recording the vibrations by means of a steel bar studded with pins of various lengths. The result was surprising: the sympathetic flow induced even by this, the first order of vibratory association, being infinitely more tenuous and penetrating than the electric current.

The best idea of what the Keely motor is can probably be obtained from a careful examination made not long since by a disinterested Englishman. He recalls how Tyndall and others have satisfactorily demonstrated that in motion is to be sought the true origin of sound, heat, light, and probably electricity-in a motion that is vibratory, the pulsations of which can be calculated if not explained. The new chemistry goes further and discovers a constant motion of the atoms among themselves. Keely's idea is the liberation of that motion in its primitive or quasi-primitive form,

THE LIBERATOR.

and its application to the use of man; the resolution of that ether, so-called-vastly more tenuous and intangible than electricity itself in which the waves of sound and light are supposed by scientists to be produced. The discovery of the fact that objects composed of a material such as glass could be made to vibrate at a distance only in response to one particular chord to which their mass seemed to respond, led to the discovery on which his work is based -the finding of the so-called "chord of the mass" of any material body, and the application of this discovery to the production of vibrations at will. The utilization of this chord produces disintegration of the body in question, and this disintegration in turn is capable of being converted into motion.

It seems impossible to understand Keely's own language. For an uneducated man he has a surprising command of words. He says:

" All operations of nature have for their sensitizing centers of introductory action triple vacuum evolutions. These evolutions are centered in what I call atomic triple revolutions, highly radiaphonic, and thoroughly independent of all outside forces in their spheres of action. In fact, no conceivable power, however great, can break up their independent centers. So infinitely minute are they in their position that, within a circle that would inclose the smallest grain of sand; hundreds of billions of them perform, to an infinite mathematical precision, their continuous vibratory revolution of inconceivable velocity." In giving a description of the nature of his force and what has been involved in the multitudinous changes necessitated in its development-omitting all thought of the methods of its practical application, which has ever been a problem by itself Keely says: "The different conditions include the change of the mediums for disturbing equilibrium, under different mediums for intensifying vibration, as associated with them progressively from the molecular to the interetheric: first, percussion; second, undulation; third, vibratory undulations; fourth, vibratory percussion; fifth, water and air; sixth, air alone." There is not the simplicity of a great truth in these statements, yet they may represent a distinct idea in Keely's mind.

The result of his thirty years of work is a machine popularly known as the "Keely motor," but called a "liberator" by the inventor himself. Its production has "absorbed," he says, a quarter of a million dollars. Yet it is not satisfactory to him, nor has it demonstrated its usefulness to others except by lifting weights on the end of a lever in his workshop. An English writer declares that not long ago, in the presence of several gentlemen interested in mining operations, Mr. Keely bored, with his engine, eighteen feet in eighteen minutes, into the quartz rock of the Catskill mountains. But there is no other evidence of this astounding fact, of which American newspapers would have been only too glad to get hold.

The Keely Motor Company was formed in 1872. The board of directors, seven in number, has been composed for several years past of six residents of New York and one resident of Philadelphia. A few gentlemen have been and are very eager that Mr. Keely shall immediately impart his "secrets" to some one; and in their eagerness, say his defenders, to have this done, they assume that it can be done in a half-hour's time. For twenty-five years Mr. Keely has been exploring a realm of science the most subtile that can be imagined, to wit: the phenomena of acoustics and sound, which embrace the science of music. He has not been content with the construction of machinery for the purpose of utilizing soundforce as a motive power, but has been recording his experiments day by day, and promises shortly to publish the result of his twenty-five years of research in this branch of science.

