But more than this, the transmission of a person's signature is among the latest achievements of the electrician. Following this we have a means of transmit ting a photographic portrait over the wire, and although the results are not yet beyond the experimental stage, the entire practicability of the process is established. Phere is a little machine in which a man places two pieces of iron end to end. They are pressed together by a spring and a current of electricity turned on. In a few seconds the junction is at a welding heat, the metal softens, flows together and the two pieces become one. Thus is electric welding, and by its means many operations are carried out which would be impracticable or impossible if the metal had to be heated in a furnace. "The heat generated by the electric current finds many uses in the arts. In the preparation of alumininu, which is a metal destined to he applied to many purposes, the decomposition of the ore is effected by electricity in a furnace which works continuously.
A NEW MANUFACTURING PRODUCT, One of the latest productions of manufacturojs "Carborundum." [tis an artificial product, almost as hard as the diamond, of n crystalline character used instead of emery and corundum for grinding. A wheel of Carborundum cuts hard steel very rapidly when used dry, without drawing the temper. Dentists use the finer grades for their drills, and they say that it cuts better than anything else. Carborundum is a remarkable product. Carbon and sillon are intimately mixed and packed in a fire-brick furnace. Then a powerful electric current is passed through the mass which becomes intensely hot. A crystalline compound of carbon and silicon seems to be formed and this is the substance in question.
One more note upon electricity and we will leave the subject. There are various kitchen utensils—frying pans, _boile roasters, ete,—which are complete in them: selves, requiring only to be attached to the electric light wires to become immediately serviceable. The current produces the necessary heat for cooking in the apparatus itself; and thus the time is coming when our cooking will be done without the kitchen stove, merely by turningtheclectrie button.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.