ter of supplying towns with water, the application of steam as a power, and the improvements made in pumping machines, engineers have made a gain of fifty per cent. over what was accomplished twenty years ago. There are now five hundred and sixty-nine towns and cities in the United States and Canada supplied with water works, involving thirteen thousand miles of pipe, ten thousand of which is of cast-iron. Important progress has also been made in canal engineering; and we now have three thousand two hundred and fifty-seven miles of canal. Experiments are in progress in the way of steam propulsion which it is confidently expected will effect a saving of fully thirty-seven per cent. over present methods. In railways, Americans were among the first to appreciate Stephenson's inventions of 1828, and are foremost among nations in utilizing it. The United States leads the world in the extent of her lines, reaching eighty-six thousand miles; all Europe has but ninety thousand, and the balance of the world only twenty-five thousand. Our railroad engineers and locomotive builders lead all others. Our roads reach further and cost less than any others, and our engines pull heavier trains and run more miles in a year, or during their life-time, than those of any other nation. The Pennsylvania Railroad was pronounced one of the best, if not the best, managed railroad in the world. [The present writer would name the Baltimore and Ohio as the only road whose management can be pronounced either equal or superior to that of the Pennsylvania.] In regard to bridges, there are now in the United States nine hundred miles of these structures-one-third of them stone or iron and two-thirds wood. [The East River Bridge, at New York, may be instanced as the boldest conception of bridge construction ever attempted.] The matter of river improvements is just now attracting much attention, and the fact is being realized that, until quite recently, but little has really been done in this direction. It has been demonstrated that the currents of the largest rivers may be controlled by simple brush dikes. [A complimentary reference to the recent work of our distinguished American engineer, Captain James B. Eads, at the mouth of the Mississippi, was received with loud applause. It may also be stated in this connection, that the brief utterances of Captain Eads, in regard to the work of observation in which he is now engaged in this State, gives evidence that his superior genius will eventually solve the most important and complex engineering problem which has as yet been brought to the attention of the people of California.] The movable dam on the Ohio-a French idea-has already proved a success, and the best engineering talent in the country is now engaged in effecting certain needed modifications, required to meet the peculiar nature and needs of our rivers. The recent improvements to navigation at Hell Gate and Flood Rock were referred to as great and novel feats of engineering. In telegraphic and gas engineering, we have made wonderful strides. In the former we lead the world. In the latter, since 1850, the number of companies has increased from fifty to nine hundred, with a capital of $200,000,000. In metallurgy, the increase of our blast furnaces is especially notable. In the amount of iron produced, we are next to England, Germany standing third. Our steel industry, which is now second only to that of Great Britain, will exceed that country in another year. Our increase has been fifty per cent. in two years. Our min

is simply enormous. The petroleum industry was briefly alluded to. Our exports of that product are now the fifth on the list in point of value. In agricultural engineering, our progress has been truly wonderful, and before this all other branches become as dust in the valley. In the plow alone, the annual saving of labor in producing our crops amounts to fully $36,000,000 less than the same work would have cost thirty years ago. It is in ship-building and maritime trade alone that we have lost ground during the last two decades. This decadence is attributed to the war of rebellion, and to unequal competition with England in ship-building, and the superiority of iron over wood-an industry to which our engineers and capitalists have not given proper attention; but it was confidently predicted that in the early future we shall once more assume our proper place

on the ocean.

THE NORTH POLE.

The most vigorous efforts to reach the North Pole, or to make any near advance to it by means of direct approach from any one given point, having all proved failures, a new plan of action has been suggested-that of reaching it much after the plan of a military investment. It is now proposed to establish a circle of permanent observing stations around the northern polar region. In the furtherance of this proposition, the Danish Government has resolved to establish a station in West Greenland; the Russian Government will establish two, one at the mouth of the Lena, and another on the new Siberian Islands. The United States has resolved to plant an observatory at Point Barrow in Alaska, and it is expected that Canada will occupy some central point on her arctic frontier. Holland has provided funds for a station in Spitzbergen, and Norway will select some point in the northern extremity of Finmark. In addition to these national undertakings, Count Wilczec will place a corps of observers upon Nova Zembla. The line of this circumvallation, by posts of observation, will not be far from four thousand miles in extent, along which the observers will be placed at an average of only about five hundred miles distance from each other. It is possible that this may lead to some plan of advancing posts, and keeping them up within supporting distances upon some more or less direct line. In this way, it is thought the Pole may be eventually reached, and the circumpolar regions explored, and mapped in aid of science, if not for the advancement of commercial interests.

