sibility of deriving any profit from them. The "Autocarte," recently invented by M. de Berghe, of Colombes (Seine), seems destined to eliminate these inconveniences, affording a means of ascertaining the existence of any obstacles at least four minutes beforehand, even when going at high speed, so as to be able to take the necessary precautions.

The apparatus in question is intended for permanently keeping before the eyes of the driver or cyclist a map showing that portion of the road on which he happens to be. The principle of construction is extremely simple, a shallow rim and in front of this a roller, being arranged on one wheel of the car, this roller transmitting through an elastic shaft the motion of the wheel to a box located close to the first wheel. This box includes a tape of tracing cloth accurately showing the route to be followed, and unwinding below a glass cover from one bobbin to another at a speed corresponding to the speed of the car, a length of about eight inches being at any time visible.

It is quite easy so to calculate the gearing in the box as to have the speed of unwinding correspond to a given fraction of the speed of the car, and in this way. to keep before the eyes the portion of the map accurately corresponding to the part of the road on which the driver happens to be. An accurate adjustment is facilitated by shifting the roller on the rim, reducing the speed by an inward displacement and augmenting it by an outward displacement. The inventor has drawn a number of maps showing the most important routes drawn at a scale of 1 to 50,000, on which, as seen from the accompanying illustration, even the less important features of the route are recog

nized at a glance. In order better to characterize the road, some readily comprehensible signs have been chosen, the explanation of which is given on the left of the box. The best way is to adjust the map in advance of the car by a distance that will allow any necessary precautions to be taken to avoid an accident. Owing to the distinctness and reliability of the data contained on the map, it is quite unnecessary to resort to any other information in traveling through an unknown country. The passage of cities is facilitated by omitting the names of streets, the driver having merely to count the number of streets situated on the left or right in order to find the shortest way. -DR. A. GRADEN WITZ.

Novel Illusory
Apparatus

A MOST interesting. illusory appa

ratus has been invented by Sir Hiram Maxim, the well-known experimenter in the field of aeronautics. Having discovered that the eye, in gauging the upward position of things, is influenced either by gravity or by counteracting forces, he suggested constructing a

SECTIONS SHOWING INTERIOR DETAILS OF ILLUSORY GLOBE. Man on outer edge of parabolic revolving floor imagines himself on a dead level, and those opposite to be walking on a vertical surface.

were floating in water, the observer being exceedingly heavy and everything else exceedingly light. While one can walk with perfect freedom in a circumferential direction, one is quite unable to walk in a straight line across the platform, except very slowly. To those placed at one edge of the platform, those standing at the opposite edge will appear walking on a vertical wall. If mirrors are placed above the floor, the whole inside of the sphere will appear to be filled with people having their feet pointing outwards and their heads inwards.

Paper Gas-Pipes PAPER has proved itself a valuable

substitute for iron and wood in a variety of ways. It is now used for making pails, tubs, and other domestic articles. Car wheels are also made from it, and are superior to the metal product in toughness, resistance to vibration, and durability.

The latest application is in the making of gas-pipes. For this purpose, manila paper is cut in strips of a width equal to the length of the pipes to be made. . These strips are placed in a reservoir filled with. fused asphalt, and are rolled firmly and uniformly around a rod or core of iron, until the desired thickness is obtained. Strong pressure is then applied, after which the exterior is covered with sand, and the whole cooled in water. The core is then removed, and the outer sur

is given, illumines a small incandescent lamp. The lamp, however, may be turned on or off as desired.

The doctor has experimented with the delivery of messages at the moment of awaking, and claims that the results have been gratifying.

Strange Tree Growth

terial.

These pipes, it is claimed, are perfectly tight, and are more economical than metal pipes.

literally growing out of the heart of an old stump; but, strange to say, it is a tree of an entirely different species, for

Time-Controlled
Phonograph

"THE little busy bee" is not alone in its efforts to improve "each shining hour." A Canadian doctor residing in Berlin, Ontario, working on the idea that the first thoughts impressed upon one's brain in the morning, cling to a person more or less throughout the day, has devised a mechanism whereby a phonograph is made to deliver any set message at any desired time. The phonograph is connected to an alarm clock, to which is attached a lever, tripped by a spring operated by the clock at the desired hour. One end of the lever is connected by a cord, working over a pulley, to the starting lever of the phonograph. The power is derived from three ordinary dry-cell batteries, which, at the moment the alarm

TIME-CONTROLLED PHONOGRAPH.

CEDAR TREE GROWING FROM A PINE STUMP..

the stump is that of an Oregon pine, while the young tree is a thrifty cedar. In cutting down the forests of the Pacific Northwest, the incisions in the trees are sometimes made from six to ten feet above the roots, in order to avoid any rotten or hollow spot which may be in the heart of the trunk. After the tree has been cut down, the stump decays rapidly, beginning at the center. Quite frequently, pine cones or seeds find a lodging in the decayed portion, and such is its fertility that the trees grow as rapidly as if imbedded in the ordinary soil. The tree in the picture is over twenty feet high.