Chapter 6

The idea of substituting a new and superior motive-power for steam will no doubt strike many minds as extravagant, if not chimerical. We have been so accustomed to regard steam-power as the _ne plus ultra_ of attainment in subjecting the modified forces of nature to the service of man, that a discovery which promises to supersede this agency will have to contend with the most formidable preconceptions as well as with gigantic interests. Nevertheless, it may now be predicted with confidence, that we are on the eve of another great revolution, produced by the application of an agent more economical and incalculably safer than steam. A few years hence we shall hear of the 'wonders of caloric' instead of the 'wonders of steam.' To the question: 'How did you cross the Atlantic?' the reply will be: 'By caloric of course!' On Saturday, I visited the manufactory, and had the privilege of inspecting Ericsson's caloric engine of 60 horse-power, while it was in operation. It consists of two pairs of cylinders, the working pistons of which are 72 inches in diameter. Its great peculiarities consist in its very large cylinders and pistons, working with very low pressure, and in the absence of boilers or heaters, there being no other fires employed than those in small grates under the bottoms of the working cylinders. During the eight months that this test-engine has been in operation, not a cent has been expended for repairs or accidents. The leading principle of the calorie engine consists in producing motive-power by the employment of the expansive force of atmospheric air instead of that of steam; the force being produced by compression of the air in one part of the machine, and by its dilatation by the application of heat in another part. This dilatation, however, is not effected by continuous application of combustibles, but by a peculiar process of transfer, by which the caloric is made to operate over and over again--namely, the heat of the air escaping from the working cylinder at each successive stroke of the engine, is transferred to the cold compressed air, entering the same; so that, in fact, a continued application of fuel is only necessary in order to make good the losses of heat occasioned by the unavoidable eradiation of the heated parts of the machine. The obvious advantages of this great improvement are the great saving of fuel and labour in the management of the engine, and its perfect safety. A ship carrying the amount of coal that the Atlantic steamers now take for a single trip, could cross and recross the Atlantic twice without taking in coal; and the voyage to China or to California could be easily accomplished by a caloric ship without the necessity of stopping at any port to take in fuel. Anthracite coal being far the best fuel for this new engine, we shall no longer have to purchase bituminous coal in England for return-trips. On the contrary, England will find it advantageous to come to us for our anthracite. A slow radiating fire without flame is what is required, and this is best supplied by our anthracite. The _Ericsson_ will be ready for sea by October next, and her owners intend to take passengers at a reduced price, in consequence of the reduced expenses under the new principle.--_Boston Transcript._

VIOLETS:

SENT IN A TINY BOX.

Let them lie--ah, let them lie! Plucked flowers--dead to-morrow; Lift the lid up quietly, As you'd lift the mystery Of a buried sorrow.

Let them lie--the fragrant things, All their souls thus giving; Let no breeze's ambient wings And no useless water-springs Mock them into living.

They have lived--they live no more; Nothing can requite them For the gentle life they bore, And up-yielded in full store While it did delight them.

Yet, I ween, flower-corses fair! 'Twas a joyful yielding, Like some soul heroic, rare, That leaps bodiless forth in air For its loved one's shielding.

Surely, ye were glad to die In the hand that slew ye, Glad to leave the open sky, And the airs that wandered by, And the bees that knew ye;

Giving up a small earth-place And a day of blooming, Here to lie in narrow space, Smiling in this smileless face With such sweet perfuming.

O ye little violets dead! Coffined from all gazes, We will also smile, and shed Out of heart-flowers withered Perfume of sweet praises.

And as ye, for this poor sake, Love with life are buying, So, I doubt not, ONE will make All our gathered flowers to take Richer scent through dying.

CHINESE LAUNDRY IN CALIFORNIA.

What a truly industrious people they are! At work, cheerfully and briskly, at ten o'clock at night. Huge piles of linen and under-clothing disposed in baskets about the room, near the different ironers. Those at work dampening and ironing--peculiar processes both. A bowl of water is standing at the ironer's side, as in ordinary laundries, but used very differently. Instead of dipping the fingers in the water, and then snapping them over the clothes, the operator puts his head in the bowl, fills his mouth with water, and then blows so that the water comes from his mouth _in a mist_, resembling the emission of steam from an escape-pipe, at the same time so directing his head that the mist is scattered all over the piece he is about to iron. He then seizes his flat iron. This invention beats the 'Yankees' all to bits. It is a vessel resembling a small, deep, metallic wash-basin, having a highly-polished flat bottom, and a fire continually burning in it. Thus they keep the iron hot, without running to the fire every five minutes and spitting on the iron to ascertain by the 'sizzle' if it be ready to use. This ironing machine has a long handle, and is propelled without danger of burning the fingers by the slipping of the 'ironing rag.' Ladies who use the ordinary flat irons will appreciate the improvement.--_Marysville (California) Herald._

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End of Project Gutenberg's Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 445, by Various