being made up and when yellow fogs frequently descend upon London), no sign of smoke was seen issuing from my own kitchen chimney, though I knew that baking and washing were going on downstairs, and that a fire was burning, at the extravagance of which I should have stood aghast if ordinary bituminous coal were being used. In the household fireplace I find that the smokeless coal will not light well unless there is a strong draught; this can be produced by having a temporary blower fitted to the grate, which can be hung on till the fire has burnt up, and then put away, or a few pieces of ordinary coal can be used to commence the fire with. When these are red-hot, the fire can be built up with smokeless coal, which soon becomes a clear incandescent mass, sending out a great heat. The fire requires to be made up about three times a day, it does not require poking, but gradually burns away, leaving very few cinders. I have used the smokeless coal in my house in the ordinary register grate, the large Queen Anne fire baskets with no register in the chimney, and hence no artificially-induced draught, and in the Abbotsford grate, and in all with equal success. The heat given out is so intense that it is a wise precaution to have the grates lined with fire-bricks, both to lessen the size of the fire and to prevent the sides of the grate being burnt away. There is a widely-expressed fear that cooks and housemaids may object to the use of smokeless coal, on the ground that it will give them some extra trouble in lighting fires. There is no extra trouble in any grate with a good draught, as in a kitchener, or any grate fitted with a blower, and the amount of dirty work saved in clearing out soot flues, sweeping chimneys, and general house-cleaning, is so immense that in a very short time, housemaids and cooks will come to see that there is a great economy of time and labour in the use of smokeless coal. Since my experiment of last week, I have succeeded in obtaining some tons of smokeless coal, and now burn it regularly in the kitchen, but having unfortunately filled my cellars in the summer with bituminous coal, I am, against my inclination, still obliged to burn the latter in the fire-place. A CAREFUL HOUSEKEEPER. REVIEW. How to Prevent the Spread of Fever. A Popular Lecture by the Medical Officer of Health to the Borough. Printed at Nottingham. It does not appear on the title-page of this lecture when, or before what audience, it was delivered, nor indeed, that it has ever been delivered at all. Whether, however, it has been actually presented to a popular audience, or is only a lecture in the potential sense, viz., that it is adapted for delivery to such an audience, we are ready to testify to its suitability for such a purpose, and should be glad to hear that the information which it contains had been utilised for the benefit of other places than Nottingham. The lecture does not, of course, contain anything that is at all novel, but it exhibits the nature of the commoner forms of infectious disease, and enforces the precautions which are necessary to prevent their spread, in a way which, as the Article hath it, is easily understanded of the people. The author points out in particular the limitations with which the term preventable is applicable to different forms of disease, and shows that in the case even of those which can be prevented by the direct action of the sanitary authority, a large amount of cooperation is required on the part of the public. It is to the nature of this co-operation that the lecture is mainly directed, especially in regard to scarlet and typhoid fevers, and small-pox. The advice which is given as to the precautions necessary in the first of these cases is excellent. One point in particular is emphasised which is too generally neglected, and that is the tenacity with which infection clings to the hair of scarlatinal patients, and the necessity of frequent and thorough washing of the head during convalescence. We have no doubt, from our own experience, that the neglect of this precaution is a a most frequent source of communication of the disease in cases where in other respects the means that have been adopted to arrest infection would appear to have been satisfactory. For this reason it would seem desirable to extend the plan of oiling the skin, as recommended by Dr. Budd, during the desquamative stage, to the hair, and to insist upon the latter being cut as short during this stage as is possible. There is one point with regard to scarlet fever to which no allusion is made in this lecture, though it is, in our opinion, scarcely second in importance to any, and that is the necessity of extreme suspicion being observed with regard to even the slightest case of sore throat in children under any circumstances, and above all when scarlet fever is in the neighbourhood. It would be difficult to exaggerate the frequency with which