CLOTH FROM THE DOWN OF BIRDS.

An ingenious Frenchman, M. Thierry Girées, has devised a method, and invented machinery, for the manufacture of cloth from the down of birds. The down may be worked either by itself or in mixture with wool, silk, or cotton. The goods produced, whether exclusively of down, or mixed with fibrous material, present entirely novel features and characteristics. It is found that the down, whether of the swan or any other bird, will take any shade of dye, from the most delicate to the deepest color. The cloth is very warm, more so than woolen, and may readily be made impervious to moistIt has been found best, as a general thing, to mix the down with some fibrous material, and for most uses

ure.

wool is preferable. In its preparation with wool, in order to make an intimate mixture, oleic acid is used, in certain fixed proportions, during the first stages of the manufacture-in sorting and carding. It is carded, spun, woven, fulled, and teaseled down by special machinery, invented for the purpose by M. Cirées. The cloth is much like velvet; the "nap" of the mixed material, after it is finished, consists mostly of down. Shearing and dyeing is effected in the usual way, and, as already stated, this "down" cloth takes any shade of color. L'Ingénieur Universel, of July 2, gives an illustrated description of most of the machinery employed in this new article of manufacture.

INDUSTRIAL USES OF GLASS.

The industrial uses of glass, and especially its use as a material for construction, is attracting increased attention, both in this country and in Europe. The new process for toughening glass has greatly enlarged its sphere of useful application. But, as old as the knowledge of this material is, the various processes for toughening it are still in their infancy, and there is every reason to believe that great improvements may be looked for in the early future. One of the latest and most important of its industrial applications is that for millThe idea of its use for that purpose is said to have originated from the observation of millers that the finest flour has heretofore been manufactured from millstones capable of receiving the most perfect polish. This observation led to experiments with glass, grooved in the same way as French buhr-stones, which experi- | ments have been attended with most marked success. Glass mill-stones grind more easily and evenly, and do not heat like other material; they are said to run perfectly cold. The discovery is pronounced one of the

stones.

most valuable of recent years in regard to milling industry. The idea originated in Germany. Mr. Bucknell, a prominent English engineer, proposes to manufacture pipes for water, gas, and drains from toughened glass. Glass has also been successfully employed for railroad sleepers-the clamps and other metallic attachments being put in while the glass is hot and still plastic. As the degree of expansion of glass and iron is almost identical, there is no danger of cracking or breaking from that cause. The cost is also less than that for iron sleepers, which have been suggested as a substitute for wood. But the latest new application of this material is for the manufacture of types for printers' use. For such purposes, the glass is colored, for obvious reasons. Being much harder than type metal, it is not so readily worn or crushed out of shape. It can be cast in exactly the same molds as those now in use.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF DYEING.

A French expert has recently been making some very interesting experiments upon animal and vegetable substances, with the view of ascertaining how coloring matter is taken up by the substances which are being subjected to the dyeing process. It was found that the action depended largely upon the capillarity of the fiber or other substance treated. Microscopical examination of infusorial earth showed that the coloring matter entered the capillary tubes of the infusoria, and attached itself to the inner surface of the walls. So with fibrous material. The more fully the capillary construction was developed, the more perfect is the capacity of the substance to receive colors. This fact will be found of special importance in the art of dyeing, and affords an explanation of the reason why some substances receive dyes more readily than others.

THE ART ASSOCIATION.

