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xO NU ACE

or

SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY:

OR,

YEAR-BOOK OF FACTS IN SCIENCE AND ART
FOR 1856.

EXHIBITING THE

MOST IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES AND IMPROVEMENTS

IN

MECHANICS, USEFUL ARTS, NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, CHEMISTRY,
ASTRONOMY, METEOROLOGY, ZOOLOGY, BOTANY, MINER-
ALOGY, GEOLOGY, GEOGRAPHY, ANTIQUITIES, ETC.

TOGETHER WITH

A LIST OF RECENT SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS; A CLASSIFIED LIST OF
PATENTS; OBITUARIES OF EMINENT SCIENTIFIC MEN; NOTES ON
THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE DURING THE YEAR 1855, ETC.

EDITED BY
DAVID A. WELLS, A-M.,

EDITOR OF THE “ YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE,” “FAMILIAR SCIENCE,”
“KNOWLEDGE IS POWER,” ETC,

BOSTON:
GO U LPO LN DR LN ,

59 WASHINGTON STREET, .
NEW YORK: GEO. P. PUTNAM & CO.; SHELDON, BLAKEMAN & CO.
LONDON: TRUENER & CO.

1856.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1806, by
GOULD AND LINCOLN,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts,

STEREOTYPED BY
THOMAS B. SMITH,
82 & 84 Beekman St., N. Y.

NOTES BY THE EDITOR

ON THE

PROGRESS OF SCIENCE DURING THE YEAR 1855,

Tue seventh annual and ninth regular session of the American
Association for the Promotion of Science was held at Providence, R. L.,
during the week commencing with August 15th, Dr. John Torrey,
of New York, President. The whole number of papers presented was
67: in Astronomy and Mathematics, 17; on Physics and Chemistry,
11; Geology and Mineralogy, 22; Zoology and Botany, 5; Meteor-
ology, 8; Miscellaneous, 9.

The annual address, ‘‘On the History and Progress of Geology in
America,” was delivered by the retiring president, Prof. James D.
Dana, of New Haven. The following officers were chosen for the en-
suing year, Prof. James Hall, of Albany, President; Dr. B. A. Gould,
Jr., of Cambridge, General Secretary; Dr. Elwyn, of Philadelphia,
Treasurer. The next meeting was appointed to be held in Albany,
N. Y., on the third Wednesday of August, 1856. An invitation was
received from the Superintendent of the Military Academy at West
Point for the Association to meet at that locality ; this invitation was
accompanied with a permission from the War Department to employ
the property of the Military Academy for the entertainment of the
Association.

On motion, it was resolved that invitations to attend the future
meetings of the Association be extended to learned bodies and dis-
tinguished individuals in foreign lands.

A committee was also appointed, consisting of Profs. Agassiz and
Dana, to memorialize the Legislature of New York on the subject of
the artificial propagation of fish in the waters of that State.

Lieutenant Hunt, U.S. A., brought forward the subject of an Index
of papers on Mathematical and Physical Science. He claimed that

Leto]

4 | NOTES BY THE EDITOR

works of this nature have been better appreciated by naturalists than
by the mathematicians and physicists, as proved by that laborious
work which the genius of Agassiz inaugurated, and which presents in
four octavo volumes the titles of all known papers on Natural History
and Geology up to its date. Mr. Hunt considered a similar index for
the branches he indicated as equally necessary. In his experience as
an assistant in the Coast Survey, he had on several occasions to make
‘special investigations, in which it was desirable to examine all good
relevant authorities and original memoirs. How to do this was the
question. Mr. Hunt undertook, with the assistance and encourage-
ment of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey (Prof. Bache), to fur-
nish such an index as he conceived is demanded by the wants of
scientific investigators. This index is intended to be included in the
Coast Survey Report as an appendix. In prosecuting the labor, Mr.
Hunt has already examined over a thousand volumes of memoirs,
transactions, scientific periodicals, etc.

On motion the Association endorsed the plan of Lieutenant Hunt, and
a resolution was adopted declaring the importance of such enterprises
in advancing the interests of science.

The following resolution in respect to weights and measures was
adopted: Resolved, That the committee on weights, measures, and
coinage, be authorized to communicate with other associations or
public bodies, or with individuals, in regard to the attainment of per-
manent uniformity in weights, measures, and coinage.

The subject of a new constitution for the Association came up by
assignment at this meeting, and was discussed with much difference
of sentiment. The consideration of the whole matter was finally post-
poned until the next meeting. Members, in the mean time were all
invited to supply themselves with the draft of a new constitution,
which was proposed at Providence by a committee appointed by the
Association, and which may be obtained by application to the record-
ing secretary, Prof. Lovering, at Cambridge, Mass. This new Graft
of a constitution, although not accepted by the Association, will prob-
ably form the basis of action upon this subject at the Albany
meeting.

In this debate upon the constitutional revision, many of the mem-
bers favored the abolition of a!l constitutions, and preferred that the
Association should resolve itself into a simple annual convention of
scientific men. The objections to the present constitution, and to the
substitute proposed, seem to center in a dislike to the construction
and power of the Standing Committee. The method in which this
body has been organized, its arbitrary exercise of authority, its disre-
gard of the constitutional requirement that the presiding officers shall
be elected by ballot, have been sources of dissatisfaction from the

~s

Tr

ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 5

commencement of the meetings ofthe Association. Atthe meeting held
in Washington, in 1853, it was proposed to increase the number of the
Standing Committee to twenty-six ; the constitutional draft submitted
at Providence reduces the number to eighteen, and also provides for
the creation of the office of Vice-President, while arbitrary power is
placed in the hands of the Committee. It is to assign papers, arrange
the business, suggest places and times of meeting, examine or exclude
papers; appoint the Local Committee; nominate persons for mem-
bership ; decide upon publications, ete., etc. Power like this should
not be wielded by a limited number.

The meeting for 1855 was closed with a complimentary dinner
given to the Association by the citizens of Providence, and presided
over by Prof. Caswell, of Brown University.

The meeting of the Association at Albany for the present year will
be in every respect most important and interesting. Upon the action
which may be taken in regard to the constitution, and the future
government of the Association, its harmony and prosperity will essen-
tially depend. During the session of the Association also, it is under-
stood that the new Dudley Observatory, founded and endowed by the
munificence of the citizens of Albany, will be dedicated with suitable
ceremonies, Many European savans have been invited to join in this
inauguration; and Liebig, of Germany, and Airy, Astronomer Royal
of Great Britain, have already signified their intention of attending.
The discourse will be given by Hon. Edward Everett. At the same
time, the new State Geological Hall, built by appropriations from the
Legislature of New York for the reception of the splendid cabinet of
geology and natural history belonging to the State, will be formally
opened. Hon. W. H. Seward, under whose administration as Govern-
or the Geclogical Survey of the State of New York commenced, and
who wrote the introduction to the Naturai History of the State, will
deliver the oration.

The annual meeting of the British Association for the Promotion
of Science for 1855, the Duke of Argyle, President, was held at Glas-
gow, Scotland, commencing September 12th. The meeting in every
respect was eminently successful, and the attendance of British and
foreign scientific men was unusually large. The whole number of
papers read was 315, divided among the different sections as follows:
in Mathematics and Physics, 47; in Chemistry, 60; in Geology, 42;
in Zoology and Physiology, 62; in Geographical Science, 35; in
_ Statistics, 31; in Mechanics, 88. Among the communications which
excited the most popular interest was one by Colonel Rawlinson on
Assyrian and Babylonian Antiquities and Ethnology, in which he
described his gradual decipherment of the cuneiform inscriptions, and
showed the great value of the information thus curiously obtained.

6 NOTES BY THE EDITOR

For the present year Dr. Daubeny was elected President, and Chel-
tenham appointed as the place of meeting. From the annual address
by the President we derive the following memoranda. Alluding to
the great telescope of Lord Rosse, he says :—‘ Its systematic operations
may be said to be still only in the first stages of their progress; yet
already how often do we see reference had to the mysterious revela-
tions it has made, in discussions on the principles of that science,
and in not a few of the speculations to which they are giving birth!
Sir David Brewster, in his recent Life of Newton, has designated that
telescope as ‘one of the most wonderful combinations of art and
science which the world has yet seen.’ It must always be remem-
bered, however, that astronomy is a science of which hitherto at
least it might almost be said that one great genius had left us no more
worlds to conquer; that is to say, he carried our knowledge at a bound
to one grand, and apparently universal law, to which all worlds were
subject, and of which every new discovery has been but an additional
illustration. The reign of that law, whether universal or not, was at
least so wide that we had never pierced beyond the boundary of its
vast domain. For the first time since the days of Newton a suspicion
has arisen in the minds of astronomers that we have passed into the
reign of other laws, and that the nebular phenomena revealed to us
by Lord Rosse’s telescope must be governed by forces different from
those of which we have any knowledge. Whether this opinion be or
be not well founded—whether it be or be not probable that our limited
command over time and space can ever yield to our research any
other law of interest or importance comparable with that which has
already been determined—still, inside that vast horizon there are
fillings-in and fillings-up which will ever furnish infinite reward to
labor.

“ Of all the sciences, Chemistry is that which least requires to have
its triumphs recorded here. The immediate applicability of so many
of its results to the useful arts has secured for it the watchful interest
of the world; and every day is adding some new proof of its inex-
haustible fertility. It was to the British Association at Glasgow, in
1840, that Baron Liebig first communicated his work on the Applica-
tion of Chemistry to Vegetable Physiology. The philosophical ex-
planation there given of the principles of manuring and cropping gave
an immediate impulse to agriculture, and directed attention to the
manures which are valuable for their ammonia and mineral ingre-
dients; and especially to guano, of which, in 1840, only a few speci-
mens had appeared in Great Britain. The consequence was, that in
the next year (1841), no less than 2,881 tons were imported; and
during the succeeding years the total quantity imported into Great
Britain has exceeded the enormous amount of 1,500,000 tons: Nor

“ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 7

has this been all: Chemistry has come in with her aid to do the work
of Nature, and as the supply of guano becomes exhausted, limited as
its production must be to a few rainless regions of the world, the im-
portance of artificial mineral manures will increase. Already con-
siderable capital is invested in the manufacture of superphosphates of
lime, formed by the solution of bones in sulphuric acid. Of these
artificial manures not less than 60,000 tons are annually sold in En-
gland alone; and it is a curious example of the endless interchange of
services between the various sciences that geology has contributed
her quota to the same important end; and the exuviw and bones of
extinct animals, found in a fossil state, are now, to the extent of from
12,000 to 15,000 tons, used to supply annually the same fertilizing
materials to the soil.”

The following is the conclusion of the address :—

“Tt is sometimes proudly asked, who shall set bounds to Science,
or to the widening circle of her horizon? But why should we try to
do so, when it is enough to observe that that horizon, however it
may be enlarged, is an horizon still—a circle beyond which, however
wide it be, there shine, like fixed stars without a parallax, eternal
problems in which the march of science never shows any change of
place. If there be one fact by which science reminds us more per-
petually than another, it is that we have faculties impelling us to ask
questions which we have no powers enabling us to answer. What
better lesson of humility than this—what better indication of the
reasonableness of looking to a state in which this discrepancy shall
be done away—when we shall ‘ know, even as we are known!’”

The annual meeting of the German Association of Scientific Men
and Physicians for 1855, called at Vienna, was postponed to another
year, on account of the disturbances caused by the prevalence of
the cholera in Germany.

The Scientific Congress of France held its twenty-second annual
session at Le Puy, on the 16th of September.

Some time since, the British Association appointed a special par-
liamentary committee to inquire whether any measures could be
adopted by the Government or Parliament, that would improve the
position of science or its cultivators in this country. A report pre-
pared by this committee, founded upon the opinions of various persons,
eminent in science, has been published, and contains the following
recommendations:—1. That reforms shall take place gradually in the
system of any university which do not at present exact a certain pro-
ficiency in physical science as a condition preliminary to obtaining a
degree. 2. That the number of Professors of Physical Science at the
universities shall be increased, where necessary, but that, at all events,
by a redistribution of subjects, or other arrangements, provision should

8 NOTES BY THE EDITOR

be made for effectually teaching all the various branches of physical
science. 8. That professors and local teachers shall be appointed to
give lectures on Science in the chief towns, for whose use philosoph-
ical apparatus shall be provided; and that arrangements shall be
made for testing by examination the proficiency of those who attend
such lectures. 4. That the formation of museums and public libraries
in such towns, open to all classes, shall be encouraged and assisted ;
that all imposts shall by degrees be abolished that impede the diffusion
of scientific knowledge; and donations of all government scientific
publications be made by authority. 5. That more encouragement
shall be given, by fellowships, increased salaries to professors, and
other rewards, to the study of physical science. 6. That an alteration
shall be made in the present system of bestowing pensions; some
annuities in the nature of good-service pensions be granted; and ad-
ditional aid be given to the prosecution, reduction, and publication of
scientific researches. 7%. That an appropriate building, in some central
situation in London, shall be provided at the cost of the nation, in
which the principal scientific societies may be located together. 8.
That scientific offices shall be placed more nearly on a level in respect
to salary, with such other civil appointments as are an object of am-
bition to highly educated men; that the officers themselves shall be
emancipated from all such interference as is calculated to obstruct the
zealous performance of their duties; and that new scientific oftices
shall be created in some cases in which they are required. 9. That
facilities shall be given for transmitting and receiving scientific pub-
lications to and from foreign parts. 10. That a Board of Science shall
be constituted, composed partly of persons holding offices under the
Crown, and partly of men of the highest eminence in science, which
shall have the control and expenditure of the greater part, at least, of
the public funds given for its advancement and encouragement, shall
originate applications for pecuniary or other aid to science, and gen-
erally perform such functions as are above described, together with
such others as Government or Parliament may think fit to impose
upon it.

During the continuance of the Great Exhibition at Paris, a meeting
took place, composed of the members of the Imperial Commission, the
jurymen and commissioners to the Exhibition, and the members of
the late Statistical Congress, for the purpose of organizing an Inter-
national Society, having for its object the promotion of a system of
uniformity in weights, measures, and moneys. Baron James Roths-
child presided. The four following resolutions were introduced and
adopted :—

1. That it will be of the highest possible importance to encourage
the publication in French of a work, giving in a clear and concise

ca

ON THE. PROGRESS OF SCIENCE, 9

form the histery and a comparative table of the different systems of
coins, weights, and measures, in the principal countries of the world,
to be afterward translated and printed by the committees into the
languages of all the countries represented in the Association.

2. That for this object, and to secure the perfect correctness of the
work, the different committees composing the Association are re-
quested beforehand to furnish all the information in their power
relative to the coins, weights, and measures, of the country to which
they belong, with the calculation of them on the metrical system, as
a term of general comparison.

3. That each committee, in the country where it is con tped
shall employ all the means in its power, particularly those offered by
the local press, to enlighten public opinion, and prepare for the meet-
ing of an efficient International Congress, charged to solve the problem
which constitutes the object of the Association.

4, That until such a congress shall be convoked, the members of
the committee shall use all their efforts in order that, in the calcula-
tions and statistical tables, the value of the coins, weights, and meas-
ures, shall be accompanied by their reduction into coins, weights, and
measures on the metrical system, in order to have a point of compari-
son common to all nations.

It was also resolved that a permanent International Committee
should be immediately constituted at Paris, to be composed, as much
as possible, of members of each of the countries represented in the
Association.

The Council of the Royal Society has awarded the Copley Medal
this year to M. Léon Foucault, for his various researches in Experi-
mental Physics; and the two Royal Medals to Mr. John Russell Hind,
for his discovery of ten Planetoids, the computation of their orbits,
and various other astronomical discoveries; and to J. O. Westwood,
Esq., President of the Entomological Society, for his various mono-
graphs and papers on Entomology.

The King of Prussia has presented a gold medal to Lieutenant
Maury, U.S. N., on account of “the distinguished services which he
has rendered to science and navigation by his labors in ascertaining
the currents and depths of the ocean, and in determining the direction
of the winds at different seasons and in different latitudes.” This
mark of distinction was also accompanied with the presentation of
one of the gold medals struck in honor of the publication of Baron
Humboldt’s ‘ Cosmos.”

The Emperor of France has given 40,000 francs for the purpose of
founding a new laboratory in connection with the High Normal
School in Paris. It will be placed under the direction of M. Sainte-

1*

10 NOTES BY THE EDITOR

Claire Deville, and will be confined to researches and analyses -in
mineral chemistry.

The following award of prizes was made during the past year by
the French Academy:—The great Cuvierian Prize, which is only
given to works of the first merit, was presented to M. Miiller, for his
Researches into the Structure and Development of Echinodermes, one
of those works “‘ which have contributed most to the philosophy of
the science, to organogeny, zoology, and general physiology, since the
death of Cuvier.” This is the second time the Cuvierian Prize has
been given, it having been awarded for the first time to Agassiz, for his
work on Fossil Fishes. A prize of 2,000 francs was awarded to M.
Berthelot, for his chemical researches on the fatty bodies. Medals were
also decreed to all the astronomers who, during the year 1854, dis-
covered planets—to MM. Luther, Marth, Hind, Ferguson, Goldschmidt,
and Charcornac. Three awards were given for improvements in the
processes used in Arts that are injurious to health—one for the sub-
stitution of potato starch for wood charcoal in preparing molds of
clay for receiving copper, bronze, and melted cast-iron, proposed by a
poor armorer, M. Rouy: a plan now generally adopted in the found-
eries of France, because it is not so hurtful to the workmen, although
starch is dearer than charcoal powder. Another award was made to
M. Mabru for a process for preserving milk in its natural state, which
is simply this—tin canisters, having a small tubular opening, are filled
full, and then kept for some tiine in a water-bath, to drive out all air,
- and finally hermetically sealed.

The following scientific researches are now in progress under the
auspices and at the expense of the Royal (English) Society :—Re-
searches on earthquake waves, by Robert Mallet; researches on the
excretion of men and animals, by Dr. Marcet; experiments on the
strength of materials, by Professor Hodgkinson; experimental re-
searches on heat and magnetism, by Dr. Tyndall; experimental re-
searches on the heat developed by the oxydation of certain metals, by
Dr. Woods ; experimental researches on fluids in motion, and on the
thermal effects experienced by fluids in passing through small aper-
tures, illustrating the typical forms of Foramenifera, by Dr. Carpenter;
chemical researches on the solid oils and waxes of the vegetable
kingdom, by Nevil Maskelyn, Esq.; experimental researches on the
physiology of the blood, by Dr. Davy; experiments on the thermal
effects of electric currents in unequally heated conductors, by Professor
William Thompson.

The Imperial Geological Institution at Vienna has published a
“‘ Geologische Uebersicht der Oesterreichischen Monarchie,” in which
more than 2,000 localities, where mining establishments in Austria
exist, have been named, and described.

ON THE PROGRESS: OF SCIENCE. 11

The Paleontographical Society of London, which distributes among
its subscribers a larger quantity of matter than any other publishing
society, has issued a report, in which it announces an increase in its
number of members to 762, and purposes to deliver the following
works in the ensuing spring for the subscriptions of the last year:
“ The Fossil Reptilia of Great Britain,” Part VI., by Professor Owen,
containing 10 plates; ‘“ Fossil Shells of the Chalk Formation,” Part
Ill., by Mr. Sharpe, containing 10 plates; ‘““The Mollusca of the
Crag,” Part IV., by Mr. 8. Wood, containing 11 plates, and complet-
ing that work; ‘“ The Fossil Crustacea of the London Clay,” by Pro-
fessor Bell, containing about 10 plates; ‘‘ The Entomostraca of the
Tertiary Formations,” by Mr. Rupert Jones, containing 6™plates;
‘The Radiaria of the Oolitic Formations,” by Dr. Wright, Part I,
containing 10 plates; ‘“‘The Eocene Mollusca,” by Mr. F. Edwards,
Part IV., containing 10 plates.

Notwithstanding the terrible war in which Russia is at present en-
gaged, matters of scientific interest are by no means neglected. Six
large and thoroughly equipped geographical expeditions have left St. .
Petersburg during the past season. A chronometric expedition has
also been made for determining the longitude between Moscow and
Astracan; and the great measurement of the meridian are which has
been carried from Finland southward, is still going on at the latitude
of 45°. The corresponding geodetic observations in Southern Russia
are being vigorously prosecuted under the superintendence of General
Wroutchekow.

A valuable donation to the Public Library of Boston has recently
been made by the Superintendent of the London Patent Office, viz. :
a complete set of all the publications relative to patents made by the
commissioners of that office. This donation amounts to nearly two
hundred volumes, imperial octavo; each volume of specifications
being accompanied by a sheet imperial volume of lithographic illus-
trations.

The French Geographical Society have recently awarded a gold
medal to each of the following English navigators and explorers: To
Captain M‘Clure, R. N., for his discovery of the North-west Passage;
to Captain Inglefield, R. N., for his discoveries in the Arctic regions;
and to Mr. Francis Galton, for his explorations in the Namaqua,
Damara, and Ovampo countries, northward of the Orange River in
South-west Africa.

The English Parliament have also voted a reward of 10,000 pounds
to Captain M‘Clure, his officers, and crew, for the discovery of the
North-west Passage. Of this sum, 5,000 pounds is given to Captain
M‘Clure, who has also received the honor of knighthood.

Through the munificence of Mr. James Brown, the late eminent

12 NOTES BY THE EDITOR

Boston publisher, the Natural. History Society of that city have re-
ceived a valuable donation of rare and costly works relating to
natural history, of the value of $2,000.

Nathan Jackson, Esq., of New York city, has presented $3,500 to
the Lyceum of Natural History of Williams College, to aid in the
erection of a building for scientific purposes.

According to a document read at a recent meeting of the Connecti-
cut Historical Society, by Hon. Henry Barnard, the whole amount of
land appropriated by the General Government for educational pur-
poses, to the Ist of January, 1854, was 52,970,231 acres; which, at
the minimum price of such lands when first brought into market, re-
presented the munificent sum of $56,000,000—but which at this time
could not be worth less than $200,000,000. The amount of the dona-
tions and subscriptions by individuals far exceeds all that has been
given by State Legislatures. Mr. Barnard read from a table exhibit-
ing the donations and bequests made by citizens of Boston within the
last half century, amounting to upward of $4,000,000.

Two German travelers, who have recently returned from an ex-
tensive tour in America, Drs. Wagner and Karl Scherzer, are prepar-
ing for publication a work on the results of their joint labors—two
volumes of which (those referring to Central America) are already in
the press. Messrs. Wagner and Scherzer have wandered through
North America, from the estuary of the St. Lawrence to that of the
Mississippi—through the five republics of Central America, from
Costa Rica to the northern frontier of Guatemala—and through the
West India Islands of Jamaica, Hayti, and Cuba. The total length
of their tour amounts to 30,000 miles, which they have made in not
more than three years. Besides very considerable geological and
botanical collections, the travelers have also brought together some
thousands of vertebrate animals, mostly birds and reptiles, and about
50,000 specimens of invertebrate ones, the fourth part of which is said
to consist of quite new species.

A new periodical has been recently started in London, called ‘‘ The
Quarterly Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics,” and devoted
especially to this particular department of science. The title-page
bears the names of J. J. Silvester, M.A., F.R.S., late Professor in
University College, London, N. M. Ferrers, M. A., Professor Stokes,
of Cambridge, F.R.S., A. Cayley, M.A., F.R.S., and M. Hermite,
corresponding editor in Paris, an editorial staff affording suflicient —
guaranty for the manner in which the work will be conducted.

During the past year, Prof. Agassiz has announced the publication
of a great work, entitled ‘‘ Contributions to the Natural History of
America,” to be embraced in ten quarto volumes of about 800 pages,
illustrated by twenty plates. The work will be the result of extended

ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 13

researches during many years past, and will be the most complete
proof of the rare scientific knowledge and abilities of its author which
has yet been given to the public. It will contain the results of his
embryological investigations, embracing about sixty monographs from
all classes of animals, especially those characteristic of America; also
descriptions of a great number of new species and genera, accom-
panied with accurate figures and anatomical details.

One of the most curious scientific books published during the past
year has been a history of the Tineina, a species of microscopic moths,
by Mr. H. T. Stainton, of England, who has devoted years to the
study of their habit and characteristics. These moths are numerous
in species, and extremely elegant in form and coloring, yet so minute
in size, that entomologists have scarcely known until lately of their
existence. The publication in question is to be executed on a scale of
completeness and extended detail not hitherto reached by naturalists
on any subject. The first volume published, of eight beautifully exe-
cuted plates, with 850 pages of letter-press, contains the descriptions
of only twenty-four species, and it will require forty such volumes to
complete the work. The principal novelty of this work, however,
consists in its being printed in parallel columns in four languages—
English, French, German, and Latin. With these polyglot honors, the
little night-flyers are raised to an importance surpassing far the lot of
any other insects.

One of the most beautiful monographs ever issued in the United
States, has been published during the past year by Isaac Lea, Esq., of
Philadelphia, on the Fossil Foot-prints discovered by Mr. L. in the
lowest beds of the Coal Formation, near Pottsville, Pa. The work is
a large folio, and the plates represent the foot-prints of the oldest
reptilian, known to paleontologists, of their natural size. Some at-
tempts have been made to question the accuracy of the reference of
these tracks to reptilian animals, and an opinion has been given by
Prof. Agassiz that they are caused by fishes. Prof. J, Wyman, in a
recent communication to the Boston Society of Natural History on
this subject, stated that there is no known fish, recent or fossil, the
pectoral or ventral fins of which could produce a series of tracks like
those discovered in the coal strata of Pennsylvania by Mr. Lea. Al-
though among Lophioid fishes the pectoral fins are used for locomotion
on the shores, yet they in every instance conform to the fish type—
are fins and not feet. An analogous condition of things is found
among cetacean and marine saurians, where the limbs serve the pur-
poses of paddles, and may be compared to fins, yet morphologically
they can be referred only to the mammalian or reptilian types.

A new map of the Arctic Regions has been published by the British
Admiralty, to which the names affixed to various localities by the

14 NOTES BY THE EDITOR

American expedition sent out by Henry Grinnell, Esq., have been
adopted; and in particular, Grinnell’s Land, discovered by said expe-
dition, is entered conspicuously on the map, it having been on a pre-
vious map of the Admiralty called Prince Albert’s Land. This act of
justice to the exertions of our countrymen, has been for some time
strongly urged by the Rev. Dr. Scoresby and other illustrious Arctic
navigators.

The arrangements for securing a series of marine observations, ac-
cording to the plans proposed and practically carried out by Lieut.
Maury, have been completed by the British Government, and liberal
appropriations granted by Parliament. <A certain number of selected
ships of the mercantile marine, and all those of her majesty employed in
long or distant voyages, are, or soon will be, engaged in making exact
observations with instruments supplied under the authority of the
Board of Trade (duly tested and compared), and in registering the ap-
parent results according to forms settled at the Brussels Conference
of 1853, slightly modified, so as to suit present convenience. The
estimates sanctioned by Parliament are sufficient to provide sixty
merchant-ships and forty men-of-war with the necessary meteorolo-
gical instruments (namely, barometers, thermometers, and hydrom-
eters), in addition to the nautical instruments usual at sea; to pay
office expenses and salaries (including allowances to agents at out-
ports); and to provide the necessary registers. A captain in the
navy is in charge of the office. Four subordinates are to assist him,
and there are agents appointed at the principal ports to communicate
personally with the owners, captains, and officers of ships. Liberally
supplied by the United States Government, Manry’s Sailing Direc-
tions and Charts are distributed gratis among those who undertake to
record observations satisfactorily, and send them to the Board of
Trade. Marks, expressive of distinction, are to be annexed to the
names of approved contributors to meteorology in the Mercantile
Navy List, and other encouragements are contemplated. Every ex-
ertion will be made at the office, not only to discuss and tabulate
valuable observations, but to digest and render available as soon as
possible such information as may tend immediately to the improve-
ment of navigation.

A new society, called the * African Exploration Society,” has been
recently formed in England, with the object of exploring and evan-
gelizing Central Africa from a station at Tunis. It proposes to seek
its objects chiefly by means of a native African agency, specially
trained for the purpose in an African school at Tunis, conducted by
medical, scientific, and religious tutors frem the United Kingdom.
Tunis is well chosen as a station, because it is ready of access to the
civilized world, and it is not in the same quarter from which other

ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 15

operations upon Africa are proceeding. The agents will push south-
ward from Tunis even to Timbuctoo and Soudan. Native agents will
be trained to circulate the Scriptures, and at the same time to sub-
serve the purposes of honest trade. The agents will be at once mis-
sionaries and examples of conversion—able to face the climate, able
to converse on a level with those whom they propose to influence;
and it is probable that by these simple means a species of black
brotherhood will be extended through the continent, directly conduc-
ive to the spread of religion, incidentally, of constructing a machinery
for the spread of civilization, of commerce, and of civilized transit.

It is proposed to open in London a “ College of Domestic Economy,”
where every thing necessary to a perfect knowledge of the culinary
art and other domestic matters will here be taught by a person of
great experience and acknowledged ability. Thestudents for practice
will be divided into classes of four or five each, with a servant stu-
dent to attend on each class, and assist them in their operations.
Each class will provide what may be required for their practice, to
be arranged by the student managing the class for the week, and the
articles prepared will be consumed for their meals.

An excellent plan for promoting the social and sanitary condition
of the working-classes in England, has been set on foot in the forma-
tion of museums for the exhibition of all objects bearing upon physical
comfort and domestic economy, from the construction of dwelling-
houses down to the minutest details of their furnishing. A society
for this object also exists in Paris, under the name of the Société
d'Economie Charitable. These museums will contain specimens of
the most approved and cheapest kinds of furniture, household utensils,
clothing, fuel, and other stores, besides models and plans of the ex-
ternal and internal arrangements of buildings of every description,
workshops as well as dwelling-houses.

A yaluable and interesting acquisition has recently been made by
the Arundel Society of England, which furnishes the means of ex-
tending its agency to the illustration of a new class of artistic monu-
ments. Three gentlemen, who have devoted much time to the study
of medizval art, have, with the permission of the owners, or guardians,
of some of the principal private and public collections in England and
on the Continent, made impressions, in gutta-percha, from several of
the finest of the ancient ivory-carvings in their possession; and by
employing these impressions as matrices, from which models or types
for molding are produced, casts in what is termed “fictile ivory” have
been subsequently manufactured, which preserve, to a great extent,
the beauty of the originals. Duplicates of these casts have been
placed on sale at a low rate by the officers of the Society. They are
divided into classes, so as to exemplify, as far as possible, the charac-

16 NOTES BY THE EDITOR

teristics of the various ages and schools of this species of sculpture.
The series, which numbers about 170 pieces, embraces examples from
periods when monumental illustration from other sources is compar-
atively rare, and difficult to obtain; and, taken collectively, forms a
compendious history of the sculptural art.

Under the authority of the State Medical Society of Vermont, a
plan has been adopted for the registration of diseases with a view of
thereby deducing general laws, which bids fair to yield most valuable
results. A record-book has been prepared, to be used by every phy-
sician, and so arranged with printed captions, that an entry of every
case in which the physician is called, with all its essential particulars,
may be made in a moment’s time, and with but little trouble. It is
believed that such a collection of records will furnish much valuable
aid in the history of epidemics.

During the past year measures have been taken to put into imme-
diate working order the Dudley Observatory in the city of Albany.
The history of this Observatory, which we have in a former volume
adverted to, is as follows:—Some years since, a magnificent donation
of land was given in the city of Albany by General Van Rensselaer
for the location of an Astronomical Observatory, and for the erection
and equipment of the building, Mrs. Dudley contributed $12,000. An
equal sum in smaller subscriptions was also made up by the citizens
of Albany.

The Observatory was erected under an understanding with Pro-
fessor Mitchell, of Cincinnati, that when completed, he would take
charge of it. While it was being erected Professor Mitchell embarked
so deeply in railroad operations that he was unable to move to Albany.
By reason of this event, unexpected to the founders, the Observatory
has stood hitherto unoccupied. At the late meeting of the Scientific
Association, at Providence, the matter came up for consideration, and
the result is that the Observatory is to be fully equipped and placed
under the charge of Messrs. Bache, Henry, Pierce and Gould, the res-
ident astronomer being Dr. B. A. Gould. In addition to the amount
already subscribed, Mrs. Dudley has also given $6,000 for the purchase
of a heliometer, the construction of which was thus described by Pro-
fessor Pierce at the last meeting of the American Association, “ The
instrument to be obtained is a heliometer of great peculiarity, its ob-
ject-glass being divided into halves, so that each half gives a distinct
image of every star to the observer. By separating the halves, there-
fore, the image of one star may be made to coincide with that of any
other, and the distance of the halves of the object-glass will be the
measure of the angular distance of the two stars. The same instru-
ment may be applied, as its name indicates, to the sun. Its range is
only about a degree. The construction of such an instrument requires

\ ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. TT
tlie\nicest exercise of skill in astronomical instrument making. There
are but two such instruments in Europe, one at Kénigsberg, used by
Bessd in the measure of the sun and the triangulation of the pleiades ;
the other, which is a still more magnificent instrument, recently made
by Repsold for the Radcliffe Observatory at Oxford, has not yet been
putin use. It is with this instrument that Bessel has demonstrated
that the stars have parallax and measured its amount. His instru-
ment reads to hundredths of a second of an arc, and is accurate to
less than a tenth of a second.”

The sum of one thousand dollars has also been given by Erastus Corn-
ing of Albany for the construction of an Astronomical clock on a new
plan proposed by Dr. Gould. A meridian circle, which it is expected
will be the most perfect instrument of the kind, as well as equal in
size to any hitherto constructed, has also been contracted for in Mn-
nich. Other instruments are in the process of completion, and it is
anticipated that the Dudley Observatory will be fully equipped and
in working order sometime during the present year.

Astronomer Broun, in the employ of the East India Company, in a
letter to Colonel Sykes from India, which was read at the last meeting
of the British Association, describes the successful establishment of an
Observatory on the mountain Augustus Mullay, at 6,200 feet above
the sea level, for the purpose of simultaneous record with the Obsery-
atory at Trevandrum. The difficulties of access to the summit of
the mountain were so great, from having to cut paths through dense
jungles, infested by elephants and other wild animals—from having
to use ropes and mechanical aid in getting up the building materials,
provisions, and the instruments—and in the delays from the iaborers
running away from fright and the effects of cold—that two years were
consumed in the undertaking. The object of Astronomer Broun in
inaking known his successful efforts in Europe is to enable observers
to put themselves into communication with him, in case they should
desire to have any experimental researches made on so novel a posi-

. tion for an Observatory.

Sir David Brewster, in his recent life of Sir Isaac Newton, thus ad-
verts to the prospect of future astronomical progress and discovery:

“ However great have been the achievements of the past, and how-
ever magnificent the instruments to which we owe them, the limits
of telescopic vision have not been reached, and space has yet marvel-
ous secrets to surrender. A ten ject reflector will be due to science
before the close of the century, and a disc of flint-glass, twenty-nine
inches in diameter, awaits the command of some liberal government,
or some munificent individual, to be converted into an achromatic
telescope of extraordinary power. In cherishing these sanguine ex-
pectations, we have not forgotten that the state of our northern at-

18 NOTES BY THE EDITOR

mosphere must set some limit to the magnifying power of our tele-
scopes. In a variable climate, indeed, the vapors and local changes
of temperature, and consequent inequalities of refraction, offer various
obstructions to astronomical research. But we must meet tie diffi-
culty in the only way in which it can be met. The astronomer can
not summon the zephyrs to give him a cloudless sky, nor command a
thunder-storm to clear it. He must transport his telescope to the
purer air of Egypt or India, or climb the flanks of the Himalaya or
the Andes, to erect his watch-tower above the grosser regions of the
atmosphere. In some of those brief yet lucid intervals, when distant
objects present themselves in sharp outline and minute detail, discoy-
eries of the highest value might be grasped by the lynx-eyed astron-
omer. The resolution of a nebula—the bisection of a double star—
the detection of the smaller planetary fragments;—the details of a
planet’s ring—the evanescent markings on its dise—the physical
changes on its surface, and perchance the display of some of the dark
worlds of Bessel, might be the revelations of a moment, and would
amply repay in national glory the transportation of a huge telescope
to the shoulder or to the summit of a lofty mountain.”

The result of the experiments recently made by Professor Airy of |
the Greenwich Observatory, in one of the deepest of the English coal-
pits, for ascertaining the variation of gravity at great depths, have
proved beyond doubt that the attraction of gravitation is increased at
the depth of 1260 feet by zghyq part.

During the past year, another very important astronomical work
has been performed, by which the difference of longitude between
Paris and Greenwich has been ascertained. The number of days con-
sidered available for longitude, in consequence of transits of stars
having been observed at both Observatories, was 12; and the num-
ber of signals was 1,703. Very great care was taken on both sides
for the adjustment of the instruments. The resulting difference of
longitude, 9’ 20’ °68, is probably very accurate. It is less by nearly
1’ of time than that determined in 1825 by rocket signals under the
superintendence of Sir John Herschel and Colonel Sabine. The time
occupied by the passage of the galvanic current appeared to be one-
twelfth of a second.

_In his annual Report, the English astronomer royal regrets that,
while the Greenwich astronomical observations have assumed such a
shape that the astronomer will find all the moving bodies of the solar
system presented in the utmost extent and accuracy, the same asser-
tion can not be applied to the magnetical and meteorological observa-
tions; not, however, from any defect in the instruments or observations}
for these have acquired an extraordinary excellence and precision, par-
ticularly in the photographic branch of registration. ‘‘ But,” to nse the

a.

ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 19

words of the Report, “ gfter having obtained the immediate results of
observation, with the utmost completeness and exactitude, we are ab-
solutely stopped from making further progress by the total absence of
even empirical theory.” At the same time, the system and extent of
the observations continue unaltered. For the three magnetic elements,
and for the barometer and the dry and wet thermometers, eye observa-
tions are made three or four times daily; and these serve as zeros
both in time and in measure for the curves formed by continuous self-
registration on the photographic sheets. Thus, whenever any extended
view of the cosmical causes or laws of magnetism and meteorology
shall render an accurate discussion of these phenomena practicable,
those made at Greenwich will be found to present such materials for
the investigation as can scarcely be obtained at any other Observatory.

The ozone observations which were started some time since in
Great Britain, and which have been accurately kept by numerous ob-
servers in all parts of the kingdom, have not led to any deductions of
value to science; it is curious, however, to discover that in large
towns, such as London and Manchester, no ozone is developed, even
when it is found to exist abundantly in the neighboring country, and
especially so in proximity to the sea.

It is well-known that great doubt has hitherto been cast upon the
narrative published some years since, by M. Caillé of France, describ-
ing his travels in Africa, and visit to the city of Timbuctoo. The ex-
perience of Dr. Barth, the African traveler, however, leave no doubt
that M. Caillé was truthfal in all essential particulars. It was in April,
1828, that Caillé arrived at the African city, his starting-place having
been Sierra Leone; and he endured frightful privations and sufferings
on the way. He is said to have been the first European who ever
penetrated the mysterious Timbuctoo, and his stay in it only lasted
fourteen days, Hardships, combined with the bad effects of the
awful climate, produced disease, and he returned to France in a dying
state, and died shortly after. He was only thirty-nine years of age
when he was cut off.

- A letter has been recently published in the WV. Y. Tribune, from the
Abbé Bourbourg, a Catholic priest in Central America, in which he
claims to have discovered in Guatemala the remains of various antique
cities of great magnitude and solidity; also, some most precious mon-
uments of the language and history of the aboriginal people, long an-
terior to the arrival of the Spaniards. What will be the most surpris-
ing to scholars, and will doubtless be received with some incredulity,
is the assertion of M. de Bourbourg that these languages contain un-
deniable relics of various Scandinavian and Teutonic tongues. Danish,
Swedish, English, and even some Oriental words, are said to be found
in great distinctness and purity mingled in the early dialects of the

20 NOTES BY THE EDITOR

country, while the Indian traditions declare that their ancestors mi-
grated from the north-east, by sea, through mist and snow. From
these philological remains and traditions, M. de Bourbourg concludes
that there was a migration into the country from the settlement of
the Northmen in Massachusetts. If true, this is a most interesting
contribution to the history of the American continent, and the publice
will wait with impatience for that more complete account of it which
M. de Bourbourg intends to lay before the world, with the document-
ary evidence sustaining his conclusions.

Professor A. Retzius of Stockholm, Sweden, in a communication ad-
dressed to the Philadelphia Academy, shows most indubitably that
the practice of compressing the skull artificially, which was supposed
to be peculiar to the aboriginal inhabitants of America, was practiced
by the ancient Huns, and probably by some other nations of antiquity
occupying Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

During the past summer a portion of the U. 8. North-Pacific sur-
veying squadron cruised in the Arctic Seas, northwest of Behring’s
Straits. It was the intention of Lieutenant Rodgers to visit the land
reported to have been discovered by Captain Kellett, of the expedition
sent out by the English government in 1851, in search of Sir John
Franklin; and as the weather indications were favorable to this end,
the course of the vessel was shaped accordingly. The position of this
land, as reported by Captain Kellett, was about sixty miles to the
northward of Herald Island. The ‘* Vincennes” reached the latitude of
72° 05’ 29’, in longitude 174° 387’ 15’’—a higher point than ever be-
fore reached, having sailed over the assumed position of Captain Kel-
lett’s land ; and Lieutenant Rodgers was forced to the conclusion that
Captain Kellett had fallen into the common error in these latitudes of
being deceived by low cloud-banks. At this point the progress of
the vessel was interrupted by a barrier of ice, and as the vessel was
not prepared for winter quarters in these regions, it was deemed ad-
visable to alter her course. Returning by the west of Herald Island,
the ‘‘ Vincennes” sailed over the tail of Herald reef, and worked up to
the position of the land reported by Captain Kellett, and named
“Plover Island.” This land was reported by Captain Kellett as hay-
ing been seen in foggy weather; and here again he must have been
deceived by clouds, as no land could be found by the “ Vincennes,” al-
though with every advantage of fine weather for observation.

