,illustration ,,scientific ,,american ,,supplement ,,no4 #dag ,,new ,,york1 ,,december #bi1 #ahhc ,scientific ,american ,supplement4 ,vol4 ,,xvi1 ,no4 #dag4 ,scientific ,american established #ahde ,scientific ,american ,supplement1 #e a year4 ,scientific ,american and ,supplement1 #g a year4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,table ,,of ,,contents ,i4 ,,engineering ,,and ,,mechanics4--,machine for ,making ,electric ,light ,carbons4--#b figures ,the ,earliest ,gas ,engine ,the ,moving of ,large ,masses4--,with engravings of the removal of a belfry at ,cresentino in #aggf1 and of the winged bulls from ,nineveh to ,mosul in #ahed ,science and ,engineering4--,the relation they bear to one another4 ,by ,,walter ,r4 ,,browne ,hydraulic ,plate ,press4--,with engraving ,fast ,printing ,press for ,engravings4--,with engraving ,french ,cannon ,apparatus for ,heating by ,gas4--#e figures ,improved ,gas ,burner for ,singeing ,machines4--#a figure ,,ii4 ,,technology4--,china ,grass1 or ,rhea4--,different processes and apparatus used in preparing the fiber for commerce ,,iii4 ,,architecture4--,woodlands1 ,stoke ,pogis1 ,bucks4--,with engraving4 ,,iv4 ,,electricity1 ,,light1 ,,etc4--,volta ,electric ,induction as ,demonstrated by ,experiment4--,paper read by ,,willoughby ,,smith before the ,society of ,telegraph ,engineers and ,electricians4--,numerous figures ,on ,telpherage4--,the ,transmission of vehicles by electricity to a distance4--,by ,prof4 ,,fleeming ,,jenkin ,new ,electric ,battery ,lights ,the ,siemens ,electric ,railway at ,zankeroda ,mines4--#c figures ,silas' ,chronophore4--#c figures ,v4 ,,natural ,,history4--,a ,new ,enemy of the ,bee ,crystallization of ,honey ,an ,extensive ,sheep ,range ,,vi4 ,,horticulture1 ,,etc4--,the ,zelkowas4--,with full description of the tree1 manner of identification1 etc41 and several engravings showing the tree as a whole1 and the leaves1 fruit1 and flowers in detail ,,vii4 ,,medicine1 ,,hygiene1 ,,etc4-,the ,disinfection of the ,atmosphere4 --,extract from a lecture by ,dr4 ,r4,j4 ,,lee1 delivered at the ,parkes ,museum of ,hygiene4 ,london ,a ,new ,method of ,staining ,bacillus ,tuberculosis ,cure for ,hemorrhoids 99 99 99 99 99 ,,volta-,,electric ,,induction4 ,footnote3 ,a paper read at the ,society of ,telegraph ,engineers and ,electricians on the #hth ,november1 #ahhc ,by ,,willoughby ,,smith4 ,in my presidential address1 which ,i had the pleasure of reading before this society at our first meeting this year1 ,i called attention1 somewhat hurriedly1 to the results of a few of my experiments on induction1 and at the same time expressed a hope that at a future date ,i might be able to bring them more prominently before you4 ,that date has now arrived1 and my endeavor this evening will be to demonstrate to you by actual experiment some of what ,i consider the most important results obtained4 ,my desire is that all present should see these results1 and with that view ,i will try when practicable to use a mirror reflecting galvanometer instead of a telephone4 ,all who have been accustomed to the use of reflecting galvanometers will readily understand the difficulty1 on account of its delicacy1 of doing so where no special arrangements are provided for its use2 but perhaps with a little indulgence on your part and patience on mine the experiments may be brought to a successful issue4 ,illustration3 ,,volta-,,electric ,,induction4 ,reliable records extending over hundreds of years show clearly with what energy and perseverance scientific men in every civilized part of the world have endeavored to wrest from nature the secret of what is termed her phenomena of magnetism1 and1 as is invariably the case under similar circumstances1 the results of the experiments and reasoning of some have far surpassed those of others in advancing our knowledge4 ,for instance1 the experimental philosophers in many branches of science were groping as it were in darkness until the brilliant light of ,newton's genius illumined their path4 ,although1 perhaps1 ,i should not be justified in comparing ,oersted with ,newton1 yet he also discovered what are termed new laws of nature1 in a manner at once precise1 profound1 and amazing1 and which opened a new field of research to many of the most distinguished philosophers of that time1 who were soon engaged in experimenting in the same direction1 and from whose investigations arose a new science1 which was called electro-dynamics4 ,oersted demonstrated from inductive reasoning that every conductor of electricity possessed all the known properties of a magnet while a current of electricity was passing through it4 ,if you earnestly contemplate the important adjuncts to applied science which have sprung from that apparently simple fact1 you will not fail to see the importance of the discovery2 for it was while working in this new field of electro-magnetism that ,sturgeon made the first electro-magnet1 and ,faraday many of his discoveries relating to induction4 ,soon after the discovery by ,oersted just referred to1 ,faraday1 with the care and ability manifest in all his experiments1 showed that when an intermittent current of electricity is passing along a wire it induces a current in any wire forming a complete circuit and placed parallel to it1 and that if the two wires were made into two helices and placed parallel to each other the effect was more marked4 ,this ,faraday designated ,volta-electric induction1 and it is with this kind of induction ,i wish to engage your attention this evening2 for it is a phenomenon which presents some of the most interesting and important facts in electrical science4 ,here are two flat spirals of silk-covered copper wire suspended separately1 spider-web fashion1 in wooden frames marked respectively ,a and ,b4 ,the one marked ,a is so connected that reversals at any desired speed per minute from a battery of one or more cells can be passed through it4 ,the one marked ,b is so connected to the galvanometer and a reverser as to show the deflection caused by the induced currents1 which are momentary in duration1 and in the galvanometer circuit all on the same side of zero1 for as the battery current on making contact produces an induced current in the reverse direction to itself1 but in the same direction on breaking the contact1 of course the one would neutralize the other1 and the galvanometer would not be affected2 the galvanometer connections are therefore reversed with each reversal of the battery current1 and by that means the induced currents are1 as you perceive1 all in the same direction and produce a steady deflection4 ,the connections are as shown on the sheet before you marked #a1 which ,i think requires no further explanation4 ,before proceeding1 please to bear in mind the fact that the inductive effects vary inversely as the square of the distance between the two spirals1 when parallel to each other2 and that the induced current in ,b is proportional to the number of reversals of the battery current passing through spiral ,a1 and also to the strength of the current so passing4 ,faraday's fertile imagination would naturally suggest the question1 ,is this lateral action1 which we call magnetism1 extended to a distance by the action of intermediate particles8 ,if so1 then it is reasonable to expect that all substances would not be affected in the same way1 and therefore different results would be obtained if different media were interposed between the inductor and what ,i will merely call1 for distinction1 the inductometer4 ,with a view to proving this experimentally1 ,faraday constructed three flat helices and placed them parallel to each other a convenient distance apart4 ,the middle helix was so arranged that a voltaic current could be sent through it at pleasure4 ,a differential galvanometer was connected with the other helices in such a manner that when a voltaic current was sent through the middle helix its inductive action on the lateral helices should cause currents in them1 having contrary directions in the coils of the galvanometer4 ,this was a very prettily arranged electric balance1 and by placing plates of different substances between the inductor and one of the inductometers ,faraday expected to see the balance destroyed to an extent which would be indicated by the deflection of the needle of the galvanometer4 ,to his surprise he found that it made not the least difference whether the intervening space was occupied by such insulating bodies as air1 sulphur1 and shellac1 or such conducting bodies as copper and the other non-magnetic metals4 ,these results1 however1 did not satisfy him1 as he was convinced that the interposition of the non-magnetic metals1 especially of copper1 did have an effect1 but that his apparatus was not suitable for making it visible4 ,it is to be regretted that so sound a reasoner and so careful an experimenter had not the great advantage of the assistance of such suitable instruments for this class of research as the mirror-galvanometer and the telephone4 ,but1 although he could not practically demonstrate the effects which by him could be so clearly seen1 it redounds to his credit that1 as the improvement in instruments for this kind of research has advanced1 the results he sought for have been found in the direction in which he predicted4 ,a and ,b will now be placed a definite distance apart1 and comparatively slow reversals from ten ,leclanch cells sent through spiral ,a2 you will observe the amount of the induced current in ,b1 as shown on the scale of the galvanometer in circuit with that spiral4 ,now midway between the two spirals will be placed a plate of iron1 as shown in ,plate #b1 and at once you observe the deflection of the galvanometer is reduced by less than one half1 showing clearly that the presence of the iron plate is in some way influencing the previous effects4 ,the iron will now be removed1 but the spirals left in the same position as before1 and by increasing the speed of the reversals you see a higher deflection is given on the galvanometer4 ,now1 on again interposing the iron plate the deflection falls to a little less than one-half1 as before4 ,i wish this fact to be carefully noted4 ,the experiment will be repeated with a plate of copper of precisely the same dimensions as the iron plate1 and you observe that1 although the conditions are exactly alike in both cases1 the interposition of the copper plate has apparently no effect at the present speed of the reversals1 although the interposition of the iron plate under the same conditions reduced the deflection about fifty per cent4 ,we will now remove the copper plate1 as we did the iron one1 and increase the speed of the reversals to the same as in the experiment with the iron1 and you observe the deflection on the galvanometer is about the same as it was on that occasion4 ,now1 by replacing the copper plate to its former position you will note how rapidly the deflection falls4 ,we will now repeat the experiment with a plate of lead2 you will see that1 like the copper1 it is unaffected at the low speed1 but there the resemblance ceases2 for at the high speed it has but very slight effect4 ,thus these metals1 iron1 copper1 and lead1 appear to differ as widely in their electrical as they do in their mechanical properties4 ,of course it would be impossible to obtain accurate measurements on an occasion like the present1 but careful and reliable measurements have been made1 the results of which are shown on the sheet before you1 marked #c4 ,it will be seen by reference to these results that the percentage of inductive energy intercepted does not increase for different speeds of the reverser in the same rate with different metals1 the increase with iron being very slight1 while with tin it is comparatively enormous4 ,it was observed that time was an important element to be taken into account while testing the above metals1 that is to say1 the lines of force took an appreciable time to polarize the particles of the metal placed in their path1 but having accomplished this1 they passed more freely through it4 ,now let us go more minutely into the subject by the aid of ,plate ,,iv41 ,figs4 #a and #b4 ,in ,fig4 #a let ,a and ,b represent two flat spirals1 spiral ,a being connected to a battery with a key in circuit and spiral ,b connected to a galvanometer2 then1 on closing the battery circuit1 an instantaneous current is induced in spiral ,b4 ,if a non-magnetic metal plate half an inch thick be placed midway between the spirals1 and the experiment repeated1 it will be found that the induced current received by ,b is the same in amount as in the first case4 ,this does not prove1 as would at first appear1 that the metal plate fails to intercept the inductive radiant energy2 and it can scarcely be so1 for if the plate is replaced by a coil of wire1 it is found that induced currents are set up therein1 and therefore inductive radiant energy must have been intercepted4 ,this apparent contradiction may be explained as follows3 ,in ,fig4 #b let ,d represent a source of heat 7a vessel of boiling water for instance7 and ,e a sensitive thermometer receiving and measuring the radiant heat4 ,now1 if for instance a plate of vulcanite is interposed1 it cuts off and absorbs a part of the radiant heat emitted by ,d1 and thus a fall is produced in the thermometer reading4 ,but the vulcanite1 soon becoming heated by the radiant heat cut off and absorbed by itself1 radiates that heat and causes the thermometer reading to return to about its original amount4 ,the false impression is thus produced that the original radiated heat was unaffected by the vulcanite plate2 instead of which1 as a matter of fact1 the vulcanite plate had cut off the radiant heat1 becoming heated itself by so doing1 and was consequently then the radiating body affecting the thermometer4 ,the effect is similar in the case of induction between the two spirals4 ,spiral ,a induces and spiral ,b receives the induced effect4 ,the metal plate being then interposed1 cuts off and absorbs either all or part of the inductive radiant energy emitted by ,a4 ,the inductive radiant energy thus cut off1 however1 is not lost1 but is converted into electrical energy in the metal plate1 thereby causing it to become1 as in the case of the vulcanite in the heat experiment1 a source of radiation which compensates as far as spiral ,b is concerned for the original inductive radiant energy cut off4 ,the only material difference noticeable in the two experiments is that in the case of heat the time that elapses between the momentary fall in the thermometer reading 7due to the interception by the vulcanite plate of the radiant beat7 and the subsequent rise 7due to the interposing plate1 itself radiating that heat7 is long enough to render the effect clearly manifest2 whereas in the case of induction the time that elapses is so exceedingly short that1 unless special precautions are taken1 the radiant energy emitted by the metal plate is liable to be mistaken for the primary energy emitted by the inducing spiral4 ,the current induced in the receiving spiral by the inducing one is practically instantaneous2 but on the interposition of a metal plate the induced current which1 as before described1 is set up by the plate itself has a perceptible duration depending upon the nature and mass of metal thus interposed4 ,copper and zinc produce in this manner an induced current of greater length than metals of lower conductivity1 with the exception of iron1 which gives an induced current of extremely short duration4 ,it will therefore be seen that in endeavoring to ascertain what ,i term the specific inductive resistance of different metals by the means described1 notice must be taken of and allowance made for two points4 ,first1 that the metal plate not only cuts off1 but itself radiates2 and secondly1 that the duration of the induced currents radiated by the plates varies with each different metal under experiment4 ,this explains the fact before pointed out that the apparent percentage of inductive radiant energy intercepted by metal plates varies with the speed of the reversals2 for in the case of copper the induced current set up by such a plate has so long a duration that if the speed of the reverser is at all rapid the induced current has not time to exhaust itself before the galvanometer is reversed1 and thus the current being on the opposite side of the galvanometer tends to produce a lower deflection4 ,if the speed of the reverser be further increased1 the greater part of the induced current is received on the opposite terminal of the galvanometer1 so that a negative result is obtained4 ,we know that it was the strong analogies which exist between electricity and magnetism that led experimentalists to seek for proofs that would identify them as one and the same thing1 and it was the result of ,professor ,oersted's experiment to which ,i have already referred that first identified them4 ,probably the time is not far distant when it will be possible to demonstrate clearly that heat and electricity are as closely allied2 then1 knowing the great analogies existing between heat and light1 may we not find that heat1 light1 and electricity are modifications of the same force or property1 susceptible under varying conditions of producing the phenomena now designated by those terms8 ,for instance1 friction will first produce electricity1 then heat1 and lastly light4 ,as is well known1 heat and light are reflected by metals2 ,i was therefore anxious to learn whether electricity could be reflected in the same way4 ,in order to ascertain this1 spiral ,b was placed in this position1 which you will observe is parallel to the lines of force emitted by spiral ,a4 ,in this position no induced current is set up therein1 so the galvanometer is not affected2 but when this plate of metal is placed at this angle it intercepts the lines of force1 which cause it to radiate1 and the secondary lines of force are intercepted and converted into induced currents by spiral ,b to the power indicated by the galvanometer4 ,thus the phenomenon of reflection appears to be produced in a somewhat similar manner to reflection of heat and light4 ,the whole arrangement of this experiment is as shown on the sheet before you numbered #e1 which ,i need not1 ,i think1 more fully explain to you than by saying that the secondary lines of force are represented by the dotted lines4 ,supported in this wooden frame marked ,c is a spiral similar in construction to the one marked ,b1 but in this case the copper wire is #j4jdd inch in diameter1 silk-covered1 and consists of #cfe turns1 with a total length of #fje yards2 its resistance is #aj4b ohms1 the whole is inclosed between two thick sheets of card paper4 ,the two ends of the spiral are attached to two terminals placed one on either side of the frame1 a wire from one of the terminals is connected to one pole of a battery of #be ,leclanche cells1 the other pole being connected with one terminal of a reverser1 the second terminal of which is connected to the other terminal of the spiral4 ,now1 if this very small spiral which is in circuit with the galvanometer and a reverser be placed parallel to the center of spiral ,c1 a very large deflection will be seen on the galvanometer scale2 this will gradually diminish as the smaller spiral is passed slowly over the face of the larger1 until on nearing the edge of the latter the smaller spiral will cease to be affected by the inductive lines of force from spiral ,c1 and consequently the galvanometer indicates no deflection4 ,but if this smaller spiral be placed at a different angle to the larger one1 it is1 as you observe by the deflection of the galvanometer1 again affected4 ,this experiment is analogous to the one illustrated by diagram #f1 which represents the result of an experiment made to ascertain the relative strength of capability or producing inductive effects of different parts of a straight electro-magnet4 ,a1 ,fig4 #a1 represents the iron core1 ,,pp the primary coil1 connected at pleasure to one ,grove cell1 ,b1 by means of the key1 ,k2 ,s1 a small secondary coil free to move along the primary coil while in circuit with the galvanometer1 ,g4 ,the relative strength of any particular spot can be obtained by moving the coil1 ,s1 exactly over the required position4 ,the small secondary coil is only cut at right angles when it is placed in the center of the magnet1 and as it is moved toward either pole so the lines of force cut it more and more obliquely4 ,from this it would appear that the results obtained are not purely dependent upon the strength of the portion of the magnet over which the secondary coil is placed1 but principally upon the angle at which the lines of force cut the coil so placed4 ,it does not follow1 therefore1 that the center of the magnet is its strongest part1 as the results of the experiments at first sight appear to show4 ,it was while engaged on those experiments that ,i discovered that a telephone was affected when not in any way