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the pointer on the third dial will stand at one. This, in turn, with an entire revolution, indicates that 100,000 feet have been consumed. Taking the three dials in connection, the exact amount of cubic feet may thus be ascertained, commencing anew every time 100,000 feet have run through the meter and been consumed.

Now, to ascertain the exact amount of gas which will be consumed during the coming month, inspect the dials of the meter on the first of the month. The pointer on the left hand dial perhaps stands between the figures 6 and 7, indicating 60,000 feet. The pointer on the middle dial stands between 5 and 6, indicating 5000 feet, and the pointer on the right-hand dial stands between 7 and 8, indicating 700 feet. You thus have a total of 65,700 feet of gas previously consumed. Set the figures down, and at the end of the month again inspect the dial. The right-hand dial stands, perhaps, nearly ns before, and still indicates 60,000 feet. The middle one has moved on, and stands between 7 and 8, indicating 7000. The right-hand one has made a number of revolutions, and stands be tween 1 and 2, indicating 100 feet. We thon have a total of 67,100 feet. Subtract from this the number set down at the beginning of the month, and you have 1400 feet of gas consumed. Multiply this by the price per cubic foot, and you have your gas bill for the month. If housekeepers would take the trouble to do this themselves, they would satisfy themselves, and be sure to guard against mistakes.

How to Detect Escaping Gas. If your gas bills seem too high, or you have the evidence of escaping gas by sense of smell, but not positively so, take a reading of the meter when no burners are in use, and after an hour or so repeat the reading, and if gas is escaping it will be shown. To detect the focality of the leak is often a more difficult matter. The first thing is to see that no burners have been left turned on by accident, which is often the case where the cock has no stop,

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and is caused by the cock being turned partially round again so as to open the vent. Imperfect stop-cocks are, for this reason, dangerous, and should be at once removed.

The next thing to do in order to detect a leak is to try the joints of the gas-fittings. The sense of smell will frequently be sufficient by bringing the face near the suspected joint; a lighted taper or match held near the joint is a more certain plan. If gas is escaping, it will take fire at the leak, or if too little to burn steadily, it will momentarily catch and extinguish in little puthis.

Sometimes the gas escapes from the joints or imperfect piping between the ceiling and floor, or behind the walls or casings.

If beneath the floor, the sense of smell will generally detect the section of the floor under which the leak is, as it escapes owing to its levity upwards through the crevices of the floor, and penetrates the carpet, if there be one. If bracket or side burners are used, and the escaping gas is behind the walls or casings, the crevices in the casings, or the opening where the pipe enters the room, will let the escaping gas enter the room sufliciently at these points to indicate somewhat nearly the location of the | leak.

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In such cases, the proper way is never to apply a light to the crevices or casings, but to turn off the gas at the meter and send for a gasfitter, otherwise an explosion may occur, involving serious consequences. ordinary leaks of gas-fixtures and pipes, whether at the joints or at the attachment of the burner, the fitting or burner should be unscrewed, and white lead or common bar soap rubbed in the threads, and then screwed home again. This can often be done without any aid from a gasfitter.

How to Detect Counterfeit Notes, - Examine the vignette and pictures on the note; see if the faces look natural. The eyes should be so perfect that the white is clear and the pupil dis

tinct. The clothing should fit well, and show the folds clearly, and should have an easy, graceful appearance. The sky should be clear, or soft and even. This would indicate a genuine note. But if, instead of the above, the features are indistinct, the eyes dull, the clothing stiff and ill-fitting, a counterfeit may be presumed.

All circular ornaments, or rulings around or on which figures are printed, should be uniform and regular; the shading or parallel ruling and the fine lines and curves in genuine notes are perfect, but in counterfeit notes there is an absence of uniformity and finish. The letters and figures should be uniform and regular, the lines and curves of which they are composed without breaks, and parallel with each other. All small figures and letters on a genuine note are always well executed, but in counterfeits not so.

