,illustration ,,scientific ,,american ,,supplement ,,no4 #gag ,,new ,,york1 ,,september #bh1 #ahhi4 ,scientific ,american ,supplement4 ,vol4 ,,xxviii41 ,no4 #gag4 ,scientific ,american established #ahde4 ,scientific ,american ,supplement1 #e a year4 ,scientific ,american and ,supplement1 #g a year4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,table ,,of ,,contents4 ,i4 ,,civil ,,engineering4--,the ,girard ,hydraulic ,railway4--,one of the great curiosities of the ,paris exposition1 the almost frictionless railway1 with sectional illustrations of its structure4--#h illustrations4 #aadea ,,ii4 ,,electricity4--,early ,electric ,lighting4--,electric lighting in ,salem in #ahei1 a very curious piece of early history4 #aadeh ,electric ,motor for ,alternating ,currents4--,a motor on an entirely new principle for the application of the alternating current with results obtained1 and the economic outlook of the invention4 #aadeh ,portable ,electric ,light4--,a lamp for military and other use1 in which the prime motor1 including the boiler and the lamp itself1 are carried on one carriage4--#a illustration4 #aadeh ,the ,electric ,age4--,by ,,charles ,,carleton ,,coffin4--,a short resume of the initial achievements of modern electricity4 #aadeh ,,iii4 ,,geology4--,the ,fuels of the ,future4--,a prognosis of the future prospect of the world as regards a fuel supply1 with a special reference to the use of natural gas4 #aadeg ,,iv4 ,,miscellaneous4--,preservation of ,spiders for the ,cabinet4--,a method of setting up spiders for preservation in the cabinet1 with formul of solutions used and full details of the manipulation4--#a illustration4 #aadfa ,the ,ship in the ,new ,french ,ballet of the ,tempest4--,a curious example of modern scenic perfection1 giving the construction and use of an appliance of the modern ballet4--#e illustrations4 #aadej ,v4 ,,naval ,,engineering4--,crank and ,screw ,shafts of the ,mercantile ,marine4--,by ,g4 ,w4 ,,manuel4--,this all-important subject of modern naval engineering treated in detail1 illustrating the progress of the present day1 the superiority of material and method of using it1 with interesting practical examples4--#a illustration4 #aaddh ,experimental ,aid in the ,design of ,high ,speed ,steamships4--,by ,d4 ,p4--,a plea for the experimental determination of the probable speed of ships1 with examples of its application in practice4 #aaddi ,forging a ,propeller ,shaft4--,how large steamer shafts are forged1 with example of the operation as exhibited to the ,shah of ,persia at ,brown ,co4's works1 ,sheffield1 ,england4--#a illustration4 #aaddg ,the ,naval ,forges and ,steel ,works at ,st4 ,chamond4--,the forging of a piece of ordnance from a #ij ton ingot of steel1 an artistic presentation of the subject4--#a illustration4 #aaddg ,,vi4 ,,photography4--,the ,pyro ,developer with ,metabisulphite of ,potash4--,by ,dr4 ,j4 ,m4 ,,eder4--,a new addition to the pyro developer1 with formul and results4 #aadfb ,,vii4 ,,physics4--,quartz ,fibers4--,a lecture by ,mr4 ,c4 ,v4 ,,boys on his famous experiments of the production of microscopic fibers1 with enlarged illustrations of the same1 and a graphic account of the entire subject4--#g illustrations4 #aadeb ,the ,modern ,theory of ,light4--,by ,prof4 ,,oliver ,,lodge4--,an abstract of a lecture by the eminent investigator and expositor of ,prof4 ,hertz's experiments1 giving a brief review of the present aspect of this absorbing question4 #aadei ,,viii4 ,,physiology4--,heat in ,man4--,experiments recently made by ,dr4 ,loewy on the heat of the human system4--,described and commented on by ,prof4 ,,zuntz4 #aadfa ,,ix4 ,,sanitation4--,on ,purification of ,air by ,ozone--with an ,account of a ,new ,method4--,by ,dr4 ,b4 ,w4 ,,richardson4--,a very important subject treated in full1 giving the past attempts in the utilization of ozone and a method now available4 #aadfj ,x4 ,,technology4--,alkali ,manufactories4--,present aspect of the ,leblanc process and the new process for the recovery of sulphur from its waste4 #aadeg ,dried ,wine ,grapes4--,the preparation of the above wine on a large scale in ,california1 with full details of the process adopted4 #aadfa ,the ,production of ,ammonia from ,coal4--,by ,,ludwig ,,mond4--,a valuable review of this important industry1 with actual working results obtained in carrying out a retort process4--#b illustrations4 #aaded ,nature1 ,composition1 and ,treatment of ,animal and ,vegetable ,fabrics4--,the history of fabrics and fibers in the vegetable and animal world1 their sources1 applications1 and treatments4 #aadec ,walnut ,oil4--,by ,thomas ,t4 ,p4 ,,bruce ,,warren4--,an excellent oil for painters' use1 with description of a simple method for preparing it on a small scale4 #aadfb 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,naval ,,forges ,,and ,,steel ,,works ,,at ,,st4 ,,chamond4 ,with the idyls and historic or picturesque subjects that the ,universal ,exposition gives us the occasion to publish1 we thought we would make a happy contrast by selecting a subject of a different kind1 by presenting to our readers ,mr4 ,layraud's fine picture1 which represents the gigantic power hammer used at the ,st4 ,chamond ,forges and ,steel ,works in the construction of our naval guns4 ,by the side of the machinery gallery and the ,eiffel tower this gigantic apparatus is well in its place4 ,illustration3 ,,universal ,,exposition--,,beaux ,,arts--,,marine ,,iron ,,and ,,steel ,,works ,,at ,,saint ,,chamond--,,presentation ,,of ,a ,,piece ,,of ,,ordnance ,,under ,,the ,,vertical ,,hammer4--,,picture ,,by ,m4 ,,joseph ,,layraud4 ,the following is the technical description that has been given to us to accompany our engraving3 ,in an immense hall1 measuring #bfj ft4 in length by #ih ft4 in width1 a gang of workmen has just taken from the furnace a #ij ton ingot for a large gun for an armor-clad vessel4 ,the piece is carried by a steam crane of #adj tons power1 and the men grouped at the maneuvering levers are directing this incandescent mass under the power hammer which is to shape it4 ,this hammer1 whose huge dimensions allow it to take in the object treated1 is one of the largest in existence4 ,its striking mass is capable of reaching #ajj tons1 and the height of the fall is #af ft4 ,to the left of the hammer is seen a workman getting ready to set it in motion4 ,it takes but one man to maneuver this apparatus1 and this is one of the characteristic features of its construction4 ,the beginning of this hammer's operation1 as well as the operations of the forge itself1 which contains three other hammers of less power1 dates back to #ahgi4 ,it is with this great hammer that the largest cannons of the naval artillery--those of #af inches--have been made 7almost all of which have been manufactured at ,st4 ,chamond71 and those1 too1 of #ad1 #ac1 and #ab inches4 ,this is the hammer1 too1 that1 a few months ago1 was the first to be set at work on the huge #ac in4 guns of new model1 whose length is no less than #eb ft4 in the rough4 ,let us add a few more figures to this account in order to emphasize the importance of the installations which ,mr4 ,layraud's picture recalls1 and which our great ,french industry has not hesitated to establish1 notwithstanding the great outlay that they necessitated4 ,this huge hammer required foundations extending to a depth of #cb ft41 and the amount of metal used in its construction was #b1fdj1jjj pounds4 ,the cost of establishing the works with all the apparatus contained therein was #djj1jjj4--,le ,monde ,illustr4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,forging ,a ,,propeller ,,shaft4 ,during the recent visit of the ,shah of ,persia to ,england1 he visited1 among other places1 the great works of ,john ,brown ,co41 at ,sheffield1 and witnessed the pressing of a propeller shaft for one of the large ocean steamships4 ,the operation is admirably illustrated in our engraving1 for which we are indebted to the ,illustrated ,london ,news4 ,illustration3 ,,propeller ,,shaft ,,being ,,pressed ,,at ,,messrs4 ,,john ,,brown ,,co4',s ,,works1 ,,sheffield4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,crank ,,and ,,screw ,,shafts ,,of ,,the ,,mercantile ,,marine4#a ,by ,g4 ,w4 ,,manuel4 ,footnote #a3 ,a paper read before the ,institute of ,marine ,engineers1 ,stratford1 #ahhi4 ,being asked to read a paper before your institute1 ,i have chosen this subject1 as ,i think no part of the marine engine has given so much trouble and anxiety to the seagoing engineer2 and from the list of shipping casualties in the daily papers1 a large proportion seem due to the shafting1 causing loss to the shipowner1 and in some instances danger to the crew4 ,my endeavor is to put some of the causes of these casualties before you1 also some of the remedies that have tended to reduce their number4 ,several papers have been read on this subject1 chiefly of a theoretical description1 dealing with the calculations relating to the twisting and bending moments1 effects of the angles of the cranks1 and length of stroke--notably that read by ,mr4 ,milton before the ,institute of ,naval ,architects in #ahha4 ,the only practical part of this paper dealt with the possibility of the shafts getting out of line2 and regarding this contingency ,dr4 ,kirk said that if superintendent engineers would only see that the bearings were kept in line1 broken crank and other shafts would not be so much heard of4 ,of course this is one of those statements made in discussions of this kind1 for what purpose ,i fail to see1 and as far as my own experience goes is misleading2 for having taken charge of steamers new from the builders' hands1 when it is at least expected that these shafts would be in line1 the crank shaft bearings heated very considerably1 and continued to do so1 rendering the duration of life of the crank shaft a short one2 and though they were never what is termed out of line1 the bearings could not be kept cool without the use of sea water1 and occasionally the engines had to be stopped to cool and smooth up the bearing surfaces1 causing delays1 worry1 and anxiety1 for which the engineer in charge was in no way responsible4 ,happily this state of what ,i might call uncertainties is being gradually remedied1 thanks being largely due to those engineers who have the skill to suggest improvements and the patience to carry them out against much opposition4 ,these improvements in many instances pertain to the engine builder's duties1 and are questions which ,i think have been treated lightly2 notably that of insufficient bearing surface1 and one of the principal causes of hot bearings1 whereby the oil intended for lubrication was squeezed out1 and the metal surfaces brought too close in contact2 and when bearings had a pressure of #bjj lb4 per square inch1 it has been found that not more than #abj lb4 per square inch should be exerted to keep them cool 7this varies according to the material of which the bearing is composed71 without having to use sea water and prevent them being ground down1 and thus getting out of line4 ,i have known a bearing in a new steamer1 in spite of many gallons of oil wasted on it1 wear down one-eighth of an inch in a voyage of only #f1jjj miles1 from insufficiency of bearing surface4 ,several good rules are in use governing the strength of shafts1 which treat of the diameter of the bearings only and angles of the cranks2 and the engine builder1 along with the ship owner1 has been chary of increasing the surfaces by lengthening the bearings2 for to do this means increase of space taken up fore and aft the vessel1 besides additional weight of engine4 ,engine builders all aim in competing to put their engines in less space than their rivals1 giving same power and sometimes more4 ,i think1 however1 this inducement is now more carefully considered1 as it has been found more economical to give larger bearing surfaces than to have steamers lying in port1 refitting a crank shaft1 along with the consequences of heavy bills for salvage and repairs1 also the risk of losing the steamer altogether4 ,proportioning the bearings to the weights and strains they have to carry has also been an improvement4 ,the different bearings of marine engines were usually made alike in surface1 irrespective of the work each had to do1 with a view to economy in construction4 ,in modern practice the after bearings have more surface than the forward1 except in cases where heavy slide-valve gear has to be supported1 so that the wear down in the whole length of the shaft is equal1 thus avoiding those alternate bending strains at the top and bottom of the stroke every revolution4 ,another improvement that has been successfully introduced1 adding to the duration of life of crank shafts1 is the use of white bearing metal1 such as ,parson's white brass1 on which the shafts run smoothly with less friction and tendency to heat1 so that1 along with well proportioned surfaces1 a number of crank shafts in the ,peninsular and ,oriental ,co4's service have not required lining up for eight years1 and ,i hope with care may last till new boilers are required4 ,large and powerful steamers can be driven full speed from ,london to ,australia and back without having any water on the bearings1 using oil of only what is considered a moderate price1 allowing the engineer in charge to attend to the economical working of both engines and boilers 7as well as many other engines of all kinds now placed on board a large mail and passenger steamer71 instead of getting many a drenching with sea water1 and worried by close attention to one or two hot bearings all the watch4 ,compare these results with the following3 ,in the same service in #ahfd1 and with no blame to the engineer in charge1 the crank shaft bearings of a screw steamer had to be lined up every five days at intermediate ports1 through insufficient bearing surfaces4 ,sea water had continually to be used1 resulting in frequent renewal of crank shaft4 ,steamers can now run #be1jjj miles without having to lift a bearing1 except for examination at the end of the voyage4 ,i would note here that the form of the bearings on which the shafts work has also been much improved4 ,they are made more of a solid character1 the metal being more equally disposed round the shaft1 and the use of gun metal for the main bearings is now fast disappearing4 ,in large engines the only metals used are cast iron and white brass1 an advantage also in reducing the amount of wear on the recess by corrosion and grinding where sea water was used often to a considerable extent4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #a ,fig4 #b ,figs4 ,no4 #a and ,no4 #b show the design of the old and new main bearings1 and1 ,i think1 require but little explanation4 ,most of you present will remember your feelings when1 after a hot bearing1 the brasses were found to be cracked at top and bottom1 and the trouble you had afterward to keep these brasses in position4 ,when a smoking hot bearing occurred1 say in the heating of a crank pin1 it had the effect of damaging the material of the shaft more or less1 according to its original soundness1 generally at the fillets in the angles of the cranks4 ,for when the outer surface of the iron got hot1 cold water1 often of a low temperature1 was suddenly poured on1 and the hot iron1 previously expanded1 was suddenly contracted1 setting up strains which in my opinion made a small tear transversely where the metal was solid2 and where what is termed lamination flaws1 due to construction1 existed1 these were extended in their natural direction1 and by a repetition of this treatment these flaws became of such a serious character that the shafts had to be condemned1 or actually gave way at sea4 ,the introduction of the triple expansion engine1 with the three cranks1 gave better balance to the shaft1 and the forces acting in the path of the crank pin1 being better divided1 caused more regular motion on the shaft1 and so to the propeller4 ,this is specially noticeable in screw steamers1 and is taken advantage of by placing the cabins further aft1 nearer the propeller1 the stern having but little vibration2 the dull and heavy surging sound1 due to unequal motions of the shaft in the two-crank engines1 is exchanged for a more regular sound of less extent1 and the power formerly wasted in vibrating the stern is utilized in propelling the vessel4 ,in spite of all these improvements ,i have mentioned1 there remains the serious question of defects in the material1 due to variety of quality and the extreme care that has to be exercised in all the stages during construction of crank or other shafts built of iron4 ,many shafts have given out at sea and been condemned1 through no other cause than original defects in their construction and material4 ,the process of welding and forging a crank shaft of large diameter now is to make it up of so many small pieces1 the best shafts being made of what is termed scrap1 representing thousands of small pieces of selected iron1 such as cuttings of old iron boiler plates1 cuttings off forgings1 old bolts1 horseshoes1 angle iron1 etc41 all welded together1 forged into billets1 reheated1 and rolled into bars4 ,it is then cut into lengths1 piled1 and formed into slabs of suitable size for welding up into the shafts4 ,no doubt this method is preferable to the old method of fagoting1 so called1 as the iron bars were placed side by side1 resembling a bundle of fagots of about #ah or #bj inches square4 ,the result was that while the outside bars would be welded1 the inside would be improperly welded1 or1 the hammer being weak1 the blow would be insufficient to secure the proper weld1 and it was no uncommon thing for a shaft to break and expose the internal bars1 showing them to be quite separate1 or only partially united4 ,this danger has been much lessened in late years by careful selection of the materials1 improved methods of cleaning the scrap1 better furnaces1 the use of the most suitable fuels1 and more powerful steam hammers4 ,still1 with all this care1 ,i think ,i may say there is not a shaft without flaws or defects1 more or less1 and when these flaws are situated in line of the greatest strains1 and though you may not have a hot bearing1 they often extend until the shaft becomes unseaworthy4 ,diagrams shown illustrated the various forms of flaws4 ,these flaws were not observable when the shafts were new1 although carefully inspected4 ,they gradually increased under strain1 came to the outside1 and were detected4 ,considerable loss fell upon the owners of these vessels1 who were in no way to blame2 nor could they recover any money from the makers of the shafts1 who were alone to blame4 ,i am pleased to state1 and some of the members here present know1 that considerable improvement has been effected in the use of better material than iron for crank shafts1 by the introduction of a special mild steel1 by ,messrs4 ,vickers1 ,sons ,co41 of ,sheffield1 and that instead of having to record the old familiar defects found in iron shafts1 ,i can safely say no flaws have been observed1 when new or during eight years running1 and there are now twenty-two shafts of this mild steel in the company's service4 ,i may here state that steel was used for crank shafts in this service in #ahfc1 as then manufactured in ,prussia by ,messrs4 ,krupp1 and generally known as ,krupp's steel1 the tensile strength of which was about #dj tons per square inch1 and though free from flaws1 it was unable to stand the fatigue1 and broke1 giving little warning4 ,it was of too brittle a nature1 more resembling chisel steel4 ,it was broken again under a falling weight of #aj cwt4 with a #aj ft4 drop #ab tons4 ,the mild steel now used was first tried in #ahhj4 ,it possessed tensile strength of #bd to #be tons per square inch4 ,it was then considered advisable not to exceed this1 and err rather on the safe side4 ,this shaft has been in use eight years1 and no sign of any flaw has been observed4 ,since then the tensile strength of mild steel has gradually been increased by ,messrs4 ,vickers1 the steel still retaining the elasticity and toughness to endure fatigue4 ,this has only been arrived at by improvements in the manufacture and more powerful and better adapted hammers to forge it down from the large ingots to the size required4 ,the amount of work they are now able to subject the steel to renders it more fit to sustain the fatigue such as that to be endured by a crank shaft4 ,these ingots of steel can be cast up to #ajj tons weight1 and require powerful machines to deal with them4 ,for shafts say of #bj inches diameter1 the diameter of the ingot would be about #eb inches4 ,this allows sufficient work to be put on the couplings1 as well as the shaft4 ,to make solid crank shafts of this material1 say of #ai inches diameter1 the ingot would weigh #db tons1 the forging1 when completed1 #ag tons1 and the finished shaft #aa tons2 so that you see there is #be tons wasted before any machining is done1 and #e tons between the forging and finished shaft4 ,this makes it very expensive for solid shafts of large size1 and it is found better to make what is termed a built shaft2 the cranks are a little heavier1 and engine framings necessarily a little wider1 a matter comparatively of little moment4 ,i give you a rough drawing of the hydraulic hammer1 or strictly speaking a press1 used by ,messrs4 ,vickers in forging down the ingots in shafts1 guns1 or other large work4 ,this hammer can give a squeeze of #c1jjj tons4 ,the steel seems to yield under it like tough putty1 and1 unlike the steam hammer1 there is no jarring on the material1 and it is manipulated with the same ease as a small hammer by hydraulics4 ,the tensile strength of steel used for shafts having increased from #bd to #cj tons1 and in some cases #ca tons1 considering that this was #b tons above that specified1 and that we were approaching what may be termed hard steel1 ,i proposed to the makers to test this material beyond the usual tests1 viz41 tensile1 extension1 and cold bending test4 ,the latter1 ,i considered1 was much too easy for this fine material1 as a piece of fair iron will bend cold to a radius of #a times its diameter or thickness1 without fracture2 and ,i proposed a test more resembling the fatigue that a crank shaft has sometimes to stand1 and more worthy of this material2 and in the event of its standing this successfully1 ,i would pass the material of #cj or #ca tons tensile strength4 ,specimens of steel used in the shafts were cut off different parts--crank pins and main bearings--7the shafts being built shafts7 and roughly planed to #a inches square1 and about #ab inches long4 ,they were laid on the block as shown1 and a cast iron block1 fitted with a hammer head ton weight1 let suddenly fall #ab inches1 the block striking the bar with a blow of about #d tons4 ,the steel bar was then turned upside down1 and the blow repeated1 reversing the piece every time until fracture was observed1 and the bar ultimately broken4 ,the results were that this steel stood #eh blows before showing signs of fracture1 and was only broken after #gg blows4 ,it is noticeable how many blows it stood after fracture4 ,a bar of good wrought iron1 undressed1 of same dimensions1 was tried1 and broke the first blow4 ,a bar cut from a piece of iron to form a large chain1 afterward forged down and only filed to same dimensions1 broke at #be blows4 ,i was well satisfied with the results1 and considered this material1 though possessing a high tensile strength1 was in every way suitable for the construction and endurance required in crank shafts4 ,sheet ,no4 #a shows you some particulars of these tests3 ,tensile ,elong4 ,fractured ,broke ,fall ,tons4 in #e ,bend4 ,blows4 ,blows4 ,in4 ,a #cj4e #bh p4 c4 ,good #fa #gh #ab ,in order to test the comparative value of steel of #bd up to #ce tons tensile strength1 ,i had several specimens taken from shafts tested in the manner described1 which may be called a fatigue test4 ,the results are shown on the same sheet3 ,b #bd ,good #fd #gb #g ,b -- -- -- #dh #ed #ab ,c #bg #be4i p4 c4 ,good #gf #ha #ab ,d #bi4f #bh4d p4 c4 ,good #ga #gh #ab ,e #cj4e #bh4i p4 c4 ,good #eh #gg #ab ,f #ce4e #bj p4 c4 ,good #hj #ia #ab ,the latter was very tough to break4 ,specimen marked ,a shows one of these pieces of steel4 ,i show you also fresh broken specimens which will give you a good idea of the beautiful quality of this material4 ,these specimens were cut out of shafts made of ,steel ,co4 of ,scotland's steel4 ,i also show you specimens of cold bending3 ,tensile ,elong4 ,fractured ,broke ,fall ,tons4 in4 #e ,bend4 ,blows4 ,blows4 ,in4 ,g #cj4i #bg p4 c4 ,good #ei #ff #ab ,h #bi4c #cj p4 c4 ,good #ff #ij #ab ,i #bh4i #bh4i p4 c4 ,good #ec #fh #ab ,i think all of the above tests show that this material1 when carefully made and treated with sufficient mechanical work on forging down from the ingot1 is suitable up to #cd tons for crank shafts2 how much higher it would be desirable to go is a question of superior excellence in material and manufacture resting with the makers4 ,i would1 however1 remark that no allowance has been made by the ,board of ,trade or ,lloyds for the excellence of this material above that of iron4 ,i was interested to know how the material in the best iron shafts would stand this fatigue test compared with steel1 and had some specimens of same dimensions cut out of iron shafts4 ,the following are the results3 ,best iron1 three good qualities1 rolled into flat bars1 cut and made into #d cwt4 blooms4 ,j #ah4f #bd4c p4 c4 ,good #ag #ah #ab ,made of best double rolled scrap1 #d cwt4 blooms4 ,k #bb #cb p4 c4 ,good #ba #cb #ab ,you will see from these results that steel stood this fatigue test1 ,vickers' #gc per cent4 and ,steel ,co4's #fh per cent41 better than iron of the best quality for crank shafts2 and ,i am of opinion that so long as we use such material as these for crank shafts1 along with the present rules1 and give ample bearing surface1 there will be few broken shafts to record4 ,i omitted to mention that built shafts1 both of steel and iron1 of large diameter1 are now in general use1 and with the excellent machines1 and under special mechanics1 are built up of five separate pieces in such a rigid manner that they possess all the solidity necessary for a crank shaft4 ,the forgings of iron and steel being much smaller are capable of more careful treatment in the process of manufacture4 ,these shafts1 for large mail steamers1 when coupled up1 are #ce feet long1 and weigh #de tons4 ,they require to be carefully coupled1 some makers finishing the bearings in the lathe1 others depend on the excellence of their work in each piece1 and finish each complete4 ,to insure the correct centering of these large shafts1 ,i have had #f in4 dia4 recesses inch deep turned out of each coupling to one gauge and made to fit one disk4 ,duplicate disks are then fitted in each coupling1 and the centering is preserved1 and should a spare piece be ever required1 there is no trouble to couple correctly on board the steamer4 ,the propeller shaft is generally made of iron1 and if made not less than the ,board of ,trade rules as regards diameter1 of the best iron1 and the gun metal liners carefully fitted1 they have given little trouble2 the principal trouble has arisen from defective fitting of the propeller boss4 ,this shaft working in sea water1 though running in lignum vit bearings1 has a considerable wear down at the outer bearings in four or five years1 and the shaft gets out of line4 ,this wear has been lessened considerably by fitting the wood so that the grain is endway to the shaft1 and with sufficient bearing surface these bearings have not required lining up for nine years4 ,it is1 however1 a shaft that cannot be inspected except when in dry dock1 and has to be disconnected from the propeller1 and drawn inside for examination at periods suggested by experience4 ,serious accidents have occurred through want of attention to the examination of this shaft2 when working in salt water1 with liners of gun metal1 galvanic action ensues1 and extensive corrosion takes place in the iron at the ends of the brass liners1 more especially if they are faced up at right angles to the shaft4 ,some engineers have the uncovered part of the shaft between the liners1 inside the tube1 protected against the sea water by winding over it tarred line4 ,as this may give out and cause some trouble1 by stopping the water space1 ,i have not adopted it1 and shall be pleased to have the experience of any seagoing engineer on this important matter4 ,a groove round the shaft is formed1 due to this action1 and in some cases the shaft has broken inside the stern tube1 breaking not only it1 but tearing open the hull1 resulting in the foundering of the vessel4 ,steel has been used for screw shafts1 but has not been found so suitable1 as it corrodes more rapidly in the presence of salt water and gun metal than iron1 and unless protected by a solid liner for the most part of its length1 a mechanical feat which has not yet been achieved in ordinary construction1 as this liner would require to be #bj ft4 long4 ,i find it exceedingly difficult to get a liner of only #g ft4 long in one piece1 and the majority of #f ft4 liners are fitted in two pieces4 ,the joint of the two liners is rarely watertight1 and many shafts have been destroyed by this method of fitting these liners4 ,i trust that engine builders will make a step further in the fitting of these liners on these shafts1 as it is against the interest of the shipowner to keep ships in dry dock from such causes as defective liners1 and ,i think it will be only a matter of time when the screw shaft will be completely protected from sea water1 at least inside the stern tube2 and when this is done1 ,i would have no hesitation in using steel for screw shafts4 ,though an easier forging than a crank shaft1 these shafts are often liable to flaws of a very serious character1 owing to the contraction of the mass of metal forming the coupling2 the outside cooling first tears the center open1 and when there is not much metal to turn off the face of the coupling1 it is sometimes undiscovered4 ,having observed several of these cavities1 some only when the last cut was being taken off1 ,i have considered it advisable to have holes bored in the end and center of each coupling1 as far through as the thickness of the flange2 when the shafts are of large size1 this is sure to find these flaws out4 ,another flaw1 which has in many cases proved serious when allowed to extend1 is situated immediately abaft the gun metal liner1 in front of the propeller4 ,this may be induced by corrosion1 caused by the presence of sea water1 gun metal1 and iron1 assisted by the rotation of the shaft4 ,it may also be caused under heavy strain1 owing to the over-finishing of the shaft at this part under the steam hammer4 ,the forgemen1 in these days of competition and low prices1 are instructed to so finish that there won't be much weight to turn off when completing the shaft in the lathe4 ,this is effected by the use of half-round blocks under the hammer1 at a lower temperature than the rest of the forging is done1 along with the use of a little water flung on from time to time2 and it is remarkable how near a forging is in truth when centered in the lathe1 and how little there is to come off4 ,the effect of this manipulation is to