Since, through the bounty of Mr. Lick, abundant provision has been made for the founding of a School of Industrial Arts, the question now arises: Which of our many wealthy citizens will step forward and add luster to their names by establishing upon a permanent basis the San Francisco Art Association, with its academy for the cultivation of the fine arts? During his life time, Mr. Lick was several times approached upon the subject, but without success. That gentleman regarded the higher cultivation of art as frivolous, and was not willing to admit the kinship between such and mechanic art. If the one is superfluous, why not the other, since the aim of each is to elevate and enlighten. Carpets have their uses-they add warmth to our dwellings; but looking at the question from Mr. Lick's practical standpoint, why should a rich and elegantly designed piece of tapestry prove more effective than woolen rugs or the old-fashioned rag-carpets of our forefathers? Practically, a bit of Sèvres china is not more useful than an ordinary porcelain mug, and a plain deal table will no doubt meet its requirements as effectively as if designed

and carved most elaborately. But that gentleman was unwilling to consider the matter in this light. He could tolerate, and even encourage, beauty and elegance when combined with utility, but expressed little sympathy for that kind of art whose sole aim he claimed was to embellish. Fortunately, the greater proportion of the community entertain different ideas. They find food for thought, and endless pleasure, in the contemplation of beautiful and truthful portrayals of nature; and the picture, if faithfully executed, often proves more instructive than books upon the same topic. In fact, were it not for the remnants of ancient art still extant, little would be known of many of the earlier nations. If the one kind of art is essential or desirable, the other is equally so, and is entitled to all the encouragement the public can bestow upon it. The San Francisco Art Association was founded in the year 1871, comprising a very limited membership. Many of our most intelligent citizens early became identified with it, and by degrees it developed into one of the most popular societies in the city. Early in 1872 the present art school began its career under the auspices of the Association. The plaster casts donated by the French Government, to

gether with an excellent collection of studies in the flat, purchased about the same time, supplied all that was requisite for the beginning of an art school. During the years that followed, the interest in the school increased, and much home talent has been developed, to say nothing of the benefit the school and Association have been to the community as regards the cultivation of taste, and as an educator in matters relating to art generally. At present, the school and Association occupy spacious and comfortable rooms, and the academy, under the management of Mr. Virgil Williams, has so extended its reputation that applications for admission to its benefits have been received from persons living east of the Rocky Mountains. Yet the school is much lacking in many essentials necessary to a thorough institution of the kind. The bare fact of its being dependent wholly upon the somewhat precarious receipts for tuition puts it out of the power of the directory to be rigid in its exactions as to ability, or even to dictate courses of study to students. The large rental, salaries for instruction, and other expenses to be met, entirely consume the receipts, and make it necessary even to solicit patronage. We believe our academy is an exception to all others in this respect. With us, the only qualification for admission seems to be the ability to pay the tuition, which is so high as to place the benefits of the school beyond the reach of many of our most worthy and talented youth. Tuition should be light, and a certain degree of proficiency should be exacted from every applicant. Then the art school would be regarded in the light of a benefactor to the community. The amount of money necessary to effect this would seem merely nominal to many of our very wealthy citizens, and, in addition to the great benefit it would extend to coming generations, would serve as a lasting memorial to the taste and bounty of the donor.

other donations of money and appropriate objects will, no doubt, rapidly follow, as such has been the experience of similar institutions elsewhere. With the facilities a school of mechanic arts would afford our public, there seems to be no reason why California should not be able shortly to enter into direct competition with older communities in the manufacture of all objects of industry dependent upon a certain amount of knowledge and training in art. The field is almost unlimited, and the manufacture of such articles has proved highly profitable wherever it has been undertaken. As stated in a former article, France probably owes her greatness and prosperity to-day more to art and its application to manufacture than to any other cause. Anything that is "French" is impliedly artistic, and accordingly commands higher appreciation as regards taste and elegance than the products of other and less cultured communities, not to mention the vast sums expended in their purchase by outside nations. We believe the capabilities of the American people to be as great as those of any other, and having at our command all facilities for a thorough and proper cultivation of the arts, with material in abundance to work upon, there seems little doubt that eventually America will be able to supply its own demands as satisfactorily as do the French to-day. This will arrest the expenditure of the millions of dollars that annually find their way to alien purses, and it may not be preposterous to presume that among the other results of the Lick school even a Californian Worth may spring into being, whose ability as a manufacturer of artistic raiment will meet the demands of the most fastidious.

THE LICK BEQUESTS.