An expedition has recently been sent by the Dutch government to
the Arctic Seas, to commence an investigation into the nature of
oceanic currents, according to the system and plan proposed by Lieu-
tenant Maury.

During the past season, the American Exploring Expedition under
Lieutenant Page, U. S. N. in Paraguay, have ascended the branch

Li 23 Se ees Abn or

ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. py

of the Parana, or La Plata, known as the Salado, a distance of 360
miles. The Salado empties into the Parana at Santa Fé, the prin-
cipal town of the province of that name which is one of the Ar-
gentine Confederation. The Salado has never heretofore been either
ascended or descendéd to this point, and the practicability of its navi-
gation was a problem unsolved until this exploration. It is the most
important river in the Argentine Confederation, and is the natural
outlet for the products of Salta, Tucuman, Santiago, Mendoza, Cor-
dova, and Santa Fé; but the apprehension of encountering insur-
mountable obstacles, and the fear of the Indians, have deprived the
inhabitants of those provinces of its benefits ever since the first settle-
ment of the country. The region of country through which the ex-
pedition passed is represented to be beautiful in scenery and well
wooded. The character of the soil is alluvial, based on argillaceous
substratum, and it is said that all that is wanted. to transform this
wilderness of country into a garden is the hand of civilized man. The
government, aware that the resources of this productive country can
be developed only by the introduction of a foreign population, holds
out to immigrants the most liberal inducements.

The geological survey of New Jersey has been continued during
the past year with great vigor. The enhanced value of land in certain
districts arising from the discovery of new localities of peat, calcareous
marls and green-sand, will, it is said) more than equal the cost of the
survey.

Further evidence respecting the fate of Sir John Franklin, confirm-
atory of the statements made by Dr. Rae last year, has recently been
obtained through the agency of an expedition sent out by the Hud-
son Bay Company. This party left Carlton House, 54° north latitude,
February 7th, 1855, and descending the Great Fish River, reached its
estuary into the Arctic Sea on the 30th of July. Here they met with
Esquimaux, wko corroborated the reports of Dr. Rae, and directed
them to Montreal Island, a short distance from the mouth of the
river, as the spot where, according to their instructions, they were to
commence minute exploration. From this time until the 9th of
August, the party were industriously engaged in searches on the
island, and on the mainland, between 67° and 69° north latitude. At
last, on Montreal Island, where their explorations commenced, they
found snow-shoes known to be of English make, with the name of
Dr. Stanley, who was surgeon of Sir John Franklin’s ship, the “‘ Erebus,”
cut in them by a knife. Afterward, they found on the same island a
boat belonging to the Franklin expedition, with the name “ Terror”
still distinctly visible. Among the Esquimaux were found iron kettles
corresponding in shape and size with those furnished the Franklin
expedition, and bearing the mark of the British government. Other

22 NOTES BY THE EDITOR. *

articles known to have belonged to the expedition, were obtained from
the Esquimaux, and brought by the party for deposit with the British
government.

The report of the Esquimaux was, that one man died on Montreal
Island, and that the balance of the party wandered on the beach of
the mainland opposite, until worn out by fatigue and starvation, they,
one by one, laid themselves down and died too. No papers or books,
and no human remains, were found; nor was it likely, as four years
had elapsed since this tragedy was enacted upon a low sandy beacl,
exposed to the storms of four Arctic winters; and there is little doubt
that either the sea has washed off, or the sand has buried deep, the
unfortunates who perished on this spot.

A measure has recently been put in operation by the English Ad-
miralty, which could also be adopted with profit in the United States.
The Crimean war, having shown by a painful and costly experience, the
necessity of employing better educated men for government offices
of trust and responsibility, it has been ordered that no person shall
be appointed to any post in the civil department of the British Ad-
miralty without previously passing a strict examination in all the
branches of a good English education, and in Latin or some modern
language. It is also understood that similar regulations will also be
adopted in all the other departments of government service.

We present to our readers for the present year, the portrait of Col.
R. M. Hoe, of New York, distinguished for his many and important
improvements of the printing-press.

In order to illustrate the progress of Discovery and Improvement
in the various Departments of Science pertaining to Agriculture
and Rural Economy, more fully than the limits of the “Annual of
Scientific Discovery” will allow, the Editor has recently published a
separate volume arranged upon a similar plan, entitled the Year
Book of Agriculture, or the Annual of Agricultural Discovery and
Improvement for 1855-6. To those of our readers who are de-
sirous of a more complete report of scientific progress for the past
year, in these special departments, we would refer to the above-
noticed publication.

All communications intended for the Editor of “Annual of Scientific
Discovery,” or the ‘Year Book of Agriculture,” should be addressed to the
care of G. P. Putnam & Co., 321 Broadway, New York.

THE

ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS.

SUBJECTS FOR INVESTIGATION AND PREMIUM.

Durine the past year the London Society of Arts published a list of sub-
jects, desiderata in the various branches of science and art, which they
considered worthy of investigation, and for the best communication respecting
which, sent to the Society, they proposed to award a premium. As itis a
matter involving no little labor and knowledge to select, and explicitly set
forth, reasonable problems and inquiries relating to the industrial arts, and
believing, as we do, that at the present day, a great part of every invention
consists in finding out what is really needed, we copy some of the most im-
portant of the subjects propounded by the Society ; and for the best account
or treatise respecting which premiums are offered. To indicate and point
attention to a want is, at any rate, the most effectual way of supplying it.

For an essay on ancient metallurgy.

For an account of the modes by which wolfram can be separated from
other ores; and on the uses of tungsten in the arts.

For any new application of tungsten in arts or manufactures.

For an account of menachanite or iserine; and suggestions for obtaining
titanium from these ores.

For any improvement in the process of condensing the fumes in the smelt-
ing of lead slags,

For an account of the best proportions for the production of the compound
metal, bronze; and the preparation of bronze washes.

For the invention of a white metallic alloy, free from microscopic faults,
which may be successfully applied to the arts; is hard enough for use in
reflecting telescopes, and is not liable to be acted upon by the atmosphere.

For the discovery or manufacture of a new smokeless fuel, which shall not
occupy more space, or be of greater weight than the fuel now in use; and

94 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

shall be equal in the amount of heating power, without liability to pee
metals in contact with it.

For an account of the processes employed in obtaining different products, as
parrafine from shale, and the uses to which they may be applied.

For an account of the economic manufacture of color by electricity.

For the preparation of any color, applicable to the japanned surfaces of
papier maché, that shall be free from the brightness (or glare) of the varnished
colors now used, but yet possess the same degree of hardness and durability.

For the preparation of light colors to be used in enameling or japanning
slate or iron, that will stand the action of heat from the fire without blister-
ing or discoloration, and be sufficiently hard to resist scratches.

For an account of the processes involved in the preparation of animal
charcoal, and its recent applications to manufacturing and other purposes.

For the best essay on the theory and practice of fermentation, particularly
as applied to the art of brewing, so as to modify, or altogether dispense with
the intermediate process of malting.

For a substitute for, or preparation of, yeast for raising bread, that may be
preserved for use, better than any hitherto generally known.

For improvements in the processes for preserving animal food, and for pre-
venting salted and other provisions from becoming rancid, with an account of
methods at present employed. ¥

For the discovery, and production to the Society, of any new substance
which can be successfully used as a substitute for gutta percha.

For the production of a perfectly colorless copal varnish, not liable to injure
the colors over which it is applied.

For the production of a colorless gold size, not liable to affect the delicate
tints with which it is mixed when used to facilitate their drying.

For a pure colorless oil, suitable for artists; or for a decolorizing agent for
linseed oil, which will leave its other proper: unimpaired.

For the production of cheap purple and yellow lakes, of good quality, suit-
able for carriage-builders, etc., and not liable to fade or change color.

For the importation of, at least, two tons of any new vegetable fiber, appli-
cable to all the purposes for which flaxor hemp is now used, and equally
strong and durable.

For the discovery of an economic and effective substitute for the teazels
used in raising the face, or nap, of cloth.

For a method of preparing an engine size for the use of paper-makers,
superior to any now in use.

For the best account of the mode in which size from sea-weed is prepared
and used by the Chinese.

For the best series of useful products from sea-weeds, the methods of
obtaining them, and the purposes to which they are or may be applied.

For an effectual method of utilizing the sewerage of towns.

For an account of the mechanical means at present in use to facilitate the
operation of packing goods, whether by hydraulic presses or otherwise.

For the best form of street goods wagon; the improvements required are a
lower center of gravity, and a ready means of discharging heavy packages.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 25

For an elastic material for tubing suited to the conveyance of gas, and not
liable to be affected by alterations in temperature, or to be acted upon by the
gas itself.

For improvements in the oxy-hydrogen microscope, and the means by
which a bright object may be presented on a dark ground.

For a rapid means of reproducing artistic designs or sketches, without the
intervention of hand labor, for surface printing by machinery.

For a means of producing impressions from copper-plates by machinery,
without the intervention of hand labor.

For the invention of a simple electrometer, to be sold at a moderate price,
for determining the amount and kind of atmospheric electricity ; and which
will show uniform results under uniform circumstances.

For the invention of a marine mercurial barometer, which will obviate
the oscillation of the mercury, and fulfill all the conditions necessary to make
it a good and reliable instrument; and be sold at a moderate price.

For the invention of an anemometer for determining the direction of the
wind, and its pressure in pounds on the square foot, to be sold at a moderate
price.

For the invention of an anemometer for measuring the force and direction
of the wind on board ship correctly, distinguishing the. amount due to the
wind and that due to the ship’s velocity, varying with the angle.

For an instrument that will detect the local attraction of a ship at sea, with
reference to the compass, by direct observation of the heavenly bodies, with-
out the process of turning the ship.

For the production of a lustrous wool, to be used in lieu of silk, in the
manufacture of fringes, carriage laces, ete.

For the successful application of some new means (as electricity, or photo-
graphy, for instance) for producing ornamental designs in woven fabrics,
which shall be cheaper, and easier of application, than those at present
employed.

For an efficient means of removing the fatty matters from skins, so as to
render them capable of receiving mordants by the ordinary printing process.

For the best mode of dressing kid for the upper leather of boots; the im-
provements required are, strength of the grain and a good firm black dye.

For the best specimens of cisterns, suitable for household or other purposes,
made of glass in one piece.

For a chair or couch affording the greatest possible amount of support to
persons of weak physical powers while writing.

For a means of rendering the plaster used for casts, less absorbent, and
more adhesive, so as to facilitate its use for repairing purposes.

For the best means of turning to useful account, slag of furnaces, in a
coarse, refined, or combined state.

For the best design for a flower trough or vase, ornamented in bas-relief,
and capable of being cast from a mold in one piece, and of being produced in
terra cotta,

2

26 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

SUBMARINE TUNNEL BETWEEN. ENGLAND AND FRANCE,

M. Favre, a distinguished French engineer, has recently brought before the
public an extraordinary plan for constructing a submarine tunnel under the
channel from France to England; and what is no less extraordinary, the en-
terprise finds supporters, and may be considered as seriously entered upon.
The length of the proposed tunnel will be about 184 miles in length, to which
must be added about 14 mile that will run under the shore on each side in
order to give the necessary gradual ascent from the tunnel to the surface of
the earth. The distance between the top of the arch of the tunnel will be
less than 274 yards, so that all danger of the ocean breaking through will
be avoided by this enormous thickness of what may be called the wall of
the tunnel. This tunnel will be lined with a double arch, the first of granite
and of impermeable cement, the second of thin iron plates pierced like a
colander with small holes, so that the slightest leakage will be instantly
discovered. Through this tunnel it is tended that an atmospheric railroad
shall be established, thereby avoiding the smoke consequent on the use of the
ordinary locomotive, by which the transit from end to end will be performed
in 27 minutes. The natural objection which arises to the practicability of
this stupendous work is the difficulty of getting rid of the earth and stone
quarried out of the bowels of the subterranean chamber. In the ordinary
course of engineering, every barrow-load of earth would have to be brought
to one of the mouths of the tunnel, which operation would consume so much
time and labor as to add enormously to the expenses. This difficulty M.
Fayre proposes to surmount by sinking along the course of the tunnel what
he calls ‘‘ Maritime Wells,” which will divide this subterranean gallery into
sections of about 11,000 yards each in length. By these wells all the encum-
bering earth will be thrown into the sea, forming islands about the wells
themselves, and so strengthening them. These wells will serve the purpose
of ventilating the tunnel. The cost of the whole is estimated in round num-
bers at 100,000,000f., or $20,000,000, and the cost of each yard will be
2,695f., or $539. The soundings that have been made in the English Channel,
show that the soil is very favorable to such an undertaking. At a certain
depth freestone has been found, so that the vault of the tunnel will be formed
of a stone impermeable to water, and capable of sustaining, in a thickness of
27 yards, an enormous weight.

The estimates of the produce of this submarine railway, are based on the
supposition that 200,000 passengers now travel backward and forward be-
tween France and England at the present day. Of course this number
would be increased by the facilities offered by the submarine railway. France
now consumes 80,000,000 of metrical quintals of pit coal, 8,000,000 of which
is furnished by England, the remainder by Belgium and Prussia. As the su-
perior facility for transport would enable England to supply much of this coal
now brought from those countries, the Company calculate that their transport
of coal will amount at least to 10,000,000 of tons, which will yield a profit
for transport of 10,000,000 of francs yearly for this branch of commerce

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. a7

alone. Besides, the 3,000 ships that now annually enter the harbors of Calais,
Boulogne, and Dunkirk, with a tonnage of 40,000 tons, will, of course, yield
a great portion of their traffic to this railway, which will be safe, expeditious,
and comparatively inexpensive.

Engineers are at present engaged making surveys and soundings for the
purpose of estimating, as accurately as possible, the utmost cost, and con-
tractors, offering guarantees of responsibility, are ready to take work.

The following is the conclusion of a recent report on the subject:

“Tn conclusion, we are impressed with the conviction that we have proved,
not only that this project is possible, but that it will be comparatively easy to
construct a railway under the Channel. We have now developed our system
of maritime ‘wells,’ which would divide the subterranean tunnel into differ-
ent sections. Our plan of a double vault would give as ample securities as
any of the ordinary railways possess. The tunnel would set aside the arm
of the sea which separates France from England. It would bind, upon the
most solid foundation, the Continent with Great Britain, which is at present
isolated from the rest of Europe. Our project has been received every where
with the most lively sympathies, and an Anglo-French Company will be im-
mediately organized upon the most powerful basis to execute the railway of
Calais.”

NEW METHOD OF REPAIRING A SHIP WITHOUT DOCKING.

The immense British screw steamer, Himalaya, having become seriously
damaged in the Black Sea, it became requisite that repairs should be made at
Malta. There being no dry-dock at the place of sufficient capacity to receive
her, this difficulty was surmounted in the following manner: The Himalaya
is an iron vessel, constructed on the life-boat principle, with water-tight com-
partments. She was taken into the dock about noon, and water introduced
into her fore compartment with syphons, for about two hours. At that time
a powerful purchase was fixed aft to four derricks, and hove taut, when she
started up 18 inches. Three hours later the purchase was hove again, when
she moved up 12 inches, and so continued until half past eleven P. M., when
it was found that the shaft-hole of the propeller was 15 inches out of water.
At this time her immersion was 7 feet 10 inches aft, and 27 feet forward, with
about two feet of water under her forefoot; and this was accomplished so
easy that persons witnessing the operation almost doubted their own eyes.
She strained nothing whatever, and when her defects had been made good,
she was let down, the water in her fore-compartment pumped out, and in 12
hours she regained her natural position. It will be seen that she was water-
borne the whole time, and that by destroying the buoyancy forward the as-
sistance she required aft to raise her was comparatively small. This opera-
tion, probably, would answer only for an iron vessel, inasmuch as any wooden
vessel, as ordinarily constructed, would be found deficient in longitudinal
’ strength.

The Nautical Magazine, in this connection, also recalls to remembrance an
ingenious plan adopted some years since, at the Navy Yard at Norfolk, for

Z

28 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

repairing a vessel without docking. The United States’ ship of the line, Del-
aware, immediately after launching, lost a portion of her copper. There being
no government dry-dock at that time, the ship was allowed to remain in that
condition until orders came to fit her for sea, when, in order to make her outfit
as complete below as above water, Mr. Broadie, the foreman of the yard, pro-
posed and obtained leave to make a box, with open top and side, to cover the
part to be repaired, one side to fit the side of the ship. The locality of the spot
from which the copper was removed being known, there was little difficulty in
preparing timbers of the shape of the side of the vessel, upon which a box,
or diving-bell, was projected, of sufficient size and strength to sustain the
pressure of the water from without when the water from within was removed.
When finished, the edges, coming against the side of the ship, and. forming
the margin of the open side, were padded with canvas, so as to be brought
close to prevent the passage of the water, and the whole fabric being provided
with ring-bolts, for securing the box to its place, by means of ropes passed
under the keel and up the opposite side, in like manner it was secured firmly
fore and aft; and when thus made fast, the water was pumped out, and work-
men went down to the place, when the copper and worm-eaten plank were
removed, a new plank inserted, fastened, caulked, and re-coppered. All this
while the ship was afloat, and the defective part from 15 to 18 feet below the
surface of the water. The ship went to sea and performed the usual cruise
of three years, more or less, and Mr. Broadie was awarded $500 by Congress,
for his mechanical skill.

IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS AND STEAMERS,

Cunard Steamship Persia.—During the past season, a new iron steamer,
the Persia, has been launched by the Cunard Steamship Company, at Glasgow,
Scotland. This vessel, at present, is the largest steamer afloat, far exceeding
in length, strength, tonnage, and steam power, the Great Britain or the
Himalaya, and exceeding also by no less than 1200 tons the internal capacity
of the largest of the present splendid Cunard liners. Her chief proportionS
may be summed up as follows:—

Length from figure-head to taffrail ........... 390 feet.
eneth in The Water, casio cick =inis of ae joR aes sels 860 *
MSPORALH OL TO DUN SS S's cies os cles Ss ablcle oslels-.c 451
Breadth Over Aw sss hls oe ES eee wee dks we, TL. es
Maphack Se bette eka Hehe beste seve wie. 82“

Stupendous as the Persia is, the lines of beauty have been so well worked
out in the preparation of her model that her appearance is singularly grace-
ful and lightsome. Yet this mighty fabric, so beautiful as a whole, is made
up of innumerable pieces of ponderous metal, welded, jointed, and riveted
into each other with exceeding deftness. The keel consists of several bars of
iron about 35 feet in length each, joined together by long scarfs, and as a
whole 13 inches deep by 44 inches thick. The framing is constructed in a
manner at once peculiar, and securing the greatest possible amount of strength.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 29
The iron stern-post is 13 inches in breadth, by 5 inches in thickness, carrying
the rudder, the stock of which is 8 inches in diameter. The framing of the
ship is very heavy. The space between each frame is only 10 inches, and
the powerful frames or ribs are themselves 10 inches deep, with double angle
irons at the outer and inner edges. The bow is constructed in a manner at
once peculiar and affording the greatest possible strength to this important
part of the ship. The framing is placed normally to the stern, the effect of
which is that, in the case of collision with other ships or with rocks, or ice-
bergs, the strain would fall upon the very strongest material within the
structure. The plates or outer planking of the ship, so to speak, are laid
alternately, so that one adds strength to the other, and they form a whole of
wonderful compactness and solidity. The keel plates are 1} of an inch in
thickness; at the bottom of the ship the plates are 13 of an inch in thickness;
from this section to the load water line they are $ of an inch, and above
this they are 1} of an inch in thickness. The plates round the gunwale
are ~ of an inch in thickness.

The Persia has seven water-tight compartments. The goods are to be
stowed in two of these divisions. These goods’ stores, or rather tanks, are
placed in the center line of the ship, with the coal cellars or bunkers on each
side of them. At the same time, the vessel is so constructed as to have-in
reality a double bottom under these goods’ chambers—so that if the outer
were beat in or injured, the inner would, in all likelihood, protect the cargo
dry and intact. The chambers are perfectly water-tight; and in the event of
accident to the hull, these tanks would of themselves float the ship.

Steamer Ocean Bird.—About three years ago the project of establishing a
line of European steamers from New York, to make the passage across the
Atlantic to the nearest port-on the coast of Ireland, within one week, was
broached. by Mr. William Norris, an eminent engineer of Philadelphia, who,
together with several distinguished gentlemen of New York, commenced the
enterprise. Mr. John W. Griffiths (now editor of The Nautical Magazine),
marine architect of New York, was instructed to build a steamship capable
of going 20 nautical miles an hour, that would accommodate from 60 to 80
passengers, and coal enough for 3,000 miles of steaming, at a cost of not more
than $120,000. Mr. Griffiths submitted his plans for a steamer capable of
attaining this speed, with a mean draught of water of 7 feet, so modeled that
she would lift her bows over the wave instead of cleaving it, and be sustained
by the middle of her length rather than by the ends, thus removing the main
cause of pitching or divergence from the horizontal position, and enabling the
hull to glide over instead of cutting through the water. The plans were
approved, the work progressed satisfactorily toward completion, and the
vessel was nearly ready for launching, when the failure of Mr. Norris brought
her under the hammer of the United States Marshal. The present owner
not choosing to complete her according to this original plan, Mr. Griffiths
declined proceeding with her construction, and she was consequently finished
by other parties, with modifications. These consisted in a reduction of five
per cent. of the propelling power, the addition of another deck weighing 194
tons, making four decks altogether, and a curtailment of three feet in the

30 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

diameter of the paddle-wheels. These alterations sink the hull 18 inches
_ deeper than was originally calculated for, besides presenting a much larger
amount of surface for atmospheric resistance. Her dimensions, as completed,
are 222 feet on the load line, 225 feet on deck, 36 feet 10 inches beam, and
22 feet hold, or 7 feet deeper than her hull was designed for. The machinery
is proportioned as follows ;

Diameter of cylinder .............--00- 65 inches,

‘ SISO EU NGO UA SSIS AOC CCT oe 12 feet.
Diameter of Wheels...) 0/0 00028 ene os op
TMeucth ior PUCKEL.../- 7 oe cca + ae teinleclels « 7 ft. 9 in.
Breadth of buekeb.ol2t . 22 sis bice eee eis 22 inches,
Number of buckets. 52.52: /n/scic sien s'sts = BS? vaiSl ai
Tat NWO Sing gn ee se oobat Cosme coma ac 4 ft. 9 in.

She is furnished with four single-return flue boilers, two forward and two
aft. Both of the forward boilers are 20 feet long, and the after two 22 feet
in length. Width of boilers 9 feet 6 inches, and 10 feet 2 inches in height.
The entire fire surface is 4,500.44 superficial feet. On the trial trip this
steamer (named the Ocean Bird) averaged 17 revolutions a minute with 23
lbs. of steam, running 17 miles an hour against a three-knot tide and a strong
head wind, or equal to 20 miles an hour in smooth water. The bow of this
vessel possesses great lifting power, causing the waves to pass under the hull
instead of being broken by the abrupt termination of the globular line. Her
hull is molded to a hollow water-line at both ends, and thus the external
pressure is perfectly equalized.

Novelties in Ship-building—The Cork (Ireland) Reporter thus describes a
ship of somewhat novel construction: |

A large ship, with an auxiliary screw propeller, now lies in our harbor,
built on a new and curious principle, on which, we believe, she is the first
constructed. She is wholly of wrought iron, being framed and put together
in the same manner as the Britannia Tubular Bridge, without knees or tim-
ber work of any kind in her hull. A plank deck is laid over the iron one,
and on this are a couple of large deck houses. Instead of stowing ballast in
the usual way, she is provided with water-tight compartments in her hull,
into which water can be pumped, for ballast, to any extent required. Her
heavy tackle is worked by steam machinery, superseding the necessity for a
large amount of manual labor. Owing to the absence of timbers, beams, etc.,
she has stowage for 900 tons of cargo, though measuring little over 400 tons
—no inconsiderable advantage in itself Externally her appearance is very
singular, from the convexity of her sides; in nautical phrase, she “tumbles
home” aloft in a most unusual manner.

For the purpose of facilitating operations in the Black Sea, the British
government have recently fitted up two large screw steamers, one as a flour-
mill and biscuit-bakery, the other for engineering purposes. This last vessel
contains a large workshop between decks, fitted with the best tools obtain-
able, consisting of drilling, punching, shearing, shaping, and slotting appara-
tus, and two circular-saw benches, besides smiths’ forges with fan blasts, and

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 81

a cupola for iron and brass casting. The ship’s engine and a ten-horse port-
able engine supply the necessary power for driving the tools.

Improved Rudder.—In an improvement recently patented by J. 8. Robbins
of San Francisco, two rudders are employed to steer the vessel. One of
them is attached to the stern-post in the usual manner; the other placed
directly behind the first, and secured in an iron frame which projects back for
that purpose. The two are connected together with arms in such a manner
that the force of the water, when it comes in contact with the after rudder,
will assist the helmsman in moving the post rudder, so that they counter-
balance each other. This it is said reduces the labor of steering to almost
nothing, gives complete steadiness to the wheel, and enables a single man, or
even a boy, to guide the largest vessel in the fiercest storm, with perfect
ease.

India Rubber Lining for Vessels—A plan has been patented by Mr. V. P.
Corbett, of New York, for lining vessels with a continuous coating of India
rubber, as a safeguard against leakage. It is intended to apply the lining
within the frame of the ship, and beneath the ceiling. A large proportion of
the accidents that occur to the hulls of vessels are from striking the bottom
in such a manner as not to actually displace, or rather destroy, any portion,
but only to strain and split the wood. The whole reliance being on the
integrity of the exterior shell, it follows that the starting of a few planks
creates a furious leak, and unless the pumps are capable of controlling the
evil, the ship is lost. With a gum lining, however, the leak would merely
fill the spaces between the frames, and the interior of the hold would remain
as dry as before. The edges of the sheets, which are proposed to be from +
to = of an inch in thickness, are to be cemented by heat; and the gum, it is
believed will be as durable as the wood itself.

A patent for improvement in propellers was granted Chas. de Bergue of
London, June 9th. In this improvement the propeller somewhat resembles
a rocking arm or blade, working in a chamber open at each extremity, one on
each side of the vessel, as a substitute for, and in the place of, the common
paddle-wheel It is connected by a rod to a crank on the extremity of the
main shaft of the engine, and it thus receives a vibrating treading motion, the
action being somewhat like that of a fish’s tail: it is all under water baie 4
the crank, and part of the connecting rod.

Improved Screw-Propelling Engines—Mr. Salter, of London, has teem.
a new arrangement of steam-engine, particularly adapted for screw-propeller
navigation. It may be considered a semi-rotary, reciprocating engine, having
two curved cylinders, the pistons of which, at every stroke, travel over a seg-
ment of a circle; and the piston-rods being connected by toggle-joints to the
crank on the screw-propeller shaft, each revolution is effected with a minimum
amount of friction. The valves are so arranged that the induction port opens
very small, allowing the injection only of a puff of steam, while at the end
of the stroke the exhaust-valve opens to the fullest extent, giving instantan-
eous freedom to the return-stroke of the piston.

Side Screw Steamers.—The steamer Baltic, of Lake Erie, once a paddle-
wheel boat, was divested of her paddles and engines last yeaf, and has been

82 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

propelled during the present season with side screws—one at each side, and
two short-stroke, high-pressure engines, connected by direct application to the
cranks. It has been running—in connection with the New York Central
Railroad and Lake Erie Railroad, between Bufialo and Sandusky cities, and
with astonishing success. She now carries 300 tons more freight, and uses
only one-half the fuel that she required with her paddle-wheels and old en-
gines. Her cylinders are of 3 feet stroke and 26 inches bore, and her steam-
pressure is 45 lbs. on the square inch.—Scientijfic American. ;

Loper’s Improvement in Propellers.—It is frequently desirable in practice, to
drive the screw-propeller at such velocity as would endanger the safety of the
engines, and gearing or pitch chains are introduced in order to surmount this
difficulty. The propeller Sarah, lately constructed by Captain Loper, of Phil-
adelphia, has some arrangements for overcoming this difficulty, of a novel
character: The shafts of the engine and of the propeller are placed exactly in
line, a fact, by the way, which adds greatly to its convenience, and forms one
of the most desirable peculiarities of this machine. To the inner extremity
of the propeller-shaft is keyed a crank. The engine-shaft proper is very short,
and placed some feet further forward, its after end being provided with a short
universal joint. From this universal joint to the extremes of the crank ex-
tends a stout shaft, which we will term the gyrating shaft, on account of its
peculiar motion, revolving while one end is also compelled to describe a cir-
cle. A gear-wheel is keyed on this gyrating shaft, near its after end, and a
stout ring of cast-iron, with suitable gear on its interior surface, is fixed in
the vessel in such position that the gear-wheel shall always mesh into and
travel around within it. The proportion of the parts may be modified so that
the propeller shaft shall be compelled to revolve as much faster than the en-
gine-shaft as may be desired. The multiple in this steamer is 24 to 1, so that
while the engine makes 100 revolutions the screw-propeller makes 225, and
the apparatus is reported by the engineer as producing very little friction,
noise, or vibration.

Palmer's Improvements in Propellers—An improved screw-propeller, in-
vented by Mr. Edward Palmer, of Southampton, England, consists of a light
skeleton frame, forming two wheels, held together by cross-arms at the re-
quired distance, secured by bolts and nuts into suitable grooves, in which
the curyed blades—four in number—are fixed. These blades are made of
plate-iron, formed to take as much purchase in the water as will have the
maximum effect without choaking. One side of each blade is placed at an
angle of 65°, and the other takes the water at an angle of 45°. They are
capable of being removed or attached at pleasure, and to suit the power of
the engine and sailing of the vessel. When not required as a propeller, this
screw may be allowed to revolve by the natural force acquired by drawing
through the water, with scarcely any impediment to the vessel’s motion, from
its lightness and the peculiar angle of the blades, as, when detached from the
fast gearing, it revolves on the shaft with the slightest power. The patentee
considers that the subject has as yet been but imperfectly understood, and
that he has at last discovered the most perfect and effective figure and pitch
of the screw-propeller; and he claims for it a ready inclination to revolve

_MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 688

in the slightest current of water or air, greater simplicity and power, its
adaptation to attain any velocity required, high or low, and that it will
propel a vessel from 50 to 100 per cent. further, in the same period, with
less fuel consumed, than screws of the ordinary construction. They also
work more kindly than the ordinary propellers, are not likely to receive
injury at sea, and can not get foul of sunken ropes or chains from the ships in
nye. |

In a discussion at the last meeting of the British Association on the effects
of screw-propeliers, when moved at different velocities and depths, Mr. G.
Rennie stated, that from experiments which had been made under his obsery-
ation, it was desirable that the screws of vessels should be of small dimen-
sions, light, and of rapid motion, and that their effect would be increased by
their being as deeply immersed as possible. He also recommended the dise
screw.

Improvements in Masts—An iron screw-steamer, of 600 tons, recently built
at Glasgow, Scotland, for the African Steamship Company, has her mainmast,
from step to several feet above upper deck, of a strong iron tube, into which
is fitted the usual wooden mast. By this means, should the mast break, or
be cut away, a new one can easily be fitted in without disturbing the cargo.
This vessel has also her keel built on a plan patented some time ago, having,
instead of a solid forged bar, several plates securely riveted together, thereby
giving a great increase of strength at less cost.

Supporting Ships’ Topmasts.—Ordinarily, the lower end of a ship’s topmast
is supported on what is known, in nautical parlance, as a “‘fid.” This consists
of a square bar of*iron, which passes through the heel of the topmast, at
right angles to the latter. The “fid” rests on the “trestle-trees,” which are
two stout horizontally projecting pieces, secured near the top of the lower
mast. In all vessels there is more or less tendency in the “trestle-trees” to
sag down out of a horizontal position, for upon them falls the entire weight
of the topmasts, with all their spars, sails, and rigging. It is no easy matter
to restore the topmasts to their proper position when once the “ trestle-trees”
have given way. Thomas Batty, of Brooklyn, N. Y., by a method recently
patented, supports the topmast by providing two iron straps, which extend
on an angle, from the cap of a lower mast to the ends of a bolt that passes
through the heel of the topmast and answers as a “fid.” The heel is also
furnished with a strong iron thimble. Both straps are made in two pieces,
united at their centers by nut and screw; whenever it becomes necessary to
raise the heel of the topmast, it may be done in a moment by screwing up
the straps.—Scientific American.

STORM-ANCHOR,

!

Mr. R. D. Guinon, of Brooklyn, N. Y., has patented a very simple and ob-
vious improyement on, or rather attachment to, the common ship’s anchor,
designed to give it a better holding power in a muddy or quicksand bottom.
The chief characteristic of an anchor, like that of the miser’s soul, is its ten-

acious hold on “things of earth,” and, singularly enough, its steadfast charac-
ae

34 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ter in this respect has made it, since the days of St. Paul, an emblem of the
Christian’s hope. It is from its form, weight, and area alone that it derives
this character—the “‘mud-hook” being one of those devices which can not well
be attended to and guided by hand when at work in its briny bed. The or-
dinary form has been found, by both theory and experiment, best adapted to
penetrate and hold in every variety of bottom. The flukes are armed with
broad, thin palms, but these can not with safety be extended beyond a certain
degree, from the increased liability to damage in case of being jammed and
twisted among rocks. In short, the present anchor is a compromise be-
tween the forms best adapted to a rocky or tough clayey bottom and that
best formed to hold in a loose and treacherous earth. Mr. De Guinon’s inven-
tion makes the anchor adjustable by adapting it to receive two very broad
shovel-like plates of thin wrought-iron, with convenient fastenings so that
they may be attached or disconnected at pleasure, forming, when in place, an
immense scraper, somewhat resembling an expanded umbrella. The attach-
ments are held in place by the aid of a collar on the shank, a strap passing
round the point of the fluke, and by several bolts which pass through pro-
jecting ears on their joining edges. The place of these bolts might probably
be better supplied by a clip-ring as making a far stronger connection, but this
is all a matter of unimportant detail. For an anchor weighing 1,000 pounds
the attachments are to be } inch thick at the center, 4 inch thick at the ex-
terior edges, and weigh, with their fastenings, 400 pounds. Several braces,
extending from suitable points in their surfaces to a point near the head of
the shank, contribute very much to strengthen the structure, and an addi-
tional rope or chain is attached to an eye at the crown in order to invert and
dislodge it, or discharge any material which it may bring up from the bottom,
—WN. Y. Tribune.

EXPERIMENTS WITH THE BLADES OF PADDLE-WHEELS.

A valuable paper on the above subject has recently been published in the
Journal of the Franklin Institute, by B. F. Isherwood, Chief Engineer, U. 8. N.
The proper number of paddies for a wheel has been a matter of some dispute,
and the question has been discussed by Mr. Ewbank, in an essay on propel-
lers. Those who assume the position that too many paddles are generally
employed, base their opinions on the assumption that “ every blade, according
to its thickness, forms part of a solid rim, and detracts from the propelling
efficiency of the wheel,” hence they insist that the number of paddles gener-
ally used on paddle-wheels should be reduced. The paper referred to throws
light on this very point, and seems to settle the question. The experiments
to test the question were made on the U. 8. steam frigate Mississippi, during
her cruise in the Mediterranean, in the years 1849, 1850, and 1851, under the
direction of the Chief Engineer, Jesse EK. Gray. The frigate had occasion to
make a considerable number of short trips between Spezzia and Leghorn, a
distance of 374 geographical miles. These passages were made in fine
weather—light breezes and a smooth sea—and the dip of the paddles was
about equal in all cases. Eight passages were made with the usual number

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 85

of paddles—21—on each wheel, and the number of revolutions taken with a
counter. Every other paddle on each wheel was then removed, reducing the
number to 11 (leaving two for the odd number), in their former position, and
one voyage was made with the wheels in this state, and the number of revo-
lutions was also counted. This last performance was not repeated, for the
concussion of the paddles on their entrance into the water was so great as to
cause an excessive vibration and shaking in every part of the vessel, the
paddles struck the water, as if acting upon a solid instead of a fluid substance.
“This was the more remarkable, as with 21 paddles in each wheel not the
slightest vibration of the hull had ever been experienced from the action of
the machinery, the Mississippi being noted for solidity and steadiness.” When
21 paddles were again restored to the wheels the vibrations and shakings of
the hull of the frigate ceased, and all was smooth, steady, and pleasant as
before. With the 11 paddles the frigate’s wheels made 3536 revolutions in
the 374 miles, while with the 21 paddles she only made 3011, that being the
mean of eight passages. The amount of slip with the 11 paddles was 25°74
per cent.; with the 21 paddles 12°79 per cent. The slip, therefore, of the
lesser number of paddles was twice as much as the greater number. The
paddles at the periphery of the wheel—when 21 were used—were 4°338 feet
apart; with the eleven 8°676 feet apart. This relationship of the paddles,
and the different results produced by them are scientific data of very great
importance.

WOOD-LINED BEARINGS FOR SHAFTS.

Messrs. John Penn & Sons, of England, have recently, with much success,
applied a novel kind of lining to the stern-bearings of the shafts of screw-
propellers. The journal is covered with a thin belt of brass, which forms the
rubbing surface of the shaft. The fixed rubbing surfaces of the bearing are
composed of strips or segments of lignwm vite, or other hard wood. These
segments of wood are fitted into dove-iail grooves in the casing, and small
spaces are left between each strip to allow the water to enter and keep the
rubbing surfaces cool. The segments may be made to key up when worn, by
being fitted into wedge-shaped grooves. This kind of bearing seems pecu-
liarly adapted for the situation in which the exigences of the screw-propeller
have caused it to be applied.

ON THE STRENGTH OF BOILERS.

Mr. Fairbairn, in a recent lecture before the Manchester (England) Me-
chanics’ Institute, made the following statements respecting the strength of
steam-boilers. According to Mr. F., the cylindrical or spherical boiler was
the most eligible and strongest form in which iron plates could resist internal
pressure. The deduction for loss of strength, on account of riveted joints and
the position of the plates, was about 30 per cent. for the double riveted joiats,
and 44 per cent. for the single ones; the strengths (calling the plates 100)
being in the ratio of 100, 70, and 56. We had found that 34,000 lbs. to the

36 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

square inch was: the ultimate strength of boilers having their joints crossed
and soundly riveted. Flat surfaces, frequently essential, were not so objec-
tionable with respect to strength as they eppeared to be at first sight, but
when properly stayed, were the strongest part of the construction. This was
proved by the result of experiments made on the occasion of a recent bursting
of a boiler. Two thin boxes, 22 inches square and 3 inches deep, were con-
structed. One corresponded in every respect to the sides of the fire-box of
the exploded boiler, the stays being in squares, 5 inches asunder, and the
side containing 16 squares of 25 inches area; the other contained 25 squares
of 16 inches area, the stays being 4 inches asunder. One side of both hoxes
was a copper plate 4 inch thick, and the other side of both an iron plate th
inch thick. To these the same valve, lever, and weight were attached, and
the pumps of a hydraulic press applied. That, divided into squares of 25
inches area, swelled *03-inch with the eighth experiment, at a pressure of 455
Ibs. to the square inch. At the 19th experiment, with a pressure of 785 lbs.
to the square inch, the sides swelled ‘08-inch; and, at a pressure of 815 Ibs.,
the box burst by the drawing of the head of one of the stays through the
copper, which, from its ductility, offered less resistance to pressure in that
part where the stay was inserted. The tenth experiment with the other box
of 16 inch areas resulted in a swelling of ‘04-inch, the pressure being 515 lbs,
to the square inch. At 965 lbs., the swelling was :08-inch; and from that
period up to 1,265 lbs., the bulging was inappreciable. With the forty-seventh
experiment, at a pressure of 1,625 lbs., one of the stays was drawn through
the iron plate, after sustaining the pressure of upward of 14 minutes, the
Swelling at 1,595 lbs. having been ‘34-inch. The first series of experiments
proved the superior strength of the flat surfaces of a locomotive fire-box, as
compared with the top or even the cylindrical part of the boiler. The latter
evinced an enormous resisting power, much greater than could be attained in
any other part of the boiler, however good the construction ; and they showed
that the weakest part of the box was not in the copper, but the iron plates,
which gave way by slipping or tearing asunder the threads or screws in part
of the iron plate. According to the mathematical theory, the strength of the
second plate would have been 1,273 lbs.; but it sustained 1,625 lbs., showing
an excess of one fourth above that indicated by the law, and that strength
decreased in a higher ratio than the increase of space between the stays.
The experiments show a close analogy as respects the strength of the stays
when screwed into the plates, whether of copper or iron; and riveting added
nearly 14 per cent. to the strength which the simple screw afforded. These
experiments were conducted at a temperature not exceeding 50° Fahrenheit.
Mr. F.’s experiments on the effects of temperature on cast-iron did not indicate
much loss of strength up to 600° Fahrenheit; and he concluded that the re-
sisting stays and plates of locomotive boilers were not seriously affected by
the increased temperature to which they were subjected in the regular course
of working.—London Prac. Mechanics’ Jour., April, 1855.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. oz

STEAM APPLIED TO MUSIC.