form a hard ring of close grain about one inch thick from the circumference of the shaft inward4 ,the metal in this ring is much harder than that in the rest of the shaft1 and takes all the strain the inner section gives2 consequently1 when strain is brought on1 either in heavy weather or should the propeller strike any object at sea or in the ,suez canal1 a fracture is caused at the circumference4 ,this1 assisted by slight corrosion1 has in my experience led in the course of four months to a screw shaft being seriously crippled4 ,i show you a section of a screw shaft found to be flawed1 and which ,i had broken under the falling weight of a steam hammer1 when the decided difference of the granules near the circumference from that in the central part conveyed to me that it was weakened by treatment ,i have referred to4 ,i think more material should be left on the forging1 and the high finish with a little cold water should be discontinued4 ,doing away with the outer bearing in rudder post is an improvement1 provided the bearing in the outer end of screw shaft in the stern tube is sufficiently large4 ,it allows the rudder post to have its own work to do without bringing any strain on the screw shaft1 and in the event of the vessel's grounding and striking under the rudder post1 it does not throw any strain on the screw shaft4 ,it also tends to reduce weight at this part1 where all the weight is overhung from the stern of the vessel4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,experimental ,,aid ,,in ,,the ,,design ,,of ,,high ,,speed ,,steamships4 ,by ,d4 ,p4 ,the achievement of one triumph after another in the matter of high speed steamships1 and especially the confidence with which pledges of certain results are given and accepted long before actual trials are made1 form one of the most convincing proofs of the important part which scientific methods play in modern shipbuilding4 ,this is evident in the case of ships embodying novel or hitherto untried features1 and more especially so in cases where shipbuilders1 having no personal practical experience or data1 achieve such results4 ,this was notably illustrated in the case of the ,fairfield ,co4 undertaking some five years ago to build and engine a huge craft of most phenomenal form and proportions1 and to propel the vessel at a given speed under conditions which appeared highly impracticable to many engaged in the same profession4 ,the contract was proceeded with1 however1 and the ,czar of ,russia's wonderful yacht ,livadia was the result1 which 7however much she may have justified the professional strictures as to form and proportions7 entirely answered the designer's anticipations as to speed4 ,equally remarkable and far more interesting instances are the ,inman liners ,city of ,paris and ,city of ,new ,york1 in whose design there was sufficient novelty to warrant the degree of misgiving which undoubtedly existed regarding the ,messrs4 ,thomson's ability to attain the speed required4 ,in the case at least of the ,city of ,paris1 ,messrs4 ,thomson's intrepidity has been triumphantly justified4 ,an instance still more opposite to our present subject is found in the now renowned ,channel steamers ,princess ,henrietta and ,princess ,josephine1 built by ,messrs4 ,denny1 of ,dumbarton1 for the ,belgian government4 ,the speed stipulated for in this case was #bj knots1 and although in one or two previous ,channel steamers1 built by the ,fairfield ,co41 a like speed had been achieved1 still the guaranteeing of this speed by ,messrs4 ,denny was remarkable1 in so far as the firm had never produced1 or had to do with1 any craft faster than #ae or #af knots4 ,the attainment not only of the speed guaranteed1 but of the better part of a knot in excess of that speed1 was triumphant testimony to the skill and care brought to bear upon the undertaking4 ,in this case1 at least1 the result was not one due to a previous course of trial and error with actual ships1 but was distinctly due to superior practical skill1 backed and enhanced by knowledge and use of specialized branches in the science of marine architecture4 ,messrs4 ,denny are the only firm of private shipbuilders possessing an experimental tank for recording the speed and resistance of ships by means of miniature reproductions of the actual vessels1 and to this fact may safely be ascribed their confidence in guaranteeing1 and their success in obtaining1 a speed so remarkable in itself and so much in excess of anything they had previously had to do with4 ,confirmatory evidence of their success with the ,belgian steamers is afforded by the fact that they have recently been instructed to build for service between ,stranraer and ,larne a paddle steamer guaranteed to steam #ai knots1 and have had inquiries as to other high speed vessels4 ,in estimating the power required for vessels of unusual types or of abnormal speed1 where empirical formul do not apply1 and where data for previous ships are not available1 the system of experimenting with models is the only trustworthy expedient4 ,in the case of the ,czar's extraordinary yacht1 the ,livadia1 already referred to1 it may be remembered that previous to the work of construction being proceeded with1 experiments were made with a small model of the vessel by the late ,dr4 ,tideman1 at the government tank at ,amsterdam4 ,on the strength of the data so obtained1 coupled with the results of trials made with a miniature of the actual vessel on ,loch ,lomond1 those responsible for her stipulated speed were satisfied that it could be attained4 ,the actual results amply justified the reliance placed upon such experiments4 ,the design of many of her ,majesty's ships has been altered after trials with their models4 ,this was notably the case in connection with the design of the ,medway class of river gunboats4 ,the ,admiralty constructors at first determined to make them #aaj ft4 long1 by only #bf ft4 in breadth4 ,a doubt arising in their minds1 the matter was referred to the late ,mr4 ,froude1 who had models made of various breadths1 with which he experimented4 ,the results satisfied the ,admiralty officers that a substantial gain1 rather than a loss1 would follow from giving them much greater beam than had been proposed1 and this was amply verified in the actual ships4 ,so long ago as the last decade of last century1 an extended series of experiments with variously shaped bodies1 ships as well as other shapes1 were conducted by ,colonel ,beaufoy1 in ,greenland dock1 ,london1 under the auspices of a society instituted to improve naval architecture at that time4 ,robert ,fulton1 of ,america1 ,david ,napier1 of ,glasgow1 and other pioneers of the steamship1 are related to have carried out systematic model experiments1 although of a rude kind in modern eyes1 before entering on some of their ventures4 ,about #ahdj ,mr4 ,john ,scott ,russell carried on1 on behalf of the ,british ,association1 of which he was at that time one of its most distinguished members1 an elaborate series of investigations into the form of least resistance in vessels4 ,for this purpose he leased the ,virginia ,house and grounds1 a former residence of ,rodger ,stewart1 a famous ,greenock shipowner of the early part of the century1 the house being used as offices1 while in the grounds an experimental tank was erected4 ,in it tests were made of the speed and resistance of the various forms which ,mr4 ,russell's ingenuity evolved--notably those based on the well-known stream line theory--as possible types of the steam fleets of the future4 ,all the data derived from experiment was tabulated1 or shown graphically in the form of diagrams1 which1 doubtless1 proved of great interest to the savants of the ,british ,association of that day4 ,mr4 ,russell returned to ,london in #ahdd1 and the investigations were discontinued4 ,it will thus be seen that model experiments had been made by investigators long before the time of the late ,dr4 ,william ,froude1 of ,torquay4 ,it was not1 however1 until this gentleman took the subject of resistance of vessels in hand that designers were enabled to render the results from model trials accurately applicable to vessels of full size4 ,this was principally due to his enunciation and verification by experiment of what is now known as the law of comparison1 or the law by which one is enabled to refer accurately the resistance of a model to one of larger size1 or to that of a full sized vessel4 ,in effect1 the law is this--for vessels of the same proportional dimensions1 or1 as designers say1 of the same lines1 there are speeds appropriate to these vessels1 which vary as the square roots of the ratio of their dimensions1 and at these appropriate speeds the resistances will vary as the cubes of these dimensions4 ,the fundament upon which the law is based has recently been shown to have found expression in the works of ,f4 ,reech1 a distinguished ,french scientist who wrote early in the century4 ,there are no valid grounds for supposing that the discovery of ,reech was familiar to ,froude2 but even were this so1 it is abundantly evident that1 although never claimed by himself1 there are the best of grounds for claiming the law of comparison1 as now established1 to be an independent discovery of ,froude's4 ,dr4 ,froude began his investigations with ships' models at the experimental tank at ,torquay about #ahgb1 carrying it on uninterruptedly until his death in #ahgi4 ,since his decease1 the work of investigation has been carried on by his son1 ,mr4 ,r4 ,e4 ,froude1 who ably assisted his father1 and originated much of the existing apparatus4 ,at the beginning of #ahhf1 the whole experimental appliances and effects were removed from ,torquay to ,haslar1 near ,portsmouth1 where a large tank and more commodious offices have been constructed1 with a view to entering more extensively upon the work of experimental investigation4 ,the dimensions of the old tank were #bhj ft4 in length1 #cf ft4 in width1 and #aj ft4 in depth4 ,the new one is about #djj ft4 long1 #bj ft4 wide1 and #i ft4 deep4 ,the new establishment is more commodious and better equipped than the old1 and although the experiments are taken over a greater length1 the operators are enabled to turn out results with as great dispatch as in the ,torquay tank4 ,the adjacency of the new tank to the dockyard at ,portsmouth enables the ,admiralty authorities to make fuller and more frequent use of it than formerly4 ,since the value of the work carried on for the ,british government has become appreciated1 several experimental establishments of a similar character have been instituted in other countries4 ,the ,dutch government in #ahgd formed one at ,amsterdam which1 up till his death in #ahhc1 was under the superintendence of ,dr4 ,tideman1 whose labors in this direction were second only to those of the late ,dr4 ,froude4 ,in #ahgg the ,french naval authorities established an experimental tank in the dockyard at ,brest1 and the ,italian government have just completed one on an elaborate scale in the naval dockyard at ,spezia4 ,the ,spezia tank1 which is #ejj ft4 in length by about #bb ft4 in breadth1 is fully equipped with all the special and highly ingenious instruments and appliances which the scientific skill of the late ,dr4 ,froude brought into existence1 and have been since his day improved upon by his son1 ,mr4 ,r4 ,e4 ,froude1 and other experts4 ,through the courtesy of our own ,admiralty and of ,messrs4 ,denny1 of ,dumbarton1 the ,italians have been permitted to avail themselves of the latest improvements which experience has suggested1 and the construction of the special machinery and apparatus required has been executed by firms in this country having previous experience in this connection--,messrs4 ,kelso ,co41 of ,commerce ,street1 ,glasgow2 and ,mr4 ,robert ,w4 ,munro1 of ,london4 ,having briefly traced the origin and development of the system of model experiment1 it may now be of interest to describe the modus operandi of such experiments1 and explain the way in which they are made applicable to actual ships4 ,the models with which experiments are made in those establishments conducted on the lines instituted by ,mr4 ,froude are made of paraffin wax1 a material well adapted for the purpose1 being easily worked1 impervious to water1 and yielding a fine smooth surface4 ,moreover1 when done with1 the models may be remelted for further use and all parings utilized4 ,they are produced in the following manner3 ,a mould is formed in clay by means of cross sections made somewhat larger than is actually required1 this allowance being made to admit of the cutting and paring afterward required to bring the model to the correct point4 ,into this mould a core is placed1 consisting of a light wooden framework covered with calico and coated with a thick solution of clay to make it impervious to the melted paraffin4 ,this latter substance is run into the space between the core and the mould and allowed to cool4 ,this space1 forming the thickness of the model1 is usually from in4 for a model of #aj ft4 long to #a in4 and #a in4 for one of #af ft4 and #ah ft4 long4 ,when cold1 the model is floated out of the mould by water pressure and placed bottom upward on the bed of a shaping machine1 an ingenious piece of mechanism devised by the late ,dr4 ,froude1 to aid in reducing the rough casting to the accurate form4 ,the bed of this machine1 which travels automatically while the machine is in operation1 can be raised or lowered to any desired level by adjusting screws4 ,a plan of water lines of the vessel to be modeled is placed on a tablet geared to the machine1 the travel of which is a function of the travel of the bed containing the model4 ,with a pointer1 which is connected by a system of levers to the cutting tools1 the operator traces out the water lines upon the plan as the machine and its bed are in motion1 with the result that corresponding lines are cut upon the model4 ,the cutting tools are swiftly revolving knives which work on vertical spindles moved in a lateral direction 7brought near or removed from each other71 according to the varying breadth of the water lines throughout the length of the model1 as traced out by the operator's pointer4 ,in this way a series of longitudinal incisions are made on the model at different levels corresponding to the water lines of the vessel4 ,the model is now taken from the bed of the machine and the superfluous material or projection between the incisions is removed by means of a spokeshave or other sharp hand tool1 and the whole surface brought to the correct form1 and made fair and smooth4 ,to test accuracy of form1 the weight of model is carefully taken1 and the displacement at the intended trial draught accurately determined from the plan of lines4 ,the difference between the weight of model and the displacement at the draught intended is then put into the bottom of the model in the form of small bags of shot1 and by unique and very delicately constructed instruments for ascertaining the correct draught1 the smallest error can at once be detected and allowed for4 ,the models vary in size from about one-tenth to one-thirtieth of the size of the actual ship4 ,a model of the largest size can be produced and its resistance determined at a number of speeds in about two days or so4 ,the mode of procedure in arranging the model for the resistance experiment1 after the model is afloat in the tank at the correct draught and trim1 consists in attaching to it a skillfully devised dynamometric apparatus secured to a lightly constructed carriage4 ,this carriage traverses a railway which extends the whole length of the tank about #ae in4 or #ah in4 above the water4 ,the floating model is carefully guided in its passage through the water by a delicate device1 keeping it from deviating either to the right or left1 but at the same time allowing a free vertical and horizontal motion4 ,the carriage with the model attached is propelled by means of an endless steel wire rope1 passing at each end of the tank around a drum1 driven by a small stationary engine1 fitted with a very sensitive governor1 capable of being so adjusted that any required speed may be given to the carriage and model4 ,the resistance which the model encounters in its passage through the water is communicated to a spiral spring1 and the extension this spring undergoes is a measure of the model's resistance4 ,the amount of the extension is recorded on a revolving cylinder to a much enlarged scale through the medium of levers or bell cranks supported by steel knife edges resting on rocking pieces4 ,on the same cylinder are registered time and distance diagrams1 by means of which a correct measure of the speed is obtained4 ,the time diagram is recorded by means of a clock attached to an electric circuit1 making contact every half second1 and actuating a pen which forms an indent in what would otherwise be a straight line on the paper4 ,the distance pen1 by a similar arrangement1 traces another line on the cylinder in which are indents corresponding to fixed distances of travel along the tank1 the indents being caused by small projections which strike a trigger at the bottom of the carriage as it passes1 and make electric contact4 ,from these time and distance diagrams accurate account can be taken of the speed at which the model and its supporting carriage have been driven4 ,thus on the same cylinder is recorded graphically the speed and resistance of the model4 ,the carriage may be driven at any assigned speed by adjusting the governor of the driving engine already alluded to1 but the record of the speed by means of the time and distance diagrams is more definite4 ,when the resistances of the model have been obtained at several speeds1 varying in some cases from #ej to #a1jjj feet per minute1 the speeds are set off in suitable units along a base line1 and for every speed at which resistance is measured1 the resistance is set off to scale as an ordinate value at those speeds4 ,a line passing through these spots forms the curve of resistance1 from which the resistance experienced by the model at the given trial speeds or any intermediate speed can be ascertained4 ,the resistance being known1 the power required to overcome resistance and drive the actual ship at any given speed is easily deduced by applying the rule before described as the law of comparison4--,the ,steamship4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,ship ,,in ,,the ,,new ,,french ,,ballet ,,of ,,the ,,tempest4 ,a new ballet1 entitled the ,tempest1 by ,messrs4 ,barbier and ,thomas1 has recently been put upon the stage of the ,opera at ,paris with superb settings4 ,one of the most important of the several tableaux exhibited is the last one of the third act1 in which appears a vessel of unusual dimensions for the stage1 and which leaves far behind it the celebrated ships of the ,corsaire and ,l',africaine4 ,this vessel1 starting from the back of the stage1 advances majestically1 describes a wide circle1 and stops in front of the prompter's box4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #a4--,,ship ,,of ,,the ,,tempest1 ,,in ,,process ,,of ,,construction4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #b4--,,setting ,,of ,,the ,,scenery ,,before ,,and ,,after ,,the ,,appearance ,,of ,,the ,,ship4 ,as the structure of this vessel and the mechanism by which it is moved are a little out of the ordinary1 we shall give some details in regard to them4 ,first1 the sea is represented by four parallel strips of water1 each formed of a vertical wooden frame entirely free in its movements 7,fig4 #b74 ,the ship 7,figs4 #a1 #b1 #c1 #d and #e7 is carried by wheels that roll over the floor of the stage4 ,it is guided in its motion by two grooved bronze wheels and by a rail formed of a simple reversed ,t-iron which is fixed to the floor by bolts4 ,in measure as it advances1 the strips of water open in the center to allow it to pass1 and1 as the vessel itself is covered up to the water line with painted canvas imitating the sea1 it has the appearance of cleaving the waves4 ,as soon as it has passed1 the three strips of water in the rear rise slightly4 ,when the vessel reaches the first of the strips1 the three other strips1 at first juxtaposed against the preceding1 spread out and thus increase the extent of the sea1 while the inclined plane of the preceding tableau advances in order to make place for the vessel4 ,the shifting of this inclined place is effected by simply pulling upon the carpet that covers it1 and which enters a groove in the floor in front of the prompter's box4 ,at this moment1 the entire stage seems to be in motion1 and the effect is very striking4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #c4--,,ship ,,of ,,the ,,new ,,ballet1 ,,the ,,tempest4 ,we come now to the details of construction of the vessel4 ,it is not here a question of a ship represented simply by means of frames and accessories1 but of a true ship in its entirety1 performing its evolutions over the whole stage4 ,now1 a ship is not constructed at a theater as in reality4 ,it does not suffice to have it all entire upon the stage1 but it is necessary also to be able to dismount it after every representation1 and that1 too1 in a large number of pieces that can be easily stored away4 ,thus1 the vessel of the ,tempest1 which measures a dozen yards from stem to stern1 and is capable of carrying fifty persons1 comes apart in about #bej pieces of wood1 without counting all the iron work1 bolts1 etc4 ,nevertheless1 it can be mounted in less than two hours by ten skilled men4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #d4--,,the ,,ship ,,with ,,its ,,occupants4 ,the visible hull of the ship is placed upon a large and very strong wooden framework1 formed of twenty-six trusses4 ,in the center1 there are two longitudinal trusses about three feet in height by twenty-five in length1 upon which are assembled1 perpendicularly1 seven other trusses4 ,in the interior there are six transverse pieces held by stirrup bolts1 and at the extremity of each of these is fixed a thirteen-inch iron wheel4 ,it is upon these twelve wheels that the entire structure rolls4 ,there are in addition the two bronze guide wheels that we have already spoken of4 ,in the rear there are two large vertical trusses sixteen feet in height1 which are joined by ties and descend to the bottom of the frame1 to which they are bolted4 ,these are worked out into steps and constitute the skeleton of the immense stern of the vessel4 ,the skeleton of the prow is formed of a large vertical truss which is bolted to the front of the frame and is held within by a tie bar4 ,on each side of this truss are placed the parallels 7,figs4 #a and #c71 which are formed of pieces of wood that are set into the frame below and are provided above with grooves for the passage of iron rods that support the foot rests by means of which the supernumeraries are lifted4 ,as a whole1 those rods constitute a jointed parallelogram1 so that the foot rest always remains horizontal while describing a curve of five feet radius from the top of the frame to the deck of the vessel4 ,they are actuated by a cable which winds around a small windlass fixed in the interior of the frame4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #e4--,,the ,,ship ,,as ,,seen ,,from ,,the ,,stage4 ,the large mast consists of a vertical sheath #aj ft4 high1 which is set into the center of the frame1 and in the interior of which slides a wooden spar that exceeds it by #e ft4 at first1 and is capable of being drawn out as many more feet for the final apotheosis4 ,this part of the mast carries three footboards and a platform for the reception of supers4 ,it is actuated by a windlass placed upon the frame4 ,to form the skeleton of the vessel there are mounted upon the frame a series of eight large vertical trusses parallel with each other and cross-braced by small trusses4 ,the upper part of these supports the flooring of the deck1 and their exterior portion affects the curve of a ship's sides4 ,it is to these trusses that are attached the panels covered with painted canvas that represent the hull4 ,these panels are nine in number on each side4 ,above are placed those that simulate the nettings and those that cover the prow or form its crest4 ,the turret that surrounds the large mast is formed of vertical trusses provided with panels of painted canvas and carrying a floor for the figurants to stand upon4 ,the bowsprit is in two parts1 one sliding in the other4 ,the front portion is at first pulled back1 in order to hide the vessel entirely in the side scenes4 ,it begins to make its appearance before the vessel itself gets under way4 ,light silken cordages connect the mast1 the bowsprit1 and the small mast at the stern4 ,on each side of the vessel1 there are bolted to the frame that supports it five iron frames covered with canvas 7,fig4 #c71 which reach the level of the water line1 and upon which stand the supers representing the naiads that are supposed to draw the ship upon the beach4 ,finally at the bow there is fixed a frame which supports a danseuse representing the living prow of the vessel4 ,the vessel is drawn to the middle of the stage by a cable attached to its right side and passing around a windlass placed in the side scenes to the left 7,fig4 #b74 ,it is at the same time pushed by machinists placed in the interior of the framework4 ,the latter1 as above stated1 is entirely covered with painted canvas resembling water4 ,as the vessel1 freighted with harmoniously grouped spirits1 and with naiads1 sea fairies1 and graceful genii seeming to swim around it1 sails in upon the stage1 puts about1 and advances as if carried along by the waves to the front of the stage1 the effect is really beautiful1 and does great credit to the machinists of the ,opera4 ,we are indebted to ,le ,genie ,civil and ,le ,monde ,illustr for the description and engravings4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,girard ,,hydraulic ,,railway4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #a4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #b4 ,we give herewith some illustrations of this railway which has recently excited so much technical interest in ,europe and ,america1 and which threatens to revolutionize both the method and velocity of traveling1 if only the initial expense of laying the line can be brought within moderate limits4 ,a short line of railway has been laid in ,paris1 and we have there examined it1 and traveled over the line more than once2 so that we can testify to the smoothness and ease of the motion4 ,sir ,edward ,watkin examined the railway recently1 and we understand that a line two miles long is to be laid in ,london1 under his auspices4 ,he seems to think it might be used for the ,channel tunnel1 being both smokeless and noiseless4 ,it might also1 if it could be laid at a sufficiently low price1 be useful for the underground railways in ,london1 of one of which he is chairman4 ,we are favorably impressed by the experiments we have witnessed2 our misgivings are as to the cost4 ,the railway is the invention of the well known hydraulic engineer1 ,monsieur ,girard1 who1 as early as #aheb1 endeavored to replace the ordinary steam traction on railways by hydraulic propulsion1 and in #ahed sought to diminish the resistance to the movement of the wagons by removing the wheels1 and causing them to slide on broad rails4 ,in order to test the invention1 ,mons4 ,girard demanded1 and at the end of #ahfi obtained1 a concession for a short line from ,paris to ,argenteuil1 starting in front of the ,palais de l',industrie1 passing by ,le ,champ de ,courses de ,longchamps1 and crossing the ,seine at ,suresnes4 ,unfortunately1 the war of #ahgj-ga intervened1 during which the works were destroyed and ,mons4 ,girard was killed4 ,after his death the invention was neglected for some years4 ,a short time ago1 however1 one of his former colleagues1 ,mons4 ,barre1 purchased the plans and drawings of ,mons4 ,girard from his family1 and having developed the invention1 and taken out new patents1 formed a company to work them4 ,the invention may be divided into two parts1 which are distinct1 the first relating to the mode of supporting the carriages and the second to their propulsion4 ,each carriage is carried by four or six shoes1 shown in ,figs4 #c1 #d1 and #e2 and these shoes slide on a broad1 flat rail1 #h in4 or #aj in4 wide4 ,the rail and shoe are shown in section in ,fig4 #a4 ,the rail is bolted to longitudinal wooden sleepers1 and the shoe is held on the rail by four pieces of metal1 ,a1 two on each side1 which project slightly below the top of the rail4 ,the bottom of the shoe which is in contact with the rail is grooved or channeled1 so as to hold the water and keep a film between each shoe and the rail4 ,the carriage is supported by vertical rods1 which fit one into each shoe1 a hole being formed for that purpose2 and the point of support being very low1 and quite close to the rail1 great stability is insured4 ,it is proposed to make the rail of the form shown in ,fig4 #b in future1 as this will avoid the plates1 ,a1 and the flanges1 ,b1 will help to keep the water on the rail4 ,figs4 #c1 #d1 and #e show the shoe in detail4 ,fig4 #c gives a longitudinal section1 ,fig4 #d is a plan1 and ,fig4 #e is a plan of the shoe inverted1 showing the grooves in its face4 ,fig4 #c shows the hollow shoe1 into which water at a pressure of ten atmospheres is forced by a pipe from a tank on the tender4 ,the water enters by the pipe1 ,c1 and fills the whole of the chamber1 ,d4 ,the water attempts to escape1 and in doing so lifts the shoe slightly1 thus filling the first groove of the chamber4 ,the pressure again lifts the shoe1 and the second chamber is filled2 and so on1 until ultimately the water escapes at the ends1 ,e1 and sides1 ,f4 ,thus a film of water is kept between the shoe and the rail1 and on this film the carriage is said to float4 ,the water runs away into the channels1 ,h ,h 7,fig4 #f71 and is collected to be used over again4 ,fig4 #c also shows the means of supporting the carriage on the shoe by means of ,k1 the point of support being very low4 ,the system of grooves on the lower face of the shoe is shown in ,fig4 #e4 ,so much for the means by which wheels are dispensed with1 and the carriage enabled to slide along the line4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #c4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #d4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #e4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #f4 ,the next point is the method of propulsion4 ,figs4 #g and #h give an elevation and plan of one of the experimental carriages4 ,along the under side of each of the carriages a straight turbine1 ,l ,l1 extends the whole length1 and water at high pressure impinges on the blades of this turbine from a jet1 ,m1 and by this means the carriage is moved along4 ,a parabolic guide1 which can be moved in and out of gear by a lever1 is placed under the tender1 and this on passing strikes the tappet1 ,s1 and opens the valve which discharges the water from the jet1 ,m1 and this process is repeated every few yards along the whole line4 ,the jets1 ,m1 must be placed at such a distance apart that at least one will be able to operate on the shortest train that can be used4 ,in this turbine there are two sets of blades1 