Among the few bequests and donations made by Californians for the public benefit, those of Mr. James Lick deserve to rank uppermost, both as regards the large sums bequeathed, and the variety and importance of the uses to which they are to be applied. Some time has elapsed since the death of that gentleman, but as yet we believe, little has been done by the trustees of the estate to put in operation the several institutions and charities covered by the will. Notwithstanding the disappointment the public feels at the protracted delay, the wisdom of the course pursued by these gentlemen cannot be questioned. Unfortunately, when real estate commanded much higher prices in the market the trustees were deterred by suits at law from disposing of the property, and since that time the constant decrease in value has served as an inducement to hold on to it in the hope of realizing greater returns in the future. Today the property would bring hardly enough to meet the bequests. In addition to many munificent endowments for an observatory and telescope, public baths, asylums, and relief societies, the testator bequeathed $540,000 for the establishment of a school of mechanic arts, and $160,000 for statuary for the embellishment of the new city hall and Golden Gate Park. When these sums shall be forthcoming it is difficult to say, but the amount will be sufficient to establish an institution whose benefits cannot be computed, and one that will always be a source of pride to the community. Once established,

"COOKED" PICTURES.

In art vernacular the word "cooked" bears a meaning probably not likely to be understood by the general reader. As to its origin as an art term, or the appropriateness of its usage in the sense artists employ it, we are ignorant, though by custom it has long been adopted by the profession, and applied to those pictures, more particularly landscapes, in which the painter departs from the literalness of the subject, and, for the sake of effect or composition, transposes, or even rejects, certain objects, and sometimes introduces others, which add to the picturesqueness of the scene, and are consistent with nature, though they may not have actually held a position in the subject in view. Excepting in cases where it is the intention to make accurate portrayals of places of historical or other interest, the practice is regarded perfectly legitimate, and is indulged in by nearly all painters. It is rare to find in nature a subject that embodies all the elements of a picture. Taken in connection with its extended surroundings, no defects may be apparent in the subject, but when a certain portion of a scene, necessarily limited as to extent, is detached from its natural surroundings, it will often appear unsatisfactory as regards the composition of ines, disposition of light and shade, balancing of masses, or in some other respect that may detract from the picturesqueness of the subject. The experienced artist will often detect at a glance how the defect may be remedied, by some slight changes, generally in the foreground, and has no hesitancy in employing art as an auxiliary to nature. However legitimate the practice may be in landscape painting, we are much disposed to question its application to portraiture. There are few portraits

not more or less cooked. For the caricaturist it is an easy matter to distort features, and render a face ridiculous, yet preserve the unmistakable likeness; and, on the other hand, the accomplished and skilled portrait painter can take liberties with nature, improve upon the features, expression, or complexion, and still preserve enough likeness to make his work acceptable. In fact, the latter faculty is one of the great secrets of success in portraiture. No one is so free from vanity as to reject a picture because it flatters him. With time, faces and forms change usually for the worse. Friends forget what we were, and credit us only with what we are. But the portrait stands as an enduring representation of whatever attractions one might once have possessed, and the more forcibly those attractions are delineated, whether real or fancied, the more prized becomes the likeness. As regards family portraits, of little or no interest to the public, one can forgive a want of truthfulness, but, unfortunately, few public likenesses are literally correct. A writer in the American Art Journal of July 17, under the heading of "Bad Art Tendencies," devotes considerable space to this subject. Speaking of Gilbert Stuart's portraits of Washington, painted in 1793, and which, to-day, are accepted as faithful portrayals, the writer says, "The artist thought it necessary to improve upon the original, giving posterity and the American people a portrait to be proud of." Washington, he asserts, "was a small man, with a peaked chin, a narrow and retreating forehead, with a face quite like

