which, in the night, when the window is lighted from within, gives the outline of the fruit or flower; moreover, if there is in the room a cross-light from another window the raised surface reflects it, and gives the fruit or flower still another touch of light. While this method of treating glass is not new, it may be fairly claimed that an old idea has been carried far beyond anything hitherto attempted, and that here is practically a new art. Next to this comes a development of the familiar process of etch to any special design. Believing that the ancient art of making pictures in stained glass, both with and without the use of paint, might be greatly improved, two of our American artists, Mr. John La Farge and Mr. Louis C. Tiffany, have turned their attention to this art, and have not only produced new effects in this field of art work, but have virtually introduced a new industry of the most promising and interesting character. The art work does not come under this Department, but the mechanical methods by which it is secured may properly be considered as part of the advanced work of the world. In this work the aim has been hitherto to suppress as much as possible the "leading," or sash used to hold the glass. It was formerly used only in the outlines of the design or picture, and was ignored wherever possible, painting in part taking its place in defining the picture. In the new system, the leads are treated as parts of the picture. For instance, in a piece of foliage the lead represents the twigs and stems, and is made thick and rough to indicate the wood, or in rep-ing "flashed glass " with acids, but in place of merely resenting drapery it follows the seams of the fabric, and is gilded. This roughening and gilding produces a new effect not before obtained in stained glass. Seen at night, with a light inside the window, stained glass is usually a confused mass of lines, representing nothing. In the new method, the leads actually represent the outlines of the picture, while the gilding heightens the effect, and the window has an increased decorative value. Besides this, the lead is made of varying thickness, to give character to the lines of the picture, a shaded or softened line being secured by making the lead much wider on the outside of the window, thus overlapping the glass and casting a shadow dimly seen through the window. The lead is also made in very delicate lines, and treated as part of the design, whether supporting the glass or not. The use of glass of varying thickness is not new, but in the new method of work this is carried out in a manner that is entirely novel, and gives effects never before attained. The hot glass, while at a red heat, is rolled with corrugated rollers, punched and pressed by various roughened tools, or is squeezed and pressed up into corrugations by lateral pressure, or is stamped by dies. The "bull's-eyes " produced in making sheet glass, by whirling it round on a rod while still soft, are also cut into various shapes, or, while still soft, are gently pressed into new shapes. These blocks or tiles and sheets of colored glass may then be used to represent natural objects, as flowers, clouds, rays of light, the folds of hanging drapery, fringes, or even parts of landscapes, as the sea, or a hill, or the forms of fruit, by simply using the lines formed by the corrugations, or the raised ribs or uneven surfaces, to represent the lines of the object, whatever it may be. To illustrate, we may take a simple white lily. The stem is formed by the lead, the flower is a piece of thick white (porcelain) glass, stamped to represent the petals of the eating away one of the colored surfaces in the form of letters, the acid is, as it were, painted on, and the work becomes picturesque. To obtain still other effect, flashed glass is etched on the colored side so as entirely to remove the color. Stained glass of another color is then placed behind it, to give new combinations of color or shade. Several sheets of glass, more or less etched or corrugated, are placed one over the other to give other combinations of tints. Next to this comes a revival and modification of the old Venetian method of imbedding bits of colored glass in sheets of clear glass. This is done by scattering filaments and irregular bits of colored glass on the table on which plate glass is made, and then pouring the hot glass (either white or colored) over the table, and rolling it down in the usual manner to press the colored threads or pieces into the sheet. New styles of opalescent glass, new methods of mixing colors in the glass-house, have also been tried, and with many surprising and beautiful results. Lastly, comes one of the most original features of all, and this is the use of solid masses and lumps of glass, pressed while hot into molds, giving a great number of facets like a cut stone, or by taking blocks of glass and roughly chipping them into numerous small faces. These, when set in the window, have all the effects of the most brilliant gems, changing their shade of color with every changing angle of vision. Both Mr. Tiffany and Mr. La Farge have made stained-glass windows by these methods with great success; each has invented certain of the novel processes described above, and, aside from considerations of art, the glass-making interest cannot fail to be greatly benefited by their labors. It should be said, however, that while Mr. La Farge was, we believe, first in the field of experiment, some of these methods, invented by Mr. Tiffany, have hitherto been used only by him. Captain Dick. UPON the shores of lofty Lake Tahoe, BRIC-À-BRAC. Sometimes he took too much, at least he did 'Twas calculated that he soaked his quid Oh, fearful are the storms on Lake Tahoe, Next day they found the sail-boat upside down, But Captain Dick, they found him nevermore; So, reader, if of this you have a doubt, In whose green nook there stands, with latch-string out, The summer cottage of Ben Holladay, There you will hear the burden of this rhyme, The Dead Moon. The moon is in a state of decrepitude, a dead world.-Proctor's Lectures. THE moon is dead-defunct-played out- She looketh well, beyond a doubt; At any rate, she's most entrancing She charms the eyes of youth and sage. And so the man upon her 's perished!- Poor wretch! No wife his bosom cherished, Yet she's adored by all the gypsies, Whose lovers sigh beneath her beams; And once she caught Endymion sleeping, He was her first and early love. But that's a very ancient story, Ingram's "Life of Poe. ''* AN Englishman, Ingram, has written Poe's life; * Life and Opinions of Edgar Allan Poe, by John H. Ingram. London: Hogg. New York: Cassells. 2 vols. Terpsichore in the Flat Creek Quarters. LISTEN when I call de figgers! Watch de music es you go! All go forrard to de center! Balance roun' an' den go back! Keep on in de proper 'rection, right straight up an' down de crack! (Jes' look at dem Pea Ridge niggers, how dey's buckin' 'gin de Creek!) Dat's de proper action, Sambo! den you done de biznis right! Now show 'em how you knocked de splinters at de shuckin t'udder night; Try to do your lebbel bes', an' stomp it like you use to do! Jes' come down on de "Flat Creek step" an show de Ridge a thing or two! Now look at dat limber Jonah tryin' to tech de fancy fling! (Who ebber seed a yaller nigger dat could cut de pidgin-wing?) Try dat lick agin, dar, Moses; tell you what, dat's hard to beat! (How kin sich a little nigger handle sich a pile o' feet?) Swing your corners! Turn your pardners! ('Pears de motion's gittin' slow. He kicks de dus' plum out de planks an' jars de shingles on de roof! A well-authenticated fact. ↑ Discussed with much ability by the Am. Philological Society, 1879. |