one above the other1 placed with their concave sides in opposite directions1 so that one set is used for propelling in one direction and the other in the opposite direction4 ,in ,fig4 #f it is seen that the jet1 ,m1 for one direction is just high enough to act against the blades1 ,q1 while the other jet is higher1 and acts on the blades1 ,p1 for propulsion in the opposite direction4 ,the valves1 ,r1 which are opened by the tappet1 ,s1 are of peculiar construction1 and we hope soon to be able to give details of them4 ,reservoirs 7,fig4 #f7 holding water at high pressure must be placed at intervals1 and the pipe1 ,t1 carrying high pressure water must run the whole length of the line4 ,fig4 #f shows a cross section of the rail and carriage1 and gives a good idea of the general arrangements4 ,the absence of wheels and of greasing and lubricating arrangements will alone effect a very great saving1 as we are informed that on the ,lyons ,railway1 which is #hjj kilometers long1 the cost of oil and grease exceeds #djj1jjj per annum4 ,as ,sir ,edward ,watkin recently explained1 all the great railway companies have long tried to find a substitute for wheels1 and this railway appears to offer a solution of that problem4 ,mons4 ,barre thinks that a speed of #bjj kilometers 7or #abj miles7 per hour may be easily and safely attained4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #g4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #h4 ,of course1 as there is no heavy locomotive1 and as the traction does not depend upon pressure on the rail1 the road may be made comparatively light4 ,the force required to move a wagon along the road is very small1 ,mons4 ,barre stating1 as the result of his experiments1 that an effort amounting to less than half a kilogramme is sufficient to move one ton when suspended on a film of water with his improved shoes4 ,it is recommended that the stations be placed at the summit of a double incline1 so that on going up one side of the incline the motion of the train may be arrested1 and on starting it may be assisted4 ,no brakes are required1 as the friction of the shoe against the rail1 when the water under pressure is not being forced through1 is found to be quite sufficient to bring the train to a standstill in a very short distance4 ,the same water is run into troughs by the side of the line1 and can be used over and over again indefinitely1 and in the case of long journeys1 the water required for the tender could be taken up while the train is running4 ,the principal advantages claimed for the railway are3 ,the absence of vibration and of side rolling motion2 the pleasure of traveling is comparable to that of sleighing over a surface of ice1 there is no noise1 and what is important in town railways1 no smoke2 no dust is caused by the motion of the train during the journey4 ,it is not easy for the carriages to be thrown from the rails1 since any body getting on the rail is easily thrown off by the shoe1 and will not be liable to get underneath1 as is the case with wheels2 the train can be stopped almost instantly1 very smoothly1 and without shock4 ,very high speed can be attained2 with water at a pressure of #aj kilogrammes1 a speed of #adj kilometers per hour can be attained2 great facility in climbing up inclines and turning round the curves2 as fixed engines are employed to obtain the pressure1 there is great economy in the use of coal and construction of boilers1 and there is a total absence of the expense of lubrication4 ,it is1 however1 difficult to see how the railway is to work during a long and severe frost4 ,we hope to give further illustrations at an early date of this remarkable invention4--,industries4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,quartz ,,fibers4#a ,footnote #a3 ,lecture delivered at the ,royal ,institution1 on ,friday1 ,june #ad1 by ,mr4 ,c4 ,v4 ,boys1 ,f4,r4,s4--,nature4 ,in almost all investigations which the physicist carries out in the laboratory1 he has to deal with and to measure with accuracy those subtile and to our senses inappreciable forces to which the so-called laws of nature give rise4 ,whether he is observing by an electrometer the behavior of electricity at rest or by a galvanometer the action of electricity in motion1 whether in the tube of ,crookes he is investigating the power of radiant matter1 or with the famous experiment of ,cavendish he is finding the mass of the earth--in these and in a host of other cases he is bound to measure with certainty and accuracy forces so small that in no ordinary way could their existence be detected1 while disturbing causes which might seem to be of no particular consequence must be eliminated if his experiments are to have any value4 ,it is not too much to say that the very existence of the physicist depends upon the power which he possesses of producing at will and by artificial means forces against which he balances those that he wishes to measure4 ,i had better perhaps at once indicate in a general way the magnitude of the forces with which we have to deal4 ,the weight of a single grain is not to our senses appreciable1 while the weight of a ton is sufficient to crush the life out of any one in a moment4 ,a ton is about #ae1jjj1jjj grains4 ,it is quite possible to measure with unfailing accuracy forces which bear the same relation to the weight of a grain that a grain bears to a ton4 ,to show how the torsion of wires or threads is made use of in measuring forces1 ,i have arranged what ,i can hardly dignify by the name of an experiment4 ,it is simply a straw hung horizontally by a piece of wire4 ,resting on the straw is a fragment of sheet iron weighing ten grains4 ,a magnet so weak that it cannot lift the iron yet is able to pull the straw round through an angle so great that the existence of the feeble attraction is evident to every one in the room4 ,now it is clear that if1 instead of a straw moving over the table simply1 we had here an arm in a glass case and a mirror to read the motion of the arm1 it would be easy to observe a movement a hundred or a thousand times less than that just produced1 and therefore to measure a force a hundred or a thousand times less than that exerted by this feeble magnet4 ,again1 if instead of wire as thick as an ordinary pin ,i had used the finest wire that can be obtained1 it would have opposed the movement of the straw with a far less force4 ,it is possible to obtain wire ten times finer than this stubborn material1 but wire ten times finer is much more than ten times more easily twisted4 ,it is ten thousand times more easily twisted4 ,this is because the torsion varies as the fourth power of the diameter4 ,so we say #aj #aj #ajj1 #ajj #ajj #aj1jjj4 ,therefore1 with the finest wire1 forces #aj1jjj times feebler still could be observed4 ,it is therefore evident how great is the advantage of reducing the size of a torsion wire4 ,even if it is only halved1 the torsion is reduced sixteenfold4 ,to give a better idea of the actual sizes of such wires and fibers as are in use1 ,i shall show upon the screen a series of such photographs taken by ,mr4 ,chapman1 on each of which a scale of thousandths of an inch has been printed4 ,illustration3 ,scale of #ajjjths of an inch for ,figs4 #a to #g4 ,the scale of ,figs4 #h and #i is much finer4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #a4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #b4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #c4 ,the first photograph 7,fig4 #a7 is an ordinary hair--a sufficiently familiar object1 and one that is generally spoken of as if it were rather fine4 ,much finer than this is the specimen of copper wire now on the screen 7,fig4 #b71 which ,i recently obtained from ,messrs4 ,nalder ,brothers4 ,it is only a little over one-thousandth of an inch in diameter4 ,ordinary spun glass1 a most beautiful material1 is about one-thousandth of an inch in diameter1 and this would appear to be an ideal torsion thread 7,fig4 #c74 ,owing to its fineness1 its torsion would be extremely small1 and the more so because glass is more easily deformed than metals4 ,owing to its very great strength1 it can carry heavier loads than would be expected of it4 ,i imagine many physicists must have turned to this material in their endeavor to find a really delicate torsion thread4 ,i have so turned only to be disappointed4 ,it has every good quality but one1 and that is its imperfect elasticity4 ,for instance1 a mirror hung by a piece of spun glass is casting an image of a spot of light on the scale4 ,if ,i turn the mirror1 by means of a fork1 twice to the right1 and then turn it back again1 the light does not come back to its old point of rest1 but oscillates about a point on one side1 which1 however1 is slowly changing1 so that it is impossible to say what the point of rest really is4 ,further1 if the glass is twisted one way first and then the other way1 the point of rest moves in a manner which shows that it is not influenced by the last deflection alone3 the glass remembers what was done to it previously4 ,for this reason spun glass is quite unsuitable as a torsion thread2 it is impossible to say what the twist is at any time1 and therefore what is the force developed4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #d4 ,so great has the difficulty been in finding a fine torsion thread that the attempt has been given up1 and in all the most exact instruments silk has been used4 ,the natural cocoon fibers1 as shown on the screen 7,fig4 #d71 consist of two irregular lines gummed together1 each about one two-thousandth of an inch in diameter4 ,these fibers must be separated from one another and washed4 ,then each component will1 according to the experiment of ,gray1 carry nearly #fj grains before breaking1 and can be safely loaded with #ae grains4 ,silk is therefore very strong1 carrying at the rate of from #aj to #bj tons to the square inch4 ,it is further valuable in that its torsion is far less than that of a fiber of the same size of metal or even of glass1 if such could be produced4 ,the torsion of silk1 though exceedingly small1 is quite sufficient to upset the working of any delicate instrument1 because it is never constant4 ,at one time the fiber twists one way and another time in another1 and the evil effect can only be mitigated by using large apparatus in which strong forces are developed4 ,any attempt that may be made to increase the delicacy of apparatus by reducing their dimensions is at once prevented by the relatively great importance of the vagaries of the silk suspension4 ,the result1 then1 is this4 ,the smallness1 the length of period1 and therefore delicacy1 of the instruments at the physicist's disposal have until lately been simply limited by the behavior of silk4 ,a more perfect suspension means still more perfect instruments1 and therefore advance in knowledge4 ,it was in this way that some improvements that ,i was making in an instrument for measuring radiant heat came to a deadlock about two years ago4 ,i would not use silk1 and ,i could not find anything else that would do4 ,spun glass1 even1 was far too coarse for my purpose1 it was a thousand times too stiff4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #e4 ,there is a material invented by ,wollaston long ago1 which1 however1 ,i did not try because it is so easily broken4 ,it is platinum wire which has been drawn in silver1 and finally separated by the action of nitric acid4 ,a specimen about the size of a single line of silk is now on the screen1 showing the silver coating at one end 7,fig4 #e74 ,as nothing that ,i knew of could be obtained that would be of use to me1 ,i was driven to the necessity of trying by experiment to find some new material4 ,the result of these experiments was the development of a process of almost ridiculous simplicity which it may be of interest for me to show4 ,the apparatus consists of a small crossbow1 and an arrow made of straw with a needle point4 ,to the tail of the arrow is attached a fine rod of quartz which has been melted and drawn out in the oxyhydrogen jet4 ,i have a piece of the same material in my hand1 and now after melting their ends and joining them together1 an operation which produces a beautiful and dazzling light1 all ,i have to do is to liberate the string of the bow by pulling the trigger with one foot1 and then if all is well a fiber will have been drawn by the arrow1 the existence of which can be made evident by fastening to it a piece of stamp paper4 ,in this way threads can be produced of great length1 of almost any degree of fineness1 of extraordinary uniformity1 and of enormous strength4 ,i do not believe1 if any experimentalist had been promised by a good fairy that he might have anything he desired1 that he would have ventured to ask for any one thing with so many valuable properties as these fibers possess4 ,i hope in the course of this evening to show that ,i am not exaggerating their merits4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #f4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #g4 ,in the first place1 let me say something about the degree of fineness to which they can be drawn4 ,there is now projected upon the screen a quartz fiber one five-thousandth of an inch in diameter 7,fig4 #f74 ,this is one which ,i had in constant use in an instrument loaded with about #cj grains4 ,it has a section only one-sixth of that of a single line of silk1 and it is just as strong4 ,not being organic1 it is in no way affected by changes of moisture and temperature1 and so it is free from the vagaries of silk which give so much trouble4 ,the piece used in the instrument was about #af inches long4 ,had it been necessary to employ spun glass1 which hitherto was the finest torsion material1 then1 instead of #af inches1 ,i should have required a piece #a1jjj feet long1 and an instrument as high as the ,eiffel tower to put it in4 ,there is no difficulty in obtaining pieces as fine as this yards long if required1 or in spinning it very much finer4 ,there is upon the screen a single line made by the small garden spider1 and the size of this is perfectly evident 7,fig4 #g74 ,you now see a quartz fiber far finer than this1 or1 rather1 you see a diffraction phenomenon1 for no true image is formed at all2 but even this is a conspicuous object in comparison with the tapering ends1 which it is absolutely impossible to trace in a microscope4 ,the next two photographs1 taken by ,mr4 ,nelson1 whose skill and resources are so famous1 represent the extreme end of a tail of quartz1 and1 though the scale is a great deal larger than that used in the other photographs1 the end will be visible only to a few4 ,mr4 ,nelson has photographed here what it is absolutely impossible to see4 ,what the size of these ends may be1 ,i have no means of telling4 ,dr4 ,royston ,piggott has estimated some of them at less than one-millionth of an inch1 but1 whatever they are1 they supply for the first time objects of extreme smallness the form of which is certainly known1 and1 therefore1 ,i cannot help looking upon them as more satisfactory tests for the microscope than diatoms and other things of the real shape of which we know nothing whatever4 ,since figures as large as a million cannot be realized properly1 it may be worth while to give an illustration of what is meant by a fiber one-millionth of an inch in diameter4 ,a piece of quartz an inch long and an inch in diameter would1 if drawn out to this degree of fineness1 be sufficient to go all the way round the world #feh times2 or a grain of sand just visible--that is1 one-hundredth of an inch long and one hundredth of an inch in diameter--would make one thousand miles of such thread4 ,further1 the pressure inside such a thread due to a surface tension equal to that of water would be #fj atmospheres4 ,going back to such threads as can be used in instruments1 ,i have made use of fibers one ten-thousandth of an inch in diameter1 and in these the torsion is #aj1jjj times less than that of spun glass4 ,as these fibers are made finer their strength increases in proportion to their size1 and surpasses that of ordinary bar steel1 reaching1 to use the language of engineers1 as high a figure as #hj tons to the inch4 ,fibers of ordinary size have a strength of #ej tons to the inch4 ,while it is evident that these fibers give us the means of producing an exceedingly small torsion1 and one that is not affected by weather1 it is not yet evident that they may not show the same fatigue that makes spun glass useless4 ,i have1 therefore1 a duplicate apparatus with a quartz fiber1 and you will see that the spot of light comes back to its true place on the screen after the mirror has been twisted round twice4 ,i shall now for a moment draw your attention to that peculiar property of melted quartz that makes threads such as ,i have been describing a possibility4 ,a liquid cylinder1 as ,plateau has so beautifully shown1 is an unstable form4 ,it can no more exist than can a pencil stand on its point4 ,it immediately breaks up into a series of spheres4 ,this is well illustrated in that very ancient experiment of shooting threads of resin electrically4 ,when the resin is hot1 the liquid cylinders1 which are projected in all directions1 break up into spheres1 as you see now upon the screen4 ,as the resin cools1 they begin to develop tails2 and when it is cool enough1 i4e41 sufficiently viscous1 the tails thicken and the beads become less1 and at last uniform threads are the result4 ,the series of photographs show this well4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #h4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #i4 ,there is a far more perfect illustration which we have only to go into the garden to find4 ,there we may see in abundance what is now upon the screen--the webs of those beautiful geometrical spiders4 ,the radial threads are smooth like the one you saw a few minutes ago1 but the threads that go round and round are beaded4 ,the spider draws these webs slowly1 and at the same time pours upon them a liquid1 and still further to obtain the effect of launching a liquid cylinder in space he1 or rather she1 pulls it out like the string of a bow1 and lets it go with a jerk4 ,the liquid cylinder cannot exist1 and the result is what you now see upon the screen 7,fig4 #h74 ,a more perfect illustration of the regular breaking up of a liquid cylinder it would be impossible to find4 ,the beads are1 as ,plateau showed they ought to be1 alternately large and small1 and their regularity is marvelous4 ,sometimes two still smaller beads are developed1 as may be seen in the second photograph1 thus completely agreeing with the results of ,plateau's investigations4 ,i have heard it maintained that the spider goes round her web and places these beads there afterward4 ,but since a web with about #cfj1jjj beads is completed in an hour--that is at the rate of about #ajj a second--this does not seem likely4 ,that what ,i have said is true1 is made more probable by the photograph of a beaded web that ,i have made myself by simply stroking a quartz fiber with a straw wetted with castor oil 7,fig4 #i72 it is rather larger than a spider line2 but ,i have made beaded threads1 using a fine fiber1 quite indistinguishable from a real spider web1 and they have the further similarity that they are just as good for catching flies4 ,now1 going back to the melted quartz1 it is evident that if it ever became perfectly liquid1 it could not exist as a fiber for an instant4 ,it is the extreme viscosity of quartz1 at the heat even of an electric arc1 that makes these fibers possible4 ,the only difference between quartz in the oxyhydrogen jet and quartz in the arc is that in the first you make threads and in the second are blown bubbles4 ,i have in my hand some microscopic bubbles of quartz showing all the perfection of form and color that we are familiar with in the soap bubble4 ,an invaluable property of quartz is its power of insulating perfectly1 even in an atmosphere saturated with water4 ,the gold leaves now diverging were charged some time before the lecture1 and hardly show any change1 yet the insulator is a rod of quartz only three-quarters of an inch long1 and the air is kept moist by a dish of water4 ,the quartz may even be dipped in the water and replaced with the water upon it without any difference in the insulation being observed4 ,not only can fibers be made of extreme fineness1 but they are wonderfully uniform in diameter4 ,so uniform are they that they perfectly stand an optical test so severe that irregularities invisible in any microscope would immediately be made apparent4 ,every one must have noticed when the sun is shining upon a border of flowers and shrubs how the lines which spiders use as railways to travel from place to place glisten with brilliant colors4 ,these colors are only produced when the fibers are sufficiently fine4 ,if you take one of these webs and examine it in the sunlight1 you will find that the colors are variegated1 and the effect1 consequently1 is one of great beauty4 ,a quartz fiber of about the same size shows colors in the same way1 but the tint is perfectly uniform on the fiber4 ,if the color of the fiber is examined with a prism1 the spectrum is found to consist of alternate bright and dark bands4 ,upon the screen are photographs taken by ,mr4 ,briscoe1 a student in the laboratory at ,south ,kensington1 of the spectra of some of these fibers at different angles of incidence4 ,it will be seen that coarse fibers have more bands than fine1 and that the number increases with the angle of incidence of the light4 ,there are peculiarities in the march of the bands as the angle increases which ,i cannot describe now4 ,i may only say that they appear to move not uniformly1 but in waves1 presenting very much the appearance of a caterpillar walking4 ,so uniform are the quartz fibers that the spectrum from end to end consists of parallel bands4 ,occasionally a fiber is found which presents a slight irregularity here and there4 ,a spider line is so irregular that these bands are hardly observable2 but1 as the photograph on the screen shows1 it is possible to trace them running up and down the spectrum when you know what to look for4 ,to show that these longitudinal bands are due to the irregularities1 ,i have drawn a taper piece of quartz by hand1 in which the two edges make with one another an almost imperceptible angle1 and the spectrum of this shows the gradual change of diameter by the very steep angle at which the bands run up the spectrum4 ,into the theory of the development of these bands ,i am unable to enter2 that is a subject on which your professor of natural philosophy is best able to speak4 ,perhaps ,i may venture to express the hope1 as the experimental investigation of this subject is now rendered possible1 that he may be induced to carry out a research for which he is so eminently fitted4 ,though this is a subject which is altogether beyond me1 ,i have been able to use the results in a practical way4 ,when it is required to place into an instrument a fiber of any particular size1 all that has to be done is to hold the frame of fibers toward a bright and distant light1 and look at them through a low-angled prism4 ,the banded spectra are then visible1 and it is the work of a moment to pick out one with the number of bands that has been found to be given by a fiber of the desired size4 ,a coarse fiber may have a dozen or more1 while such fibers as ,i find most useful have only two dark bands4 ,much finer ones exist1 showing the colors of the first order with one dark band2 and fibers so fine as to correspond to the white or even the gray of ,newton's scale are easily produced4 ,passing now from the most scientific test of the uniformity of these fibers1 ,i shall next refer to one more homely4 ,it is simply this3 ,the common garden spider1 except when very young1 cannot climb up one of the same size as the web on which she displays such activity4 ,she is perfectly helpless1 and slips down with a run4 ,after vainly trying to make any headway1 she finally puts her hands 7or feet7 into her mouth and then tries again1 with no better success4 ,i may mention that a male of the same species is able to run up one of these with the greatest ease1 a feat which may perhaps save the lives of a few of these unprotected creatures when quartz fibers are more common4 ,it is possible to make any quantity of very fine quartz fiber without a bow and arrow at all1 by simply drawing out a rod of quartz over and over again in a strong oxyhydrogen jet4 ,then1 if a stand of any sort has been placed a few feet in front of the jet1 it will be found covered with a maze of thread1 of which the photograph on the screen represents a sample4 ,this is hardly distinguishable from the web spun by this magnificent spider in corners of greenhouses and such places4 ,by regulating the jet and the manipulation1 anything from one of these stranded cables to a single ultro-microscope line may be developed4 ,and now that ,i have explained that these fibers have such valuable properties1 it will no doubt be expected that ,i should perform some feat with their aid which1 up to the present time1 has been considered impossible1 and this ,i intend to do4 ,of all experiments1 the one which has most excited my admiration is the famous experiment of ,cavendish1 of which ,i have a full size model before you4 ,the object of this experiment is to weigh the earth by comparing directly the force with which it attracts things with that due to large masses of lead4 ,as is shown by the model1 any attraction which these large balls exert on the small ones will tend to deflect this #f ft4 beam in one direction1 and then if the balls are reversed in position1 the deflection will be in the other direction4 ,now1 when it is considered how enormously greater the earth is than these balls1 it will be evident that the attraction due to them must be in comparison excessively small4 ,to make this evident1 the enormous apparatus you see had to be constructed1 and then1 using a fine torsion wire1 a perfectly certain but small effect was produced4 ,the experiment1 however1 could only be successfully carried out in cellars and underground places1 because changes of temperature produced effects greater than those due to gravity4#b ,footnote #b3 ,dr4 ,lodge has been able1 by an elaborate arrangement of screens1 to make this attraction just evident to an audience4--,c4 ,v4 ,b4 ,now ,i have in a hole in the wall an instrument no bigger than a galvanometer1 of which a model is on the table4 ,the balls of the ,cavendish apparatus1 weighing several hundredweight each1 are replaced by balls weighing #a pounds only4 ,the smaller balls of #a pounds are replaced by little weights of #ae grains each4 ,the #f foot beam is replaced by one that will swing round freely in a tube three-quarters of an inch in diameter4 ,the beam is1 of course1 suspended by a quartz fiber4 ,with this microscopic apparatus1 not only is the very feeble attraction observable1 but ,i can actually obtain an effect eighteen times as great as that given by the apparatus of ,cavendish1 and what is more important1 the accuracy of observation is enormously increased4 ,the light from a lamp passes through a telescope lens1 and falls on the mirror of the instrument4 ,it is reflected back to the table1 and thence by a fixed mirror to the scale on the wall1 where it comes to a focus4 ,if the mirror on the table were plane1 the whole movement of the light would be only about eight inches1 but the mirror is convex1 and this magnifies the motion nearly eight times4 ,at the present moment the attracting weights are in one extreme position1 and the line of light is quiet4 ,i will now move them to the other position1 and you will see the result--the light slowly begins to move1 and slowly increases in movement4 ,in forty seconds it will have acquired its highest velocity1 and in forty more it will have stopped at #e feet #h inches from the starting point1 after which it will slowly move back again1 oscillating about its new position of rest4 ,it is not possible at this hour to enter into any calculations2 ,i will only say that the motion you have seen is the effect of a force of less than one ten-millionth of the weight of a grain1 and that with this apparatus ,i can detect a force two thousand times smaller still4 ,there would be no difficulty even in showing the attraction between two ,no4 #e shot4 ,and now1 in conclusion1 ,i would only say that if there is anything that is good in the experiments to which ,i have this evening directed your attention1 experiments conducted largely with sticks1 and string1 and straw and sealing wax1 ,i may perhaps be pardoned if ,i express my conviction that in these days we are too apt to depart from the simple ways of our fathers1 and instead of following them1 to fall down and worship the brazen image which the instrument maker hath set up4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,nature1 ,,composition1 ,,and ,,treatment ,,of ,,animal ,,and ,,vegetable ,,fabrics4 ,the inseparable duties of studying the composition of the various animal and vegetable fabrics1 as also their nature--when in contact with the various mineral1 vegetable1 animal1 and gaseous bodies applied in the individual industries--should not devolve upon the heads1 chemists1 or managers of firms alone4 ,it is most important that every intelligent workman1 whom we cannot expect to acquire a very extensive knowledge of chemistry and perfect acquaintance of the particular nature and component parts of fabrics1 should1 at least1 be able to thwart the possibility of the majority of accidents brought about in regard to the quality and aspect of materials treated by them4 ,in the treatment of wool the first operations are of no mean importance1 and the whole subsequent operations and final results1 almost as a whole1 depend on the manner in which the fleece washing had been effected4 ,in presence of suintine1 as also fatty matters1 as well as the countless kinds of acids deposited on the wool through exudation from the body1 etc41 the various agents and materials cannot act and deposit as evenly as might be desired1 and the complete obliteration of the former1 therefore1 becomes an absolute necessity4 ,for vegetable fabrics a great technical and practical knowledge is already requisite in their cultivation itself1 and before any operations are necessary at all4 ,one of the greatest points is the ripeness of the fibers4 ,it is almost an impossibility to produce delicate colors on vegetable fabrics which were gathered inopportunely4 ,numerous experiments have been made on cotton containing smaller or larger quantities of unripe fibers1 and after the necessary preceding operations1 have been dyed in rose1 purple1 and blue colors1 and the beauty of the shades invariably differed in proportion to the greater or lesser quantities of unripe fibers contained in the samples1 and by a careless admixture of unripe and unseasoned fibers the most brilliant colors have been completely spoiled in the presence of the former4 ,these deficiencies of unripe vegetable fibers are so serious that the utmost precautions should be taken1 not only by planters to gather the fibers in a ripe state1 but the natural aspect of ripe and unripe fibers and their respective differences should be known to the operators of the individual