Stage mounting has now become one of the most complex and refined of arts. The spectator, in fact, is no longer satisfied, as of old, with a vain illusion that his imagination is called upon to complete, but he requires a semblance of reality capable of giving him the sensation of the genuine thing, and, naturally, all hands, the impresarii, machinists, scene painters, etc., put their wits to work (in most cases with success) to gratify his taste. Each new spectacular piece reveals to us some

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... vel innovation, and, in truth, it is an oc cupation not without in terest or utility to study the modifications and impf()vements that have been made in time in the same scenic effect. Let us take, for example, the representation of fires, in the theater. Formerly, as in Mignon, or in the Prophet, some flames of lycopodium and some red Bengal lights sufficed to satisfy everybody. Great im provements have been made since, and in recent years the skillful stage mounters of the opera house have twice shown us (first in Sigurd, and but a few days afterward in the Magian, Mr. Massenet's new opera) conflagrations that have been impro ved to such a degree as to be capable of vying with real fires, as far as effect is concerned. In this regard, the setting of the Magian is particularly remarkable. We are at the last act of the drama. The temple of Djahi is in ruins. The Turanians have burned it. Alone stands intact the triumphant statue of the goddess, before whom, like smoke of incense, rise puffs of bl uish vapor from the rubbish. The Magian Zarastra contemplates the pile o! debris with horror, and near him stands Anahita, the queen of Turan. Meanwhile, the priest ess of the temple, Varedah, mortally wounded and ly ing prone upon the earth, revives and, seeing Zarastra triumphant near her rival, invokes the Djahi in a burst of fury. The latter obeys her voice. The fire, which is still smouldering under the ashes, breaks out again. At first, the smoke becomes more intense, and its spirals, on rising in the air, become tinged with red. Then the flames soon reappear along the cornices that are still in place, the statue gives way, the fil'e ex tends by degrees, and the stage is soon nothing but an immense glowing brazier, in which sparks are crack ling, flames are flickering and smoke is curling. N ow what is the secret of this wonderful stage mounting? It will be recalled that in Sig,ud the effect obtained i� produced by jets of steam to which a rose color is given by means of Bengal lights. The steam under pressure enters through large conduits rnnning under the stage and escapes through small tubes soldered to the supply pipes and traversing the stage floor. The maneuver is executed by operating a cock. The inconvenience of the process lies in the loud strident noise made by the steam escaping into the air. In the Magian, where the orchestra music at the mo ment of the fire is relatively soft and low, this circum stance would have been most annoying. It therefore became necessary to find a J'citufifi, �tutri,au. 39 an instant, along a strip light or el�ewhere, above the Action o:f Sulphurous Acid. of 100 to 6. is made by T. Held, by mel ting the copper and subsequently adding the of the apparatus. In the interior of the boxes there are pieces of felt, the principal object of which is to absorb the drops of water carried along mechanically (Fig. 1). The advantage of this peculiar arrangement, which, at the opera house, was installed entirely by Mr. David, is that it permits of the disengagement of steam every where where it is necessary. These boxes, in fact. are easily manipulated by two men, and hooks fixed to their surface permit of attaching them at will, and in by photographers for taking instantaneous pictures at night. Combined with the flames of lycopodium, these magnesium flashes produce surprising effects of realism, and far exceed anything that can be obtained in this direction with the electric spark.-La Nature. • • • A SOCIETY of Philadelphia physicians, recently or ganized, has for its purpose the discuseion of electro therapeutics and the inducing of qualified practition ers to take up the subject on a scientific basis. © 1891 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. INC. antimony, and when both are mel ted and intimately mixed, fluxing the mass in the crucible, with an addition of wood ashes, magnesium and carbonate of lime, which has the effect of re moving porosity and increasing the density of the metal whenl cast. The alloy can be rolled, forged, and ROldered in the same manner as gold, which it very closely resembles when polished, the gold color being unchanged, even after long exposure to ammonia and acid vapors in the atmosphere. The cost of the alloy in-the ingot is stated at about 25 cents per pound. Sir Humphry Davy's last lectures at the Royal Inabout twelve feet in length and of the diameter of a I beyond. But wolves, as a rule, hunt alone or in fami stitution took place in the spring of 1812. A friend had man's arm. It is sold at from a dollar to a dollar and lies, except when pressed by hunger. Wild dogs, how given young Faraday a ticket for them, he went, made a half in the markets of Rio Janeiro, Pernambuco, ever, habitually combine to hunt, and Baldwin, in his notes, and afterward boldly sent his notes to the great Bahia, etc. This make, which is entirely harmless and .. Game of Bengal ," mentions a case of four or five mar chemist, begging that an opening might be found for sluggish in its movements, passes the entire day asleep tins hunting a fawn of the" muntjac" or barking deer. him to give himself up to science. Davy replied kindly, at the foot of the staircase