The signatures should be well examined the genuine has a free, smooth stroke. Counterfeits usually have a cramped appearance; and even when they are lithographed, they have to be traced over with ink; this gives a ragged edge to the lines and an irregular stroke.

Sometimes a note is altered by raising the amount; this is done by cutting out the genuine figures, and inserting or pasting in figures of a larger denomination. In such cases, the difference in the paper and the color of the ink may be seen; but the best and surest way to detect these altered notes is to hold the note up to the light; the parts pasted in can be seen.

As counterfeit money is generally taken in a hurry, and during a press of business, or through carelessness, all hurry and confusion when taking money should be avoided, for with or dinary care counterfeits may be detected.

Simple Method of Ascertaining Death Dr. Carrière, of St. Jean du Gard, in reply to the offer of the Marquis d'Orches, of a premium of twenty thousand francs for a practical method of determining death, furnished the

following, which he says he has practiced for forty years: Place the hand, with the fingers closely pressed one against the other, close to a lighted lamp or candle; if alive, the tissues will be observed to be of a transparent, or a rosy hue, and the capillary circu lation of life in full play; if, on the contrary, the hand of a dead person be placed in the same relation to light, none of the phenomena are observed - we see but a hand as of marble, without circulation, without life.

To Light a Dark Room, in which the darkness is caused by its being situated on a narrow street or lane. If the glass of a window in such a room is placed several inches within the outer face of the wall, as is the general custom in building houses, it will admit very little light-that which it gets being only the reflection from the walls of the opposite houses. If, however, for the window be substituted another in which all the panes of glass are roughly ground on the outside, and flush with the outer wall, the light from the whole of the visible sky and from the remotest parts of the opposite wall will be introduced into the apartment, reflected from the innumerable faces or facets which the rough grinding of the glass has produced. The whole window will appear as if the sky were beyond it, and from every point of this luminous surface light will ra diate into all parts of the room.

To Solder Lead Pipe.-It some times happens that lead pipes are accidentally cut in excavations and other places, and the water cannot be conveniently shut off to repair it. First stop the leak by a bandage around the pipe, or cut it in two, and drive a plug into each end of the pipe, then place a few quarts of powdered ice and salt around each end of the pipe. In a few minutes the water in the pipes will be frozen. Then remove the plugs, and solder the joint as quickly as you can; the ice will soon thaw out of the pipe, and the water flow through it as usual.

Pipe Joints to Water-Closets, Wash

bowls, Hinks, etc. The old plan of cementing the lead pipes to closet pans, etc., is very objectionable. Take about four inches of rubber tubing, insert the lead pipe in one end, and draw the other end over the arm or neck of the pan, and bind each end with a few turns of copper wire. In this way a cheap, durable, and watertight joint is obtained.

Marking Cutlery.---Take a quarter ounce each of slum, blue stone (sulphate of copper), and common salt, pound all together and dissolve in a quarter pint of vinegar. Cover that portion of the article to be marked with wax, then draw the letters with a large needle through the wax down to the surface of the metal; now into the lines pour some of the above mixture, and allow it to remain half an hour, then clean all off, and the metal will be found permanently etched as marked with the needle.

To Soften Hard Water-Professor Clarke of Scotland has obtained a patent for softening water obtained from chalk or lime formations, by means of quicklime itself, which precipitates the soluble carbonate by converting it into an insoluble-into whiting, in fact and so deprives the water of its hardness.