connected with the spiral1 but simply placed so that the lines of force proceeding from the spiral impinged upon the iron diaphragm of the telephone4 ,please to bear in mind that the direction of the lines of force emitted from the spiral is such that1 starting from any point on one of its faces1 a circle is described extending to a similar point on the opposite side4 ,the diameter of the circles described decreases from infinity as the points from which they start recede from the center toward the circumference4 ,from points near the circumference these circles or curves are very small4 ,to illustrate this to you1 the reverser now in circuit with spiral ,c will be replaced by a simple make and break arrangement1 consisting on a small electro-magnet fixed between the prongs of a tuning-fork1 and so connected that electro-magnet influences the arms of the fork1 causing them to vibrate to a certain pitch4 ,the apparatus is placed in a distant room to prevent the sound being heard here1 as ,i wish to make it inductively audible to you4 ,for that purpose ,i have here a light spiral which is in circuit with this telephone4 ,now1 by placing the spiral in front of spiral ,c1 the telephone reproduces the sound given out by the tuning-fork so loudly that ,i have no doubt all of you can hear it4 ,here is another spiral similar in every respect to spiral ,c4 ,this is in circuit with a battery and an ordinary mechanical make and break arrangement1 the sound given off by which ,i will now make audible to you in the same way that ,i did the sound of the tuning-fork4 ,now you hear it4 ,i will change from the one spiral to the other several times1 as ,i want to make you acquainted with the sounds of both1 so that you will have no difficulty in distinguishing them1 the one from the other4 ,there are suspended in this room self-luminous bodies which enable us by their rays or lines of force to see the non-luminous bodies with which we are surrounded4 ,there are also radiating in all directions from me while speaking lines of force or sound waves which affect more or less each one of you4 ,but there are also in addition to1 and quite independent of1 the lines of force just mentioned1 magnetic lines of force which are too subtle to be recognized by human beings1 consequently1 figuratively1 we are both blind and deaf to them4 ,however1 they can be made manifest either by their notion on a suspended magnet or on a conducting body moving across them2 the former showing its results by attraction and repulsion1 the latter by the production of an electric current4 ,for instance1 by connecting the small flat spiral of copper wire in direct circuit with the galvanometer1 you will perceive that the slightest movement of the spiral generates a current of sufficient strength to very sensibly affect the galvanometer2 and as you observe1 the amplitude of the deflection depends upon the speed and direction in which the spiral is moved4 ,we know that by moving a conductor of electricity in a magnetic field we are able to produce an electric current of sufficient intensity to produce light resembling in all its phases that of solar light2 but to produce these strong currents1 very powerful artificial magnetic fields have to be generated1 and the conductor has to be moved therein at a great expenditure of heat energy4 ,may not the time arrive when we shall no longer require these artificial and costly means1 but have learned how to adopt those forces of nature which we now so much neglect8 ,one ampere of current passing through an ordinary incandescent lamp will produce a light equal to ten candles1 and ,i have shown that by simply moving this small flat spiral a current is induced in it from the earth's magnetic field equal to #j4jjjg ampere4 ,with these facts before us1 surely it would not be boldness to predict that a time may arrive when the energy of the wind or tide will be employed to produce from the magnetic lines of force given out by the earth's magnetism electrical currents far surpassing anything we have yet seen or of which we have heard4 ,therefore let us not despise the smallness of the force1 but rather consider it an element of power from which might arise conditions far higher in degree1 and which we might not recognize as the same as this developed in its incipient stage4 ,if the galvanometer be replaced by a telephone1 no matter how the spiral be moved1 no sound will be heard1 simply because the induced currents produced consist of comparatively slow undulations1 and not of sharp variations suitable for a telephone4 ,but by placing in circuit this mechanical make and break arrangement the interruptions of the current are at once audible1 and by regulating the movement of the spiral ,i can send signals1 which1 if they had been prearranged1 might have enabled us to communicate intelligence to each other by means of the earth's magnetism4 ,i show this experiment more with a view to illustrate the fact that for experiments on induction both instruments are necessary1 as each makes manifest those currents adapted to itself4 ,the lines of force of light1 heat1 and sound can be artificially produced and intensified1 and the more intense--they are the more we perceive their effects on our eyes1 ears1 or bodies4 ,but it is not so with the lines of magnetic force1 for it matters not how much their power is increased--they appear in no way to affect us4 ,their presence can1 however1 be made manifest to our eyes or ears by mechanical appliances4 ,i have already shown you how this can be done by means of either a galvanometer or a telephone in circuit with a spiral wire4 ,i have already stated that while engaged in these experiments ,i found that as far as the telephone was concerned it was immaterial whether it was in circuit with a spiral or not1 as in either case it accurately reproduced the same sounds2 therefore1 much in the same way as lenses assist the sight or tubes the hearing1 so does the telephone make manifest the lines of intermittent inductive energy4 ,this was quite a new phenomenon to me1 and on further investigation of the subject ,i found that it was not necessary to have even a telephone1 for by simply holding a piece of iron to my ear and placing it close to the center of the spiral ,i could distinctly hear the same sounds as with the telephone1 although not so loud4 ,the intensity of the sound was greatly increased when the iron was placed in a magnetic field4 ,here is a small disk of iron similar to those used in telephones1 firmly secured in this brass frame2 this is a small permanent bar magnet1 the marked end of which is fixed very closely to1 but not touching1 the center of the iron disk4 ,now1 by applying the disk to my ear ,i can hear the same sounds that were audible to all of you when the telephone in circuit with a small spiral was placed in front of and close to the large spiral4 ,to me the sound is quite as loud as when you heard it2 but now you are one and all totally deaf to it4 ,my original object in constructing two large spirals was to ascertain whether the inductive lines of force given out from one source would in any way interfere with those proceeding from another source4 ,by the aid of this simple iron disk and magnet it can be ascertained that they do in no way interfere with each other2 therefore1 the direction of the lines proceeding from each spiral can be distinctly traced4 ,for when the two spirals are placed parallel to each other at a distance of #c ft4 apart1 and connected to independent batteries and transmitters1 as shown in ,plate #g1 each transmitter having a sound perfectly distinct from that of the other1 when the circuits are completed the separate sounds given out by the two transmitters can be distinctly heard at the same time by the aid of a telephone2 but1 by placing the telephone in a position neutral to one of the spirals1 then only the sound proceeding from the other can be heard4 ,these results occur in whatever position the spirals are placed relatively to each other1 thus proving that there is no interference with or blending of the separate lines of force4 ,the whole arrangement will be left in working order at the close of the meeting for any gentlemen present to verify my statements or to make what experiments they please4 ,in conclusion1 ,i would ask1 what can we as practical men gather from these experiments8 ,a great deal has been written and said as to the best means to secure conductors carrying currents of very low tension1 such as telephone circuits1 from being influenced by induction from conductors in their immediate vicinity employed in carrying currents of comparatively very high tension1 such as the ordinary telegraph wires4 ,covering the insulated wires with one or other of the various metals has not only been suggested but said to have been actually employed with marked success4 ,now1 it will found that a thin sheet of any known metal will in no appreciable way interrupt the inductive lines of force passing between two flat spirals2 that being so1 it is difficult to understand how inductive effects are influenced by a metal covering as described4 ,telegraph engineers and electricians have done much toward accomplishing the successful working of our present railway system1 but still there is much scope for improvements in the signaling arrangements4 ,in foggy weather the system now adopted is comparatively useless1 and resource has to be had at such times to the dangerous and somewhat clumsy method of signaling by means of detonating charges placed upon the rails4 ,now1 it has occurred to me that volta induction might be employed with advantage in various ways for signaling purposes4 ,for example1 one or more wire spirals could be fixed between the rails at any convenient distance from the signaling station1 so that when necessary intermittent currents could be sent through the spirals2 and another spiral could be fixed beneath the engine or guard's van1 and connected to one or more telephones placed near those in charge of the train4 ,then as the train passed over the fixed spiral the sound given out by the transmitter would be loudly reproduced by the telephone and indicate by its character the signal intended4 ,one of my experiments in this direction will perhaps better illustrate my meaning4 ,the large spiral was connected in circuit with twelve ,leclanche cells and the two make and break transmitters before described4 ,they were so connected that either transmitter could be switched into circuit when required1 and this ,i considered the signaling station4 ,this small spiral was so arranged that it passed in front of the large one at the distance of #h in4 and at a speed of twenty-eight miles per hour4 ,the terminals of the small spiral were connected to a telephone fixed in a distant room1 the result being that the sound reproduced from either transmitter could be clearly heard and recognized every time the spirals passed each other4 ,with a knowledge of this fact ,i think it will be readily understood now a cheap and efficient adjunct to the present system of railway signaling could be obtained by such means as ,i have ventured to bring to your notice this evening4 ,thus have ,i given you some of the thoughts and experiments which have occupied my attention during my leisure4 ,i have been long under the impression that there is a feeling in the minds of many that we are already in a position to give an answer to almost every question relating to electricity or magnetism4 ,all ,i can say is1 that the more ,i endeavor to advance in a knowledge of these subjects1 the more am ,i convinced of the fallacy of such a position4 ,there is much yet to be learnt1 and if there be present either member1 associate1 or student to whom ,i have imparted the smallest instruction1 ,i shall feel that ,i have not unprofitably occupied my time this evening4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,on ,,telpherage4 ,footnote3 ,introductory address delivered to the ,class of ,engineering1 ,university of ,edinburgh1 ,october #cj1 #ahhc4 ,by ,professor ,,fleeming ,,jenkin1 ,,ll4,d41 ,f4,r4,s4 ,the transmission of vehicles by electricity to a distance1 independently of any control exercised from the vehicle1 ,i will call ,telpherage4 ,these words are quoted from my first patent relating to this subject4 ,the word should1 by the ordinary rules of derivation1 be telphorage2 but as this word sounds badly to my ear1 ,i ventured to adopt such a modified form as constant usage in ,england for a few centuries might have produced1 and ,i was the more ready to trust to my ear in the matter because the word telpher relieves us from the confusion which might arise between telephore and telephone1 when written4 ,i have been encouraged to choose ,telpherage as the subject of my address by the fact that a public exhibition of a telpher line1 with trains running on it1 will be made this afternoon for the first time4 ,you are1 of course1 all aware that electrical railways have been run1 and are running with success in several places4 ,their introduction has been chiefly due to the energy and invention of ,messrs4 ,siemens4 ,i do not doubt of their success and great extension in the future--but when considering the earliest examples of these railways in the spring of last year1 it occurred to me that in simply adapting electric motors to the old form of railway and rolling stock1 inventors had not gone far enough back4 ,george ,stephenson said that the railway and locomotive were two parts of one machine1 and the inference seemed to follow that when electric motors were to be employed a new form of road and a new type of train would be desirable4 ,when using steam1 we can produce the power most economically in large engines1 and we can control the power most effectually and most cheaply when so produced4 ,a separate steam engine to each carriage1 with its own stoker and driver1 could not compete with the large locomotive and heavy train2 but these imply a strong and costly road and permanent way4 ,no mechanical method of distributing power1 so as to pull trains along at a distance from a stationary engine1 has been successful on our railways2 but now that electricity has given us new and unrivaled means for the distribution of power1 the problem requires reconsideration4 ,with the help of an electric current as the transmitter of power1 we can draw off1 as it were1 one1 two1 or three horse-power from a hundred different points of a conductor many miles long1 with as much ease as we can obtain #ajj or #bjj horse-power at any one point4 ,we can cut off the power from any single motor by the mere break of contact between two pieces of metal2 we can restore the power by merely letting the two pieces of metal touch2 we can make these changes by electro magnets with the rapidity of thought1 and we can deal as we please with each of one hundred motors without sensibly affecting the others4 ,these considerations led me to conclude1 in the first place1 that when using electricity we might with advantage subdivide the weight to be carried1 distributing the load among many light vehicles following each other in an almost continuous stream1 instead of concentrating the load in heavy trains widely spaced1 as in our actual railways4 ,the change in the distribution of the load would allow us to adopt a cheap1 light form of load4 ,the wide distribution of weight1 entails many small trains in substitution for a single heavy train2 these small trains could not be economically run if a separate driver were required for each4 ,but1 as ,i have already pointed out1 electricity not only facilitates the distribution of power1 but gives a ready means of controlling that power4 ,our light1 continuous stream of trains can1 therefore1 be worked automatically1 or managed independently of any guard or driver accompanying the train--in other words1 ,i could arrange a self-acting block for preventing collisions4 ,next came the question1 what would be the best form of substructure for the new mode of conveyance8 ,suspended rods or ropes1 at a considerable height1 appeared to me to have great advantages over any road on the level of the ground2 the suspended rods also seemed superior to any stiff form of rail or girder supported at a height4 ,the insulation of ropes with few supports would be easy2 they could cross the country with no bridges or earth-works2 they would remove the electrical conductor to a safe distance from men and cattle2 cheap small rods employed as so many light suspension bridges would support in the aggregate a large weight4 ,moreover1 ,i consider that a single rod or rail would present great advantages over any double rail system1 provided any suitable means could be devised for driving a train along a single track4 7,up to that time two conductors had invariably been used47 ,it also seemed desirable that the metal rod bearing the train should also convey the current driving it4 ,lines such as ,i contemplated would not impede cultivation nor interfere with fencing4 ,ground need not be purchased for their erection4 ,mere wayleaves would be sufficient1 as in the case of telegraphs4 ,my ideas had reached this point in the spring of #ahhb1 and ,i had devised some means for carrying them into effect when ,i read the account of the electrical railway exhibited by ,professors ,ayrton and ,perry4 ,in connection with this railway they had contrived means rendering the control of the vehicles independent of the action of the guard or driver2 and this absolute block1 as they called their system1 seemed to me all that was required to enable me at once to carry out my idea of a continuous stream of light1 evenly spaced trains1 with no drivers or guards4 ,i saw1 moreover1 that the development of the system ,i had in view would be a severe tax on my time and energy2 also that in ,edinburgh ,i was not well placed for pushing such a scheme1 and ,i had formed a high opinion of the value of the assistance which ,professors ,ayrton and ,perry could give in designs and inventions4 ,moved by these considerations1 ,i wrote asking ,professor ,ayrton to co-operate in the development of my scheme1 and suggesting that he should join with me in taking out my first ,telpher patent4 ,it has been found more convenient to keep our several patents distinct1 but my letter ultimately led to the formation of the ,telpherage ,company 7limited71 in which ,professor ,ayrton1 ,professor ,perry1 and ,i have equal interests4 ,this company owns all our inventions in respect of electric locomotion1 and the line shown in action to-day has been erected by this company on the estate of the chairman--,mr4 ,marlborough ,r4 ,pryor1 of ,weston4 ,since the summer of last year1 and more especially since the formation of the company this spring1 much time and thought has been spent in elaborating details4 ,we are still far from the end of our work1 and it is highly probable what has been done will change rapidly by a natural process of evolution4 ,nevertheless1 the actual line now working does in all its main features accurately reproduce my first conception1 and the general principles ,i have just laid down will1 ,i think1 remain true1 however great the change in details may be4 ,the line at ,weston consist of a series of posts1 #fj ft4 apart1 with two lines of rods or ropes1 supported by crossheads on the posts4 ,each of these lines carries a train2 one in fact is the up line1 and the other the down line4 ,square steel rods1 round steel rods1 and steel wire ropes are all in course of trial4 ,the round steel rod is my favorite road at present4 ,the line is divided into sections of #abj ft4 or two spans1 and each section is insulated from its neighbor4 ,the rod or rope is at the post supported by cast-iron saddles1 curved in a vertical plane1 so as to facilitate the passage of the wheels over the point of support4 ,each alternate section is insulated from the ground2 all the insulated sections are in electrical connection with one another--so are all the uninsulated sections4 ,the train is #abj ft4 long--the same length as that of a section4 ,it consists of a series of seven buckets and a locomotive1 evenly spaced with ash distance pieces--each bucket will convey1 as a useful load1 about #b cwt41 and the bucket or skep1 as it has come to be called1 weighs1 with its load1 about #c cwt4 ,the locomotive also weighs about #c cwt4 ,the skeps hang below the line from one or from two ,v wheels1 supported by arms which project out sideways so as to clear the supports at the posts2 the motor or dynamo on the locomotive is also below the line4 ,it is supported on two broad flat wheels1 and is driven by two horizontal gripping wheels2 the connection of these with the motor is made by a new kind of frictional gear which ,i have called nest gear1 but which ,i cannot describe to-day4 ,the motor on the locomotive as a maximum #a horse-power when so much is needed4 ,a wire connects one pole of the motor with the leading wheel of the train1 and a second wire connects the other pole with the trailing