AUGUSTE

VACQUERIE (1819-1895)  , French journalist and man of letters, was born at Villequier (Seine Inferieure) on the 19th of November 1819 . He was from his earliest days an admirer of Victor Hugo, with whom he was connected by the marriage of his brother Charles with Leopoldine Hugo . His earlier romantic productions include a volume of poems, L'Enfer de l'esprit (184o) ; a translation of the Antigone (1844) in collaboration with Paul Meurice; and Tragaldabas (1848), a melodrama . He was one of the principal contributors to the Evenement and followed Hugo into his exile in Jersey . In 1869 he returned to Paris, and with Paul Meurice and others founded the anti-imperial Rappel . His articles in this paper were more than once the occasion of legal proceedings . After 1870 he became editor . Other of his works are Souvent homme varie (1859), a comedy in verse; Jean Baudry (1863), the most successful of his plays; Aujourd'hui et demain (1875); Futura (1900), poems on philosophical and humanitarian subjects . Vacquerie died in Paris on the 19th of February 1895 . He published a collected edition of his plays in 18.79 . VACUUM-CLEANER, an appliance for removing dust from carpets, curtains, &c., by suction, and consisting essentially of some form of air-pump drawing air through a nozzle which is passed over the material that has to be cleaned . The dust is carried away with the air-stream and is separated by filtration through screens of muslin or other suitable fabric, sometimes with the aid of a series of baffle-plates which cause the heavier particles to fall to the bottom of the collecting receptacle by gravity .

In the last

decade of the 19th century compressed air came into use, especially in America, for cleaning railway carriages, but it was found difficult to arrange for the collection of the dust that was blown out by the jets of air, and in con-sequence recourse was had to working by suction . From this beginning several types of vacuum cleaner have developed . In the first instance the plants were portable, consisting of a pump driven by a petrol engine or electric motor, and were periodically taken round to houses, offices &c., when cleaning was required . The second stage was represented by the permanent installation of central plants in large buildings, with a system of pipes running to all floors, like gas or water pipes, and provided at convenient points with valves to which could be attached flexible hose terminating in the actual cleaning tools . The vacuum thus rendered available is in some cases utilized for washing the floors in combination with another system of piping connected to a tank containing soap and water, which having been sprayed over the floor by compressed air is removed with the dirt it contains and discharged into the sewers; or in a simpler arrangement the soap and water is contained in a portable tank from which it is distributed, to be sucked up by means of the vacuum as before . In their third stage vacuum cleaners have become ordinary household implements, in substitution for, or in addition to the broom and duster, and small machines are now made in a variety of forms, driven by hand, by foot, or by an electric motor attached to the lighting circuit . In addition to their domestic uses, other applications have been found for them, as for instance in removing dust from printers' type-cases .