of which the new force is to be applied to machinery. The force is applied to the engine in the interior of the hollow sphere. With this engine Mr. Keely says he can attach a common steel wire to a steel bar of the chord of B flat, and associate with it two more bars of the same chord, and, bringing them into contact with a ton of quartz, disintegrate it in fifteen seconds. KENTUCKY. State Government.-The following were the State officers at the beginning of the year: Governor, J. Proctor Knott, Democrat; Lieutenant-Governor, James R. Hindman; Secretary of State, James A. McKenzie; Treasurer, James W. Tate; Auditor, Fayette Hewitt; Attorney-General, P. W. Hardin; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Joseph D. Pickett; Railroad Commissioners: J. P. Thompson, A. R. Boone, and John D. Young; Chief-Justice of the Court of Appeals: William S. Pryor, Thomas H. Hines; Associate Justices: Joseph H. Lewis and William H. Holt. Finances. When the last General Assembly convened in 1885, the receipts of the treasury were insufficient to meet the demands made upon it by existing appropriations, there being a deficiency of $293,185.52. This result was brought about chiefly by a defective system of assessments and collections, under the operations of which great inequalities prevailed in the valuations of property reported for taxation, while a considerable part of the taxable property of the State did not appear on the books of the assessors. The General Assembly of that year responded to the urgent demand for a change in the system by enacting an entirely new revenue law. Under its operation the auditor's report shows that, instead of a deficit, there was a balance in the treasury, on June 30, 1887, of $197,684.88. The total valuation under the new law has been increased to $483,497,690. Two years previously it was $390,827,963. This increase adds $400,000 to the revenue, of which the general expenditure fund receives $180,000 and the school fund $220,000. One of the virtues of the law is that the increase has been gained from personal property which has never before been reached by the tax-gatherer. By a decision of the Court of Appeals, given this year, all acts of the Legislature exempting private property from taxation were declared unconstitutional and invalid. The court held that, since a direct appropriation of public money in support of a private enterprise is forbidden, that support can not be given indirectly by exempting private property from taxation.

Education. The school population of the year numbered 549,592 white and 107,144 colored children, being an increase over the previous year of 10,623 white and 4,307 colored. The number of school districts was 6,639 white and 1,011 colored, being an increase over the previous year of 66 districts for white children and 8 for the colored. During the year the apportionment of the school fund for white schools was $1,044,224.80, being an increase of

$154,925.95 over the previous year; and for colored schools, $203,573.60, being an increase of $33,892.55 over the previous year. The total sum appropriated from the State treasury for school purposes amounted to $1,247,798.40. being a per capita of $1.90. The direct appropriation by the State for school purposes is greater than is devoted by any other State government, with one or two exceptions. A gratifying feature in the educational progress of the State was the completion of the building for the Colored Normal School. It was dedicated during the year and opened under favorable auspices.

Railroads. The railroad commissioners report that there were 2,341 miles of rallroad in operation in the State atthe close of the year, 244 miles having been constructed during the past twelve months. The total cost of these roads was $76,513,920. The total assessed value of all railroad property amounted to $35,571,631, an increase over the previous year of $1,924,025. The gross earnings in 1886 were $10,937,177; in 1887, $12,399.724, an increase of over 13 per cent. The Governor recommends that the powers and salaries of the commissioners be increased, and that they be required to maintain a permanent office at the capital.

Mining. The report of the Inspector of Mines shows a satisfactory growth of the industry. There has been a constant and rapid increase of the out-put of coal, from 1870, when it amounted to only 4,228,000 bushels, to the present time; the yield for the year ending July 1, 1887, amounted to 44,830,000 bushels. When the river improvements now progressing, and the railways under construction and in contemplation, shall have reached the rich beds of coal recently discovered, the out-put will be limited only by the demand.

Public Buildings.-A branch penitentiary at Eddyville was in course of construction during the year, but greater appropriations will be needed for its completion. The commission appointed to construct a building at the Central Lunatic Asylum for the use of colored lunatics was unable to agree upon a site for a structure, and the Legislature will be required to make some changes in the law, in order to forward this work. The Governor, in his message to the Legislature, recommends a complete repair of the Capitol, and the construction of an additional wing.

Rowan County. Concerning the disturbances in this county during the year and previously, the Governor speaks as follows in his message:

The situation may be summarized by stating that a difficulty has existed between factions in that county since 1884. Though composed of only a small por by their violence in overawing and silencing the voice tion of the community, these factions have succeeded of the peaceful element, and in intimidating the officers of the law. Having their origin partially in party rancor, they have ceased to have any political signifi and revenge; each party seeking apparently to poscance, and have become contests of personal ambition sess itself of the machinery of justice, in order that it may, under the forms of law, seek the gratification of