wheel2 the other wheels are insulated from each other4 ,thus the train1 wherever it stands1 bridges a gap separating the insulated from the uninsulated section4 ,the insulated sections are supplied with electricity from a dynamo driven by a stationary engine1 and the current passing from the insulated section to the uninsulated section through the motor drives the locomotive4 ,the actual line is quite short1 and can only show two trains1 one on the up and one on the down line2 but with sufficient power at the station any number of trains could be driven in a continuous stream on each line4 ,the appearance is that of a line of buckets running along a single telegraph wire of large size4 ,a block system is devised and partly made1 but is not yet erected4 ,it differs from the earlier proposals in having no working parts on the line4 ,this system of propulsion is called by us the ,cross ,over ,parallel ,arc4 ,other systems of supplying the currents1 devised both by ,professors ,ayrton and ,perry and myself1 will be tried on lines now being erected2 but that just described gives good results4 ,the motors employed in the locomotives were invented by ,messrs4 ,ayrton and ,perry4 ,they are believed to have the special advantage of giving a larger power for a given weight than any others4 ,one weighing #ii lb4 gave #a horse-power in some tests lately made4 ,one weighing #cf lb4 gave #j4da horse-power4 ,no scientific experiments have yet been made on the working of the line1 and matters are not yet ripe for this--but we know that we can erect a cheap and simple permanent way1 which will convey a useful load of say #ae cwt4 on every alternate span of #acj feet4 ,this corresponds to #af tons per mile1 which1 running at five miles per hour1 would convey #ib tons of goods per hour4 ,thus if we work for #bj hours1 the line will convey #ahej tons of goods each way per diem1 which seems a very fair performance for an inch rope4 ,the arrangement of the line with only one rod instead of two rails diminishes friction very greatly4 ,the carriages run as light as bicycles4 ,the same peculiarity allows very sharp curves to be taken1 but ,i am without experimental tests as yet of the limit in this respect4 ,further1 we now know that we can insulate the line satisfactorily1 even if very high potentials come to be employed4 ,the grip of the locomotive is admirable and almost frictionless1 the gear is silent and runs very easily4 ,it is suited for the highest speeds1 and this is very necessary1 as the motors may with advantage1 run at #b1jjj revolutions per minute4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,machine ,,for ,,making ,,electric ,,light ,,carbons4 ,one of the hinderances to the production of a regular and steady light in electric illumination is the absence of perfect uniformity in the carbons4 ,this defect has more than once been pointed out by us1 and we are glad to notice any attempt to remedy an admitted evil4 ,to this end we illustrate above a machine for manufacturing carbons1 invented by ,william ,cunliffe4 ,the object the inventor has in view is not only the better but the more rapid manufacture of carbons1 candles1 or electrodes for electric lighting or for the manufacture of rods or blocks of carbon or other compressible substances for other purposes1 and his invention consists in automatic machinery whereby a regular and uniform pressure and compression of the carbon is obtained1 and the rods or blocks are delivered through the formers1 in a state of greater density and better quality then hitherto4 ,the machine consists of two cylinders1 ,a ,a'1 placed longitudinally1 as shown at ,fig4 #a1 and in reversed position in relation to each other4 ,in each cylinder works a piston or plunger1 a1 with a connecting rod or rods1 b2 in the latter case the ends of the rods have right and left handed threads upon which a sleeve1 c1 with corresponding threads1 works4 ,this sleeve1 c1 is provided with a hand wheel1 so that by the turning it the stroke of the plungers1 a a1 and the size of the chambers1 ,a ,a'1 is regulated so that the quantity of material to be passed through the dies or formers is thereby determined and may be indicated4 ,in front of the chambers1 ,a ,a'1 are fixed the dies or formers1 d d1 which may have any number of perforations of the size or shape of the carbon it is intended to mould4 ,the dies are held in position by clamp pieces1 e e1 secured to the end of the chambers ,a ,a'1 by screws1 and on each side of these clamp pieces are guides1 with grooves1 in which moves a bar with a crosshead1 termed the guillotine1 and which moves across the openings of the dies1 and opening or closing them4 ,near the front end of the cylinders are placed small pistons or valves1 f f1 kept down in position by the weighted levers1 g g 7see ,fig4 #b1 which is drawn to an enlarged scale71 which1 when the pressure in the chamber exceeds that of the weighted levers connected to the safety valve1 f1 the latter is raised and the guillotine bar1 h1 moved across the openings of the dies by the connecting rods1 h'1 thereby allowing the carbon to be forced through the dies4 ,in the backward movement of the piston1 a1 a fresh supply of material is drawn by atmospheric pressure through the hoppers1 ,b ,b'1 alternately4 ,at the end of the stroke the arms of the rocking levers 7which are connected by tension rods with the tappet levers7 are struck by the disk wheel or regulator1 the guillotine is moved back and replaced over the openings of the dies1 ready for the next charge1 as shown4 ,the plungers are operated by hydraulic1 steam1 compressed air1 or other power1 the inlet and outlet of such a pressure being regulated by a valve1 an example of which is shown at ,fig4 #a1 and provided with the tappet levers1 i i1 hinged to the valve chest1 ,c1 as shown1 and attached to spindles1 i' i'1 operating the slide valves1 and struck alternately at the end of each stroke1 thus operating the valves and the guillotine connections1 i and i4 ,the front ends of the cylinders may be placed at an angle for the more convenient delivery of the moulded articles4--,iron4 ,illustration3 ,,machine ,,for ,,making ,,electric ,,light ,,carbons 99 99 99 99 99 ,,new ,,electric ,,battery ,,lights4 ,there has lately been held1 at ,no4 #ca ,lombard ,street1 ,london1 a private exhibition of the ,holmes and ,burke primary galvanic battery4 ,the chief object of the display was to demonstrate its suitability for the lighting of railway trains1 but at the same time means were provided to show it in connection with ordinary domestic illumination1 as it is evident that a battery will serve equally as well for the latter as for the former purpose4 ,already the great ,northern express leaving ,london at #e3cj ,p4,m4 is lighted by this means1 and satisfactory experiments have been made upon the ,south-western line1 while the inventors give a long list of other companies to which experimental plant is to be supplied4 ,the battery shown1 in ,lombard ,street consisted of fifteen cells arranged in three boxes of five cells each4 ,each box measured about #ah in4 by #ab in4 by #aj in41 and weighed from #ge lb4 to #ajj lb4 ,the electromotive force of each cell was #a4h volts and its internal resistance from #a_/dj to #a_/ej of an ohm1 consequently the battery exhibited had1 under the must favorable circumstances1 a difference of potential of #bg volts at its poles1 and a resistance of #j4c ohm4 ,when connected to a group of ten ,swan lamps of five candle power1 requiring a difference of potential of #bj volts1 it raised them to vivid incandescence1 considerably above their nominal capacity1 but it failed to supply eighteen lamps of the same kind satisfactorily1 showing that its working capacity lay somewhere between the two4 ,a more powerful lamp is used in the railway carriages1 but as there was only one erected it was impossible to judge of the number that a battery of the size shown would feed4 ,engineering says the trial1 however1 demonstrated that great quantities of current were being continuously evolved1 and if1 as we understood1 the production can be maintained constant for about twenty-four hours without attention1 the new battery marks a distinct step in this kind of electric lighting4 ,of the construction of the battery we unfortunately can say but little1 as the patents are not yet completed1 but we may state that the solid elements are zinc and carbon1 and that the novelty lies in the liquid1 and in the ingenious arrangement for supplying and withdrawing it4 ,ordinarily one charge of liquid will serve for twenty-four hours working1 but this1 of course1 is entirely determined by the space provided for it4 ,it is sold at sevenpence a gallon1 and each gallon is sufficient1 we are informed1 to drive a cell while it generates #hjj ampere hours of current1 or1 taking the electromotive force at #a4h volts1 it represents 7#hjj x #a4h7 _/ #gdf #a4ic horse-power hours4 ,the cost of the zinc is stated to be #ce per cent4 of that of the fluid1 although it is difficult to see how this can be1 for one horse-power requires the consumption of #hie4b grammes of zinc per hour1 or #a4if lb41 and this at #ahl4 per ton1 would cost #a4ic pence per pound1 or #c4h pence per horse-power hour4 ,this added to #c4f pence for the fluid1 would give a total of #g4d pence per horse-power per hour1 and assuming twenty lamps of ten candle power to be fed per horse-power1 the cost would be about one-third of a penny per hour per lamp4 ,mr ,holmes admits his statement of the consumption of zinc does not agree with what might be theoretically expected but he bases it upon the result of his experiments in the ,pullman train1 which place the cost at one farthing per hour per light4 ,at the same time he does not profess that the battery can compete in the matter of cost with mechanically generated currents on a large scale1 but he offers it as a convenient means of obtaining the electric light in places where a steam engine or a gas engine is inadmissible1 as in a private house1 and where the cost of driving a dynamo machine is raised abnormally high by reason of a special attendant having to be paid to look after it4 ,but he has another scheme for the reduction of the cost1 to which we have not yet alluded1 and of which we can say but little1 as the details are not at present available for publication4 ,the battery gives off fumes which can be condensed into a nitrogenous substance1 valuable1 it is stated1 as a manure1 while the zinc salts in the spent liquid can be recovered and returned to useful purposes4 ,how far this is practicable it is at present impossible to say1 but at any rate the idea represents a step in the right direction1 and if the electricians can follow the example of the gas manufacturers and obtain a revenue from the residuals of galvanic batteries1 they will greatly improve their commercial position4 ,there is nothing impossible in the idea1 and neither is it altogether novel1 although the way of carrying it out may be4 ,in #ahdh1 ,staite1 one of the early enthusiasts in electric lighting1 patented a series of batteries from which he proposed to recover sulphate1 nitrate1 and chloride of zinc1 but we never heard that he obtained any success4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,new ,,electric ,,railway4 ,the original electric railway laid down by ,messrs4 ,siemens and ,halske at ,berlin seems likely to be the parent of many others4 ,one of the most recent is the underground electric line laid down by the firm in the mines of ,zankerodain ,saxony4 ,an account of this railway has appeared in ,glaser's ,annalen1 together with drawings of the engine1 which we are able to reproduce4 ,they are derived from a paper by ,herr ,fischer1 read on the #aith ,december1 #ahhb1 before the ,electro-,technical ,union of ,germany4 ,the line in question is #gjj meters long--#ggj yards--and has two lines of way4 ,it lies #bgj meters--#cjj yards--below the surface of the ground4 ,it is worked by an electric locomotive1 hauling ten wagons at a speed of #ab kilometers1 or #g miles per hour4 ,the total weight drawn is eight tons4 ,the gauge is a narrow one1 so that the locomotive can be made of small dimensions4 ,its total length between the buffer heads is #b4dc meters2 its height #a4jd meters2 breadth #j4h meter2 diameter of wheels1 #j4cd meter4 ,from the rail head to the center of the buffers is a height of #j4fge meter2 and the total weight is only #aeej kilogrammes1 or say #c1djj lb4 ,we give a longitudinal section through the locomotive4 ,it will be seen that there is a seat at each end for the driver1 so that he can always look forwards1 whichever way the engine may be running4 ,the arrangements for connection with the electric current are very simple4 ,the current is generated by a dynamo machine fixed outside the mine1 and run by a small rotary steam engine1 shown in section and elevation1 at a speed of #ijj revolutions per minute4 ,the current passes through a cable down the shaft to a ,t-iron fixed to the side of the heading4 ,on this ,t-iron slide contact pieces which are connected with the electric engine by leading wires4 ,the driver by turning a handle can move his engine backward or forward at will4 ,the whole arrangement has worked extremely well1 and it is stated that the locomotive1 if so arranged1 could easily do double its present work2 in other words1 could haul #ae to #af tons of train load at a speed of seven miles an hour4 ,the arrangements for the dynamo machine on the engine1 and its connection with the wheels1 are much the same as those used in ,sir ,william ,siemens' electric railway now working near the ,giant's ,causeway4--,the ,engineer4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,siemens ,,electric ,,railway ,,at ,,zankeroda ,,mines4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,earliest ,,gas-,,engine4 ,lebon1 in the certificate dated #ahja1 in addition to his first patent1 described and illustrated a three-cylinder gas-engine in which an explosive mixture of gas and air was to have been ignited by an electric spark4 ,this is a curious anticipation of the ,lenior system1 not brought out until more than fifty years later2 but there is no evidence that ,lebon ever constructed an engine after the design referred to4 ,it is an instructive lesson to would-be patentees1 who frequently expect to reap immediate fame and fortune from their property in some crude ideas which they fondly deem to be an invention1 to observe the very wide interval that separates ,lebon from ,otto4 ,the idea is the same in both cases2 but it has required long years of patient work1 and many failures1 to embody the idea in a suitable form4 ,it is almost surprising1 to any one who has not specially studied the matter1 to discover the number of devices that have been tried with the object of making an explosion engine1 as distinguished from one deriving its motive power from the expansion of gaseous fluids4 ,a narrative of some of these attempts has been presented to the ,societe des ,ingenieurs ,civils2 mostly taken in the first place from ,stuart's work upon the origin of the steam engine1 published in #ahbj1 and now somewhat scarce4 ,it appears from this statement that so long ago as #agid1 ,robert ,street described and patented an engine in winch the piston was to be driven by the explosion of a gaseous mixture whereof the combustible element was furnished by the vaporization of terebenthine 7turpentine7 thrown upon red hot iron4 ,in #ahjg ,de ,rivaz applied the same idea in a different manner4 ,he employed a cylinder #ab centimeters in diameter fitted with a piston4 ,at the bottom of the cylinder there was another smaller one1 also provided with a piston4 ,this was the aspirating cylinder1 which drew hydrogen from an inflated bag1 and mixed it with twice its bulk of air by means of a two-way cock4 ,the ignition of the detonating mixture was effected by an electric spark4 ,it is said that the inventor applied his apparatus to a small locomotive4 ,in #ahbj ,mr4 ,cecil1 of ,cambridge1 proposed the employment of a mixture of air and hydrogen as a source of motive power2 he gave a detailed account of his invention in the ,transactions of the ,cambridge ,philosophical ,society1 together with some interesting theoretical considerations4 ,the author observes here that an explosion may be safely opposed by an elastic resistance--that of compressed air1 for example--if such resistance possesses little or no inertia to be brought into play2 contrariwise1 the smallest inertia opposed to the explosion of a mixture subjected to instantaneous combustion is equivalent to an insurmountable obstacle4 ,thus a small quantity of gunpowder1 or a detonating mixture of air and hydrogen1 may without danger be ignited in a large closed vessel full of air1 because the pressure against the sides of the vessel exerted by the explosion is not more than the pressure of the air compressed by the explosion4 ,if a piece of card board1 or even of paper1 is placed in the middle of the bore of a cannon charged with powder1 the cannon will almost certainly burst1 because the powder in detonating acts upon a body in repose which can only be put in motion in a period of time infinitely little by the intervention of a force infinitely great4 ,the piece of paper is therefore equivalent to an insurmountable obstacle4 ,of all detonating mixtures1 or explosive materials1 the most dangerous for equal expansions1 and the least fitted for use as motive power1 are those which inflame the most rapidly4 ,thus1 a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen1 in which the inflammation is produced instantaneously1 is less convenient for this particular usage than a mixture of air and hydrogen1 which inflames more slowly4 ,from this point of view1 ordinary gunpowder would make a good source of motive power1 because1 notwithstanding its great power of dilatation1 it is comparatively slow of ignition2 only it would be necessary to take particular precautions to place the moving body in close contact with the powder4 ,cecil pointed out that while a small steam engine could not be started in work in less than half an hour1 or probably more1 a gas engine such as he proposed would have the advantage of being always ready for immediate use4 ,cecil's engine was the first in which the explosive mixture was ignited by a simple flame of gas drawn into the cylinder at the right moment4 ,in the first model1 which was that of a vertical beam engine with a long cylinder of comparatively small diameter1 the motive power was simply derived from the descent of the piston by atmospheric pressure2 but ,mr4 ,cecil is careful to state that power may also be obtained directly from the force of the explosion4 ,the engine was worked with a cylinder pressure of about #ab atmospheres1 and the inventor seems to have recognized that the noise of the explosions might be an objection to the machine1 for he suggests putting the end of the cylinder down in a well1 or inclosing it in a tight vessel for the purpose of deadening the shock4 ,it is interesting to rescue for a moment the account of ,mr4 ,cecil's invention from the obscurity into which it has fallen--obscurity which the ingenuity of the ideas embodied in this machine does not merit4 ,it is probable that in addition to the imperfections of his machinery1 ,mr4 ,cecil suffered from the difficulty of obtaining hydrogen at a sufficiently low price for use in large quantities4 ,it does not transpire that the inventor ever seriously turned his attention to the advantages of coal gas1 which even at that time1 although very dear1 must have been much cheaper than hydrogen4 ,knowing what we do at present1 however1 of the consumption of gas by a good engine of the latest pattern1 it may be assumed that a great deal of the trouble of the gas engine builders of #fj years ago arose from the simple fact of their being altogether before their age4 ,of course1 the steam engine of #ahbj was a much more wasteful machine1 as well as more costly to build than the steam engine of to-day2 but the difference cannot have been so great as to create an advantage in favor of an appliance which required even greater nicety of construction4 ,the best gas-engine at present made would have been an expensive thing to supply with gas at the prices current in #ahbj1 even if the resources of mechanical science at that date had been equal to its construction2 which we know was not the case4 ,still1 this consideration was not known1 or was little valued1 by ,mr4 ,cecil and his contemporaries4 ,it was not long1 however1 before ,mr4 ,cecil had to give way before a formidable rival2 for in #ahbc ,samuel ,brown brought out his engine1 which was in many respects an improvement upon the one already described4 ,it will probably be right1 however1 to regard the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,cecil1 of ,cambridge1 as the first to make a practicable model of a gas-engine in the ,united ,kingdom4--,journal of ,gas ,lighting4 99 99 99 99 99 ,alabama