Now that acetylene has come so much into prominence, an instance of its use in a laboratory which possesses no gas supply may be an encouragement to any one similarly situated. Long doomed to the use of spirit-lamps, “benzoline roarers,” and the like, the cheap production of acetylene has come as a great boon to us, and is now in regular use for blow-pipe work. The apparatus in use consists of an aspirator holding about fifteen litres, permanently connected with a water supply, and possessing a ¼-inch aperture exit tap (the water flows in from below to minimise absorption); at the top a three-hole rubber cork carries an upright pipe passing through the table, which serves for filling the aspirator with gas, or using the gas on the table, a second pipe goes to the blow-pipe, and a third carries an open mercury manometer. For filling the jar, the calcium carbide is placed in a four-ounce bottle closed by a cork carrying a small separating funnel from which the water drops; the gas passes to the aspirator through a wide glass tube which acts as a reversed condenser, returning most of the water vapour to the bottle. With the large exit to the aspirator the gas can always be collected under a reduced pressure of several cms. of mercury, which quite provides against any sudden rushes of gas; the operation takes some ten minutes, and requires practically no attention.