A Yankee genius has recently succeeded in harnessing steam to a musical
instrument. His name is Joshua C. Stoddard, of Worcester, Mass., and the
following description will give some idea of the invention :—The instrument
consists of a horizontal steam-chest or cylinder, some six feet in length, and
from four to six feet in diameter, which is fed with steam from the large boiler
in the establishment where it is located. Upon the top of this cylinder is a
series of valve-chambers, placed at equal distances from each other, into which
the steam is admitted without obstructien. Each valve-chamber contains a
double metallic valve, with no packing, yet it fits so closely upon its seat as
to admit no steam to escape. To each of these valves is connected a very
small piston-rod or stem, which passes through the chamber, and is operated
upon by machinery without. Were it not for this stem, the valve would be
simply a double balance-valve, and would remain stationary wherever placed,
the pressure of steam being equal on all sides: but a part of one end of the
valve being carried outside of the chamber, gives it the self-closing power,
which is the nicest part of the whole invention, and perhaps the best patent-
able feature. With a slight pressure against these rods, the valve is opened;
and when the pressure is removed, it closes as quick as steam can act, which
is not much behind electricity. Directly over each of these valves is placed a
common alarm whistie, constructed similar to those used upon locomotives,
except that it admits of being raised or lowered, to flatten or sharpen the
tone. These whistles are made of different sizes, so as to produce the de-
sired tone corresponding with each note, etc. This completes the machine,
with the exception of a cylinder similar to those used in a common hand-organ
or music-box, containing cogs which, when properly arranged, will, when
turned by hand, or otherwise, operate upon the valves in such a manner as to
play any tune desired by simply changing the position of the cogs, which are
intended to be movable. One of these instruments can be heard from ten to
twenty-five miles on the water, and every note will be perfect and full. This
invention is so completely under the control of the operator, that, were it ar-
ranged with a key-board similar to a piano, it would obey the slightest touch,
and a child could play slow or quick tunes, every note of which might be
heard several miles. It is the design of the inventor to place these instru-
ments upen locomotives and steam-boats. It would appear rather novel to
John Bull to hear “Yankee Doodle” from one of our ocean-steamers as she
was about to enter a British port (say twenty miles), and it would remind a
Yankee of his jack-knife to hear “Sweet Home” from the same vessel on its
return to New York or Boston.

Remarking upon this invention, the London Atheneum says—“It seemed
difficult to add another aggravation to the pains and penalties of a voyage ;—
yet here it is done, supposing Mr. Joshua C. Stoddart to prove a real person.
Fancy an organ. made up of steam whistles, having a twenty-mile screech—
for the delectation of worn and languid folk, after some days of rough weather,

38 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

yearning for nothing so much as a cessation of the tossing, jarring, heaving
motion ;—and as the silence of

A sleep, for sleep itself to rest in;

—We have rarely heard of a discovery so richly calculated to excruciate all
who come within its sphere.

CHAMPION’S IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM BOILERS AND FURNACES.

A patent has been recently issued to Thomas Champion of Washington,
D. C., for an improved mode of feeding and keeping up continuous rapid cir-
culation in steam-boilers, by means of a “sprinkler,” and for a patent furnace
and direct action exhaust steam-blower, which saves all the room, expense,
and friction of a mechanical blower, and all the heat of the exhaust steam and
fuel after the engine is in motion.

The invention consists in the arrangement of a tube, connecting with the
feed-pump or supply-pipe, passing through the fire-box, around which it is
coiled, thence onward passing into the water-space and up above the fire-box
or flues, where it enters or becomes a sprinkler, which extends through the
length of the boilers, above the furnace, or tubes, or flues. This sprinkler is
pierced with a series of small apertures at the proper angles to sprinkle any
part or the whole of the surface where the fire is acting on the opposite sides
of the metal when bare of water. This tube, near its point of union with the
supply-pipe, communicates with another pipe which intersects with the boiler
at or near the bottom, or with a log or water-space. It is also furnished near
its point of junction with the boiler-pipe with a valve hinged above the junc-
tion. While the pump is feeding, or the supply passing into the boiler, this
valve will raise with the pressure under it, closing the boiler-pipe, and the
feed-water will pass on through the coils, grate, tube, and sprinkler, entering
the boiler intensely heated; but should the pump fail to supply, the steam
and hydrostatic pressure in the boiler and the first pipe, will then open the
valve and admit the water from the boiler into the first pipe, and the intense
heat to which its coils are subjected in passing through the furnace, cause the
hot water and vapors to pass upward with continuous rapidity through the
sprinkler, jetting and spraying the plates, whether the pump is feeding or
not, so long as any water remains in the boilers: thus all the water may be
evaporated, the steam exhausted, and the engine stopped, yet no explosion
takes place, nor even the boiler be injured, provided the fire be extinguished as
soon as the engine shows signs of stopping. With one third the usual quan-
tity of water in the boilers, and the continuous showering of the plates, ren-
ders the evaporation three times more effective, and the mode of feeding cold
water round through the coils in contact or nearly so with the fire-box plates,
admirably prevents their destruction, and saves much heat and loss in replac-
ing burned grate bars.

For single or double flue cylinder boilers is also placed a drying-pipe in the
rear end of the fire-space, into which the exhaust steam from the engine is
conveyed; the drying-pipe has exit pipes conveying the exhaust steam into

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 39

the center of each flue of the boiler, to force the return of the unconsumed
heat, smoke, and gas, from underneath the boilers through the flues and down
the passage by the direct action of the exhaust steam, which exhaust com-
mingles with the products of combustion, becoming part and parcel, thereof,
aiding in the intensity of heat, round and round the continuous current, which
receives small supplies of fresh air in jets from a pipe arranged for this pur-
pose between each puff of the exhaust, which gives life to the fire, with a
closed chimney, furnace, and ash-pit. An additional pipe is fitted to one end
or middle of the drying-pipe, with a valve in it for the escape of a small por-
tion of the exhaust steam into the atmosphere, should it exert too much force
on the fire when running at the greatest speed. Conduits are provided, lead-
ing the products of combustion from the flues up the stack while a damper is
open and the fire is kindling and steam is raising, but when steam is up, the
damper and ash-pit closed, and the engine running, then the exhaust forces
all down the stack beneath the grate, and up through the fire round and
round, saying and burning all the heat, smoke, gas, and exhaust steam. And
the size of new boilers to which these improvements are to be attached, may
be reduced, at least one third, as the whole boiler may be enveloped in the
farnace, except a small dome or drum to take dry steam from. The addi-
tional expense for attaching these improvements to boilers and furnaces now
in use will not exceed, in general, five dollars to the horse power, and in the
construction of new engines and boilers, the cost will actually be less than
the ordinary boilers and furnaces now in use.

Ericsson's Hot-Air Engine.—During the past year reports have been from
time to time circulated that the caloric engine, devised by Mr. Ericsson, had
proved a complete failure, and that the principle on which it was constructed
had been finally abandoned by Captain Ericsson, who had substituted steam
engines in the ship with which his experiments were made. These reports
awakened profound regret, not only in the minds of those who were aware
from personal knowledge of the great abilities, unwearied labor, and large
sums of money which had been devoted to this experiment, but also on the
part of the public, which had become deeply interested in its success. Nor
was it easy to understand, in the face of results known because seen to- have
been attained, how the principle of the caloric engine could have proved a
failure: for in the trip of the Ericsson to Washington a propelling power was
certainly obtained at less expense for fuel, and with a greater saving of room,
than had ever before been achieved.

From the following letter, communicated to the New York Times by Captain
Ericsson, it will be seen that he has not abandoned the caloric engine—that
while mechanical difficulties have prevented the satisfactory application of the
principle, his faith in the principle itself remains unshaken, and that he is still
engaged, with unwearied assiduity and with unflinching courage, in the pros-
ecution of experiments for its perfection. He says: ‘The assertions of my
opponents that the caloric engine has failed and been abandoned, and that a
‘new steam engine’ has been put into the Ericsson, are all wholly unfounded.
Every trial made has proved the soundness of the principle of the caloric en-
gine, an extraordinary saving of fuel being in every instance well established.

40 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.
I have deemed it prudent, however, not to publish certain facts conclusive as
to ultimate success, because it would have encouraged many to help me to
‘improve,’ and deprive me, if possible, of the fruits of much labor and expense.
The first engine of the caloric ship was removed, notwithstanding its economy,
because it proved too cumbrous for the amount of available power. it exerted—
in other words, because the differential force of the working and supply
piston did not prove in practice to realize what calculation promised—losses
by leaks, friction, etc., being much greater than reasoning could anticipate.
The second engine was applied to remedy this deficiency of power, by em-
ploying compressed air—but it was found that the joints of the pipes of the
heaters could not be made sufficiently tight to carry more than one third of
the intended requisite pressure. Accordingly, this modified engine proved
inadequate to give a speed of more than seven miles an hour to the ship.
Apart from the imperfections connected with the leaks alluded to, the machine
worked to the admiration of all who witnessed its operations. But although
air thus escaped through the joints, steam, it was found, could easily be re-
tained in the heater pipes, and was, therefore, employed in a surcharged state,
in place of air. It was under the agency of surcharged or overheated steam
that the machinery operated on the day of the sad accident of sinking the
ship. The sudden immersion and cooling of the furnace pipes, ete., unfortu-
nately destroyed a vital part of the contrivance, and after fruitless attempts to
repair and patch, no alternative was left but to apply ordinary boilers. The
engines, however, are now without alteration; the same as when compressed

air was employed. The statement that ‘new steam engines,’ planned and ©

constructed for the purpose, have been put into the ship, is pure fiction. I
promised the owners of the ship, on proposing to remove the original caloric
engine, to build the second one in such a manner that if we failed in using
air, steam might be resorted to by replacing the air heaters by steam boilers.
“The stories relative to the ‘burning of the bottoms’ of the original caloric
engine I have deemed it unnecessary to notice, as many practical means, ob-
viously, might have been adopted to overcome the difficulty. Numerous have
been the suggestions I have received from correspondents in various countries,
all proving that I am not alone in thinking that the ‘incurable burning of
the bottoms’ was, after all, no serious matter. The positive assertion, that I
have altogether abandoned the caloric engine, is a base calumny. The sub-
ject has been by me unceasingly prosecuted. Experiment has succeeded
experiment, and continued exertions have been made to devise and perfect
the useful mechanical expedients for rendering the incontrovertible physical
laws involved in the principle of this machine subservient in producing a
cheap and harmless motor. How far I have succeeded in the final practical

solution of the great problem will soon become known, as I am now engaged °

in building a test engine of considerable magnitude.

“Tet me add that should some unexpected difficulty prevent a full realization
of the capabilities of the new system, when the said test-engine shall be put
in operation, such an event will by no means stop the prosecution of the mat-
ter; nor will any mechanical difficulty whatever cause the writer ever to
abandon a plan so eminently based on physical truth, and fraught with such

> .

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 41

vast beneficial results when perfected. It is much to be regretted that so
important a matter should be in any manner retarded by the obtrusive inter-
ference of persons who do not possess knowledge enough to understand that
our present motor, the steam-engine, working as it does within very limited
range of temperature, and constantly wasting the caloric, never can be made
an economical medium of transferring the force of caloric for motive purposes.
Happily, while those who only pretend to science thus assail the good cause,
the highest authorities support it. Regnault—the greatest living authority
in relation to caloric—in a memoir to the French Academy, after discussing
the relations of force produced, and range of temperature, says: ‘But, as in
- the Ericsson system, the heat which the air gives out is given up to bodies,
from which the entering air takes it again and brings it back to the machine,
we see that, theoretically, all the heat expended is utilized for mechanical work,
while in the best steam-engine the heat utilized in mechanical work is not the
one-twentieth part of the heat expended.’ Endorsed by such authority, and
fortified by such opinions, the writer disregards assailants, and will continue
to labor at the perfection of the caloric engine until the end is achieved.”

Since the abandonment of the original features of the Ericsson Steamer, the
vessel has been used with ordinary engines, still retaining the improved
boilers and condensers introduced by Mr. Ericsson. With these improve-
ments some very extraordinary results have been attained to. The results
of experiments made under the direction of Mr. Charles H. Haswell, showed
. that 9.96 pounds of water were evaporated with the consumption of each
pound of anthracite coal consumed, “and notwithstanding this unprecedented
attainment in a marine engine, it could have been very materially increased
with better firing of the furnaces.”

By the use of Ericsson’s improved condensers, a larger amount of fresh
water for re-cooperation was obtained, under the same circumstances, than
with any former condensing apparatus.

IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM-ENGINES AND BOILERS.

Storms’s Cloud-Engine—Mr. W. M. Storms, of New York, professes to have
made new discoveries or applications of natural laws, which are to result in
increasing the efficiency of a given amount of fuel in the steam-engine. The
company formed to carry out and apply the intentions of Mr. Storms, have
subjected the theory to the test of several expensive experiments, and one
engine of respectable size, constructed on this plan, has been for some months
in actual daily use, driving the fans and other machinery of a small foundery
and machine-shop. The plan consists in mixing cold air with ordinary steam.
It is assumed that in addition to the familiar forms of ice, water, and steam,
the aqueous element is capable of existing in a state of vesicular vapor, or
opaque steam, a form more familiar to the eye than the transparent steam,
but never before suspected of possessing any mechanical power above or even
equal to that of the latter.

If a glass bull’s-eye be introduced in the top or side of an ordinary steam-
boiler, the steam within is found to be perfectly transparent and invisible.

42, ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

But on turning a cock the escaping steam is found to be white and cloud-like.
This is due to the cooling effect of the air, which mixes with and apparently con-
denses it. Mr. Storms’s experiments lead him to the conclusion that the volume
of the whole is increased by the combination, and this to a very considerable de-
gree, as high, under favorable circumstances, as 75 per cent., and consequently
affording a corresponding increase of efficiency in an engine. If common air be
compressed and introduced at an ordinary temperature into a vessel contain-
ing steam at the same pressure, the following effects may be anticipated: On
the one hand, a portion of the steam will be condensed and changed to water,
which will diminish the pressure; but on the other hand, the air will be
heated and expanded; and these two effects may be supposed very nearly, if
not exactly, to balance each other. But the experiments alluded to indicate
a very decided increase of volume, provided there is a sufficient difference of
temperature. If pure transparent steam be mingled with air previously
heated to the same degree, none of this expansion is experienced, and it be-
comes a question how to compress air in a pump and convey it in a cold state
into a heated cylinder.

Mr. Storms avoids the solution of this difficult problem by allowing the air
to mix thoroughly with the steam at any temperature it may chance to have,
cooling it afterward by expansion. In other words, he mixes hot or warm
air with the steam in the steam-chest, and does not expect the mixture to as-
sume the cloud form until it commences to expand in the cylinder. The act
of expanding cools both steam and air, but in very different proportions. .
Pure steam, of a high pressure (say 60 pounds), has a temperature of about
310° F., and if cut off at half-stroke, so as to double its volume by expansion,
cools down to only about 270, while air at the same temperature, if expanded
to the same extent, cools down to about the freezing point. Thus the com-
bined fluids may readily be compelled, by expansion, to assume the form of
cloud or vesicular vapor, if the presence of air at a different temperature be
the only condition necessary. To accomplish this object in an ordinary hori-
zontal engine, Mr. Storms has, in the instance above referred to, placed a
double-acting air-pump near the cylinder, and allows it to discharge into the
steam-chest, just above the valve. As the first portion of the stroke of the
pump is spent in simply compressing its contents, it is so timed that it will
begin to deliver with the commencement of the stroke of the piston. The
pump is enveloped in a jacket of cold water to keep it cool, and the air prob-
ably enters the steam-chest at a temperature of from 180° to 250°

A series of experiments have been lately tried at the Novelty Works ona
tolerably large scale. The engine was run first with steam alone, and then
with the cloud combination, the resistance being constant in all cases. The
revolutions produced per Jb. of coal were as follows: steam 107, cloud 190;
showing a great advantage by the use of the cloud vapor.

Mackenzie's Cut-of/—A. device for regulating the motion of steam en-
gines without the aid of a Governor, has been invented and patented by Mr.
P. W. Mackenzie, of Jersey City, N. J. The arrangement is described by the
New York Zribune as follows: The valve is designed to close the steam-pipe at
or near its entrance to the steam-chest. It is capable of “cutting off” at any

,

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 43

point varying from nothing to about half-stroke. The valve is lifted by the
machinery in proper time to commence the stroke, and is held suspended by
a coiled spring until the rush of steam is sufficient of itself to shut it. It is
easy to see, from the nature of the crank motion, that the piston, at the com-
mencement of the stroke, moves very slowly, and as the crank in its onward
motion successively assumes positions in which the piston moves faster, the
rush of steam through the opening is proportionally increased. The valve
may be described as a thin ring, which, by the aid of a circular fixture held
within it a little above its seat, completely stops the passage when down, but
allows the steam to flow under its lower edge whenever it is lifted. At
whatever point in the stroke the motion of the piston becomes sufficiently
rapid to produce a strong rush, or a slight “wiredrawing” of the steam in its
passage through the orifice at that point, the action upon the upper edge of
this ring will overcome the resistance of the spring, and the valve will be
“sucked” down and closed tight. In practice the valve consists of two rings,
one placed concentrically within the other; a fixed ring is fitted between
them (supported by suitable projections from the seat below), and the opening
for the passage of steam is consequently an annular rather than a circular one.
Several devices are connected with this to render its action more perfect and
quiet, one of which is a piston attached to the valve-stem, which piston works
- loosely in a small cylinder above, to prevent it from rising too rapidly or too
far. We describe this as a late invention and a decided novelty, although there
appears to exist an inherent and radical defect which prevents its regulating
perfectly, although it may possibly work as nearly so, as the governor balls
ordinarily do. The fault is that as the rush of steam is always proportional
to the motion of the piston, the valve always shuts when the piston has
attained a certain velocity; when, therefore, by reason of diminished work or
an increase of boiler pressure, the valve is dropped at an earlier point in the
stroke, it is proved that the piston must have acquired a high velocity too
early in the stroke, and that consequently its mean velocity must be very
considerably increased, and the engine makes more revolutions in a given
time. It is an evil of the same kind as attends the workifig of a conical pen-
dulum or ordinary governor, but the economy of regulating by the “cut-off”
rather than by a throttle-valve is sufficiently great to invite attention to this
method, which is also much recommended by its simplicity and cheapness.
Ciark’s Patent Boiler Feeder and Indicator.—This invention consists of a
short horizontal metallic tube of say 3 feet in length and 2 inches in diameter,
suitably attached to the outside of the boiler, or to a wall near by. The
height at which the tube is placed should be the same as that at which it is
desired to maintain the water-level in the boiler. One end of the tube com-
municates with the upper or steam part of the boiler, the other end with the
water part; when the water in the boiler is at the’ proper level the tube will
be one half filled with water and one half with steam. A small cold water
pipe passes lengthwise through the tube; one end of this water pipe is
plugged tight, the other end is furnished with a metallic cup covered with
rubber, forming a diaphragm. On this diaphragm rests a plunger rod
attached to a lever, the latter connected with the pump throtile. When the

44 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

water in the boiler falls below the level of the tube, the latter will become
wholly filled with steam and heat up the water pipe, forming steam in it also;
the pressure thus produced in the water pipe will extend the diaphragm, raise
the throttle lever and permit the pump to inject water into the boiler; when
the water level is restored the tube again fills, in part with water, the sina
ure on the diaphragm ceases, and the pump throttle shuts.

Improvement in Governors for Steam Engines.—Ball governors are the kind
now almost exclusively used on all stationary steam engines; they are not
adapted to marine purposes, because they always require to stand plumb. In
all eases they are comparatively sluggish in their operations; where the
driver is required to run fast the old-fashioned governor must be geared to a
slow speed, for if it goes beyond a certain velocity it will not operate. And
when thus geared, the machinery at times almost has a chance to run away
before the governor affects the throttle valve. An ingenious improvement to
obviate these difficulties has recently been made by Messrs. J. & E. Arthur,
of New Brunswick, N. J. Instead of swinging arms and balls, they use
slender elastic springs or ribs, which, when applied to the governor spindle,
look—to use a homely comparison—like the frame of an oyster-balloon
stripped of its covering. These ribs are attached at one of their ends toa
collar fixed fast on the spindle. The other ends terminate on a sliding collar
which connects with the throttle. When rapid motion is communicated to
the spindle the elasticity of the ribs is overcome by centrifugal force, and they
bulge out in the center; in other words, their poles flatten, just as the earth
does in revolving; the result is that the movable collar slides up or down on
the spindle, in conformity with any variation in the speed, and operates the
throttle in accordance. It will be evident to any mechanic that this governor
will be more sensitive than the ordinary kind, since it may be geared to run
at a higher speed than the engine, and thus caused to move the throttle, in
ease the velocity changes, before the machinery could make even a quarter of
a revolution. As a marine governor this improvement seems to be also well
suited, since the position in which it is placed, makes no difference with its
operation. It is much cheaper in its construction than the ordinary govern-
ors.—Scientijic American.

Ignition Gas Engine-—At the recent fair of the American Institute a large
engine, called the “Jgnition Gas Engine,” was exhibited. The principle on
which this engine acts is that of first filling the cylinder to a certain extent
with explosive gas, next igniting the gas by an electric spark or otherwise,
and allowing the piston to travel to the end of the stroke by the impulse thus
obtained. The gas employed may be any combustible one mingled with air.
Fairbairn and others, in a report to the British parliament -on coal-mine ex-
plosions, stated that one part coal gas, with fifteen of common air, would form
a mixture it were possible to explode; but a pamphlet explanatory of this
engine informs us that one part in nine is found most economical in practice—
which is probably the case. The vapor of spirits of turpentine, or its relatives,
naphtha, camphene, etc., may be used as well as coal gas for this purpose:
and a very ingenious, or rather a complex arrangement of pieces, is provided
for attaching the igniter. It appears that hardened cast-iron is thought to be

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 45

the most durable material for an igniter, and that a continual circulation of
water through the piston-rod and around the cylinder is considered the best
method of disposing of the surplus heat, which would otherwise destroy first
the lubricating material, and next the metal itself.

Pendulous Reciprocating Steam Engine—A novel and cheap engine has
recently been invented with the above title. It is an “eccentric revolving on
its own diameter” in a “cylinder,” or steam-chamber, suspended as a pendu-
Jum, the shaft on which the eccentric piston is keyed being the main or driy-
ing shaft, and makes upward of 100 revolutions per minute in a 30-horse
engine. The principle of this is similar to the ordinary engine, but it works
with much less friction; a 30-horse high-pressure will work with one pound
of steam. “An eccentric revolving on its own diameter” contains the two
motions of the ordinary engine, viz., rectilinear and revolving, though so
amalgamated as to be hardly distinguishable. This engine, from the small
space it occupies, and the speed that can be obtained direct, is especially
adapted for screw propulsion.

Pattison’s Improved Oscillating Engine-—The principle peculiarity of this
engine is, that it does not, as in ordinary oscillators, admit steam at the trun-
nions, but takes it in through an arched pipe surmounting and secured to the
cylinder. As the cylinder oscillates on its trunnions, it simultaneously brings
the induction and exhaust ports into communication with the steam ports in
the wings or flanges of the saddle which fits over the arched steam-pipe.
By thus receiving the steam, friction is saved, the motion is left freer, and
there is also, of course, a diminution of wear and tear. Its arrangements,
also, render it more promptly reversible than any other engine which we have
yet seen. The same lever and eccentric rod, by which the motion is reversed
affects the cut-off valve. The cut-off valve, besides serving to stop, to reverse,
and to cut off the steam, answers the purpose of an exhaust pipe as well.
The cylinder lies in a horizontal position; and the saddle, which fits over the
arched pipe to which we have referred, is so constructed as to rest on adjust-
able screws, allowing the saddle to accommodate itself to the motion of the
cylinder, etc., etc. The engine is alike adaptable and equally efficient for
locomotive, standing, or marine purposes.

Improved Locomotive Boiler—A new form of boiler has recently been tried
in its application to locomotives, in England, with great economy in fuel, and
time—it is said—in getting up steam. The improvement consists in piercing
the sides and top of the fire-box, and the crown plate of the boiler flue,
with a number of holes about three inches diameter, into each of which, pro-
jecting into the water space, is riveted a malleable cast-iron cup, from four to
six inches deep, those on the sides being cylindrical, while those on the crown
plate are spherical. These cups are, of course, covered in every direction by
the water in the boiler, and thé inside being exposed to the heat of the fire
and concentrating the temperature, present so much additional heating sur-
face, that the boiler is enabled to get up steam in a vast deal less time, with a
diminished quantity of fuel.

At the Boston locomotive works, a twenty-two ton passenger locomotive
has been recently constructed on an entirely novel principle. For the gener-

46 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ation of steam in the engine, coils of pipes are placed one upon the top of the
other, which contain the water, and upon which pipes the fire is directly
brought. It is intended to burn coal, and it is thought steam can be made in
ten or twelve minutes from the time of kindling the fire. Another novelty is
that the engineer is placed ahead of the smoke pipe. The fireman is to be
placed behind the boiler.

IMPROVEMENTS IN BLAST PIPES.

Mr. H. Booth, of the Liverpool and Manchester railway, was probably the
first who utilized the impetus of the steam escaping from the cyJinders by al-
lowing it to increase the draft of the fire. A locomotive must have great
power with a moderate weight, and the boiler being small, the fire must burn
very fiercely or the engine will be short of steam. By turning the exhaust
steam into the chimney, and pointing it upward, every jet of vapor expelled
impels the sluggish smoke more rapidly upward, and draws a fresh supply of
air through the burning fuel to supply its place.

The nozzle through which the steam escapes in this manner is termed a
blast-pipe, and in proportion as the orifice is contracted the steam escapes
with greater velocity, and produces a greater draft, but at the same time re-
tards the motion of the piston by creating a back pressure thereon. The pro-
pellers on the lakes have very large exhaust-pipes, contracted very slightly,
if at all, at their extremities in the chimneys, while the high-pressure steamers
on our western rivers ignore altogether the promoting of a draft by this meas-
ure, considering that the steam rusts and destroys the chimneys more than it
helps the fire. In locomotives, however, the blast nozzle is generally con-
tracted to an orifice of between two and three inches diameter, and the vig-
orous coughs of the smoking monsters in starting with a heavy train, when
the steam is allowed to follow at full pressure, attest the spunk with which
the imprisoned vapor escapes through its narrow gateway. A most complete
device for increasing the efficiency of the blast without materially contracting
the area of its escape has been invented by Mr. William E. Cooper at the
Dunkirk terminus of the Erie railroad. Mr. C. leads the exhaust-pipes from -
both engines between two concentric rings of sheet metal placed in the smoke-
box, and by their aid spreads out the current of steam into a tube-like form,
which acts by the friction of both its internal and external surface. By this
means a sufficient draft may possibly be obtained without contracting the
area, or by contracting it to the usual amount a much increased draft may be
obtained.— New York Tribune.

STATISTICS AND MANAGEMENT OF THE NEW YORK AND ERIE
RAILROAD. ©

We copy from the New York Tribune the following detailed account of the
statistics and management of the New York and Erie Railroad, as showing not
only the extent of American railroad enterprise, but also the wonderfully
systematic operations of one of the longest single roads, and one of the largest

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 4T

corporations in the world. This road is also doing a greater amount of bus!-
ness in freight than any other road of the same length ever constructed. “We
were especially invited,” says the Trijune, “to present this statement from
learning this fact, that the officials on this extended road are able to tell, at
every moment of every day, where every locomotive and every car was upon
the road, and whether they were in service, or in ordinary, or at the repair-
shops, or whether if moving, who was moving them, and which way, and
whether they were loaded or empty. It did seem to us a sort of knowledge
that must require a little spiritual agency, but we found it only required the
agency of rules and discipline, and perfect order of business, aided by the
telegraph. There are near 3,000 cars, and over 200 locomotives now in use
on the road. These are all regularly numbered, and by those numbers en-
tered upon a book on the left side of a page, which is headed with the dates,
one, two, three, four, etc., of all the days in amonth. Then all the stations are
numbered and known by the numbers. Now, suppose we want to find or
follow the progress of car No. 2,167, from station No. 1, which is Piermont,
through to Dunkirk, which is No. 74. Suppose the agent at Dunkirk writes
to inquire why certain freight has not been forwarded. The agent here re-
plies it has been: it was loaded, Sept. 7, at Piermont, in car No. 2,167. Then
where is that car? A glance at the book shows. Opposite No. 2,167, under
date Sept. 7, we find the figure 1. That shows that this particular car was
there that day. It must have left in the evening, because we find no other
number under that date; but on the 8th we find by the numbers entered that
it was at half a dozen other stations. We follow up the numbers till we find,
on the 9th, it was at No. 34, which stands for Susquehanna, and there stands
ear No. 2,167. What is it doing there? We refer to telegraph reports of
that day, and find that John Smith, conductor of train No. —, ‘arrived at
this station this morning, and the examiner found the axle of forward trucks
of car No. 2,167 defective and very dangerous. Switched out for repair.’

“That is all right, but why has it not been switched in again ?

“Click, click, click, goes the telegraph, and back comes the answer: ‘Car
No. 2,167 repaired same day, and Peter Stokes ordered to put it in night train
west. Reports that he understood east, and sent it that way an hour since.’
Click, click, click, again, and car No. 2,167 goes about face at the next sta-
tion, and Peter Stokes is ordered up to the superintendent’s office, and then,
on satisfactory proof that the order was correctly given and wrongfully exe-
cuted, he is discharged. So every car can be closely tracked, and every act
of carelessntss ascertained and corrected on the instant. Every car is not
separately reported at each station, but every train is; and in another book
there is a record of every train started, with every car and contents in the
train; and what locomotive, and who is the conduetor and engineer; and
how much each car weighs, and how much weight it is loaded with; and
how fast it runs, and how much it costs per ton per mile to draw the load;
and if any cars are added on the road it is known when and where; and if
any are left, when, and where, and why. If any one leaves loaded cars where
he should not, he will be likely to be left off of the pay-roll, and if he don’t
take on and haul cars when ordered, he will be hauled up at the next station

48 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

and ordered to give his train in charge of another man. Disobedience of or-
ders is not tolerated on this road, and upon that depends its safety.

“But the reader, we doubt not, before proceeding further, would like to
glance at the history of this road.

“Tn 1825 the Legislature directed a survey of a State Road from Lake Erie
to the Hudson River, through the southern tier of counties, but nothing was
done but talk, until April, 1832, when the New York and Erie Railroad
Company was chartered. A survey was made, and this Company organized
in 1833. In 1834 another survey was made, and in 1835 the Company was
reorganized, with James G. King President, and over two millions of stock
subscribed, and contracts made for the most difficult part along the Delaware
river. In making surveys it was ascertained that the road could not be built
without crossing the Pennsylvania line, except at an expense beyond the
means of the Company. Notwithstanding the very great benefit it would be
to that part of the State touched by the road, Pennsylvania refused the appli-
cation, except upon condition that the Company should pay the State the
enormous rent of $10,000 a year for the privilege of crossing her line and
cutting through some rocky mountains. Necessity compelled the Company to
submit to these conditions, almost as hard as the rocks they had to cut
through where they traverse that State along the jagged points of rocks that
jut into the Delaware river. Almost equally hard was the restriction placed
upon the Company by the Legislature of New York, by which they were con-
fined to the State at the eastern terminus of the road, instead of passing into
New Jersey and reaching this city by the shortest route, cheapest grade, and
altogether most natural way, and, as has subsequently been proved, the only
way in which the Company could hope to maintain a chance for a proper share
in the passenger business. After much trouble it was finally located from
Piermont, 24 miles above the city, to Dunkirk, 40 miles west of Buffalo.

“The first iron was purchased in 1840, but in 1842 the Company were so
embarrassed that they could not go on, and for three years the prospect of
completing the road was very dark. In 1845 only 53 miles had been com-
pleted, but on the 14th of May, 1851, there was a continuous line of rails
from Piermont to Dunkirk. The length of rails between these two points is
445 miles, and upon 166 miles of the distance there is a double track—that is
from Piermont to Clarkstown, 9 miles; from Suffern to Port Jervis, 56 miles;
from Deposit to the junction of Canandaigua and Elmira Rail-road, one mile
west of Elmira, 101 miles. This, including switches, turn-outs, and tracks
at stations for storage-room for empty cars, makes a distance equivalent to a
single track railway on this main line of 707 miles. In addition to this, the
Company own, by perpetual lease, the line from Jersey City to Suffern, where
it joins the main line, 18 miles from Piermont. This line is 32 miles long, of
which 16 miles are double track. The Company also own a branch to New-
burg, 18 miles long. ‘There are also several other roads, though owned by
other companies, that are properly branches of the Erie Road, as they are in
a measure dependent upon it, as well as serving as feeders. These roads, as
well as the Lake Shore Road from Buffalo to Erie and westward, all contribute
to the business of the Erie Road, and hence its magnitude. The length of

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 49

all the tracks of main road and branches owned by the Company, not includ-
ing those of other companies, would make a single track road 755 miles long.
It is not easy to state the cost of the road track separate from the rolling
stock and other property of the road, but there are single miles that cost to
grade and get ready for the iron no less than $170,000 per mile; and there is
one bridge, that over the Starucca Creek, near the village of Susquehanna,
which is built upon 17 stone arches, the highest of which is 100 feet, and the
entire length of the bridge is 1,600 feet, and the cost $320,000. In the
Same vicinity there is another bridge across a mountain gorge,-only 276
feet in length, but 180 feet in height. The most expensive part of the
grading for any considerable distance was that along the Delaware river
where the bed of the road is sometimes constructed upon a ledge formed by
blasting off a portion of the almost perpendicular mountain side, or cutting
away the hard rocky points that project into the river to such an extent that
it seems almost incredible to those who know the character of the country
and the extent of the obstructions, that a roadway could be formed by any
practical amount of expenditure. The distance from Jersey City to Dunkirk
is 459 miles, and this is run by the morning and evening express trains in 16
hours. Besides the express trains there is a through train carrying the mail,
leaving at 84 A. M., and stopping over night at Owego, and an emigrant train
that leaves every evening. Besides these there are accommodation trains,
way trains, milk trains, stock trains, and freight trains enough to confuse one
to think of, yet all work with regularity.

To enable our readers to form some opinion of the magnitude of railroad
operations, we have been at some pains to ascertain the number of engines
and cars on the Erie road, and have coupled them all in one train, in imagin-
ation, which we think will surprise every one in its extent. The following is
the number now in use, as near as it can be ascertained, as slight changes are
made every day. The power consists of the almost incredible number of 203
locomotives. About one third of these are employed to move passenger trains.

Hirsi ClASS PASSCNSER, CATS ccoce Siajslaiooisin's ase OS =,ale @ e'eibialelesainist= 102
Second-class passenger Cars,...........--cccesccececcccces 28
Baggage, mail, and eExpress,........cccccccceccccccsccesces 43
WSEXPAPEIONLMCAEN, aes ces See] Seectnls seisleleletetatsrorete as S Siepermtets 1,222
Platform Lroight-Cars, oo %)<ici<5iss.a0 so oats «isle op misisicinin a aieais cise 1,180
Pas SiS Ri- CATE, <> a n/s,0. 00; s10:e.n o\e/0's: b'vin ole aie a nities) einieiso/> o \sin’> = 290
SETHCES 108 MEM DCT. OLC.50.0 ac cienn.dacics «saciswiore ence cc's aelipce 100

Total number of locomotives and cars of all kinds,... .3,168

“Tf these were coupled together in one train, it would reach a distance of
21 miles, and would be able to seat 7,800 passengers, and also to carry a load
of freight that may be imagined to contain the following articles, ifthe cars
were all loaded equally :—

PIS ANOME an. 28a n Soe Skins wo dence ddaaeejncap © aaere stad 33,488
PR SNOIS OF WROD Ia ae ta 2risrtie sis cie a0 «a 0100) om oe oe okeewonege 93,186
Masieels Gf O98 BAS Catto sc eec cae paneer eacauwecsce 129,785
Po TEE di | Siaeare Bees 90 all pea ae cena Arai bee h ane 558,000

Number of beef cattle (averaging 15 headtoacar),..... 4185
3

50 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Number of sheep (averaging 175 head to a car),.......++ 48,825
Nambertof bogs (1%) to ja iwar)ieciers . (6 Sjn)s,0:5' <forselapere afelaraiee 48,825 .
Tons of merchandise (S tons to a car),......--2 see eee 2,232
PONS iGL.COal (LO) LONS 102 GAT),..<.<\. escape sah sae este 2,790
Lumaper (20 Cwt. Der dL NL) i. 0...) evcleve satcehete aahale oie feet. 2,232,000

“Or, in case of erhergency, this road, with this power, would be able to trans-
port from Lake Erie to this city in one day 150,000 soldiers. And this is the
only one out of eight roads centering in this city that could be used for the
same purpose. Verily our railroads, in place of fortifications, are stronger
than all Sebastopol.

“The cost of the equipment of this and other roads may be calculated from
the following statement :-—

“ The cost of a first-class locomotive which weighs thirty tons, and is capable
of drawing over the whole road in sixteen hours a train of eighteen cars with
1,100 passengers, is about $12,000. The cost of a first-class freight locomo-
tive, capable of trucking 600 tons of dead weight in freight cars, is about the
same price, though it weighs some two tons heavier. The cost of the smallest
locomotives in use is $6,000 to $8,000. A first-class passenger car, with all
the modern improvements of ventilation and warming, will cost $3,000. A
second-rate car, $2,500, and a second-class passenger car, $1,800. Freight
cars will average about $600 each. The iron rails on this road, are 56 Ibs. to
74. lbs. per yard, and, at present prices, would cost $4 per yard, or $7,000 per
mile for a single track of the lightest rail.

“ But after all, the most curious part of the whole is the number of men re-
quired to keep the machinery in operation. We think we shall astonish many
persons by telling them that the Erie Rail-road Company have now upon their
pay rolls not less than FIVE THOUSAND employees of all grades, to wit: in
the various offices of president, secretary, superintendent, auditor, treasurer,
freight-avent, and in the printing-office in the building of the Company, there are
60 persons employed.

“There are 12 division superintendents and assistants in the offices at Jersey
City, Port Jervis, Owego, and Dunkirk. There are in the machine shops at
Piermont, 225; at Susquehannah, 200; at Dunkirk, 115; and 150 car re-
pairers. There are 44 passenger train conductors, and, much to their credit
and respectable appearance, all in a neat uniform. There are 80 freight con-
ductors; 450 engineers and firemen; and 400 brakemen and baggage men.
There are 90 ticket sellers and station agents, and 60 telegraph agents. There
are about 1,000 laborers and switchmen, and some 800 track repairers, aver-
aging about one and a half man to the mile, constantly engaged to keep the
road in order. The pay roll of this army is not less than $125,000 a month,
or $1,500,000 a year.

“We spoke of the printing-office. The business of this road requires a con-
stant force of four compositors, and the use of half-a-dozen presses, great and
small; one of which is constantly at work printing tickets, which are never
used but once, and are then returned to the auditor's office as checks upon
the parties who sold them. There is one large room in the building devoted
to the storage of printed blank forms, which are very numerous, in use by the

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 51

Company. These are necessary where every thing is conducted according te
nature’s first law—order.

“ Of the advantage of telegraphs on rail-roads, we have already given our
opinion; but its operation and daily use will be better understood by copying
a few of the hourly dispatches sent to the office of the General Superintend-
ent. Here is one:—

“¢TerecRapH Orrice, New York, Sept. 28, 1855—1: 14 p.m.

“‘To D. C. McCattum, General Superintendent—Sim: The following are the latest re-
. ports of trains received at this office: Mail west—New York express at Canisteo, on time;
Rochester accommodation at Oswego, 10’ late; night express west at Dunkirk, on time;
mail at Alford, on time; New York express at Little Valley, 15’ late—detained at Tre-
mont by night express west and mail express east; mail east at Little Valley, 10’ late ;
immigrant at Great Bend, 12’ late; New York express at Addison, on time; Rochester
accommodation at Campville, 28’ late—detained taking on freight.’

» Another report that came in while we were present one day, reported that
the night express east was detained twelve minutes at Hale’s Eddy by freight
No. 2. The question was immediately asked, What was the difficulty with
frieght No. 2 this morning, detaining night express east twelve minutes at
Hale’s Eddy. Answer—No. 2, with 35 loaded cars, left Deposit, intending to
switch for night express east at Hale’s Eddy, but in approaching the switch
the engine was crowded by and was not able to back up; conductor, fearing
that he would be in night express train time before reaching Dickinson’s switch,
left a flagman at Hale’s Eddy to give express train notice; night express in
running slow lost the twelve minutes, but passed freight No. 2 all right at
Dickinson’s. Then the telegraph ordered the conductor of freight train No. 2 to
explain why he allowed his train to run so fast as to be crowded by the proper
turn-out, contrary to positive orders. If he failed to give satisfactory reasons
at once, he would be suspended till he could do so.

