'Dr Page's engine, if used ten times during the day, of six minutes
each time, would have but one hour's expenses for the day; whereas a
steam-engine, under similar circumstances, would be subject to nearly
or quite the full expenses of fuel for twenty-four hours, or equal to
the expenses of continuous work.'


THE SCIENCE OF COLOUR IN DRESS.

Unfortunately for our health and comfort, the teachings of science are
too often disregarded, if they interfere with our habits. Science,
when not practically applied, loses its value; it wants fixedness,
stability. Its application is its embodiment; without it, it is a mere
figment of the brain. Its business is to inform the mind, and remove
erroneous impressions; and its highest aim is usefulness. The popular
belief with respect to dress, that a black dress is warmer, both in
winter and summer, than a white one, is erroneous. The truth is that,
the material being the same, a black dress is cool in winter and warm
in summer--while a white one is warm in winter and cool in summer;
that is to say, the one is cool when we require warmth, and warm when
we require to be cooled; while the other is warm when we are cool, and
cool when we are warm, and thus answers the purpose of dress, which
is, to protect the body from the influence of the weather.

Science teaches that dark colours absorb heat, and part with it much
more rapidly than light ones; black and white being the two extremes.
How strange that this knowledge has not been applied to dress! If the
bowls of two spoons, the one polished, and the other smeared with
soot, be held near a fire, it will be found that the blackened one
becomes hot much sooner than the other; and if now they be both made