While the mad race for supremacy between the mercury and price of ice is on much comfort can be taken in the fact that there are other methods of keeping victuals cool besides that of melting ice in an ice box. If in changing from the solid to the liquid state water absorbs sufficient heat to keep an ice box cool, it is equally true that a change from the liquid to the gaseous state will result in refrigeration, provided, of course, the rate of vaporization keeps pace with the heat which enters the ice box from the outside atmosphere. Under proper conditions it is possible by this method to maintain a sufficiently lowtemperature in the ice box to preserve food from rapid decay. A simple method of making such an iceless refrigerator is illustrated in Fig. 276. In Fig. 277 the cover of the water tank is removed. The box comprises a frame A, Fig. 278, which is built upon a wooden floor B. The frame A serves as a support for a zinc box D, which is fastened thereto. The water tank F is soldered to the top of the box. while at the bottom is a trough D1. The door E at the front of the box has its own trough section E1. Slots G are cut in the four sides of the tank F to receive the ends of a cloth cover for the box. The cover is preferably made up of several thicknesses of cheesecloth stitched together at the corners, and the ends are jammed tightly through the slots into the water tank F. The door E is provided with its own section of cheesecloth, as indicated in the illustration. In operation the water from the tank soaks into the cheesecloth and by capillary attraction and gravity passes on down to the bottom of the cloth, where any excess of water is caught in the trough. The flow of water through and over the cloth should be very slow, and may be regulated to a large extent by the tightness with which the cloth is stuffed into the slots G.

Fig. 276 - Refrigerator complete with tank uncovered.

Fig. 277 - Cloth removed to show the zinc box.

The box is placed on a suitable shelf supported by brackets just outside of the open window on the breeziest side of the house and out of the direct rays of the sun. It is advisable to make the box a couple of inches narrower than the window opening, so that the currents of air passing in and out of the window may have free passage all around the moist cheesecloth. As the water in the cheesecloth is evaporated it absorbs a large amount of heat, much of which is taken from the zinc box. tending to keep the food in the box cool. A modification of this idea is shown in Fig. 279. Here the construction is adapted to cool an individual milk bottle. The cloth covering is placed directly-over the bottle, and at its upper end is jammed into a slot in the bottom of the small reservoir. The milk bottle is placed in a saucer, which serves as a trough to catch the excess of water. Instead of the cheesecloth covering, the leg of a sock can be used, as this is already of cylindrical form and is well adapted to hold the moisture. In case the water from the tank does not moisten the cover sufficiently, the trough may be also filled, and the water will be drawn up therefrom by capillary attraction.

Fig. 278 - Cross-sectional view of refrigerator.

Fig. 279 - How to keep a milk bottle cool.