“ Such is the discipline on this road—such it should be on every road—and
then travelers would feel a degree of safety that they do not now enjoy. But
with such an immense quantity of rolling stock, and such a length of road,
what would be the condition of things without discipline, order, and the tele-

graph.”

TABULAR STATEMENT OF THE DURATION OF IRON
RAIL-ROAD BARS.

The duration of the iron rails of our great railroads is a subject of vast im-
portance to all interested in the maintenance and extension of rail-way com-
munication. In all estimates for new roads for thinly-settled districts, the
cost of the iron rails figures as the most prominent item; and even in the
thinly-settled states of Europe, where the metal is obtained at a comparatively
cheap rate, the cost of the rails forms no inconsiderable portion of the whole
expense of construction. On the first introduction of railroads, it was con-
fidently asserted by their promoters, that the iron rails would last for an in-
definite period. A few months working, however, demonstrated that although
manufactured from the best metal, iron railway bars were subject to lamina-
tion and disintegration from the repeated rolling of heavy loads. Their dura-

52 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

tion, in numerous cases, did not exceed two or three years, and in no instance
of a rail-road having a heavy traffic, have the rails remained sound and in
working condition for more than 14 years. On some of the earliest constructed
lines in England, the rails have been changed twice, and even three times,
within twenty years. Opportunities have, therefore, presented themselves to
the engineers of such lines, of ascertaining the actual traffic which iron rails
are capable of withstanding under different circumstances.

The following table prepared by William Truran, Esq., and published in
the Canadian Journal of Science, shows the durability of different varieties of
railroad iron in thirteen carefully noted instances :—~

, in

gle track of

Depth of rail in inches,
wheels, in tons.
track, in tons.
Motive power employed.
rails before renewal, in tons.
Weight of rails per mile for a
single traci, in tons.
50 dollars per ton.

Number of case or example.
of road for each dollar’s worth of

Greatest weight on a foot lineal of
iron consumed.

ers for each lineal foot of track
Greatest weight rolling on four

superficial feet.

Weight of rail, in pounds, per yard.
Bearing surface, presented by sleep-
Velocity of trains in miles per hour.
Cost of rails per mile, estimated at
Number of tons carried over one mile

Gross traffie over a sin

Locomotive 1,822,800
Locomotive | 12,000,000
Gravity 4,043,500
Horses 9,800,000
Stationary 8,000,000
Horses 1,628,640
| Stationary 7,840,000
Locomotive 5,500,000
Horses 15,000,000
Locomotive | 10,000,000
Locomotive | 41,000,000
Locomotive | 22,400,000
Locomotive 1,318,000 | 72

7
2
3
+
5
6
7
8
9

a et pt ope
@ oH oS

EXPERIMENTS IN STOPPING RAILWAY TRAINS.

Some experiments were recently made on the Brighton and South Eastern
Rail-way, England, by Capt. Tyler, for the purpose of ascertaining in how
short a period and distance a railway train could be stopped. Two trains
were made up, one by the Brighton Company, and the other by the South
Eastern, and laden respectively with about 32 tons of iron and other materials,
fairly distributed over the carriages, that being calculated to be about the
weight of 450 passengers. In order that these trials might have as much
similarity as possible to an ordinary case of driving a train, the men in charge

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 58

of the trains were not allowed to pull up from the first instant the distance
or semaphor signal caught their eye, but at an arbitrary given signal, indi-
cated at a moment when they might not be expecting it.

Four trips were made between the junction of the two lines. The first was
a South Eastern train. It started, and, when traveling at the rate of 534
miles an hour, Capt. Tyler gave the signal to stop, and the train was brought
to a stand at a distance of 2,077 yards from the point where the signal was
given, and that simply by the driver shutting off his steam and the guard ap-
plying the two breaks attached to his van, without the engine having been
reversed. The second experiment was with a Brighton train. The last mile
was run in 66% seconds, or at the rate of about 54 miles an hour, and the
train was pulled up in 1,832 yards after being signaled to stop, by shutting
off the steam, applying two breaks, and without reversing the engine, or in
less space by 245 yards than the preceding train. The third trial was con-
ducted with a South Eastern train, and the object of it was to ascertain in
what distance it could be stopped by the application of the same means, and
added to them, the immediate reversal of the engine after the signal to stop.
The result was, that the train, while going a mile in 66 seconds, was brought
up at the distance of 1,790 yards, or in two minutes; but seven seconds were
lost in the application of the breaks by the driver not sounding his whistle
until after he had reversed his engine. The fourth and last experiment was
with a Brighton train, and, by arrangement, every available means was em-
ployed to stop on being signalled—namely, reversing the engine, shutting off
the steam, applying the brakes, and causing the engine to scatter sand along
the rails. The effect of all this was, that the train, while traveling at the
rate of a mile in 63 seconds, was pulled up in a minute and a half after the
signal, and in the distance of 1,389 yards; thus showing that the application
of the sand has a most important influence to stop trains in an emergency.

RAILROAD IMPROVEMENTS,

Since the Count de Pambour, whose careful practical experiments and
thorough mathematical analysis are yet unrivaled in any treatises on steam
engineering, descanted in glowing style upon the performances of the locomo-
tive engine, this great agent of civilization has far surpassed the imaginations
of that accomplished engineer. The “imposing spectacle” of moving on the
straight, level lines of the Liverpool and Manchester and the Stockton and
Darlington Railway ‘40 or 50 loaded carriages, each weighing more than
10,000 pounds,” is now immensely exceeded in daily practice on all the long
roads in our country. Mountain grades are now surmounted on the lines of
the Pennsylvania Central and of the Baltimore and Ohio Roads by the simple
adhesion of the wheels, while but a few years since ropes and fixed engines
were considered necessary even for hauling on levels. The empty freight car
now weighs 10,000 pounds, and its load some 20,000 more. The ten-wheel
engines of the Reading Railroad thunders steadily up grades of 21 feet per
mile; with loads in coal alone of 500 tons each, and the seven-feet drivers on
the Hudson River Road whirl passengers from New York City to the Albany

54 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ferry-boats in 260 minutes. Less fuel is consumed per mile in the magnificent
machines now employed on the New York Central Road than in the diminu-
tive traps used ten years ago to pull half the present loads; and to compare
still more recent dates, the working expenses on the New York and Erie for
fuel, oil, and the like, have been steadily reduced within the last year some
three or four per cent. with each monthly report.

This highly encouraging progress has been due partly to the adoption of
absolutely new discoveries, but more to the better application of truths long
known and published, but badly applied. School science is always both
ahead and behind that of the workshop. While each has a mingled respect
~ and contempt for the other, the liberal minds who can acquire, reconcile, and
apply both are fewer than is generally believed. In practice improvements
are introduced by slow and careful degrees.

Too high praise can not be awarded to Mr. D. C. McCallum, the superin-
tendent of the New York and Erie Railroad, for the energy with which he
has introduced on this great avenue of traffic a system of recording and pub-
lishing the results and methods of working its machines, which promises to
place the locomotive in some degree on a par with the pumping engines of
the Cornwall Collieries. James Watt, with his partners, manufactured Cor-
nish pumping engines till 1800, and when his patent expired, one bushel of
coal was capable of lifting twenty millions of pounds one foot high, or its
equivalent in other work. From this time the “duty,” as it is termed, or
amount of work done, actually declined, until 1810, when the mining pro-
prietors, alarmed at the fact, began to publish the duty of every engine, good,
bad, and indifferent. Hereupon improvement commenced, and in 1834 the
Fowey Consols engine pumped twenty-four hours in presence of a committee,
raising one hundred and twenty-five millions of pounds one foot for each
bushel of coal burned; and the average duty of all the largest engines is now
nearly one hundred millions—an increase of four hundred per cent. in economy
without any marked discovery in either the generation or use of steam.

These remarks have been called forth by a recent trial on a magnificent
scale of the actual effect of a powerful locomotive in hauling a heavy train
over the whole New York and Erie road, instead of changing engines and
men at certain stations as usual. The road is usually worked in four divisions,
and the chief design of the experimental train was to test the comparative
difficulty presented by each to a heavy train moving east. A large number
of cars were provided and loaded with lumber, and ample arrangements were
made for moving, by other trains, all the cars left by the trial engine at each
station. Every up grade was tried with big loads, which were gradually
diminished till the exact limit was reached at which the train could proceed,
in consequence of which much of the ground was many times traveled, and
the whole experiment consumed nine days’ time. The width between the
rails on this road is 6 feet, that of a great majority of roads being only 4 feet
84 inches; and many contend that the resistance to motion on curves is in-
creased with each increase of width, an opinion which, although apparently
well founded in theory, this experiment has done little to establish. Although
frequent experiments of this kind have been tried at various times on long

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS, 55

lines of narrow roads, this is the first to our knowledge on a 6 feet gauge,
and we doubt whether a train halfa mile in length and weighing in toto
nearly or quite 1,800 tons has ever before been hauled over a road as crooked
as the Delaware River portion of the Erie by a single engine. The smallest
radii of curves on the whole line is 955 feet, and the greatest inclination 60
feet per mile. The most difficult points of course are those in which curves
and grades are combined for long distances or at frequent intervals, and the
equation of grades, curves and distances form some of the most perplexing
problems ever presented to the civil engineer. The smallest number of cars
hauled at any time was 22, and this was where a curve 1,294 feet long and
1,146 feet in radius was combined with the maximum grade of 60 feet per
mile. The engine, No. 210, which hauled 100 cars at a speed of 6, 8, or even
14 miles per hour on levels and up grades of 6 feet per mile, combined with
curves in many instances, as also through curves of 955 feet radius on level
points on the Delaware, stuck fairly in the five-degree curve above mentioned,
but started again and went through after being pushed about half a rod by
another engine; a fact indicating a very close balance between the power and
the resistance.

Experiments on the resistance opposed to motion on railroads are yet very
indefinite, and any data from this experiment may be of some value. The
variable elements are so numerous and complex that probably no two experi-
ments have ever been made under precisely similar circumstances. Even
the wind exerts an influence which is difficult to compute, and it is not yet
agreed whether a head ora side wind is most objectionable, as the latter
blows out and continually replaces the air contained between the cars. The
speed has evidently a very great influence on the resistance of the air, and by
more rapidly consuming the steam affects very seriously the ability of the
engine to haul with great power. The absolute highest pressure in the
boiler of No. 210 with this train was 165 lbs., or 150 above the atmosphere,
and probably the average pull on the couplings of the forward car,“in the
tightest places, was about 15,500 lbs., or equal to more than one third of the
whole weight on the driving-wheels. It is only by a liberal flow of sand
upon the rails that the wheels can be prevented from slipping under such
circumstances, and it may be remarked that the wheels, when once slipping,
have a most discouraging property of polishing the track. The only safety
in a very severe pull is in a dry, gritty rail, well sprinkled with sharp sand.
The engine which was employed in this experiment is a most extraordinary
machine, and is perhaps only equaled by three others on the same road,
built from the same patterns. The design was by James B. Gregg, Esq., of
Susquehanna, and the whole weight is 66,000 lbs., of which 4,000 Ibs. are
supported by the two pairs of driving-wheels, and 26,000 by the truck. It is
outside connected, the cylinders being 17 inches in diameter, with 24 inches
stroke of piston. The valves are worked by the link motion, and when moy-
ing very slowly the steam acts nearly at full pressure for 23} inches of the
stroke. With no means of testing directly the actual pull on the train or
even of approximating it by finding the average pressure in the cylinder when
working expansively on level portions, we despair of settling any vexed ques-

56 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

tion by aid of these results, and can only regret that some means were not
devised for ascertaining both these quantities, as well as the actual quantities
- of water evaporated at short intervals.

The performances of this engine, as above recorded are among the most
extraordinary recorded in the history of rail-road engineering.—WN. Y. Tribune.

IMPROVEMENTS IN RAIL-ROAD APPURTENANCES.

Improved Air-Spring for Rail-road Cars——An improved air-spring has re-
cently been introduced on the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-road, of a novel con-
struction. The elastic material employed is common atmospheric air, and
the peculiarity of the invention consists entirely in the method of confining
it. The old air-springs employed to a considerable extent on some roads,
a few years since, consisted of a vertical cylinder, opened at the bottom
and furnished with a piston thrust up from below. It was abandoned in
consequence of its unavoidable leakage. The present spring consists of a
similar cylinder, or rather rough cup in an inverted position, provided with a
flexible but air-tight partition or diaphragm across its under side, and against
the under surface of this a suitable rounded mass of wood is allowed to press.
The air is compressed in the cup by the aid of a small hand-pump, and the
irregularities of the track cause the diaphragm to be bent alternately inward
and outward, so that the whole weight is supported on the cushion of air, yet
without allowing the least possible chance for the escape of the fluid. The
diaphragm is composed of several thicknesses of India-rubber, stout canvas
and leather, and as a still further protection is covered on the inside with a
stratum of good sugar-house molasses, so that the air, in fact, acts against a
fluid piston. The cast-iron cup is lined on its top and sides with tin to pre-
vent the possible escape of air through its pores, and the air, although com-
pressed to a density of some 150 pounds per square inch, is found in practice
to be cdmpletely and perfectly retained, while the motion of the car is, as may
be supposed, of the gentlest possible character. There is no friction, and the
only part of this spring which can fail is the diaphragm, which can be easily
and cheaply replaced when necessary. One of the most attractive qualities
belonging to this invention is its cheapness, a set for car, complete, costing
only about $40 or $45, while the steel springs frequently employed cost about
twice as much, and the now popular rubber springs cost from the like amount
to $150.

Conical Plate Rail-road Car Springs.—These improved springs, patented by
Speed & Bailey, of Detroit, Michigan, are simply concave steel plates, resemb-
ling, in outward appearance, the saucers of common coffee-cups. These disks
are placed within a case or cylinder, the lower disk resting, like a saucer, on
the bottom of the cylinder; the disk next above is reversed or placed bottom
up, its periphery resting on the periphery of the lower disk. In this manner
the disks are arranged in pairs, above each other, a plunger being fitted to
the top of the cylinder, on which the weight to be sustained rests. It is plain
that the elasticity of the disks, thus arranged, will be considerable, and that
they wili yield more or less, according to the weight brought upon them.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 57

Disk-springs of this kind have long been known; they are peculiarly adapted
to car-springs, for they occupy no more space than the round India-rubber
springs now in common use. But the trouble with the old-fashioned disk-
spring is that, after being in use for a time, they split and flatten out, thus
losing their elasticity and becoming worthless. The improvement of Messrs.
Speed & Bailey consists in corrugating the disks, instead of having them
plain as heretofore. This invention adds new strength to the plates, and en-
tirely obviates the serious objections we have just named.

Adams’s Car Spring.—In this new car-spring the inventor, Mr. Adams, of
New York, employs simply disks or circular pieces of cast-steel, between
which he lays circular plates of cast-iron. The latter are alternately convex
and concave; that is, first thick at the edge, and next thickest in the middle,
the whole being confined within a case of cast-iron. Thus the weight of the
car is continually striving to bend each plate into a slightly dishing form, and
the elasticity and strength are so proportioned to the degree of curvature that
they may be compressed to a fair bearing before the plate of steel will be so
much distorted as to receive a permanent “set.” In case, however, such an
event should occur, and that one or more of the plates in a series should be-
come permanently dished, the only result will be to carry the car somewhat
stiffer until, at a proper time, the springs can be removed, when a few skillful
blows bring it into its original flat condition.

One great point in this spring is the ease with which it may be lightened or
strengthened at pleasure, to adapt it to any kind of car or to any situation
desired. The same case, which is merely a cylinder open at the base, may be
made to contain a stiff or easy spring by increasing or diminishing the number
of steel disks between each alternate cast-iron plate. The springs now in
use are about 5 inches in diameter outside the case, and 6 inches high when
extended. A motion of about 14 inches is provided for, which would make —
the spring, when entirely compressed, about 44 inches high. The plates of
steel are No. 20 by the wire-gauge, or considerably less than one sixteenth
inch thick, and it is preferred to place a few single, others double, treble, etc.,
so that the spring will be equally elastic whatever the load in the car. The
spring can certainly be constructed very cheaply, as the castings require no
finishing, and the plates of steel are so light as to be of little moment so far
as expense is concerned. The only question on which doubt may be felt is
the durability, as each depression of the center of the disk must cause a mo-
tion or rubbing of the surfaces at the edges; a friction which, under so great
a pressure, may be supposed gradually to wear away both the metals.

Miller's Steam Car Brake.—In this invention by Mr. Henry Miller, of
Detroit, the cars are stopped by friction upon the wheels in the usual manner,
but the brakes are applied by the aid of steam from the boiler. Ordinary
hand-wheels are provided as usual at the ends of the cars, but except in case
of derangement or in switching the necessary pressure upon the brakes is ob-
tained in all cases—ordinary as well as extraordinary—from a piston confined
in a horizontal cylinder under the center of each floor. Every car is provided
with a pipe running lengthwise, and with a piece of strong flexible hose to

connect the same with that of the next one. This pipe supplies steam to one
ge

58 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

end of the cylinder, and thus drives the piston toward the other end, tighten-
ing all the brakes by its connection with the usual compound levers. Turn-
buckles are provided, by which the rods may be taken up to compensate for
wear. The brakes are of the usual proportions, shod with iron; the cylinder
is six inches in diameter; the stroke or motion allowed the piston is ten
inches, and the diameter of the pipe one and a half inches. The pipe connects
with the upper portion of the boiler, and a lever is provided by which the
engineer allows steam to flow for a longer or shorter time, then closes the
valve and allows the steam to act by expansion. By turning the lever in
another position, the steam in the cylinder and pipe is discharged into the
atmosphere, and the brakes immediately released, so that the friction may be
taken off and let on again, with any required degree of strength, several
times in a minute if desired. Wheels should never he entirely stopped while
the train is in motion, as the sHpping on the rail is very injurious; and by
properly proportioning the parts, a very close approach to this resistance may
be obtained without ever exceeding it.

A smail self-acting valve, opening inward, is provided in the lowest part of
the pipe, under each car. This valve is operated by a spiral spring, and opens
the moment the steam is discharged. It allows ail the water to dribble out
at leisure, and keeps the whole always ready to act in the coldest as well as
in the warmest weather. The invention has been tested on the Michigan
Central and other lines in the West, and has been recently introduced on the
New York and New Haven road. In case of sudden danger it allows the
engineer to put on the brakes in a second of time, and again to release them
as quickly, if he discovers his fears to have been unfounded. The steam con-
sumed is usually taken when it can best be spared as the engine approaches
a station, and is found too small in amount to be of any importance. The
strain being necessarily equal on every brake, the banging of cars together is
entirely avoided, and the elasticity of the steam renders the action of the
brakes in every respect smooth and uniform.

A rail-road brake, embracing some novel points, has recently been intro-
duced upon the Orleans (France) road. The objection to the ordinary hand-
brake is, that it requires half a dozen turns before taking effect, and that its
efficiency depends upon the watchfulness, vigor, and constant attendance of
the brakeman. There is no certainty that the six or eight brakemen upon a
train invariably, immediately, and simultaneously bring their forces to bear.
The new instrument is such that the greater the speed and weight of the train,
the greater its effect. Each car is fitted with one, which has no need of any
one to manage it. Upon the tender is an ordinary brake of the old construc-
tion, which is put down by the stoker as the engineer turns off the steam.
The result is to bring all the cars down upon the engine, with the whole
weight of the momentum acquired. They press upon each other. and this
pressure—the tender resisting powerfully, as its wheels are no longer turning,
but sliding—is sufficient to put the instrument into play, and the wheels of
the whole train are almost immediately blocked. The stoppage of movement
is prompt, without being sudden, and the entire control of the train is cen-
terod where it ought to be, upon the engine.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 59

Hydrostatic Rail-way Brake.—The following is a description of a hydrostatic
rail-way brake recently introduced upon the Shrewsbury and Hereford Rail-
way, England :—The brakes themselves are upon the usual principle, but are
placed upon every carriage, instead of on one or two only. A cylinder is
fixed under the carriage, 44 inches diameter and 3 inches stroke; and in this
cylinder is fitted a solid piston, the rod of which is attached to the lever of the
brake. Into each side of the cylinder is screwed an iron tube, one inch in
diameter, and terminating at each end of the carriage with a joint of a novel
character. When the carriages are connected, the tubes are made continuous
by inserting into those joints a flexible tube between each carriage; and when the
engine is attached to the train, that is also connected by a flexible tube, lead-
ing into tubes fixed in the bottom of the tender, which tubes are merely for
the purposes of reducing the temperature of the water used in applying the
brakes. The boiler is fitted with a stop-cock near the starting lever, and
from this cock is a tube connected to the tubes in the tender. When a train
is made up, and the engine attached, a cock inside the tender is opened, and
the tubes throughout the train are allowed to fill themselves with water ;
water being only compressable to the extent of one inch in the 15,000, is al-
ways ready to be acted upon at the moment. At the present day, locomo-
tives are worked at pressure of from 100 to 150 Ibs. per square inch; but for
example’s sake, we will take the lowest figure; therefore, with the cylinders
before described, a power of 1,500 lbs. is given to each brake, no matter what
may be the number of carriages in the train. The cylinder to work the ten-
der brake is 4} inches in diameter, with a 6 inch stroke, and gives a force of
3,000 Ibs. The mode of bringing the brakes into use is this: The engine
driver shuts off his steam, opens the cock named in boiler, and in one second
the whole of the brakes are on the wheels, and are taken off by the driver
shutting the cock in the boiler, and opening the one in the tender.

Dick's Self-acting Switch.—The switch is designed to be operated in all respects
like the ordinary ones, with the additional property of springing instantane-
ously into line when, in consequence of any misunderstanding or carelessness,
a wheel approaches in the wrong direction upon the main track. This prop-
erty was put to a most unprecendented and almost fool-hardy test on the 27th
of June last, by running a train at the highest possible speed across not only
one but all the switches in nearly a hundred miles of track, all designedly
placed wrong. The Buffalo and New York City railroad, 91 miles in length,
had adopted this invention throughout, and over this whole line the newest
and smartest engine was driven with two passenger cars, accompanied by
some of the principal officers of the road, to observe, or rather to experience,
any effects which might follow a failure. Fifteen miles of this route, over
three of the gaping switches, was performed in 17 minutes; showing a very
high degree of confidence in the infallibility of the invention. The principal
peculiarities of this switch consist in two elliptic springs, a lever, and a catch,
which are al! to be considered as additional to the usual mechanism of a
switch, but increasing the cost only some 25 or 30 dollars. The heaviest of
these springs is just outside the track, between the rails and the switch-stand,
and exerts a constant effort to throw the switch into such position as to make

60 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

the main line continuous and perfect. When the switch is moved out of this
position by the hand-lever, the second and smaller spring comes into play and
throws forward a bolt which catches and holds the switch in place, and at the
same time elevates an aforementioned lever, which is just within the track,
some sixteen feet distant. In case of the approach of a car or engine in the
wrong direction, the flange of the wheel presses upon the lever, detaches the
catch, and the switch-rails jump into place with considerable energy. At a
speed of 60 miles an hour, a locomotive moves 88 feet per second, and the
~ catch is consequently released only one fifth of a second before the wheels
enter the switch, yet the movement is invariably completed in time.

Bailey's Adjustable Car Seat.—In this improvement which allows the seat
to be adjusted at pleasure, so as to form an upright seat or an almost reclining
lounge, the seats and backs are connected to each other and to a fixed frame
of cast-iron by rods or links which allow a corresponding motion to each, and
the parts are so balanced by a very simple and substantial arrangement that
the passengers by simply throwing their bodies backward or forward with a
moderate degree of force, may change the position of the back to any angle
required. The seat proper is always horizontal, the back alone being change-
able in its degree of inclination. It is difficult to convey, without the aid of
engravings, a very distinct idea of thisimprovement. To attempt it, however,
we should divide the whole into four, or rather six, distinct parts. Ist. The
fixed frames, one at each end of the seat, and rising to a point about midway
between the seat proper and the arm-rests. 2d. The arm-rests, two in num-
ber, entirely distinct from, and independent of the frames. 3d. The seat;
and 4th. The back. The seat, back and arm-rests are neither of them fixed
firmly. The seat is suspended to the frame by two vertical links at each side,
which links are continued upward and support the arm-rests at their upper
extremities, the whole being loosely jointed together at each connection by
a suitable rivet. Two additional links at each end of the seat, jointed one
to the seat proper and the other to the arm-rest, extend horizonally
backward and take hold of the back. With this arrangement, by the aid
of the flexible joints, the relative position of all the parts may be easily
adjusted. A “‘friction-piece” is provided at the wall-side, which presses
with considerable force against the end of the seat, and assists it in retaining
any position given it, however loose the riveted joints may become by reason
of long-continued wear or bad workmanship. But for this “friction-piece” it
will be readily seen there is no wear of any parts except in the rivet-holes;
and the frames, links, arm-rests, etc., may be made as ornamental as desired,
or may be bronzed or gilded at pleasure. This seat appears, on rather a
brief examination, to be entirely free from any of the faults appertaining to
the previous forms of adjustable seats. It is readily reversed by simply lifting
over the back, which is upholstered on each face, and the liability to derange-
ment or fracture seems to be reduced to the lowest practicable amount. Pro-
vision is made for preventing the possibility of injury to the hands of infants
or others in suddenly changing the position of the seat, and one of its greatest
recommendations is, the fact that no catches or other derangeable or perplex-
ing fastenings are required.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 61

Sleeping in Rail-road Cars.—Mr. S. Culver of Newark, Wayne County, N.Y.
has invented a very simple and comfortable apparatus by which a traveler
can sleep in a rail-road car without any of the inconveniences usually attend-
ing that recreation. The apparatus consists of a bit of welting fastened by a
hook to the roof of the car, with a net at the end in which the head can be
laid at any elevation or angle desired. It is a most ingenious contrivance,
and so light as to be easily carried in one’s pocket.

Replacing Cars off the Track—My. 8. P. Coon of Milwaukie, has recently
patented a device for moving cars, which, although operating slowly and by
man-power alone, appears to be a decided improvement, on the usual process
for putting cars on track again after a rail-road accident. Our first impression
was decidedly unjust, it appearing to possess little novelty; but in practice it
has since been demonstrated to work with more ease, certainty and rapidity
than any other (if we except the practice on some of the coal rail-roads of jerk-
ing the wrecks unceremoniously out of the way, perferring to smash a few
cars rather than detain another train for a single moment). Coon’s apparatus
consists of hand-screws somewhat like screw-jacks, which are.made readily
applicable to a common T rail, by slipping the clamp on over the ends, so
that by placing a rail transversely under each truck and applying the screws
at each side the car may be safely lifted without guys, and entirely supported
on the cross rails. In this situation, suitable small rollers being previously
provided between the swing beam and the rail, the car may be readily
moved sidewise by a rope and a small windlass fitted on an end ofeach. The
ereat difficulty arising from the disposition of the trucks to swivel about on
their centers is completely avoided by this process; but in case any slight
degree of deflection in this respect may be required by the circumstances, it
may be given by bending the rail before screwing up.—New York Tribune.

Improved Car Coupling—Mr. D. A. Hopkins of Elmira, N. Y. has recently
patented a cheap, durable and simple drawhead, which may be made self-
coupling or otherwise at pleasure. The end or face of the drawhead is of
cast iron, and somewhat heavier than the wrought iron ones usually employed.
The mouth is flaring or funnel-shaped, which allows the link to stand at a
considerable angle when necessary. The link is held by pins in the usual
manner, but the chief advantage of this invention consists in the introduction
of a piece of iron immediately behind the pin, which piece is pressed forward
by aslight spiral spring. The pressure of this piece against the end of the
link is sufficient by the aid ofa narrow throat to maintain the link at any
elevation desired, so that in coupling the link may be adjusted to meet the
mouth of the opposite drawhead. To make the opposite drawhead selfcoup-
ling itis only necessary to partially withdraw the pin, so that the spring
piece shall pass under its extremity and support it. As the cars come toge-
ther the link enters its mouth, presses back the spring piece, allows the pin
to drop into place, and the union is completed.

Foote’s Car Ventilator—The principle of this ventilator, which has been
introduced on the New York and Erie Rail-road, is as follows:—In the center
of the car, underneath the floor, is a transverse tank, containing twenty-five
gallons of water. On each side is a case, with glass windows, reaching from

-

62 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

the floor to the ceiling, inclosing a force-pump, worked by being geared to a

wheel of the car, which throws a beautiful jet of water inside the case, and

is carried back into the tank by a waste-pipe; thus the water is used over

and over again without waste. At the top of the case is an aperture through

the roof, to which is fitted a double bonnet, fronting each end of the car,

through which air is admitted into the case—the water abstracting all part-

icles of dust and other impurities—whence it is conducted to a trunk running

the length of the car, opening by means of several grates up into the car—
thus furnishing a constant supply of fresh and pure air. The quantity of air
admitted is regulated by a simple register, which can be turned by any one

of the passengers. The air escapes at the will of the passenger by opening a
little door in the window at his side; and though the air is constantly pass-

ing out, yet there is no perceptible current until within two or three inches
of the little door.

Prevention of Dust in Railroad Cars.—Mr. William H. Muntz, of Boston,
Mass., has invented an improvement in railroad cars, for preventing the rise
of dust. It consists in running a line of perforated pipes along the outside of _
each car, in such a manner as to permit the simultaneous discharge of many —
jets of water, in a lateral direction. These jets are intended to spurt out 10
or 15 feet from each side of the car, forming a fine rain to prevent the rise of
dust. The tank for supplying the pipes will be carried on a separate truck,
or each car may be furnished with its own reservoir.

Railway Sanding Apparatus.—This improvement, recently introduced into
England, consists of a sand-holder fixed in front to the engine framing, di-
rectly above the rail, and having a conical bottom upon which the sand rests,
Within the holder is a valve, suspended by a cord, running along the side of
the engine, and which, by a simple arrangement, is placed under the complete
control of the engineer. The end of the sand-holder terminates in an India-
rubber tube, which not only prevents the scattering of the sand by the wind,
but also prevents fracture in case of meeting with any obstacle.

Independent Wheel Broken Frame Safety Truck.—Mr. C. R. Disbrow, of Bath,
New York, is the inventor of a very desirable improvement in car construc-
tion, of which the above is the verbose and somewhat terrific cognomen,
The term broken frame, suggestive of any thing but safety to the uninitiated,
refers to the fact that the frame is divided longitudinally in the middle, and
only connected by an extra axle running across the center—a construction
which allows each half to oscillate vertically without affecting the other, and
enables the car to ride over all the ordinary inequalities of the road with a
steadiness previously believed to be unattainable. A “caboose” car, running
on the Buffalo, Corning, and New York Rail-road was lately fitted with this
improvement, and its practicability perfectly demonstrated, the car being
found to run with such steadiness that writing could be executed in a very
tolerable manner in its interior, even at high velocities. There are four wheels
in each truck, arranged in their usual positions, but the axles are divided in
the middle, so as to allow each wheel to turn independently of its mate, thus
overcoming the tendency to twist and fracture the axle, and to grind the
flanges against the rails in turning curves on the road. Each truck is neces-

MECHANICS- AND USEFUL ARTS. 63

sarily provided with an extra axle (which may be very cheaply fitted, as there
is but very little motion), and four extra boxes or bearings.—New York
Tribune.

A passenger car, constructed of hoop-iron, has been recently introduced
upon the Sixth Avenue (New York City) Rail-road. The car is somewhat in
the shape of a coach body, with an entrance for passengers at either end. It
is made of hoop-iron, banded together like lattice-work, and weighs about
3,500 pounds. It is considerably lighter than the ordinary wooden car, and
is easily drawn by two horses. The cost of the car in question was about
$1,500.

APPLICATION OF STEAM FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES,

At the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Agricultural Society of England for
1855, an unusual degree of interest was excited in respect to the exhibition
of machines intended to illustrate the application of steam to agricultural pur-
poses. For portable steam engines adapted to farm use, eight entries were
made, of eight, seven, and six-horse power. The prices ranged from $900 to
$1300; the cheapest engine of eight-horse power being entered at a cost of
$900. In the trials, the getting up of steam involved a consumption of from
18 to 24 pounds of wood, and from 18} to 35 pounds of coal, in spaces vary-
ing from 39 to 66 minutes. The quantity of coal consumed (per pound) per
horse, per hour, varied from 34 to 10 pounds. The prize was awarded to an
eight-horse portable engine, costing $1,250, consuming, in getting up steam,
24 pounds of wood, or 28 pounds of coal, in 66 minutes, or 3;4ths pounds of
coal per horse-power, per hour, when in full operation.

For the prize of £200 offered by the Society for the best steam-plow, tractor,
or cultivator, several machines were entered. The most remarkable machine
of this kind was a steam “horse” or “tractor,” of fourteen-horse power, ex-
hibited by Mr. Boydell, This is a carriage that takes its own railway along
with it—rails, plank-bearings, and all—and keeps putting down and taking
up its track as it proceeds. This strikes one at first like the idea of getting
into a basket and lifting yourself by the handles, but the editor of Chambers’s
Journal has seen the machine operate, and thus describes it:—

“Tt is evident that a flat deal-board will not, weight for weight, sink so far
down into a bed of mud as will the narrow tire of a cart-wheel. It is evident,
too, that cart-wheels may have a railway tire or edge, instead of an ordinary
tire or edge: and that a line of rails admits of being laid down upon a wooden
plank. A person, likewise, may readily conceive the idea of laying down one
of these rail-planks under each wheel; and this, indeed, is very much like
what is ordinarily done in the construction of a common railway. The prob-
lem, therefore, was this: to construct the wheels in such a manner, that by
means of certain mysterious-looking levers, pins, screws, and iron arms, these
railway-planks, when passed over by the wheels, should be taken up by the
machinery, and laid down in a new spot; and this problem has actually been
solved. Each wheel admits of being represented as consisting of a circle in-
scribed within a hexagonal frame of flat boards, each furnished with railway

64. ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

trimmings. Ifthe hexagonal frame be supposed cut or divided into six com-
ponent planks, one of these planks laid down beneath each carriage-wheel,
and the carriage itself pushed forward, there would be supplied for it a short
railway, having a length equal to the length of each plank; and the carriage,
having run on to the extremity of the rail-planks, might easily be transferred
to another pair, if they could be placed in due opposition with the last. In
this manner, by means of two sets of alternating planks, the carriage might
be made to run to any required distance. Now, this is just that which is ac-
complished by the rotation of the wheels themselves in the carriage under
consideration; only, instead of the alternation of two pair of planks merely,
the changes are played on no less than six pair, one pair alone being in plane
contact with the underlying ground at one time.”

At the exhibition this machine ran itself from the show-yard, over some
difficult and steep road, to the trial-field, and there went through the opera-
tions of plowing, scarifying, and harrowing, with very fair success. Its per-
formances seemed to stagger some of the old sticklers for things as they are,
giving a pretty broad hint that steam was insensibly coming closer to the
farmer. :

Another steam-plow, invented by Messrs. Fisker, of England, was exhibited
on the same occasion, and is thus described in the London Agricultural
Gazette :—

“The whole apparatus is novel, and, we may say, uncommonly promising.
Instead of a heavy wire rope to drag the plow frame by main force, a light,
endless hemp rope, only three eighths of an inch thick, communicates power
to the plow carriage, which we may call locomotive, as it propels itself in the
following manner: a grooved wheel set in motion by proper spur-wheels from
the rigger actuated by the hemp rope, winds, as it were, along a strong
wire rope laid upon the ground; and the frame, being thus carried slowly
forward, drags plows or other instruments after it. The hemp cord does not
touch the ground, but is held up at every forty yards’ distance by a ‘horse,’
or small friction pulley-frame, about three and a half feet high. This cord
travels at the rate of twenty miles per hour; but the speed being reduced by
the wheel-work upon the plow carriage, the latter travels only two miles per
hour. When two plows are in work at once, having the draught of four
horses, the strain upon the rapidly-running cord will thus be less than half a
horse’s draught. We were informed by the exhibitor that a four-horse engine
is sufficiently powerful to work two plows, and that with four hundred-weight
of coal it will plow four acres in a day, the expense for labor being only that
of two men anda boy. If this be strictly the fact, we have a complete in-
vention able to plow light land at a cost of say 3s. per acre. That is not far
from the truth we are sure, for we ourselves saw one plow drawn at the rate
of at least two miles per hour when the engine had only seven pounds’ or
eight pounds’ pressure upon the square inch, and this was an engine of six-
horse power at 40 pounds pressure. To be sure, the land had been previously
plowed, pulverized, subjected to the trial of all sorts of drills, and been after-
ward well trampled by hundreds of people, and consolidated with rain, so that
the possible quantity and quality of the work could not well be ascertained.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 65

The plowing we saw was respectably though roughly done, but there was
one point really performed—the furrows were well turned. If a steam cul-
tivator can invert the soil thoroughly and cheaply, we may put up with a
little imperfection in the straightness of cutting and evenness of laying. The
method of anchoring the pulleys, and the arrangement of the pulleys and
ropes, is very ingenious, and can hardly be explained with brevity. The
anchorage consists of a plate or plow, a few feet in length, and eight inches
only in depth; this can be easily drawn forward in the ground without the
trouble of digging holes, taking up, setting down again, etc., and yet it pre-
sents a sufficient resistance sideways to the pull of the ropes. A wheel, pinion,
and crank, on each anchor is used to draw it by means of a rope toward a
fixed post, when it is required to be shifted. The arrangement of the ropes
about the anchored pulleys is like that of the chains in a traveling crane, the
anchorage being shifted forward at intervals without altering the length of the
rope. The plows are not rigidly attached to the traveling frame, but aré
hung by short iron beams, which form ievers, having a slight degree of play
up and down. There are four plows—two before and two behind the car-
riage, pointing opposite ways, a neat lever movement lifting two out of work
and dropping the other pair of plows in; so that the machine can plow both
Ways without having to turn round at the land’s end.”

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL.

An important movement has been made in Rockaway, Morris County,
New Jersey, for the manufacture of cast-steel directly from the ore, without
the old process of converting the ore into iron and baking this iron into steel
before converting it into cast-steel. The idea is not a new one of making
steel directly from the ore, but it has been deemed impossible to produce a
uniform and cheap product. Improvements have, however, been recently made
by Dr. Smith, of Rochester, and a company has been formed for practical
working on a large scale.

The process of converting the iron-ore into steel resolves itself into a se-
ries of means to make the ore as pure as possible without the expense of
smelting. For this purpose the best ore is selected to start with, this is
stamped and ground very fine, and after this it is run through magnetic ma-
chines, washed thoroughly, ete. After being dried, it is baked in a manner
very similar to the ordinary way of baking bar-iron into steel. This is merely
a brief outline of the process by which they expect to escape much of the
drudgery and expense attendant on the old method—New York Tribune.

RULE FOR CALCULATING THE WEIGHT OF A CASTING FROM
THE WEIGHT OF ITS PATTERN.

Tt is evident that the weight of a casting stands in the same proportion to
the weight of its pattern as the specific gravity of the former to that of the
latter, allowing, at the same time, for the shrinking, 7. ¢., contracting of the
casting in cooling. The following data are taken from an article of Professor

66 “ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Karmarsch. Average specific gravity of materials used for patterns: Pine-
wood, 0°500; oak, 0°785; beech, 0°721; pear-tree, 0°689; birch, 0°664; alder,
0°551; mahogany, 0°600; brass, 8°300; zinc, 7-000; tin (3 to 4 tin 1 lead),
7900; lead, 11:000; cast-iron, 7-250. Compositions, red metal (10 to 15 per
cent. zine), 8°600; bronze (copper, tin, and zine, zinc and tin together 15 to 20
per cent.), 8°450; bell-metal (zinc and tin 20 to 25 per cent.), 8°900; cannon-
metal (tin 5 to 10 per cent.), 8°760.
The shrinking or contracting in cooling, is;

(RGEIDPASSS 1. Sik Ge ais wh wes <cteie s cieinaats eran Soe 1 from 21

POF UDTONZEE:. shai Sapte siteaisioers siepeiepsee teeter 1 from 26
SUE ZU ott alte tevetorsieinictareyain vate olotetafelanetetevcle eta 1 from 27
ATOM CASCAITOD fe wicl, oe ates op ale aie cet e.2 sis beiglatel plelate 1 from 32
Worrcannon Metal. 64s SAS sielert kere se aiele erates 1 from 40

This means that 21 cubic inches of melted fluid brass will, after cooling, oc-
cupy only 20 cubic inches.
If s is the specific gravity of the pattern, S specific gravity of the casting,
a the ratio of shrinking, P weight of the pattern, and C the weight of the
casting, the rule is: ‘
_PS(@-1)
&a@

C

The following table gives the numbers with which the weight of the pat-
tern is to be multiplied to obtain the weight of the casting, nearly:

THE CASTING MADE OF
Red Bell- Cannon-

eh - ae Brass. metal. Bronze. metal. metal. Zinc

Pine-wood...... 14:0 15:8 167 16:3 170 171 1385

“OYE ER ae ee 9-0 101 10-4 10°3 10°8 10:9 86

WSBCCD capone e006 «ie Ere 10°9 114 113 118 11°6 9-4

Pear-tree........ 10:2 11°5 11:9 11°8 12°3 12°4 9°8
PING ee eisie ccs es 10°6 119 123 12:2 12°8 12°9 10°2
mde, Pe: 12°8 14:3 14-9 14:7 15°4 155 12:2
Mahogany....... 117 132 23°T 135 14-1 14:2 112
BLASS isc asabicieis aieww's 0°84 0:95 0:99 0:98 1°02 1:03 0:81
ATC Ee oi. pete cas 1:00 1:13 mag) 116 1°21 1:22 0°96
PLANES erat rein aieic ee 0°89 1:00 1°03 1:03 1:07 1°08 0°85
Mee fi. fect eoe es 0°64 0°72 0°74 0-74 OTT 0-78 0°61
Gastron wee. 32). 0:97 1:09 113 112 aha ig 118 0:98

If you wish to know the weight of a casting in brass from a pine-wood
pattern, weigh the pattern—say 3 ounces—and multiply by 15°3X3—=47-4
ounces; if cast in iron, 14°0X2—=42 ounces.