ordinary mortals, and very unlike the one we see in the accepted portraits. Mr. Stuart broadened the forehead, gave a calm and serene countenance, and made the chin square and massive." He claims that the Houdon bust, taken from life, and not the Stuart improvements, convey a correct idea of Washington's appearance. The writer cites no authority for his statements, and, even though well founded, it will prove as difficult to persuade the American people to abandon their long accepted ideal of that great man as it has been to deprive Shakspere of the authorship of the plays. Nevertheless, that the practice of idealizing likenesses has long existed, and does yet at this day, cannot be denied. As examples, the same writer cites the portraits of Charles Sumner, the poet Bryant, President Hayes, and Justice Swayne of the Supreme Bench, painted very recently, and all of which will convey to posterity erroneous ideas of those great men. Not only does the painter of portraits idealize his subjects. Even the photographer has caught the idea, and, by skillful manipulation of the negative, can convert absolute ugliness into beauty, and substitute the roundness and freshness of youth for wrinkled age. When once a person has attained distinction, and become an object of national pride, it would seem that the desire to perpetuate his physical identity would outweigh his vanity. But such is often not the case, and if a reform is ever brought about in this matter, it will only be through the exactions of a jealous public.

THE LIFE AND WORK OF WILLIAM AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG. By Anne Ayres. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1880. For sale in San Francisco by Payot, Upham & Co.

This is one of the most readable pieces of biographical literature of the day. The style is easy, clear, and enticing. One reads because it is a pleasure to read. The narrative puts before the world the life of a pure, cultivated, and devoted soul. Born September 16, 1796, and dying on the 8th of April, 1877, he lived contemporaneously with some of the early and great men of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, and did a work far beyond the average results of the best. Among the most widely known of his poems is the hymn, "I would not live alway." In a eulogy attributed to William Cullen Bryant, it is said of him, "Other men have accumulated wealth that they might found hospitals; he accumulated the hospital fund as such, never owning it, and therefore never giving it. The charitable institutions which he founded were to him what family, and friends, and personal prosperity, are to men generally; and dying as he did, poor, in St. Luke's Hospital, he died a grandly successful man.' The founding of this institution, its management and success, was the crowning work of his life. In a note on page 18, is a bit of ecclesiastical history not generally khown. It is said that "in the English prayer-book the 'Litany' follows the 'Collect for Grace.' The American revisers of the book placed it after the 'Prayer for the President,' which took the place of that for the 'King's Majesty.'" This was done, says Dr. Muhlen

"

berg, as reported by Bishop White, that General Washington, not attending church in the afternoon, might hear the prayer in his behalf. His life was entirely identified with, and characterized by, Christian affections, schemes, utterances, and results. The poems he wrote, the educational and charitable institutions he projected and fostered into realization, attest how much a consecrated life may effect for human good. The book before us takes us most kindly into the quiet, but great, achievements of this Christian worker. All will feel encouraged to love the good and true, and to attempt the work and labors that proceed from love, after reading this portraiture of this good man.

REMINISCENCES OF AN IDLER. By Henry Wikoff. New York: Fords, Howard & Hulbert. 1880. For sale in San Francisco by A. L. Bancroft & Co.

Sketches of travel in autobiographic tints are rarely as inspiriting as these of the roving diplomatist, who stirs us by graphic views of provincial America and the shifting incidents and distinguished characters of half a century. The frank and genial personage who exhibits this panorama acknowledges three idols-the press, the drama, and the fair sex. These predilections might easily be divined. The hurried, slipshod style of the newspaper correspondent betrays itself, if there were no mention of James Gordon Bennett; theatrical affiliations are natural to one whose "chum" was the tragedian Forrest; while chivalrous devotion to the ladies finds attractive metal in the Countess of Blessington,

Lady Bulwer, and La Guiccioli of Byronic interest, but the greatest fascination in the fairy tiptoe princess, Fanny Ellsler, with whom the author embarks for America. And it is just here, as the episode becomes absorbing, that the book breaks off, with the provoking perverseness of a serial "to be continued." To the masterpassions to which this industrious time-killer confesses may be added his intense delight in the lions of the day. This almost parasitical devotion of the Chevalier, as he has been familiarly known, to the reigning notorieties, brings us in perpetual contact with an incongruous, but interesting, list of celebrities, ranging from Andrew Jackson and Joseph Bonaparte to Fieschi the assassin and "Jim Crow" the minstrel. Armed with glowing letters of introduction, we are admitted into the most exclusive society; attached to legations, we shine at court receptions, and mingle in circles where "everybody is on the qui vive for a bon mot." We also accompany this restless wanderer while he skims the countries of Europe as he did his schoolbooks. Relics and ruins do not move him, though at Athens he uncovers the entire sediment of his classical reading. But he is fondest of the hum of great cities, the maze of London and the whirl of Paris, which, as the proverbial goal of the American, he is forever revisiting, and where he finds that antipathy to dullness which is the keynote of his entertaining book.