extensive outbreaks of this disease have been distinctly traced to a mild and apparently unsuspicious case of sore-throat. Genuine sore-throat is so rare a phenomenon in an ordinarily healthy child that in most cases, when it does occur, some specific cause for it is to be suspected; and though it may not be accompanied by distinct evidence of connection with scarlatinal poison, it is always best to deal with it as if it were. It is to the neglect of this precaution, not only by the public, but, we regret to say, by a large number of the medical profession, that the difficulty of dealing with scarlatinal epidemics is mainly due; for it is these slight cases of infectious sore-throat, often so trivial as not to prevent the child being sent to school, that spread the disease in the most insidious way. We observe that the author of this lecture commits himself to the position that typhoid fever can 'in all cases be traced to the drinking of polluted water, the inhaling of sewer-gas, or air tainted with infectious bowel discharges.' This view is, no doubt, sufficiently in accord with the opinions of a large number of trustworthy authorities to justify its being maintained; but we feel sure that those who entertain it will be found, as a rule, to have derived their experience chiefly in urban districts, and that observers who have been enabled to study this disease, as it so frequently occurs in isolated and otherwise healthy conditions in rural spots, will not feel so ready to accept it as an exhaustive solution of the problem of the genesis of a disease which shades off so insensibly into uncomplicated low fever on the one hand, and into simple diarrhoea on the other. Nor do we think that it is at all desirable to inform the public, as the author of this lecture does, that typhoid fever is not infectious, even with the qualification that is added, that it is not so 'in the sense that either scarlet fever or small-pox are infectious.' Such a statement would seem to imply that the difference between the infectiousness of these diseases is one of quality rather than, as it is, one only of relative intensity. That the infection of typhoid fever is not so liable to diffusion as that of small-pox or scarlet fever, especially when easily available precautions are used, may be readily admitted, but that it is infectious, in the sense in which the term is generally used, is unquestionable, and it is only lulling the public into a false security not to let this fact be clearly known. We do not know upon what evidence Dr. Seaton asserts that the infection of typhoid spreads only through the bowel discharges. He himself admits that the disease rarely spreads in hospitals, in consequence of the efficient disinfection of the discharges, thereby allowing that even under such circumstances it does occasionally spread. Whilst the possibility of its being diffused in other ways-say, by the excretions from the skin, pulmonary membrane, etc., is still an open question, it appears inexpedient, to say the least of it, to discourage those precautions against needless communication with the sick which people are much more likely to take if they are informed that the disease is infectious than that it is not. SANITARY INVENTIONS. INNES'S COKE-GAS GRATE. We have recently seen at the office of Messrs. Innes and Burton, 7, John Street, Adelphi, a cokegas grate, which seems to answer the same purpose as the grate described by Dr. Siemens (see page 237) and to be considerably simpler and less expensive to fit. It is the invention of Mr. Cosmo Innes, M.I.C.E., who described the principle of it in a letter to the Fog and Smoke Committee, dated 27th October last, and who has since worked it out practically and fitted the arrangement to all his own grates. We subjoin a drawing of it, although it is so simple that a drawing is scarcely necessary for its comprehension. All that is required is to line the grate-back, sides, and bottom-with fire-brick, and to introduce a half-inch iron gas-pipe, perforated with thirty to forty 1-16th inch holes, into the bottom of it in front, and then to burn coke in it, stimulating the combustion with the small jets of gas from the 1-16th inch holes, which furnish the amount of flame necessary to make a very pleasant and pleasant looking fire. The fire-brick in the bottom of the costs..... Eight cubic feet an hour for twelve hours, is ninety-six cubic feet at 3s. 6d. per 1,000, costs 4 THE CROWN JEWEL' SMOKELESS Mr. HARRY HUNT, of 117, Newington Green Road, has introduced an excellent stove for burning anthracite coal, to be placed in the passage or entrance hall of a house, and thereby warm the air in the passages and on the staircase. It is, of course, equally applicable for warming purposes to churches, school rooms, railway waiting rooms, and public halls. When fixed in the hall of an ordinary dwelling house it warms the atmosphere of the whole house, so