MAKING STEEL TYRES.

At the works of F. Crupp, of Hisen, in Westphalia, tyres are formed of
cast-steel in a very ingenious manner. A flat bar of steel is taken, two holes
bored in the ends of the bar, and by powerful machinery is cut through from

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 67

hole to hole. It is then opened out, and between rollers a perfect tyre is made,
without a weld. They have a tyre on exhibition at the works, which, after
running 30,000 miles, presents scarcely any appearance of wear on its surface,

IMPROVED TUYRE FOR SMITHS’ HEARTHS,

The following improvements in the construction of tuyres for smiths’ fur-
naces, has been made by John Fernie of England. Mr. F., having observed
the defects in the common water tuyeres, which in large fires were sometimes
burned out in a day, found that, from the smallness of the water-space, steam
was formed at the end, which drove the water back into the cistern, and it
struck him, as an improvement, to make the space sufficiently large to allow
a free circulation of the fluid, and thus prevent the formation of steam. The
entire annular space round the nozzle of the blast-pipe, instead of being sup-
plied with water from a tube only, is placed in communication with a large
body of fluid by opening direct into the water cistern, which insures in all cases
a good supply of water, and as that portion nearest the fire gets hot, it cireu-
lates, and prevents the metal getting too high a température. The first one
on this principle was put to work in 1846, and proved eminently successful ;
it was a single casting, with the inner pipe for the blast, carried straight
through to the back of the water reservoir. A modification was suggested, in
which the tuyere was cast in two pieces—the one nearest the heat being fixed
on a conical joint with bolts and nuts, which can thus be removed when
burned out, and a new one supplied.

IMPROVEMENTS IN HEATING APPARATUS.

General Dembinski, of Paris, has recently patented some novel and ingenious
arrangements for obtaining heat, to be applied to heating or warming rooms
and large buildings, hot-houses, and to cooking and other purposes. The
general principle adopted by the patentee, is such an arrangement of fluted or
plain tubes, with tufts of wire passing through them, to be heated in any
convenient manner, as, while hot, can have water continually to flow over or
through them. The heated surface being extensive, in proportion to the
water to be heated, keeps the latter in a constant state of ebullition, and by
passing in that state through other pipes, so as to recirculate over the heated
surface, great economy of fuel is estimated by the patentee to be the result.
A large square or circular flattened vessel is connected with a smaller one by
a tube of small diameter at their upper part, and by one of large caliber be-
low; the steam and water, in a state of ebullition, pass along the upper pipe,
and the water through the larger tube below, keeping up a constant circula-
tion. In such case a single gas-burner only is employed, and the heated pro-
ducts of combustion so confined by a tube, as to heat the whole apparatus,
There are various modifications of the arrangement, by which a whole suite
of apartments can be heated with great facility. Ornamental vases, pillars,
plinths, and other architectural and fanciful designs, may be made the heating
medium in halls, staircases, single apartments, etc.

68 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

IMPROVEMENT IN FURNACES.

Dr. B. H. Washburn of St. Louis, has invented a method of feeding air to
boilers, on the so-called “ tornado principle.” The arrangement is as follows:
Two connecting cones or funnels are inserted in the doors of the furnace,
which insures a steady draught, and gives the air the form of a whirlwind.
The ash-pit is inclined at a good angle, reaching the bottom of the boiler from
the door in the space of a few feet, and thus every particle of heat is saved
and applied to the surface with the greatest intensity.

Smoke-consuming Furnace for Bituminous Coal.—Messrs. Haughgrove and
Wheatly, London, have obtained a patent for a new furnace to consume the
smoke of bituminous coal. The furnace is fitted with two sets of grate bars
slightly inclining upward toward the back end. Between the front and back
set of bars a hollow perforated movable bridge or partition is fitted, and con-
nected with a lever, by which the fireman can move it up or down. When
this bridge is depressed, access may be readily had to the back bars from the
front ones. A bright glowing fire is kept in the back bars or grate by push-
ing back the incandescent fuel from the front one. After the back grate is
supplied with glowing coals, the central bridge is raised, and all communi-
cation between the two fires is cut off, except through holes or perforations in
the bridge. When fresh fuel is thrown on the front grate, a large quantity
of unconsumed gases are immediately evolved, which, in passing through the
perforations in the movable central bridge, are there mingled with a current
of warm air coming from below the furnace through the hollow part of the
bridge, and then pass in streams over the back fire, ignite, and are consumed
—in other words, converted entirely into carbonic acid gas, with a great de-
velopment of heat. A door is placed behind the furthest set of bars for the
purpose of cleaning out the back furnace.

Macferran’s Self-retaining Grate Bars—These patent bars have mortices
on one side and tennons on the other, at the part where the bars touch each
other, so that when a set are placed side by side with the tennons of one fit-
ting in the mortices of the next, it is impossible for one bar to rise above an-
other. This preserves a uniform level at the top, and prevents them from
warping.

Bow’s Down-draught Smokeless Furnace.—In this farnace, devised by Mr.
R. H. Bow of Scotland, the draught is reversed—that is, the flame, air, etc.,
proceed downward through and from the fire; and it is therefore, proposed to
call it the “Down-draught Furnace.” The principle of its action is very sim-
ple. The smoke, liberated from the superincumbent coal, is, by means of the
suction of the chimney, carried, along with a due admixture of air, down
through the brightly burning fuel which forms the lower stratum of the fire,
and thus becomes intensely heated and completely burned. Contrary to what
might have been expected, the combustion is very rapid; in some experi-
ments made with a grate of $ of a square foot in area, the combustion was at
the rate of 30lbs. of coal per square foot of grate per hour; the height of the
chimney being nearly 35 feet. This result is probably due to the self-clear-

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 69

ing power of the furnace, and the comparatively dense state of the air when
it mingles with the fuel. The combustion readily spreads upward to the fresh
coal from the action of the strong radiant heat.

Gripper’s Smokeless Furnace.—The principle of this recent (English) inyen-
tion is that of mechanical motion applied to the bars, but different from any-
thing yet introduced. Every alternate bar is so connected with a cross-piece
at each end as to form one entire movable frame, which is connected by
gearing with the motive power. The motion given to it is angular; first, the
bars rise very slowly about an inch aboye the stationary ones, they then
move gradually in a lateral direction toward the bridge, again sink in a verti-
eal direction about an inch below the other bars, and then move laterally for-
ward to their original position. What are termed the stationary bars are not
fixed as usual but hung in such a manner as exactly to balance the vibrating
frame with the load of fuel which it has to move, thus taking but little power
from the engine to keep them in motion. The fuel is fed through a hopper
and regulating incline plane, and the whole is self-acting, requiring but little
attention from the stoker. We were informed that this apparatus has been
in constant use about six months, that no difficulties whatever arose from the
mechanical motion; there was an entire absence of clinker, nearly perfect
combustion of the fuel was effected, and during our visit not a particle of
smoke was visible from the chimney. Mr. Gripper estimates the saving of
fuel alone at about 10 per cent., besides numerous other adyantages.—London
&. R. Journal.

ON THE CONSUMPTION AND ECONOMY OF FUEL.

The following paper on this important subject, with the notice of some new
inventions connected therewith, was recently read before the London Society
of Arts, by the well-known physicist, Dr. Neil Arnott.

Is it possible to avoid or to consume smoke—in other words, to produce a
smokeless fire? Common coal (bituminous) is known to consist of carbon and
bitumen or pitch, of which pitch again the elements are still chiefly carbon
and hydrogen, a substance which when separate, exists as an air or gas.
When the coal is heated to about 600° Fahrenheit, the bitumen or pitch
evaporates as a thick, visible smoke, which, when it afterward cools, assumes
the form of a black dust or flakes, called blacks or soot. If that pitch, how-
ever, be heated still more, as it is in the red-hot iron retorts of a gas work, or
in rising through a certain thickness of ignited coal in an ordinary fire, it is in
great part resolved into invisible carburetted hydrogen gas, such as we burn
in street lamps. Now when fresh coal is thrown upon the top of a common
fire, part of it is soon heated to 600°, and the bitumen of it evaporates as the
visible smoke, which immediately rises. If the pitchy vapor, however, be
heated to ignition by the contact of a flame, or of ignited coal near the surface,
it suddenly becomes in great part gas, and itself burns as flame. This is the
phenomenon seen in the flickering and burning which takes place on the top
of a common fire. But if fresh coal, instead of being placed on the top of a
fire, where it unavoidably must emit visible pitchy vapor or smoke, be intro

70 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

duced beneath the burning red hot coal, so that its pitch, in rising as vapor,
must pass among the parts of the burning mass, it will be partly resolved into
inflammable coal gas, and will itself burn, and inflame whatever else it touches.
Persons often amuse themselves by pushing a piece of fresh coal into the
center of the fire in this way, and then observing the blaze of the newly-formed
gas.

Various attempts, beginning perhaps with Dr. Franklin, have been made
to get rid altogether of smoke: one of the most recent of which was made by
a London manufacturer, Mr. Cutler. He placed a box filled with coal under
the fire, with its open mouth occupying the place of the removed bottom bars
of the grate, and in the box was a movable bottom, supporting the coal, by
raising which it was lifted gradually into the grate to be consumed. The
apparatus for lifting, however, was complicated, and liable to get out of order,
which with other reasons, caused the stove to be little used. The movable
bottom rested on a cross-bar of iron, which in moving was guided by slits in
the side of the coal box, and was lifted by chains at each end, drawn up by
a windlass. Dr. Arnott then described a new fire grate somewhat on the
above-noticed principle but more simple. The charge of coal for the day is
placed ina box immediately beneath the grate, and is borne upward as
wanted, by a piston in the box, which is raised by the poker used as a lever,
and as readily as the wick of an argand lamp is raised by its screw; the fire
is thus under command, as to its intensity, almost as completely as the flame
ofalamp. There are notches in the piston-rod for the point of the poker, and:
a ratchet catch to support the piston when the lever is withdrawn. The
coal-box of an ordinary fire may have a depth of seven or eight inches, which
will receive from twenty to thirty pounds of coal, according to the area. In
winter an inch or two more depth of coal may be placed over the mouth of
the box before the fire is lighted, and in warmer weather the box will not
require to be quite filled, that is to say, the piston, at the time of charging,
needs not to be lowered quite to the bottom.

If it become desirable to replenish the coal-box it may be easily done, as
follows: when the piston has been fully raised so as to have its flat surface
flush with the bottom bar of the grate, a broad flat shovel is pushed in upon
the piston, and it becomes at once a temporary floor to the grate and a lid to
the coal-box. The piston being then allowed to sink, the lid is raised and the
box filled with a new charge of coal, when combustion goes on as in the
morning. This fire is lighted with great ease. The wood is laid on the upper
surface of the fresh coal filling the coal-box, and a thickness of three or four
inches of cinders or coked coal left from the fire of the preceding day is placed
over it. The wood being then lighted, instantly ignites the cinder above, and
at the same time the pitchy vapor from the fresh coal below rises through the
wood-flame and cinders, and becomes sufficiently heated to inflame itself, and
so to augment the blaze. When the cinder is once fairly ignited, all the bitu-
men rising through it afterward, becomes gas, and the fire remains quite
smokeless ever afterward.

In the new grate, because no air is allowed to enter at the bottom of the
coal-box—for the piston-rod fits its opening pretty accurately—there is no

*

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 71

combustion below, but only between the bars of the grate, where the fuel is
so completely exposed to air, and near the mouth or top of the coal-box. The
unsatisfactory results of some other attempts to make such a fire, have been
owing in part to the combustion extending downward in the coal-box, be-
cause of air having been admitted below; and the consequent melting and
coking of the mass of coal, so as to make it swell and stick, impeded the rising
of the piston. A remarkable quality of this fire is its little tendency to be ex-
tinguished. Even after nearly all the coal in the grate has been consumed,
the air will descend-into the coal-box and keep the fire there gently alight,
for a whole day without any stirring, and yet ready to burn up actively the
moment the piston is raised. For the purpose of allowing a graduated admis-
sion of air, in order to ensure the maintenance of combustion with rather more
activity, there is a slide in a small door at the front bottom of the coal-box.
Before lighting the fire, whatever ash remains with this form of combustion, is
removed off the piston. The fire is extinguished by allowing it to exhaust
itself, or by lifting out the few lumps of coke or caked coal which remain.
The charge should be such that enough cinder or coke may be left for the
smokeless lighting of the next day. By the means above described, the pro-
duction of smoke is obviated. We now come to consider the subject of the
waste of fuel in ordinary fires. Count Rumford showed that 2ths of all the
heat produced in a common open fire passed up’ the chimney with the smoke,
and therefore to waste; and he appealed in corroboration to the experience
of those who use close stoves, which do not thus waste heat up the chimney,
and where much less fuel than is needed in open fire suffices. As an exem-
plification of the above, Dr. Arnott gives the following striking illustration :—
“T have an enclosed fire which, for 14 years past, has maintained for 24 hours,
from October to May, a continued temperature of 60° or more, accompanied
with good ventilation, by an expenditure of only 12 lbs. of coal, or about one
fourth of that used in an open fire burning from 15 or 16 hours. The aper-
ture by which the fresh air enters the stove to maintain sufficient combustion
to warm the room is about three quarters of an inch in diameter.”

If this be compared to the aperture of a common chimney-pot, which has a,
diameter of ten inches, and an area or size 150 times greater than the stove
in question, and we take into consideration the rapidity with which a column
of dense smoke filling that pot escapes from it when the fire is burning briskly;
and reflects further that such column consists entirely of the warmest air from
the room, blackened by a little pitchy vapor from the fire, there is proof of
prodigious waste, and room for reasonable hope that a saving is possible. To
see how a saving may be effected, the exact nature of the waste in such cases
has now to be explained. A single mouthful of tobacco-smoke, on issuing, im-
médiately diffuses itself so as to form a cloud larger than the smoker’s head,
and soon would contaminate the whole air of a room, as would also the smoke
and smell of wood, paper, or other combustible burned in a room. Now, the
true smoke of a common fire is not the whole of what is seen issuing from the
chimney top, but only little dribblets or fits which shoot up or issue from the
cracks in the upper surface of coal which forms the fire. These fits, how-
ever, quickly diffuse themselves like the tobacco-smoke in the air around

72 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

them, that is to say, in the large volume which fills the space left over a com-
mon fire. The whole of the air so contaminated, and which may be in volume
30, 50, or 100 times greater than that of the true smoke, is then all called
smoke, and must all be allowed to ascend away from the room. It is evi-
dent, then, that ifa hood or cover be placed over a fire, so as to prevent the
diffusion of the true smoke or the entrance of pure air from around to mix
with it, except just what is necessary to burn the inflammable gases which
rise with the true smoke, there would be a great economy. This has been
done in the new fire-place, with a saving of from one third to one half of the
fuel required to maintain a desired temperature.

The stalk of the hood passes closely through a plate or other stopping
through the bottom of the chimney, so that no air shall enter the chimney
but through the hood; and there is a throttle-valve or damper in the hood-
stalk, giving perfect control over the current of air that passes through. No
part of the apparatus is more important than this valve or damper, and its
handle or index must be very conspicuous, and have degrees of opening marked
on its plate as clearly as the points are marked on a compass card. When
the valve is quite open, the chimney acts to quicken the combustion, like
that of a blast furnace, or like a forge-bellows, but, by partially closing the
valve, the current may be diminished until only the most tranquil action re-
mains. The valve should not be open in general more than just enough to
let all the burned air or thin smoke, which is scarcely visible, pass through.
When the valve is once adjusted to the usual strength of chimney action, it
requires little change afterward. In many cases, it is desirable to be able to
command and modify, by a movable plate, the size of the front opening of
the hood or fire-place, as well as the opening of the chimney-throat. By the
proper adjustment of the two, the desirable brightness of the front of the fire
may be maintained. The chimney-flue above the upper opening of the hood
should have its sides made slanting, so as not to harbor dust or any soot
which, from any careless use of the fire, might be produced. The size of the
chimney-flue is not important. Other great evils of the present open fires are
that there are great irregularities and deficiencies m their heating and venti-
lating actions, which bear so powerfully on the public health. The hood and
its damper, by influencing these, may appear, perhaps, of more importance
than as saving the fuel. This arrangement, by allowing so small a quantity
of air to pass through in comparison with what rises in an open ordinary
chimney, lessens in the same degree the cold draught of air toward the fire
from doors and windows, and which are common causes to the inmates of
winter inflammation and other diseases; and for the same reason, the heat
once radiated from the fire toward the walls of the room, not being again
quickly absorbed and carried away by such currents of cold air as are referred
to, remain in the room, and soon renders the temperature of the whole more
equable and safe. Still more completely to prevent cold draughts approach-
ing from behind persons sitting around the fire, the fresh air from the room is
conveniently admitted, chiefly by a channel which leads directly from the ex-
ternal air under the floor to the hearth, and there allows the air to spread
from under the fender. The fender, exposed to the fire near it, becomes hot ;

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 73

the cold, fresh air then rising under it takes from it the excess of its heat, and
so becomes itself tempered, before it spreads in the room. The importance of
general ventilation again is strikingly illustrated by an occurrence which hap-
pened not long since in Glasgow. A large old building which had been form-
erly a cotton-mill, was fitted as a dwelling-house for persons of the working-
classes, and had nearly 500 inmates. Like all foul and crowded human
dwellings, fevers and kindred diseases soon became prevalent there. After a
time a medical man, who was interested, obtained permission from the pro-
prietors of a neighboring chemical works, in which there was a lofty and very’
powerful chimney, to make an opening of one foot in diameter into the side of
the chimney for the ventilation of the lodging-house. He then connected with
this a main tube from the lodging-house, which had branches running along
all the passages or galleries, and from the ceiling of every separate room a
small tube communicated with these branches. Soon after, to the surprise as
well as to the delight of all concerned, severe diseases entirely disappeared
from the house, and never returned. :

Now the chimney of the new fire-place, although not very tall has a venti-
lating power scarcely inferior to that of the Glasgow Chemical Works. The
arrangement of the hood with its valve, as above described, by allowing only
unmixed and very hot smoke to enter the chimney, instead of, as in common
chimneys, smoke diluted with many times its volume of colder air, increases
the draught just as it does the heat of the chimney, and through an opening
then made into the chimney from near the top of a room, all the hot, foul air
in the room, consisting, perhaps, of the breath of inmates, smell of meals,
burned air from candles, lamps,etc., and which else accumulated and stagnated
at first near the top of the room, is immediately forced into the chimney and
away. This is strikingly proved by placing, near the ventilating opening, a
light body, as feathers or shreds of paper, suspended to a thread, and seeing
with what force it is drawn into the opening.

e
ON THE CONSUMPTION OF SMOKE.

The subject of the consumption of smoke continues to be frequently dis-
cussed in most of the scientific journals and circles of England. Mr. Muir,
in a communication to the Society of Arts, states that the statements often
made, that from seventy-five all the way down to ten per cent. of fuel can be
saved by the consumption of smoke, are not founded upon any reliable facts.
We have never seen any evidence to satisfy that the direct saving from the
burning or prevention of smoke was over five per cent., and in some cases no
difference has resulted in the quantity of fuel consumed, whether the smoke
was consumed or not. The conditions requisite for combustion are, that the
subjects of combustion—the fuel and the oxygen—should be brought in con-
tact and subjected to heat sufficient to unite them. But the smoke discharged
from furnaces is generally the result of imperfect combustion consequent upon
the stoppage of the process after it has been begun. The stoppage, in many
ceases, is caused by deficient draught; from want of air the heat necessary for
combustion is not maintained. But a common cause of dense volumes of

a

74 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

black smoke is not so much the want of a draught, as the stoppage and com-
bustion of the products of the fuel, nearest to the grate bars, being passed
through a layer of fresh fuel and upon the incandescent. By far the greater
. quantity of smoke is caused by the passing of the heated gases through this
layer of cool, fresh fuel, and the better the draught the blacker and more
abundant will be the smoke. The means, then, by which the formation of
smoke can be prevented, or consumed when formed, are draught, adequate
dimensions of boiler, and good management.

Adequate dimensions of the flue or chimney are primarily necessary to pre-
vent or consume smoke. Adequate dimensions of the boiler are not necessary
to consume smoke, but to consume it economically and consistently with the
performance of the work to be done. Draught is the first requisite, for with-
out it smoke can neither be prevented from burning nor consumed after form-
ation. To many it may appear a very extraordinary thing, that when
smoke is burned, less steam is raised in a given time. It seems sound reasoning
to say smoke is fuel, and since steam is raised by the burning of fuel, the burn-
ing of smoke should raise steam. This is so far correct; but I have observed
that in many cases where smoke is consumed by the admission of air above and —
not through the fuel, there is not so much coal consumed, and since coal is fuel,
it is evident that the burning of smoke may, by decreasing the consumption of
fuel, lessen the heat of the furnace, and thereby reduce the quantity of water
evaporated in a given time. In a steam boiler furnace, if the air be admitted
above the fuel, then it is consumed less quickly, and the rate of evaporation
is slower; and as the most active part of the boiler is that right over the fire,
and for a short distance beyond the bridge, it is evident that any reduction of
the heat of that fire will have to be balanced by increased heat in the flues,
and whether that will or will not be the case, when smoke is burned, will de-
pend upon the relative constituent parts of the fuel, the setting of the boiler,
and the power of the draught. Nothing can be more perplexing and unsat-
isfactory than the comparative results of experiments made in different places,
when the construction and setting of the boiler, with the dimensions of the
several parts, are not also given. .

A good draught in a furnace is the main element in its economy. I have
known a ton of coal saved in a week by adding to the height of the chimney;
the sharper the draught the greater is the heat, and the greater the heat the
more perfect the combustion, and the more perfect the combustion the greater
is the economy, and, with good management, the less the smoke—thus draught
is the prime requisite both for economy and for the consumption of smoke.

About twelve years since, a warm controversy was carried on respecting
the feeding of furnaces with warm or cold air. Mr. Muir thinks it does not
much matter if it be or be not heated before admission into the furnaces;
Jirst, because, though it is heated, the degree is not very high; and secondly,
because it is generally heated by the furnace itself, and in that case heating
the air is like robbing Peter to pay Paul. When the air is heated, a larger
aperture is required for the admission of the required quantity. When the
aperture is of the requisite size, it is so much gained if, before entering, the
air could receive heat which would otherwise be wasted.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. | 75

In another communication to the London Society of Arts, Mr. Woodcock
maintained that the simplest means of preventing the formation of smoke was
by providing for an ample supply of oxygen in a condensed state, in the form
of cold air, to the fuel in the fire bars; and by administering such further
supply of oxygen to the heated gases as might be necessary for their complete
combustion while in contact with the boiler; this latter supply being given at
such a temperature as would insure the successive ignition of the gases as
they were evolved. Thus, by establishing nearly perfect primary combustion,
the quantity of smoke evolved is reduced to a minimum, of which no visible
trace ever reached the summit of the chimney.

An apparatus, by which this desirable end was attained, was described to
consist of two parts, each being the addition of a very simple apparatus to the
ordinary boiler furnace. The first of these was a double set of thin iron bars,
lying horizontally in the direction of their length parallel to each other, im-
mediately beneath the grate in the ash-pit. Each set of bars resembled a
Venetian blind in its arrangement, the bars being inclined at an angle of 45°
to the horizon in the direction of their width. The bars of the two sets were
thus inclined in opposite directions, and being so close together that a vertical
straight line could not pass between any adjacent pair of them, yet far enough
- apart to allow all cinders to fall freely through, and the air to pass freely up-
ward to the fire. The bars were of the same length as the grate, so as to
extend from front to back. The effect of this arrangement is to screen the
ash-pit completely from the heat radiated directly downward from the grate,
and so that scarcely any would pass through by reflection. In fact, not a ray
of heat could reach the ash-pit from the furnace without suffering four reflec-
tions from rough iron surfaces, which would leave a mere shadow of a ray for
further progress. Thus a large quantity of heat, which would otherwise be
radiated out of the furnace into the ash-pit, thence reflected, and so lost, was
saved for the boiler. The ash-pit also was only slightly heated by the cinders
which fell through; and this source of heat might be reduced to any extent
by frequently removing the rubbish from the pit. Another consequence was,
that the air passing from below through the grate, not being heated in the
ash-pit, entered the fire cold, and therefore not as it did from ordinary ash-pits
in a rarefied condition. By its coolness this air prevented, to some extent,
the burning of the grate bars; and, by its unrarefied state, produced a more
intense and rapid combustion of the fuel after it had passed the bars.

Another part of the contrivance was more especially the smoke-burning
apparatus. It consisted of a set of tubes, open at both ends, passing through
the furnace horizontally from front to back, and terminating within the wall
of the front of the bridge, with valves to regulate the access of air into the
tubes. The fire-bridge differed materially from that of an ordinary furnace.
It was hollow, and divided into two parts, the larger of which stood up from
below; the other, which was more shallow, was in contact with the boiler.
Between them all the products of combustion passed from the furnace. The
two parts communicated with each other by channels at the sides, and thus
formed together an annular chamber. The tubes before mentioned entered
the front wall of this chamber, and thus established a communication between
the interior and the outer air. The back wall, or plate, both of the upper and

‘\

76 “ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

the lower part of this chamber, or bridge, being perforated with numerous
holes, opening from the interior of the bridge to the space beyond it, estab-
lished a direct communication between the outer air and the throat of the flue.
There was a second solid bridge beyond the first, descending from the upper
side of the flue; this, by intercepting the direct channel through that part of
the passage, retarded the flow of the smoke and gases, and caused their per-
fect mixture with each other within the space between the bridges. The
result of this arrangement was, that a current of highly heated air, which
passed through the tubes in the furnace, escaped at the bridge through the
perforations in the back wall, and mixing with the gases from the furnace,
which held the smoke in suspension, converted the smoke into flame. It was
calculated that by the adaptation of this apparatus to marine boilers the high
temperature of the boiler-rooms would be obviated, and that the steam vessels
would not be so evident from a distance as they now. were, by the volumes of
smoke they give out.

PULVERIZING MACHINE.

A machine for the pulverization of sugar, gum, and other substances which
can not be easily ground without clogging, has recently been invented by
Mr. Chase, of Boston.

The machine consists in a novel and ingenious application of stampers af-
fixed to a revolving plate attached to the central shaft, and acting within a
circular chamber or mortar. Within this mortar is a circular disk, which oc-
cupies the center space, and is furnished with projections or wings on its
edge, which divides that part of the mortar nearest its outer edge into a
number of rotative cells or chambers. In each of these cells one of the
stampers is placed. When the machine is set in motion the stampers and
disks are carried round together, and the former are alternately lifted and
dropped by means of the gearing and cams placed around the center shaft.
Each stamper thus makes eighty beats during a single revolution of the shaft.
The cells are fed by the hopper through the spout inserted into the side of the
mortar, and, having made one revolution, are emptied through to another
hole at the bottom of the mortar into the bolting-sieve placed in the chamber
beneath the hopper.

There is one peculiarity in the action of the stampers in this machine
which deserves notice: The sides of the cells in which the pounding takes
place, being constantly in motion, the material to be pounded is carried round
by them, and pushed along or turned over upon the fixed plate which forms,
the bed of the mortar. By this action a fresh surface is constantly presented
to the blow of the stamper, and the ingredients to be pounded never can get
beaten into a hard, compact mass, as is often the case with fixed stampers,
and thus a very large amount of their power is rendered ineffective.

ARRESTING AND REACTING SPRINGS FOR FIRE-ENGINES.

The following extract from the specification of a patent granted Franklin
G. Smith, of Columbus, Tennessee, sufficiently explains the nature -of the
above-entitled invention:

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. . Ys

The design of these springs is to prevent the great waste of power incurred
in working the common fire-engine, by causing the descending arm of the
working lever (instead of being arrested by some solid part of the machine) to
give over all its momentum to springs of such strength as easily to offer the
requisite resistance to the blow, and of such elasticity as to give over nearly
all of their power to the return-stroke of the engine. In the form commonly
seen, every successive stroke of the fire-engine starts from a dead rest, and
the power with which the stroke ends is totally lost in giving a blow to the
frame of the engine, giving it a very serious concussion, and causing painful
shocks to the arms of the firemen. The springs now proposed prevent all jar
and concussion from the stroke of the levers, and (supposing tlie springs to be
perfect, that is, to re-act without any loss of power from friction) they convert
the entire power with which the stroke is ended, into power acting in the
opposite direction for beginning the next stroke. They may be made of any
shape and any material so that they will arrest the whole momentum of each
stroke, and re-act with energy in starting the succeeding stroke.

ZINC ROOFS.

A square of 100 feet of zinc, at 22 ounces to the foot (No. 14 gauge),
weighs, when laid on with laps and rolls, 150 pounds; the same surface in
English slates, weighs 830 pounds, and in plain tiles 1,900 pounds. Zinc is,
consequently 54 times lighter than slates, and nearly 14 times lighter than
tiles, in addition to the saving of surface and weight, by the flatness and
lightness of the framework and supporting walls. As compared with lead,
the density of zinc is 7°19, while that of lead is 11°35; the tenacity of zinc is
109°8, and that of lead is 27-7, from whence it follows that while a sheet of
zinc of equal thickness to one of lead is only two thirds the weight, its
strength or sustaining power is four times that of lead, while the cost is pro-
portionately low as applied to each material.

IMPROVED CAST-IRON PAVEMENT.

A new form of cast-iron pavement has recently been laid down in Phila-
delphia for experimental purposes. It consists of cast-iron plates, 12 feet
long, 3 feet 4 inches wide, and 3 inch thick; 12 feet being the width of the
pavement to the curb. These plates are roughened on the surface by grooves,
14 inch apart, crossing each other at an oblique angle, so as to divide the sur- .
face into diamonds. A cast-iron half-inch plate, with its two edges turned at
a right angle, so as to make flanges at the top and bottom, forming a girder
11 inches deep, is bolted to the columns of the building, making a support on
which the inner ends of the plates rest. The curb is of cast-iron, + inch thick,
11 inches deep, having a flange each side, at the bottom, and on the inside
only at the top; it is made to slope slightly outward from the top to the bgt-
‘tom. This curb rests upon a brick wall, forming the outside wall of the cel-
lar, a good cement being interposed to make a water-tight joint; the pieces
of curb have butt joints secured by a cast plate behind, riveted securely to

78 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

both pieces, cement being interposed. From the building girder to the curb,
and resting on the lower flange of each, stretch-girders or joists, 12 feet long
and 11 inches deep, 3 feet 4 inches apart, on which the pavement plates are
laid and securely fastened by bolts or rivets, with counter-sunk heads, going
through the flanges of the girder, the joists, and the curb. All the joints are
carefully cemented so as to be water-tight; the transverse girders or joists
are of half-inch cast-iron, strengthened on the bottom flange by wrought-iron
flat bars, bolted to the cast-iron only at the two ends, and slightly expanded
by heating when it is put on, so as to bring the lower part of the girder into

a state of compression. 4

IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES.

Mr. Michael Scott of England, has recently brought before the public a
three wheeled carriage designed for affording superior facility of motion, with
ease and accommodation to the occupants, and means of resisting the wear
and tear of traffic. It has two wheels behind, and a single central wheel in
front, as high or even higher than the hind pair. This lightens the draught
and simplifies the under frame-work. The driver’s seat occupies the place
usually assigned to the rumble, directly over the hind wheels, so that the
reins stretch over the body of the carriage.

Glass and Iron Aale-boxes.—An invention has recently been brought out
by Mr. Campbell of Columbus, Ohio, for constructing cast iron axle-boxes
with a lining of glass on the interior. It is claimed that there is less friction
in these boxes, with less lubrication than in any other.

Wilson’s Improvement.—In common lumber wagons the ends of the reaches
overlap, and are secured together by means of a pin; in order to render the
length of the reaches changeable, their ends are bored with holes, placed at
different distances, through which the pin passes. Reaches thus bored and
fastened are weak, and frequently break down. An improvement patented
by Edward Wilson, of Prattsburg, N. J., consists in placing a series of rack
teeth on the ends of each reach, so arranged that the teeth of one rack fit
into those of the other; when the two racks are united a sliding ring collar is
employed to hold them together. In order to change the length of reaches,
it is simply requisite to loosen the collar, set the racks as desired, and bind
them again with the collar. Reaches thus furnished are not bored, and are,
therefore, much stronger; the coupling is also much more rigid than the old
plan.—Scientijic American.

Green's Patent Sleeve-Aale-—Mechanical journals, the records of the Patent
Office, and the heads of inventors, seem to be about equally full of car axles,
car axlé-boxes, etc.; and the good old “ go-cart,” with its more refined devel-
opments of barouche and buggy, seems to be left somewhat in the shade.
Occasionally, however, a step is taken in this direction, and the Sleeve-axle,
alghough some two years before the public, may be one of those not yet suf-
ficiently known. The old English mail-coach patent dispensed with both
linch-pins and nuts at the end of the axle by placing the fastening on the
inner instead of outer side of the wheel. A high thin collar was turned on

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 79

the axle just at the inner edge of the bearing, and a ring of thin metal was
bolted to the inside of the limb in such a manner as to take hold of this collar
and prevent the slipping of the wheel endwise. This allows the end of the
hub to be boxed completely in, keeping out the dirt and preventing the pos-
sible appearance of grease and filth at these prominent points on an elegant
carriage. Green’s Sleeve-Axle is simply an improvement on this “ mail-
coach” style, and has the effect of making the axle last longer—in fact, last
forever, in theory, as the wear is entirely removed. The collar and the whole
bearing surface of the axle are made in a separate piece or sleeve, and fitted
tightly on over the true axle. The true axle is wrought iron, and forged
octagonally and tapering at the extremities. The sleeve is of cast iron, and
when worn a little on one side, may be removed and turned one eighth
around, in as many hours as it required days to repair the solid axle. When
all eight of its sides are sufficiently worn, the sleeve has only to be rejected,
and a new one supplied. The patentee is E. H. Green of Baltimore.

IMPROVED CYLINDERS FOR CALICO PRINTING.

In printing fabrics by the ordinary system, the copper rollers employed are
found to be easily affected by the chemical action of the mordanis, colors, and
other matters employed in calico printing; and great expense is occasioned
by the large outlay necessary for the production of the engraved meiallic
rollers, which are not only very costly, but from the reasons above-named,
are far from being durable. It is proposed to obviate these disadvantages, by
employing cylinders covered with india-rubber or gutta-percha, which mate-
rials are afterward vulcanized and rendered extremely hard. ‘Thus prepared,
they are engraved in the same manner as ordinary copper printing cylinders
or rollers, whether in inéaglio or relief Such printing surfaces are produced
with facility and economy, while their printing action is sharp and effective,
and not subject to injury from the action of acids, alkalies and other agents
employed.

IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR PICKING FIBROUS SUBSTANCES.

In machines for picking cotton and other fibrous materials, the picking
cylinder is generally covered with what is termed a “fillet ;” this consists of a
sheet of leather filled with ordinary card-teeth. The heavy work at which
pickers are employed requires that the teeth should be very firmly secured—
else they break, bend or otherwise refuse to do good work. A recent im-
provement by Mr. Kitson of Lowell, consists in making the teeth separate,
and in attaching them, without any fillet to the cylinder. His mode of
attachment is such that they may be made larger and stronger, with corre-
sponding advantages in durability, economy and thoroughness of operation.

IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS AND WHAVING.

Broadbent's Improved Loom.—The principal feature of this invention by
John Broadbent, of Oak Grove, Kentucky, consists in the employment of two

80 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

hooks instead of a shuttle for putting the filling into the warp, which enter
the sheds from opposite sides, the one to take the filling thread from a bobbin
or one of a series of bobbins conveniently placed on the side of the loom, and
carry it half way through the shed, where it is met by the other hook, which
takes the thread and retreats, thus drawing the filling entirely through. The
filling thus drawn through is double, but the threads are laid evenly side by
side, without the possibility of twisting, so that the texture and appearance
of the goods remain precisely the same as if the shuttle were employed. All
the other points of the invention are more or less subservient to this principal
feature. The invention is applicable to nearly all kinds of hand or power
looms, either for plain, fancy or figured goods, as well as wide or narrow car-
pets. Among the advantages which the hooks possess over the shuttle, are
first, in running lighter, and consequently requiring less power. Second, in
being less subject to wear and tear—the shuttle motion and its appendages
being the most expensive part of a loom to keep in order. Third, in obviat-
ing the damage likely to occur by the shuttle flying from the loom. Fourth,
in seldom requiring the stoppage of the loom, an accident which is not very
liable to occur. As there are no shuttles to be filled, the loom would not be
required to stop for a whole day, since the bobbin can be renewed at any
moment without stopping.

Mr. William Talbot, of Willimantic, Connecticut, has recently made some
valuable improvements on the loom, adapted to facilitate and perfect the
weaving of bags, diapers, twills, checks, and cassimeres. The primary idea
of the loom is that of the Jacquard and the endless chain modified and com-
pacted. The improvement can be so arranged, in a very short period of
time, as to weave bags, twilled or plain, of exactly uniform length, or of ex-
actly an equal number of picks, day after day, or rather through beam after
beam, making a real and strong bottom to each. The cards of the Jacquard
and the endless chain are dispensed with by Mr. Talbot, in weaving large
patterns. Their places are supplied by two cylinders, the rotary action of one
being used in making the body of the bag, and the action of the other being
used in making the bottom of the same—the action of the one cylinder giving
motion to the other cylinder when the first is desired to be motionless, and
the second is desired to be in action. Another fact about the loom is, that it
Weaves with a shed opening both ways; not a peculiarity indeed, but a fact
which every manufacturer of goods, figured in weaving, may desire to know.
We have seen adoom in operation having seventeen harnesses, and the shed
was broad open, for the free and easy passage of the shuttle, without any
great tension of the warp. The open shed, moreover, is connected with such
a particular motion of the harnesses, that when any one or more are either
up or down, they have a pause in their motion; a short pause, indeed, but
still of great value in giving time for the shuttle to race through its course.
In most looms, when a harness attains its greatest height in weaving, or its
lowest point, it is made instantly to move to the opposite point. This im-
provement, on the contrary, gives the harness a moment’s pause when it is
either up or down in its motions. Connected with this fact of a pause in the
motions of the harnesses, while they are at the highest or lowest point, is this

- MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 81

other fact, that this improvement secures such a compensation of motion, as to
require but a moiety more power to run it than is needed in the lighter and
plainer looms. One or more harnesses up-balance an equal number which are
down; and very little power is needed to make them change places, so per-
fectly is compensation secured. This peculiarity stands connected with
another, which is, that the loom, while moved with little power and noise, -
can safely and properly be made to move with very great speed. We have
seen it going at the speed of 130 picks to the minute, and we know that it
can be tended with the ease of the common loom.—Plow, Loom, and Anvil.

Weaving Looms.—A. patent has been granted to James Ballough, Eng., for
preventing broken warp threads becoming entangled in the shed of a loom.
He employs an extra leaf of healds placed behind the ordinary harness, and
gives to this leaf a motion backward and forward between the yarn, making
them act like a comb to throw back any ends of broken yarn from being
carried forward to obstruct the proper shedding of the warp.

Improved Shuttles.—Two patents for improvements in shuttles have recently
been granted, one to E. P. Marble, of New Worcester, Mass., and the other
to Laroy Litchfield of Southbridge, Mass. The two are entirely dissimilar in
character, although they relate to the same instrument—the simple shuttle.

The patent of Mr. Litchfield embraces a novel method of applying a spring
to keep the shuttle-cop in place, and which admits of the repeated raising and
replacing of the spindle to renew the yarn, without causing such wear as to
throw the spindle out of place. It also embraces a regulating screw, to bring
the spindle at once to a proper position in the shuttle. A spring caich is also
employed in such a manner as to confine the bobbin (when one is used), go
that without changing the position of the spindle, or rendering it unsteady, a
large or small bobbin may be secured to the shuttle.

The invention of Mr. Marble relates to an improved mode of applying the
Spring catch that is employed to confine the bobbin in shuttles, by which it
adapts itself to varying sizes-of the heads of the bobbins, and whereby it is
drawn square off the bobbin heads with the spindle, so as not to drag upon
and split the heads—a fault common to shuttles now in use. The improve-
ment also enables the catch to be conveniently applied to the cop-shutile, to
confine the tube of the cop, or the cop itself if spun without a tin tube. Tho
catch to confine the cop is made with a small notch to receive the collar of
the tin tube, and it has a point to catch and confine the cops which are made
with paper tubes.— Scientific American.