To Cut Iron or Brass-Take the steel spring from an old corset and hack it on the edge with an old chisel | or knife, making the teeth as near together as possible, and uniform in size. This is easily done by placing the chisel on the edge of the spring and striking it lightly with a ham mer; then place the chisel as near the cut so made as the ridge formed by the chisel will allow, again strike with the hammer, and continue the operation until you have three or four inches in length. With the saw so made and a little kerosene (oil) a bar of iron can soon be cut in two,

How to Bore Holes in Glass. Any hard steel tool will cut glass with great facility when wet freely with camphor, dissolved in turpentine. A drill bore may be used, or even the

hand alone. A hole bored may be easily enlarged by a round file. The ragged edges of glass vessels may also be smoothed thus with a flat file. Flat window glass may be easily sawed with a watch-spring saw, by aid of this solution. In short, the most britthe glass can be wrought almost as easily as brass by the use of cutting tools kept constantly moist with the camphorized oil of turpentine,

TO CUT GLASS to any shape, without a diamond, hold it quite level under water, and with a pair of strong scissors clip it away by small bits from the edges.

Ventilating Waterproof Cloth. India-rubber and oil-cloth capes and coats, although perfectly waterproof, are unfit for wearing during warm rainy weather, because they retain the perspiration and prevent the necesSATY ventilation required for the body. The best light capes for soldiers and travellers when marching during wet weather, are made of what is called "Tweed cloth," prepared as follows: Take two pounds and four ounces of alum, and dissolve it in ten gallons of water; in like manner dissolve the same quantity of sugar of lead in a similar quantity of water, and mix the two together. The cloth is immessed for one hour in the solution, and stirred occasionally, when it is taken out, dried in the shade, washed in clean water, and dried again. This preparation enables the cloth to repel water like the feathers of a duck's back, and yet allows the perspiration to pass somewhat freely through it, which is not the case with gutta-percha or India-rubber cloth.

The sulphate of lead is formed in this manner, and enters into the pores of the cloth. It is an insoluble salt; hence, the reason why it makes the cloth waterproof, while, at the same time, there is sufficient room in the interstices to allow the perspiration and heat from the body to escape.

Tweed cloth is light, and not expensive; it is also soft and pliable, and capable of being rolled up into small

bulk without permanent wrinkles being formed in it. We have frequently prepared cloth in this manner, and have found it to answer an excellent purpose in rainy weather; while at the same time, in color and appearance, it does not differ from unprepared cloth.

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tender? Because in young animals fat is dispersed through the muscles, but in old animals it is laid in masses on the outside of the flesh.

Why is some flesh white and other flesh red? White flesh contains a larger proportion of albumen (similar to the white of egg) than that which is red. The amount of blood retained in the flesh also influences its color.

Why are raw oysters more wholesome than those that are cooked? — When cooked they are partly deprived of salt water, which promotes their digestion; their albumen becomes hard (like hard-boiled eggs).

A Grindstone should not be exposed to the weather, as it not only injures the woodwork, but the sun's rays harden the stone so much as, in time, to render it useless. Neither should it stand in the water in which it runs, as the part remaining in water softens so much that it wears unequally, and this is a very common cause of grind- Why have some oysters a green tinge? stones becoming "out of true." The-This has been erroneously attributed grindstone is a self-sharpening tool, to the effects of copper; but it arises and after having been turned for some from the oyster feeding upon small time in one direction (if a hard stone) green sea-weeds, which grow where the motion should be reversed. Sand such oysters are found. of the right grit applied occasionally to a hard stone will render it quite effectual.

The

Permanent Ink for Writing in Relief on Zinc.-Bichloride of platinum, dry, one part; gum arabic, one part; distilled water, ten parts. The letters traced upon zine with this solution turn black immediately. black characters resist the action of weak acids, of rain, or of the elements in general, and the liquid is thus adapted for marking signs, labels, or tags which are liable to exposure. To bring out the letters in relief, immerse the zinc tag in a weak acid for a few moments. The writing is not attacked, while the metal is dissolved away.

Cure for Cold in the Head.-Inhale hartshorn through the nostrils six or eight times a minute until relief is obtained. Then after an hour or so repeat again. This remedy is used in France with good results.

Domestic Hints. - Why is the flesh of sheep that are fed near the sea more nutritious than that of others?-Because the saline particles (sea salt) which they find with their green food gives purity to their blood and flesh.