has #b1aah factories1 working #h1bdh hands1 with a capital invested of #e1gad1jcb1 paying annually in wages #b1bbg1ifh1 and yielding annually in products #ac1jdj1fdd4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,moving ,,of ,,large ,,masses4 ,footnote3 ,for previous article see ,,supplement #cfg4 ,the moving of a belfry was effected in #aggf by a mason who knew neither how to read nor write4 ,this structure was1 and still is1 at ,crescentino1 upon the left bank of the ,po1 between ,turin and ,cazal4 ,the following is the official report on the operation3 ,in the year #aggf1 on the second day of ,september1 the ordinary council was convoked1 444 as it is well known that1 on the #bfth of ,may last1 there was effected the removal of a belfry1 #g trabucs 7#bb4e m47 or more in height1 from the church called ,madonna del ,palazzo1 with the concurrence and in the presence and amid the applause of numerous people of this city and of strangers who had come in order to be witnesses of the removal of the said tower with its base and entire form1 by means of the processes of our fellow-citizen ,serra1 a master mason who took it upon himself to move the said belfry to a distance of #c meters1 and to annex it to a church in course of construction4 ,in order to effect this removal1 the four faces of the brick walls were first cut and opened at the base of the tower and on a level with the earth4 ,into the apertures from north to south1 that is to say in the direction that the edifice was to take1 there were introduced two large beams1 and with these there ran parallel1 external to the belfry and alongside of it1 two other rows of beams of sufficient length and extent to form for the structure a bed over which it might be moved and placed in position in the new spot1 where foundations of brick and lime had previously been prepared4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #a4--,,removal ,,of ,a ,,belfry ,,at ,,crescentino ,,in #aggf ,upon this plane there were afterward placed rollers #c inches in diameter1 and1 upon these latter1 there was placed a second row of beams of the same length as the others4 ,into the eastern and western apertures there were inserted1 in cross-form1 two beams of less length4 ,in order to prevent the oscillation of the tower1 the latter was supported by eight joists1 two of these being placed on each side and joined at their bases1 each with one of the four beams1 and1 at their apices1 with the walls of the tower at about two-thirds of its height4 ,the plane over which the edifice was to be rolled had an inclination of one inch4 ,the belfry was hauled by three cables that wound around three capstans1 each of which was actuated by ten men4 ,the removal was effected in less than an hour4 ,it should be remarked that during the operation the son of the mason ,serra1 standing in the belfry1 continued to ring peals1 the bells not having been taken out4 ,done at ,crescentino1 in the year and on the day mentioned4 ,a note communicated to the ,academie des ,sciences at its session of ,may #i1 #ahca1 added that the base of the belfry was #c4c m4 square4 ,this permits us to estimate its weight at about #aej tons4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #b4--,,moving ,,the ,,winged ,,bulls ,,from ,,nineveh ,,to ,,mosul ,,in #ahed ,fig4 #a shows the general aspect of the belfry with its stays4 ,this is taken from an engraving published in #ahdd by ,mr4 ,de ,gregori1 who1 during his childhood1 was a witness of the operation1 and who endeavored to render the information given by the official account completer without being able to make the process much clearer4 ,in #ahed ,mr4 ,victor ,place moved overland1 from ,nineveh to ,mosul1 the winged bulls that at present are in the ,assyrian museum of the ,louvre1 and each of which weighs #cb tons4 ,after carefully packing these in boxes in order to preserve them from shocks1 ,place laid them upon their side1 having turned them over1 by means of levers1 against a sloping bank of earth ,that he afterward dug away in such a manner that the operation was performed without accident4 ,he had had constructed an enormous car with axles #j4be m4 in diameter1 and solid wheels #j4h m4 in thickness 7,fig4 #b74 ,beneath the center of the box containing the bull a trench was dug that ran up to the natural lever of the soil by an incline4 ,this trench had a depth and width such that the car could run under the box while the latter was supported at two of its extremities by the banks4 ,these latter were afterward gradually cut away until the box rested upon the car without shock4 ,six hundred men then manned the ropes and hauled the car with its load up to the level of the plain4 ,these six hundred men were necessary throughout nearly the entire route over a plain that was but slightly broken and in which the ground presented but little consistency4 ,the route from ,khorsabad to ,mosul was about #ah kilometers1 taking into account all the detours that had to be made in order to have a somewhat firm roadway4 ,it took four days to transport the first bull this distance1 but it required only a day and a half to move the other one1 since the ground had acquired more compactness as a consequence of moving the first one over it1 and since the leaders had become more expert4 ,the six hundred men at ,mr4 ,place's disposal had1 moreover1 been employed for three months back in preparing the route1 in strengthening it with piles in certain spots and in paving others with flagstones brought from the ruins of ,nineveh4 ,in a succeeding article ,i shall describe how ,i1 a few years ago1 moved an ammunition stone house1 weighing #ej tons1 to a distance of #ce meters without any other machine than a capstan actuated by two men4--,a4 ,de ,rochas1 in ,la ,nature4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,nature4 ,,science ,,and ,,engineering4 ,in the address delivered by ,mr4 ,westmacott1 ,president of the ,institution of ,mechanical ,engineers to the ,english and ,belgian engineers assembled at ,liege last ,august1 there occurred the following passage3 ,engineering brings all other sciences into play2 chemical or physical discoveries1 such as those of ,faraday1 would be of little practical use if engineers were not ready with mechanical appliances to carry them out1 and make them commercially successful in the way best suited to each4 ,we have no objection to make to these words1 spoken at such a time and before such an assembly4 ,it would of course be easy to take the converse view1 and observe that engineering would have made little progress in modern times1 but for the splendid resources which the discoveries of pure science have placed at her disposal1 and which she has only had to adopt and utilize for her own purposes4 ,but there is no need to quarrel over two opposite modes of stating the same fact4 ,there is need on the other hand that the fact itself should be fairly recognized and accepted1 namely1 that science may be looked upon as at once the handmaid and the guide of art1 art as at once the pupil and the supporter of science4 ,in the present article we propose to give a few illustrations which will bring out and emphasize this truth4 ,we could scarcely find a better instance than is furnished to our hand in the sentence we have chosen for a text4 ,no man ever worked with a more single hearted devotion to pure science--with a more absolute disregard of money or fame1 as compared with knowledge--than ,michael ,faraday4 ,yet future ages will perhaps judge that no stronger impulse was ever given to the progress of industrial art1 or to the advancement of the material interests of mankind1 than the impulse which sprang from his discoveries in electricity and magnetism4 ,of these discoveries we are only now beginning to reap the benefit4 ,but we have merely to consider the position which the dynamo-electric machine already occupies in the industrial world1 and the far higher position1 which1 as almost all admit1 it is destined to occupy in the future1 in order to see how much we owe to ,faraday's establishment of the connection between magnetism and electricity4 ,that is one side of the question--the debt which art owes to science4 ,but let us look at the other side also4 ,does science owe nothing to art8 ,will any one say that we should know as much as we do concerning the theory of the dynamo-electric motor1 and the laws of electro-magnetic action generally1 if that motor had never risen 7or fallen1 as you choose to put it7 to be something besides the instrument of a laboratory1 or the toy of a lecture room8 ,only a short time since the illustrious ,french physicist1 ,m4 ,tresca1 was enumerating the various sources of loss in the transmission of power by electricity along a fixed wire1 as elucidated in the careful and elaborate experiments inaugurated by ,m4 ,marcel ,deprez1 and subsequently continued by himself4 ,these losses--the electrical no less than the mechanical losses--are being thoroughly and minutely examined in the hope of reducing them to the lowest limit2 and this examination cannot fail to throw much light on the exact distribution of the energy imparted to a dynamo machine and the laws by which this distribution is governed4 ,but would this examination ever have taken place--would the costly experiments which render it feasible ever have been performed--if the dynamo machine was still under the undisputed control of pure science1 and had not become subject to the sway of the capitalist and the engineer8 ,of course the electric telegraph affords an earlier and perhaps as good an illustration of the same fact4 ,the discovery that electricity would pass along a wire and actuate a needle at the other end was at first a purely scientific one2 and it was only gradually that its importance1 from an industrial point of view1 came to be recognized4 ,here again art owes to pure science the creation of a complete and important branch of engineering1 whose works are spread like a net over the whole face of the globe4 ,on the other hand our knowledge of electricity1 and especially of the electrochemical processes which go on in the working of batteries1 has been enormously improved in consequence of the use of such batteries for the purposes of telegraphy4 ,let us turn to another example in a different branch of science4 ,whichever of our modern discoveries we may consider to be the most startling and important1 there can ,i think be no doubt that the most beautiful is that of the spectroscope4 ,it has enabled us to do that which but a few years before its introduction was taken for the very type of the impossible1 viz41 to study the chemical composition of the stars2 and it is giving us clearer and clearer insight every day into the condition of the great luminary which forms the center of our system4 ,still1 however beautiful and interesting such results may be1 it might well be thought that they could never have any practical application1 and that the spectroscope at least would remain an instrument of science1 but of science alone4 ,this1 however1 is not the case4 ,some thirty years since1 ,mr4 ,bessemer conceived the idea that the injurious constituents of raw iron--such as silicon1 sulphur1 etc4--might be got rid of by simple oxidation4 ,the mass of crude metal was heated to a very high temperature2 atmospheric air was forced through it at a considerable pressure2 and the oxygen uniting with these metalloids carried them off in the form of acid gases4 ,the very act of union generated a vast quantity of heat1 which itself assisted the continuance of the process2 and the gas therefore passed off in a highly luminous condition4 ,but the important point was to know where to stop2 to seize the exact moment when all or practically all hurtful ingredients had been removed1 and before the oxygen had turned from them to attack the iron itself4 ,how was this point to be ascertained8 ,it was soon suggested that each of these gases in its incandescent state would show its own peculiar spectrum2 and that if the flame rushing out of the throat of the converter were viewed through a spectroscope1 the moment when any substance such as sulphur1 had disappeared would be known by the disappearance of the corresponding lines in the spectrum4 ,the anticipation1 it is needless to say1 was verified1 and the spectroscope1 though now superseded1 had for a time its place among the regular appliances necessary for the carrying on of the ,bessemer process4 ,this process itself1 with all the momentous consequences1 mechanical1 commercial1 and economical1 which it has entailed1 might be brought forward as a witness on our side2 for it was almost completely worked out in the laboratory before being submitted to actual practice4 ,in this respect it stands in marked contrast to the earlier processes for the making of iron and steel1 which were developed1 it is difficult to say how1 in the forge or furnace itself1 and amid the smoke and din of practical work4 ,at the same time the experiments of ,bessemer were for the most part carried out with a distinct eye to their future application in practice1 and their value for our present purpose is therefore not so great4 ,the same we believe may be said with regard to the great rival of the ,bessemer converter1 viz41 the ,siemens open hearth2 although this forms in itself a beautiful application of the scientific doctrine that steel stands midway1 as regards proportion of carbon1 between wrought iron and pig iron1 and ought therefore to be obtainable by a judicious mixture of the two4 ,the basic process is the latest development1 in this direction1 of science as applied to metallurgy4 ,here1 by simply giving a different chemical constitution to the clay lining of the converter1 it is found possible to eliminate phosphorus--an element which has successfully withstood the attack of the ,bessemer system4 ,now1 to quote the words of a ,german eulogizer of the new method1 phosphorus has been turned from an enemy into a friend2 and the richer a given ore is in that substance1 the more readily and cheaply does it seem likely to be converted into steel4 ,these latter examples have been taken from the art of metallurgy2 and it may of course be said that1 considering the intimate relations between that art and the science of chemistry1 there can be no wonder if the former is largely dependent for its progress on the latter4 ,i will therefore turn to what may appear the most concrete1 practical1 and unscientific of all arts--that1 namely1 of the mechanical engineer2 and we shall find that even here examples will not fail us of the boons which pure science has conferred upon the art of construction1 nor even perhaps of the reciprocal advantages which she has derived from the connection4 ,the address of ,mr4 ,westmacott1 from which ,i have already taken my text1 supplies in itself more than one instance of the kind we seek--instances emphasized by papers read at the meeting where the address was spoken4 ,let us take1 first1 the manufacture of sugar from beetroot4 ,this manufacture was forced into prominence in the early years of this century1 when the ,continental blockade maintained by ,england against ,napoleon prevented all importation of sugar from ,america2 and it has now attained very large dimensions1 as all frequenters of the ,continent must be aware4 ,the process1 as exhaustively described by a ,belgian engineer1 ,m4 ,melin1 offers several instances of the application of chemical and physical science to practical purposes4 ,thus1 the first operation in making sugar from beetroot is to separate the juice from the flesh1 the former being as much as #ie per cent4 of the whole weight4 ,formerly this was accomplished by rasping the roots into a pulp1 and then pressing the pulp in powerful hydraulic presses2 in other words1 by purely mechanical means4 ,this process is now to a large extent superseded by what is called the diffusion process1 depending on the well known physical phenomena of endosmosis and exosmosis4 ,the beetroot is cut up into small slices called cossettes1 and these are placed in vessels filled with water4 ,the result is that a current of endosmosis takes place from the water toward the juice in the cells1 and a current of exosmosis from the juice toward the water4 ,these currents go on cell by cell1 and continue until a state of equilibrium is attained4 ,the richer the water and the poorer the juice1 the sooner does this equilibrium take place4 ,consequently the vessels are arranged in a series1 forming what is called a diffusion battery2 the pure water is admitted to the first vessel1 in which the slices have already been nearly exhausted1 and subtracts from them what juice there is left4 ,it then passes as a thin juice to the next vessel1 in which the slices are richer1 and the process begins again4 ,in the last vessel the water which has already done its work in all the previous vessels comes into contact with fresh slices1 and begins the operation upon them4 ,the same process has been applied at the other end of the manufacture of sugar4 ,after the juice has been purified and all the crystallizable sugar has been separated from it by boiling1 there is left a mass of molasses1 containing so much of the salts of potassium and sodium that no further crystallization of the yet remaining sugar is possible4 ,the object of the process called osmosis is to carry off these salts4 ,the apparatus used1 or osmogene1 consists of a series of trays filled alternately with molasses and water1 the bottoms being formed of parchment paper4 ,a current passes through this paper in each direction1 part of the water entering the molasses1 and part of the salts1 together with a certain quantity of sugar1 entering the water4 ,the result1 of thus freeing the molasses from the salts is that a large part of the remaining sugar can now be extracted by crystallization4 ,another instance in point comes from a paper dealing with the question of the construction of long tunnels4 ,in ,england this has been chiefly discussed of late in connection with the ,channel ,tunnel1 where1 however1 the conditions are comparatively simple4 ,it is of still greater importance abroad4 ,two tunnels have already been pierced through the ,alps2 a third is nearly completed2 and a fourth1 the ,simplon ,tunnel1 which will be the longest of any1 is at this moment the subject of a most active study on the part of ,french engineers4 ,in ,america1 especially in connection with the deep mines of the ,western ,states1 the problem is also of the highest importance4 ,but the driving of such tunnels would be financially if not physically impossible1 but for the resources which science has placed in our hands1 first1 by the preparation of new explosives1 and1 secondly1 by methods of dealing with the very high temperatures which have to be encountered4 ,as regards the first1 the history of explosives is scarcely anything else than a record of the application of chemical principles to practical purposes--a record which in great part has yet to be written1 and on which we cannot here dwell4 ,it is certain1 however1 that but for the invention of nitroglycerine1 a purely chemical compound1 and its development in various forms1 more or less safe and convenient1 these long tunnels would never have been constructed4 ,as regards the second point1 the question of temperature is really the most formidable with which the tunnel engineer has to contend4 ,in the ,st4 ,gothard ,tunnel1 just before the meeting of the two headings in ,february1 #ahhj1 the temperature rose as high as #ic ,fahr4 ,this1 combined with the foulness of the air1 produced an immense diminution in the work done per person and per horse employed1 while several men were actually killed by the dynamite gases1 and others suffered from a disease which was traced to a hitherto unknown species of internal worm4 ,if the ,simplon ,tunnel should be constructed1 yet higher temperatures may probably have to be dealt with4 ,although science can hardly be said to have completely mastered these difficulties1 much has been done in that direction4 ,a great deal of mechanical work has of course to be carried on at the face or far end of such a heading1 and there are various means by which it might be done4 ,but by far the most satisfactory solution1 in most cases at least1 is obtained by taking advantage of the properties of compressed air4 ,air can be compressed at the end of the tunnel either by steam-engines1 or1 still better1 by turbines where water power is available4 ,this compressed air may easily be led in pipes to the face of the heading1 and used there to drive the small engines which work the rock-drilling machines1 etc4 ,the efficiency of such machines is doubtless low1 chiefly owing to the physical fact that the air is heated by compression1 and that much of this heat is lost while it traverses the long line of pipes leading to the scene of action4 ,but here we have a great advantage from the point of view of ventilation2 for as the air gained heat while being