branches in the cotton industry themselves4 ,the newest vegetable fabrics1 as ma 7,china grass71 pina1 abaca1 or ,manila hemp1 agave1 jute1 and that obtained from the palm tree1 must be tended with equal care to that of cotton4 ,the ma1 or ,china grass1 is obtained from the ,boehmeria nivea1 as also from the less known ,boehmeria puya4 ,the fibers of this stalk1 after preparing and bleaching1 have the whiteness of snow and the brilliancy of silk4 ,by a special process--the description of which we must for the present leave in abeyance--the ,china grass can be transformed into a material greatly resembling the finest quality of wool4 ,the greatest advantage afforded in the application of ,china grass is1 moreover1 that the tissues produced with this fiber are much more easily washed than silks1 and in this operation they lose none of their beauty or their quality4 ,the abaca is produced from the fibrous parts of the bark of the wild banana tree1 found in the ,philippines4 ,its botanical denomination is ,musa troglodytarum4 ,the abaca fiber is not spun or wrung1 but is jointed end to end4 ,the threads are wound and subsequently beaten for softening1 and finally bleached by plunging in lime water for twenty-four hours1 and dried in the sun4 ,the pina is a fiber obtained from the leaf of the anana tree 7,bromelias ananas71 and is prepared in the same way as the abaca1 but extreme care must in this case be observed in culling the fibers1 in order to sort in accordance with their degree of fineness4 ,the ,arabs manufacture the stuff for their tents with a mixture of camel's hair and the fibrous flocks 7kind of wadding7 obtained from the stalks of the wafer palm 7the ,chamrops humilis74 ,the tissues used by the ,arabs are coarse and colored1 but the palm fibers--when freed from gluten1 which makes them adhere more strongly--are susceptible to divide in a most astonishing manner4 ,the ,agave americana is a coarse fiber1 mostly used in ,france for the manufacture of ,gobelin carpets and the production of ropes4 ,great efforts have been made to bleach it in a satisfactory manner1 as is done with the ,phormium tenax1 but the former kind of fiber resists the ordinary treatment with lyes1 etc41 and an appropriate bleaching process has only been discovered quite recently4 ,jute1 which by many is confounded with ,phormium tenax1 or ,new ,zealand lint1 is a fiber which can be divided as finely as desired1 and can be most beautifully bleached4 ,the jute or ,indian paat is generally known as a fibrous and textile fabric1 obtained chiefly from ,calcutta1 and is similar in nature to the ,corchorus capsularis1 an ,oriental species1 known in ,oriental ,india by the name of hatta jute and gheenatlapaat4 ,this fibrous plant has the property of dividing into the finest parallel fibers1 which can be carded without difficulty1 and may be said to have the excellent properties of linen1 hemp1 and cotton at once4 ,when properly bleached1 it has an aspect which is as beautiful as that of silk4 ,a mixture of silk and jute can be easily worked together1 and can also be mixed with such vegetable fibers as cotton and linen4 ,an immense quantity of flannel and other stuffs are now manufactured and imitated with the different mixtures containing jute4 ,the suun is a fiber of a plant in the form of a cane 7,crotalaria juncea71 and the paat or suncheepaat is the thread of a species of spiral 7,corchorus olitarius71 sold under the name of jute tissues4 ,the cotton tissues lose about twenty-five per cent4 of their weight in bleaching1 five per cent4 of the substances are dissolved through alkalies1 and the other twenty per cent41 which are not attacked directly through the alkalies1 are removed through chlorine1 acids1 and the water itself4 ,the linen and hemp tissues contain eighteen per cent4 of substances which are soluble in alkalies1 and they lose from twenty-seven to thirty per cent4 of their weight when taken through the consecutive bleaching operations4 ,the substances do not alone include the substances contained in the fabric originally1 but also such as are deposited in the preliminary treatment of the fabrics1 as dirt from the hands of the operator1 and gluten soluble in warm water2 as also glue or gelatine1 potash or soda1 starch1 albumen1 and sugar1 used by weavers1 etc41 and which are all soluble in water2 further1 such as greasy matters1 calcareous soap1 coppery soap1 resinous or gummo-resinous matters1 and the yellow and green coloring matters contained in textile fabrics1 which are soluble in caustic soda2 and finally1 the earthy constituents which are soluble in acids4 ,the nature and composition of silk and wool is diametrically opposed to that of the former4 ,the silk is more of a gummy nature1 and is susceptible to decompose into a kind of gelatinous mass if specially treated4 ,the yellow coloring principle in silk was found only to be contained in a very small proportion1 and consisting of several distinct bodies4 ,the wool contains1 first1 a fatty matter which is solid at an ordinary temperature1 and perfectly liquid at #fj ,c42 secondly1 a fatty matter which is liquid at #ae ,c42 thirdly1 a fibrous substance which essentially constitutes the wool in the strict sense of the word4 ,the wool at least contains three important principles1 as it will be known that the fibrous substance disengages sulphur and hydro-sulphuric acid without losing its peculiar properties2 and it1 therefore1 appears probable that the sulphur entered as an element in the composition of a body which is perfectly distinct from the fibrous substance aforementioned4 ,in treating wool with nitric acid1 and taking all possible precautions to determine as accurately as possible the quantity of sulphuric acid produced by the contents of sulphur in the wool by the reaction with chloride of barium1 it will be found to contain from #a4ec to #a4hg per cent4 of sulphur4--,wool and ,textile ,fabrics4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,production ,,of ,,ammonia ,,from ,,coal4#a ,by ,,ludwig ,,mond4 ,footnote #a3 ,a paper read at the annual general meeting of the ,society of ,chemical ,industry1 ,london1 ,july #aj1 #ahhi4 ,as exemplifying to a certain extent the application of methodical research to an industrial problem1 ,i propose to bring before you to-day an account of the work ,i have been engaged in for many years in relation to the procuring of new and abundant supplies of ammonia1 and to investigations connected therewith4 ,through the classic researches of ,lawes and ,gilbert1 who proved1 in opposition to no less an authority than ,liebig1 that ammonia is a most valuable manure which enables us not only to maintain1 but to multiply1 the yield of our fields1 and thus to feed on the same area a much larger number of inhabitants1 the immense importance of an abundant supply of ammonia1 more particularly for the ,old ,world1 with its teeming population and worn-out soil1 has been apparent to every one4 ,for many years ,europe has paid to ,south ,america millions upon millions of pounds for ammonia in the shape of guano1 and more recently1 since the supply of guano practically ceased1 for nitrate of soda1 which effectually serves the same purpose as ammonia4 ,during the past year ,south ,america exported #gej1jjj tons of nitrate1 of which #fej1jjj went to ,europe1 representing a value of not less than #f1ejj1jjjl4 ,the problem of saving this immense expenditure to ,europe1 of making ourselves independent of a country so far away for the supply of a material upon which the prosperity of our agriculture--our most important industry--depends1 by supplying this ammonia from sources at our own command1 is certainly one of the most important which our science has to solve4 ,it is more than #ajj years since ,berthollet ascertained that ammonia consists of nitrogen and hydrogen1 two elements which we have in great abundance at our command1 and innumerable attempts have been made during this century to produce this valuable product by the direct combination of the elements1 as well as by indirect means4 ,it has been equally well known that we are in possession of three abundant sources of nitrogen3 7#a47 ,in the shape of matter of animal origin4 7#b47 ,in the shape of matter of vegetable origin4 7#c47 ,in the atmosphere1 which contains no less than #gi per cent4 of uncombined nitrogen4 ,in olden times ammonia was principally obtained from animal matter1 originally in ,egypt by the distillation of camel dung1 later on from urine1 and from the distillation of bones and horn4 ,the quantity so obtained was very small and the products very expensive4 ,the introduction of coal gas for illumination gave us a considerable and constantly increasing supply of ammonia as a by-product of the gas manufacture1 and until recently all practical efforts to increase our supply of ammonia were directed toward collecting and utilizing in the best possible manner the ammonia so obtained4 ,the immense extension of the coal gas industry all over the world has in this way put us into possession of a very considerable amount of sulphate of ammonia1 amounting in ,europe now to #adj1jjj tons per annum4 ,in recent years this has been augmented by the ammonia obtained by the distillation of shale1 by the introduction of closed ovens for the manufacture of coke1 combined with apparatus for condensing the ammonia formed in this manufacture1 and also by the condensation of the ammonia contained in the gases from blast furnaces working with coal4 ,but all these new sources have so far added only about #dj1jjj tons of sulphate of ammonia to our supply1 making a total of #ahj1jjj tons per annum1 of which about #abj1jjj are produced in the ,united ,kingdom1 while we still import #fej1jjj tons of nitrate of soda1 equivalent to #ejj1jjj tons of sulphate of ammonia1 to make up our requirements4 ,many processes have from time to time been proposed to obtain ammonia from other sources4 ,the distillation of turf1 which contains upward of #c per cent4 of nitrogen1 has received much attention1 and a large number of inventors have endeavored to produce ammonia from the nitrogen of the air2 but none of these processes has to my knowledge been successful on a manufacturing scale4 ,my attention was called to this subject at an early part of my career4 ,already1 as far back as #ahfa1 ,i undertook experiments to utilize1 for the production of ammonia1 waste leather1 a waste material of animal origin at once abundant and very rich in nitrogen1 containing from #ab per cent4 to #ae per cent4 of this element4 ,distillation in iron retorts yielded about half the nitrogen of this material in the form of ammonia1 the carbon remaining in the retorts containing still from #f per cent4 to #h per cent4 ,distillation with a moderate quantity of hydrate of lime increased the yield of ammonia only by #a per cent4 to #a per cent4 ,a rather better result was obtained by distilling the ground residual carbon with hydrate of lime1 but this operation proceeded very slowly1 and the total yield of ammonia still remained very far below the quantity theoretically obtainable1 so that ,i came to the conclusion that it was more rational to utilize the leather1 reduced to powder by mechanical means1 by mixing it directly with other manures4 ,a few years later ,i became connected with a large animal charcoal works1 in which sulphate of ammonia was obtained as a by-product4 ,here again ,i was met with the fact that the yield of ammonia by no means corresponded with the nitrogen in the raw material and that the charcoal remaining in the retorts contained still about half as much nitrogen as had been present in the bones used4 ,from this time forward my attention was for many years given exclusively to the soda manufacture1 and it was only in #ahgi that ,i again took up the question of ammonia4 ,i then determined to submit the various processes which had been proposed for obtaining ammonia from the nitrogen of the air to a searching investigation1 and engaged ,mr4 ,joseph ,hawliczek to carry out the experimental work4 ,these processes may be broadly divided into three classes3 7#a47 ,processes which propose to combine nascent hydrogen with nitrogen at high temperatures or by electricity1 with or without the presence of acid gases4 7#b47 ,processes in which nitrides are first formed1 from which ammonia is obtained by the action of hydrogen or steam4 7#c47 ,processes in which cyanides are first formed and the ammonia obtained from these by the action of steam4 ,we began with an investigation of those processes in which a mixture of steam and nitrogen or of steam and air is made to act upon coke at a high temperature1 sometimes in the presence of lime1 baryta1 or an alkali1 sometimes in the presence of hydrochloric acid4 ,very numerous patents have been taken out in this direction and there is no doubt that ammonia has been obtained by these processes by many inventors1 but as ,i was aware that coke contains a considerable quantity of nitrogen1 frequently as much as #a4e per cent41 which might be the source of the ammonia obtained1 ,i determined to carry on the investigation in such a way as to make quite certain whether we obtained the ammonia from the coke or from the nitrogen of the atmosphere1 or from both4 ,for this purpose we made for every experiment carried on by a mixture of nitrogen or air with steam another experiment with steam alone1 carefully excluding nitrogen from the apparatus4 ,a very large number of experiments carried on at carefully determined temperatures1 ranging from #ejj to #a1bjj;,c41 and in which the directions given by the various inventors were most carefully observed1 all led to the same result1 viz41 that the quantities of ammonia obtained were the same whether nitrogen was introduced into the apparatus with the steam or whether steam alone was used1 thus proving conclusively that the ammonia obtained was derived from the nitrogen contained in the coke4 ,further1 on carefully determining the nitrogen in the coke used1 it was found that the quantity of ammonia we had obtained in burning coke in a current of nitrogen and steam very nearly corresponded with the total nitrogen in the coke1 so that we subsequently made our nitrogen determinations in the coke by simply burning it in a current of steam4 ,a process belonging to this class1 proposed by ,hugo ,fleck1 in which a mixture of carbonic oxide1 steam1 and nitrogen is made to pass over lime at a moderate red heat in order to obtain ammonia1 was also carefully tried4 ,it was claimed for this process that it produced nascent hydrogen at temperatures at which the ammonia is not dissociated1 and for this reason succeeded where others had failed4 ,we found that a considerable amount of hydrogen was obtained in this way at a temperature not exceeding #cej;,c41 and that the reaction was nearly complete at #ejj;,c42 but although we tried many experiments over a great range of temperatures1 we never obtained a trace of ammonia by this process4 ,among experiments with processes of the second class1 based upon the formation of nitrides and their subsequent decomposition1 the nitrides of boron and titanium had received most attention from inventors4 ,the nitride of boron1 which is obtained by treating boracic acid with carbon in the presence of nitrogen1 when acted upon by steam1 forms boracic acid again and yields the whole of its nitrogen in the form of ammonia1 but the high temperature at which the first reaction takes place1 and the volatility of boracic acid in a current of steam1 make it impossible to utilize this reaction industrially4 ,there seemed to be a better chance for a process patented by ,m4 ,tessier du ,mothay1 who proposed to bring a mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen into contact with titanium nitride and thus to form ammonia continuously4 ,titanium is the only element of which we know at present several combinations with nitrogen1 and the higher of these does1 on being acted upon by a current of hydrogen at an elevated temperature1 produce ammonia and a lower nitride of titanium2 but this lower nitride does not absorb nitrogen under any of the conditions under which we tried it1 which explains the fact that if we passed a current of hydrogen and nitrogen over the higher nitride1 we at first obtained a quantity of ammonia corresponding to the quantity which the nitride would give with hydrogen alone1 but that the formation of ammonia then ceased completely4 ,thus far we had quite failed to get the nitrogen of the air into action4 ,with the third class of processes1 however1 based upon the formation in the first instance of cyanides1 we found by our very first experiments that the nitrogen of the atmosphere can be easily led into combination4 ,a few experiments showed that the cyanide of barium was much more readily formed than any other cyanide2 so we gave our full attention from this time to the process for obtaining ammonia by means of cyanide of barium invented by ,,mm4 ,margueritte and ,sourdeval4 ,this process consists in heating a mixture of carbonate of barium with carbon in the presence of nitrogen1 and subsequently treating the cyanide of barium produced with steam1 thus producing ammonia and regenerating the carbonate of barium4 ,a great difficulty in this process is that the carbonate of barium fuses at high temperatures1 and when fused attacks fireclay goods very powerfully4 ,we found that this can be overcome by mixing the carbonate of barium with a sufficient quantity of carbon and a small quantity of pitch1 and that in this way balls can be made which will not fuse1 so that they can be treated in a continuous apparatus in which the broken briquettes can be charged from the top1 and after treatment can be withdrawn from the bottom4 ,we found that the formation of cyanides required a temperature of at least #a1bjj ,c41 and proceeded most readily at #a1djj ,c41 temperatures which1 although difficult to attain1 are still quite within the range of practical working1 and we found no difficulty in obtaining a product containing #cj per cent4 of barium cyanide1 corresponding to a conversion into cyanide of #dj per cent4 of the barium present4 ,we found1 however1 that the cyanide when exposed to the atmosphere at a temperature above #cjj ,c4 is readily destroyed under reformation of carbonate of barium1 so that it is absolutely necessary to cool it down to this temperature before exposing it to the atmosphere1 a fact of great importance that had hitherto been overlooked4 ,the operation for producing ammonia and regenerating the carbonate of barium by acting upon the cyanide with steam offers no difficulty whatever1 and if the temperature is not allowed to exceed #ejj ,c41 the results are quantitative4 ,the regenerated carbonate of barium acts actually better than the ground witherite used in the first instance1 and if care is taken that no impurities are introduced by the pitch which is used to remake the briquettes and to replace the small amount of carbon consumed at each operation1 ,i see no reason why it should not continue to act for a very long time4 ,the cyanide is not acted on by carbonic oxide1 but carbonic acid destroys it at high temperatures1 so that it is not possible to produce it by heating the briquettes directly in a flame free from oxygen1 but containing carbonic acid4 ,the process has1 therefore1 to be carried out in closed vessels1 and ,i designed for this purpose the following apparatus3 ,clay retorts of moderate dimensions and thin walls are placed vertically in a furnace1 passing through the hearth as well as through the arch of the furnace4 ,these are joined at the bottom to cast iron retorts of the same shape as the earthenware retort4 ,through a cast iron mouthpiece on the top of the retort the material was introduced1 while in the cast iron retort below the material was cooled to the necessary temperature by radiation and by the cold nitrogen gas introduced into the bottom of it4 ,the lower end of the cast iron retort was furnished with an arrangement for taking out from time to time small quantities of the material1 while fresh material was in the same proportion fed in at the top4 ,as a source of nitrogen ,i used the gases escaping from the carbonating towers of the ammonia-soda process4 ,the formation of cyanide of barium from barium carbonate1 carbon1 and nitrogen absorbs a very large amount of heat--no less than #ig1jjj calories per equivalent of the cyanide formed--which heat has to be transmitted through the walls of the retort4 ,i therefore considered it necessary to use retorts with very thin walls1 but ,i did not succeed in obtaining retorts of this description which would resist the very high temperatures which the process requires1 and for this reason ,i abandoned these experiments4 ,i was at that time not acquainted with the excellent quality of clay retorts used in zinc works1 with which ,i have since experimented for a different purpose4 ,i have no doubt that with such retorts the production of cyanides by this process can be carried out without great difficulty4 ,i believe that the process will prove remunerative for the manufacture of cyanogen products1 which1 if produced more cheaply1 may in the future play an important role in organic synthesis1 in the extraction of noble metals1 and possibly other chemical and metallurgical operations4 ,the process certainly also offers a solution of the problem of obtaining ammonia from the nitrogen of the atmosphere1 but whether this can be done with satisfactory commercial results is a question ,i cannot at present answer1 as ,i have not been able to secure the data for making the necessary calculations4 ,i am the more doubtful about this point1 as in the course of our investigations ,i have found means to produce ammonia at small cost and in great abundance from the immense store of combined nitrogen which we possess in our coal fields4 ,among the processes for obtaining ammonia from the nitrogen of the air which we investigated1 was one apparently of great simplicity1 patented by ,messrs4 ,rickman and ,thompson4 ,these gentlemen state that by passing air and steam through a deep coal fire1 the nitrogen so passed through is to a certain extent converted into ammonia4 ,in investigating this statement we found that the process described certainly yields a considerable quantity of ammonia1 but when we burned the same coal at a moderate temperature by means of steam alone in a tube heated from the outside1 we obtained twice as much ammonia as we had done by burning it with a mixture of air and steam1 proving in this case1 as in all others1 the source of the ammonia to have been the nitrogen contained in the coal4 ,the quantity of ammonia obtained was1 however1 so large that ,i determined to follow up this experience1 and at once commenced experiments on a semi-manufacturing scale to ascertain whether they would lead to practical and economic results4 ,i came to the conclusion that burning coal by steam alone at a temperature at which the ammonia formed should not be dissociated1 although it yielded more ammonia1 would not lead to an economic process1 because it would require apparatus heated from the outside1 of great complication1 bulk1 and costliness1 on account of the immense quantity of raw material to be treated for a small amount of ammonia obtainable4 ,on the other hand1 if the coal could be burned in gas producers by a mixture of air and steam1 the plant and working of it would be simple and inexpensive1 the gas obtained could be utilized in the same way as ordinary producer gas1 and would pay to a large extent for the coal used in the operation1 so that although only one-half of the ammonia would be obtained1 it seemed probable that the result would be economical4 ,i consequently constructed gas producers and absorbing plant of various designs and carried on experiments for a number of years4 ,these experiments were superintended by ,mr4 ,g4 ,h4 ,beckett1 ,dr4 ,carl ,markel1 and1 during the last four years1 by ,dr4 ,adolf ,staub1 to whose zeal and energy ,i am much indebted for the success that has been achieved4 ,the object of these experiments was to determine the most favorable conditions for the economic working of the process with respect to both the cost of manufacture as well as the first cost and simplicity of plant4 ,the cost of manufacture depends mainly upon the yield of ammonia1 as the expenses remain almost the same whether a large or a small amount of ammonia is obtained2 the only other item of importance is the quantity of steam used in the process4 ,we found the yield of ammonia to vary with the temperature at which the producer was working1 and to be highest when the producer was worked as cool as was compatible with a good combustion of the fuel4 ,the temperature again depended upon the amount of steam introduced into the producer1 and of course decreased the more steam increased4 ,we obtained the best practical results by introducing about two tons of steam for every ton of fuel consumed4 ,we experimented upon numerous kinds of fuel1 common slack and burgy of the ,lancashire1 ,staffordshire1 and ,nottinghamshire districts4 ,we found not much difference in the amount of nitrogen contained in these fuels1 which varied between #a4b and #a4f per cent41 nor did we find much difference in the ammonia obtained from these fuels if worked under similar conditions4 ,employing the quantity of steam just named we recovered about half the nitrogen in the form of ammonia1 yielding on an average #j4h per cent4 of ammonia1 equal to #cb kilos1 of sulphate per ton of fuel4 ,in order to obtain regular results we found it necessary to work with a great depth of fuel in the producers1 so that slight irregularities in the working would not affect results4 ,open burning kinds of slack do of course work with the greater ease1 but there is no difficulty in using a caking fuel1 as the low temperature at which the producers work prevents clinkering and diminishes the tendency of such fuels to cake together4 ,the quantity of steam thus required to obtain a good yield of ammonia is rather considerable1 and threatened to become a serious item of expense4 ,only one-third of this steam is decomposed1 in its passage through the producer1 and two-thirds remain mixed with the gases which leave the producer4 ,my endeavors were consequently directed toward finding means to recover this steam1 and to return it to the producers1 and also to utilize the heat of the gases which leave the producers with a temperature of #dej to #ejj ,c41 for raising steam for the same purpose4 ,the difficulties in the way of attaining this end and at the same time of recovering1 in a simple manner1 the small amount of ammonia contained in the immense volume of gas we have to deal with1 were very great4 ,we obtain from one ton of coal #afj1jjj cubic feet of dry gas at #j ,c4 and atmospheric pressure4 ,the steam mixed with this gas as it leaves the producer adds another #hj1jjj cubic feet to this1 and the large amount of latent heat in this quantity of steam makes the problem still more difficult4 ,the application of cooling arrangements1 such as have been successfully applied to blast furnace gases1 in which there is no steam present1 and which depend upon the cooling through the metallic sides of the apparatus1 is here practically out of the question4 ,after trying a number of different kinds of apparatus1 ,i have succeeded in solving the problem in the following way3 ,the gases issuing from the producers are led through a rectangular chamber partly filled with water1 which is thrown up in a fine spray by revolving beaters so as to fill the whole area of the chamber4 ,this water1 of course1 becomes hot2 a certain quantity of it evaporates1 the spray produced washes all dust and soot out of the gases1 and also condenses the fixed ammonia4 ,the water thus becomes1 to a certain degree1 saturated with ammonia salts1 and a certain portion of it is regularly removed from the chamber and distilled with lime to recover the ammonia4 ,illustration3 ,longitudinal ,section of ,plant for obtaining ,ammonia from ,gas ,producers4 ,cross ,section through ,gas ,producers4 ,this chamber is provided with water lutes1 through which the tar condensed in it is from time to time removed4 ,from this chamber the gases1 which are now cooled down to about #ajj ,c41 and are loaded with a large amount of water vapor1 are passed through a scrubber filled with perforated bricks1 in which the ammonia contained in the gases is absorbed by sulphuric acid4 ,in this scrubber a fairly concentrated solution of sulphate of ammonia containing #cf to #ch per cent4 is used1 to which a small quantity of sulphuric acid is added1 so that the liquid leaving the scrubber contains only #b4e per cent4 of free acid4 ,this is necessary1 as a liquid containing more acid would act upon the tarry matter and produce a very dark-colored solution4 ,the liquid running from the scrubber is passed through a separator in which the solution of sulphate of ammonia separates from the tar4 ,the greater portion of the clear liquid is1 after adding a fresh quantity of acid to it1 pumped back through the scrubber4 ,a certain portion of it is1 after treatment with a small quantity of heavy tar oils1 which take the tarry matter dissolved in it out1 evaporated in conical lead-lined pans furnished with lead steam coils1 and which are kept constantly filled by the addition of fresh liquor until the whole mass is thick4 ,this is then run out on a strainer and yields1 after draining and washing with a little water1 a sulphate of ammonia of very fair quality1 which finds a ready sale4 ,the mother liquor1 which contains all the free acid1 is pumped back to the scrubber4 ,the gas on entering this scrubber contains only #j4ac volume per cent4 of ammonia1 and on leaving the scrubber it contains not more than one-tenth of this quantity4 ,its temperature has been reduced to #hj ,c41 and is fully saturated with moisture1 so that practically no condensation of water takes place in the scrubber4 ,the gas is next passed through a second scrubber filled with perforated wood blocks4 ,in this it meets with a current of cold water which condenses the steam1 the water being thereby heated to about #gh ,c4 ,in this scrubber the gas is cooled down to about #dj-ej ,c41 and passes from it to the gas main leading to the various places where it is to be consumed4 ,the hot water obtained in this second scrubber is passed through a vessel suitably constructed for separating the tar which is mixed with it1 and is then pumped through a third scrubber1 through which1 in an opposite direction to the hot water1 cold air is passed4 ,this is forced by means of a ,roots blower through the scrubber into the producer4 ,the air gets heated to about #gf ,c4 and saturated with moisture at that temperature by its contact with the hot water1 and the water leaves this third scrubber cold enough to be pumped back through the second scrubber4 ,the same quantity of water is thus constantly used for condensing the water vapor in one scrubber and giving it up to the air in the other4 ,in this way we recover and return to the producer fully two-thirds of the steam which has been originally introduced1 so that we have to add to the air1 which has thus been loaded with moisture1 an additional quantity of steam equal to only one-third of the total quantity required