that smaller fires are required in the dwelling rooms, and not any in the bed rooms, even in the severest weather. This is a great desideratum, for we all know how, when doors are opened in well-warmed rooms, the sudden rush of cold air from the staircase induces that rough and ready form of ventilation known as a draught; and how but too many are doomed to shudder in the icy coldness of bed-rooms, where no fire is kindled. These inconveniences are greatly mitigated, if not entirely prevented, by the use of the Crown Jewel' stove. The consumption of coal in a stove of the smallest size for twenty-four hours is 37 lbs. of anthracite nut coal, costing fourpence, which is asserted to maintain a temperature throughout a moderate sized house of 55 to 65 deg. Fahr. These stoves are remarkably pleasant and cheerful in appearance, Their more and give very little trouble in use. general adoption in this country, as a means of equalising the temperature of our staircases and rooms in severe weather, would, we are convinced, be productive of health and comfort to the community, especially in those establishments, but too numerous, where bed-room fires are conspicuous by their absence, and would also go far to abolish the smoke nuisance. DR. SIEMENS'S GAS STOVE. WE reprint the following description, by Dr. C. W. Siemens, F.R.S., of his new gas stove, from Nature of November 11th: The growing obscurity which distinguishes the winter atmosphere of London has disposed men to consider whether it is an indispensable evil connected with the use of coal in great centres of population, or whether means can be found of providing the warmth and comfort which the copious use of mineral fuel affords us without having to pay the penalty of dispensing with the solar ray, of finding ourselves and everything we touch covered with soot, and of occasionally having, even at midday, to grope our way with a feeling akin to suffocation. I am decidedly of opinion that the evil is one which not only admits of remedy, but that its cure would result from a closer attention to the principles of economy in the use of fuel. A gas-grate that was arranged in my billiard-room in the usual fashion, consisting of three air gas pipes with apertures distributed over the fire-grate, and covered with pumice-stone, presented certainly a cheerless appearance, and filled the room (notwithstanding a fair chimney-draught) with fumes, rendering the benefit of the fire a doubtful one. These fumes could not have passed into the room from the upper surface of the pumice-stone, owing to its proximity to the chimney; but a little consideration made me come to the conclusion that these gases really proceeded from the ash-pan into the room. The products of combustion set up by the gas flames ascend no doubt so long as they are intensely hot, but in giving off their heat to the inert pumice-stone they rapidly cool, and being heavier than atmospheric air, descend through the grate between the lines of gas flames, and thus reach the apartment. Moreover, the gas burnt towards the back of the fireplace takes scarcely any part in providing a red radiating surface in front of the grate, serving only to baffle the draught passing towards the chimney from the room. The first condition to be realised in an efficient a, Copper plate 1⁄4 inch thick and to inches wide at back of grate; b, frill of copper 1-16th inch thick; c, iron dead plate riveted to plate a ; d, angle plate with trap-door e for removing ashes; f, gas-pipe about 1⁄2 inch diameter with holes 3/4 inch apart. gas-grate consists in suppressing all gas orifices except immediately behind the bottom front bar, and in substituting for the grate a solid dead plate. Instead of using inert matter such as pumice-stone, I consider it far more economical and efficacious to transfer the heat of the gas flames to gas coke or anthracite, which, when once heated, helps the gas to increase and maintain a sufficient temperature for radiation through its own slow combustion. The gas should not be mixed in the pipe with atmospheric air to produce a Bunsen flame, as is frequently done, because by using the unmixed gas, a rich flame is set up between the pieces of coke near the front of the grate, producing to the eye an appearance similar to a well-ignited ordinary coal fire, and the hot carbonaceous matter through which it percolates ensures its entire combustion before reaching the chimney. Heat will, however, gradually accumulate towards the back of the fire, notwithstanding the suppression of the grate bars, and in order to obtain the utmost economy, this heat should be utilised to increase the temperature of the gas flames and of the coke in front of the grate. To accomplish this, I have constructed a grate according to the annexed sketch. The iron dead plate c is riveted to a stout copper plate a facing the back of the fire grate, and extending five inches both upwards