compressed1 so it loses heat while expanding2 and the result is that a current of cold and fresh air is continually issuing from the machines at the face of the heading1 just where it is most wanted4 ,in consequence1 in the ,st4 ,gothard1 as just alluded to1 the hottest parts were always some little distance behind the face of the heading4 ,although in this case as much as #abj1jjj cubic meters of air 7taken at atmospheric pressure7 were daily poured into the heading1 yet the ventilation was very insufficient4 ,moreover1 the high pressure which is used for working the machines is not the best adapted for ventilation2 and in the ,arlberg tunnel separate ventilating pipes are employed1 containing air compressed to about one atmosphere1 which is delivered in much larger quantities although not at so low a temperature4 ,in connection with this question of ventilation a long series of observations have been taken at the ,st4 ,gothard1 both during and since the construction2 these have revealed the important physical fact 7itself of high practical importance7 that the barometer never stands at the same level on the two sides of a great mountain chain2 and so have made valuable contributions to the science of meteorology4 ,another most important use of the same scientific fact1 namely1 the properties of compressed air1 is found in the sinking of foundations below water4 ,when the piers of a bridge1 or other structure1 had to be placed in a deep stream1 the old method was to drive a double row of piles round the place and fill them in with clay1 forming what is called a cofferdam4 ,the water was pumped out from the interior1 and the foundation laid in the open4 ,this is always a very expensive process1 and in rapid streams is scarcely practicable4 ,in recent times large bottomless cases1 called caissons1 have been used1 with tubes attached to the roof1 by which air can be forced into or out of the interior4 ,these caissons are brought to the site of the proposed pier1 and are there sunk4 ,where the bottom is loose sandy earth1 the vacuum process1 as it is termed1 is often employed2 that is1 the air is pumped out from the interior1 and the superincumbent pressure then causes the caisson to sink and the earth to rise within it4 ,but it is more usual to employ what is called the plenum process1 in which air under high pressure is pumped into the caisson and expels the water1 as in a diving bell4 ,workmen then descend1 entering through an air lock1 and excavate the ground at the bottom of the caisson1 which sinks gradually as the excavation continues4 ,under this system a length of some two miles of quay wall is being constructed at ,antwerp1 far out in the channel of the river ,scheldt4 ,here the caissons are laid end to end with each other1 along the whole curve of the wall1 and the masonry is built on the top of them within a floating cofferdam of very ingenious construction4 ,there are few mechanical principles more widely known than that of so-called centrifugal force2 an action which1 though still a puzzle to students1 has long been thoroughly understood4 ,it is1 however1 comparatively recently that it has been applied in practice4 ,one of the earliest examples was perhaps the ordinary governor1 due to the genius of ,watt4 ,every boy knows that if he takes a weight hanging from a string and twirls it round1 the weight will rise higher and revolve in a larger circle as he increases the speed4 ,watt saw that if he attached such an apparatus to his steam engine1 the balls or weights would tend to rise higher whenever the engine begun to run faster1 that this action might be made partly to draw over the valve which admitted the steam1 and that in this way the supply of steam would be lessened1 and the speed would fall4 ,few ideas in science have received so wide and so successful an application as this4 ,but of late years another property of centrifugal force has been brought into play4 ,the effect of this so-called force is that any body revolving in a circle has a continual tendency to fly off at a tangent2 the amount of this tendency depending jointly on the mass of the body and on the velocity of the rotation4 ,it is the former of these conditions which is now taken advantage of4 ,for if we have a number of particles all revolving with the same velocity1 but of different specific gravities1 and if we allow them to follow their tendency of moving off at a tangent1 it is evident that the heaviest particles1 having the greatest mass1 will move with the greatest energy4 ,the result is that1 if we take a mass of such particles and confine them within a circular casing1 we shall find that1 having rotated this casing with a high velocity and for a sufficient time1 the heaviest particles will have settled at the outside and the lightest at the inside1 while between the two there will be a gradation from the one to the other4 ,here1 then1 we have the means of separating two substances1 solid or liquid1 which are intimately mixed up together1 but which are of different specific gravities4 ,this physical principle has been taken advantage of in a somewhat homely but very important process1 viz41 the separation of cream from milk4 ,in this arrangement the milk is charged into a vessel something of the shape and size of a ,gloucester cheese1 which stands on a vertical spindle and is made to rotate with a velocity as high as #g1jjj revolutions per minute4 ,at this enormous speed the milk1 which is the heavier1 flies to the outside1 while the cream remains behind and stands up as a thin layer on the inside of the rotating cylinder of fluid4 ,so completely does this immense speed produce in the liquid the characteristics of a solid1 that if the rotating shell of cream be touched by a knife it emits a harsh1 grating sound1 and gives the sensation experienced in attempting to cut a stone4 ,the separation is almost immediately complete1 but the difficult point was to draw off the two liquids separately and continuously without stopping the machine4 ,this has been simply accomplished by taking advantage of another principle of hydromechanics4 ,a small pipe opening just inside the shell of the cylinder is brought back to near the center1 where it rises through a sort of neck and opens into an exterior casing4 ,the pressure due to the velocity causes the skim milk to rise in this pipe and flow continuously out at the inner end4 ,the cream is at the same time drawn off by a similar orifice made in the same neck and leading into a different chamber4 ,centrifugal action is not the only way in which particles of different specific gravity can he separated from each other by motion only4 ,if a rapid jigging or up-and-down motion be given to a mixture of such particles1 the tendency of the lighter to fly further under the action of the impulse causes them gradually to rise to the upper surface2 this surface being free in the present case1 and the result being therefore the reverse of what happens in the rotating chamber4 ,if such a mixture be examined after this up-and down motion has gone on for a considerable period1 it will be found that the particles are arranged pretty accurately in layers1 the lightest being at the top and the heaviest at the bottom4 ,this principle has long been taken advantage of in such cases as the separation of lead ores from the matrix in which they are embedded4 ,the rock in these cases is crushed into small fragments1 and placed on a frame having a rapid up-and-down-motion1 when the heavy lead ore gradually collects at the bottom and the lighter stone on the top4 ,to separate the two the machine must be stopped and cleared by hand4 ,in the case of coal-washing1 where the object is to separate fine coal from the particles of stone mixed with it1 this process would be very costly1 and indeed impossible1 because a current of water is sweeping through the whole mass4 ,in the case of the ,coppee coal-washer1 the desired end is achieved in a different and very simple manner4 ,the well known mineral felspar has a specific gravity intermediate between that of the coal and the shale1 or stone1 with which it is found intermixed4 ,if1 then1 a quantity of felspar in small fragments is thrown into the mixture1 and the whole then submitted to the jigging process1 the result will be that the stone will collect on the top1 and the coal at the bottom1 with a layer of felspar separating the two4 ,a current of water sweeps through the whole1 and is drawn off partly at the top1 carrying with it the stone1 and partly at the bottom1 carrying with it the fine coal4 ,the above are instances where science has come to the aid of engineering4 ,here is one in which the obligation is reversed4 ,the rapid stopping of railroad trains1 when necessary1 by means of brakes1 is a problem which has long occupied the attention of many engineers2 and the mechanical solutions offered have been correspondingly numerous4 ,some of these depend on the action of steam1 some of a vacuum1 some of compressed air1 some of pressure-water2 others again ingeniously utilize the momentum of the wheels themselves4 ,but for a long time no effort was made by any of these inventors thoroughly to master the theoretical conditions of the problem before them4 ,at last1 one of the most ingenious and successful among them1 ,mr4 ,george ,westinghouse1 resolved to make experiments on the subject1 and was fortunate enough to associate with himself ,capt4 ,douglas ,galton4 ,their experiments1 carried on with rare energy and perseverance1 and at great expense1 not only brought into the clearest light the physical conditions of the question 7conditions which were shown to be in strict accordance with theory71 but also disclosed the interesting scientific fact that the friction between solid bodies at high velocities is not constant1 as the experiments of ,morin had been supposed to imply1 but diminishes rapidly as the speed increases--a fact which other observations serve to confirm4 ,the old scientific principle known as the hydrostatic paradox1 according to which a pressure applied at any point of an inclosed mass of liquid is transmitted unaltered to every other point1 has been singularly fruitful in practical applications4 ,mr4 ,bramah was perhaps the first to recognize its value and importance4 ,he applied it to the well known ,bramah press1 and in various other directions1 some of which were less successful4 ,one of these was a hydraulic lift1 which ,mr4 ,bramah proposed to construct by means of several cylinders sliding within each other after the manner of the tubes of a telescope4 ,his specification of this invention sufficiently expresses his opinion of its value1 for it concludes as follows3 ,this patent does not only differ in its nature and in its boundless extent of claims to novelty1 but also in its claims to merit and superior utility compared with any other patent ever brought before or sanctioned by the legislative authority of any nation4 ,the telescope lift has not come into practical use2 but lifts worked on the hydraulic principle are becoming more and more common every day4 ,the same principle has been applied by the genius of ,sir ,william ,armstrong and others to the working of cranes and other machines for the lifting of weights1 etc42 and under the form of the accumulator1 with its distributing pipes and hydraulic engines1 it provides a store of power always ready for application at any required point in a large system1 yet costing practically nothing when not actually at work4 ,this system of high pressure mains worked from a central accumulator has been for some years in existence at ,hull1 as a means of supplying power commercially for all the purposes needed in a large town1 and it is at this moment being carried out on a wider scale in the ,east ,end of ,london4 ,taking advantage of this system1 and combining with it another scientific principle of wide applicability1 ,mr4 ,j4,h4 ,greathead has brought out an instrument called the injector hydrant1 which seems likely to play an important part in the extinguishing of fires4 ,this second principle is that of the lateral induction of fluids1 and may be thus expressed in the words of the late ,william ,froude3 ,any surface which in passing through a fluid experiences resistance must in so doing impress on the particles which resist it a force in the line of motion equal to the resistance4 ,if then these particles are themselves part of a fluid1 it will result that they will follow the direction of the moving fluid and be partly carried along with it4 ,as applied in the injector hydrant1 a small quantity of water derived from the high pressure mains is made to pass from one pipe into another1 coming in contact at the same time with a reservoir of water at ordinary pressure4 ,the result is that the water from the reservoir is drawn into the second pipe through a trumpet-shaped nozzle1 and may be made to issue as a stream to a considerable height4 ,thus the small quantity of pressure-water1 which1 if used by itself1 would perhaps rise to a height of #ejj feet1 is made to carry with it a much larger quantity to a much smaller height1 say that of an ordinary house4 ,the above are only a few of the many instances which might be given to prove the general truth of the fact with which we started1 namely1 the close and reciprocal connection between physical science and mechanical engineering1 taking both in their widest sense4 ,it may possibly be worth while to return again to the subject1 as other illustrations arise4 ,two such have appeared even at the moment of writing1 and though their practical success is not yet assured1 it may be worth while to cite them4 ,the first is an application of the old principle of the siphon to the purifying of sewage4 ,into a tank containing the sewage dips a siphon pipe some thirty feet high1 of which the shorter leg is many times larger than the longer4 ,when this is started1 the water rises slowly and steadily in the shorter column1 and before it reaches the top has left behind it all or almost all of the solid particles which it previously held in suspension4 ,these fall slowly back through the column and collect at the bottom of the tank1 to be cleared out when needful4 ,the effluent water is not of course chemically pure1 but sufficiently so to be turned into any ordinary stream4 ,the second invention rests on a curious fact in chemistry1 namely1 that caustic soda or potash will absorb steam1 forming a compound which has a much higher temperature than the steam absorbed4 ,if1 therefore1 exhaust-steam be discharged into the bottom of a vessel containing caustic alkali1 not only will it become condensed1 but this condensation will raise the temperature of the mass so high that it may be employed in the generation of fresh steam4 ,it is needless to observe how important will be the bearing of this invention upon the working of steam engines for many purposes1 if only it can be established as a practical success4 ,and if it is so established there can be no doubt that the experience thus acquired will reveal new and valuable facts with regard to the conditions of chemical combination and absorption1 in the elements thus brought together4 ,,walter ,r4 ,,browne4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,hydraulic ,,plate ,,press4 ,one of the most remarkable and interesting mechanical arrangements at the ,imperial ,navy ,yard at ,kiel1 ,germany1 is the iron clad plate bending machine1 by means of which the heavy iron clad plates are bent for the use of arming iron clad vessels4 ,through the mechanism of this remarkable machine it is possible to bend the strongest and heaviest iron clad plates--in cold condition--so that they can be fitted close on to the ship's hull1 as it was done with the man-of-war ships ,saxonia1 ,bavaria1 ,wurtemberg1 and ,baden1 each of which having an iron strength of about #bej meters4 ,illustration3 ,,improved ,,hydraulic ,,plate ,,press4 ,one may make himself a proximate idea of the enormous power of pressure of such a machine1 if he can imagine what a strength is needed to bend an iron plate of #bej meters thickness1 in cold condition2 being also #a4e meters in width1 and #e4jj meters in length1 and weighing about #ad1eee kilogrammes1 or #ad1eee tons4 ,the bending of the plates is done as follows3 ,as it is shown in the illustration1 connected herewith1 there are standing1 well secured into the foundation1 four perpendicular pillars1 made of heavy iron1 all of which are holding a heavy iron block1 which by means of female nut screws is lifted and lowered in a perpendicular direction4 ,beneath the iron block1 between the pillars1 is lying a large hollow cylinder in which the press piston moves up and down in a perpendicular direction4 ,these movements are caused by a small machine1 or1 better1 press pump--not noticeable in the illustration--which presses water from a reservoir through a narrow pipe into the large hollow cylinder1 preventing at the same time the escape or return of the water so forced in4 ,the hollow cylinder up to the press piston is now filled with water1 so remains no other way for the piston as to move on to the top4 ,the iron clad plate ready to undergo the bending process is lying between press piston and iron block2 under the latter preparations are already made for the purpose of giving the iron clad plate such a form as it will receive through the bending process4 ,after this the press piston will1 with the greatest force1 steadily but slowly move upward1 until the iron clad plate has received its intended bending4 ,lately the hydraulic presses are often used as winding machines1 that is1 they are used as an arrangement to lift heavy loads up on elevated points4 ,the essential contrivance of a hydraulic press is as follows3 ,one thinks of a powerful piston1 which1 through1 human1 steam1 or water power1 is set in a moving up-and-down motion4 ,through the ascent of the piston1 is by means of a drawing pipe1 ending into a sieve1 the water absorbed out of a reservoir1 and by the lowering of the piston water is driven out of a cylinder by means of a narrow pipe 7communication pipe7 into a second cylinder1 which raises a larger piston1 the so-called press piston4 7,see illustration47 ,one on top opening drawing valve1 on the top end of the drawing pipe prevents the return of the water by the going down of the piston2 and a barring valve1 which is lifted by the lowering of the piston1 obstructs the return of the water by the ascent of the piston1 while the drawing valve is lifted by means of water absorbed by the small drawing pipe4--,illustrirte ,zeitung4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,fast ,,printing ,,press ,,for ,,engravings4 ,uber ,land und ,meer1 which is one of the finest illustrated newspapers published in ,germany1 gives the following3 ,we recently gave our readers an insight into the establishment of ,uber ,land und ,meer1 and to-day we show them the machine which each week starts our paper on its journey around the world--a machine which embodies the latest and greatest progress in the art of printing4 ,the following illustration represents one of the three fast presses which the house of ,hallberger employs in the printing of its illustrated journals4 ,with the invention of the cylinder press by ,frederick ,knig was verified the saying that the art of printing had lent wings to words4 ,everywhere the primitive hand-press had to make way for the steam printing machine2 but even this machine1 since its advent in ,london in #ahaj1 has itself undergone so many changes that little else remains of ,knig's invention than the principle of the cylinder4 ,the demands of recent times for still more rapid machines have resulted in the production of presses printing from a continuous roll or web of paper1 from cylinders revolving in one given direction4 ,the first of this class of presses 7the ,bullock press7 was built in ,america4 ,then ,england followed1 and there the first newspaper to make use of one was the ,times4 ,the ,augsburg ,machine ,works were the first to supply ,germany with them1 and it was this establishment which first undertook to apply the principle of the web perfecting press 7first intended for newspaper work only1 where speed rather than fine work is the object sought7 to book printing1 in which far greater accuracy and excellence is required1 and the result has been the construction of a rotary press for the highest grade of illustrated periodical publications1 which meets all the requirements with the most complete success4 ,illustration3 ,,improved ,,fast ,,printing ,,press ,,for ,,engravers ,the building of rotary presses for printing illustrated papers was attempted as early as #ahgd or #ahge in ,london1 by the ,times1 but apparently without success1 as no public mention has ever been made of any favorable result4 ,the proprietor of the ,london ,illustrated ,news obtained better results4 ,in #ahgg an illustrated penny paper1 an outgrowth of his great journal1 was printed upon a rotary press which was1 according to