before it enters the producer4 ,this additional quantity of steam1 which amounts to #j4f ton of steam for every ton of fuel burnt1 we obtain as exhaust steam from the engines driving the blowers and pumps required for working the plant4 ,the gas producers which ,i prefer to use are of rectangular shape1 so that a number of them can be put into a row4 ,they are six feet wide and #ab feet long inside4 ,the air is introduced and the ashes removed at the two small sides of the producer which taper toward the middle and are closed at the bottom by a water lute of sufficient depth for the pressure under which the air is forced in1 equal to about #d inches of water4 ,the ashes are taken out from underneath the water1 the producers having no grate or fire bars at all4 ,the air enters just above the level of the water through a pipe connected with the blower4 ,these small sides of the producer rest upon cast iron plates lined to a certain height with brickwork1 and this brickwork is carried by horizontal cast iron plates above the air entrance4 ,in this way a chamber is formed of triangular shape1 one side of which is closed by the ashes1 and thus the air is distributed over the whole width of the producer4 ,the gas is taken out in the middle of the top of the producer by an iron pipe1 and fuel charged in by hoppers on both sides of this pipe4 ,between the pipe and the hoppers two hanging arches are put into the producers a certain distance down1 and the fuel is kept above the bottom level of these hanging arches4 ,this compels the products of distillation1 produced when fresh fuel is charged in1 to pass through the incandescent fuel between the two hanging arches1 whereby the tarry products are to a considerable extent converted into permanent gas1 and the coal dust arising from the charging is kept back in the producer4 ,the details of construction of this plant will be easily understood by reference to the diagrams before you4 ,the fuel we use is a common kind of slack1 and contains1 on an average1 #cc4e per cent4 of volatile matter1 including water1 and #aa4e per cent4 of ashes1 leaving #ee per cent4 of non-volatile carbon4 ,the cinders which we take out of the producer contain1 on an average1 #cc per cent4 of carbon4 ,of this we recover about one-half by riddling or picking1 which we return to the producer4 ,the amount of unburnt carbon lost in the cinders is thus not more than #c per cent4 to #d per cent4 on the weight of fuel used4 ,the gas we obtain contains1 in a dry state1 on an average1 #ae per cent4 of carbonic acid1 #aj per cent4 of carbonic oxide1 #bc per cent4 of hydrogen1 #c per cent4 of hydrocarbons1 and #di per cent4 of nitrogen4 ,the caloric value of this gas is very nearly equal to #gc per cent4 of the caloric value of the fuel used1 but in using this gas for heating purposes1 such as raising steam or making salt1 we utilize the heat it can give very much better than in burning fuel1 as we can completely burn it with almost the theoretical quantity of air1 so that the products of combustion resulting do not contain more than #a to #b per cent4 of free oxygen4 ,consequently the heat escaping into the chimney is very much less than when fuel is burnt direct1 and we arrive at evaporating1 by means of the gas1 #he per cent4 of the water that we would evaporate by burning the fuel direct1 in ordinary fireplaces4 ,we have1 however1 to use a certain quantity of steam in the producers and in evaporating the sulphate of ammonia liquors1 which has to be deducted from the steam that can be raised by the gas in order to get at the quantity of available steam therefrom obtainable4 ,the former amounts1 as already stated1 to #j4f ton1 the latter to #j4a ton of steam per ton of fuel burnt1 making a total of #j4g ton4 ,the gas obtained from one ton of fuel evaporates #e4h tons of water in good steam boilers1 working at a rate of evaporation of #ej to #ee tons per #bd hours under #ij lb4 pressure4 ,deducting from this the #j4g ton necessary for working the plant leaves an available amount of steam raised by the gas from one ton of fuel of #e4a tons1 equal to #ge per cent4 of the steam that we can obtain from the same fuel by hand firing4 ,in addition to the gas1 we obtain about #c per cent4 of tar from the fuel4 ,this tar is very thick1 and of little commercial value4 ,it contains only #d per cent4 of oils volatile below #bjj ,c41 and #ch per cent4 of oils of a higher boiling point1 consisting mostly of creosote oils very similar to those obtained from blast furnaces2 and only small quantities of anthracene and paraffin wax4 ,i have made no attempts to utilize this tar except as fuel4 ,it evaporates nearly twice as much water as its weight of coal1 and we have thus to add its evaporative efficiency to that of the gas given above1 leading to a total of about #hj per cent4 of the evaporative efficiency of the fuel used in the producers4 ,the loss involved in gasifying the fuel to recover the ammonia therefrom amounts thus to #bj per cent4 of the fuel used4 ,this means that1 where we have now to burn #ajj tons of fuel1 we shall have to burn #abe tons in the producers in order to obtain ammonia equal to about half the nitrogen contained therein4 ,our actual yield of ammonia on a large scale amounting on an average to #cb kilos41 equal to #gj4f lb4 per ton of fuel1 #abe tons of fuel will turn out #d tons of sulphate of ammonia4 ,we thus consume #f4be tons of fuel for every ton of sulphate obtained1 or nearly the same quantity as is used in producing a ton of caustic soda by the ,le ,blanc process--a product not more than half the value of ammonium sulphate4 ,at present prices in ,northwich this fuel represents a value of #ces4 ,if we add to this the extra cost of labor over and above the cost of burning fuel in ordinary fireplaces1 the cost of sulphuric acid1 bags1 etc41 we come to a total of #dl4 #ajs4 to #el4 per ton of sulphate of ammonia1 which at the present selling price of this article1 say #abl4 per ton1 leaves1 after a liberal allowance for wear and tear of plant1 an ample margin of profit4 ,with a rise in the price of fuel1 this margin1 however1 rapidly decreases1 and the working of the process will1 of course1 be much more expensive on a small scale1 as will also be the cost of the plant1 which under all circumstances is very considerable4 ,the great advantages incidental to this process over and above the profit arising from the manufacture of sulphate of ammonia1 viz41 the absolute impossibility of producing smoke and the great regularity of the heating resulting from the use of gas1 are1 therefore1 as far as ,i can see for the present1 only available for large consumers of cheap fuel4 ,we have tried many experiments to produce hydrochloric acid in the producers1 with the hope of thereby increasing the yield of ammonia1 as it is well known that ammonium chloride vapor1 although it consists of a mixture of ammonia gas and hydrochloric acid gas1 is not at all dissociated at temperatures at which the dissociation of ammonia alone has already taken place to a considerable extent4 ,i had also hoped that ,i might in this way produce the acid necessary to combine with the ammonia at very small cost4 ,for this purpose we moistened the fuel used with concentrated brine1 and also with the waste liquors from the ammonia soda manufacture1 consisting mainly of chloride of calcium2 and we also introduced with the fuel balls made by mixing very concentrated chloride of calcium solution with clay1 which allowed us to produce a larger quantity of hydrochloric acid in the producer than by the other methods4 ,we did in this way succeed in producing hydrochloric acid sometimes less and sometimes more than was necessary to combine with the ammonia1 but we did not succeed in producing with regularity the exact amount of acid necessary to neutralize the ammonia4 ,when the ammonia was in excess1 we had therefore to use sulphuric acid as before to absorb this excess1 and we were never certain that sometimes the hydrochloric acid might not be in excess1 which would have necessitated to construct the whole plant so that it could have resisted the action of weak hydrochloric acid--a difficulty which ,i have not ventured to attack4 ,the yield of ammonia was not in any case increased by the presence of the hydrochloric acid4 ,this explains itself if we consider that there is only a very small amount of ammonia and hydrochloric acid diffused through a very large volume of other gases1 so that the very peculiar protective action which the hydrochloric acid does exercise in retarding the dissociation of ammonia in ammonium chloride vapor1 where an atom of ammonia is always in contact with an atom of hydrochloric acid1 will be diminished almost to zero in such a dilute gas where the atoms of hydrochloric acid and ammonia will only rarely come into immediate contact with each other4 ,when we burnt coke by a mixture of air and steam in presence of a large excess of hydrochloric acid1 the yield of ammonia certainly was thereby considerably increased1 but such a large excess cannot be used on an industrial scale4 ,i have therefore for the present to rest satisfied with obtaining only half the nitrogen contained in the fuel in the form of ammonia4 ,the enormous consumption of fuel in this country--amounting to no less than #aej million tons per annum--would at this rate yield as much as five million tons of sulphate of ammonia a year1 so that if only one-tenth of this fuel would be treated by the process1 ,england alone could supply the whole of the nitrogenous compounds1 sulphate of ammonia1 and nitrate of soda at present consumed by the ,old ,world4 ,as the process is especially profitable for large consumers of fuel situated in districts where fuel is cheap1 it seems to me particularly suitable to be adopted in this country4 ,it promises to give ,england the privilege of supplying the ,old ,world with this all-important fertilizer1 and while yielding a fair profit to the invested capital and finding employment for a considerable number of men1 to make us1 last not least1 independent of the ,new ,world for our supply of so indispensable a commodity4 ,before leaving my subject1 ,i will1 if you will allow me1 give you in a few words a description of two other inventions which have been the outcome of this research4 ,while looking one day at the beautiful1 almost colorless1 flame of the producer gas burning under one of our boilers1 it occurred to me that a gas so rich in hydrogen might be turned to better use1 and that it might be possible to convert it direct into electricity by means of a gas battery4 ,you all know that ,lord ,justice ,grove showed1 now fifty years ago1 that two strips of platinum partly immersed in dilute sulphuric acid1 one of which is in contact with hydrogen and the other with oxygen1 produce electricity4 ,i will not detain you with the many and varied forms of gas batteries which ,dr4 ,carl ,langer 7to whom ,i intrusted this investigation7 has made and tried during the last four years1 in order to arrive at the construction of a gas battery which would give a practical result1 but ,i will call your attention to the battery before me on the table1 which is the last result of our extended labors in this direction1 and which we hope will mark a great step in advance in the economic production of electricity4 ,the distinguishing feature of this battery is that the electrolyte is not employed as a mobile liquid1 but in a quasi-solid form1 and it is1 therefore1 named dry gas battery4 ,it consists of a number of elements1 which are formed of a porous diaphragm of a non-conducting material 7in this instance plaster of ,paris71 which is impregnated with dilute sulphuric acid4 ,both sides of this diaphragm are covered with very fine platinum leaf perforated with very numerous small holes1 and over this a thin film of platinum black4 ,both these coatings are in contact with frameworks of lead and antimony1 insulated one from the other1 which conduct the electricity to the poles of the battery4 ,a number of these elements are placed side by side1 with non-conducting frames intervening1 so as to form chambers through which the hydrogen gas is passed along one side of the element and air along the other4 ,this peculiar construction allows us to get a very large amount of duty from a very small amount of platinum4 ,one of the batteries before you1 consisting of seven elements1 with a total effective surface of half a square meter1 contains #b grammes of platinum leaf and #g grammes of platinum black1 a total of #i grammes of platinum1 and produces a current of #b amperes and #e volts1 or #aj watts1 when the outer resistance is properly adjusted4 ,this current is equal to nearly #ej per cent4 of the total energy obtainable from the hydrogen absorbed in the battery4 ,in order to maintain a constant current1 we have from time to time 7say once an hour7 to interchange the gases1 so as to counteract the disturbing influence produced by the transport of the sulphuric acid gas from one side of the diaphragm to the other4 ,this operation can easily be performed automatically by a commutator worked by a clock4 ,the water produced in the battery by the oxidation of the hydrogen is carried off by the inert gas mixed with the hydrogen1 and by the air1 of which we use a certain excess for this purpose4 ,this is important1 as if the platinum black becomes wet1 it loses its absorbing power for the gases almost completely and stops the work of the battery4 ,to avoid this was in fact the great difficulty in designing a powerful gas battery1 and all previous constructions which employed the electrolyte as a mobile liquid failed in consequence4 ,the results obtained by our battery are practically the same whether pure oxygen and hydrogen or air and gases containing #be per cent4 of hydrogen are used2 but we found that the latter gases must be practically free from carbonic oxide and hydrocarbons1 which both interfere very much with the absorbing power of the platinum black4 ,we had thus to find a cheap method of eliminating these two gases from the producer gas1 and converting them at the same time into their equivalent of hydrogen4 ,the processes hitherto known for this purpose1 viz41 passing a mixture of such gases with steam over lime 7which ,i mentioned some time ago7 or over oxide of iron or manganese1 require high temperatures1 which render them expensive1 and the latter do not effect the reaction to a sufficient extent for our purpose4 ,we have succeeded in attaining our object at a temperature below that at which the gases leave my producers1 viz41 at #cej ,c4 to #dej ,c41 by passing the producer gases1 still containing a considerable excess of steam1 over metallic nickel or cobalt4 ,these metals have the extraordinary property of decomposing almost completely1 even at the low temperature named1 carbonic oxide into carbon and carbonic acid and hydrocarbons into carbon and hydrogen4 ,in order to carry the process out with small quantities of nickel and cobalt1 we impregnate pumice stone or similar material with a salt of nickel or cobalt1 and reduce this by means of hydrogen or producer gas4 ,these pieces of pumice stone are filled into a retort or chamber and the hot gases passed through them4 ,as the reaction produces heat1 it is not necessary to heat the chambers or retorts from the outside when the necessary temperature has once been attained4 ,this process has not yet been carried out on a large scale1 but the laboratory experiments have been so satisfactory that we have no doubt as to its complete success4 ,it will enable us to obtain gases containing #cf per cent4 to #dj per cent4 of hydrogen and practically free from carbonic oxide and hydrocarbons from producer gas at a very small cost1 and thus to make the latter suitable for the production of electricity by our gas battery4 ,we obtain1 as stated before1 #ej per cent4 of the energy in the hydrogen absorbed in the battery in the form of electricity1 while1 if the same gas was consumed under steam boilers to make steam1 which1 as ,i have shown before1 could in this way be raised cheaper than by burning fuel direct1 and if this steam was turned into motive power by first-rate steam engines1 and the motive power converted into electricity by a dynamo1 the yield of electricity would in the most favorable case not exceed #h per cent4 of the energy in the gas4 ,i hope that this kind of battery will one day enable us to perform chemical operations by electricity on the largest scale1 and to press this potent power into the service of the chemical industries4 ,the statement is frequently made that ,necessity is the mother of invention4 ,if this has been the case in the past1 ,i think it is no longer so in our days1 since science has made us acquainted with the correlation of forces1 teaching us what amount of energy we utilize and how much we waste in our various methods for attaining certain objects1 and indicating to us where and in what direction and how far improvement is possible2 and since the increase in our knowledge of the properties of matter enables us to form an opinion beforehand as to the substances we have available for obtaining a desired result4 ,we can now foresee1 in most cases1 in what direction progress in technology will move1 and in consequence the inventor is now frequently in advance of the wants of his time4 ,he may even create new wants1 to my mind a distinct step in the development of human culture4 ,it can then no longer be stated that ,necessity is the mother of invention2 but ,i think it may truly be said that the steady1 methodical investigation of natural phenomena is the father of industrial progress4 ,sir ,lowthian ,bell1 ,bart41 ,f4,r4,s41 in moving a vote of thanks1 said that the meeting had had the privilege of listening to a description of results obtained by a man of exceptional intelligence and learning1 supplemented by that devotion of mind which qualified him to pursue his work with great energy and perseverance4 ,the importance of the president's address could not possibly be overrated4 ,at various periods different substances had been put forward as indications of the civilization of the people4 ,he remembered hearing from ,dr4 ,ure that he considered the consumption of sulphuric acid to be the most accurate measure of the civilization of the people4 ,in course of time sulphuric acid gave way to soap1 the consumption of which was probably still regarded as the great exponent of civilization by such of his fellow citizens as had thereby made their name4 ,from what he had heard that morning1 however1 he should be inclined to make soap yield to ammonia1 as sulphuric acid had in its time succumbed to soap4 ,for not only was ammonia of great importance to us as a manufacturing nation1 but it almost appeared to be a condition of our existence4 ,england had a large population concentrated on an area so small as to make it almost a matter of apprehension whether the surface could maintain the people upon it4 ,we were now importing almost as much food as we consumed1 and were thus more and more dependent on the foreigner4 ,under certain conditions this would become a very serious matter1 and thus any one who showed how to produce plenty of ammonia at a cheap rate was a benefactor to his country4 ,mr4 ,mond's process seemed to come nearer to success than any which had preceded it1 and it needed no words from him to induce the meeting to accord a hearty vote of thanks to the president for his admirable paper4 ,mr4 ,j4 ,c4 ,stevenson1 ,m4,p41 in seconding the motion1 said that no paper could be more interesting and valuable to the society than that delivered by the president4 ,it opened out a future for the advancement of chemical industry which almost overcame one by the greatness of its possibilities4 ,mr4 ,mond had performed an invaluable service by investigating the various methods proposed for the manufacture of ammonia1 and clearing the decks of those processes supposed by their inventors to be valuable1 but proved by him to be delusive4 ,it gave him hearty pleasure therefore to second the vote of thanks proposed by ,sir ,lowthian ,bell4 ,the vote having been put and carried by acclamation1 after a brief reply from the president3 ,the secretary read the report of the scrutators1 which showed that #aeh ballot papers had been sent in1 #aed voting for the proposed list intact1 and four substituting other names4 ,the gentlemen nominated in the list issued by the ,council were therefore declared elected4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in his brief report for the year ending ,may #a1 #ahhi1 the director of the ,pasteur ,institute1 ,paris1 announces the treatment of #a1fgc subjects1 of whom #f were seized with rabies during and #d within a fortnight after the process4 ,but #c only succumbed after the treatment had been completely carried out1 making #a death in #eed1 or1 including all cases1 #a in #abh4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,alkali ,,manufactories4 ,when the alkali1 etc41 ,works ,regulation ,act was passed in #ahha1 it was supposed that the result would be that the atmosphere in the districts where such works are situated would be considerably improved1 and1 consequently1 that vegetation would have a better chance in the struggle for existence1 and the sanitary conditions of human dwellings would be advanced4 ,in all these respects the act has been a success4 ,but perhaps the most notable result is the effect which the act and those which have preceded it have had upon the manufactures which they control4 ,this was not anticipated by manufacturers1 but now one of the principal of them 7,mr4 ,a4 ,m4 ,chance7 has stated that ,government inspection has not only led to material improvement in the general management of chemical works1 but it has also been in reality a distinct benefit to1 rather than a tax upon1 the owners of such works4 ,this expression of opinion is substantiated by the chief inspector under the act1 whose report for last year has recently been laid before the local government board4 ,there are #a1jeg works in the ,united ,kingdom which are visited by the inspectors1 and in only two of these during #ahhh did the neglect to carry out the inspectors' warnings become so flagrant as to call for legal interference2 viz41 in the case of ,thomas ,farmer ,co4 7limited71 ,victoria ,docks1 ,e41 who were fined #bjl4 and costs for failing to use the best practicable means for preventing the escape of acid gas from manure plant2 and in the case of ,joseph ,fison ,co41 ,bramford1 who were fined #ejl4 and costs for excessive escape of acid gas from sulphuric acid plant4 ,there were seven other cases1 but these were simply for failure to register under the act4 ,it is very evident1 therefore1 that from a public point of view the act is splendidly successful1 and from the practical or scientific side it is no less satisfactory4 ,of the total number of chemical works 7#a1jeg7 #hff are registered in ,england1 #aca in ,scotland1 and #dd in ,ireland--a decrease in the case of ,scotland of #h1 and in ,ireland of #b from the previous year1 while ,england has increased by #a4 ,this must not1 however1 be taken as a sign of diminished production1 because there is a tendency for the larger works to increase in size and for the smaller ones to close their operations4 ,the principal nuisances which the inspectors have to prevent are the escape of hydrochloric acid gas from alkali works and of sulphurous gas from vitriol and manure works4 ,the alkali act forbids the manufacturer to allow the escape of more than #e per cent4 of the hydrochloric acid which he produces1 or that that acid must not exist to a greater extent than #j4b grain in #a cubic foot of air1 steam1 or chimney gas which accompanies4 ,the inspectors' figures for last year show that the percentage of the acid which escaped amounted to only #a4if of the total produced1 which is equal to #j4jhi grain per cubic foot1 and much below the figures for previous years4 ,the figures in regard to sulphurous gas are equally satisfactory4 ,the act allows #d grains of sulphuric anhydride 7,,so#c7 per cubic foot to escape into the air1 and last year's average was only #j4gcg grain1 or less than a fifth of the limit4 ,of course it is now the aim of the ,leblanc alkali manufacturers to reduce the escape of hydrochloric acid to the lowest possible amount1 as their profits depend solely upon the sale of chlorine products1 soda products being sold at a loss4 ,in this connection it is interesting to note that the amount of common salt manufactured in the ,united ,kingdom in #ahhh was #b1jci1hfg tons1 and of this nearly #fjj1jjj tons were taken by ,leblanc soda makers1 and over #bjj1jjj tons by the ammonia-soda makers4 ,the figures are very largely in excess of previous years1 and indicate a gratifying growth in trade4 ,the salt used in the ,leblanc process yields the hydrochloric acid1 and that in the ammonia-soda method none1 so that we may put down the theoretical production of acid as #chj1jjj tons1 #g1fjj tons of which was allowed to escape4 ,what was a mere trace in the chimney gases amounts1 therefore1 to a good round figure at the end of a year1 and if it were converted into bleaching powder it would be worth nearly #aej1jjjl4 ,these figures are1 it should be understood1 based on theory1 but they serve to show to what importance a gas has now reached which twenty-five years ago was a perfect incubus to the manufacturers1 and wrought desolation in the country sides miles and miles around the producing works4 ,there has long been an expectation that the ammonia-soda makers would add the manufacture of bleaching powder to their process1 but they appear to be as far as ever from that result1 and meanwhile the ,leblanc makers are honestly striving to utilize every atom of the valuable material which they handle4 ,hence the eagerness to recover the sulphur from tank waste by one or other of the few workable processes which have been proposed4 ,this waste contains from #aa to #ae per cent4 of sulphur1 and when it is stated that the total amount of tank waste produced yearly is about #gej1jjj tons1 containing about #ajj1jjj tons of sulphur1 it will be seen how large is the reward held out to the successful manipulator4 ,moreover1 the value of the sulphur that might possibly be saved is not the only prize held out to those who can successfully deal with the waste1 for this material is not only thrown away as useless1 but much expense is incurred in the throwing4 ,in ,lancashire and in other inland districts land must be found on which to deposit it1 and the act of depositing is costly1 for unless it is beaten together so as to exclude the air1 an intolerable nuisance arises from it4 ,the cost of haulage and deposit on land varies1 according to the district1 from #as4 to #as4 #f;d4 a ton4 ,in ,widnes it is about #as4 ,in the ,newcastle district the practice is to carry this material out to sea at a cost of about #d;d4 a ton4 ,mr4 ,chance's process for the recovery of sulphur from the waste signalizes the centenary of the ,leblanc process2 ,parnell and ,simpson are following in his wake1 and lately ,mr4 ,f4 ,gossage1 of ,widnes1 has been working on a process for the production of alkali1 which enables him to save the sulphur of the sulphuric acid4 ,in his process a mixture of #gj parts ,leblanc salt cake 7sulphate of soda7 and #cj parts common salt is mixed with coal and heated in a furnace1 and so reduced to sulphide of sodium4 ,the resulting ash is then dissolved in water and exposed to the action of carbonic acid1 when sulphureted hydrogen is given off1 to be dealt with as in ,mr4 ,chance's sulphur process1 while bicarbonate of soda is formed and separates by precipitation from the solution of undecomposed common salt4 ,ere long it is expected this new method will be in active operation in some ,leblanc works1 the plant of which will1 in all probability1 be utilized4 ,it has these great advantages3 ,the absence of lime1 the recovery of the sulphur used in the first instance and the consequent absence of the objectionable tank waste4 ,thus a bright promise is held out that the days of alkali waste are numbered1 and that the air in certain parts of ,lancashire will be more balmy than it has been in the memory of the oldest inhabitant4--,chemist and ,druggist4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,fuels ,,of ,,the ,,future4 ,it is undeniable that in this country1 at least1 we are accustomed to regard coal as the chief1 and1 indeed1 the only substance which falls to be considered under the name of fuel4 ,in other countries1 however1 the case is different4 ,various materials1 ranging from wood to oil1 come within the category of material for the production of heat4 ,the question of fuel1 it may be remarked1 has a social1 an antiquarian1 and a chemical interest4 ,in the first place1 the inquiry whether or not our supplies of coal will hold out for say the next hundred thousand years1 or for a much more limited period only1 has been very often discussed by sociologists and by geological authorities4 ,again1 it is clear that as man advances in the practice of civilized arts1 his dependence upon fuel becomes of more and more intimate character4 ,he not merely demands fire wherewith to cook his food1 and to raise his own temperature or that of his dwelling1 but requires fuel for the thousand and one manufacturing operations in which he is perpetually engaged4 ,it is obvious that without fuel civilized life would practically come to an end4 ,we cannot take the shortest journey by rail or steamboat without a tacit dependence upon a fuel supply2 and the failure of this supply would therefore mean and imply the extinction of all the comforts and conveniences on which we are accustomed to rely as aids to easy living in these latter days4 ,again1 socially regarded1 man is the only animal that practices the fire-making habit4 ,even the highest apes1 who will sit round the fire which a traveler has just left1 and enjoy the heat1 do not appear to have developed any sense or idea of keeping up the fire by casting fresh fuel upon it4 ,it seems fairly certain1 then1 that we may define man as being a fuel-employing animal1 and in so doing be within the bounds of certitude4 ,he may be1 and often is1 approached by other animals in respect of many of his arts and practices4 ,birds weave nest materials1 ants make--and maul--slaves1 beavers build dams1 and other animals show the germs and beginnings of human contrivances for aiding the processes of life1 but as yet no animal save man lights and maintains a fire4 ,that the fire-making habit must have dawned very early in human history appears to be proved by the finding of ashes and other evidences of the presence of fire among the remains and traces of primitive man4 ,all we know1 also1 concerning the history of savage tribes teaches us that humanity is skillful1 even in very rude stages of its progress1 in the making of fire4 ,the contrivances for obtaining fire are many and curious in savage life1 while1 once attained1 this art seems to have not only formed a constant accompaniment but probably also a determining cause in the evolution of civilization4 ,wood1 the fat of animals1 and even the oils expressed from plants1 probably all became known to man as convenient sources of fuel in prehistoric times4 ,from the