and downwards from the point of junction. The dead plate c stops short about an inch behind the bottom bar of the grate to make room for a halfinch gas pipe f, which is perforated with holes of about one-twentieth of an inch in diameter, placed zig-zag, at distances of three-quarters of an inch along its upper surface. This pipe rests upon a lower plated, which is bent downwards towards the back, so as to provide a vertical and horizontal channel of about one inch in breadth between the two plates. A trapdoor e, held up by a spring, is provided for the discharge of ashes falling into this channel. The vertical portion of this channel is occupied by a strip of sheet copper about four inches deep, bent in and out like a lady's frill, and riveted to the copper back piece. Copper being an excellent conductor of heat, and this piece presenting (if not less than a quarter of an inch thick) a considerable sectional conductive area, transfers the heat from the back of the grate to the frill-work in the vertical channel. An air current is set up by this heat, which, in passing along the horizontal channel, impinges on the line of gas flames, and greatly increases their brilliancy. So great is the heat imparted to the air by this simple arrangement, that a piece of lead of about half a pound in weight introduced through the trap-door into this channel melted in five minutes, proving a temperature to exist exceeding 619 deg. Fahr., or 326 deg. Cent. The abstraction of heat from the back has, moreover, the advantage of retarding the combustion of the coke there while promoting it at the front of the grate. The sketch represents a fireplace at my office, in a room of 7,200 cubic feet capacity facing the north. I always found it difficult during cold weather to keep this room at 60 deg. Fahr. with a coal fire, but it has been easily maintained at that temperature since the grate has been altered to the gas-coke grate just described. This heating arrangement is not, however, essentially necessary; in several of the grates which I have altered for gas I have simply closed up the space below the bottom bar by means of a closefitting ash-pan, and introduced the gaspipe behind the lower bar, an alteration which can be effected at very trifling expense, and presents the advantages of great cleanliness, the ash-pan being withdrawn only at intervals of several days for emptying. The appearance of the fire, however, is in that case much less brilliant than when the hot-air arrangement is added. In order to test the question of economy, I have passed the gas consumed in the grate through a Parkinson's 10-light dry gas meter, supplied to me by the Woolwich, Plumstead, and Charlton Consumers' Gas Company; the coke used is also carefully weighed. The result of one day's campaign of nine hours is a consumption of 62 cubic feet of gas and 22 lb. of coke (the coke remaining in the grate being in each case put to the debit of the following day). Taking the gas at the average London price of 3s. 6d. per 1,000 cubic feet, and the coke at 18s. a ton, the account stands thus for nine hours:d. 62 cubic feet of gas at 3s. 6d. a thousand... 2.604 22 lb. coke at 18s. a ton 2.121 or at the rate of 0.524d. per hour. In its former condition as a coal-grate, the consumption exceeded generally two and a half large scuttles a day, weighing 19 lb. each, or 47 lb. of coal, which at 235. a ton equals 5.7d. for nine hours, being 0.633d. per hour. This result shows that the coke-gas fire, as here described, is not only a warmer but a cheaper fire than its predecessor, with the advantages in its favour that it is thoroughly smokeless, that it can be put off or on at any moment (which in most cases means considerable economy), that it is lit without the trouble of laying the fire, as it is called, and keeps alight without requiring to be stirred. It may appear strange at first, that the use of the separated coke and gas to produce a given effect should be fully as cheap as using the raw material combining the two constituents, but the solution may be found in the circumstance that in the case of the coke-gas fire no heat flashes up the chimney, but is utilised entirely for raising the coke in front of the grate to the condition most favourable to radiation into the room. I hold that it is almost barbarous to use raw coal for any purpose, and that the time will come when all our fuel will be separated into its two constituents before reaching our factories or our domestic hearths. Such a measure will not only furnish us with the complete solution of the smoke question, but would be of great value also as a money saving. In conclusion, I may observe that I have taken up this question without the idea of profit, and shall be happy to furnish builders and others desirous to introduce the grate here described with the necessary indications to insure success. Mr. Makinson Fox has been re-appointed Medical Officer of Health for the Altrincham Union Rural Board, on the occasion of the election, showed due The members of the Local Sanitary Authority. and gratifying appreciation of Dr. Fox's services during his last term of appointment. Use MARGERISON'S soap (registered White Windsor), Preston. The best and cheapest Soap in England for washing clothes, or any houshold purpose. In pounds 44d, squares 2d. Ask for MARGERISON's Soap, and see that the word MARGERISON is on every bar, as there are so many worthless imitations.