his statement1 constructed by a machinist named ,middleton4 ,the first one1 however1 did not at all meet the higher demands of illustrated periodical printing1 and1 while another machine constructed on the same principle was shown in the ,paris ,exposition of #ahgh1 its work was neither in quality nor quantity adequate to the needs of a largely circulated illustrated paper4 ,a second machine1 also on exhibition at the same time1 designed and built by the celebrated ,french machinist1 ,p4 ,alauzet1 could not be said to have attained the object4 ,its construction was undertaken long after the opening of the ,exposition1 and too late to solve the weighty question4 ,but the half-successful attempt gave promise that the time was at hand when a press could be built which could print our illustrated periodicals more rapidly1 and a conference with the proprietors of the ,augsburg ,machine ,works resulted in the production by them of the three presses from which ,uber ,land und ,meer and ,die ,illustrirte ,welt are to-day issued4 ,as a whole and in detail1 as well as in its productions1 the press is the marvel of mechanic and layman4 ,as seen in the illustration1 the web of paper leaves the roll at its right1 rising to a point at the top where it passes between two hollow cylinders covered with felt and filled with steam1 which serve to dampen the paper as may be necessary1 the small hand-wheel seen above these cylinders regulating the supply of steam4 ,after leaving these cylinders the paper descends sloping toward the right1 and passes through two highly polished cylinders for the purpose of recalendering4 ,after this it passes under the lowest of the three large cylinders of the press1 winds itself in the shape of an ,s toward the outside and over the middle cylinder1 and leaves the press in an almost horizontal line1 after having been printed on both sides1 and is then cut into sheets4 ,the printing is done while the paper is passing around the two white cylinders4 ,the cylinder carrying the first form is placed inside and toward the center of the press1 only a part of its cog-wheel and its journal being shown in the engraving4 ,the second form is placed upon the uppermost cylinder1 and is the outside or cut form4 ,each one of the form cylinders requires a separate inking apparatus4 ,that of the upper one is placed to the right at the top1 and the bottom one is also at the right1 but inside4 ,each one has a fountain the whole breadth of the press1 in which the ink is kept1 and connected with which1 by appropriate mechanism1 is a system of rollers for the thorough distribution of the ink and depositing it upon the forms4 ,the rapidity with which the impressions follow each other does not allow any time for the printing on the first side to dry1 and as a consequence the freshly printed sheet coming in contact with the packing of the second cylinder would so soil it as to render clean printing absolutely impossible4 ,to avoid this1 a second roll of paper is introduced into the machine1 and is drawn around the middle cylinder beneath the paper which has already been printed upon one side1 and receives upon its surface all offset1 thus protecting and keeping perfectly clean both the printed paper and the impression cylinder4 ,this offset web1 as it leaves the press1 is wound upon a second roller1 which when full is exchanged for the new empty roller--a very simple operation4 ,the machines print from #c1ejj to #d1jjj sheets per hour upon both sides1 a rate of production from twenty-eight to thirty-two times as great as was possible upon the old-fashioned hand-press1 which was capable of printing not more than #bej copies upon one side in the same time4 ,the device above described for preventing offset is1 we believe1 the invention of ,mr4 ,h4,j4 ,hewitt1 a well known ,new ,york printer1 #bg ,rose ,street4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,french ,,cannon4 ,five new cannons1 the largest yet manufactured in ,france1 have been successfully cast in the foundry of ,ruelle near ,angouleme4 ,they are made of steel1 and are breech loading4 ,the weight of each is #ig tons1 without the carriage4 ,the projectile weighs #a1gaf pounds1 and the charge or powder is #faf pounds4 ,to remove them a special wagon with sixteen wheels has had to be constructed1 and the bridges upon the road from ,ruelle to ,angouleme not being solid enough to bear the weight of so heavy a load1 a special roadway will be constructed for the transport of these weapons1 which are destined for coast defences and ironclads4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,woodlands1 ,,stoke ,,pogis1 ,,bucks4 ,the illustration represents a house recently reconstructed4 ,the dining-room wing was alone left in the demolition of the old premises1 and this part has been decorated with tile facings1 and otherwise altered to be in accordance with the new portion4 ,the house is pleasantly situated about a mile from ,stoke ,church of historic fame1 in about #ae acres of garden1 shrubbery1 and meadow land4 ,the hall and staircase have been treated in wainscot oak1 and the whole of the work has been satisfactorily carried out by ,mr4 ,g4 ,almond1 builder1 of ,burnham1 under the superintendence of ,messrs4 ,thurlow ,cross1 architects4--,the ,architect4 ,illustration3 ,,woodlands1 ,,stoke ,,poges1 ,,bucks 99 99 99 99 99 ,,china ,,grass4 ,the following article appeared in a recent number of the ,london ,times3 ,the subject of the cultivation and commercial utilization of the ,china grass plant1 or rhea1 has for many years occupied attention1 the question being one of national importance1 particularly as affecting ,india4 ,rhea which is also known under the name of ramie1 is a textile plant which was indigenous to ,china and ,india4 ,it is perennial1 easy of cultivation1 and produces a remarkably strong fiber4 ,the problem of its cultivation has long being solved1 for within certain limits rhea can be grown in any climate4 ,india and the ,british colonies offer unusual facilities1 and present vast and appropriate fields for that enterprise1 while it can be1 and is1 grown in most ,european countries4 ,all this has long been demonstrated2 not so1 however1 the commercial utilization of the fiber1 which up to the present time would appear to be a problem only partially solved1 although many earnest workers have been engaged in the attempted solution4 ,there have been difficulties in the way of decorticating the stems of this plant1 and the ,indian ,government1 in #ahfi1 offered a reward of #e1jjj for the best machine for separating the fiber from the stems and bark of rhea in its green or freshly cut state4 ,the ,indian ,government was led to this step by the strong conviction1 based upon ample evidence1 that the only obstacle to the development of an extensive trade in this product was the want of suitable means for decorticating the plant4 ,this was the third time within the present century that rhea had become the subject of official action on the part of the ,government1 the first effort for utilizing the plant dating from #ahjc1 when ,dr4 ,roxburg started the question1 and the second from #ahdj1 when attention was again directed to it by ,colonel ,jenkins4 ,the offer of #e1jjj1 in #ahfi1 led to only one machine being submitted for trial1 although several competitors had entered their names4 ,this machine was that of ,mr4 ,greig1 of ,edinburgh1 but after careful trial by ,general 7then ,lieutenant ,colonel7 ,hyde it was found that it did not fulfill the conditions laid down by the ,government1 and therefore the full prize of #e1jjj was not awarded4 ,in consideration1 however1 of the inventor having made a bona fide and meritorious attempt to solve the question1 he was awarded a donation of #a1ejj4 ,other unsuccessful attempts were subsequently made1 and eventually the offer of #e1jjj was withdrawn by the ,government4 ,but although the prize was withdrawn1 invention did not cease1 and the ,government1 in #ahha1 reoffered the prize of #e1ejj4 ,another competition took place1 at which several machines were tried1 but the trials1 as before1 proved barren of any practical results1 and up to the present time no machine has been found capable of dealing successfully with this plant in the green state4 ,the question of the preparation of the fiber1 however1 continued to be pursued in many directions4 ,nor is this to be wondered at when it is remembered that the strength of some rhea fiber from ,assam experimented with in #aheb by ,dr4 ,forbes ,royle1 as compared with ,st4 ,petersburg hemp1 was in the ratio of #bhj to #afj1 while the wild rhea from ,assam was as high as #cdc4 ,but1 above and beyond this1 rhea has the widest range of possible applications of any fiber1 as shown by an exhaustive report on the preparation and use of rhea fiber by ,dr4 ,forbes ,watson1 published in #ahge1 at which date ,dr4 ,watson was the reporter on the products of ,india to the ,secretary of ,state1 at the ,india ,office4 ,last year1 however1 witnessed the solution of the question of decortication in the green state in a satisfactory manner by ,m4,a4 ,favier's process1 as reported by us at the time4 ,this process consists in subjecting the plant to the action of steam for a period varying from #aj to #be minutes1 according to the length of time the plant had been cut4 ,after steaming1 the fiber and its adjuncts were easily stripped from the wood4 ,the importance and value of this invention will be realized1 when it is remembered that the plant is cultivated at long distances from the localities where the fiber is prepared for the market4 ,the consequence is1 that for every hundredweight of fiber about a ton of woody material has to be transported4 ,nor is this the only evil1 for the gummy matter in which the fiber is embedded becomes dried up during transport1 and the separation of the fiber is thus rendered difficult1 and even impossible1 inasmuch as some of the fiber is left adhering to the wood4 ,m4 ,favier's process greatly simplifies the commercial production of the fiber up to a certain point1 for1 at a very small cost1 it gives the manufacturer the whole of the fiber in the plant treated4 ,but it still stops short of what is required1 in that it delivers the fiber in ribbons1 with its cementitious matter and outer skin attached4 ,to remove this1 various methods have been tried1 but1 as far as we are aware1 without general success--that is to say1 the fiber cannot always be obtained of such a uniformly good quality as to constitute a commercially reliable article4 ,such was the position of the question when1 about a year ago1 the whole case was submitted to the distinguished ,french chemist1 ,professor ,fremy1 member of the ,institute of ,france1 who is well-known for his researches into the nature of fibrous plants1 and the question of their preparation for the market4 ,professor ,fremy thoroughly investigated the matter from a chemical point of view1 and at length brought it to a successful and1 apparently1 a practical issue4 ,one great bar to previous success would appear to have been the absence of exact knowledge as to the nature of the constituents of that portion of the plant which contains the fiber1 or1 in other words1 the casing or bark surrounding the woody stem of the rhea4 ,as determined by ,professor ,fremy1 this consists of the cutose1 or outer skin1 within which is the vasculose containing the fiber and other conjoined matter1 known as cellulose1 between which and the woody stem is the pectose1 or gum1 which causes the skin or bark1 as a whole1 fiber included1 to adhere to the wood4 ,the ,professor1 therefore1 proceeded to carefully investigate the nature of these various substances1 and in the result he found that the vasculose and pectose were soluble in an alkali under certain conditions1 and that the cellulose was insoluble4 ,he therefore dissolves out the cutose1 vasculose1 and pectose by a very simple process1 obtaining the fiber clean1 and free from all extraneous adherent matter1 ready for the spinner4 ,in order1 however1 to insure as a result a perfectly uniform and marketable article1 the ,professor uses various chemicals at the several stages of the process4 ,these1 however1 are not administered haphazard1 or by rule of thumb1 as has been the case in some processes bearing in the same direction1 and which have consequently failed1 in the sense that they have not yet taken their places as commercial successes4 ,the ,professor1 therefore1 carefully examines the article which he has to treat1 and1 according to its nature and the character of its components1 he determines the proportions of the various chemicals which he introduces at the several stages4 ,all chance of failure thus appears to be eliminated1 and the production of a fiber of uniform and reliable quality removed from the region of doubt into that of certainty4 ,the two processes of ,m4 ,favier and ,m4 ,fremy have1 therefore1 been combined1 and machinery has been put up in ,france on a scale sufficiently large to fairly approximate to practical working1 and to demonstrate the practicability of the combined inventions4 ,the experimental works are situated in the ,route d',orleans1 ,grand ,montrouge1 just outside ,paris1 and a few days ago a series of demonstrations were given there by ,messrs4 ,g4,w4,h4 ,brogden and ,co41 of ,gresham-house1 ,london4 ,the trials were carried out by ,m4 ,albert ,alroy1 under the supervision of ,m4 ,urbain1 who is ,professor ,fremy's chief assistant and copatentee1 and were attended by ,dr4 ,forbes ,watson1 ,mr4 ,m4 ,collyer1 ,mr4 ,c4,j4 ,taylor1 late member of the ,general ,assembly1 ,new ,zealand1 ,m4 ,barbe1 ,m4 ,favier1 ,mr4 ,g4 ,brogden1 ,mr4 ,caspar1 and a number of other gentlemen representing those interested in the question at issue4 ,the process1 as carried out1 consists in first treating the rhea according to ,m4 ,favier's invention4 ,the apparatus employed for this purpose is very simple and inexpensive1 consisting merely of a stout deal trough or box1 about #h ft4 long1 #b ft4 wide1 and #a ft4 #h in4 deep4 ,the box has a hinged lid and a false open bottom1 under which steam is admitted by a perforated pipe1 there being an outlet for the condensed water at one end of the box4 ,into this box the bundles of rhea were placed1 the lid closed1 steam turned on1 and in about twenty minutes it was invariably found that the bark had been sufficiently softened to allow of its being readily and rapidly stripped off by hand1 together with the whole of the fiber1 in what may be called ribbons4 ,thus the process of decortication is effectively accomplished in a few minutes1 instead of requiring1 as it sometimes does in the retting process1 days1 and even weeks1 and being at the best attended with uncertainty as to results1 as is also the case when decortication is effected by machinery4 ,moreover1 the retting process1 which is simply steeping the cut plants in water1 is a delicate operation1 requiring constant watching1 to say nothing of its serious inconvenience from a sanitary point of view1 on account of the pestilential emanations from the retteries4 ,decortication by steam having been effected1 the work of ,m4 ,favier ceases1 and the process is carried forward by ,m4 ,fremy4 ,the ribbons having been produced1 the fiber in them has to be freed from the mucilaginous secretions4 ,to this end1 after examination in the laboratory1 they are laid on metal trays1 which are placed one above the other in a vertical perforated metal cylinder4 ,when charged1 this cylinder is placed within a strong iron cylinder1 containing a known quantity of water1 to which an alkali is added in certain proportions4 ,within the cylinder is a steam coil for heating the water1 and1 steam having been turned on1 the temperature is raised to a certain point1 when the cylinder is closed and made steam-tight4 ,the process of boiling is continued under pressure until the temperature--and consequently the steam pressure--within the cylinder has attained a high degree4 ,on the completion of this part of the process1 which occupies about four hours1 and upon which the success of the whole mainly depends1 the cementitious matter surrounding the fiber is found to have been transformed into a substance easily dissolved4 ,the fibrous mass is then removed to a centrifugal machine1 in which it is quickly deprived of its surplus alkaline moisture1 and it is then placed in a weak solution of hydrochloric acid for a short time4 ,it is then transferred to a bath of pure cold water1 in which it remains for about an hour1 and it is subsequently placed for a short time in a weak acid bath1 after which it is again washed in cold water1 and dried for the market4 ,such are the processes by which ,china grass may become a source of profit alike to the cultivator and the spinner4 ,a factory situate at ,louviers has been acquired1 where there is machinery already erected for preparing the fiber according to the processes we have described1 at the rate of one ton per day4 ,there is also machinery for spinning the fiber into yarns4 ,these works were also visited by those gentlemen who were at the experimental works at ,montrouge1 and who also visited the ,government laboratory in ,paris1 of which ,professor ,fremy is chief and ,m4 ,urbain sous-chef1 and where those gentlemen explained the details of their process and made their visitors familiar with the progressive steps of their investigations4 ,with regard to the rhea treated at ,montrouge1 we may observe that it was grown at ,la ,reolle1 near ,bordeaux4 ,some special experiments were also carried out by ,dr4 ,forbes ,watson with some rhea grown by the ,duke of ,wellington at ,stratfield-saye1 his ,grace having taken an active interest in the question for some years past4 ,in all cases the rhea was used green and comparatively freshly cut4 ,one of the objects of ,dr4 ,watson's experiments was1 by treating rhea cut at certain stages of growth1 to ascertain at which stage the plant yields the best fiber1 and consequently how many crops can be raised in the year with the best advantage4 ,this question has often presented itself as one of the points to be determined1 and advantage has been taken of the present opportunity with a view to the solution of the question4 ,mr4 ,c4,j4 ,taylor also took with him a sample of ,new ,zealand flax1 which was successfully treated by the process4 ,on the whole1 the conclusion is that the results of the combined processes1 so far as they have gone1 are eminently satisfactory1 and justify the expectation that a large enterprise in the cultivation and utilization of ,china grass is on the eve of being opened up1 not only in ,india and our colonies1 but possibly also much nearer home4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,apparatus ,,for ,,heating ,,by ,,gas4 ,this new heating apparatus consists of a cast iron box1 ,e1 provided with an inclined cover1 ,f1 into which are fixed #ajj copper tubes that are arranged in several lines1 and form a semi-cylindrical heating surface4 ,the box1 ,e1 is divided into two compartments 7,fig4 #e71 so that the air and gas may enter simultaneously either one or both of the compartments1 according to the quantity of heat it is desired to have4 ,regulation is effected by means of the keys1 ,g and ,g'1 which open the gas conduits of the solid and movable disk1 ,h1 which serves as a regulator for distributing air through the two compartments4 ,this disk revolves by hand and may be closed or opened by means of a screw to which it is fixed4 ,beneath the tubes that serve to burn the mixture of air and gas1 there is placed a metallic gauze1 ,i1 the object of which is to prevent the flames from entering the fire place box4 ,these tubes traverse a sheet iron piece1 ,j1 which forms the surface of the fire place1 and are covered with a layer of asbestos filaments that serve to increase the calorific power of the apparatus4 ,illustration3 ,,gomez',s ,,apparatus ,,for ,,heating ,,by ,,gas4 ,,fig4 #a4--;,front ,view4 ,scale of #j4be to #a4 ,,fig4 #b4--,section through ,,ab4 ,,fig4#c4--,plan ,view4 ,,fig4 #d4--,section through ,,cd4 ,,fig4 #e4--,transverse ,section through the ,fireplace4 ,scale of #j4ej to #a4 ,the cast iron box1 ,e1 is inclosed within a base of refractory clay1 ,l1 which is surmounted by a reflector1 ,m1 of the same material1 that is designed to concentrate the heat and increase its radiation4 ,this reflector terminates above in a dome1 in whose center is placed a refractory clay box4 ,this latter1 which is round1 is provided in the center with a cylinder that is closed above4 ,the box contains a large number of apertures1 which give passage to the products of combustion carried along by the hot air4 ,the carbonic acid which such products contain is absorbed by a layer of quick-lime that has previously been introduced into the box1 ,n4 ,this heating apparatus1 which is inclosed within a cast iron casing similar to that of an ordinary gas stove1 is employed without a chimney1 thus permitting of its being placed against the