incineration of wood to the use of peat and coal would prove an easy stage in the advance toward present day practices1 and with the attainment of coal as a fuel the first great era in man's fire-making habits may be said to end4 ,beyond the coal stage1 however1 lies the more or less distinctively modern one of the utilization of gas and oil for fuel4 ,the existence of great natural centers1 or underground stores1 of gas and oil is probably no new fact4 ,we read in the histories of classic chroniclers of the blazing gases which were wont to issue from the earth1 and to inspire feelings of superstitious awe in the minds of beholders4 ,only within a few years1 however1 have geologists been able to tell us much or anything regarding these reservoirs of natural fuel which have become famous in ,america and in the ,russian province of ,baku4 ,for example1 it is now known that three products--gas1 oil1 and salt or brine--lie within natural receptacles formed by the rock strata in the order of their weight4 ,this law1 as has well been said1 forms the foundation of all successful boring experiments1 and the search for natural fuel1 therefore1 becomes as easy and as reliable a duty as that for artesian water or for coal4 ,the great oil fever of the ,west was attended at first1 as ,professor ,m',gee tells us1 with much waste of the product4 ,wells were sunk everywhere1 and the oil overflowed the land1 tainting the rivers1 poisoning the air1 and often driving out the prospectors from the field of discovery4 ,in ,baku accidents and catastrophes have1 similarly1 been of frequent occurrence4 ,we read of petroleum flowing from the ground in jets #bjj feet high1 and as thick as a man's body2 we learn how it swept away the huge cranes and other machinery1 and how1 as it flowed away from the orifices1 its course was marked by the formation of rivers of oil many miles in length4 ,in ,america the pressure of rock gas has burst open stills weighing over a ton1 and has rushed through huge iron tanks and split open the pipes wherewith it was sought to control its progress4 ,the roar of this great stream of natural gas was heard for miles around as it escaped from the outlet1 and when it was ignited the pillar of flame illumined the surrounding country over a radius extending in some cases to forty miles4 ,it is clear that man having tapped the earth's stores of natural fuel1 stood in danger of having unloosed a monster whose power he seemed unable to control4 ,yet1 as the sequel will show1 science has been able to tackle with success the problems of mastering the force and of utilizing the energy which are thus locked up within the crust of the globe4 ,as regards the chemistry of rock gas1 we may remark in the first place that this natural product ranks usually as light carbureted hydrogen gas4 ,in this respect it is not unlike the marsh gas with which everyone is familiar1 which is found bubbling up from swamps and morasses1 and which constitutes the will o' the wisp of romance4 ,in rock gas1 marsh gas itself is actually found in the proportion of about #ic per cent4 ,the composition of marsh gas is very simple4 ,it consists of the two elements carbon and hydrogen united in certain proportions1 indicated chemically by the symbol ,,ch#d4 ,we find1 in fact1 that rock gas possesses a close relationship1 chemically speaking1 with many familiar carbon compounds1 and of these latter1 petroleum itself1 asphaltum1 coal1 jet1 graphite or plumbago1 and even the diamond itself--which is only crystallized carbon after all--are excellent examples4 ,the differences between these substances really consist in the degree of fixing of the carbon or solid portion of the product1 as it were1 which exists4 ,thus in coal and jet the carbon is of stable character1 such as we might expect to result from the slow decomposition of vegetable matter1 and the products of this action are not volatile or liable to be suddenly dissociated or broken up4 ,on the other hand1 when we deal with the hydrocarbons as they are called1 in the shape of rock gas1 naphtha1 petroleum1 tar1 asphaltum1 and similar substances1 we see how the carbon has become subordinated to the hydrogen part of the compounds1 with the result of rendering them more or less unstable in their character4 ,as ,professor ,m',gee has shown us1 there is in truth a graduated series leading us from the marsh gas and rock gas as the lightest members of this class of compounds onward through the semi-gaseous naphtha to the fluid petroleum1 the semi-fluid tar1 the solid asphaltum1 and the rigid and brittle substance known as albertite1 with other and allied products4 ,having said so much regarding the chemistry of the fuels of the future1 we may now pass to consider their geological record4 ,a somewhat curious distribution awaits the man of science in this latter respect4 ,most readers are aware that the geologists are accustomed to classify rocks1 according to their relative age1 into three great groups1 known respectively as the primary1 secondary1 and tertiary periods4 ,in the secondary period we do not appear to meet with the fuels of the future1 but as far back as the ,devonian or old ,red ,sandstone period1 and in the still older ,silurian rocks1 stores of gas and petroleum abound4 ,in the latest or tertiary period1 again1 we come upon nearly all the forms of fuels we have already specified4 ,the meaning of this geological distribution of the fuels is entirely fortuitous4 ,dr4 ,m',gee tells us that as their formation depended on local conditions 7such as plant growth71 and as we have no means of judging why such local conditions occurred within any given area1 so must we regard the existence of fuel products in particular regions as beyond explanation4 ,of one point1 however1 we are well assured1 namely that the volume of the fuels of the future is developed in an inverse proportion to their geological age4 ,the proportionate volume1 as it has been expressed1 diminishes progressively as the geological scale is descended4 ,again1 the weight of the fuels varies directly with their age2 for it is in the older formation of any series that we come upon the oils and tars and asphaltum1 while the marsh gas exists in later and more recently formed deposits4 ,further geological research shows us that the ,american gas fields exist each as an inverted trough or dome1 a conformation due1 of course1 to the bending and twisting of the rocks by the great underground heat forces of the world4 ,the porous part of the dome may be sandstone or limestone1 and above this portion lie shales1 which are the opposite of porous in texture4 ,the dome1 further1 contains gas above1 naphtha in the middle1 and petroleum below1 while last of all comes water1 which is usually very salt4 ,in the ,indiana field1 however1 we are told that the oils lie near the springing or foundation of the arch of the dome1 and at its crown gas exists1 and overlies brine4 ,a very important inquiry1 in relation to the statement that upon the products whose composition and history have just been described the fuel supply of the future will depend1 consists in the question of the extent and duration of these natural gas and oil reservoirs4 ,if we are beginning to look forward to a time when our coal supply will have been worked out1 it behooves us to ask whether or not the supply of natural gas and oil is practically illimitable4 ,the geologist will be able to give the coming man some degree of comfort on this point1 by informing him that there seems to be no limit to the formation of the fuel of the future4 ,natural gas is being manufactured to-day by nature on a big scale4 ,wherever plant material has been entombed in the rock formations1 and wherever its decomposition proceeds1 as proceed it must1 there natural gas is being made4 ,so that with the prospect of coal becoming as rare as the dodo itself1 the world1 we are told by scientists1 may still regard with complacency the failure of our ordinary carbon supply4 ,the natural gases and oils of the world will provide the human race with combustible material for untold ages--such at least is the opinion of those who are best informed on the subject4 ,for one thing1 we are reminded that gas is found to be the most convenient and most economical of fuels4 ,rock gas is being utilized abroad even now in manufacturing processes4 ,dr4 ,m',gee says that even if the natural supply of rock gas were exhausted to-morrow1 manufacturers of glass1 certain grades of iron1 and other products would substitute an artificial gas for the natural product rather than return to coal4 ,he adds that enormous waste would thereby be prevented1 the gas by which the air of whole counties in coke-burning regions is contaminated would be utilized1 and the carbon of the dense smoke clouds by which manufacturing cities are overshadowed would be turned to good account4 ,so that1 as regards the latter point1 even ,mr4 ,ruskin with his horror of the black smoke of to-day and of the disfigurement of sky and air might become a warm ally of the fuel of the future4 ,the chemist in his laudation of rock gas and allied products is only re-echoing1 when all is said and done1 the modern eulogy pronounced on ordinary coal gas as a cooking and heating medium4 ,we are within the mark when we say that the past five years alone have witnessed a wonderful extension in the use of gas in the kitchen and elsewhere4 ,it would be singular1 indeed1 if we should happen to be already anticipating the fuel of the future by such a practice4 ,whether or not this is the case1 it is at least satisfactory for mankind to know that the mother earth will not fail him when he comes to demand a substitute for coal4 ,i may be too early even to think of the day of extinction2 but we may regard that evil day with complacency in face of the stores of fuel husbanded for us within the rock foundations of our planet4--,glasgow ,herald4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,portable ,,electric ,,light4 ,the famous house of ,,mm4 ,sautter1 ,lemonnier ,co4 takes a conspicuous part in the ,paris exhibition1 and from the wide range of its specialties exhibits largely in three important branches of industry3 mechanics1 electricity1 and the optics of lighthouses and projectors4 ,in these three branches ,,mm4 ,sautter1 ,lemonnier ,co4 occupy a leading position in all parts of the world4 ,the invention of the aplanetic projector1 due to ,col4 ,mangin1 was a clever means of overcoming difficulties1 practically insurmountable1 that were inseparable from the construction of parabolic mirrors2 this contributed chiefly to the success of ,,mm4 ,sautter1 ,lemonnier ,co4 in this direction4 ,the firm has produced more than #a1ejj of these apparatus1 representing a value of nearly #ejj1jjj1 for the ,french and other governments4 ,besides the great projector1 which forms the central and crowning object of the exhibit of ,,mm4 ,sautter1 ,lemonnier ,co4 in the machinery hall1 the firm exhibits a projector #ij centimeters in diameter mounted on a crane traveling on wheels1 in the pavilion of the ,war ,department4 ,the lamp used for this apparatus has a luminous value of #f1jjj carcels1 with a current of #ajj amperes2 the amplifying power of the mirror is #b1jbe1 which gives an intensity of ten millions to twelve millions of carcels to the beam4 ,projectors used for field work are mounted on a portable carriage1 which also contains the electric generator and the motor driving it4 ,illustration3 ,,military ,,portable ,,electric ,,light ,,at ,,the ,,paris ,,exhibition4 ,it consists of a tubular boiler 7,dion1 ,bouton ,trepardoux system74 ,this generator is easily taken to pieces1 cleaned1 and repaired1 and steam can be raised to working pressure in #bj minutes4 ,the mechanical and electrical part of the apparatus consists of a ,parsons turbo-motor1 of which ,,mm4 ,sautter1 ,lemonnier ,co4 possess the license in ,france for application to military and naval purposes4 ,the speed of the motor is #i1jjj revolutions per minute1 and the dynamo is driven direct from it2 at this speed it gives a current of #ajj amperes with and from #ee to #gj volts2 the intensity of the light is from #e1ejj to #f1jjj carcels4 ,the carriage upon which the whole of this apparatus is mounted is carried on four wheels1 made of wood with gun metal mountings4 ,these are more easy to repair when in service than if they were wholly of iron4 ,the weight of the carriage is three tons4--,engineering4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,electric ,,motor ,,for ,,alternating ,,currents4 ,prof4 ,galileo ,ferraris1 of ,turin1 who has carefully studied alternating currents and secondary transformers1 has constructed a little motor based upon an entirely new principle1 which is as follows3 ,if we take two inductive fields developed by two bobbins1 the axes of which cut each other at right angles1 and a pole placed at the vertex of the angle1 this pole will be subjected to the simultaneous action of the two bobbins1 and the resultant of the magnetic actions will be represented in magnitude and direction by the diagonal of the parallelogram1 two consecutive sides of which have for their length the intensity of the two fields1 and for their direction the axes of the two bobbins4 ,if into each of these bobbins we send alternating currents having between one bobbin and the other a difference of phase of #ij1 the extremity of the resultant will describe a circle having for its center the vertex of the right angle4 ,if1 instead of a fixed pole1 we use a metal cylinder movable on its axis1 we shall obtain a continuous rotatory motion of this part1 and the direction of the movement will change when we interchange the difference of phase in the exciting currents4 ,this rotatory movement is not due to the ,foucault currents1 for the metal cylinder may consist of plates of iron insulated from each other4 ,in order to realize the production of these fields1 several means can be employed3 ,the current is sent from an alternating current machine into the primary circuit of a transformer and thence into one of the bobbins1 the other being supplied by means of the secondary current of the transformer4 ,a resistance introduced into the circuit will produce the required difference of phase1 and the equality of the intensities of the fields will be obtained by multiplying the number of turns of the secondary wire on the bobbin4 ,moreover1 the two bobbins may be supplied by the secondary current of a transformer by producing the difference of phase1 as in the first case4 ,in the motor constructed by ,prof4 ,ferraris the armature consisted of a copper cylinder measuring #g centimeters in diameter and #ae centimeters in length1 movable on its axis4 ,the inductors were formed of two groups of two bobbins4 ,the bobbins which branched off from the primary circuit of a ,gaulard transformer1 and were connected in series1 comprised #aif spirals with a resistance of #ac ohms2 the bobbins comprising the secondary circuit were coupled in parallel1 and had #ejd spirals with #c4dc ohms resistance4 ,in order to produce the difference of phase1 a resistance of #ag ohms was introduced into the second circuit1 when the dynamo produced a current of #i amperes with #hj inversions per second4 ,under these conditions the available work measured on the axis of the motor was found for different speeds3 ,revolutions per minute3 #bfb--djj--edf--fej--gbb--ggj4 ,watts measured at the brake3 #a4cb--b4ab--b4ee--b4gg--b4ee--b4dj4 ,the maximum rendering corresponds to a speed of rotation of #fej revolutions1 and ,prof4 ,ferraris attributes the loss of work for higher speeds to the vibrations to which the machine is exposed4 ,at present the apparatus is but a laboratory one4--,bulletin ,international de l',electricite4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,electric ,,age4 ,by ,,charles ,,carleton ,,coffin4 ,the application of electricity for our convenience and comfort is one of the marvels of the age4 ,never in the history of the world has there been so rapid a development of an occult science4 ,prior to #ahai very little was known in regard to magnetism and electricity4 ,during that year ,oersted discovered that an electric current would deflect a magnetic needle1 thus showing that there was some relationship between electric and magnetic force4 ,a few months later1 ,arago and ,sir ,humphry ,davy1 independently of each other1 discovered that by coiling a wire around a piece of iron1 and passing an electric current through it1 the iron would possess for the time being all the properties of a magnet4 ,in #ahbe ,william ,sturgeon1 of ,london1 bent a piece of wire in the form of the letter ,u1 wound a second wire around it1 and1 upon connecting it with a galvanic battery1 discovered that the first wire became magnetic1 but lost its magnetic property the moment the battery was disconnected4 ,the idea of a telegraphic signal came to him1 but the electric impulse1 through his rude apparatus1 faded out at a distance of fifty feet4 ,in #ahcj ,prof4 ,joseph ,henry1 of this country1 constructed a line of wire1 one and a half miles in length1 and sent a current of electricity through it1 ringing a bell at the farther end4 ,the following year ,professor ,faraday discovered magnetic induction4 ,this1 in brief1 is the genesis of magnetic electricity1 which is the basis of all that has been accomplished in electrical science4 ,the first advance after these discoveries was in the development of the electric telegraph--the discovery in #ahcg1 by the philosopher ,steinhill1 that the earth could serve as a conductor1 thus requiring but one wire in the employment of an electric current4 ,simultaneously came ,morse's invention of the mechanism for the telegraph in #ahdd1 foreshadowed by ,henry in the ringing of bells1 thus transmitting intelligence by sound4 ,four years later1 in #ahdh1 ,prof4 ,m4 ,g4 ,farmer1 still living in ,eliot1 ,me41 attached an electro-magnet to clockwork for the striking of bells to give an alarm of fire4 ,the same idea came to ,william ,f4 ,channing4 ,the mechanism1 constructed simply to illustrate the idea by ,professor ,farmer1 was placed upon the roof of the ,court ,house in ,boston1 and connected with the telegraph wire leading to ,new ,york1 and an alarm rung by the operator in that city4 ,the application of electricity for giving definite information to firemen was first made in ,boston1 and it was my privilege to give the first alarm on the afternoon of ,april #ab1 #aheb4 ,at the close of the last century1 ,benjamin ,thompson1 born in ,woburn1 ,mass41 known to the world as ,count ,rumford1 was in the workshop of the military arsenal of the ,king of ,bavaria in ,munich1 superintending the boring of a cannon4 ,the machinery was worked by two horses4 ,he was surprised at the amount of heat which was generated1 for when he threw the borings into a tumbler filled with cold water1 it was set to boiling1 greatly to the astonishment of the workmen4 ,whence came the heat8 ,what was heat8 ,the old philosopher said that it was an element4 ,by experiment he discovered that a horse working two hours and twenty minutes with the boring machinery would heat nineteen pounds of water to the boiling point4 ,he traced the heat to the horse1 but with all his acumen he did not go on with the induction to the hay and oats1 to the earth1 the sunshine and rain1 and so get back to the sun4 ,one hundred years ago there was no chemical science worthy of the name1 no knowledge of the constitution of plants or the properties of light and heat4 ,the old philosophers considered light and heat to be fluids1 which passed out of substances when they were too full4 ,count ,rumford showed that motion was convertible into heat1 but did not trace the motion to its source1 so far as we know1 in the sun4 ,it is only forty-six years since ,professor ,joule first demonstrated the mutual relations of all the manifestations of nature's energy4 ,thirty-nine years only have passed since he announced the great law of the convertibility of force4 ,he constructed a miniature churn which held one pound of water1 and connected the revolving paddle of the churn with a wheel moved by a pound weight1 wound up the weight1 and set the paddle in motion4 ,a thermometer detected the change of temperature and a graduated scale marked the distance traversed by the descending weight4 ,repeated experiments showed that a pound weight falling #ggb feet would raise the temperature of water one degree1 and that this was an unvarying law4 ,this was transferring gravitation to heat1 and the law held good when applied to electricity1 magnetism1 and chemical affinity1 leading to the conclusion that they were severally manifestations of one universal power4--,congregationalist4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,early ,,electric ,,lighting4 ,the opening of the new station of the ,electric ,lighting ,co41 of ,salem1 ,mass41 was recently celebrated with appropriate festivities4 ,among the letters of regret from those unable to attend the opening was the following from ,prof4 ,moses ,g4 ,farmer3 ,,eliot1 ,me41 ,aug4 #e1 #ahhi4 ,to the ,salem ,electric ,lighting ,company1 ,charles ,h4 ,price1 ,president3 ,,gentlemen3 ,it would give me great pleasure to accept your kind invitation to be present at the opening of your new station in ,salem on the #hth of this present ,august4 ,it is now thirty years since the first dwelling house in ,salem was lighted by electricity4 ,that little obscure dwelling1 #aa ,pearl ,street1 formerly owned by ',pa' ,webb1 had the honor to be illuminated by the effulgent electric beam during every evening of ,july1 #ahei1 as some of your honored residents1 perhaps1 well remember4 ,mr4 ,george ,d4 ,phippen can doubtless testify to one or more evenings2 ,mr4 ,wm4 ,h4 ,mendell1 of ,boston1 can also add his testimony2 dozens of others could also do the same1 had not some of them already passed to the 'great beyond1' among whom ,i well recollect the interest taken by the late and honored ,henry ,l4 ,williams1 ,mr4 ,j4 ,g4 ,felt1 and ,i do not know how many others4 ,i well remember reading some of the very finest print standing with my back to the front wall and reading by the light of a #cb candle power lamp on the northernmost end of the mantel piece in the parlor2 very possibly the hole in which the lamp was fastened remains to this day4 ,in a little closet in the rear sleeping room was a switch which could be turned in one direction and give a beautiful glow light1 while if turned in the other direction1 it instantly gave as beautiful a dark4 ,my then #ab year old daughter used to surprise and please her visitors by suddenly turning on and off the 'glim4' ,it is not well to despise the day of small things1 for although the dynamo had not at that date put in an appearance1 and though ,i used thirty-six ,smee cells of six gallons capacity each1 yet ,i demonstrated then and there that the incandescent electric light was a possibility1 and although ,i innocently remarked to the late ,samuel ,w4 ,bates1 of ,boston1 who with his partner1 ,mr4 ,chauncey ,smith1 furnished so generously in the interest of science1 not wholly without hope of return1 the funds for the experiment1 that it 'did not take much zinc1' and though ,mr4 ,bates as naively replied1 ',i notice that it takes some silver1 though1' still it was then and there heralded as the coming grand illuminant for the dwelling4 ,i am thankful to have lived to see my predictions partly fulfilled4 ,during the early fifties ,i published a statement something like this3 ',one pound of coal will furnish gas enough to maintain a candle light for fifteen hours4 ,one pound of gas 7the product of five pounds of coal7 will1 in a good fishtail gas burner1 furnish one candle light for seventy-five hours4 ,one pound of coal burned in a good furnace1 under a good boiler1 driving a good steam engine1 turning a good magneto-electric machine1 will give a candle light for one thousand hours4 ,but if all the energy locked up in one pound of pure carbon could be wholly converted into light1 it would maintain one candle light for more than one and a half years4' ,so1 gentlemen1 nil desperandum2 there is still room for improvement4 ,let your motto be ',excelsior4' ,possibly you may have already extracted from one-fifteenth to one-twelfth of the energy stored in the pound of carbon1 but hardly more4 ,go on1 go on1 and bring it so cheap as to reach the humblest dwelling when you shall celebrate the centennial of the opening of your new station4 ,i do most sincerely regret that ,i cannot be with you in the flesh4 ,i am1 like ,ixion of old1 confined to a wheel 7chair in my case71 cannot walk1 cannot even stand2 hence1 owing to the impairment of my understanding 788871 ,i must wish you all the enjoyments of the evening1 and gladly content myself that you have made so much possible4 ,very truly yours1 ,,moses ,g4 ,,farmer4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,modern ,,theory ,,of ,,light4#a ,footnote #a3 ,being the general substance of a lecture to the ,ashmolean ,society in the ,university of ,oxford1 on ,monday1 ,june #c1 #ahhi4 ,reprinted from the ,liverpool ,university ,college ,magazine4 ,by ,prof4 ,,oliver ,,lodge4 ,to persons occupied in other branches of learning1 and not directly engaged in the study of physical science1 some rumor must probably have traveled of the stir and activity manifest at the present time among the votaries of that department of knowledge4 ,it may serve a useful purpose if ,i try and explain to outsiders what this stir is mainly about1 and why it exists4 ,there is a proximate and there is an ultimate cause4 ,the proximate cause is certain experiments exhibiting in a marked and easily recognizable way the already theoretically predicted connection between electricity and light4 ,the ultimate cause is that we begin to feel inklings and foretastes of theories1 wider than that of gravitation1 more fundamental than any theories which have yet been advanced2 theories which if successfully worked out will carry the banner of physical science far into the dark continent of metaphysics1 and will illuminate with a clear philosophy much that is at present only dimly guessed4 ,more explicitly1 we begin to perceive chinks of insight into the natures of electricity1 of ether1 of elasticity1 and even of matter itself4 ,we begin to have a kinetic theory of the physical universe4 ,we are living1 not in a ,newtonian1 but at the beginning of a perhaps still greater ,thomsonian era4 ,greater1 not because any one man is probably greater than ,newton1#b but because of the stupendousness of the problems now waiting to be solved4 ,there are a dozen men of great magnitude1 either now living or but recently deceased1 to whom what we now know toward these generalizations is in some measure due1 and the epoch of complete development may hardly be seen by those now alive4 ,it is proverbially rash to attempt prediction1 but it seems to me that it may well take a period of fifty years for these great strides to be fully accomplished4 ,if it does1 and if progress goes on at anything like its present rate1 the aspect of physical science bequeathed to the latter half of the twentieth century will indeed excite admiration1 and when the populace are sufficiently educated to appreciate it1 will form a worthy theme for poetry1 for oratorios1 and for great works of art4 ,footnote #b3 ,though1 indeed1 a century hence it may be premature to offer an opinion on such a point4 ,to attempt to give any idea of the drift of progress in all the directions which ,i have hastily mentioned1 to attempt to explain the beginnings of the theories of elasticity and of matter1 would take too long1 and might only result in confusion4 ,i will limit myself chiefly to giving some notion of what we have gained in knowledge concerning electricity1 ether1 and light4 ,even that is far too much4 ,i find ,i must confine myself principally to light1 and only treat of the others as incidental to that4 ,for now well nigh a century we have had a wave theory of light2 and a wave theory of light is quite certainly true4 ,it is directly demonstrable that light consists of waves of some kind or other1 and that these waves travel at a certain well-known velocity1 seven times the circumference of the earth per second1 taking eight minutes on the journey from the sun to the earth4 ,this propagation in time of an undulatory disturbance necessarily involves a medium4 ,if waves setting out from the sun exist in space eight minutes before striking our eyes1 there must necessarily be in space some medium in which they exist and which conveys them4 ,waves we cannot have unless they be waves in something4 ,no ordinary medium is competent to transmit waves at anything like the speed of light2 hence the luminiferous medium must be a special kind of substance1 and it is called the ether4 ,the luminiferous ether it used to be called1 because the conveyance of light was all it was then known to be capable of2 but now that it is known to do a variety of other things also1 the qualifying adjective may be dropped4 ,wave motion in ether1 light certainly is2 but what does one mean by the term wave8 ,the popular notion is1 ,i suppose1 of something heaving up and down1 or1 perhaps1 of something breaking on the shore in which it is possible to bathe4 ,but if you ask a mathematician what he means by a wave1 he will probably reply that the simplest wave is y a sin 7p t - n x71 and he might possibly refuse to give any other answer4 ,and in refusing to give any other answer than this1 or its equivalent in ordinary words1 he is entirely justified2 that is what is meant by the term wave1 and nothing less general would be all-inclusive4 ,translated into ordinary ,english the phrase signifies a disturbance periodic both in space and time4 ,anything thus doubly periodic is a wave2 and all waves1 whether in air as sound waves1 or in ether as light waves1 or on the surface of water as ocean waves1 are comprehended in the definition4 ,what properties are essential to a medium capable of transmitting wave motion8 ,roughly we may say two--elasticity and inertia4 ,elasticity in some form1 or some equivalent of it1 in order to be able to store up energy and effect recoil2 inertia1 in order to enable the disturbed substance to overshoot the mark and oscillate beyond its place of equilibrium to and fro4 ,any medium possessing these two properties can transmit waves1 and unless a medium possesses these properties in some form or other1 or some equivalent for them1 it may be said with moderate security to be incompetent to transmit waves4 ,but if we make this latter statement1 one must be prepared to extend to the terms elasticity and inertia their very largest and broadest signification1 so as to include any possible kind of restoring force and any possible kind of persistence of motion respectively4 ,these matters may be illustrated in many ways1 but perhaps a simple loaded lath or spring in a vise will serve well enough4 ,pull aside one end1 and its elasticity tends to make it recoil2 let it go1 and its inertia causes it to overshoot its normal position2 both causes together cause it to swing to and fro till its energy is exhausted4 ,a regular series of such springs at equal intervals in space1 set going at regular intervals of time one after the other1 gives you at once a wave motion