Why does the marbled appearance of fat in meat indicate that it is young and

Why is cabbage rendered more wholesome by being boiled in two waters ? Because cabbages contain an oil, which is apt to produce bad effects, and prevents some persons from eating "green" vegetables. When boiled in two waters, the first boiling carries off the greater part of this oil.

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Why should horseradish be scraped for the table only just before it is required? Because the peculiar oil of horseradish is very volatile; it quickly evaporates, and leaves the vegetable substance dry and insipid.

Why is mint eaten with pea soup? -The properties of mint are stomachic and antispasmodic. It is therefore useful to prevent the flatulencies that might arise, especially from soups made of green or dried peas.

Why is apple sauce eaten with pork and goose Because it is slightly laxative, and therefore tends to counteract the effects of rich and stimulating meats. The acid of the apples also neutralizes the oily nature of the fat, and prevents biliousness.

Why does milk turn sour during thunder - storms? Because, in an electric condition of the atmosphere, ozone is generated. Ozone is oxygen in a state of great intensity; and oxy

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What is the blue mould which appears sometimes upon cheese? - It is a species of fungus, or minute vegetable, which may be distinctly seen when examined by a magnifying glass,

Why are some of the limba of birds more tender than others? The lender ness or toughness of flesh is deter: mined by the amount of exercise the muscles have undergone. Hence the wing of a bird that chiefly walks, and the leg of a bird that chiefly flies, are the most tender,

Why does ted frequently oure head: ache - Because, by its stimulant ac= tion on the general circulation, in which the brain participates, the nervous congestions are overcome,

Why are clothes of smooth and shining surfaces best adapted for hot weather ? Because they reflect or turn back the rays of the sun, which are thus prevented from penetrating them.

Why is loose clothing warmer than tight articles of drew? Because the loose dress encloses a stratum of warm air, which the tight dress shuts out; for the same reason, woollen articles, though not warmer in themselves, appear so, by keeping warm air near to the body.

Why should the water poured upon tea be at the boiling point ? - Because it requires the temperature of boiling water to extract the peculiar oil of tea.

Why does the first infusion of tea possess more aroma than the spound? Because the first infusion, if the water used is at the boiling temperature, takes up the essential oil of the tea, while the second water receives only

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the bitter extract supplied by the tannic acid of tea.

Why does a head-dress of sky-blue become a fuir person ? → Because light blue is the complementary color of pale orange, which is the foundation of the blonde complexion and hair.

Why are yellow, orange, or red colors suitable to a person of dark hair and complexion? Because those colors, by contrast with the dark skin and hair, show to the greater advantage thems selves, while they enrich the hue of black.

Why is a delicate green favorable to pale blonde complexions ? Because it Imparts a rosiness to such complexions red, its complementary color, being reflected upon green,

Why is light green unfavorable to ruddy" complexions ?--Because it in: creases the redness, and has the effect of producing an overheated appear:

ance.

Why is violet an unfavorable color for every kind of complexion? Because reflecting yellow, they augment that tint when it is present in the skin or hair, change blue into green, and give to an olive complexion a jaundiced look.

Why is blue suitable to brunettes ?Because it reflects orange, and adds to the darkness of the complexion.

Why do blus veils preserve the cumplovion? Because they diminish the effect of the scorching rays of light, just as the blue glass over photo: graphic studios diminishes the effect of certain rays that would injure the delicate processes of photography,

A New Cure for Fever and Ague.

Just as the chill is coming on, start at the top of a long flight of stairs and crawl down on your hands and feet, head foremost. You never did harder work in your life, and when you arrive at the bottom, instead of shaking, you will find yourself puffing, red in the face, and perspiring freely, from the strongest exertions made in the effut to support yourself. It will effect a cure, beyond a doubt; but whether from this cause or from that, we will never tell

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