Pickers for Power-looms.—Thomas Holliwell and Joseph Barker, of York,
Eng., manufacturers, have taken out a patent for preserving pickers and pick-
er-sticks, and for preventing caps coming off the shuttle during the process of
weaving. The invention consists in the use of a spring of steel or whalebone
fixed behind the back end of the shuttle-box, such spring being attached at
one end to a raw hide, and it has a hole in the other end passing around the
sirspindle of the shuttle-box. The raw hide forms a buffer bringing the shuttle
gradually to a state of rest, and preventing it going too far into the box, and
it also assists in returning it for the next shot.

4*

82 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

NEW PROCESS FOR MAKING PAPER FROM STRAW.

The following notice of a new process for manufacturing paper from straw
and other vegetable substance, by M. Helin, of Belgium, is taken from the Lon-
don Practical Mechanics’ Journal :—

The increasing scarcity of materials for making a cheap and serviceable
paper, has been often brought to the attention of our readers; and other por-
tions of the public press have not been backward in stimulating the energies
of the inventive and mercantile classes to increase our supplies or cheapen the
manufacture. A thousand denizens of the vegetable kingdom can, under ap-
propriate treatment, be made to assume the form of paper. We are continu-
ally hearing of some enterprising individual having converted a very unlikely
material into a useable paper. But when we inquire into the particulars of the
manufacture, we soon find. that the cost exceeds the value of the product, and
that, in place of having a cheaper article, the paper thus produced could not
be sold at so low price as that previously in the market. Again, we are fre-
quently receiving intelligence of the vast quantity of raw material which the
tropics can supply. We make no doubt that such representations are per-
fectly correct; but against the abundance of supply has to be set either the
expense of either getting rid of extraneous matter, in a country where there
is no machinery, or the expense of a long carriage by land and sea of a very
bulky article. In either case the cost will not allow the paper to be brought
into competition with that now manufactured. One of the materials which
earliest suggest themselves as suitable for conversion into paper, is the straw
of grain-bearing plants. An abundant supply of this material can be obtained
at a cheap rate. There is a difficulty however in the manufacture, which one
might easily overlook until the experiment is made. Straw contains a good
deal of silica, principally in its exterior coating, and it is necessary to get rid of
this before it can be made into paper. Now, the cost of the process is consider-
able, and has been hitherto found so great as to render the manufacture unre-
munerative. The principal object of M. Helin’s patented process, to which
we will now draw the reader’s attention, is to reduce the expense of the de-
silicatization of the straw, and thus to add, in a very important degree, to the
supply of our paper-yielding materials.

M. Helin’s invention relates to a peculiar treatment of the straw of grain-
bearing plants, for producing a pulp suitable for the manufacture of paper at
an economical rate. For this purpose it is preferred to employ the straw of
rye and wheat, but the same mode of treatment is equally applicable to vari-
ous other vegetable substances, such as jute, flax, and hemp. The straw is
first steeped entire for 60 hours, which time may be exceeded without incon-
venience, in spring, rain, or river water, of a temperature of from 55° to 85°
Fahrenheit, the temperature being varied according to the season of the year.
After some hours, the water becomes gradually warm and discolored, and an
active fermentation takes place, After 60 hours the liquid is suffered to run
off, and the straw must be washed with a plentiful supply of water, in order
to remove therefrom all the soluble coloring matter. The straw is then

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 83

drained, and while still damp is subjected to the action of millstones, rolling

on a plane surface, or passed between a pair of rollers, in order to flatten the

straw. It is then forced between other rollers furnished with cutters, or other

suitable apparatus, whereby the straw may be formed into filaments or fibers,

as long and continuous as possible. In this state, that is, when reduced to-
long and continuous filaments, the straw is to be exposed to the air and sun,

for the purpose of drying it, after which process the straw will have assumed
a pale yellow color. In cases where time is no object, it is preferred to steep

the straw several times, and again expose it to the air and light. It will be
found convenient, in such cases, to steep the straw at night, and expose it to

the air during the day, to obtain the full benefit of the air and light. The first
described process of maceration is, however, the most important. By subject-
ing the straw to the action of water, and subsequently exposing it to the air
and light, it becomes bleached to a certain extent; but by means of the pro-
cess described below, it is completely divested of all coloring matter, and is
rendered perfectly white. After having been submitted to the processes re-

ferred to, the straw is steeped for one or more days, according as itisina
more or less filamentous state, in one or more of the preparations afterward

described, the filaments being first treated either with the alkaline solutions,

or by the solutions of hypochloride of potash or soda; and sometimes, for a
longer or shorter period, with the preparations of hypochloride of lime, until
the straw has acquired the requisite degree of whiteness. The filamentous
straw, after it has been submitted to the processes first described, and has
been steeped in the alkaline solutions of soda or potash, which take up a great
portion of its yellow coloring matter, assumes a darker tint, notwithstanding
its being washed in clean water. This darker tint disappears, however, on the
straw being exposed to the open air and light; and the process, if renewed,

causes the straw to become more and more white. By these processes the

straw becomes reduced to beautiful filaments, which may readily be converted
into pulp; and from their solidity and strength, the filaments might even be
employed in the manufacture of yarns or fabrics similar to cotton and hemp.

Jute and many plants of Linnzus’ order, Triandria, in which are comprised

the various grasses, and many plants of the orders Tetrandria, Pentandria,

Hexandria, and Dicecia, when treated by the processes herein. set forth,

lose their coloring principles, and become of a permanently bright white.

Hemp and flax may also be thus treated, and employed in the manufacture

of paper.

The solutions or preparations above referred to, consist, first, of a solution
of 8 lbs. of carbonate of soda or of potash, in 20 gallons of water; second, a
solution of 6 lbs. of bicarbonate of soda or potash, in 20 gallons of water;
third, a solution of 4 Ibs. of caustic potash or soda, in 20 gallons of water; fourth,
a solution of 10 lbs. of hypochlorate of potash or of soda, in 20 gallons of
water ; fifth,-a solution of 14 lb. of hypochlorite of lime or bleaching powder,
in 20 gallons of water, to which may be added, in addition, if necessary, 14
Ib. of bleaching powder; sixth, a solution of 6 lbs. of bleaching powder, or
hypochloride of lime, in 20 gallons of water; seventh, a solution of 6 Ibs. of
bleaching-powder, and 2 lbs. carbonate soda or potash, in 20 gallons of water

84 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

After the maceration in water, the subsequent treatment of the straw, by any
of the before-mentioned processes, may be thus enumerated :—lIst. By alka-
line solutions. 2d. By solutions of hypochlorides of soda or of potash. 34d.
By the employment of the hypochlorides of lime, potash, or soda, as described
-in processes 6 and 7. When the alkaline liquids and the hypochlorides, con-
tained in the preparations 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, are too much charged with color-
ing matter, by reason of the repeated immersions of the straw, they are filtered
through a layer of animal charcoal, reduced to a granulated or powdered state,
for the purpose of obtaining a partial or total discharge of the coloring matter
therefrom. The hypochlorides of soda and potash decompose after they have
been long in use, but they may be renewed from time to time by chlorine gas,
or by a solution of chloride of lime. The straw or vegetable filaments are well
washed with water, after they have been perfectly bleached by the above pro-
cesses, or some of them, and may then be made into pulp in the ordinary
manner, for the fabrication of paper. It is evident that hydrochloric or sul-
phurie acids may, if deemed necessary, be used in connection with the above
bleaching materials, as is now well understood and generally adopted in the
bleaching of pulp in the manufacture of paper.

MANUFACTURE OF BANK-NOTE PAPER.

From the Report of the Committee of the New England Association of
Banks for the Suppression of Counterfeiting, appointed to report upon the
specimens of bank-note paper which were offered for the premium of $100,
we glean some interesting particulars, relative to the strength of bank-note
paper. Two of the most extensive bank-note paper manufacturers offered
specimens, and the premium was awarded to J. M. Wilcox & Co., Ivy Mills,
Penn. These papers were tested by Charles T. Carney of Lowell. Sheets
were drawn at random from 500 sheets of each specimen, and their strength
tested both lengthwise or by perpendicular strain, and crosswise or by trans-
verse strain, also with and without sizing. The first experiment was with
paper made by Crane & Co., weighing 14 lbs. to the ream. The first sheets
used were each halved and weighed, each half sheet being folded double when
tested. A half sheet weighing 3°165 grammes, having 64°81 square inches to
support the strain, stood a perpendicular strain of 20°5 Ibs. Without sizing
and weighing by its loss 3°070 grammes, it stood a strain of 100°5 Ibs. For a
transverse strain, a half sheet weighing 3°227 grammes, with 53°375 square
inches stood a strain of 254°5 Ibs. Without sizing, and weighing 3-085
grammes, it stood the strain of 146°5 Ibs.

For the second experiment, paper made by Wilcox & Co., 14 lbs to the
ream, was used. A half sheet as before, weighing 3°505 grammes, and
offering 61 square inches to the strain, stood the strain of 120°5 lbs. Trans-
verse, a half sheet weighing 3°180 grammes, with 53°375 square inches, stood
a strain of 260°5 lbs. Without sizing and weighing 2°830 grammes, 105°5 lbs.
Experiment No. 3, was with paper made by Wilcox & Co., weighing 16 lbs.
to the ream. A half sheet weighing 45°86 grammes, with 61 square inches,
stood a strain of 300°5 lbs. Without sizing and weighing 4°520 grammes, it
stood a strain of 137°5 Ibs.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 85

The average results of Crane’s paper, 14 lbs. to the ream, with sizing, was
an average perpendicular strain of 3°35 lbs to the square inch, with an aver-
age of 3°151 grammes; and an average transverse strain of 4°75 lbs. to the
square inch, with an average of 3:134 grammes weight. Wilcox & Co.’s, with
sizing. 14 lbs. to the ream, stood an average perpendicular strain of 3°66 lbs.
to the square inch, the average weight being 3°195 grammes; and a trans-
verse strain of 4°81 lbs., with 2°991 grammes weight.

MANUFACTURE OF BANK-NOTES.

At a recent meeting of the Society of Arts, London, Alfred Smee, F.R.S.,
and chemist of the Bank of England, read a paper and unfolded publicly the
improved method employed by that great institution for manufacturing the
bank-notes, to prevent forgery by the substitution of surface printing on the
notes, for line printing. ;

The notes and checks of the Bank of England have, up to the present time,
been invariably printed from copper and steel plates, in which the lines were
engraved, or cut into the metal, and into these lines was introduced the ink,
which in the progress of printing was transferred from the plate to the paper.
In surface printing the reverse of this state of things occurs, as the design, in-
stead of being cut into the metallic plate, is raised in relief, and the ink being
applied to the raised portions by means of rollers, is transferred by the press
to the paper in order to produce the impression. A single cut with a graying
tool forms the groove which holds the ink in plate printing, while for surface
printing a line must be cut on both sides, and equally finished on both, thus
materially increasing the difficulty of engraving. From a steel die electro
moulds were obtained, and electro copper produced by this system is found to
have hardly any limit to its durability. The limit to the duration of the
electro casts, for the purposes of bank-notes, has yet to be ascertained, as
almost a million of copies have been already printed from one without any
sensible effect. The platinized silver voltaic battery is the one used by the
bank as a source of power, and its successful operation was exhibited to the
meeting. It was devised by Mr. Smee, who received for it a gold medal from
the Society, and it has stood for 14 years the test of experience. At the bank
large batteries are employed, holding several gallons of the acid charge, the
platinized silver plate being of fair thickness, and the thick rolled zinc plates
being so arranged that they can be easily changed. For charging the battery
dilute sulphuric acid is used, generally mixed in the proportion of 4 acid to ¢
of water. In order to secure a strength suitable to the purposes of the battery,
it is convenient to adjust the mixture to a specific gravity of 1130, anda
battery so charged will continue in action nearly three weeks before it will be
completely exhausted. It is found, however, in practice, that after having
done efficient duty for from 7 to 14 days it becomes feeble, and requires a
fresh supply to resuscitate its former vigor. A hygrometer is generally used
to ascertain the changes, but Mr. Smee described an instrument constructed
by himself for the purpose, which he termed a battery meter. The point cor-
responding to specific gravity 1.130 is called unity, the interval between that

86 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

and 1.160, the density of the exhausted battery, is divided into 144 parts, by
which division every degree represents 1 grain of zinc dissolved in 1000 grains
- of bulk of fluid. The opposite side of the scale between the same points is
divided into 60 parts, each of which is for every grain of bulk in the fluid,
about 5,15 of an inch in thickness, for every superficial inch of surface upon
which the copper is reduced in the precipitating trough. In this division a
little allowance has been made for some local action of the zinc, and by this
instrument the quantity of that metal which has entered into combination
with the oxygen of the water in which it is subsequently dissolved, is really
weighed. In the application of the battery meter we have an illustration of a
law which governs all physical phenomena, that without a change of matter
we can not have any physical force; for in the electro-metallurgic apparatus
we have an effect equal to the original change of matter within a trifling per
centage. Thus by the use of the battery-meter, this great law is popularized,
furnishing a remarkable illustration of the reference of effect to cause. To
contain the battery with its charge the best salt-glazed stone-ware is em-
ployed, although no form of earthenware has been yet found permanently to
resist the attacks of the metallic saline solution, but being less brittle, it is
still preferable to glass.

The best standard salt for the reduction of copper by electro-metallurgy has
been hitherto the sulphate, and, with the occasional exception of the nitrate,
is invariably employed. On procuring suitable originals, with proper means
of duplication, the next process is to obtain perfect models, gutta percha
blackleaded is generally employed. When perfection is desired, electro moulds,
and electro moulds alone, are relied on, for which purpose the original is placed
in the depositing trough, and a thick electro mould deposited. The casts are
generally deposited so thick in the compound trough that they can be turned
down to the required form and size, and all depositions in electro moulds re-
quire for the highest perfection the utmost care, and the casts when ready
for printing are mounted on solid brass blocks.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TREE-NAILS.

The business of making locust tree-nails is an important branch of American
industry. Tree-nail is the technicai name of a long pin with which the planks
of a ship are fastened to the timbers. It is believed by those well acquainted
with the business that the best timber in the world for tree-nails is the locust
of Long Island. This is an American tree. It has been introduced into
Europe, and in,some situations produces excellent timber, while in others it is
pronounced worthless. The true variety grows large enough for ship timber,
and it has a great tendency to sprout from the roots after the original stalk
has been cut away, thus reproducing itself continually. It is the timber of
these sprouts, when some six or eight inches diameter and ten to twenty years
of age, that is mostly used for the manufacture of tree-nails.

Tree-nails are usually made by sawing the timber into suitable lengths while
in a green state, and splitting up the bolts with a frow. The sticks are then
shaved octagonally, and this requires nice work, as they must be very true

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 87

and with but little taper, so to fit the hole, often sixteen inches deep, as tight
at the bottom as upon the outside.

As the wood is hard and stringy, it is not an easy matter to make all the
pins equally good, even by the most skillful workmen; and by those that are
careless they are frequently made so tapering that one half of a lot are fre-
quently found to be worthless, the butts only filling the hole, and being wedge-
shaped, very apt to check the plank.

To obviate these difficulties the common turning-lathe has been employed,
and large quantities of round tree-nails have been used. The lathe made
them true, and timber could be worked by that means that could not be
shaved by hand; but there was another difficulty that could not be overcome
—the tree-nails made in the lathe were round, and could not, like the eight
square ones, be driven into a hole actually smaller than the diameter of the
pin, and when forced in by the hardest driving the round pins could be driven
out. It is a consideration of the most important kind, that, when driven
home, the tree-nail should be absolutely immovable, as many a ship has been
lost by “starting a butt;” that is, drawing the fastening. A well made eight
square tree-nail being the one thing needed in ship-building more than any
other, a machine that would do the work in a rapid, economical manner, both
of time and timber, it was thought by ship-builders would be one of the most
important mechanical inventions of the age. Most of those who thought upon
the subject said the thing was impossible. A man by the name of Fitzgerald,
of New York (since deceased), by nature an inventor, being told what was
wanted, said at once, It can be done, and at once set himself to work and
completed a machine, which is now in successful operation.

The machine is about 4 feet long and 3 feet high, iron frame, the cutters eight
in number, driven by a band and pulley. The stick in its rough square form
is held up to the cutters a moment, and then is taken into the feed wheels,
which carry it forward, each cutter revolving and cutting one of the eight
sides, the taper, or variation in size, being so regulated by a cam, that the
tree-nail may be cut with a true taper from end to end, or made smallest in
the middle. It is found best to run them through two machines, the first
shaping, and the second finishing, at the rate of about 430 feet an hour. The
length varies from 16 to 24 inches, and size from # to 14 inches diameter.
Whatever the size or shape, whether tapering or straight, the cam being set
for the particular size desired, every one must inevitably be of the same exact
form, and such is their perfection, that one has never been known to check a
plank, and they can be driven into holes a sixteenth of an inch less than the
pin, the eight corners pressing into the wood, and making a water-tight joint
at the extreme end. It is found, too, that they drive extremely easy, and
that it is absolutely impossible to start one of them back.

MACHINE FOR QUARRYING SLATE,

Slate has heretofore been all cut out in quarries by hand labor. The
workmen with picks cut grooves in the rock to the depth required, and then
the slate comes off in thin layers the size of the space between the cut grooves,

88 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

forming rectangular slabs. To supersede this slow method of quarrying slate,
H. J. Bremner, of Nazareth, Pa., has invented a machine, in which cutters
are operated so as to feed forward and cut out a groove in one direction, the
desired length, and then it (the machine) is turned, and the cutters made to
cut a transverse groove, and thus proceed until the rock is so grooved that
the space between the side and two end grooves or cut channels, forms a slab
of the size desired for the slate; the slate is then forced out, and splits easily
into as many separate slabs as there have been horizontal layers from the sur-
face to the depth the cutters have perforated. One of these machines, it is
asserted, when operated by hand, and with one man, will cut out more slate
in one day than twelve men with picks by hand labor.

Machine for Cutting and Trimming Slate-—A machine for cutting and trim-
ming slate has been invented and patented by Asa Keyes, of Brattleboro’,
Vermont. The nature of the invention consists in applying a rapid succession
of stone hammer blows, each of which beats off a minute piece of the slate
while it (the slate) is carried along by a carriage on ways. The wheel which
carries the hammers or cutters is heavy, and this weight of the wheel not only
furnishes the momentum of the individual blows of each hammer, but supplies
the purpose of a fly-wheel to the machine. The hammers are held into mor- »
tises cast in the wheel, by bolts and nuts. Fifteen of these machines are used
by the New England Mining and Quarrying Company, at Guilford, Vermont.
They have greatly reduced the cost in trimming and cutting of slate. A de-
tailed description of this machine, with diagrams, stig be found in the Scien-
tific American, February, 1853.

HYDRAULIC ROCK DRILL.

In this invention by Mr. J. Echols, of Georgia, the drill-rod is provided
with two cup-shaped collars, the hollow sides facing toward each other. A
line of hose leads from an elevated reservoir and throws a stream first upward
against the upper cup, then downward against the lower one. The force of
the water thus applied keeps the drill continually leaping with great force;
and considerable ingenuity is displayed in working out the details so as to
secure the fullest effect of the water, properly rotate the drill, and make the
position of the cups and of all the parts self-adjusting as the drill penetrates
into the rock. The simplicity, lightness, and portability of this machine con-
stitute its chief advantages, and these are so important as to make practicable
the employment of this drill, even where a steam-pump must be employed to
impel the water. ‘There is a loss of effect in the transmission of power in this
manner, similar in kind to that of using water by an undershot or a turbine
wheel; but, rightly managed, this loss may be reduced to a very small per
centage, and the difference between the stretching a hose across a ledge, and
the arranging of cumbrous machinery with belting or shafting, is sufficiently
great to atone for many inconveniences.

IMPROVEMENT IN BLASTING ROCKS.

An improvement in blasting rocks, recently patented by Capt. C. F. Brown,
of Warren, R. I., consists in placing the powder or charge within a tube or

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 89

case, between two heads provided with suitable packing, and attached to a
rod, by which.arrangement the charge is prevented from “blowing out,” or
obtaining vent in the direction of the line of the hole in which the tube and
charge are placed, and the whole effect of the charge is exerted against the
sides of the tube or case.

By this method rocks may be blasted with much greater facility than by the
ordinary mode, no, tampering or packing of clay being necessary to confine
the powder within the hole. The implement may be used repeatedly, as it
can not be projected to any great distance from the spot where used.

The Northern Star, of Warren, R. L, contains a notice of the operation of
this improvement witnessed by five persons, by which one pound of powder
moved one hundred tons of rock.

BROWN’S PATENT SOUNDING INSTRUMENT.

This invention by Captain C. F. Brown of Warren, R. L.,"elates to a new
and useful instrument for sounding the ocean depths, and consists in attaching
to a spindle a long spheroidal chamber, containing some gunpowder within
the lower part, and having underneath the chamber a needle operated by a
spring, which is forced against a percussion cap on a nipple, and thereby
igniting the charge of powder when the lower end of the spindle strikes the
bottom; and the time that elapses from the period the instrument is dropped
until the sound is heard, or concussion felt, is noted, and the depth deter-
mined upon positive data to form proper conclusions. The sound of the
explosion will be heard or the concussion will be felt, at the surface of the
ocean, by those who have let down the instrument, and the time which
elapses between letting it fall and hearing the sound of the explosion must be
ascertained by a stop-watch. By this means the depth of the ocean may be
ascertained, for a table may be formed from a number of recorded experiments
giving the time between the dropping of the instrument, and that when the
sound is heard at the surface, according to ascertained depths. A percussion
cap can be used on the nipple, or a pill of an alloy of potassium. Water is
required to ignite the latter, and for this purpose small apertures are left at
the upper part of the tube, to be opened when the instrument strikes the
bottom.

This instrument is a simple means for sounding the depth of old ocean, and
also for ascertaining the strength and direction of a current, for if it appears
that the ocean is agitated at a spot on the surface distant from where the
instrument was dropped, it will afford evidence of a current, and its velocity—
according to that distance.—Scientific American.

IMPROVED COAL-HOLE COVER.

Mr. F. H. Moore of Boston, has recently patented a rather singular im-
provement on the covers of the ordinary coal-hole in our sidewalks, designed
to prevent the possibility of accidents, either from children falling through
them when left open for a few minutes or from pedestrians stumbling over
them when loosely fixed. Moore’s cover is not exactly removable and only

90 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

to a limited degree liftable. The upper surface resembles the ones now in
general use, but its under surface is armed with three vertical rods which
descend through ears in the sides of the seat. The cover is provided with a
ring let into its top to form a convenient handle, and the hole is opened by
raising the cover bodily to a height of about three feet, in which position it is
sustained by a catch or a spring, and the coal or wood is to be thrust in side-
wise between the three rods. The coal-hole, when open, resembles a half-
constructed parrot-cage, an embellishment which may not be considered par-
ticularly ornamental in front of a city mansion, but is decidedly more so than
the very undesirable pits and foot-traps now exhibited.

IMPROVEMENTS IN AMALGAMATORS.

An improved amalgamator patented by Samuel Gardiner, Jr., of New York,
consists of one orgmore pairs of metallic rollers geared together and revolving
in a trough in contact with mercury. The journals of the rollers are hollow,
and so are the rollers themselves; the latter are perforated with fine holes, so
that, by the introduction of water through the journals, there will be an un-
ceasing outward discharge of water on the surface of the rollers,keeping them
continually moist. The quartz previously pulverized and mixed with water
into a thin paste, is introduced from above upon the rollers, and by them
spread over their entire surfaces; the rollers coat themselves, as they revolve,
with mercury, and the latter absorbs the gold dust from the paste. The
issuing water from the rollers loosens the quartz as fast as it forms upon their
surfaces, and the gold, being heaviest, falls to the bottom of the trough. A
running stream of water constantly flowing into the trough carries away the
quartz dust, and the rollers come round with a fresh coating of mercury at
every turn.

PRESSURE STOPPER FOR CHAIN CABLES.

This improvement by James Emerson of Worcester, Mass., consists in a
means of preventing the injurious effects resulting from the sudden jerking of
the anchor chain, when a vessel is riding at her moorings. In rough weather
and a heavy sea, the windlass is liable to be injured, and the chain to be
snapped, from the cause above-mentioned. Mr. Emerson makes use of a
stopper, one portion thereof consisting of a sliding weight under which the
chain passes.” The weight is pressed down upon the chain by means of a
lever, so that the degree of pressure may be very easilyregulated. When the
force of the jerk exceeds the pressure of the stopper, the chain will slip a little,
and so afford the required relief.

WHAT IS A LANCASTER GUN?

The invention of Mr. Lancaster relates wholly to the contour of the gun’s
bore, which is a modification of the common rifle bore. Instead of cutting
twisted or helical rectangular grooves in the bored surface, as in all ordin-
arily rifled arms, Mr. Lancaster forms his bore in the shape ofa twisted

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 91

ellipse, or, as it may be otherwise termed, an elliptical twist. No draw-
ing can well give a fair illustration of the peculiarity involved in this form
of bore. A knowledge of its essential features may, perhaps, be best
obtained by the reader, by the aid of a roll or tube of paper. Let him for
instance, roll up a sheet of paper, in the form of a plain cylinder, then
applying slight lateral pressure to the yielding tube, he will give it an elliptical
transverse section. Still holding the tube in this condition, a slight twist
must be given to it round the axial line of the bore as a center. This, then,
is the “Lancaster” bore, amounting to a two-grooved rifle with very wide
grooves. The diametrical measurement across the transverse axis of the
ellipse coincides with that line which in the common rifle would be compre-
hended between the bottoms of two opposite grooves; while a line taken
across the conjugate axis, answers to the measurement of the plain surface
bore of the ordinary arm. Hence there are no angularities in this bore; what
are, in reality, the rifle-grooves, are formed so as to sweep gradually and
smoothly by a symmetrical curvature into the projecting or plain surface of
the bore. The great object here carried out is the getting rid of all angles in
the bore, and the ellipse is the most convenient form for attaining this result,
although it is obvious that many other sections of bore might be used for a
similar purpose. Any of the common forms of balls may be used in cannon
of this class, provided the sectional figure corresponds in its bearing part to
the ellipse of the barrel, the cylindro-conoid being clearly the best suited for
this, as for smooth bores, or common rifles. Mr. Lancaster has also adopted
a new form of percussion explosive action, for use in his guns. He uses a
piece of copper tube, surrounded at its lower end with leather, molded to fit
the fire-aperture of the breach. The lower portion of this tube is filled with
gunpowder, while the external upper part is supplied with a detonating com-
pound. On the barrel, or plug, of the gun, is a projecting piece, standing
somewhat below the uncovered portion of the detonating tube, so that when
the hammer strikes the tube the projecting stop offers a resistance to the blow,
and causes an explosion of the detonating substance. Many of the Lancaster
guns used in the Crimea have burst in a most destructive way; whether
there is too little metal in the guns for their charge and weight of ball, or
whether the great tendency of the ball to go straight forward, and thus
wedge itself in attempting to over-ride the very gradual curve of the rifled
bore, is not yet a settled point.—Lond. Prac. Mechanic's Journal.

Notwithstanding their immense range, the Lancaster guns have been found
in the Crimea to have little precision in their aim, and to be enormously ex-
pensive, each charge costing £20 ($100).

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FABRICATION OF ARMS AT THE
UNITED STATES ARMORIES,

Within the last few years, the superiority of the rifle barrel has been made
greatly manifest. It has also been so modified and improved as to adapt it to
the use of infantry arms. The improvements concentrated in the ‘“ Minié”
invention have abundantly illustrated these facts; and seizing upon them as

92 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

a basis, the ordnance department of the U. S. army have instituted experi-
ments, that have resulted in the establishment of a new model for the U. 8.
musket, which contains all the advantages of the Minié rifle, and others first
united in itself At the U.S. armory at Springfield, the manufacture of the
“rifle musket” has been commenced to the entire exclusion of the old “gun
musket.” The new arm differs from the old one in the following particulars:
A change from the smooth bore to the rifle. The length of the barrel is re-
duced from 42 to 40 inches. The exterior reduced and the caliber from 0.69
to 0.58 ofan inch. The barrel to have three decreasing grooves, with a front
and rear sight brazed on, graduated from one to one thousand yards. The
bayonet, ramrod, mountings, and stock, are much improved from the old
model, and the weight of the new arm completed is about 93 pounds, which
is one quarter of a pound lighter than the old model. The lock is changed to
a front action swivel lock with the Maynard attachment, which will contain
60 primers. The lock will also answer for the common service cap if neces-
sary. The ball is an elongated, hollow, pointed ball, weighing 497 grains,
which is about 60 grains heavier than the present round ball. The new
model rifle requires but 60 grains of powder, which is 50 grains less than the
present service charge of the smooth bore musket, 110 grains. Its great supe-
riority, however, lies in its unerring accuracy, the far greater distance it will
send its ball, its more severe execution, and the lighter charge of powder re-
quired.

Besides the musket thus described, models of a fine rifle pistol, with 10 and
12 inch rifle barrels, of the same caliber as the rifle musket, 0.58 of an inch,
have been prepared, with a false butt, which by means of a hook and spring
can be instantly attached to the pistol, thereby making it a rifle carbine, which
will fire with accuracy 500 yards. When detached from the pistol, the butt
is suspended by means of a belt and swivel ring. This will be a very import-
ant improvement for the cavalry service. The pistol lock also embraces the
Maynard primer.

It has also been found practicable to alter the barrels of the old muskets to
the rifle style. Some of them have been so changed; and it is not improbable
that all now on hand at the Springfield Armory—some 255,000—will ulti-
mately receive that improvement.

BOMB LANCES FOR WHALING.

The extent to which gunpowder is now being employed in the manufacture
or rather in the capture of oil, is perhaps little suspected by the mass of our
readers. Guns for driving the harpoon have, we believe, been’ pretty gene-
rally abandoned, but we are assured by a manufacturer of fuse, who has lately
contracted for making a quantity especially adapted to this sub-marine and
blubbery location, that the bomb-lance is now being quite extensively em-
ployed by many vessels, and that some have sent home from the Sandwich
Islands for further supplies. The bomb-lance is discharged from a very heavy
musket, and is driven point foremost into the vitals of the animals, where it
‘explodes after the lapse of a few seconds. - The quantity of powder usually

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 93

contained is about four ounces, and the fuse is set on fire by the explosion of
the powder in the gun. Brande’s patent bome-lance is the one under notice,
and consists of a thin cylindrical shell of iron, armed with a sharp and heavy
point of a triangular section. The iron shell is originally open at its rear end,
but after receiving the powder and inserting a suitable piece of fuze, the whole
is stopped water-tight by a layer of melted lead. The main difficulty appears
to be to find a place for a sufficient length of fuse. If allowed to project
loosely outside, the water or animal fluids in the wound would be likely to
extinguish it, and it is a singular fact that all that portion tightly inclosed
within the dead burns instantly, and is therefore of no service in postponing
the period of explosion. The method adopted is to insert two of these leaden
partitions, between which, a considerable length of fuse may be stored. Thus
arranged, and provided with wadding which expands into wings to steady
and direct the missile while flying through either air, water, or fish, the light-
ness is sufficient to allow its discharge from a piece which may be handled
by any strong man. Aimed at a vital point, a little beneath the surface of
the water, the fuse is ignited and burns at the rate of about seven inches per
second, while the boat retreats. The manufacture of these bombs and of the
instruments for their discharge, has been for some time carried on at Norwich,
Conn.—WN. Y. Tribune.

THE INFERNAL MACHINES AT SEBASTOPOL AND IN THE BALTIC,

The London Times’ correspondent gives the following account of the small
mines which the Russians have strewed the ground with about their outworks:

I was shown here (at the Mammelon) one of these extraordinary fougasses, or
small mines, which are exploded on the touch of the foot, and which the Rus-
sians planted thickly about their advanced works. A strong case containing
powder is sunk in the ground, and to it is attached a thin tube of tin or lead,
several feet in length: in the upper end of the tube there is inclosed a thin
glass tube containing sulphuric or nitric acid. This portion of the tube is just
laid above the earth, where it can be readily hid by a few blades of grass or a
stone. Ifa person steps on it he bends the tin tube, and breaks the glass tube
inside. The acid immediately escapes and runs down the tin tube till it arrives
close to its insertion into the case, and there meets a few grains of chlorate of
potass. Combustion instantly takes place, the mine explodes, and not only
destroys every thing near it, but throws out a quantity of bitumen, with which
it is coated, in a state of ignition, so as to burn whatever it rests upon.

The following is a description of one of the machines which are sunk in the
Baltic, which have caused so much apprehension among the allied fleets:

Each machine consists of a cone of galvanized iron, 16 inches in diameter at
the base and 20 from base to apex; it is divided into three chambers, the one
near the base being largest, and containing air causes it to float with the base
uppermost. In the centre of this chamber is another, which holds a tube with
a fuse in it, and an apparatus for firing it. This consists of two little iron rods,
which move in guides, and are kept projected over the side of the base by
springs which press them outward. When any thing pushes either of these

94. ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

rods inward, it strikes against a lever, which moves like a pendulum, in the
fuse tube, and the lower end of the lever breaks or bends a small leaden tube,
containing a combustible compound, which is set on fire by coming in contact
with some sulphuric acid held in a capillary tube, which is broken at the same
time, and so fires the fuse, which communicates with the powder contained in
the chamber at the apex of the cone, and which holds about 9 lbs. or 10 Ibs;
At the extreme apex is a brass ring, to which is attached a rope and some
pieces of granite, which moors them about nine or ten feet below the surface,
so that the only vessels they could hurt, the gun-boats, float quietly over them.

TESTING OF CANNON.

The following notice respecting the plans adopted for the testing of cannon
by the U. S. Ordnance Department, at Washington, D, C. is derived from the
Charleston, 8S. C., Standard.

Guns are cast in any shape that may be suggested by the process of inyest-
igation, then fired to test their projectile force, then fired until they burst; and
when the result has been attained, with every care to determine the causes
and conditions of the experiment, sections of the broken metal are carefully
drilled out from different parts of the piece, from the muzzle and the breech,
and the inside and the outside, and each piece is subjected to a strain to test
its tensile strength. In the process of these experiments, one fact has become
pretty well established which rather contradicts received opinion. It has been
supposed that the cannon, always cooling from without, and the outside con-
tracting, therefore, around the inside still extended by heat, would become
more brittle, but this, in such tests as have been used, would not seem to have
been the case. A bar cut from the outside of the cannon will generally part
with about the same amount of extention as a bar cut from the inside, whether
it be taken from a longitudinal or vertical section of the gun. Another fact
of some importance, however, has been established. It is found that the
strength of the gun may be much increased by taking the weight of metal from
the muzzle and casting it around the breech. A gun, for instance, had been
cast with a view to this experiment, which was much thiner at the muzzle
than cannons usually are, but which was by so much the thicker at the
breech, where the charge explodes. It was fired some 1200 times, under
every conceivable condition likely to insure explosion, and when it did burst,
the fracture occurred at the breech, as is usually the case with cannons.

IMPROVEMENTS IN WAR INVENTIONS.

The effect of the Huropean war during the last two years has been to bring
out an almost innumerable number of war inventions in Europe and the United
States. In England it was recently stated in the House of Commons, that
within a recent period 974 inventions relating to belligerent implements and
schemes had been brought before the select committee of the British Board of
Ordnance, Some of the more important ones had been carried into effect, 696
had been rejected, and the remainder were then under consideration.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 95

The following are some of the most noticeable improvements which have
‘ been made public:—A patent has been obtained by Captain Blakely, of the
Royal Artillery, England, for making cannon as follows: He takes a tube
of cast steel, and then surrounds this with external rings of wrought iron
shrunk on. He also employs a buffer or spring of air at the butt of mortars to
moderate their recoil. He also claims the method of strengthening old guns,
by shrinking wrought iron bands on them.

New War Projectile—The London Times describes a new war projectile, the
invention of Captain Disney, which has been tried with success. It consists in
fitting shells with a bursting charge of powder contained in a metal cylin-
der, and filling the rest of their space with a highly combustible fluid, which
upon exposure to the air ignites every thing with which it is brought in con-
tact. This fluid does not act upon the substance of the shell, is not in itself
explosive, and being prevented from leaking by a nicely fitted brass mouth
plug, enables the missile to be carried about without much risk.

Aiming with Cannon.—Captain Davison of England has patented the appli-
cation to cannon of a telescopic sight and cross-wires, or micrometer so that
by means of them and a collimator, the piece of ordnance may be brought into
its proper position by day or night, after every discharge, without the necessity
of observing the object aimed at, after the proper range and aim have been
first obtained. . ‘

The attention of scientific men in France and England has been called of
late to a valuable improvement in artillery, said to have been introduced by
Colonel Cavalli, of the Sardinian army. This gun is double-grooved, giving
about a three-quarter turn to the projectile, which is of an oblong form, of
cast-iron, pointed at the top, convex toward the powder, and having two ribs
running lengthwise, to correspond with the grooves in the gun. The London
Times’ correspondent remarks with regard to it:—

“ As regards the principle of grooved barrels and ribbed projectiles, there
seems no objection to apply the system to guns now in use; for the difficulties
once made as to the wearing out of these grooves are practically disproved by
guns and projectiles now in the arsenal of Turin, which have been used scores
of times, and without any obvious deterioration. But this principle Colonel
Cayalli had combined with that of loading at the breach, and when he tried a
gun of this kind in England, in 1850, before some distinguished officers of
_ artillery (and which gun had been cast at Stockholm), it unfortunately burst,
and there was consequently an unjust prejudice, perhaps, created against it.
Even then the fault of the bursting was acknowledged to be in the material
and not in the principle, and the official returns of the practice with guns of
smooth bore on that occasion are highly confirmatory of the merits of grooves.
Since then he has made some further improvements in the method of securing
the breech after loading, and, with a gun weighing 66 ewt., loaded with 6 lb.
10 oz. of powder and a projectile of 66 lbs., the following results have been
arrived at:

“With ten degrees of elevation, at a distance of 3,068 yards English, there
was a lateral deviation of 34 yards and a longitudinal one of 40; withan
elevation of fifteen degrees, and at 4,142 yards’ distance, the lateral deviation

96 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

was 34 and longitudinal 484; at twenty degrees elevation and 4,934 yards it
was 44 and 37; and at twenty-five degrees and 5,581 yards it was 54 and 19.

“The ground where these experiments were made did not admit of a greater
elevation of twenty-five degrees being used, and therefore all calculations be-
yond that are still speculative; but those who know any thing of practice at
these distances will at once perceive the unusual precision arrived at with a
very small charge of powder, and all practical gunners are aware of the lateral
tendency which a ball discharged from a grooved barrel has to tho side it
turns toward; to correct which, the inventor has now placed a horizontal
scale on the perpendicular one, for the guidance of the commander of the gun;
and, to conclude the advantages which this invention seems to possess, the
charge does not cost more than that of an ordinary gun.

Graham's Revolving Rifle—The chambers of this revolving rifle hang per-
pendicularly, differing in this respect from all other inventions. The use of
the rifle is thus rendered perfectly safe. In case a loaded chamber should go
off accidentally the charge will go downward, without the possibility of injur-
ing the holder of the rifle, and the lever underneath the next chamber is also
thrown up in range with the barrel. The chambers contain eight charges,
and can be taken out ina moment. On the very instant another set of eight
chambers can be inserted. Thus, after eight charges have been fired, eight
more are ready, and so‘in as many of the eight chambers as may be carried
or is required, saving the carrying of any other ammunition.

The Exit Rifle—This is the name given to a self-priming, breech-loading
Minié rifle, recently invented by Mr. Joseph Day, of Hackettstown, N. J.
The self-priming apparatus may be attached as well to the ordinary govern-
ment rifle, and may be properly considered first as a distinct invention. The
passage for the caps is capable of containing eighty, which in turn are thrust
forward moderately until the hammer is within half an inch of the nipple,
when one is sent “flying” into a suitable semi-cylindrical cavity, and imme-
diately forced down upon the nipple and discharged. There is no “‘sear-
spring” in the lock—the main-spring being made to serve all purposes, ex-
cept such as relate to the self-priming mechanism. In this latter there are
two small springs—one to catch in cavities in the side of the channel, and
prevent the retreat of the caps as they are forced forward by each movement
of the hammer, and the other confines the forward cap until a sufficient
‘amount of the valuable quality termed ‘‘push” is acquired to send it rapidly
and certainly into its proper place. The loading is effected by allowing the
barrel slightly to ‘‘see saw.” Imagine the barrel of the piece suspended on
trunnions like a cannon (except that the trunnions are within about four
inches of the breech)—the barrel being kept in line with the breech by the
aid of a close fitting ring which covers the joint. When wishing to load, the
ring is drawn back by the aid of a false trigger, and the barrel at once pre-
sents an open end to receive the charge. A slight jerk now shears off the
cartridge and brings the barrel again into line, when the ring springs forward
and perfects the joint. The provisions for holding the trunnions and limiting
the play of the barrel are very strong, simple, and light, and the whole, lock
and all, are finally secured by the aid of one single screw.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 97

Weaver's Breech-loading Fire-arms.—In an improvement patented October,
1855, by H. B. Weaver, of Connecticut, there is a movable chamber at the
breech of the gun for receiving the cartridge, the chamber being hinged so as
to open up, laterally, like the lid of a snuff-box. The opening and closing of
the chamber is effected by means of a trigger guard lever located underneath
the stock, the same as in most of the breech-loading fire-arms. There is also
a very ingenious self-acting contrivance for putting the percussion caps upon
the nipple. By the act of opening the cartridge chamber the hammer is
cocked and a cap placed upon the nipple; all that remains to be done is to
slip the charge into the chamber and close the same, when the piece is ready
for instant discharge.—Scientijic American.