and appearance which the most casual observer must recognize as such4 ,a series of pendulums will do just as well4 ,any wave-transmitting medium must similarly possess some form of elasticity and of inertia4 ,but now proceed to ask what is this ether which in the case of light is thus vibrating8 ,what corresponds to the elastic displacement and recoil of the spring or pendulum8 ,what corresponds to the inertia whereby it overshoots its mark8 ,do we know these properties in the ether in any other way8 ,the answer1 given first by ,clerk ,maxwell1 and now reiterated and insisted on by experiments performed in every important laboratory in the world1 is3 ,the elastic displacement corresponds to electrostatic charge 7roughly speaking1 to electricity74 ,the inertia corresponds to magnetism4 ,this is the basis of the modern electro-magnetic theory of light4 ,now let me illustrate electrically how this can be4 ,the old and familiar operation of charging a ,leyden jar--the storing up of energy in a strained dielectric1 any electrostatic charging whatever--is quite analogous to the drawing aside of our flexible spring4 ,it is making use of the elasticity of the ether to produce a tendency to recoil4 ,letting go the spring is analogous to permitting a discharge of the jar--permitting the strained dielectric to recover itself1 the electrostatic disturbance to subside4 ,in nearly all the experiments of electrostatics1 ethereal elasticity is manifest4 ,next consider inertia4 ,how would one illustrate the fact that water1 for instance1 possesses inertia--the power of persisting in motion against obstacles--the power of possessing kinetic energy8 ,the most direct way would be to take a stream of water and try suddenly to stop it4 ,open a water tap freely and then suddenly shut it4 ,the impetus or momentum of the stopped water makes itself manifest by a violent shock to the pipe1 with which everybody must be familiar4 ,the momentum of water is utilized by engineers in the water ram4 ,a precisely analogous experiment in electricity is what ,faraday called the extra current4 ,send a current through a coil of wire round a piece of iron1 or take any other arrangement for developing powerful magnetism1 and then suddenly stop the current by breaking the circuit4 ,a violent flash occurs if the stoppage is sudden enough1 a flash which means the bursting of the insulating air partition by the accumulated electro-magnetic momentum4 ,briefly1 we may say that nearly all electro-magnetic experiments illustrate the fact of ethereal inertia4 ,now return to consider what happens when a charged conductor 7say a ,leyden jar7 is discharged4 ,the recoil of the strained dielectric causes a current1 the inertia of this current causes it to overshoot the mark1 and for an instant the charge of the jar is reversed2 the current now flows backward and charges the jar up as at first2 back again flows the current1 and so on1 charging and reversing the charge with rapid oscillations until the energy is all dissipated into heat4 ,the operation is precisely analogous to the release of a strained spring or to the plucking of a stretched string4 ,but the discharging body thus thrown into strong electrical vibration is embedded in the all-pervading ether1 and we have just seen that the ether possesses the two properties requisite for the generation and transmission of waves--viz41 elasticity and inertia or density2 hence1 just as a tuning fork vibrating in air excites aerial waves or sound1 so a discharging ,leyden jar in ether excites ethereal waves or light4 ,ethereal waves can therefore be actually produced by direct electrical means4 ,i discharge here a jar1 and the room is for an instant filled with light4 ,with light1 ,i say1 though you can see nothing4 ,you can see and hear the spark indeed--but that is a mere secondary disturbance we can for the present ignore--,i do not mean any secondary disturbance4 ,i mean the true ethereal waves emitted by the electric oscillation going on in the neighborhood of this recoiling dielectric4 ,you pull aside the prong of a tuning fork and let it go2 vibration follows and sound is produced4 ,you charge a ,leyden jar and let it discharge2 vibration follows and light is excited4 ,it is light just as good as any other light4 ,it travels at the same pace1 it is reflected and refracted according to the same laws2 every experiment known to optics can be performed with this ethereal radiation electrically produced1 and yet you cannot see it4 ,why not8 ,for no fault of the light2 the fault 7if there be a fault7 is in the eye4 ,the retina is incompetent to respond to these vibrations--they are too slow4 ,the vibrations set up when this large jar is discharged are from a hundred thousand to a million per second1 but that is too slow for the retina4 ,it responds only to vibrations between #d1jjj billions and #g1jjj billions per second4 ,the vibrations are too quick for the ear1 which responds only to vibrations between #dj and #dj1jjj per second4 ,between the highest audible and the lowest visible vibrations there has been hitherto a great gap1 which these electric oscillations go far to fill up4 ,there has been a great gap simply because we have no intermediate sense organ to detect rates of vibration between #dj1jjj and #d1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj per second4 ,it was1 therefore1 an unexplored territory4 ,waves have been there all the time in any quantity1 but we have not thought about them nor attended to them4 ,it happens that ,i have myself succeeded in getting electric oscillations so slow as to be audible4 ,the lowest ,i have got at present are #abe per second1 and for some way above this the sparks emit a musical note2 but no one has yet succeeded in directly making electric oscillations which are visible1 though indirectly every one does it when they light a candle4 ,here1 however1 is an electric oscillator1 which vibrates #cjj million times a second1 and emits ethereal waves a yard long4 ,the whole range of vibrations between musical tones and some thousand million per second is now filled up4 ,these electro-magnetic waves have long been known on the side of theory1 but interest in them has been immensely quickened by the discovery of a receiver or detector for them4 ,the great though simple discovery by ,hertz of an electric eye1 as ,sir ,w4 ,thomson calls it1 makes experiments on these waves for the first time easy or even possible4 ,we have now a sort of artificial sense organ for their appreciation--an electric arrangement which can virtually see these intermediate rates of vibration4 ,the ,hertz receiver is the simplest thing in the world--nothing but a bit of wire or a pair of bits of wire adjusted so that when immersed in strong electric radiation they give minute sparks across a microscopic air gap4 ,the receiver ,i have here is adapted for the yard-long waves emitted from this small oscillator2 but for the far longer waves emitted by a discharging ,leyden jar an excellent receiver is a gilt wall paper or other interrupted metallic surface4 ,the waves falling upon the metallic surface are reflected1 and in the act of reflection excite electric currents1 which cause sparks4 ,similarly1 gigantic solar waves may produce auror2 and minute waves from a candle do electrically disturb the retina4 ,the smaller waves are1 however1 far the most interesting and the most tractable to ordinary optical experiments4 ,from a small oscillator1 which may be a couple of small cylinders kept sparking into each other end to end by an induction coil1 waves are emitted on which all manner of optical experiments can be performed4 ,they can be reflected by plain sheets of metal1 concentrated by parabolic reflectors1 refracted by prisms1 concentrated by lenses4 ,i have at the college a large lens of pitch1 weighing over three hundredweight1 for concentrating them to a focus4 ,they can be made to show the phenomenon of interference1 and thus have their wave length accurately measured4 ,they are stopped by all conductors and transmitted by all insulators4 ,metals are opaque1 but even imperfect insulators such as wood or stone are strikingly transparent1 and waves may be received in one room from a source in another1 the door between the two being shut4 ,the real nature of metallic opacity and of transparency has long been clear in ,maxwell's theory of light1 and these electrically produced waves only illustrate and bring home the well known facts4 ,the experiments of ,hertz are in fact the apotheosis of that theory4 ,thus1 then1 in every way ,maxwell's #ahfe brilliant perception of the real nature of light is abundantly justified2 and for the first time we have a true theory of light1 no longer based upon analogy with sound1 nor upon a hypothetical jelly or elastic solid4 ,light is an electro-magnetic disturbance of the ether4 ,optics is a branch of electricity4 ,outstanding problems in optics are being rapidly solved now that we have the means of definitely exciting light with a full perception of what we are doing and of the precise mode of its vibration4 ,it remains to find out how to shorten down the waves--to hurry up the vibration until the light becomes visible4 ,nothing is wanted but quicker modes of vibrations4 ,smaller oscillators must be used--very much smaller--oscillators not much bigger than molecules4 ,in all probability--one may almost say certainly--ordinary light is the result of electric oscillation in the molecules of hot bodies1 or sometimes of bodies not hot--as in the phenomenon of phosphorescence4 ,the direct generation of visible light by electric means1 so soon as we have learnt how to attain the necessary frequency of vibration1 will have most important practical consequences4 ,speaking in this university1 it is happily quite unnecessary for me to bespeak interest in a subject by any reference to possible practical applications4 ,but any practical application of what ,i have dealt with this evening is apparently so far distant as to be free from any sordid gloss of competition and company promotion1 and is interesting in itself as a matter of pure science4 ,for consider our present methods of making artificial light2 they are both wasteful and ineffective4 ,we want a certain range of oscillation1 between #g1jjj and #d1jjj billion vibrations per second2 no other is useful to us1 because no other has any effect upon our retina2 but we do not know how to produce vibrations of this rate4 ,we can produce a definite vibration of one or two hundred or thousand per second2 in other words1 we can excite a pure tone of definite pitch2 and we can demand any desired range of such tones continuously by means of bellows and a keyboard4 ,we can also 7though the fact is less well known7 excite momentarily definite ethereal vibrations of some million per second1 as ,i have explained at length2 but we do not at present seem to know how to maintain this rate quite continuously4 ,to get much faster rates of vibration than this we have to fall back upon atoms4 ,we know how to make atoms vibrate2 it is done by what we call heating the substance1 and if we could deal with individual atoms unhampered by others1 it is possible that we might get a pure and simple mode of vibration from them4 ,it is possible1 but unlikely2 for atoms1 even when isolated1 have a multitude of modes of vibration special to themselves1 of which only a few are of practical use to us1 and we do not know how to excite some without also the others4 ,however1 we do not at present even deal with individual atoms2 we treat them crowded together in a compact mass1 so that their modes of vibration are really infinite4 ,we take a lump of matter1 say a carbon filament or a piece of quicklime1 and by raising its temperature we impress upon its atoms higher and higher modes of vibration1 not transmuting the lower into the higher1 but superposing the higher upon the lower1 until at length we get such rates of vibration as our retina is constructed for1 and we are satisfied4 ,but how wasteful and indirect and empirical is the process4 ,we want a small range of rapid vibrations1 and we know no better than to make the whole series leading up to them4 ,it is as though1 in order to sound some little shrill octave of pipes in an organ1 we are obliged to depress every key and every pedal1 and to blow a young hurricane4 ,i have purposely selected as examples the more perfect methods of obtaining artificial light1 wherein the waste radiation is only useless and not noxious4 ,but the old-fashioned plan was cruder even than this2 it consisted simply in setting something burning2 whereby not the fuel but the air was consumed1 whereby also a most powerful radiation was produced1 in the waste waves of which we were content to sit stewing1 for the sake of the minute--almost infinitesimal--fraction of it which enabled us to see4 ,every one knows now1 however1 that combustion is not a pleasant or healthy mode of obtaining light2 but every one does not realize that neither is incandescence a satisfactory and unwasteful method which is likely to be practiced for more than a few decades1 or perhaps a century4 ,look at the furnaces and boilers of a great steam engine driving a group of dynamos1 and estimate the energy expended2 and then look at the incandescent filaments of the lamps excited by them1 and estimate how much of their radiated energy is of real service to the eye4 ,it will be as the energy of a pitch pipe to an entire orchestra4 ,it is not too much to say that a boy turning a handle could1 if his energy were properly directed1 produce quite as much real light as is produced by all this mass of mechanism and consumption of material4 ,there might1 perhaps1 be something contrary to the laws of nature in thus hoping to get and utilize some specific kind of radiation without the rest1 but ,lord ,rayleigh has shown in a short communication to the ,british ,association at ,york that it is not so1 and that1 therefore1 we have a right to try to do it4 ,we do not yet know how1 it is true1 but it is one of the things we have got to learn4 ,any one looking at a common glow-worm must be struck with the fact that not by ordinary combustion1 nor yet on the steam engine and dynamo principle1 is that easy light produced4 ,very little waste radiation is there from phosphorescent things in general4 ,light of the kind able to affect the retina is directly emitted2 and for this1 for even a large supply of this1 a modicum of energy suffices4 ,solar radiation consists of waves of all sizes1 it is true2 but then solar radiation has innumerable things to do besides making things visible4 ,the whole of its energy is useful4 ,in artificial lighting nothing but light is desired2 when heat is wanted it is best obtained separately by combustion4 ,and so soon as we clearly recognize that light is an electric vibration1 so soon shall we begin to beat about for some mode of exciting and maintaining an electrical vibration of any required degree of rapidity4 ,when this has been accomplished the problem of artificial lighting will have been solved4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,on ,,purification ,,of ,,air ,,by ,,ozone--,,with ,,an ,,account ,,of ,a ,,new ,,method4#a ,footnote #a3 ,paper read in ,section ,c1 ,domestic ,health1 at the ,hastings ,health ,congress1 on ,friday1 ,may #c1 #ahhi4 ,by ,dr4 ,b4 ,w4 ,,richardson4 ,during the time when ,i was engaged in my preliminary medical studies--for ,i never admit to this day of being anything less than a medical student--the substance called ozone became the topic of much conversation and speculation4 ,i cannot say that ozone was a discovery of that date1 for in the early part of the century ,von ,marum had observed that when electrical discharges were made through oxygen in a glass cylinder inverted over water1 the water rose in the cylinder as if something had either been taken away from the gas1 or as if the gas itself had been condensed1 and was therefore occupying a smaller space4 ,it had also been observed by many electricians that during a passage of the electric spark through air or oxygen1 there was a peculiar emanation or odor which some compared to fresh sea air1 others to the air after a thunderstorm1 when the sky has become very clear1 the firmament blue1 and the stars1 if visible1 extremely bright4 ,but it was not until the time1 or about the time1 of which ,i have spoken1 #ahdf-di1 that these discovered but unexplained phenomena received proper recognition4 ,the distinguished physicist ,schonbein first1 if ,i may so say1 isolated the substance which yielded the phenomena1 and gave to it the name1 by which it has since generally been known1 of ozone1 which means1 to emit an odor2 a name1 ,i have always thought1 not particularly happy1 but which has become1 practically1 so fully recognized and understood1 that it would be wrong now to disturb it4 ,schonbein made ozone by the action of the electric spark on oxygen4 ,he collected it1 he tested its chemical properties1 he announced it to be oxygen in a modified form1 and he traced its action as an active oxidizer of various substances1 and especially of organic substances1 even when they were in a state of decomposition4 ,but ,schonbein went further than this4 ,he argued that ozone was a natural part of the atmosphere1 and that in places where there was no decomposition1 that is to say1 in places away from great towns1 ozone was present4 ,on the high tower of a cathedral in a big city he discovered ozone2 in the city1 at the foot of the tower1 he found no ozone at the same time4 ,he argued1 therefore1 that the ozone above was used up in purifying the town below1 and so suggested quite a new explanation of the purification of air4 ,the subject was very soon taken up by ,english observers1 and ,i remember well a lecture upon it by ,michael ,faraday1 in which that illustrious philosopher1 confirming ,schonbein1 stated that he had discovered ozone freely on the ,brighton ,downs1 and had found the evidence of it diminishing as he approached ,brighton1 until it was lost altogether in the town itself4 ,such was the beginning of our knowledge of ozone1 the precise nature of which has not yet been completely made out4 ,at the present time it is held to be oxygen condensed4 ,to use a chemical phrase1 the molecule of oxygen1 which in the ordinary state is composed of two atoms1 is condensed1 in ozone1 as three atoms4 ,by the electric spark discharged in dry oxygen as much as #ae per cent4 may1 under proper conditions1 be turned into ozone4 ,ozone has also been found to be heavier than air4 ,professor ,zinno says1 that compared with an equal volume of air its density is equal to #a1feh1 and that it is forty-eight times heavier than hydrogen4 ,heat decomposes it2 at the temperature of boiling water it begins to decompose4 ,in water it is much less soluble than oxygen1 and indeed is practically insoluble2 when made to bubble through boiling water1 it ceases to be ozone4 ,the oxidizing power of ozone is very much greater than that of oxygen1 and1 according to ,saret1 when ozone is decomposed1 one part of it enters into combination1 the other remains simply as oxygen4 ,it is remarkable that some substances1 like turpentine and cinnamon1 absorb ozone and combine with it1 a simple fact of much greater importance than has ever been attached to it4 ,i found1 for instance1 that cinnamon which by exposure to the air has been made odorless and1 as it is said1 spoiled1 can be made to reabsorb ozone and gain a kind of freshness4 ,it is certain also that some substances which are supposed to have disinfecting properties owe what virtues they possess to the presence of ozone4 ,on some grand scale ozone is formed in the air1 and my former friend and colleague1 the late ,dr4 ,moffatt1 of ,hawarden1 with whom ,i wrote a paper on ,meteorology and ,disease1 read before the ,epidemiological ,society in #aheb-ec1 described what he designated ozone periods of the atmosphere1 connecting these with storms4 ,when the atmospheric pressure is decreasing1 when with that there is increasing warmth and moisture1 and when south and southwesterly winds prevail1 then ozone is active2 but when the atmospheric pressure is increasing1 when the air is becoming dry and cold1 and north and northeasterly winds prevail1 then the presence of ozone is less active4 ,these facts have also been put in another way1 namely1 that the maximum period of ozone occurs when there is greatest evaporation of water from the earth1 and the minimum when there is greatest condensation of water on the earth2 a theory which tallies well with the idea that ozone is most freely present when electricity is being produced1 least present when electricity is in smallest quantity4 ,mr4 ,buchan1 reporting on the observations of the ,scottish ,meteorological ,society1 records that ozone is most abundant from ,february to ,june1 when the average amount is #f4j2 and least from ,july to ,january1 when the average is #e4g2 the maximum1 #f4b1 being reached in ,may1 and the minimum1 #e4c1 in ,november4 ,this same excellent observer states that ozone is more abundant on the sea coast than inland2 in the west than the east of ,great ,britain2 in elevated than in low situations2 with southwest than with northeast winds2 in the country than in towns2 and on the windward than the leeward side of towns4 ,recently a very singular hypothesis has been broached in regard to the blue color of the firmament and ozone4 ,it has been observed that when a tube is filled with ozone1 the light transmitted through it is of a blue color2 from which fact it is assumed that the blue color of the sky is due to the presence of this body in the higher atmospheric strata4 ,the hypothesis is in entire accord with the suggestion of ,professor ,dove1 to which ,moffatt always paid the greatest respect1 viz41 that the source of ozone for the whole of the planet is equatorial1 and that the point of development of ozone is where the terrestrial atmosphere raised to its highest altitude1 at the equator1 expands out north and south in opposite directions toward the two poles1 to return to the equator over the earth as the trade winds4 ,it is necessary for all who would understand the applications of ozone for any purpose1 whether for bleaching purposes or pure chemical purposes1 or for medical or sanitary purposes1 to understand these preliminary facts concerning it1 facts which bring me to the particular point to which ,i wish to refer to-day4 ,in my essay describing the model city1 ,hygeiopolis1 it was suggested that in every town there should be a building like a gas house1 in which ozone should be made and stored1 and from which it should be dispensed to every street or house at pleasure4 ,this suggestion was made as the final result of observations which had been going on since ,i first began to work at the subject in #aheb4 ,it occurred to me from the moment when ,i first made ozone by ,schonbein's method1 that the value of it in a hygienic point of view was incalculable4 ,to my then young and enthusiastic mind it seemed that in ozone we had a means of stopping all putrefaction1 of destroying all infectious substances1 and of actually commanding and destroying the causes which produced the great spreading diseases2 and1 although increase of years and greater experience have toned down the enthusiasm1 ,i still believe that here one of the most useful fields for investigation remains almost unexplored4 ,in my first experiments ,i subjected decomposing blood to ozone1 and found that the products of decomposition were instantly destroyed1 and that the fluid was rendered odorless and sweet4 ,i discovered that the red corpuscles of fresh blood decomposed ozone1 and that coagulated blood underwent a degree of solution through its action4 ,i put dead birds and pieces of animal substances that had undergone extreme decomposition into atmospheres containing ozone1 and observed the rapidity with which the products of decomposition were neutralized and rendered harmless4 ,i employed ozone medicinally1 by having it inhaled by persons who were suffering from foetor of the breath1 and with remarkable success1 and ,i began to employ it and have employed it ever since 7that is to say1 for thirty-seven years71 for purposes of disinfection and deodorization1 in close rooms1 closets1 and the like4 ,i should have used it much more largely but for one circumstance1 namely1 the almost impracticable difficulty of making it with sufficient ease and in sufficient quantities to meet the necessities of sanitary practice4 ,we are often obstructed in this way4 ,we know of something exceedingly useful1 but we cannot utilize it4 ,this was the case with ozone4 ,i hope now that difficulty is overcome4 ,if it is1 we shall start from this day on a new era in regard to ozone as an instrument of sanitation4 ,as we have seen1 ozone was originally made by charging dry oxygen or common dry air with electricity from sparks or points4 ,afterward ,faraday showed that it could be made by holding a warm glass rod in vapor of ether4 ,again he showed that it could be made by passing air over bright phosphorus half immersed in water4 ,then ,siemens modified the electric process by inventing his well known ozone tube1 which consists of a wide glass tube coated with tinfoil on its outside1 and holding within it a smaller glass tube coated with tinfoil on its surface4 ,when a current of dry air or oxygen was passed in current between these two tubes1 and the electric spark from a ,ruhmkorf coil was discharged by the terminal wires connected with tinfoil surfaces1 ozone was freely produced1 and this was no doubt the best method1 for by means of a double-acting hand bellows currents of ozone could be driven over very freely4 ,one of these tubes with hand bellows attached1 which ,i have had in use for twenty-four years1 is before the meeting1 and answers as well as ever4 ,the practical difficulty lies in the requirement of a battery1 a large coil1 and a separate bellows as well as the tube4 ,my dear and most distinguished friend1 the late ,professor ,polli1 of ,milan1 tried to overcome the difficulties arising from the use of the coil by making ozone chemically1 namely1 by the decomposition of permanganate of potassa with strong sulphuric acid4 ,he placed the permanganate in glass vessels1 moistened it gradually with the acid1 and then allowed the ozone1 which is formed1 to diffuse into the air4 ,in this way he endeavored1 as ,i had done1 to purify the air of rooms1 especially those vitiated by the breaths of many people4 ,when he visited me1 not very long before his death1 he was enthusiastic as to the success that must attend the utilization of ozone for purification1 and when ,i expressed a practical doubt1 he rallied me by saying ,i must not desert my own child4 ,at the theater ,la ,scala1 on the occasion of an unusually full attendance1 ,polli collected the condensible part of the exhaled organic matter1 by means of a large glass bell filled with ice and placed over the circular opening in the roof1 which corresponds with the large central light4 ,the deposit on this bell was liquid and had a mouldy smell2 was for some few days limpid1 but then became very thick and had a nauseous odor4 ,when mixed with a solution of one part glucose to four parts of water1 and kept at a temperature of from #bj to #bd ,c41 this liquid underwent a slow fermentation1 with the formation1 on the superficies1 of green must2 during the same period of time1 and placed under the same conditions1 a similar glucose solution underwent no change whatever4 ,by the use of his ozone bottles ,polli believed that he had supplied a means most suitable for directly destroying in the air miasmatic principles1 without otherwise interfering with the respiratory functions4 ,the ozonized air had neither a powerful nor an offensive smell1 and it might be easily and economically made4 ,the smell of ozone was scarcely perceptible1 and was far less disagreeable than chlorine1 bromine1 and iodine1 while it was more efficacious than either of these2 if1 therefore1 its application as a purifier of a vitiated air succeeded1 it would probably supply all the exigences of defective ventilation in crowded atmospheres4 ,in confined places vessels might be placed containing mixtures of permanganate of potassa or soda and acid in proper quantities1 and of which the duration of the action was known2 or sulphuric acid could be dropped upon the permanganate4 ,this idea of applying ozone was no doubt very ingenious1 and in the bottles before us on the table1 which have been prepared in ,hastings by ,mr4 ,rossiter1 we see it in operation4 ,the disadvantages of the plan are that manipulation with strong sulphuric acid is never an agreeable or safe process1 and that the ozone evolved cannot be on a large scale without considerable trouble4 ,in #ahge ,dr4 ,lender published a process for the production of ozone4 ,in this process he used equal parts of manganese1 permanganate of potash1 and oxalic acid4 ,when this mixture is placed in contact with water1 ozone is quickly generated4 ,for a room of medium size two spoonfuls of this powder1 placed in a dish and occasionally diluted with water1 would be sufficient4 ,as the ozone is developed1 it disinfects the surrounding air without producing cough4 ,lender's process is very useful when ozone is wanted on a limited scale4 ,we have some of it here prepared by ,mr4 ,rossiter1 and it answers exceedingly well2 but it would be impossible to generate sufficient ozone by this plan for the large application that would be required should it come into general use4 ,the process deserves to be remembered1 and the physician may find it valuable as a means by which ozone may be medically applied1 to wounds1 or by inhalation when there are foetid exhalations from the mouth or nostrils4 ,a ,,new ,,method4 ,for the past ten or fifteen years the manufacture of ozone1 for the reasons related above1 has remained in abeyance1 and it is to a new mode1 which will1 ,i trust1 mark another stage of advancement1 that ,i now wish to direct attention4 ,some years since1 ,mr4 ,wimshurst1 a most able electrician1 invented the electrical machine which goes by his name4 ,the machine1 as will be seen from the specimen of it on the table1 looks something like the old electrical machine1 but differs in that there is no friction1 and that the plates of glass with their metal sectors1 separated a little distance from each other1 revolve1 when the handle of the machine is turned1 in opposite directions4 ,the machine when it is in good working order 7and it is very easily kept in good working order7 produces electricity abundantly1 and in working it ,i observed that ozone was so freely generated1 that more than once the air of my laboratory became charged with ozone to an oppressive degree4 ,the fact led me to use this machine for the production of ozone on a large scale1 in the following way4 ,from the terminals of the machine two wires are carried and are conducted1 by their terminals1 to an ozone generator formed somewhat after the manner of ,siemens'1 but with this difference1 that the discharge is made through a series of fine points within the cylinders4 ,the machine is placed on a table with the ozone generator at the back of it1 and can be so arranged that with the turning of the handle which works the machine a blast of air is carried through