The inventor claims, and we should say with just reason, that these glass fronted bags would be found equally serviceable for the ripening of pears and other choice fruits, and with a view to their being employed for such a purpose, he has had them made of varying sizes and shapes. In conclusion, it may be observed that, in addition to advancing the maturity of the fruits to which they are applied, they also serve to preserve them from falling to the ground when ripe.--J. COBNHILL, _in the Garden_. * * * * * UTILIZATION OF SOLAR HEAT. At a popular fête in the Tuileries Gardens I was struck with an experiment which seems deserving of the immediate attention of the English public and military authorities. Among the attractions of the fête was an apparatus for the concentration and utilization of solar heat, and, though the sun was not very brilliant, I saw this apparatus set in motion a printing machine which printed several thousand copies of a specimen newspaper entitled the _Soleil Journal_. The sun's rays are concentrated in a reflector, which moves at the same rate as the sun and heats a vertical boiler, setting the motive steam-engine at work. As may be supposed, the only object was to demonstrate the possibility of utilizing the concentrated heat of the solar rays; but I closely examined it, because the apparatus seems capable of great utility in existing circumstances. Here in France, indeed, there is a radical drawback--the sun is often overclouded.