SAGE-BRUSH LEAVES. By Henry R. Mighels. San Francisco: A. L. Bancroft & Co. 1880.

One cannot read far into this little book without feeling that he has made a personal acquaintance. The author has left his breezy, cheery, vigorous personality upon every page. It is not a bookish" book. It makes no pretensions and offers no apologies. Casting aside restraint, the author chats familiarly, coins words and phrases at will, and skips recklessly from topic to topic, always forcible and always in accord with the best instincts of the human heart. His vagaries and shortcomings are forgotten and forgiven in view of the sparkling good humor which bubbles up through the whole work, and one is prone, after glancing at the title-page, to keep on turning the leaves to the end. Henry R. Mighels was in many respects a remarkable man. He went through life with his eyes wide open. He saw much and felt much that most men neither see nor feel.

He found beauty and food for reflection in little things, and few men could better invest such trifles with sympathetic interest. His love for nature was strong and genuine, and at no time is he more pleasing than while indulging some wildwood fancy. So this little book reaches us with an aroma of the sage-brush leaves and the mountain pine about it, and it will find its way to the hearts of hundreds of readers on this coast who knew and appreciated the author's sterling qualities, and who learned with genuine sorrow of his pathetic death.

H. Clay Trumbull, will need only to know that he is the author to feel assured that the subject is worthy of public attention and has been ably presented. Both Mr. Trumbull and Mr. Haven were fortunate-the former that such a noble, unselfish, and useful life had been lived to furnish a theme for his pen, and the latter that such an able writer was found to tell the story of his life, and thus perpetuate his influence and his memory among men. The many who are seeking better methods of instruction are to be congratulated that so much valuable experience has been embalmed in these pages for their profit and inspiration. Certainly, none can read the story of this faithful life without the desire to emulate the example of him, who by "patient continuance in well doing" did so much for the good of his The value of the book consists largely in the fact that the methods proposed are not fanciful theories, but are those successfully tried by an intensely practical man, and narrated by an equally practical writer.

race.

Vols. 1 to 53, inSan Francisco:

INDEX TO CALIFORNIA REPORTS. clusive. By Welles Whitmore. Sumner Whitney & Co. 1880. The tendency of modern law-books is toward condensation, rather than amplification. When large libraries were infrequent, labored treatises were of great service to the practicing lawyer. But nowadays every lawyer has his library of greater or less extent, including at least the reports of his own State; and every city has its more extended law library, including everything which can be obtained upon the subject of jurisprudence. This facility of access to the reports has had its effect upon the literature of the law, and books are now prepared upon the assumption that all the practitioner desires is a reference to the cases under each point. Mr. Whitmore's book is a model in this respect. It is an index-as it purports-of topics, with the adjudications under each subject. It would be hard to conceive a better method for speedy reference to a desired authority. The work is accurately done, and within its peculiar field the book is entirely satisfactory.

AMERICAN PATRIOTISM. Speeches, Letters, and other papers, compiled by Selim H. Peabody. New York: American Book Exchange. 1880.

The compiler has collected with discrimination those speeches of the leading American orators which have

become classic. The book commences with Samuel Adams (1764) and ends with Robert C. Winthrop (1876). We note some omissions, but find most of the Ameriicans who really deserve the name of orators represented.

FRANKLIN SQUARE LIBRARY. New York: Harper & Brothers. For sale in San Francisco by Payot, Upham & Co.

No. 121. The Heart of Holland. By Henry Havard. Translated by Cashel Hoey.

No. 122.-Reata: What's in a Name? A novel. By
E. D. Gerard.

No. 124. The Pennant Family. By Anne Beale.
No. 125.-Poet and Peer. A novel. By Hamilton
Aïdé.

APPLETON'S NEW HANDY-VOLUME SERIES. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1880. For sale in San Francisco by J. T. White & Co.

Second Thoughts. By Rhoda Broughton. Vol. I. Stray Moments with Thackeray. By William H. Rideing.