of the house, scarcely deign-But in real military organization and strategy, mon and before the end of the year Faraday found himself ing to raise its head at the approach of a visitor, or keys are far ahead of all other animals, and notably engaged as a laboratory assistant at 258. a week. when a strange noise is heard ill the vestibule. At the different kinds of baboon. Mansfield Parkins gives The step had been taken. Little by little he connightfall the giboia begins to hunt, crawling along here an excellent account of the tactics of the dog-faced quered Davy's confidence, traveled with him to Italy I and there, and] even penetrating the space above the hamadryads that lived in large colonies in the cracks and Switzerland, learned much from him, and in ceiling and beneath the flooring. Springing swiftly i in the cliffs of the Abyssinian mountains. These crea Geneva gained great profit from the talk and the writforward, it seizes the rat by the nape and crushes its tures used occasionally to plan a foraging expedition ings of the elder De la Rive. In 1816 he began to cervical vertebral. As serpents mrely eat, even when into the plain below, and the order of attack was most . write, and in 1820 we find him contributing a chemical at libert.y, the giboia kills only for the pleasure of kill-carefully organized, the old males marching in front paper to the transactions of the Royal Society. ing. It becomes so accustomed to its master's house and on the flanks, with a few to bring up the rear and At the age of thirty, in 1821, he married Miss Sarah that if carried to a distance it escapes and finds its way keep the rest in order. They had a code of signals, Barnard, and at the same time was formally received back home. Every house in the warmest provinces halting or advancing according to the barks of the into the Sandernanian Church, one of those curious where rats abound owns its giboia, a fixture by destina-scouts. When they reached the cornfields, the main sects which in England have for two centuries, at diftion, and the owner of which praises its qualities when body plundered while the old males watched on all ferent times, secured the attachment of even eminent he wishes to sell or let his house. sides, but took nothing for themselves. The others men. From the time of his marriage, while still as-Parasitical Plants.-At a recent meeting of the 8towed the corn in their cheek pouches and under their sisting Davy, he made steady scientific progress, and French Academy of Sciences, Mr. Chatin stated that armpits. They are also said to dig wells with their began to take his place in the ranks of the discoverers. these classes of plants seriously affect the sap of the handE and work in relays. The Gelada ba boons some In 1825 he discovered the compound called benzol, trees, etc., on which they exist, destroying certain ele-timeR have battles with the hamadryads, especially out of which he might, had he been so disposed, easily ments, and, on the other hand, producing new ones. when the two specieshaye a mind to rob the same field, have made a fortune. In 1831 came his first discov-For example, no strychnine is found in the loranthus and, if fighting in the hills, will roll stones on to their eries in the world of electricity, to which Lord Raygrown on the Strychnos nnx vomica, and no quinine in enemies. Not long ago a colony of Gelada baboons, leigh yesterday confined his attention, and :at forty the botanophora of the cinchona ; and, in the oak mis-which had been fired at by some black soldiers attend· years of age the ex-bookbinder found himself the tletoe, green instead of bille tannin is found. On the ing a duke of Coburg-Gotha on a hunting expedition honored equal of the leading scientific men of the day. other hand, substances are found in parasites which do on the borders of Abyssinia, blocked a pas� for some This was the year of his discovery of the induction of not exist in the trees on which they are found. Thus, days by rolling rocks on all comers. This seems to give electric currents, out of which all his other electrical mistletoe contains lime, and the dodder produces yel-some support to a curious objection raised by a Chinese discoveries flowed. Ten years of incessant activity low and red coloring matters. In the broom-rape of local governor in a report to his superior on the diffi followed, and at the end of the period Faraday's hemp and milfoil a blue color is found; in that of the culties in the way of opening to steamers the waters of health gave way. But he recovered after a period of horse8hoe vetch, a rich sulphur tint; and, in the broomthe Upper Yang-Tse. The report, afternoting that the rest, and from 1845 to 1867, the year of his death, his rape of thyme, an amethyst shade. The mistletoe and inhabitants on the upper waters were ignorant men who activity as a discoverer, experimenter, and lecturer most other parasites contain fecula, which penetrates might quarrel with strangers, went on to allege that was boundless. to the fiber of the wood. In short, all the8e matters monkeys inhabited the banks, and they would roll Electricity, magnetism, light, sound-these were one are formed by the parasitical plants themselves. down stones on the steamers. "The last two facts," side of the regions that he explored; chemical prob-The Chinese All igat01·. -Two examples of the Chinese the report added, "would lead to complaint from the lems were another, and bridging the two were the alligator have just reached the Zoological Gardens. English and embroil the Celestials with them, e�peci. quasi-metaphysical problems of the nature of matter They are the first that have ever been exhibited there ally if the men or the monkeys kill any English."