Mr. Andrew Smith, of England, has recently exhibited a model of a gun,
arranged for the purpose of employing oxygen and hydrogen gases, produced
from the decomposition of water by galvanic electricity, the projectile force
from the combustion of which is nearly double that of gunpowder. The gen-
eration of the electric gases takes place in a chamber beneath, the reiterating
propelling force being admitted intermittently behind each ball by means of
a valve, the whole being contained in the compass of the carriage of an ordin-
ary ship’s gun, or battering cannon, and but little exceeding them in weight.

The guns intended for the new steam frigate Merrimac, recently launched
at the Charleston Navy Yard, are of peculiar construction, being very large at
the breech, and beginning to taper abruptly near the center, terminate small
at the muzzle. They are provided with an elevating screw, sufficient to ele-
vate 9° 45’, and depress 7° 30’. The carriages, also, are of a new model,
having no after trucks. The guns thus provided will be more steady upon
the deck, and not so liable to break from their breechings at sea, while in
firing the recoil will be sufficient to throw them back.

Improvement in Percussion Caps.—M. Neron, of Paris, at a recent meeting
of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Great Britain, exhibited an ingenious
mode of placing detonating caps on the nipple of a rifle ora musket. The
apparatus consisted of a tube containing twenty-two caps, placed parallel with
and close beside the barrel, being partially inserted in the stock, and so ar-
ranged that while the near end was attached by a pin to the hammer, the
further extremity was free to travel in aslot. Its action was very simple—
the tube being filled with caps from a reservoir, several of which would oc-
cupy but a very small space, the end cover was turned down. On drawing
the hammer to half-cock, the tube was drawn forward until a cap was brought
over the nipple, and at full-cock the cap was pressed down uponit. After
firing, if any portion of the copper remained attached to the cap, it was re-
moved by a small picker preceding the tube, on its being again brought for
ward to repeat the operation. It was evident that by this simple and cheap
addition to any fire-arm, much time must be saved in loading, and a great
waste of caps must be avoided, while about twenty-five per cent. of copper
was saved in making the caps—and they were kept dry in the reservoir in-
stead of being exposed to damp and running the risk of not exploding, as had
occurred frequently in action on recent occasions in the Crimea.

Improved Artillery Vent.—A new artillery vent has recently been tried at

5

98 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Woolwich, England, upon an iron six-pounder. The arrangement consists of
two pieces of brass, made to fit a groove bored in the vent-field, the vent
passage being between these two pieces. After the insertion of these pieces
of brass, they were screwed down, and on the top of them, in a line with the
surface of the gun, a nut was placed to hold them tight. If an enemy spiked
the gun in the usual manner, by removing the nut on the top by means of a
wrench, the vent was unscrewed, and the spike taken out. After each round
was fired the vent pieces were taken out, examined, and replaced; after each
round the vent sank deeper into the gun. Ten rounds were fired, and after
the tenth a spike was driven in, which burst the vent, and the pieces of the
vent remained in the gun. Every time the vent was taken out previously
it was found to be twisted.

Improved Bullet-mold.—A patent has been recently granted to William Aston,
of Middleton, Conn., for an improved bullet-mold, for casting the Minié bullet,
the chamber of which is a hollow cone. The object of the mold is to cast
such bullets with greater facility than by any of the molds heretofore used.
To form such bullets, the mold must be made with a core. Those now used
open longitudinally, and have a fixed core; this new mold has a movable
core, and opens transversely: It is so made as to allow air to escape when
running in the molten metal, and to cut off the surplus when the mold is fall.

A machine for making Minié balls has been recently invented by Mr. W.
A. Sweet, of Syracuse, N. Y. These bullets differ from the common round
bullet in being of a conical shape with a cavity in the base. Hitherto they
have been invariably cast in molds in the same manner that the common
bullet is cast, by which process it is impossible to make balls of equal weight
or free from imperfections, which faults, as they exist in a greater or less
degree, affect the accuracy of the rifle. The machine is comprised within a
space of a foot square, and weighs about 65 pounds. There are no springs or _
cogs in it, and there is very little liability of its getting out of order. The
bars of lead, rolled to a proper thickness, are fed into a hopper and run under
a die which ‘‘swedges” out the bullet, and at the same instant the cavity is
pressed into the base; the bullet is discharged from the die, which again re-
ceives the bar and repeats the process. The machine thus makes two bullets
a second, or 120 a minute, and is capable of even faster work.

DIFFICULTIES ATTENDING THE CONSTRUCTION OF LARGE
ORDNANCE.

During the past year, Mr. Nasmyth, the well-known English mechanician,
constructed for the British Government an immense experimental gun of
wrought iron, the weight of which with its carriage was intended to be 50
tons. It was also expected to throw a solid shot of half-a-ton weight four
miles with a charge of 225 lbs. of powder, In manufacturing this immense
piece of ordnance, it was found that the thickness of the mass so retarded the
cooling gained by successive heatings, that portions of the metal assumed a
crystalline form, and weakened the whole to such an extent that its use was
considered impracticable, This fact has attracted considerable attention in

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 99

the English scientific circles, and Dr. Noad has recently made public some
results attained in experimenting at the Welsh iron mines of great interest,
considering how extensively iron is now used for bridges, cables, and sup-
ports. Dr. Noad says:—‘“ The tendency of iron to pass from the fibrous or
tough to the crystalline or brittle condition is promoted by various causes;
every thing, in fact, which occasions a vibration among its particles has this
tendency.” He then describes his experiments, which prove that the metal
may be made to pass from one state to the other :—“ Seeing a large quantity
of iron chain lying about, and learning that, though scarcely worn, it had
been laid aside in consequence of the breaking of some of the links, I ex-
amined several from different parts of the chain. I found that a single smart
blow with a hammer was sufficient to snap the metal, the fracture of which
was crystalline, and its brittleness such that it could without difficulty be
broken into small pieces under the hammer. I now heated strongly in a
forge some of the broken links, and allowed them to cool very slowly under-
neath a bed of fine sand. After the lapse of 24 hours they were examined ;
the metal was found to have recovered its tenacity, it could no longer be
broken to pieces under the hammer; and when at length, after repeated
heavy blows, it did partially yield, the texture of the metal was found to be
perfectly fibrous—every trace of a crystalline structure had disappeared.”
Dr. Noad thinks that the iron of the Nasymth gun has been crystallized by
continuous hammering; and he suggests that its fibrous condition may be re-
“stored by annealing.

ARTILLERY AND PROJECTILES.

In a discussion which occurred at the last meeting of the British Asso-
ciation on the subject of artillery and projectiles, Dr. Scoresby stated, as
the results of experiments he had made, that the quality of iron might be
effectually tested by its effect in counteracting the deviation produced on a
compass by a magnet placed in opposition to it. Mr. Neilson, iron-founder,
" gave, as the result of his experience, that, if repeatedly heated, or heated
without being subjected to severe hammering or pressure, the center of a mass
of iron was sure to become crystalline and friable. Mr. Rennie thought the
defects of the artillery of the present day were, in a great degree, to be attri-
buted to the competition in cheapness among manufacturers. Sir E. Belcher
stated that, in engagements which he had witnessed, much more severe than
that of Sweaborg, no accidents whatever had occurred to the ordnance. He
suggested the employment of guns similar to those of the Chinese, with strong
cast-iron breeches, the direction-tube being a matter of little moment.

Mr. Robinson stated that rifled guns are more liable to burst, because the
force necessary to explode a ball from such a piece of ordnance is much greater
than that required for a plain bored gun; and also that a rifled gun is much
more liable to burst or be rendered useless from frequent discharges, because
of the force necessary to cause rotation having to be added to that which
causes projection. Dr. Robinson alluded to the bronze guns of the Darda-
nelles, which are of three feet bore, used against our fleets not many years

100 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

since, and which were made by Mohammed II., and asked whether bronze
might not now be used instead of cast-iron. He suggested the probability
that on experiment railway-iron might be found better than cast-iron for ord-
nance.—Mr. Fairbairn said the material of which guns were made was not
so good as it was fifty years ago. He was present at Woolwich and saw the
practice of the guns there. One of them seemed properly molded in every
part; but it was found that the welding in one part was not sound, and the
gas getting into the fracture operated just like a wedge, and split it as if it
had been made of paper. Another was formed of steel bars, with a breech of
cast-iron attached to it. The breech was entirely blown off the gun, and the
bars torn asunder. It appeared to him absolutely necessary to have such a
material as would not only resist the severe impulse which the discharge of
the shot caused, but be perfectly solid in the mass. If they were made of
parts, such as the staves ofa cask, these opened, and the result was the frac-
ture of the gun. The Stirling gun was a mixture of wrought with cast-iron,.
and it certainly carried one fourth or one fifth more of common pressure, but
when applied to artillery under Colonel Dundas, after a few rounds the pieces
were burst. The mode of casting these-large guns is also defective. They
were generally cast solid, and in the cooling the metal was left exceedingly
porous in the center, and when one began to bore out the gun, one found it
was not of so close a texture inside as out. Now they took the precaution of
having cores in the middle, through which they sent a current of cold water
to cool the inside simultaneously.—Dr. Robinson: About a century ago they
cast them hollow, and it was thought a great improvement to cast them solid.
—Mr. Fairbairn believed if they went about the work more carefully, they
would arrive at a safer and better mode of casting than at present. If the
mortars were made a foot longer, he believed, instead of sixty pounds, fifty
pounds of powder would carry a shell of the same weight, and to a greater
distance, and with greater accuracy. He thought, in the mortars, a great
quantity of the metal was in the wrong place in a great many cases. They
had the same thickness of metal at the mouth as at the breech, whereas it
might taper without any danger, the pressure being less at the mouth. He
explained an ingenious ball, in which there was a spiral tube, so that the
ball with an ordinary gun suited all the purposes of a rifle; but he did not
know whether the experiment was successful or not. Till lately guns of the
ordinary caliber would stand six hundred or seven hundred rounds before they
were injured, but they always gave way at the vent. But they got into a
plan of putting a tube into the vent, which made them stand six hundred or
seven hundred rounds more. Now-a-days the same guns would not stand
one hundred rounds; perhaps the reason was that the metal was not properly
selected. The iron procured by hot blast is excellent for machinery purposes ;

but he did not think it the best for artillery. With regard to the Turkish

artillery, he was at Constantinople some years ago, and they are almost all

made of a mixture of brass and tin. Mr. Mare, at Blackwall, is now con-

structing a gun three feet in diameter—the breech of cast-iron and the tube

of direction of wrought-iron. Whether it would answer or not he did not

know.—Dr. Robinson: The bronze guns failed in a very remarkable manner.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 101

The ball rises on firing, is deflected on the gun, and if the gun is long it is
again deflected, and deep holes are made in the barrel owing to the softness
of the metal. Could not a thin lining of steel or wrought-iron be inserted into
the tube ?—Mr. Fairbairn thought it was very difficult to form any gun that
differed in its parts. He would prefer to have a gun pérfectly solid—of steel,
if they pleased; for he had seen excellent specimens of steel manufactures
from Prussia in the Great Exhibition, and well calculated for making field ar-
tillery. The artillery of the present time was much larger than it was in
former times, and allowance must be made for that.—Mr. Lawrie proposed to
have no vent all, but to fire in the manner in which rocks are blasted, by
means of galvanism. This would prevent wearing at the vent. He hoped
artillery would-be brought to perfection, for as weapons had improved war
had decreased in brutality; and he hoped there would be a good stand-up
fight for it, in order that they might have a lasting peace-—A Member stated
that some hydrostatic presses had been made of cast-iron with a case of
wrought-iron, at Mr. Downie’s works here, and had stood an immense pressure,
but they had not as yet tried it on guns.—WMr. Fairbairn asked if the gun
made at Mr. Downie’s had been cast in such a way as to cause an amalgama-
tion of the cast and wrought-iron. if that were the case, he had no doubt
it would secure great strength. He had a doubt, however, that there was a
difference of ductility which would cause separation. It had occurred to him
that they might be cast under extreme hydrostatic pressure. They had cast
them at Woolwich with nineteen feet of iron on the gun, but he did not as
yet know the result.—Mr. Sykes Ward thought a gun could not explode so
readily if the powder did not impinge directly on the ball.

In reference to the employment of large ordnance upon naval vessels, Lieut.
Maury in a recent published communication says: ‘“‘ These new big guns will
impart an entirely new feature to sea-fights. Hereafter, and when they are
properly appreciated in the right quarters, we shall have no more such costly
things as the Pennsylvania, and other seventy-fours; and in the result of
engagements that may follow, seamanship, maneuver, and position will be
matters of comparatively smallimportance. Marksmanship, and marksmanship
alone, is to decide the battle, when these big guns are brought intoit. He
whose shot tells first will be almost sure towhip; and the real practical ques-
tion now to be decided is as to the degree of marksmanship that is attainable
with these guns at long range, and when the aim is rendered most difficult in
consequence of the motion of both marksman and target by wind and sea.”

It is also worthy of notice that in the recent naval operations in the Baltic
and: Black Seas, the efficient vessels have been the small ships and steamers
armed with big guns, while the huge ships of one hundred and twenty guns
have been comparatively useless.

IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING-MACHINES.

A large number of patents for improvements in sewing-machines have
been granted during the past year. The following are some of the most im-
portant :

102 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Harrison's Improvement.—The object of an improvement by James Harri-
son, Jr., of Milwaukie, Wis., is to give the cloth a feed-movement independ-
ently of the needles, instead of by the needles, as in the Avery sewing-
machine. For this purpose both needles are, for a time, withdrawn from the
cloth, to leave it free to be acted upon by suitable feeding mechanism. Other
parts of the invention are to provide means for holding the material to be
sewed, and admit of its being liberated before and during the feed-movement ;
also means of causing the interlacings of the two threads when the seam is
formed, to be always as close as desirable to one surface of the material,
whatever may be the thickness of the material, and notwithstanding any
variations in its thickness; also in a self-adjusting arrangement of the feed-
ing apparatus, which permits the sewing of stuff of different or changing
thicknesses, without any stoppage of the machine.

Cowperthwait's Improvement.—Improvements patented by C. J. Cowper-
thwait, of Philadelphia, consist principally in the employment of a weighted
trip-lever, instead of spring-pressure, in feeding the cloth, and in an oblique
arrangement of the shuttle race relating to the line of the feeding movement,
or the sewing, whereby the stitches formed by the needle and shuttle are all
caused to be produced in line with each other, instead of zig-zag, as in other
machines.

Robinson's Hand Sewing-Machines, with Roper’s Improvements.—This a very
singular-looking and acting apparatus. It puts us in mind of a hand printing-
press, more than any thing else. Two needles are employed, carried by two
long arms, one above, the other below the table. One thread only is used.
There are notches near the points of the needles, answering to eyes, which
catch the thread, and alternately carry it through and out of the cloth, form-
ing the same kind of stitches that are made by hand, to wit: back-stitches,
half and quarter back, side, sail, quilting, hemming, running, ete. The work
which it performs is strong and beautiful. Price of machine $150.—Scientijic
American.

Singer’s Improvements.—Several important improvements in sewing-
machines have also been patented during the past year by J. M. Singer,
of New York, well known from his connection with this machine from
the commencement. They consist in a new plan of stitching, and in a
novel method of embroidery, whereby ornamental designs, of every descrip-
tion, can be wrought out on the cloth in the most splendid manner, with
great precision and rapidity. Thread, silk, worsted, gold lace, and other
species of embroidering stuffs, varied in colors to suit the taste, may be laid
on with singular ease and facility. The work performed is, moreover, very
firm and durable.

Musical Sewing-Machine.—Messrs. Wheeler and Wilson, of New York,
exhibited at the recent Fair of the American Institute a combination of the
sewing-machine and the melodeon. The apparatus has the appearance, ex-
ternally, of a small parlor side-board or escritoir. You lift the front, and find
a handsome set of piano-keys. Close it, and turn back a hoop on the top,
and you have a complete sewing-machine, conveniently arranged; concealed
below, within side doors, are two pedals, one for the music, the other for the

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 103

sewinge-machine. When the lady becomes tired of playing at sewing, she
may change her foot to the other pedal, open the melodeon part, and discourse
music. The price of these contrivances is $200.

CHEAP PICTURES.—HOW MADE.

A recent article in Chambers’ Journal gives the following interesting ac-
count of an extensive branch of business now carried on in England, viz.: the
manufacture of cheap oil-paintings, or paintings on glass. “It was about the
time of Hogarth’s death that some ingenious fellow, with an excellent eye to
business, hit upon the mode of manufacturing those paintings on glass which
for more than three-score years have deluged the country, and which even
now are sold in considerable quantities, though the traffic in them has de-
clined, according to the testimony of a rather extensive manufacturer, to less
than one twentieth of what it was within his recollection. These paintings,
which the reader will immediately call to remembrance, are nearly all of two
uniform sizes—14 inches by 11, or 14 inches by 22. They are what they
profess to be—oil-paintings on glass; and having an undeniable title to this
description, they took amazingly with the common people, and sold in im-
mense numbers. We may form some notion of the traffic from the fact that
it is hardly possible even now to walk through a yillage or market-town
without seeing them exposed for sale, or to enter the cottage of a poor man,
or the farmer’s kitchen, without finding a pair of them, and it will be oftener,
half a dozen, hanging on the walls. The smaller size predominates, the
larger ones being comparatively rare—a circumstance which may be ac-
counted for by their liability to fracture, the cheapest and thinnest glass being
invariably used. Viewed at a little distance, they have a striking resem-
blance to old oil-paintings. They have all dark rich back-grounds—are mostly
on sacred subjects—show strong contrasts of light and shade, and but a small
variety of tints, for a reason which will be obvious presently. A slight blow
cracks the thin glass, and then they are ruined, until the peddler comes round
with a duplicate of the same subject, and for a couple of shillings or so, makes
all right again. We must not omit to notice one peculiarity in these glass-
paintings. Though their number is legion, and their designs almost endless
in variety, yet these are all, or nearly all, the property of the manufacturers.
It is rare, indeed, that one meets with an instance of piracy from the works
of living artists, or even of copies from standard or classical works—the only
exceptions being in the case of single heads, such as Madonnas and Ecce
Homos. It is but fair to state, however, that this recommendatory fact is not
attributable to the honorable independence of the manufacturer—we shall not
call him artist—so much as to the necessities of his trade, which drive him to
the use of the simplest design and the fewest possible tints, in order to make
the more profit. Most of these pictures are made in London, and the manu-
facturer generally has recourse to some struggling artist for his design, who,
for a couple of guineas or so, will supply him with what he wants; and he
can get the engraving done for even less.

The manner in which these paintings are produced is a mystery to all but
the initiated ; it is a riddle even to the practical artist; and it is possible that

104 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

the reader who has tried to penetrate the secret, after puzzling his brain to no
purpose, has given it up in despair. We shall take the liberty to make some
revelations on the subject which will clear up the enigma; and in order to do
it effectually, we shall introduce our friends to the atelier of Mr. David Daub-
ham, who at present hoJds a large share of the country trade in his hands.

‘““Mr. Daubham’s place of business is in Leather Lane, where, however, he is
under no necessity of making any demonstration, and does not make any.
His atelier is a roomy brick-chamber in the back-yard, lighted from one whole
side. Upon entering, we find Mr. Daubham engaged in a warm discussion
with a glassdealer upon a question of sixpence in the gross of ‘eleven-four-
teens.’ Pending the settlement of the debate, we look round amid an odor of
oil and strong varnish almost too much for our olfactories. A couple of girls
and four or five lads are busy in the prosecution of their work. Before we
have watched the several processes for tive minutes, the whole art and mystery
is as patent to us as it can be to Mr. Daubham himself. The glass being first
cleaned, an operation in which extra carefuiness does not appear to be neces-
sary, the surface which is to receive the picture is rubbed completely over
with a preparation of turpentine varnish. Upon this, as it dries rapidly,
an impression from the engraved plate is laid, and rubbed firmly upon the glass
with the palm. It is then left to dry till a batch of a hundred or so is done.
The paper upon which the impression is taken is the flimsiest material that can
be used, and is rubbed off by a momentary application of the sponge, leaving
every line and touch of the print adhering to the varnish. But the varnish
has not only fastened the ink of the print to the glass, it has also primed the
glass for the reception of the colors. In this state, the squares of glass are
stuck up on a kind of scaffolding which may he called the easel, with their
faces to the light. The easel will hold a score of them at a time. Then each
of the lads seizes a pot of color and a brush, and sets to work at their rear.
One covers all the faces and hands with flesh color; another daubs on tbe
greens; a third does browns—and so on, till all the tints are daubed on and the
glass iscoyered. The whole twenty do not take twenty minutes in the coloring,
unless the tints are more numerous than they usually are. Itseems unaccounta-
ble that any pleasing effect should be produced by such a process ; but in fact, as
the engraving supplies all the shading, the effect is not bad, considering all things;
and there is no reason why really excellent pictures should not be produced by
a similar process, if it were thought worth while to improve it by cautious
experiment—though it would be impogsible to paint even a decent sky in such
away. Hasty and careless as the work appears, it will be easily conceived
that a certain amount of dexterity is necessary in laying on the colors within
the prescribed outline; and it must be done quickly, lest the varnish be dis-
turbed, in which case the colors would not adhere. .

“The pictures thus finished have only to be framed in order to be ready for
market. Mr. Daubham contracts for his frames with a firm in the neighbor-
hood, and finds that he has as much as he can do himself in putting the pic-
tures into them—a job he does not choose to trust to his “hands,” who would
break too many. ‘The frames are of two kinds—wood, and shining lackered
metal pressed into a sort of flowery pattern by adie. The far greater propor-

2%

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 105

‘tion of his goods are, however, sold to the trade unframed. The market-price

was 9s. a dozen previous to the war, but has fallen a trifle since, though not so
much as the demand. The wooden frames cost not quite the same—and see-
ing that these precious works of art are hawked at the present moment at from
6s. to 7s. the pair, it is clear that profit has not been lost sight of The num-
ber of manufactories similar to Mr. Daubham’s, he tells us, is eight or ten,
exclusive of the small,shops of amateur daubers in the trade who get up
pictures of exceptional sizes at a low rate by working from exhausted plates
purchased as old metal. Looking to the vast numbers which may be and are
produced, amounting to several gross a week from a single workshop, we are
puzzled to know what becomes of them, considering that the country demand
has so greatly declined. “But,” says Mr. Daubham, “you don’t take into
account the exportation. They goes abroad, sir. A hundred gross, at least,
of my pictures goes to Catholic countries every year. Most of my plates is
Catholic subjects—Madonnas and Martyrs, and the blessed saints St. Francis,
St. Januarius, St. Nicholas, St. Theresa, and so on. Then I’ve got twelve
different Holy Virgins, and lots of subjects that is Catholic or Protestant, and
will do for the home or export market either. I pack ’em without frames in
racks made on purpose, and they travel safe enough. The poor people abroad
likes to have their patron saint; and then they vows a picture to the Virgin
perhaps, and so they get stuck up in churches. I’ve heard tell that you can
see em in most of the churches in Italy, as well as in Spain and Portugal. I
used to send twenty to thirty gross tc Oporto every year, but the vine-disease
has very much injured that trade, and I don’t send half as many now.” We
commend Mr. Daubham’s candid summary to the notice of bookmaking travel-
lers and tourists, some of whom, if we are not very much mistaken, have
dwelt with curious yet blundering minuteness upon these identical pictures,
without conjecturing that in so doing they were describing the products of
English industry. But we must leave the obliging Mr. Daubham to the pros-
ecution of his trade, and take a look at another and more pretentious branch
of equivocal art.

“We have said that the home trade in the productions of Mr. Daubham and
his congeners, has of late greatly declined. This is not because the love of art
has declined, but because it has become more ambitious—we can hardly say
more discriminating. The glass-painting has at length been pretty generally
discovered not to be the genuine thing; and oil-paintings on canvas are now
extensively superseding the oil-paintings on glass.

“In the new trade, the Jews mingle very largely, and take the lead. They
get up new frames from old worn-out moulds, gild them with Dutch metal, clap
a landscape of a good thumping size into them, and sell a pair of them for five
and twenty shillings. They have a gorgeous appearance, and impart an air of
luxury and grandeur to a poor man’s cottage or a farmer’s parlor, which pleases
him none the less that it is barbarously out of keeping with all the rest of his
domestic havings. The middle classes accept the same bait; and even in
London, several thousands of such cheap wares are annually orallod Nothing
is more common in the streets of the suburbs than the spectacle of a wander-

ing Jew, with a couple of pair of these tawdry pictures, slung round his should-
=k
)

106 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ers, back to back, and stopping to display them at positions favorable for
effecting a sale. Both in London and in the country towns and villages, they
are sold by the furniture-brokers in large numbers, and, like the paintings on
glass, they too are exported—not to Catholic countries, where they would be
a drug, but to the colonies, and especially to the emancipated negroes of the
West Indies, who have a prodigious appetite for violent colors and gilding.”

.

PORPHYRITIC SARCOPHAGUS FOR THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.

A huge sarcophagus, shaped from a block of porphyry, for the reception of
the remains of the Duke of Wellington, has been constructing during the past
year in Cornwall, by the orders of the British Government. It is thus de-
seribed by the London Atheneum :—“ This enormous stone—weighing seventy
tons when it was originally detached, and wrought on the spot where it was
formed—is of a grain so impenetrable as almost to defy the cutter’s craft.
The sawing of it into halves was a long and painful task, and the two men
now employed in hollowing it out seem given up to the most slow-going task
conceivable at the time present—since more than two can not work, and the

impression made by their picks in the huge mass is a thing to be measured
from week to week, not day to day. There is ten months’ more work to be
done ere the adamant rock will be shaped and smoothed into the required
form. The color is of an intense deep gray, mottled with black and pale buff,
and streaked with veins of white.”

IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING-MACHINES.

Brown's Color Press.—A printing-press has been recently patented by Mr.
Samuel Brown, of Syracuse, New York, which is capable of printing four colors
at one impression, and will throw off about 500 impressions per hour. The
press is on the ‘“‘platten,” or “flat impression” principle, and in general appear-
ance resembles the Adams’s press. Each colored ink is distributed on a sep-
arate roller, and all move horizontally across the form at the same time, but
at different levels—the blue roller, for example, being beneath the black, and
the yellow and red ranging still further below. Those portions of the “ form”
which are to be of any given color are ‘locked up” in separate small “ chases,”
and as the bed of the press sinks down after every impression, these chases
are stopped by pins projecting from the sides, each at their proper level, to
receive the desired color.

Babcock’s Polychromatic Press.—This press, patented by Messrs. Babcock,
of Westerly, Rhode Island, is far superior to the above for every variety of
small work. In this the paper is laid upon a revolving cylinder, or rather
parallelepiped, with four ftat faces, and is firmly held by the usual means.
The paper is laid on the upper face, after which a quarter revolution presents
a new face to receive paper, and presents the paper already laid +6 the action
of a form which moves horizontally from the side. Another quarter revolution
presents this first sheet to the action of another form, rising from beneath, of
a different color; and a third movement gives it a third impression. A fourth

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 107

movement presents it at the top again, when the printed sheet is removed
and another laid on. The three forms, one form upon each side and one form
beneath, move up simultaneously against the three faces, while the hand of
an attendant is occupied in changing the paper on the fourth. The inking
rollers, of which, of course, a separate set is provided for each form, perform
their duties admirably, moving once backward and forward over the form,
while the paper cylinder is changing positions. The “register” of this press
is perfect—a point of the first importance in color printing, as the slightest
misplacement of an impression frequently ruins what would otherwise be a
fine effect. The work is performed rapidly and well, yet without violent mo-
tions or concussions, and the number of inks employed is three, although by
a trick well known to the crafti—allowing some lines to receive the full and
perfect impressions, thus superposing one color upon another, six actual
varieties may be produced.

Jones's Typographer.—This machine, the invention of Mr. John Jones, of
Clyde, Wayne Co., N. Y., differs essentially from other printing apparatus,
except that the appearance of the work produced is nearly the same. The
typographer, in short, is an invention by which cards, notes, envelops, etc.,
may be printed by a slow process of producing one letter at a time, as in or-
dinary writing. The machine is light and portable, and may be placed on or
within any ordinary writing desk. The paper to be printed is wound upon a
small cylinder, and is fed forward by suitable automatic mechanism. A hor-
izontal ring or wheel, of about twelve inches diameter, is fixed on a verticai
shaft, with liberty to revolve freely, and also to move vertically. To the cir-
cumference of this ring are attached, at equal distances, all the letters of the
alphabet in succession, with the addition of numerals and capitals. The faces
of all these types are directed downward, and the paper cylinder is so placed
underneath that, on depressing a lever connected with the type wheel, the
paper receives a distinct impression from one, and one only, of the types, and
by moving the lever horizontally in either direction, any required letter may
be thus produced. To insure accuracy of position in this respect, and also to
facilitate rapid manipulation, a device has been adopted, consisting substan-
tially of a stout ring of cast-iron fixed on suitable standards, just exterior to
the type-wheel, and having its upper surface filed into plain triangular notches,
to receive the lever when depressed. Each notch corresponds with a letter
or figure on the type-wheel; and to aid the hand in finding correctly the true
position before depressing the lever to the point of actual contact between the
type and the paper, the lever is made double, the lower portion being held by
a delicate spring so much lower than the hand that it falls readily into the
notch, and guides the upper or true lever in its descent. The machines com-
plete can be manufactured at a price which will allow of their employment
for children’s toys, and perhaps nothing can well be devised to be more in-
structive and éntertaining to a vigorous and ingenious boy than the possession
of such an#mstrument. The inking is performed by two small rollers, which
are continually pressed against the lower surface of the type-wheel, and neces-
sarily distribute the ink by every horizontal movement of the lever.

Davis's Oscillating Printing Press A press, highly recommended, has been

108 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

recently invented by Merwin Davis, of New York City, which is intended to
supply a want of many small printing establishments, viz., a press expeditious
in its operations but of moderate cost. The bed of this press, which is flat, is
mounted on a strong column, oscillating from fixed bearings through the
intervention of a crank and connecting-rod. The bed, consequently, moves in
a circular path. By this arrangement the necessity of a ‘“ track” for the bed is
obviated, and a considerable amount of friction is avoided, thus rendering it
more easy to operate than any other press of equal capacity. The bed being
counterbalanced, its momentum is overcome without jar or unsteadiness. The
impression is produced by the segment of a cylinder, which also oscillates from
a fixed point. The “fingers” for holding the sheet are on the front of the
segment. In printing, the cylindrical surface of the segment and the plain or
flat surface of the bed move forward in concert, being geared together to pre-
vent “slurring;” but they disengage on the completion of the impression and
permit the segment to return (with the printed sheet) to its starting-point in
advance of the bed, which continues to move forward until the whole surface
of the “form” has passed under the inking-rollers. The ‘“sheet-flyer” is
located on the column (which supports the bed), its upper edge lying against
the rear edge of the bed; and as the printed sheet hangs from the “fingers”
of the segment, it is caught by the “fly” in the backward oscillation of the
bed and column. As the same “fingers” which draw in the blank sheet do
not relinquish their hold until the printed sheet is caught by the “fly,” no
tapes are required, and of course no adjustment of tapes or fly in changing
from a large form to a small one, or vice versd. The distribution of the ink
on this machine is effected in a superior manner, and the inking rollers (rang-
ing in numbers according to the quality of execution desired) are so conveni-
ently arranged that they can be put in or taken out of the press in a moment.
_ Ames’s Polygraph, or Copying Machine-—Mr. Nathan Ames of Saugus,
Mass., is the inventor of a “‘ polygraph,” or machine for writing several copies
at the same time. The device is simple and ingenious, and consists mainly of
light wire levers so connected together that whatever motion is given to one
will be communicated to the others with exact precision. A pen-handle is
connected by a flexible joint to the extremity of one lever, and the effect is
produced by a movement precisely like ordinary writing. Common gold pens
are employed, and ink is taken at intervals in the usual way, a sufficient
number of inkstands being suitably located for supplying both or all the pens
by the same movement. All the practical difficulties are admirably sur-
mounted, and perfect copies are produced with the utmost ease.

Improvements in Copperplate Printing —The following is the claim of a
patent recently granted to S. W. Lowe of Philadelphia, for improvements in
copperplate printing: “I claim coating the plain or unengraved face or sur-
face of the plate (which is intended for leaving the white or unprinted surface
of the paper) with a mercurial amalgam, that will have the effect of prevent-
ing the ink used in printing therefrom, from adhering to or soilin& the same,
while the figures engraved or etched thereon, readily receive the ink, and thus
admit of printing from the plate, by a letter or any other press, either from
the plate alone, or from the plate in the same ‘form’ with the type, without

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 109

the ‘wiping’ heretofore required in printing from steel or copper plates, sub-
stantially as described.” It will be observed that the patentee intimates, in
his claims, that if the steel or copper plates are covered with a mercurial
amalgam, as he proposes, they may be printed on common presses, with
types, the same as wood engravings. Should this discovery prove thus prac-
ticable, it will be a valuable auxiliary to the typographic art.

MACHINE FOR DISTRIBUTING TYPES.

Attempts to facilitate the setting of type have been very frequently made,
but we have now to chronicle a very beautiful, ingenious and, so far as tested,
very successful machine for distributing or returning type to their boxes after
the printing is completed. The inventor is Mr. Victor Beaumont of New
York. The machine is automatic and distributes with perfect accuracy every ~
thing but two-em and three-em quadrats without any attendance except to
supply the matter at short intervals. The types are carefully picked apart
and are left standing in lines suitable for a type-setting machine, or tumbled
unceremoniously into boxes, as may be desired, the latter being easier as
requiring jess labor and care in their removal by the attendants. The principle
on which the machine is able to discriminate and put each type in its appro-
priate place is that of feeling, not the face, but the sides of the body. Each
type is prepared expressly for the purpose by cutting three nicks on its edges,
differently arranged for each letter. The letter a, for example, is manufactured
with three nicks, called one, two, and three, counting from the highest; c has
one, two and four; 6 has two, three and five, etc. The channel leading to
each box is provided with a mouth of the same form, carefully executed in
hardened steel to withstand the wear, and the lines of type are pressed up
successively against all these channels until the right one is presented, when
the first type in the line pops in, leaving the next to commence a similar
round. The receiving channels are arranged in a circle, faces inward, and the
lines of type to be distributed are ranged radially in a horizontal wheel of
somewhat less diameter. This wheel is properly geared and rolls around
within the inclosure, presenting each type rapidly, but gently, to every aper-
ture. The lines are thrust outward in the wheel by suitable springs, which
are simultaneously compressed by a simple movement when it is desired to
supply more matter. In working out the details of this machine the most
beautiful simplicity has been arrived at, and every type is seized, on entering
its: proper channel, by a spring lever of sufficient force to tear it from its
fellows, however adhesive may be its alkaline and inky bond. A similar
lever guards the exit of each type from the wheel, and the hold is slackened
only during the instant it presses fairly against the steel mouth of a channel
for its reception. Thirty lines are received at once in the wheel, and the
machine has been for several months in operation without appearing to wear,
or otherwise injure the sides of the type. The nicks cause a slight annoyance
by catching the rule in setting, but this evil will probably be overcome by
practice. Each machine will distribute but one size of type; but the inventor
states that they may be so constructed as to be easily adapted to the different

110 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

sizes of small type. If worked by hand, one man or boy can distribute 12,000
ems per hour, and with scarcely a possibility of an error of a single type;
whereas by the usual process of hand distribution, 3,000 ems are about the
average. The machine can be worked by steam, and one man can then
attend to three of them, making the total distribution in one hour 36,000
ems,

-

SETTING TYPE BY MACHINERY.

It is not generally known, says the N. Y. Tribune, that five full-sized and
expensive machines are in full tide of operation in setting type in the estab-
lishment of Mr. Trow, of New York. There is believed to be one in use to
some extent in Paris; but with this exception these are the only machines
actually working for this purpose within our knowledge. These five give em-
ployment to ten large, and an equal number of small girls, with a foreman to
oversee and one additional female to supply the machines with type. Two
compositors alternately relieve each other, first setting and next justifying a
quantity of matter, while the smaller attendants busy themselves in distribut-
ing and arranging the type for the machines. Three thousand ems of long
primer have been set per hour, or twenty-six thousand in a day of ten hours,
by one girl; but much depends, of course, on the skill of the operator. The
extreme capacity of the machine is ten thousand per hour; but this limit will
probably be never reached. The machine is driven by a band on a pulley, and
the labor of setting consists in fingering a set of keys like a piano. Each kind
is carried forward on a separate band, and deposited continuously on a single
tape running diagonally across the line of the first. From this second tape
they are dropped into a wheel, which, in turn, leaves them standing single
file on a long galley, from which they are taken and made up into lines of
proper length. The enterprise has not until quite lately been made to assume
a form in which it appears pecuniarily profitable, and even yet must be reck-
oned as a hopeful experiment rather than a triumphant success.

IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES AND IMPLEMENTS FOR
WORKING WOOD.

The Scientific American notices the following improvements in planing
machines exhibited at the late Fair of the American Institute :—

Barlow's Rotatory Planing Machine is remarkable for the small space it re-
quires. Itis very compact, hardly occupying half as much room as an ordinary
carpenter’s bench. The operating power necessary is also very small. It”
planes with great rapidity, and produces work of the very best quality. The
machine at the Palace will plane lumber 22 inches in width, or less, and 24
inches, or less, in thickness. The cutting is done on the under side of the
board. The frame of the machine is in two parts, hinged, so that the upper
part can be turned over whenever desirable, and the cutters thus handily got
at. One of the feed-rollers is carried in the upper frame, which is almost the
only part of the machine that requires adjustment. Changes of thickness are
made in the most convenient manner, by raising or depressing the upper

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 111

frame. The cutters consist of long straight edges, of the same length as the
machine is wide. Price $500. .

Morse’s Patent Planing Machine.—This machine planes both sides of the
lumber at once, tongues and grooves at the same time, and if the board is
wider at one end than the other, reduces it down and brings it out finished,
of equal dimensions throughout. The tongueing is done in a peculiar manner,
viz., by simultaneously grooving the board on both sides, thus cutting through
and leaving a smooth rounded tongue, which is superior to the tongues made
by cutting down on the edges of the lumber. This machine appears to have
the combined effectiveness of two or more of the ordinary planing machines.
Jt turns out superior work. Price $1000.

Gray and Wood’s Planing Machine is a simple-looking affair, operates very
easily, and does superior work. The cutters are long straight edges attached
to a rapidly revolving shaft. Planes 25 feet per minute; requires from one
to four horse power, according to stuff; can be used for cornice-sticking and
all other kinds of work. The cutters are arranged above the board, which is
placed on a traveling carriage like Daniel’s machine. Price of a machine
capable of planing boards 8 feet long, 20 inches wide, only $210.

Gear's Carving Machine-—This improvement is intended for use in the pro-
duction of ornamental carved work for furniture, etc. The stuff is first cut out
into the desired outline form by means of a common scroll saw, and then
brought to the machine to be finished up. The apparatus consists of a com-
mon table, up through the top of which two or more cutter heads project.
The sides and edges of the stuff are worked and finished smoothly by being
brought in contact with the cutters, which revolve 4000 times in a minute.
One of these machines, we were informed, will save the labor of 30 or 40 mens
Price $300. By changing the form of the cutters, the design of the carving
is also changed.

Lever Plane-—An improved joiner’s plane has been recently patented by
W. 8. Luffborough, of Rochester, N. Y., the principal features of which consist
first in the employment of cast-iron instead of wood to form the main body
of the tool, and second in a novel arrangement for securing and adjusting the
iron or casting portion. This plane, which is designed to take the place of
those ordinarily employed by carpenters, joiners, ship-wrights, etc., is of about
the same weight, but much thinner than those now in use, and the hand of
the workman is consequently brought down to a position much nearer in line
with the resistance. This advantage, although reckoned by some experienced
workmen to be of considerable importance, is trifling in comparison with the
facility of adapting the plane to all kinds of wood. By the aid of two thumb-
screws acting upon a small lever, the iron is readily loosened or secured in
any required position. Thus, the iron may be much inclined for planing soft
and clear stuff, or set in a position much nearer the perpendicular when to be
used on hard and cross-grained material. One tool may thus be made to
serve in some degree the same purposes as a whole set on the present plan.

