power. This ratio is constant. It makes no difference whether 1 or 100
horse power of work is necessary on the track, the engine has but to
do 35 per cent. in excess.

With cable, if 1 horse power of work is all that is required on the
track, the engine may be doing 25 horse power to get that amount there
through the gears and cable. With heavier loads this is somewhat
diminished, but about the very best figure that can be put forth is
but 35 per cent. recovery, with 65 per cent. loss--the exact converse
of electricity under heavy loads.--_Street Railway Journal._

* * * * *




ELECTRICAL ALARM FOR PHARMACIES.


[Illustration: FIG. 1.]

To avoid the errors which sometimes occur in a pharmacy or in a
laboratory, where one bottle is taken for another, especially in the
case of those containing highly poisonous or dangerous substances, a
simple arrangement, shown in the cuts, has been proposed. The
apparatus, in principle, is a species of electrical alarm, in circuit
with an ordinary house telegraph line. It consists essentially, as
shown in Fig. 1, of a battery, bell, and pedestal, provided with an
electric contact on which the flask rests. Fig. 2 shows this contact
or break piece. On a series of pedestals thus arranged and