"In spite of its enormous size," says The Scientific American, "the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris has hitherto been lighted by wax candles, as gas, it was thought, would damage the walls and valuable paintings. Now it is to be electrically lit.

Wireless Telegraphy for Scotch Lighthouses. - It has been decided to adopt the Marconi system of wireless telegraphy in connection with the light-houses round the north and west coast of Scotland. The commissioners of the northern lighthouses of Scotland have the matter in hand. They propose to carry out the first installation at the Flannan Islands, which are about sixteen miles off the west coast of Lewis. This is practically the first land sighted by vessels coming from America, and a wireless telegraphy station at such a point will doubtless prove of great value.

A revolution is being worked in woodcarving. For years it has been the dream of inventors and woodworkers to devise a machine which would do for furniture makers what the labor-saving machinery has achieved in the manufacture of shoes. A certain amount of preliminary carving has been done for several years. The rough carving of the ornamental woodwork of sleeping-cars is done by machinery, but has to be guided by a skilled man and finished by hand. The Furniture Journal for April 10 contains a full description of a machine built by S. Waupen & Bros, of Chicago. This machine when once started carves eight pieces at one time without any attention from the operator until the operation is finished.

A Jamestown, N. Y., dispatch states that Capt. F. P. Cobham of that place has invented a system of wireless signaling between railway trains which, it is stated, has worked satisfactorily in tests. The instruments, which are placed on the locomotive, give notice when the engine is within two thousand feet of another engine on the same track, and at the same time indicate in which direction each locomotive is moving. If one of the locomotives is stationary the fact is also indicated.

There is some talk of operating all the principal railways in Switzerland by electricity instead of steam. It is thought that the power which could be derived from Swiss waterfalls would be sufficient to provide enough electrical energy for the entire railway system of the country.

Referring to the recent enactment of the New York Board of Health, to prevent contagion from the promiscuous use of brushes, scissors, razors, etc., in barbers' shops, The Lancet (London, April 5) says: "The question arises whether the barbers will endeavor to meet these new exigencies. Historically speaking, the barbers, whose precursors used to be barber-surgeons, should readily appreciate the advantage of antiseptic surgery, and be willing to apply its principles to the minor and painless operations which they now perform.