personal animosities. During the present year the focal leader of one of these factions came in possession of the office of police judge of the town of Morehead. Under color of the authority of that office and sustained by an armed band of adherents, he exercised despotic sway over the town and its vicinage. He banished citizens who were obnoxious to him; and, in one instance, after arresting two citizens who seem to have been guilty of no offense, he and his party, attended by a deputy sheriff of the county, murdered them in cold blood. This act of atrocity fully aroused the community. A posse, acting under the authority of a warrant from the county judge, attacked the police judge and his adherents on the 22d of June last, killed several of their number, and put the rest to flight, and temporarily restored something like tranquillity to the community. The proceedings of the Circuit Court, which was held in August, were not calculated to inspire the citizens with confidence in securing justice. The report of the Adjutant General on this subject shows, from information derived "from representative men without reference to party affiliations," that the judge of the Circuit Court seems so far under the influence of the reputed leader of one of the factions as to permit such an organization of the grand juries as will effectually prevent the indictment of members of that faction for the most flagrant crimes. Political. A regular biennial election for State officers was held this year. The canvass was opened by the Prohibitionists, who met in convention at Louisville on March 3 and nominated the following ticket: For Governor, Fontaine T. Fox; for Lieutenant-Governor, W. L. Gordon; for Auditor, A. T. Henderson; for Treasurer, R. K. Dyer; for Register of the Land Office, James T. Barbee; for Attorney-General, J. W. Harris; for Superintendent of Public Instruction, D. W. Stevenson. The following resolutions adopted:

were

We indorse the National Prohibition party platform. The liquor traffic of this country is a public nuisance, debauching the citizens, corrupting the voter, robbing the laborer, endangering the peace and happiness of society; and we therefore demand the prohibition of the importation, manufacture, sale or traffic, by any and all persons, of all alcoholic, vinous, malt, fermented, distilled, or other intoxicating liquors, except for mechanical or medicinal purposes; and for the consummation of this purpose we further demand a constitutional amendment, State and national, and such congressional and legislative enactment as will be necessary to enforce these provisions. With regard to the present public affairs in Kentucky, we advocate the call of a sovereignty convention of the people, under and by authority of section 4 of the bill of rights in our present Constitution, to form another Constitution, more in harmony with the changed condition of affairs in the State and of the political advancement of the times.

We advocate the enactment of the following general laws: 1. A law to disfranchise any person who buys or sells a vote. 2. A law to prevent the competition of convict with free labor, or the hiring out the convicts in such a way as to produce such competition, and to brand all articles of every kind made by convict labor as 66 convict made" when and before the same is put on the market. We indorse Mr. Powderly's opinion that the liquor traffic is the workingman's worst enemy. 3. A law to investigate

every ten years the condition of every office connected with the administration of the State government by commissioners selected by the General Assembly.

The Democratic Convention was held on May 4, and resulted in the choice of the fol

lowing candidates: For Governor, Simon B. Buckner; for Lieutenant-Governor, James W. Bryan; for Auditor, Fayette Hewitt; for Treasurer, James W. Tate; for Attorney-General, P. W. Hardin; for Superintendent of Public Instruction, Joseph D. Pickett; for Register of the Land Office, Thomas H. Corbett. The platform contains very little upon State issues. It declares that convict labor should not be brought into unfair competition lation is needed to secure proper ventilation with regular lines of business, and that legisand other safeguards for mines and factories. One week later the Republicans placed in nomination the following ticket: For Governor, William O. Bradley; for LieutenantGovernor, Mat. O'Doherty; for Auditor, R. D. Davis; for Treasurer, J. R. Puryear; for Attorney-General, John W. Feland; for Superintendent of Public Instruction, W. H. Childers; for Register of the Land Office, T. J. Tinsley. The platform included the following paragraphs:

That a change is necessary in our State affairs

which would curtail offices, reduce expenses, and enable the people of Kentucky to overhaul and examine virtually sealed against them. the books which for nearly twenty years have been

That we condemn the Democratic party of Kentucky for a useless waste of the people's money; for bringing convict labor into competition with that of for crippling education. honest workingmen; for retarding emigration, and

That we approve of and wil! support a tariff so adjusted as to protect and develop American industries, and also such State legislation as experience has proved to be necessary for the development of the material resources of this commonwealth.

That we favor material aid to internal improvement of our lakes, rivers, and harbors, and disapprove of the course of the President of the United States in refusing to sign a bill which promoted such improvements, causing the work already done to fall into decay.

Believing with the lamented Lincoln that it is the duty of the nation "to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and orphans," we hold that the people of the United States owe an ever-living debt of gratitude to the soldiers and sailors who saved the republic, and we hereby disapprove of and condemn the veto of President Cleveland of the bill which provided for their relief.

The nominees of the Union Labor party were: For Governor, A. H. Cardin; for Lieutenant-Governor, O. N. Bradburn; for Auditor, John M. McMurky; for Treasurer, George Smith; for Attorney-General, J. P. Newman; for Superintendent of Public Instruction, R. M. McBeth; for Register of the Land Office, Gaius Henry.