wall or at any other point whatever in the room to be heated4--,annales ,industrielles4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,improved ,,gas ,,burner ,,for ,,singeing ,,machines4 ,since the introduction of the process of gas-singeing in finishing textiles1 many improvements have been made in the construction of the machines for this purpose as well as in that of the burners1 for the object of the latter must be to effect the singeing not only evenly and thoroughly1 but at the same time with a complete combustion of the gas and avoidance of sooty deposits upon the cloth4 ,the latter object is attained by what are called atmospheric or ,bunsen burners1 and in which the coal gas before burning is mixed with the necessary amount of atmospheric air4 ,the arrangement under consideration1 patented abroad1 has this object specially in view4 ,the main gas pipe of the machine is shown at ,a1 being a copper pipe closed at one end and having a tap at the other4 ,on this pipe the vertical pipes1 ,c1 are screwed at stated intervals1 each being in its turn provided with a tap near its base4 ,on the top of each vertical table the burner1 ,,ij1 is placed1 whose upper end spreads in the shape of a fan1 and allows the gas to escape through a slit or a number of minute holes4 ,over the tube1 ,c1 a mantle1 ,e1 is slipped1 which contains two holes1 ,,hg1 on opposite sides1 and made nearly at the height of the outlet of the gas4 ,when the gas passes out of this and upward into the burner1 it induces a current of air up through the holes1 ,,hg1 and carries it along with it4 ,by covering these holes with a loose adjustable collar1 the amount of admissible air can be regulated so that the flame is perfectly non-luminous1 and therefore containing no free particles of carbon or soot4 ,the distance of the vertical tubes1 ,c2 and of the fan-shaped burners is calculated so that the latter touch each other1 and thus a continuous flame is formed1 which is found to be the most effective for singeing cloth4 ,should it be deemed advisable to singe only part of the cloth1 or a narrow piece1 the arrangement admits of the taps1 ,d1 being turned off as desired4--,textile ,manufacturer4 ,illustration 99 99 99 99 99 ,,silas' ,,chronophore4 ,in many industries there are operations that have to be repeated at regular intervals1 and1 for this reason1 the construction of an apparatus for giving a signal1 not only at the hour fixed1 but also at equal intervals1 is a matter of interest4 ,the question of doing this has been solved in a very elegant way by ,mr4 ,silas in the invention of the apparatus which we represent in ,fig4 #a4 ,it consists of a clock whose dial is provided with a series of small pins4 ,the hands are insulated from the case and communicate with one of the poles of a pile contained in the box4 ,the case is connected with the other pole4 ,a small vibrating bell is interposed in the circuit4 ,if it be desired to obtain a signal at a certain hour1 the corresponding pin is inserted1 and the hand upon touching this closes the circuit1 and the bell rings4 ,the bell is likewise inclosed within the box4 ,there are two rows of pins--one of them for hours1 and the other for minutes4 ,they are spaced according to requirements4 ,in the model exhibited by the house ,breguet1 at the ,vienna ,exhibition1 there were #bd pins for minutes and #ab for hours4 ,fig4 #b gives a section of the dial4 ,it will be seen that the hands are provided at the extremity with a small spring1 r1 which is itself provided with a small platinum contact1 p4 ,the pins also carry a small platinum or silver point1 a4 ,in front of the box there will be observed a small commutator1 ,m1 7,fig4 #a74 ,the use of this is indicated in the diagram 7,fig4 #c74 ,it will be seen that1 according as the plug1 ,b1 is introduced into the aperture to the left or right1 the bell4 ,s1 will operate as an ordinary vibrator1 or give but a single stroke4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #a4--,,silas' ,,chronophore4 ,p is the pile2 ,c is the dial2 and ,a is the commutator4 ,it is evident that this apparatus will likewise be able to render services in scientific researches and laboratory operations1 by sparing the operator the trouble of continually consulting his watch4--,la ,lumiere ,electrique4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #b4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #c4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,garden4 ,,the ,,zelkowas4 ,two of the three species which form the subject of this article are not only highly ornamental1 but also valuable timber trees4 ,until recently they were considered to belong to the genus ,planera1 which1 however1 consists of but a single ,new ,world species2 now1 they properly constitute a distinct genus1 viz41 ,zelkova1 which differs materially from the true ,planer tree in the structure of the fruit1 etc4 ,z4 crenata1 from the ,caucasus1 and ,z4 acuminata1 from ,japan1 are quick growing1 handsome trees1 with smooth bark not unlike that of beech or hornbeam2 it is only when the trees are old that the bark is cast off in rather large sized plates1 as is the case with the planes4 ,the habit of both is somewhat peculiar2 in ,z4 crenata especially there is a decided tendency for all the main branches to be given off from one point2 these1 too1 do not spread1 as for instance do those of the elm or beech1 but each forms an acute angle with the center of the tree4 ,the trunks are more columnar than those of almost all other hardy trees4 ,their distinct and graceful habit renders them wonderfully well adapted for planting for effect1 either singly or in groups4 ,the flowers1 like those of the elm1 are produced before the leaves are developed2 in color they are greenish brown1 and smell like those of the elder4 ,it does not appear that fruits have yet been ripened in ,england4 ,all the ,zelkowas are easily propagated by layers or by grafting on the common elm4 ,illustration3 ,,young ,,zelkowa ,,tree 7#ba ,,feet ,,high7 ,zelkcova crenata--,the ,caucasian ,zelkowa is a native of the country lying between the ,black and the ,caspian ,sea between latitudes #ce and #dg of the north of ,persia and ,georgia4 ,according to ,loudon1 it was introduced to this country in #agfj1 and it appears to have been planted both at ,kew and ,syon at about that date4 ,a very full account of the history1 etc41 of the ,zelkowa1 from which ,loudon largely quotes1 was presented to the ,french ,academy of ,science by ,michaux the younger1 who speaks highly of the value of the tree4 ,in this he is fully corroborated by ,mirbel and ,desfontaine1 on whom devolved the duty of reporting on this memoir4 ,they say that it attains a size equal to that of the largest trees of ,french forests1 and recommend its being largely planted4 ,they particularly mention its suitability for roadside avenues1 and affirm that its leaves are never devoured by caterpillars1 and that the stems are not subject1 to the canker which frequently ruins the elm4 ,the name ,orme de ,siberie1 which is or was commonly applied to ,zelkova crenata in ,french books and gardens1 is doubly wrong1 for the tree is neither an elm nor is it native of ,siberia4 ,in #aghb ,michaux1 the father of the author of the paper above mentioned1 undertook1 under the auspices1 of a ,monsieur 7afterward ,louis ,,xviii471 a journey into ,persia1 in order to make botanical researches4 ,illustration3 ,,foliage ,,of ,a ,,young ,,zelkowa ,,tree1 ,,with ,,flowers ,,and ,,fruit4 ,having left ,ispahan1 in order to explore the province of ,ghilan1 he found this tree in the forests which he traversed before arriving at ,recht1 a town situated on the ,caspian ,sea4 ,in this town he had opportunities of remarking the use made of the wood1 and of judging how highly it was appreciated by the inhabitants4 ,the first tree introduced into ,europe appears to have been planted by ,m4 ,lemonnier1 ,professor of ,botany in the ,jardin des ,plautes1 etc41 in his garden near ,versailles4 ,this garden was destroyed in #ahbj1 and the dimensions of the tree when it was cut down were as follows3 ,height #gj feet1 trunk #g feet in circumference at #e feet from the ground4 ,the bole of the trunk was #bj feet in length and of nearly uniform thickness2 and the proportion of heart-wood to sap-wood was about three quarters of its diameter4 ,this tree was about fifty years old1 but was still in a growing state and in vigorous health4 ,the oldest tree existing in ,france at the time of the publication of ,loudon's great work1 was one in the ,jardin des ,plantes1 which in #ahca was about #fj feet high4 ,it was planted in #aghf 7when a sucker of four years old71 about the same time as the limes which form the grand avenue called the ,allee de ,buffon4 ,there is1 however1 a much larger ,zelkowa on an estate of ,m4 le ,comte de ,dijon1 an enthusiastic planter of exotic trees1 at ,podenas1 near ,nerac1 in the department of the ,lot et ,garonne4 ,this fine tree was planted in #aghi1 and on the #bjth of ,january1 #ahca4 it measured nearly #hj feet high1 and the trunk was nearly #c feet in diameter at #c feet from the ground4 ,a drawing of this tree1 made by the count in the autumn of that year1 was lent to ,loudon by ,michaux1 and the engraving prepared from that sketch 7on a scale of #a inch to #ab feet7 is herewith reproduced4 ,at ,kew the largest tree is one near the herbarium 7a larger one had to be cut down when the herbarium was enlarged some years ago1 and a section of the trunk is exhibited in ,museum ,no4 #c74 ,its present dimensions are3 height1 #fb feet2 circumference of stem at #a foot from the ground1 #i feet #h inches2 ditto at ground level1 #aj feet2 ,height of stem from ground to branches1 #g feet2 diameter of head1 #df feet4 ,the general habit of the tree is quite that as represented in the engraving of the specimen at ,podenas4 ,the measurements of the large tree at ,syon ,house were1 in #ahcd1 according to ,loudon3 ,height1 #ed feet2 circumference of of stem1 #f feet #i inches2 and diameter of head1 #cd feet2 the present dimensions1 for which ,i am indebted to ,mr4 ,woodbridge1 are3 ,height1 #gf feet2 girth of trunk at #b feet from ground1 #aj feet2 spread of branches1 #cf feet4 ,illustration3 ,,flowers ,,and ,,fruit ,,of ,,zelkova ,,crenata 7,planera ,richardi74 ,,identification4--,zelkova crenata1 ,spach in ,ann4 des ,sc4 nat4 #b;d ser4 #ae1 p4 #ceh4 ,d4 ,c4 ,prodromus1 xvii41 #afe ,rhamnus ulmoides1 ,gldenst4 ,it41 p4 #cac4 ,r carpinifolius1 ,pall4 ,fl ,rossica1 #b p4 #bd1 tab4 #aj4 ,ulmus polygama1 ,l ,c4 ,richard in ,mem4 ,acad4 des ,sciences de ,paris1 ann4 #agha4 ,planera ,richardi1 ,michx4 ,fl4 bor4 ,amer4 #b1 p4 #bdh2 ,c4,a4 ,meyer1 ,enumer4 ,causas4 ,casp41 n4 #ced2 ,dunal in ,bulletin ,soc4 cent d',agricult4 de l',herault4 ann4 #ahda1 #bii1 #cjc1 et ann4 #ahdc1 #bbe1 #bcf4 ,loudon1 ,arbor1 et ,frut4 ,brit41 vol4 #c1 p4 #adji4 ,planera crenata1 ,desf4 ,cat4 ,hort4 ,paris et hortul1 fere omnium4 ,michaux fil4 ,mem4 sur le ,zelkowa1 #ahca4 ,planera carpinifolia1 ,watson1 ,dend4 ,brit41 t4 #ajf4 ,koch ,dendrologie1 zweit theil1 sweit4 ,abtheil4 p4 #dbe4 ,illustration3 ,,zelkowa ,,tree ,,at ,,podenas ,showing peculiar habit of branching4 ,in old trees the effect is very remarkable in winter as at ,oxford1 ,versailles 7,petit ,trianon7 and ,syon4 ,var pendula 7the weeping ,zelkowa74--,this is a form of which ,i do not know the origin or history4 ,it is simply a weeping variety of the common ,zelkowa4 ,i first saw it in the ,isleworth ,nurseries of ,messrs4 ,c4 ,lee ,son1 and a specimen presented by them to ,kew for the aboretum is now growing freely4 ,i suspect that the ,zelkova crenata var4 repens of ,m4 ,lavallee's ,aboretum ,segrezianum and the ,planera repens of foreign catalogues generally are identical with the variety now mentioned under the name it bears in the establishment of ,messrs4 ,lee ,son4 ,illustration3 ,,foliage ,,of ,a ,,full-,,grown ,,zelkowa ,,tree4 ,z4 acuminata is one of the most useful and valuable of ,japanese timber trees4 ,it was found near ,yeddo by the late ,mr4 ,john ,gould ,veitch1 and was sent out by the firm of ,messrs4 ,j4 ,veitch ,sons4 ,maximowicz also found the tree in ,japan1 and introduced it to the ,imperial ,botanic ,gardens of ,st4 ,petersburg1 from whence both seeds and plants were liberally distributed4 ,in the ,gardeners' ,chronicle for #ahfb ,dr4 ,lindley writes as follows3 ,a noble deciduous tree1 discovered near ,yeddo by ,mr4 ,j4 ,g4 ,veitch1 #ij feet to #ajj feet in height1 with a remarkably straight stem4 ,in aspect it resembles an elm4 ,we understand that a plank in the ,exotic ,nursery1 where it has been raised1 measures #c feet #c inches across4 ,mr4 ,veitch informs us that it is one of the most useful timber trees in ,japan4 ,its long1 taper-pointed leaves1 with coarse1 very sharp serratures1 appear to distinguish it satisfactorily from the ,p4 ,richardi of the northwest of ,asia4 ,there seems to be no doubt as to the perfect hardiness of the ,japanese ,zelkowa in ,britain1 and it is decidedly well worth growing as an ornamental tree apart from its probable value as a timber producer4 ,a correspondent in the periodical just mentioned writes1 in #ahgc1 p4 #aadb1 under the signature of ,c4,p43 ,at ,stewkley ,grange it does fairly well2 better than most other trees4 ,in a very exposed situation it grew #c feet #e inches last year1 and was #ad feet #e inches high when ,i measured it in ,november2 girth at ground1 #h inches2 at #c feet1 #e inches4 ,the leaves vary in size a good deal on the short twiggy branches1 being from #c inches to #c inches in length and #a inches to #a inches in width1 while those on vigorous shoots attain a length of #e inches1 with a width of about half the length4 ,they are slightly hairy on both surfaces4 ,the long acuminate points1 the sharper serratures1 the more numerous nerves 7nine to fourteen in number71 and the more papery texture distinguish ,z4 acuminata easily from its ,caucasian relative1 ,z4 crenata4 ,the foliage1 too1 seems to be retained on the trees in autumn longer than that of the species just named2 in color it is a dull green above and a brighter glossy green beneath4 ,the timber is very valuable1 being exceedingly hard and capable of a very fine polish4 ,in ,japan it is used in the construction of houses1 ships1 and in high class cabinet work4 ,in case #ii1 ,museum ,no4 #a at ,kew1 there is a selection of small useful and ornamental articles made in ,japan of ,keyaki wood4 ,those manufactured from ornamental ,keyaki 7which is simply gnarled stems or roots1 or pieces cut tangentially71 and coated with the transparent lacquer for which the ,japanese an so famous1 are particularly handsome4 ,in the museum library is also a book1 the ,japanese title of which is given below--,handbook of ,useful ,woods1 by ,e4 ,kinch4 ,professor at the ,imperial ,college of ,agriculture1 at ,tokio1 ,japan4 ,this work contains transverse and longitudinal sections of one hundred ,japanese woods1 and numbers #de and #df represent ,z4 acuminata4 ,it would be worth the while of those who are interested in the introduction and cultivation of timber trees in temperate climates to procure ,kinch's handbook4 ,,identification4--,zelkova acuminata1 ,d4,c4 ,prodr41 xvii41 #aff2 ,z4 ,keaki1 ,maxim4 ,mel4 biol4 vol4 ix1 p4 #ba4 ,planera acuminata1 ,lindl4 in ,gard4 ,chron4 #ahfb1 #dbh2 ,regel1 ,gartenflora #ahfc1 p4 #ef4 ,p ,japonica1 ,miq4 ann4 ,mus4 ,ludg ,bat iii41 #ff2 ,kinch4 ,yuyo ,mokuzai ,shoran1 #de1 #df4 ,p4 ,keaki1 ,koch ,dendrol4 zweit4 theil zweit ,abtheil1 #dbg4 ,p4 dentata japonica1 ,hort4 ,p4 ,kaki1 ,hort4 ,illustration3 ,,flowering ,,twig ,,of ,,planera ,,gmelini4 ,z4 cretica is a pretty1 small foliaged tree1 from #ae to #bj feet in height4 ,the ovate crenate leaves1 which measure from an inch or even less1 to one inch and a half in length by about half the length in breadth1 are leathery1 dark green above1 grayish above4 ,they are hairy on both surfaces1 the underside being most densely clothed1 and the twigs1 too1 are thickly covered with short grayish hairs4 ,this species1 which is a native of ,crete1 is not at present in the ,kew collection2 its name1 however1 if given in ,m4 ,lavallee's catalogue1 ,enumeration des ,arbres et ,arbris ,cultives ,segrez 7,seine-et-,oise74 ,illustration3 ,,old ,,specimen ,,of ,,zelkowa ,,tree ,,in ,,summer ,,foliage1 ,,concealing ,,form ,,of ,,branching4 ,,identification4--,zelkova cretica4 ,spach in ,suit ,buff1 ii1 p4 #aba4 ,ulmus ,abelicea1 ,sibth ,sm4 ,prod4 ,fl41 ,graeca1 i41 p4 #agb4 ,planera ,abelicea ,roem4 ,schltz4 ,syst41 vi4 p4 #cjd2 ,planch1 in ,ann4 des ,sc4 ,nat4 #ahdh1 p4 #bhb4 ,abelicea cretica1 ,smith in ,trans4 ,linn4 ,sov41 ix41 #abf4 ,i have seen no specimens of the ,zelkova stipulacea of ,franchet and ,savatier's ,enumeratio ,plantarum ,japonicarum1 vol4 ii41 p4 #dhi1 and as that seems to have been described from somewhat insufficient material1 and1 moreover1 does not appear to be in cultivation1 ,i passed it over as a doubtful plant4 ,,george ,,nicholson4 ,royal ,gardens1 ,kew4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a ,,new ,,enemy ,,of ,,the ,,bee4 ,prof4 ,a4,j4 ,cook1 the eminent apiarist1 calls attention to a new pest which has made its appearance in many apiaries4 ,after referring to the fact that poultry and all other domestic animals of ten suffer serious injury from the attacks of parasitic mites1 and that even such household stores as sugar1 flour1 and cheese are not from their ravages1 he tells of the discovery of a parasitic pest among bees4 ,he says3 ,during the last spring a lady bee-keeper of ,connecticut discovered these mites in her hives while investigating to learn the cause of their rapid depletion4 ,she had noticed that the colonies were greatly reduced in number of bees1 and upon close observation found that the diseased or failing colonies were covered with the mites4 ,so small are these pests that a score of them can take possession of a single bee and not be crowded for room either4 ,the lady states that the bees roll and scratch in their vain attempts to rid themselves of these annoying stick-tights1 and finally1 worried out1 fall to the bottom of the hive1 or go forth to die on the outside4 ,mites are not true insects1 but are the most degraded of spiders4 ,the sub-class ,arachnida are at once recognized by their eight legs4 ,the order of mites 7,accorina71 which includes the wood-tick1 cattle-tick1 etc41 and mites1 are quickly told from the higher orders--true spiders and scorpions--by their rounded bodies1 which appear like mere sacks1 with little appearance of segmentation1 and their small1 obscure heads4 ,the mites alone1 of all the ,arachinida1 pass through a marked metamorphosis4 ,thus the young mite has only six legs1 while the mature form has eight4 ,the bee mite is very small1 not more than one-fiftieth of an inch long4 ,the female is slightly longer than the male1 and somewhat transparent4 ,the color is black1 though the legs and more transparent areas of the female appear yellowish4 ,all the legs are fine jointed1 slightly hairy1 and each tipped with two hooks or claws4 ,as to remedies1 the ,professor says that as what would kill the mites would doubtless kill the bees1 makes the question a difficult one4 ,he suggests1 however1 the frequent changing of the bees from one hive to another1 after which the emptied hives should be thoroughly scalded4 ,he thinks this course of treatment1 persisted in1 would effectually clean them out4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,crystallization ,,of ,,honey4 ,to the ,editor of the ,scientific ,american3 ,seeing in your issue of ,october #ac1 #ahhc1 an article on ,crystallization in ,extracted ,honey1 ,i beg leave to differ a little with the gentleman4 ,i have handled honey as an apiarist and dealer for ten years1 and find by actual experience that it has no tendency to crystallize in warm weather2 but on the contrary it will crystallize in cold weather1 and the colder the weather the harder the honey will get4 ,i have had colonies of bees starve when there was plenty of honey in the hives2 it was in extreme cold weather1 there was not enough animal heat in the bees to keep the honey from solidifying1 hence the starvation of the colonies4 ,to-day ,i removed with a thin paddle sixty pounds of honey from a large stone jar where it had remained over one year4 ,last winter it was so solid from crystallization1 it could not be cut with a knife2 in fact1 ,i broke a large1 heavy knife in attempting to remove a small quantity4 ,as to honey becoming worthless from candying is a new idea to me1 as ,i have1 whenever ,i wanted our crystallized honey in liquid form1 treated it to water bath1 thereby bringing it to its natural state1 in which condition it would remain for an indefinite time1 especially if hermetically sealed4 ,i never had any recrystallize after once having been treated to the water bath2 and the flavor of the honey was in no way injured4 ,i think the adding of glycerine to be entirely superfluous4 ,w4,r4 ,,miller4 ,polo1 ,october #ae4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,an ,,extensive ,,sheep ,,range4 ,the little schooner ,santa ,rosa arrived in port from ,santa ,barbara a few days ago4 ,she comes up to this city twice a year to secure provisions1 clothing1 lumber1 etc41 for use on ,santa ,rosa ,island1 being owned by the great sheep raiser ,a4,p4 ,moore1 who owns the island and the #hj1jjj sheep that exist upon it4 ,the island is about #cj miles south of ,santa ,barbara1 and is #bd miles in length and #af in breadth1 and contains about #gd1jjj acres of land1 which are admirably adapted to sheep raising4 ,last ,june1 ,moore clipped #a1jad sacks of wool from these sheep1 each sack containing an average of #daj pounds of wool1 making a total of #dae1gdj pounds1 which he sold at #bg cents a pound1 bringing him in #aab1cdi4hj1 or a clear profit of over #hj1jjj4 ,this is said to be a low yield1 so it is evident that sheep raising there1 when taking into consideration that shearing takes place twice a year1 and that a profit is made off the sale of mutton1 etc41 is very profitable4 ,the island is divided into four quarters by fences running clear across at right angles1 and the sheep do not have to be herded like those ranging about the foothills4 ,four men are employed regularly the year round to keep the ranch in order1 and to look after the sheep1 and during the shearing time fifty or more shearers are employed4 ,these men secure forty or fifty days' work1 and the average number of sheep sheared in a day is about ninety1 for which five cents a clip is paid1 thus #d4ej a day being made by each man1 or something over #bjj for the season1 or over #djj for ninety days out of the year4 ,although the shearing of ninety sheep in a day is the average1 a great many will go as high as #aaj1 and one man has been known to shear #abe4 ,of course1 every man tries to shear as many as he can1 and1 owing to haste1 frequently the animals are severely cut by the sharp shears4 ,if the wound is serious1 the sheep immediately has its throat cut and is turned into mutton and disposed of to the butchers1 and the shearer1 if in the habit of frequently inflicting such wounds1 is discharged4 ,in the shearing of these #hj1jjj sheep1 a hundred or more are injured to such an extent as to necessitate their being killed1 but the wool and meat are of course turned into profit4 ,although no herding is necessary1 about #bjj or more trained goats are kept on the island continually1 which to all intents and purposes take the place of the shepherd dogs so necessary in mountainous districts where sheep are raised4 ,whenever the animals are removed from one quarter to another1 the man in charge takes out with him several of the goats1 exclaims in ,spanish1 ,cheva 7meaning sheep74 ,the goat1 through its training1 understands what is wanted1 and immediately runs to the band1 and the sheep accept it as their leader1 following wherever it goes4 ,the goat1 in turn1 follows the man to whatever point he wishes to take the band4 ,to prevent the sheep from contracting disease1 it is necessary to give them a washing twice a year4 ,moore1 having so many on hand1 found it necessary to invent some way to accomplish this whereby not so much expense would be incurred and time wasted4 ,after experimenting for some time1 he had a ditch dug #h feet in depth1 a little over #a foot in width1 and #ajj feet long4 ,in this he put #fjj gallons of water1 #bjj pounds of sulphur1 #ajj pounds of lime1 and #f pounds of soda1 all of which is heated to #ach4 ,the goats lead the sheep into a corral or trap at one end1 and the animals are compelled to swim through to the further end1 thus securing a bath and taking their medicine at one and the same time4 ,the owner of the island and sheep1 ,a4,p4 ,moore1 a few years ago purchased the property from the widow of his deceased brother ,henry1 for #fjj1jjj4 ,owing to ill health1 he has rented it to his brother ,lawrence for #adj1jjj a year1 and soon starts for ,boston1 where he will settle down for the rest of his life4 ,he still retains an interest in the ,santa ,cruz ,island ranch1 which is about #be miles southeast of ,santa ,barbara4 ,this island contains about #fd1jjj acres1 and on it are #be1jjj sheep4 ,on ,catalina ,island1 #fj miles east of ,santa ,barbara1 are #ae1jjj sheep1 and on ,clementa ,island1 #hj miles east of that city1 are #aj1jjj sheep4 ,forty miles west of the same city is ,san ,miguel1 on which are #b1jjj sheep4 ,each one of these ranches has a sailing vessel to carry freight1 etc41 to and fro between the islands and the mainland1 and they are kept busy the greater part of the time4--,san ,francisco ,call4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,disinfection ,,of ,,the ,,atmosphere4 ,at the ,parkes ,museum of ,hygiene1 ,london1 ,dr4 ,robert ,j4 ,lee recently delivered a lecture on the above subject1 illustrated by experiments4 ,the author remarked that he could not better open up his theme than by explaining what was meant by disinfection4 ,he would do so by an illustration from ,greek literature4 ,when ,achilles had slain ,hector1 the body still lay on the plain of ,troy for twelve days after2 the god ,hermes found it there and went and told of it--,this1 the twelfth evening since he rested1 untouched by worms1 untainted by the air4 ,the ,greek word for taint in this sense was sepsis1 which meant putrefaction1 and from this we had the term antiseptic1 or that which was opposed to or prevented putrefaction4 ,the lecturer continued3 ,i have here in a test tube some water in which a small piece of meat was placed a few days ago4 ,the test tube has been in rather a warm room1 and the meat has begun to decompose4 ,what has here taken place is the first step in this inquiry4 ,this has been the question at which scientific men have been working1 and from the study of which has come a valuable addition to surgical knowledge associated with the name of ,professor ,lister1 and known as antiseptic4 ,what happens to this meat1 and what is going on in the water which surrounds it8 ,how long will it be before all the smell of putrefaction has gone and the water is clear again8 ,for it does in time become clear1 and instead of the meat we find a fine powdery substance at the bottom of the test tube4 ,it may take weeks before this process is completed1 depending on the rate at which it goes on4 ,now1 if we take a drop of this water and examine it with the microscope1 we find that it contains vast numbers of very small living creatures or organisms4 ,they belong to the lowest forms of life1 and are of very simple shape1 either very delicate narrow threads or rods or globular bodies4 ,the former are called bacteria1 or staff-like bodies2 the latter1 micrococci4 ,they live upon the meat1 and only disappear when the meat is consumed4 ,then1 as they die and fall to the bottom of the test tube1 the water clears again4 ,supposing now1 when the meat is first put into water1 the water is made to boil1 and while boiling a piece of cotton wool is put into the mouth of the tube4 ,the tube may be kept in the same room1 at the same temperature as the unboiled one1 but no signs of decomposition will be found1 however long we keep it4 ,the cotton wool prevents it2 for we may boil the water with the meat in it1 but it would not be long before bacteria and micrococci are present if the wool is not put in the mouth of the test tube4 ,the conclusion you would naturally draw from this simple but very important experiment is that the wool must have some effect upon the air1 for we know well that if we keep the air out we can preserve meat from decomposing4 ,that is the principle upon which preserved meats and fruits are prepared4 ,we should at once conclude that the bacteria and micrococci must exist in the air1 perhaps not in the state in which we find them in the water1 but that their germs or eggs are floating in the atmosphere4 ,how full the air may be of these germs was first shown by ,professor ,tyndall1 when he sent a ray of electric light through a dark chamber1 and as if by a magician's wand revealed the multitudinous atomic beings which people the air4 ,it is a beautiful thing to contemplate how one branch of scientific knowledge may assist another2 and we would hardly have imagined that the beam of the electric light could thus have been brought in to illumine the path of the surgeon1 for it is on the exclusion of these bacteria that it is found the success of some great operation may depend4 ,it is thus easy to understand how great an importance is to be attached to the purity of air in which we live4 ,this is the practical use of the researches to which the art of surgery is so much indebted2 and not surgery alone1 but all mankind in greater or less degree4 ,professor ,tyndall has gone further than this1 and has shown us that on the tops of lofty mountains the air is so pure1 so free from organisms1 that decomposition is impossible4 ,now1 supposing we make another experiment with the test tube1 and instead of boiling we add to its contents a few drops of carbolic acid2 we find that decomposition is prevented almost as effectually as by the use of the cotton wool4 ,there are many other substances which act like carbolic acid1 and they are known by the common name of antiseptics or antiseptic agents4 ,they all act in the same way2 and in such cases as the dressing of wounds it is more easy to use this method of excluding bacteria than by the exclusion of the air or by the use of cotton wool4 ,we have here another object for inquiry--viz41 the particular property of these different antiseptics1 the property which they possess of preventing decomposition4 ,this knowledge is very ancient indeed4 ,we have the best evidence in the skill of the ,egyptians in embalming the dead4 ,these substances are obtained from wood or coal1 which once was wood4 ,those woods which do not contain some antiseptic substance1 such as a gum or a resin1 will rot and decay4 ,i am not sure that we can give a satisfactory reason for this1 but it is certain that all these substances act as antiseptics by destroying the living organisms which are the cause of putrefaction4 ,some are fragrant oils1 as1 for example1 clove1 santal1 and thyme2 others are fragrant gums1 such as gum bezoin and myrrh4 ,a large class are the various kinds of turpentine obtained from pine trees4 ,we obtain carbolic acid from the coal tar largely produced in the manufacture of gas4 ,both wood tar1 well known under the name of creosote1 and coal tar are powerful antiseptics4 ,it is easy to understand by what means meat and fish are preserved from decomposition when they have been kept in the smoke of a wood fire4 ,the smoke contains creosote in the form of vapor1 and the same effect is produced on the meat or fish by the smoke as if they had been dipped in a solution of tar--with this difference1 that they are dried by the smoke1 whereas moisture favors decomposition very greatly4 ,i can show why a fire from which there is much smoke is better than one which burns with a clear flame1 by a simple experiment4 ,here is a piece of gum benzoin1 the substance from which ,friar's balsam is made4 ,this will burn1 if we light it1 just as tar burns1 and without much smoke or smell4 ,if1 instead of burning it1 we put some on a spoon and heat it gently1 much more smoke is produced1 and a fragrant scent is given off4 ,in the same way we can burn spirit of lavender or eau de ,cologne1 but we get no scent from them in this way1 for the burning destroys the scent4 ,this is a very important fact in the disinfection of the air4 ,the less the flame and the larger the quantity of smoke1 the greater the effect produced1 so far as disinfection is concerned4 ,as air is a vapor1 we must use our disinfectants in the form of vapor1 so that the one may mix with the other1 just as when we are dealing with fluids we must use a fluid disinfectant4 ,the question that presents itself is this3 ,can we so diffuse the vapor of an antiseptic like carbolic acid through the air as to destroy the germs which are floating in it1 and thus purify it1 making it like air which has been filtered through wool1 or like that on the top of a lofty mountain8 ,if the smoke of a wood fire seems to act as an antiseptic1 and putrefaction is prevented1 it seems reasonable to conclude that air could be purified and made antiseptic by some proper and convenient arrangement4 ,let us endeavor to test this by a few experiments4 ,here is a large tube #f inches across and #b feet long1 fixed just above a small tin vessel in which we can boil water and keep it boiling as long as we please4 ,if we fill the vessel with carbolic acid and water and boil it very gently1 the steam which rises will ascend and fill the tube with a vapor which is strong or weak in carbolic acid1 according as we put more or less acid in the water4 ,that is to say1 we have practically a chimney containing an antiseptic vapor1 very much the same thing as the smoke of a wood fire4 ,we must be able to keep the water boiling1 for the experiment may have to be continued during several days1 and during this time must be neither stronger nor weaker in carbolic acid1 neither warmer nor colder than a certain temperature4 ,this chimney must be always at the same heat1 and the fire must therefore be kept constantly burning4 ,this is easily accomplished by means of a jet of gas1 and by refilling the vessel every #bd hours with the same proportions of carbolic acid and water4 ,the question arises1 how strong must this vapor be in carbolic acid to act as an antiseptic8 ,it is found that #a part acid to #ej of water is quite sufficient to prevent putrefaction4 ,if we keep this just below boiling point there will be a gentle and constant rising of steam into the cylinder1 and we can examine this vapor to see if it is antiseptic4 ,we will take two test tubes half filled with water and put a small piece of beef into each of them and boil each for half a minute4 ,one test tube we will hang up inside the cylinder1 so that it is surrounded by carbolic acid vapor4 ,the other we stand up in the air4 ,if the latter is hung in a warm room1 decomposition will soon take place in it2 will the same thing happen to the other cylinder8 ,for convenience sake we had best put six tubes inside the cylinder1 so that we can take one out every day for a week and examine the contents on the field of a microscope4 ,it will be necessary to be very particular as to the temperature to which the tubes are exposed1 and the rates of evaporation beneath the cylinder4 ,i may mention that on some of the hottest days of last summer ,i made some experiments1 when the temperature both of the laboratory and inside the cylinder was #ge;,f4 ,i used test tubes containing boiled potatoes instead of meat1 and found that the tube in the air1 after #dh hours1 abounded not simply with bacteria and other small bodies present in decomposition1 but with the large and varied forms of protozoa1 while the tube inside the cylinder contained no signs of decomposition whatever4 ,when the room was cold the experiments were not so satisfactory1 because in the former case there was very little if any current of air in the cylinder4 ,this leads us to the question1 why should we not make the solution of carbolic acid and water1 and heat it1 letting the steam escape by a small hole1 so as to produce a jet8 ,it is a singular fact that for all practical purposes such a steam jet will contain the same proportion of acid to water as did the original solution4 ,the solution can of course be made stronger or weaker till we ascertain the exact proportion which will prevent decomposition4 ,from this arises naturally the question1 what quantity of vapor must be produced in a room in order to kill the bacteria in its atmosphere8 ,if we know the size of the room1 shall we be able tell8 ,these questions have not yet been answered1 but the experiments which will settle them will be soon made1 ,i have no doubt1 and ,i have indicated the lines upon which they will be made4 ,i have here a boiler of copper into which we can put a mixture1 and can get from it a small jet of steam for some hours4 ,a simple experiment will show that no bacteria will exist in that vapor4 ,if ,i take a test tube containing meat1 and boil it while holding the mouth of it in this vapor1 after it has cooled we close the mouth with cotton wool1 and set it aside in a warm place2 after some days we shall find no trace of decomposition1 but if the experiment is repeated with water1 decomposition will soon show itself4 ,of course1 any strength of carbolic acid can be used at will1 and will afford a series of tests4 ,there are other methods of disinfecting the atmosphere which we cannot consider this evening1 such as the very potent one of burning sulphur4 ,in conclusion1 the lecturer remarked that his lecture had been cast into a suggestive form1 so as to set his audience thinking over the causes which make the air impure1 and how these impurities are to be prevented from becoming deleterious to health4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a ,,new ,,method ,,of ,,staining ,,bacillus ,,tuberculosis4 ,by ,t4,j4 ,,burrill1 ,m4,d41 ,champaign1 ,ill4 ,having had considerable experience in the use of the alcoholic solutions of aniline dyes for staining bacteria1 and having for some months used solutions in glycerine instead1 ,i have come to much prefer the latter4 ,evaporation of the solvent is avoided1 and in consequence a freedom from vexatious precipitations is secured1 and more uniform and reliable results are obtained4 ,there is1 moreover1 with the alcoholic mixtures a tendency to creep1 or run1 by which one is liable to have stained more than he wishes--fingers1 instruments1 table1 etc4 ,from these things the glycerine mixtures are practically free1 and there are no compensating drawbacks4 ,for staining ,bacillus tuberculosis the following is confidently commended as preferable to the materials and methods heretofore in use4 ,take glycerine1 #bj parts2 fuchsin1 #c parts2 aniline oil1 #b parts2 carbolic acid1 #b parts4 ,the solution is readily and speedily effected1 with no danger of precipitation1 and can be kept in stock without risk of deterioration4 ,when wanted for use1 put about two drops into a watch glass 7a small pomatum pot is better7 full of water and gently shake or stir4 ,just here there is some danger of precipitating the coloring matter1 but the difficulty is easily avoided by gentle instead of vigorous stirring4 ,after the stain is once dissolved in the water no further trouble occurs2 if any evaporation takes place by being left too long1 it is the water that goes1 not the main solvent4 ,the color should now be a light1 translucent red1 much too diffuse for writing ink4 ,put in the smeared cover glass1 after passing it a few times through a flame1 and leave it1 at the ordinary temperature of a comfortable room1 half an hour4 ,if1 however1 quicker results are desired1 boil a little water in a test tube and put in about double the above indicated amount of the glycerine mixture1 letting it run down the side of the tube1 gently shake until absorbed1 and pour out the hot liquid into a convenient dish1 and at once put in the cover with sputum4 ,without further attention to the temperature the stain will be effected within two minutes2 but the result is not quite so good1 especially for permanent mounts1 as by the slower process4 ,after staining put the cover into nitric 7or hydrochloric7 acid and water1 one part to four1 until decolorized1 say one minute2 wash in water and examine1 or dry and mount in balsam4 ,if it is desired to color the ground material1 which is not necessary1 put on the decolorized and washed glass a drop of aniline blue in glycerine2 after one minute wash again in water and proceed as before4 ,almost any objective1 from one-fourth inch up will show the bacilli if sufficient attention is paid to the illumination4--,med4 ,record4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,cure ,,for ,,hemorrhoids4 ,the carbolic acid treatment of hemorrhoids is now receiving considerable attention4 ,hence the reprint from the ,pittsburgh ,medical ,journal1 ,november1 #ahhc1 of an article on the subject by ,dr4 ,george ,b4 ,fundenberg is both timely and interesting4 ,after relating six cases1 the author says3 ,it would serve no useful purpose to increase this list of cases4 ,the large number ,i have on record all prove that this treatment is safe and effectual4 ,i believe that the great majority of cases can be cured in this manner4 ,whoever doubts this should give the method a fair trial1 for it is only those who have done so1 that are entitled to speak upon the question4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a catalogue1 containing brief notices of many important scientific papers heretofore published in the ,,supplement1 may be had gratis at this office4 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 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