-(Advt). THE OXFORD SMOKE CONSUMING COOKING RANGE. The Manufacturers and Patentees of this cooking range, Messrs. Dean and Co., Blenheim Foundry, Oxford, claim that it consumes the smoke of the coal used to feed it, and consequently extracts the largest amount of heat from a given quantity of fuel in a simple and effectual manner. In this Oxford Range, the heat starts in the centre of the oven on the top, and diverging to the right and left, meets again in the centre at the bottom, and thus encircling the oven, gives a more uniform heat throughout, making it a most efficient roasting oven; many of its users testifying that the baking is quite equal to roasting before an open fire. In this range, the bright fire is continually passing away from the newly charged black coal, and does not pass it on its way to do its work, but on the contrary, all smoke from the black coal has to pass through the brightest part of the fire; and this in addition to effectually burning the smoke, brings two other advantages: one is, that there is no coating of soot to heat through, and hence the heat acts on the oven at once; and another is, the flues require much less attention in the way of cleaning out. In addition to these incontestable advantages Messrs. Dean guarantee their range to be the cheapest in the market, and so offer a double economy, both in quantity and quality of coal consumed, as well as in the price of the apparatus. Testimonials, which tend to show the validity of these claims, have been sent to Messrs. Dean, from Union Workhouse Authorities, the Proprietors of Restaurants and Hotels, as well as from many private gentlemen interested, as most of the world is now, in promoting the consumption of smoke and the economy of fuel. MAGUIRE'S SAFETY JOINT DRAIN, AND SELF-ACTING FLUSHING TANK. Within the last few years we have seen introduced various improved appliances for the better jointing of house drains, among which may be noticed Stanford's joint, Roberts' joint, and several others. We have pleasure in now taking cognizance of the patent safety joints for drains, designed by Messrs. Maguire of Dublin. The inventors aim at the establishment of a staunch joint, which shall prevent the occurrence of burs in the interior of pipes-and with very little increase of cost upon the ordinary methods of jointing, they have introduced a pipe in conjunction with a hollow cradle of earthenware glazed like the pipe itself in which the pipe and the socket of the next drain rests. This system of drain pipe laying enables a workman to make a sound joint underneath the pipes to be laid down, by pouring round the first joint which has been made, a liquid cement-on the lower half of the socket-which, after it has been set fast by time, renders the soundness of the pipe joint independent of the workman's care. The patentees also provide for inspection, by means of a loose cover on every alternate length of drain pipe, and by this means the smooth condition of the perimeter of the pipe can be readily ascertained by the client or the operative concerned. In addition to this the patent covers a system of T piece inspections which may be carried up to the ground level if desired, and thus provide for the periodical inspection of the drains which underlie the basement of a house. These are supplied with air-tight stoppers in the most approved fashion. the various orders of pipe drains now extant. All that is necessary is to be certain that they fit the cradles which have been invented by the firm, and that they allow of a second joint to be made outside the ordinary joint. There can be no doubt that this patent joint is an advanced step in the direction of a sound and staunch jointing of underground drain pipes, and is especially applicable-provided proper curves are found-for many disabilities now due to the ordinarily connected pipes. And in these days when practical sanitarians are eager to test every offered device, for soundness' sake, and are even reverting to iron pipes, such as are used in water and gas mains, with purest lead caulkings, the system inaugurated by Messrs. Maguire deserves a thorough trial. It has always proved a difficult matter to provide for properly flushing out a drain in cases where the Water Companies object to allow of a proper and special supply for that purpose, and to compass this end many contrivances have been set in action. The |