The election was held on the first Monday of August, and resulted in the success of the Democratic ticket, but by a greatly reduced plurality. Official returns for Governor gave Buckner 143,270 votes; Bradley, 126,473; Fox, 8,394; and Cardin, 4.434. Bradley ran 3,000 votes ahead of his ticket. The Democratic plurality at the last gubernatorial election, in 1883, was 44,434, and in 1884 Presideut Cleveland carried the State by a plurality

of 34,839. The successful candidates assumed their offices on August 30.

The people also voted at the same election, in accordance with an act of the last Legislature, on the question whether a convention should be called to prepare a new Constitution for the State. The vote from all but 11 counties was 162,557 in favor and 49,795 against; number not voting, 65,956. Should the next Legislature order a similar vote in 1889, and the result be again favorable to a convention, it may then be called to meet in 1890.

KIRCHHOFF, GUSTAV ROBERT, a German physicist, born in Königsberg, Prussia, March 12, 1824; died in Berlin, Oct. 17, 1887. He was graduated at the university of his native city in 1846, where he gave special attention to mathematics and physics. In 1847 he went to Berlin, and a year later began his career at the university as a lecturer on mathematical physics. He was called in 1850 to be Assistant Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Breslau, and in 1850 accepted the chair of Physics at Heidelberg, passing thence in 1874

GUSTAV ROBERT KIRCHHOFF.

to a similar appointment in the University of Berlin, where he remained until his death. His scientific work began in 1845, a year before he received his degree by the publication of a paper in Poggendorff's "Annalen" "On Electric Conduction in a Thin Plate, and especially in a Circular One," soon followed by other researches on electric questions, among which are those on conduction in curved sheets, on Ohm's law, on the distribution of electricity on two influencing spheres, on the discharge of the Leyden-jar, on the motion of electricity, on the determination of the constants on which depends the intensity of induced currents, and two important papers on induced magnetism. Another series of investigations dealt with the equilibrium and motion of elastic solids, especially in the forms of plates and solids, including also careful experimental determinations of the value of Poisson's ratio for different substances.

Besides these papers he published several noteworthy memoirs on important propositions in the thermo-dynamics of solution and vaporization, on crystalline reflection and refraction, on the influence of heat in a special case of propagation of sound, on the optical constants of aragonite, and on the thermal conductivity of wire. In 1859 he made his discovery of the cause of Fraunhofer's lines in the solar spectrum, and was the first to announce and prove the now-accepted law that "the relation between the power of emission and the power of absorption of one and the same class of rays is the same for all bodies at the same temperature." He associated with himself Robert W. Bunsen, and together they evolved the method of spectrum analysis, and in 1860 perfected it in its essentials. It was at once recognized as a classical discovery, and its great value as an analytical method of investigation in terrestrial and celestial chemistry can not be overestimated. The history of spectrum analysis has from that date been one of unbroken progress. In astronomy the constitution of the heavenly bodies and their motions directly toward or away from the observer, have all been investigated or determined by this method. The atmosphere of a star, comet, or nebula yields its composition to the analyst, who can also approximately determine the temperature and pressure of the glowing gas. In chemistry, new metals have been found by its means. Cæsium and rubidium by Bunsen, thallium by Crookes, gallium by Lecoq de Boisbaudran, and scandium by Nilsen. Were it only for its part in completing the relation of the atomic weights of the elements by Mendelejeff's law, the indebtedness of chemistry to it would be great. His latest work was in electricity, and in 1884-'85 he published papers on the changes and distribution of electricity in certain bodies which he examined for this purpose. Prof. Kirchhoff became in 1870 a member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, and was an honorary or corresponding member of the leading scientific societies of the world, including his relation as one of the very few foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States. His own Government honored him with the title of "geheimrath," or privy councilor, and conferred on him the Prussian order" Pour la mérite," the highest honor awarded in Germany. His collected papers were published as "Gesammelte Abhandlungen, von G. Kirchhoff" (Leipsic, 1882). His other works are Untersuchungen über das Sonnenspectrum und die Spectren des chemischen Elemente" (Berlin, 1861), translated as "Studies of the Solar Spectrum and the Spectra of Simple Bodies" (London, 1862); with Bunsen, "Chemische Analyse durch Spectralbeobachtung" (Vienna, 1861); and his lectures on dynamics, "Vorlesungen über analytische Mechanik, mit Einschluss der Hydrodynamik und der Theorie der Elasticität fester Körper" (Leipsic, 1874).