the generator4 ,thus by one action electricity is generated1 sparks are discharged in the ozone generator1 air is driven through1 and ozone is delivered over freely4 ,if it be wished to use pure oxygen instead of common air1 nothing more is required than to use compressed oxygen and to allow a gentle current to pass through the ozone generator in place of air4 ,for this purpose ,brin's compressed oxygen is the purest and best2 but for ordinary service atmospheric air is sufficient4#b ,footnote #b3 ,for illustration to-day1 ,messrs ,mayfield1 the electrical engineers of ,queen ,victoria ,street1 ,e4 ,c41 have been good enough to lend me a machine fitted up on the plan named4 ,it works so effectively that ,i can make the ozone given off from it detectable in every part of this large hall4 ,the advantages of this apparatus are as follows3 #a4 ,with care it is always ready for use1 and as no battery is required nor anything more than the turning of a handle1 any person can work it4 #b4 ,it can be readily moved about from one part of a room or ward to another part4 #c4 ,if required for the sick it can be wheeled near the bedside and1 by a tube1 the ozone it emits can be brought into action in any way desired by the physician4 ,i refer in the above to the minor uses of ozone by this method1 but ,i should add that it admits of application on a much grander scale4 ,it would now be quite easy in any public institution to have a room in which a large compound ,wimshurst could be worked with a gas engine1 and from which1 with the additional apparatus named1 ozone could be distributed at pleasure into any part of the building4 ,on a still larger scale ozone could be supplied to towns by this method1 as suggested in ,hygeiopolis1 the model city4 ,it will occur1 ,i doubt not1 to the learned president of this section1 and to others of our common profession1 that care will have to be taken in the application of ozone that it be used with discretion4 ,this is true4 ,it has been observed in regard to diseases1 that in the presence of some diseases ozone is absent in the atmosphere1 but that with other diseases ozone is present in abundance4 ,during epidemics of cholera1 ozone is at a minimum4 ,during other epidemics1 like influenza1 it has been at a maximum4 ,in our paper ,dr4 ,moffatt and ,i classified diseases under both conditions1 and the difference must never be forgotten1 since in some diseases we might by the use of ozone do mischief instead of good4 ,moreover1 as my published experiments have shown1 prolonged inhalation of ozone produces headache1 coryza1 soreness of the eyes1 soreness of the throat1 general malaise1 and all the symptoms of severe influenza cold4 ,warm-blooded animals1 also1 exposed to it in full charge1 suffer from congestion of the lungs1 which may prove rapidly fatal4 ,with care1 however1 these dangers are easily avoided1 the point of practice being never to charge the air with ozone too abundantly or too long4 ,a simple test affords good evidence as to presence of ozone4 ,if into twenty ounces of water there be put one ounce of starch and forty grains of potassium iodide1 and the whole be boiled together1 a starch will be made which can be used as a test for ozone4 ,if ozone be passed through this starch the potassium is oxidized1 and the iodine1 set free1 strikes a blue color with the starch4 ,or bibulous paper can be dipped in the starch1 dried and cut into slips1 and these slips being placed in the air will indicate when ozone is present4 ,in disinfecting or purifying the air of a room with ozone1 there is no occasion to stop until the test paper1 by change of color1 shows that the ozone has done its work of destroying the organic matter which is the cause of impurity or danger4 ,for my own part1 ,i have never seen the slightest risk from the use of ozone in an impure air4 ,the difficulty has always been to obtain sufficient ozone to remove the impurity1 and it is this difficulty which ,i hope now to have conquered4--,the ,asclepiad4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,heat ,,in ,,man4 ,at a recent meeting of the ,physiological ,society of ,berlin1 ,prof4 ,zuntz spoke on heat regulation in man1 basing his remarks on experiments made by ,dr4 ,loewy4 ,the store of heat in the human body at any one time is very large1 equal1 in fact1 to nearly all the heat produced by the body during twenty hours1 hence the heat given off to a calorimeter during a given period cannot be taken as a measure of the heat production4 ,this determination must be based rather upon the amount of oxygen consumed and of carbonic acid gas given off4 ,the purpose of the experiments was to ascertain what alteration the gaseous interchange of the body undergoes by the application of cold1 inasmuch as existing data on this point are largely contradictory4 ,the observations were made on a number of men whose respiratory gases were compared1 during complete rest1 when they were at one time clothed1 at another time naked1 at temperatures from #ab to #ae ,c41 and in warm and cold baths4 ,each experiment lasted from half an hour to an hour1 during which period the gases were repeatedly analyzed4 ,as a result of fifty-five experiments1 twenty showed no alteration of oxygen consumption as the result of cooling1 nine gave a lessened consumption1 while the remaining twenty-six showed an increased using up of oxygen4 ,this diversity of result is explicable on the basis of observations made by ,prof4 ,zuntz1 who was himself experimented upon1 as to his subjective heat sensations during the experiments4 ,he found that after the first impression due to the application of cold is overcome1 it was quite easy to maintain himself in a perfectly passive condition2 subsequently it required a distinct effort of the will to refrain from shivering and throwing the muscles into activity1 and finally even this became no longer possible1 and involuntary shivering and muscular contraction supervened1 as soon as the body temperature 7in ano7 had fallen to #a ,c4 ,during the first stage of cooling1 ,zuntz's oxygen consumption showed a uniform diminution2 during the period also in which shivering was repressed by an effort of the will1 cooling led to no increased consumption of oxygen1 but as soon as shivering became involuntary there was at once an increased using up of oxygen and excretion of carbonic acid4 ,this explains the differences in the results of ,dr4 ,loewy's experiments1 and may be taken to show that in man1 and presumably in large animals1 heat regulation as directly dependent upon alteration 7fall7 in temperature of the surrounding medium does not exist2 the increased heat production is rather the outcome of the movements resulting from the application of cold to the body4 ,in small animals1 on the other hand1 there undoubtedly exists a heat regulation dependent upon an increased activity of chemical changes in the tissues set up by the application of cold to the surface of the body1 and in this case the thermotaxic centers in the brain most probably play some part4--,dr4 ,herter gave an account of experiments made by ,dr4 ,popoff on the artificial digestion of various and variously cooked meats4 ,lean beef and the flesh of eels and flounders were digested in artificial gastric juice2 the amount of raw flesh thus peptonized was in all cases greater than that of cooked meat similarly treated4 ,the flesh was shredded and heated by steam to #ajj ,c4 ,the result was the same for beef as for fish4 ,when compared with each other1 beef was1 on the whole1 the most digestible1 but the amount of fish flesh which was peptonized was sufficiently great to do away with the evil repute which fish still has in ,germany as a proteid food4 ,smoked meat differed in no essential extent from raw meat as regards its digestibility4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,preservation ,,of ,,spiders ,,for ,,the ,,cabinet4 ,for several years past1 ,i have devoted a portion of my leisure time to the arrangement of the collection of ,arachnid of the ,natural ,history ,museum of the ,university of ,gand4 ,this collection1 which is partially a result of my own captures1 is quite a large one1 for a university museum1 since it comprises more than six hundred ,european and foreign specimens4 ,each group of individuals of the small forms and each individual of the large forms is contained in a bottle of alcohol closed with a ground glass stopper1 and1 whenever possible1 the specimens have been spread out and fixed upon strips of glass4 ,the loss of alcohol through evaporation is almost entirely prevented by paraffining the stoppers and tying a piece of bladder over them4 ,properly labeled1 the series has a very satisfactory aspect1 and is easily consulted for study4 ,the reader1 however1 will readily understand how much time and patience such work requires1 and can easily imagine how great an amount of space the collection occupies1 it being at least twenty times greater than that that would be taken up by a collection of an equal number of insects mounted in the ordinary way on pins and kept in boxes4 ,these inconveniences led me to endeavor to find out whether there was not some way of preserving spiders1 properly so called1 in a dry state1 and without distortion or notable modification of their colors4 ,experience long ago taught me that pure and simple desiccation1 after a more or less prolonged immersion in alcohol1 gives passable results only with scorpions1 galeodes1 phrynes1 and mygales1 and consequently with arachnides having thick integuments1 while it is entirely unsuccessful with most of the spiders4 ,the abdomen of these shrivels1 the characteristic colors disappear in great part1 and the animals become unrecognizable4 ,something else was therefore necessary1 and ,i thought of carbolated glycerine4 ,my process1 which ,i have tried only upon the common species of the country--,tegenaria domestica1 ,epeira cucurbitina1 ,zilla inclinata1 etc41 having furnished me with preparations that were generally satisfactory4 ,i think ,i shall be doing collectors a service by publishing it in the ,naturaliste4 ,the specimens should first be deprived of moisture1 that is to say1 they should be allowed to remain eight or ten days in succession in #ej per cent4 alcohol and in pure commercial alcohol4 ,absolute alcohol is not necessary4 ,after being taken from the alcohol1 and allowed to drain1 the specimens are immersed in a mixture compound of ,pure glycerine #b volumes1 ,pure carbolic acid in crystals #a volume4 ,in this they ought to remain at least a week1 but there will be no harm if they are left therein indefinitely1 so that the collections of summer may be mounted during winter evenings4 ,what follows is a little more delicate1 although very easy4 ,after being removed from the carbolated glycerine1 the spiders are placed upon several folds of white filtering paper1 and are changed from time to time until the greatest part of the liquid has been absorbed4 ,an insect pin is then passed through the cephalothorax of each individual and is inserted in the support upon which the final desiccation is to take place4 ,this support consists of a piece of sheet cork tacked or glued at the edges to a piece of wood at least one inch in thickness4 ,upon the cork are placed four or five folds of filtering paper1 so that the ventral surface of the pinned spider is in contact with this absorbing surface4 ,for the rest1 the legs1 palpi1 spinnerets1 etc41 are spread out by means of fine pins1 precisely as would be done in the case of coleoptera4 ,illustration3 ,,setting ,,board ,,for ,,spiders4 ,a4 ,absorbent papers4 ,b4 ,sheet cork4 ,c4 ,wooden support4 ,the setting board is put for two or three months in a very dry place under cover from dust4 ,the spiders thus treated will scarcely have changed in appearance1 the abdomen of the largest ,epeiras will have preserved its form1 the hairs will in nowise have become agglutinated1 and a person would never suspect that glycerine had performed the role4 ,the forms with a large abdomen require a special precaution2 it is necessary to pass the mounting pin through a piece of thin cardboard or of gelatine prolonged behind under the abdomen1 because the latter is heavy1 and the pedicel that connects it with the cephalothorax easily breaks4 ,the specimens are mounted in boxes lined with cork1 just as insects are4 ,as there is nothing simpler than to have in one's laboratory three bottles1 two of them containing alcohol and the other containing carbolated glycerine1 and as it is easy to make setting boards capable of holding from twenty to thirty individuals at once1 it will be seen that1 with a little practice1 the method is scarcely any more complicated than the one daily employed for coleoptera and orthoptera1 which latter1 too1 must pass through alcohol1 and be pinned1 spread out1 and dried4 ,there are but two additional elements1 carbolated glycerine and absorbent paper4 ,i do not estimate the time necessary for desiccation as being very long1 since the zoologist can occupy himself with other subjects while the specimens are drying4 ,let us add that the process renders the preservation indefinite1 and that destructive insects are not to be feared4 ,some vertebrates1 such as monkeys1 that ,i preserved in the flesh ten years ago1 by a nearly identical method1 are still intact4--,f4 ,plateau1 in ,le ,naturaliste4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,dried ,,wine ,,grapes4 ,according to a report of the ,committee of the ,grape ,growers' and ,wine ,maker's ,association of ,california1 the drying of wine grapes on a large scale was begun during the vintage season of #ahhg1 in which season about eight carloads in all were made and sold1 the bulk of which came from the vicinity of ,fresno2 that year1 the committee are informed1 the growers netted about three and a half cents per pound4 ,during the season of #ahhh about #aab carloads were dried1 packed1 and sold1 netting the growers from two and a half to three and a half cents per pound1 depending on the quality of the fruit4 ,the great bulk of that year's product has entered into consumption1 but there yet remains unsold to consumers1 we are informed1 about ten carloads1 which1 it is expected1 will be sold during the next three months4 ,it has been observed by those handling this product that the largest sales of dried wine grapes in #ahhh and #ahhi took place at those points to which the first lots were shipped in #ahhg1 which would show that as the product becomes better known it finds a readier market4 ,dried wine grapes are prepared in a similar manner to raisins2 that is they are dried in the sun1 but do not require the same care in handling that are given to raisins4 ,wooden trays #b #c are sometimes used1 but it is by no means necessary to go to the expense of procuring trays1 as it has been found that a good quality of coarse brown paper will answer every purpose1 and this1 with care1 may be made to last two or three seasons4 ,the drying was last season principally done on the bare ground1 but there is much loss by shelling1 as those dried are required to be turned2 a pitchfork is used for that purpose4 ,brown building paper can be procured of city paper dealers in large rolls at four and a half cents per pound2 according to the thickness1 it will cost from one and three-quarters to three and a half cents per square yard4 ,a thin1 tough1 waterproof paper is also made in rolls at about six cents a square yard4 ,wine grapes dry in from ten days to three weeks1 according to variety and weather1 and with the exception of ,malvoisie1 ,rose of ,peru1 and ,black ,hamburg1 from three and a half to four and a half tons of the green fruit are required to make one of the dried2 these three varieties1 however1 being large1 meaty1 and a firm pulp1 do not require more than from three to three and a half tons of the green fruit to produce one ton of dried1 and are1 therefore1 the most profitable for drying2 they also command better values in the market4 ,the grapes are sufficiently dried when1 on being rolled between the thumb and finger1 no moisture exudes1 and also when the stems are found to be dry and brittle1 so that they can be separated readily from the berries4 ,after the grapes have reached the proper state of dryness1 they are taken in boxes or sacks to the packing house1 where they are stemmed and cleaned1 after which they are packed in white cotton sacks1 holding from fifty to seventy-five pounds each1 and when marked are ready for shipment4 ,the stemming and cleaning of the dried grapes is done by special machines designed for that purpose1 which leaves the fruit in a bright1 clean condition attractive to purchasers4 ,these machines are at present built only by ,james ,porteous1 ,fresno1 and are operated either by hand or power4 ,the cost of a stemmer and cleaner complete is #hj1 f4 o4 b4 cars at ,fresno4 ,where several producers can do so1 it would be advisable to club together and get the machine in this way4 ,much extra expense could be avoided and one set of machinery would serve several vineyards1 possibly an entire district where time was not a great object2 or some one person in a district could purchase an outfit and do the work by contract1 going from place to place4 ,the capacity of the stemmer and cleaner is from five to eight tons per day1 when the grapes are in proper condition2 and the cost or charge for stemming1 cleaning1 sacking1 and sewing up the sacks is from four to five dollars per ton when the producer furnishes the sacks4 ,good cotton sacks1 holding about seventy-five pounds1 cost from eight to ten cents each1 including the necessary twine4 ,last year dried grapes were generally sold for cash1 f4 o4 b41 but it is probable that other markets could be secured by selling on consignment4 ,as to the advisability of such a course1 each producer must himself be the judge4 ,it is1 however1 quite certain that until consumers have an opportunity to try this product1 the sales will necessarily be more or less limited1 unless vigorously pushed by merchants and others interested in extending the markets for ,california products in the ,eastern cities not yet tried4 ,the varieties most suitable and profitable for drying1 and especially for consumption in the ,eastern markets1 are the ,malvoisie1 ,rose of ,peru1 ,black ,hamburg1 ,mission1 ,zinfandel1 ,charbono1 ,grenache1 and in some localities the ,carignan1 of the dark varieties1 and the ,feher ,zagos and ,golden ,chasselas of the white grapes2 there are many other white grapes that are excellent when dried1 but are too valuable for wine-making purposes1 or are too small or deficient in sugar for use as dried grapes4 ,the same is true of the dark grapes1 some of which ripen so late that it would be impossible to dry them in the sun1 and the use of artificial heat is1 at present prices1 too expensive4 ,therefore1 the varieties mentioned1 which generally mature early1 are found to be the most suitable for this purpose4 ,this product is sold by dealers in the ,eastern cities for cooking purposes1 and as a substitute for dried fruits1 such as peaches1 apples1 apricots1 etc41 in comparison with which it is usually much cheaper2 while for stewing and for puddings and pies it answers the same purpose4 ,the demand for this product will probably be gauged by the ,eastern fruit crop2 that is1 the quantity that can be disposed of will depend upon the quantity of ,eastern fruit in the market1 and the prices will be largely dependent upon that of dried fruit4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,walnut ,,oil4 ,by ,,thomas ,t4 ,p4 ,,bruce ,,warren4 ,this oil1 which ,i obtained from the fully ripened nut of the ,jugluns regia1 has so many excellent properties1 especially for mixing with artists' colors for fine art work1 that ,i am surprised at the small amount of information available on this interesting oil4 ,walnut oil is largely used for adulterating olive oil1 and to compensate for its high iodine absorption it is mixed with pure lard oil olein1 which also retards the thickening effect due to oxidation4 ,the marc left on expression of the oil is said to be largely used in the manufacture of chocolate4 ,many people1 ,i am told1 prefer walnut oil to olive oil for cooking purposes4 ,the value of this oil for out-door work has been given me by a friend who used it for painting the verandas and jalousies of his house 7near ,como1 ,italy7 some twenty years ago1 and which have not required painting since4 ,in this country1 at least1 walnut oil is beyond the reach of the general painter1 and ,i do not know that the pure oil is to be obtained as a commercial article1 even on a small scale4 ,it was in examining the properties of this and other oils1 used as adulterants of olive oil1 that ,i was obliged to prepare them so as to be sure of getting them in a reliable condition as regards purity4 ,the walnuts were harvested in the autumn of #ahhg1 and kept in a dry airy room until the following ,march4 ,the kernels had shrunk up and contracted a disagreeable acrid taste1 so familiar with old olive oil in which this has been used as an adulterant4 ,most oxidized oils1 especially cotton seed oil1 reveal a similar acrid taste1 but walnut oil has1 in addition1 an unmistakable increase in viscosity4 ,the nuts were opened and the kernels thrown into warm water1 so as to loosen the epidermis2 they were then rubbed in a coarse towel1 so as to blanch them4 ,the decorticated nuts were wiped dry and rubbed to a smooth paste in a marble mortar4 ,the paste was first digested in ,,cs#b1 then placed in a percolator and exhausted with the same solvent1 which was evaporated off4 ,the yield of oil was small1 but probably1 if the nuts had been left to fully ripen on the trees without knocking them off1 the yield might have been greater4 ,it is by no means improbable that oxidation may have rendered a portion of the oil insoluble4 ,the decorticated kernels gave a perfectly sweet1 inodorous1 and almost colorless oil1 which rapidly thickens to an almost colorless1 transparent1 and perfectly elastic skin or film1 which does not darken or crack easily by age4 ,these are properties which1 for fine art painting1 might be of great value in preserving the tinctorial purity and freshness of pigments4 ,sulphur chloride gives a perfectly white product with the fresh oil1 but1 when oxidized1 the product is very dark1 almost black4 ,the iodine absorption of the fresh oil thus obtained is very high1 but falls rapidly by oxidation or blowing4 ,a curious fact has been disclosed with reference to the oxidation of this and similar oils4 ,if such an oil be mixed with lard oil1 olive oil1 or sperm oil1 it thickens by oxidation1 but is perfectly soluble4 ,such a mixture is largely used in weaving or spinning4 ,commercial samples of linseed oil1 when cold-drawn1 have a much higher iodine absorption1 probably due to the same cause4 ,oils extracted by ,,cs#b are very much higher than the same oils1 especially if hot-pressed4--,chem4 ,news4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,pyro ,,developer ,,with ,,metabisulphite ,,of ,,potash4 ,by ,dr4 ,j4 ,m4 ,,eder4 ,lately ,i called attention to the metabisulphite of potassium as an addition to the pyro solution for development1 and can give now some of my experiences with this salt4 ,the metabisulphite of potassium1 which was introduced into the market by ,dr4 ,schuchardt1 and whose correct analysis is not known yet1 is a white crystal1 which in a solid condition1 as well as in an aqueous solution1 has a strong smell of sulphurous acid4 ,an aqueous #b per cent4 solution of this salt dissolves pyrogallic acid to a weak yellowish color1 being distinguished from the more light brown solution of sulphite of soda and pyro4 ,the solution kept very well for four weeks in half-filled bottles1 and showed a better preservation than the usual solution of pyro and sulphite of soda4 ,more than #b per cent4 of the metabisulphite of potassium is without any advantage4 ,if this solution is mixed with soda1 a picture will develop rapidly1 but the same will show a strongly yellow coloration in the gelatine film4 ,sulphite of soda has to be added to the soda solution to obtain an agreeable brownish or black tone in the negatives4 ,if the contents of metabisulphite and pyro-soda developer are increased1 it will act very slowly2 larger quantities of the metabisulphite of potassium1 therefore1 act like a strong retarder4 ,in small quantities there is no injurious retarding action1 but it will have the effect that the plates obtain very clear shadows in this developer1 and that the picture appears slower1 and will strengthen more slowly4 ,the strongly retarding action of larger quantities of metabisulphite might be accounted for in that the bisulphite will give1 with the carbonate of soda1 monosulphite and soda bicarbonate1 which latter is not a strong enough alkali to develop the bromide of silver strongly with pyro4 ,an increase of soda compensates this retarding action of the metabisulphite of potassium4 ,good results were obtained by me with this salt after several tests1 by producing the following solutions3 ,a4 ,pyrogallic acid #d grammes4 ,metabisulphite of potassium #a ,water #ajj c4 c4 ,this solution keeps for weeks in corked bottles4 ,b4 ,crystallized soda #aj grammes4 ,neutral sulphite of soda #ae ,water #ajj c4 c4 ,before using mix-- ,pyro solution ,a #bj c4 c4 ,soda solution ,b #bj ,water #bj ,the developer acts about one and a half times slower than the ordinary pyro soda developer1 approaching to the latter pretty nearly1 and gives to the negatives an agreeable color and softness1 with clear shadows4 ,if the negatives are to be thinner1 more water1 say #cj to #dj c4 c41 is taken4 ,if denser1 then the soda is increased1 and the water in the developer is reduced4 ,an alum bath before fixing is to be recommended4 ,an advantage of this development is the great durability of the pyro-meta sulphite solution4 ,the cost price is about the same as that of the ordinary pyro developer4 ,at all events1 it is worth while to make further investigation with the metabisulphite of potassium1 the same being also a good preservative for hydroquinone solutions4--,photographische ,correspondenz2 ,reported in the ,photo4 ,news4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a ,new ,catalogue of ,valuable ,papers ,contained in ,,scientific ,,american ,,supplement during the past ten years1 sent free of charge to any address4 ,,munn ,,co41 #cfa ,broadway1 ,new ,york4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,scientific ,,american ,architects and ,builders ,edition4 #b4ej a ,year4 ,single ,copies1 #be cts4 ,this is a ,special ,edition of the ,,scientific ,,american1 issued monthly--on the first day of the month4 ,each number contains about forty large quarto pages1 equal to about two hundred ordinary book pages1 forming1 practically1 a large and splendid ,,magazine ,,of ,,architecture1 richly adorned with elegant plates in colors and with fine engravings1 illustrating the most interesting examples of modern ,architectural ,construction and allied subjects4 ,a special feature is the presentation in each number of a variety of the latest and best plans for private residences1 city and country1 including those of very moderate cost as well as the more expensive4 ,drawings in perspective and in color are given1 together with full ,plans1 ,specifications1 ,costs1 ,bills of ,estimate1 and ,sheets of ,details4 ,no other building paper contains so many plans1 details1 and specifications regularly presented as the ,,scientific ,,american4 ,hundreds of dwellings have already been erected on the various plans we have issued during the past year1 and many others are in process of construction4 ,architects1 ,builders1 and ,owners will find this work valuable in furnishing fresh and useful suggestions4 ,all who contemplate building or improving homes1 or erecting structures of any kind1 have before them in this work an almost endless series of the latest and best examples from which to make selections1 thus saving time and money4 ,many other subjects1 including ,sewerage1 ,piping1 ,lighting1 ,warming1 ,ventilating1 ,decorating1 ,laying out of ,grounds1 etc41 are illustrated4 ,an extensive ,compendium of ,manufacturers' ,announcements is also given1 in which the most reliable and approved ,building ,materials1 ,goods1 ,machines1 ,tools1 and ,appliances are described and illustrated1 with addresses of the makers1 etc4 ,the fullness1 richness1 cheapness1 and convenience of this work have won for it the ,,largest ,,circulation of any ,architectural publication in the world4 ,a ,catalogue of valuable books on ,architecture1 ,building1 ,carpentry1 ,masonry1 ,heating1 ,warming1 ,lighting1 ,ventilation1 and all branches of industry pertaining to the art of ,building1 is supplied free of charge1 sent to any address4 ,,munn ,,co41 ,publishers1 #cfa ,broadway1 ,new ,york4 99 99 99 99 99 ,building ,plans and ,specifications4 ,in connection with the publication of the ,,building ,,edition of the ,,scientific ,,american1 ,messrs4 ,munn ,co4 furnish plans and specifications for buildings of every kind1 including ,churches1 ,schools1 ,stores1 ,dwellings1 ,carriage ,houses1 ,barns1 etc4 ,in this work they are assisted by able and experienced architects4 ,full plans1 details1 and specifications for the various buildings illustrated in this paper can be supplied4 ,those who contemplate building1 or who wish to alter1 improve1 extend1 or add to existing buildings1 whether wings1 porches1 bay windows1 or attic rooms1 are invited to communicate with the undersigned4 ,our work extends to all parts of the country4 ,estimates1 plans1 and drawings promptly prepared4 ,terms moderate4 ,address ,,munn ,,co41 ,publishers1 #cfa ,,broadway1 ,,new ,,york4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,scientific ,american ,supplement4 ,,published ,,weekly4 ,terms of ,subscription1 #e a year4 ,sent by mail1 postage prepaid1 to subscribers in any part of the ,united ,states or ,canada4 ,six dollars a year1 sent1 prepaid1 to any foreign country4 ,all the back numbers of ,,the ,,supplement1 from the commencement1 ,january #a1 #ahgf1 can be had4 ,price1 #aj cents each4 ,all the back volumes of ,,the ,,supplement can likewise be supplied4 ,two volumes are issued yearly4 ,price of each volume1 #b4ej stitched in paper1 or #c4ej bound in stiff covers4 ,,combined ,,rates4--,one copy of ,,scientific ,,american and one copy of ,,scientific ,,american ,,supplement1 one year1 postpaid1 #g4jj4 ,a liberal discount to booksellers1 news agents1 and canvassers4 ,,munn ,,co41 ,publishers1 #cfa ,broadway1 ,new ,york1 ,n4 ,y4 99 99 99 99 99 ,useful ,engineering ,books ,manufacturers1 ,agriculturists1 ,chemists1 ,engineers1 ,mechanics1 ,builders1 men of leisure1 and professional men1 of all classes1 need 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directed to the merits of the new patent1 and sales or introduction often easily effected4 ,any person who has made a new discovery or invention can ascertain1 free of charge1 whether a patent can probably be obtained1 by writing to ,,munn ,,co4 ,we also send free our ,hand ,book about the ,patent ,laws1 ,patents1 ,caveats1 ,trade ,marks1 their costs and how procured4 ,address ,,munn ,,co41 #cfa ,broadway1 ,new ,york4 ,branch ,office1 #fbb and #fbd ,f ,st41 ,washington1 ,d4 ,c4