Burley’s Doveiailing Machine-—A. most ingenious machine for dovetailing
has recently been invented and patented by Mr. Burley, of Boston. The
main features of the machine are a platform upon which a sliding-table rests,

112 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

and four circular saws, which cut the entire pins and dovetails—doing away
with the necessity of chisels, and performing the work in a manner which can
not be done by hand. The dovetailing process, as is well known, has always
been a most tedious and difficult task. Every joimt had to be accurately
marked out, and cut with a chisel by the hand; and in making the drawers
of bureaus and other case-work, the expense has been very great. By Bur-
ley’s machine, seventy-five to a hundred drawers can be neatly, substantially,
and beautifully dovetailed in an hour. Better even, much better and stronger
is the work than when done by hand, for the weary artisan is likely to slight
some of his corners and finish in cutting the joints. The machine cuts the
mortise with a precision and accuracy which renders every joint perfect.
There is also a machine working on the same principle, and coming under the
same Burley patent, designed for box dovetailing, the first invention being
adapted peculiarly to cabinet-work and drawers. The main advantages of
the machine are, that the operator can dovetail from eighty to one hundred
boxes in an hour, and without extraordinary exertion, and yet the joints will
be perfectly strong and neat. Hoops and nails in all kinds of boxes, however
large, are dispensed with, and the packages for heavy goods are rendered
quite as strong as if hooped with iron. All kinds of wood, whether clear or
otherwise, are worked with equal facility. The advantages, therefore, of this
machine in the manufacture of soap and candle-boxes, sugar-boxes, packages
for dry goods, etc., can not be overrated.

Wait’'s Lathe for cutting irregular forms.—My. P. H. Wait, of Backersville,
N. J., has recently patented an improvement upon Blanchard’s well-known
turning lathe—the first automatic machine ever made which was capable of
producing an exact copy of an irregular pattern. The frame of Mr. Wait’s
machine looks somewhat like a saw-horse, for it consists of four arms, crossed
and hung on a central shaft. The upper ends of the arms are furnished with
revolving cutters, which bear against the stuff to be turned. The lower ends
of the arms are made to embrace the pattern between them, being pressed up
against it by means of springs. It should be observed that the frame does
not revolve, but the arms move on the shaft, which serves as a pivot. When
the pattern is made to revolve, the lower ends of the arms follow its irreg-
ularities, and thus correspondingly move the cutters to or from the stuff to be
turned. There are two sets of cutters, and consequently two copies of the
pattern are simultaneously turned. The chief advantages of this machine
over Blanchard’s and other lathes for turning irregular forms consist, first, in
causing the guide-arms or pattern-followers to embrace the pattern, so that
no matter how long and slender the pattern may be, it can never give way or
bend. Second, in producing two copies of the pattern at once; or, in other
words, doubling the quantity of work produced without any additional com-
plication of the machine.

Wurth’s Wood Lathe.—In this invention there are two sliding rests, one on
each side of the stuff, which carry the cutting tools. The rests move slowly
along the whole length of the machine, and, during their progress, are made
to play in and out laterally, and so cause the cutters to act on the wood;
this lateral play of the rests is produced by means of guide-plates located on

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 113

the sides of the machine. The guide-plates are of the same length as the stuff

tobe turned. The pattern produced in the wood is governed wholly by the for-

mation of the guide-plates; the latter are so fixed as to be conveniently removed ,
and others substituted. This is the only change required in the machine, to

adapt it to the production of different patterns of turning. In its working, all

that the attendant does is simply to swing the sticks and turn on the power.

We have seen some elegant specimens of fancy turning by this machine. A

lad, we are told, can easily attend to two of the lathes, and in one day do the

labor of fifteen men working with fifteen hand-lathes.—Scientific American.

Improvement in Sawing Hoops.—Considerable difficulty has been hitherto
experienced in pole-hoop sawing machinery to retain an even thickness in the
hoops—cut off, as they are, from long, tapering, crooked poles. An improve-
ment by Messrs. Strange and Smith, of Taunton, Mass., accomplishes this
operation with an uncommon degree of perfection and rapidity. Two upright
saws are arranged, side by side, and against them the hoop-pole is fed, by
means of rollers. One of the saws, and one set of the rollers, are placed in a
yielding frame, which readily expands or contracts, according to the irreg-
ularities of the pole. Two hoops, both of an even thickness, are cut by one
passage of the stuff through the machine.

Portable Boring Engine—The apparatus, which forms the subject of this
invention, by Thos. Goodseem, of Providence, R. I., consists of a portable
steam-engine, carrying one or more auger-stocks, either attached or geared
with its main shaft. The cylinder of the engine receives steam from a boiler
through a flexible pipe, which allows it to be carried about in the hands, and
operated in different places at pleasure. The engine is also provided with
a curious arrangement of sliding-pipes, whereby nearly the whole weight of
the concern is supported by the pressure of the steam. In boring, therefore,
the operator only requires to guide the augur by handles attached to the
frame of the engine. If desirable, steam may be introduced, to cause the
necessary pressure upon the tool. This is a singular improvement, applica-
ble, we are told, with much useful effect in ship-building, and wherever large
amounts of boring are to be done. Experience proves that steam may be
conveyed with perfect facility in flexible pipes, for short distances around a
stationary boiler.— Scientific American.

Improved Auger——An improved auger, invented by J. W. Hoagland of
Jersey City, N. J., consists in having the cutting portion of the auger made

. separate from the screw, and combining the two parts by means of a dowel

and a screw in dovetail form. The object of this improvement is to allow of
the screw part of an auger, which endures for a very long time, to be used
for any number of the cutting parts, so that the latter can be renewed when
required, if broken or worn out. For ship-carpenters the invention is of great
advantage, A series of stocks may be made and marked with the letters of
the alphabet. To each there may be several sizes of bits marked and adapted
to fit accurately, and thus the carpenter, if supplied with a proper number of
auger stocks and bits, will be able without loss of time to bore for any size
of treenail. He will thus lose no time, as he now frequently does, in search-
ing for a new auger, or getting a broken one mended, if he should break his

114 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

bit against an iron bolt. If he wishes to bore for new treenails of a different
size from that which he has been using and boring for, he has but to unscrew
his it and put on another of a different size on the same stock, to bore a
hole of a proper size.—Scientific American.

Improved Wood-Sawing Machine-—Mr. A. Winter, of Rondout, N. Y., has
recently patented a wood-sawing machine for railroad or other purposes, ca-
pable of sawing more rapidly and with much less attendance than usual, and
delivering the sawed material at any point desired. The wood may he sepa-
rated in two or more places at the same time by simply mounting several
saws upon the shaft; and one machine on this plan now in use on the line
of the Reading Rail-road in Pennsylvania has proved itself capable of sawing
and throwing upon the pile a cord in four minutes. It may be driven by
either steam or horse-power, its principal peculiarity consisting in a series of belts
or endless chains, provided with suitable hooks which carry forward the sticks
at a moderate rate, present them to the action of the rapidly-revolving cireu-
lar saw or saws, and then continue to carry them onward and drop them at
the point desired. The belts or chains may be of any length desired, and so
arranged as to elevate the wood to any required degree, the labor of the at-
tendants being reduced simply to that of laying on the wood.

Machine for Sawing and Splitting Kindling Wood.—This machine for sawing
and splitting kindling wood, invented by J. A. Conover of New York, is con-
structed as follows :—At the rear of the machine there is a circular saw which
divides the sticks into suitable lengths, while at the front part there is a large
splitting-ax, having four blades arranged at angles. These are attached to a
vertical shaft, and move slowly up and down. Between the saw and the
splitters there is a strong.endless belt which receives the blocks of wood ends
up, conveys them along toward the front till they come beneath the splitters.
The stuff is here divided into kindling wood with great rapidity, and falls
down in a pile at the base of the machine. The splitters have a very stately
sort of movement, and when they enter the wood seem like spades acting on
the soil, handled by some monstrous giant. We are informed that a man is
enabled to cut up and split fifteen cords of wood per day with one of these
machines.—Scientific American.

Straining Saws by Atmospheric Presswre.—Many attempts have been made
to dispense with, and so save the power required to drive, the cumbersome
sashes used in all saw-mills, by introducing an independent means of straining
the saw-blade. In some instances steam has been employed; in others, air
cylinders have been placed at each end of the saw, to which pistons, traversing
the cylinders, were attached. The cylinders were exhausted by means of afi
air-pump employed for that special purpose, and the saws thus strained be-
tween the pistons. In an improvement recently patented by Brown & Coffin
of Texas, the straining is accomplished in a similar manner, except that no
pump or extra gearing is involved. A flat valve, opening outwardly, is placed
in the bottom of each cylinder, which, by the alternate movement of its pis-
ton, opens and closes, thus producing the required exhaust or discharge. By
this simple means the saw-blade is at all times kept evenly strained, by a
yielding, self-adjusting pressure, which prevents the possibility of accident,

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 115

economizes the motive power, and saves trouble on the part of the oper-
ator.

Novel Machinery for Felling Trees.—In an arrangement patented by Thomas
Durden of Montgomery, Alabama, no saw is used, the cutting being done by
means of knives which project horizontally from an upright shaft. Rapid
motion is communicated to this shaft by means of cogged gearing; there is
also a connection between the gearing and a screw which feeds the cutters up
toward the tree as fast as they enter; the feeding parts are therefore self-
operating. The frame of the machine rests on a four-wheeled truck, so that
it may be conveyed about from place to place with facility. The apparatus is
firmly attached to the base of the tree by means of a pair of iron spurs; a hole
is bored, the spurs inserted, and then wedged.—Scientific American.

Improved Boring Machine—An improved boring machine recently patented
by Messrs. Wyckoff & Morrison of Elmira, N. Y., consists of an auger, made,
externally, in the form of a tube. The cutters are placed just within the
periphery of the tube, at its lower end, so that when the latter is revolved a
hole is bored and the auger enters the stuff, while the chips rise through its
hollow interior. The outside of the tube is furnished with a spiral ledge or
screw, which assists the rise and discharge of the chips. Itis said that nothing
ean exceed the facility and accuracy with which pump logs are bored, and
other species of work accomplished by the use of this improvement.

IMPROVED PLANE IRON.

In this improvement, patented by Horace Harris, Ontario County, N. Y.,
the cutting iron is placed inside of a thin metallic case, open at both ends.
This case, with its cutter, is wedged into the plane in the common manner.
The cutter is moved up and down within the case by means of a set screw.
The thickness of the shaving is adjusted with the utmost facility; all that is
required being simply to turn the screw. The improvement is cheap, simple,
and applicable to the planes in common use.

IMPROVED BENCH-HOOK.

Bench-hook is the name given by carpenters to the little spur of iron against
which they place one end of the stuff they happen to be planing, to prevent
the same from slipping. Some carpenters drive in a nail at the head of their
benches, and make it serve as a hook; others use a hooked spike. In both
cases there is more or less trouble to lift the hook and set it to suit different
kinds of work. An improvement patented by A. Hotchkin, of Schenevus,
N. Y., consists of a small metallic frame, having in its center a pivoted
tongue—like the tongue of a buckle; the frame is let in and fastened flush
with the bench. The tongue serves as the hook, and as it may be instantly
elevated or depressed by the finger, it manifestly possesses much advantage
over the common hooks in point of convenience. The lower side of the
tongue is notched, like a rack, and there is a spring pawl to match the same.
This part of the contrivance is to hold the tongue firm in any desired position.
—Scientific American.

116 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

IMPROVEMENT IN ADJUSTING BLINDS.

In an improved method of hanging and adjusting blinds, patented by Messrs.
Sanger and Parker of Boston, the blinds, instead of being hung on hinges and
made to open and close in the ordinary manner, are divided into two parts
and caused to slide up and down in the window-frames, like the common
window-sashes. By means of a simple application of cords and pullies, the
blinds thus arranged are moved from within the apartment, thereby obviating
the inconvenience of opening the window for that purpose. The blinds can
be made to disappear in the casement when not wanted for use.

New Mode of Hanging Window-sash.—The following new method of hanging
window-sash has been patented by D. A. Dunzaek, of Salem, Mass. The
window-frame or casing is constructed in the usual manner for balanced
sashes, viz., having boxes on each side of the frame. Within each box there
is placed one weight, which has a pulley attached to one of its ends, around
which passes a cord, which also passes over two other pulleys attached to
each side of the frame at the center. One end of a cord is attached to the
lower side of the lower sash, and the other end of it to the bottom of the
upper sash. It is thus that both sashes are connected together by one cord
and one weight on each side. The weights move without any jarring or
noise. By the common method of hanging sash, a window requiring weights
of 18 lbs. can be operated by the new method with weights of 8 lIbs., thus
saving 10 Ibs. of iron. This improvement deserves the attention of all house
builders.

IMPROVED FLOORING.

A patent has been recently granted to Mr. Groebl, of Philadelphia, for a
new kind of wood flooring or marquetry. Mr. Groebl’s floors are composed
of small pieces of wood which fit together like mosaic, and are firmly con-
nected with each other by means of tongues and grooves extending all around
the single pieces. The pieces can be cut on Mr. Groebl’s machine of any
shape, either straight-lined or curved, so as to form any variety of patterns
from the simplest figures of squares or diamonds to the richest designs with
borders and corner-pieces. The single pieces being made of wood of different
texture and color, a great variety in the general coloring of the floor can be
attained. They require to be waxed once or twice a month like similar floors
in use all over France and Germany; they are always clean and have a
beautiful and graceful appearance, and are superior to carpets in many re-
spects; they are excellent for the warm season and are the best floor for
dancing. The price is about the same as oil-cloth or carpeting, and if manu-
factured on a large scale they could probably be got up still cheaper.

MACHINE FOR PEELING THE BASKET-WILLOW.

The cultivation of willows is a subject which has excited a good deal of
attention in this country for a number of years. and many farmers have tried

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 117

it on a small scale, and found it very profitable; but owing to the great
amount of labor required at one time to peel them, while the bark is loose, it
was found that there could be but few raised in this country, where labor is
so scarce and high, without there could be a power machine for peeling them.
A machine to accomplish this end has recently been invented by George J.
Colby, of Jonesville, Vt. The operation is simple, the willows being passed
between two or three sets of India rubber rollers, one set of which has a
vibrating motion, which rubs the bark off very effectually ; the others mainly
separating the willows from the loose bark. The rollers being made of India
rnbber, there is no possible chance for the willows to be injured, and it will
adapt itself to all sizes, so that from 20 to 30 rods can be passing through at
the same time. With one horse, and two men to attend it, it will peel from
one to two tons per day, while to do the same amount of work by hand it
would require 30 or 40 men and boys.—Scientific American.

IMPROVED METAL LATHE.

In an improved lathe arranged by Mr. Nasmyth, of England, for turning
cast-iron pulleys for shafting, the slow motion for the mandrel is got by gear-
ing down directly from an endless screw and a worm-wheel on the mandrel,
the endless screw being driven by a belt from the shafting overhead, thus dis-
pensing with the usual number of pulleys for reducing the speed of the shaft-
ing. The pulleys to be turned are bored and keyed upon a mandrel, of which
there are a number provided of various sizes; the two centers of these man-
drels being bushed with steel in a very ingenious manner. The slide-rest is
made like an ordinary hand slide-rest, but the feed is given by a wheel and a
T ratchet worked by a fine chain from a vibrating arm above, which is moved
by a chain from an arm moved by a cam on the lathe mandrel; the chain can
be hooked to any length, and so attached to the feed ratchet any where about
the lathe.

NEW METHOD OF ENGRAVING ON GLASS.

One of the most ingenious devices recently invented is “ Whipple’s arrange-
ment for engraving on glass.” In this, the engraving to be transferred to the
glass, is first cut upon a steel roller or cylinder. If the glass surface to be or-
namented is a cylindrical one, as a goblet, this goblet and steel cylinder are
mounted side by side in a lathe on spindles geared together, and the two are
allowed to revolve rapidly, pressing with moderate force upon each other.
Fine emery is then applied to both surfaces, and those portions of the steel
cylinder which are in relief, by their continual pressing of the emery down
upon the surface of the glass in the process of rotation, in a short time trans-
fer in the most beautiful and perfect manner the whole device engraved upon
the metal cylinder. The two rotating surfaces being accurately geared to-
gether, it is obvious that the same points on the circumference of each will
accurately correspond in each rotation. If the surface to be engraved is a
plane, the steel roller revolves by an arrangement of apparatus backward and

118 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

forward. In this way stone may be cut in relief in an exquisitely fine man-
ner, and work which has heretofore required hours and days to accomplish,
may now be executed in a few minutes.

RUGGLES’S ROTARY SHEARS FOR SHEET METAL.

A new tool, known by the above designation, has been lately introduced
for cutting sheet metal, and which is made in sizes adapted to the thin tinned
sheets or to the half inch boiler plate. One straight and one circular
cutter are employed, the latter being revolved and slowly moved forward by
the aid of a belt acting on a pulley at one extremity of the machine. The
knives or cutters of this machine are so set that their edges do not come com-
pletely into contact, but only sufficiently near to ensure the separation of the
sheet. It is found in practice with the ordinary lever shears that the cut
invariably precedes the point of absolute contact of the knives, while it falls
behind the point where the latter begin to press upon the metal. All shears
compel the particles to slide past each other in the act of separation, and it is
found that the cohesion of the metal is destroyed as soon as it fairly com-
mences thus to slide, so that an absolute contact of the cutting edges in
Ruggles’s shears would be worse than useless. In practice the edges are set
at a distance equal to half the thickness of the metal to be cut, and the sheets
are divided with a degree of accuracy and of smoothness unsurpassed by any
system yet devised.

IMPLEMENT FOR CUTTING WIRE.

An improved tool for cutting wire has been invented by Wm. Grover of
Holyoke, Mass., Jr. It differs from the common knife-edged nippers only in
the shape of its jaws. They are made round; in other words they are complete
disks of steel, with holes of different sizes through their surfaces, for the
reception of the wire to be cut. In its operation the handles are opened
until a certain sized aperture in one of the disks comes in line with its equiy-
alent opening in the other disk; the wire is then passed through and clipped
by compressing the handles. The ordinary nippers are apt to bend the wire
in cutting; they also leave a rough burr on the ends of the pieces. But with
Mr. Grover’s improvement, wire may be very rapidly cut to any size or
length, without the least bending, and with perfect smoothness.— Scientific
American.

IMPROVED SKATES.

Two patents for improvements in skates have been patented during the
past year, by N. C. Sanford, of Meriden, Conn. The object of these inventions
is to give the skate elasticity so as to enable a person to skate with more
ease. Small tubes are placed vertically within the stock of each skate. In
these tubes are placed india-rubber springs connected with knees secured to
the runner, which is also thereby firmly attached to the stock, by which it
gives some spring to the foot, and its use is thereby rendered more easy.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 119

The second patent embraces the dividing of the skate, and connecting the
two parts by a spring, and having the runner elastic, whereby the skate
yields, and the back part rises with the heel, when the weight of the body is
thrown upon the front part of the skate.

ENLARGING AND REDUCING MAPS AND DESIGNS,

James Murdock, of London, has taken out a patent for the purposes above-
named. The invention consists in transfering a map or a design to a sheet
of India-rubber in an unstretched state; then stretching the material equally
in all directions, by having it secured in an expanding screw frame. This
process enlarges the map or design. To make a design or a map smaller, it
is transferred to the India-rubber sheet when it is in a stretched state, which is
afterwards allowed to contract equally on all sides.

PROTEAN FOUNTAIN PEN,

The above designation has been given to a pen patented by Mr. N. A.
Prince, of Brooklyn, N. Y. Protean is a word lately coined in Great Britain
to designate one of the forms of hardened caoutchouc, from which material,
under Goodyear’s patent, this pen, or rather pen-holder, is manufactured.
The handle is hollow throughout, and is filled with ink either by suction
through the mouth or by the aid ofa small piston, after which the top is
tightly closed. The pen is attached in the usual way, but the ink-tube or
handle is continued underneath and bent upward so as to shut its open end
against the under side of the pen near the point. When pressed on the
paper a sufficient opening is made for air to enter. In this position ink con-
stantly escapes, while air enters at intervals and rises to the upper end of the
handle. A small spring of protean fixed within the tube continually presses
against the pen to serve as a conductor and prevent the possibility of the ink
being driven back, while provision is made by suitable cavities near the base
to catch any reflowing ink from the point, when the position of the pen is
accidentally reversed, and prevent it from soiling the fingers of the operator.

IMPROVEMENTS IN LAMPS,

An improved entry lamp has been recently patented by Chas. W. Felt of
Salem, Mass., the object of which is to effect a saving in light-producing
material—gas, oil, or other burning fluid, used in lamps placed in entries of
buildings (or situations where light is needed at short intervals), by reducing
the light to the minimum burning point when it is not needed. The con-
struction is as follows: the lamp is placed in a socket of a small metal plate,
which plate is secured by screws to any wooden fastenings in the entry.
The wick tube of the lamp has a small outer tube, which is capable of sliding
up and down on it. When it is slid down, a greater portion of the wick will
be exposed to the air, consequently the lamp will give more light; when it is
raised a very small portion of the wick is exposed, consequently the light is

120 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

feeble. When a person enters the hall or entry where this lamp is placed,
the door, as it is opened, is made to slide down the outer wick tube, so as to
give greater light then, and by closing and opening the door again, the tube
will be moved up to shield the wick, so as to save oil or fluid when a full
light is not required. This principle of operation covers gas lights, and those
obtained from burning fluids of any kind. The same operation applied to a
fork on the cock of a gas pipe, will so operate it as to give a bright and feeble
light by opening and closing an entry or hall door.

IMPROVED BASIN STOP-COCK,

In city dwelling-houses, where water is conveyed through the apartments
in pipes, it is usual to furnish the wash basins with stop-cocks, the handles
of which are hollow, and so arranged that when you pull the handle forward,
the water discharges through it into the basin, and when you push it back
the liquid ceases to flow. These stop-cocks, although ornamental and exceed-
ingly convenient, possess, nevertheless, some defects. An invention by Mr.
Eling of New York City, prevents the possibility of a careless overflow, by
arranging a self-acting spring within the stop-cock, in such a manner that the
water will run so long as you hold the handle in proper position; but the
moment you let go, it flies back, and the water stops.

BRAMBLE’S AUTOMATIC GRAIN SCALE. -

In this self-acting scale, a trough-shaped box, divided into two compartments
by a partition running lengthwise, receives the grain from a reservoir placed
above. The box rests on a weighing apparatus; the grain falls in a steady
stream. When a sufficient quantity to balance the scales has fallen into the
box, the latter cants over a little and shuts the spout, thus stopping off the
grain; at the same moment a valve in the bottom of the box opens and the
grain therein slips out, weighed and measured, into a bag; the box then tips
back again, opens the spout, and receives a néw load.

The whole apparatus includes in fact an elevator to continually carry up the
grain to a reservoir or bin, as well as the measuring apparatus for letting it
down. The first process, the elevating, requires steam power; but the latter,
the measuring, does not, the whole movement being effected in this case by the
gravity of the descending grain. This machine weighs off the grain, indicating
the amount by a dial, and may beset to weigh any desired number of bushels,
stopping itself when the number is completed. The whole affair is extremely
simple, containing no delicate members except in the scale-beam where the
weight is indicated. The quantity weighed at each draft is three bushels, and
five drafts are taken per minute, so that it is practicable to weigh off with ac-
curacy nine hundred bushels per huur. The point wherein this scale differs
from all other attempts by the same and other inventors is in checking the
flow of grain before the weight is completed. It has been found that a large
stream of grain rushing with rapidity into any scale, exerts a considerable force
by its momentum in addition to its gravity, and it is difficult to calculate and

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 121

compensate for this influence. The present scale receives the grain in a large
stream until the proper weight is nearly attained, then by closing the principal
gate and receiving a small stream finishes the operation with all the nicety
desired.

FILE-MAKING BY MACHINERY,

For the last 20 years skilled mechanics have exerted all their ingenuity
in trying to discover a process of manufacturing files, so as to lessen the cost
of production. Some firms in Sheffield and elsewhere are said to have spent
fortunes in experimenting, in the hope of attaining this end, and have still
failed. A machine, which has proved successful, has recently been invented
by Mr. Ross, of Glasgow, Scotiand. The merit of the invention will be best
understood by the general public, when it is stated that by its agency files can
be struck, and that in a superior manner, with an advantage in labor alone
of at least 200 per cent over the old process of hand-striking. A skilled file-
eutter will strike by the hand somewhere about twenty common 40 inch flat
bastard files ina day. One of Mr. Ross’s machines, under the direction of a boy,
will strike sixty files in the same amount of time. The machine is so simple
too, that an uninitiated boy can in a few hours be instructed to attend it. A
one-horse steam-power is capable of driving six of these machines, and with
some practice, a lad might be able to attend two of them, for they possess the
attribute of stopping of themselves when a certain portion of work has been
completed. A comparative glance at the hand-made and machine-struck file
at once shows the superiority of the latter, even were the other advantages
altogether kept out of view. Flat bastard or equaling files, common and
tapered, are those most in use, and are the kind which Mr. Ross’s invention has
been mostly hitherto engaged in producing; but the machine can be modified
to strike rounds and all the other variety of files. As was to be anticipated,
the machine-made files have already found their way extensively into use,
although only a few months have expired since the process of manufacture was
begun.—North British Mail.

CARPENTER’S ROTARY PUMP.

A pump recently invented by Mr. 8S. D. Carpenter, of Wisconsin, is worthy
of attention from the simplicity and at the same time singularity of its mo-
tions, the fewness of its parts, its small cost of construction, its economy of
space, and evident durability. The whole pump consists of a metallic case, in
which is inclosed a vertical shaft with a nearly hemispherical mass of metal
at its lower extremity, and a vibrating or oscillating feather. When impelled
by a continuous power, as in filling up tanks at rail-road stations, the shaft
may be safely driven with considerable velocity, and the pump may be con-
sidered tolerably perfect without the aid of any packing. It is questionable
whether the rotary motion is easier than the reciprocating for pumps worked
by hand, but where power is employed for the raising of considerable quanti-
ties, the invention of this pump renders it unnecessary and highly impolitic to
convert the rotary motion of the shaft into any kind of a reciprocating action:

6

122 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

The pump for general purposes is manufactured entirely of cast-iron. The
lower portion of the case is spherical, and is closely fittéd by the spherical
-side of a casting at the foot of the shaft, which shaft, in this case, is assumed
to be vertical. This casting is nearly a hemisphere, the top being somewhat
conical instead of flat—the general form of the casting approximating to that
of a boy’s spinning-top inverted. Imagine this nearly hemispherical mass
sawed nearly in two by a vertical cut commencing at the apex, and insert in
the opening thus made a semi-circular disk of metal, straight side uppermost.
This disk will represent the feather alluded to. Lay a flat cover upon the
point of the cone and incline it until it bears fair upon the inclined surface of
the cone. This cover will represent the flat side of the nearly spherical case,
and a rude model of Carpenter’s pump will be the result. On revolyfng the
internal mass by the aid of a shaft continued upward from the point of the
cone and passing out obliquely through a stuffing-box in the flat side of the
case, the feather will oscillate so as always to bear with its straight edge
against the flat side of the case. A screw at the base allows of driving up
the whole shaft, and with it the sector of a sphere described, to compensate
for any wear of its upper surfaces; and as this driving upward of the interior
work would increase the space below and make a leak at that point, provision
is made for preventing this by a very simple modification of the form of the
parts, which insures a tight joint at the largest part of the pump im all cases ;
and to prevent any flow of water through the slot in which the feather acts,
the slot or split is not made continuously across, but is interrupted in the
middle by a solid partition, and a triangular portion is cut from the feather to
correspond thereto and allow of its free vibrating motion.

Gray's Improved Pump.—In this pump, invented by 8. H. Gray, of Bridge-
port, Conn., two pistons are employed in one cylinder, both operated by one
handle or lever. The improvement consists in a novel means of operating
the pistons. A shaft passes transversely through the center of the pump-
barrel, within which, on the shaft, a cogged pinion-wheel is placed. The
piston-rods have teeth on them like a rack, and gear with the pinion. Outside
of the pump, and attached to one end of the shaft, there is a handle or lever,
by working which back and forth, the pistons are operated. No piston-rod,
it will be noted, is seen on the outside, since all the moving parts, except the
lever, are confined inside of the pump. By the use of this invention two
separate streams of water can be discharged, if desired, or a single continuous
one. It is, in effect, the combination of two of the ordinary pumps into one
apparatus, at a cost which exceeds only by a trifle the expense of the single
pump. The prominent advantages are, doubling the capacity, and therefore
the utility, without much increasing the cost.—AScientific American.

BROAD-CAST MANURE DISTRIBUTER,

The object of this invention, which has received a prize from the Royal
Agricultural Society of England, is to distribute regularly all kinds of natural
and artificial manures, even the most difficult ones used as top-dressing,
such as nitrate of soda, salt, guano, and soot. The manure is delivered from

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. - 193

the box by means of a barrel of novel construction, consisting of a shaft fitted
with prongs, which carry over the manure, and in doing so, comes in contact
with a series of scrapers which rise with and clean the barrel as it rotates,
without the aid of brushes, sweepers, or any other perishable material, from
whence it passes down the shoot or conductor, and is evenly distributed ail
over the surface, or in three or more rows. The shoots or conductors are
furnished with wire rods, fixed in alternate lines, giving them the effect of a
sieve, whereby the manure is separated and pulverized as it falls.

. WILSON’S IMPROVED WHEEL-BARROW.

In this improved wheel-barrow (an English invention) the wheel or “trun-
dle” is placed under, and is recessed into the bottom of the barrow, the inter-
nal projection being covered over by a piece of curved sheet-iron, boxed in
with side-pieces. With this position of the wheel the weight of the contained
load is thrown upon the wheel instead of being carried between the hand and
the wheel, as in the common barrow, thus relieving the laborer’s arms. The
sinking of the body over the wheel also brings the weight nearer to the
ground and diminishes the working oscillation. The handles are attached
quite separately from the body, and they are set on at a considerable angle so
as to reduce the lift in wheeling. Where nicety is required in wheeling, as
in going over a plank, a brass knob is set on the top of the front board, at
the middle, so as to be directly in the line of the wheel and serve as a guide;
and to prevent the dirt from clogging the wheel-cover, a scraper is attached
behind the wheel.

IMPROVEMENTS IN EARTH-BORING MACHINERY.

At a recent meeting of the London Society of Arts, Mr. Colin Mather read
a paper on “Earth-Boring Machinery,” and some recent improvements
effected in the same. Among the various systems which have been adopted,
one well-known method of boring, is to attach a chisel to a series of rods
which are suspended from the end of a spring-pole. When the debris has
accumulated so as to obstruct the progress of the chisel, the rods are with-
drawn by means of a windlass, each one being separately unscrewed as it is
wound up. A tubular instrument of sheet-iron, called a shell, usually from
3 to 4 feet long, and something less in diameter than the size of the hole,
with a clack at the bottom, is then substituted for the chisel, and the rods
are screwed together again and lowered. Another method generally resorted
to, when the weight of the rods is so great as to overcome the elasticity of
the spring-pole, is that in which a rope is substituted for the rods, the im-
pulsive motion being obtained by coiling the rope several times round a
windlass, and then suddenly slacking it. A third method is that invented by
M. Fauvelle. This apparatus consists of wrought-iron tubes, screwed end to
end, the lower one being armed with a cutting tool somewhat larger in
_ diameter than the tubes, so as to leave an annular space around them, up
» which the water and excavated material are forced, by means of a column of
water sent down the tubes by a force-pump.

124 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Having thus briefly described some of the methods in general use, the
author next proceeded to explain a machine he had invented, in which the
construction of the boring-head and the shell-pump, and the mode of acquiring
the percussive motion, constitute the chief novelties. The boring-head con-
sists of a wrought-iron bar about 8 feet long, upon the lower part of which is
fitted a block of cast-iron, in which the chisels, or cutters, are firmly secured.
Above the chisels an iron casting is fixed to the bar, by which the boring-
head is kept steady and perpendicular in the hole. A mechanical arrange-
ment is provided, by which the boring-head is compelled to move round a
part of a revolution at each stroke. The shell-pump is a cylinder of cast-iron,
to the top of which is attached a wrought-iron guide. The cylinder is fitted
with a bucket similar to that of a common lifting-pump, with an India-rubber
valve. At the bottom of the cylinder is a clack, which also acts on the same
principle as that of a common lifting-pump, but it is slightly modified to suit
the particular purpose to which it is here applied. The bottom clack is not
fastened to the cylinder, but works in.a frame attached to a rod which passes
through the bucket, and through a wrought-iron guide at the top of the cylin-
der. The percussive motion is produced by means of a steam-cylinder, which
is fitted with a piston of 15 inches diameter, having a rod of cast-iron 7 inches
square, branching off to a fork, in which is a pulley of about 3 feet in diame-
ter, of sufficient breadth for the rope to pass over, and with flanges to keep it
in its place. As the boring-head and piston will both fall by their own
weight, when the steam is shut off, and the exhaust valves opened, the steam
is admitted only at the bottom of the cylinder. The exhaust port is a few
inches higher than the steam port, so that there is always an elastic cushion
of steam of that thickness for the piston to fall upon. The valves are
opened and shut by a self-acting motion derived from the action of the piston
itself.

The following facts, obtained from the use of the machine, in boring in the
new red sand-stone at Manchester, show its actual performance. The boring-
head is lowered at the rate of 500 feet a minute; the percussive motion is
performed at the rate of 24 blows a minute, and, being continued ten minutes,
the cutters in that time penetrate 5 to 6 inches; it is then wound up at 300
feet a minute. The shell-pump is then lowered at the rate of 500 feet a
minute, the pumping continued for one minute and a half, and, being charged,
the pump is wound up at 300 feet a minute. It is then emptied, and the
operation repeated, which can be accomplished three times in ten minutes at
the depth of 200 feet. The whole of one operation in the deepening of the
hole 5 to 6 inches, and cleansing it of debris, ready for the resulting cutters
or boring-head being again introduced, is seen to occupy an interval of twenty
minutes only. The value of these facts will be best shown by comparing
them with the results by the old method. At Highgate, the boring has oc-
cupied two years in attaining a depth of 680 feet from the bottom of a well
500 feet deep from the surface. Their progress at present is at the rate of 6
inches per week, working night and day. At Warwick, thirteen months
were occupied in boring 400 feet through red marl; at Saltaire, two years
‘n going 80 yards. By the new machine, the work at Highgate could have

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 125

been done in 33 days, that in Warwick in 20 days, and that at Saltaire, to
supply the work-people with drinking-water, in 29 days.

IMPROVEMENTS IN WRENCHES, VICES, ETC.

Selj-Adjusting Screw-Wrench.—The distinctive feature of an improved
serew-wrench recently patented by Mr. A. Hotchkiss of Sharon Valley, Conn.,
consists in the extreme facility with which it is adapted to different sized
bolts and nuts; the movement being accomplished with ease by pressing with
the thumb upon a projection on the movable portion of the wrench. The bar
is hollowed on the front side, and armed with cross grooves which transform
it in fact into a portion of a nut. A loose hollow screw, or rather a threaded
thimble, is attached to the movable jaw and fits accurately into the grooves
described, being pressed into contact by a concealed spring. The strain on
the wrench when applied to use tends to force the screw into still closer con-
tact with the grooves, so that all possibility of slipping is avoided, while at
any moment a gentle pressure on the projection raises the screw out of con-
tact and allows of its being shifted. If greater accuracy of adjustment should
be required, it is obtained by revolving the screw or threaded thimble. The
movable jaw is of malleable iron. The hollow screw is fitted on a nicely-
turned projection on the jaw. The bar is of wrought-iron, forged in one piece
and case-hardened ; the whole constituting one of the strongest as well as
most convenient screw-wrenches in existence.

Improved Wrench.—A. novel device for a wrench has been patented by
Alden Graham of Roxbury, Mass. Two nearly straight pieces of steel are
attached, by pivots through their centers, to the end of a suitable handle, and
form the jaws by which the nut to be turned is seized. The jaws are placed
at right angles to the handle, and are hung in a slot in the latter. The backs
of the jaws are furnished with screw threads, and are encircled by a corre-
sponding screw ring, by turning which the ends of the jaws may be opened or
closed at pleasure, and thus adjusted to suit any size of nut. There is a
ratchet arrangement which permits the turning of the nut without removal of
the wrench after the jaws have been adjusted.

Improved Machine Punch.—An improved attachment for a machine punch
was exhibited at the Fair of the American Institute. It consists in a slight
handle for stopping, or rather for starting the motion. The toggle-levers
which work the punch are of such length that a wedge-like piece is required
to interpose between them and the head of the punch, in order to render the
movement effective. A small hand-lever controls this wedge, keeping it con-
stantly withdrawn except when touched by the operator. The result is that
the workman takes as much time as he pleases in adjusting the metal to be
punched, instead of placing it hurriedly and often imperfectly, as in the old
plan.

Improved Vice.—A_ patent for an improved vice has recently been issued to
R. W. Davis of Yellow Springs, Ohio, in the construction of which the moy-
able jaw is furnished, near its base, with a guide-piece, which passes through a
slot in the fixed jaw: the latter acts also as a guide, which passes through the

126 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

movable jaw. Between and attached to these guide-pieces are a pair of cross
levers, or connecting rods, so pivoted and arranged that when the screw which
operates the vice is turned, the movable jaw will always retain a position ex-
actly perpendicular to that of the fixed jaw. All mechanics know the im-
portance of keeping the two jaws thus in agreement. It allows a firmer hold
to be taken on any substance placed between, relieves the screw of friction,
and prevents the tendency of the vice to become weakened or soon to wear
out. There are several different kinds of vices arranged with a view to ac-
complish the above purposes. The invention of Mr. Davis is intended to be
considerably cheaper in construction, and, if possible, more effective in its
operations than any of them. Only one screw is employed and no nut is re-
quired to be sunk in the movable jaw.

IMPROVED DOOR-LOCK.

At the recent Fair of the American Institute Mr. W. H. Baxter of N. Y.
exhibited an improved door-lock, combining the safety of a bank-lock with
the simplicity of a latch-string. It opens from the inside by a simple pull on
the knob without straining or soiling the most delicate kid. On the street
side the key-hole is a narrow slit- hardly large enough to admit a fine wire,
and the key is a small plate of thin metal thrust in directly without turning.
The end of the key is shaped into rectangular notches of unequal depth, and
“presses upon six or more tumblers, each of which must be depressed to a
certain depth before “the bolt” will move. Strictly speaking, no bolt is em-
ployed in this lock, the fastening being made by a strong horizontal wheel of
small diameter, containing a large cavity, which embraces a corresponding
fixture in the door-frame and holds on to it firmly. It is called the rotary
lock, and appears the strongest, the most easily operated with a key, and the
most difficult to work without that appendage of any we have ever examined.
The key is about the size and thickness of a two-shilling piece—New York
Tribune.

IMPROVED BRICK MACHINE.

At the Fair of the Royal Agricultural Society at Carlisle, England, a brick
_ machine involving some new principles was exhibited by Messrs. Porter & Co.
This machine, which was capable of turning out 18,000 bricks per hour, effects
the two processes of grinding and molding the clay simultaneously. The
grinding mill is horizontal, having two shafts, on which are placed two cylin-
ders, with a series of knives cast on each. It is fed with tempered clay, which
it thoroughly commingles and propels by means of the splay given by the
knives to the rollers, which are supplied through a chamber at the end of the
mill. These rollers force the clay through a die of hard wood or gun metal
of suitable dimensions to form the sides of the bricks. As the clay is thus
propelled in a solid and consistent body, it moves upon small rollers until it
comes within range of the cutting apparatus, which is a contrivance of six
wires attached to a frame sliding upon friction rollers. This frame is moved
suddenly backward and forward by the hand, separating the clay into five

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 127

well-formed bricks at each stroke. The bricks are cut in the direction of their
bed, so that the four sides are preserved smooth, while the top and bottom
are slightly roughened, an effect which, with the perforation of the center,
secures the proper adhesion of the mortar, and consequent safety in building.

STRENGTH OF GUTTA PERCHA TUBING.

Some interesting experiments recently made in Boston show an almost in-
credible strength in gutta percha tubing and its value above other materials
for water-pipes, etc., where power to resist great pressure isrequired. A pipe
half an inch inside diameter stood 370 lbs. to the square inch, and burst at 390;
a, five eighths inch pipe (the kind made for service pipes for the Boston water
works) stood till 580 lbs. of pressure to the square inch was applied; but a
quarter inch pipe, made for soda fountains, stood uninjured the great pressure
of 1,000 to the square inch!

IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WINDLASSES.

In the operation of almost every species of ships’ windlasses or winches, it
is necessary to apply the rope to be heaved at right angles to the barrel of
the windlass; otherwise the rope would not wind easy or even. For this
purpose temporary guide-posts or pulley-blocks are usuaily rigged, which, of
course, are more or less inconvenient, troublesome, and in the end expensive
An invention by W. N. Gesner of Fair Haven, Ct., provides a frame of iron .
or other material, which is attached to the ends of the windlass shaft, just like
the bail of a kettle on a large scale. The guide-block is attached to the center
of the frame. The latter, it is apparent, will always be on hand when wanted,
and never in the way at other times, for it can be thrown up or turned down
for use instantly, at pleasure.

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS.

In the ordinary manufacture of hat bodies, several different kinds and qual-
ities of fur stuffs are used, the desired proportions of each being weighed by
the hand, and then carried to a machine, where the fibers are loosened,
cleaned, and thoroughly mixed together. At this stage of the process the
material is removed and dealt out, by hand weight, into small quantities, just
sufficient for single hat bodies. Each quantity is now separately passed
through another machine, where the mixing and cleaning operation is com-
pleted, and the stuff thrown by blast upon the hat former. In a machine in-
vented by Messrs Annesen, Pedereen, and Rees, of New York, the mechan-
ism is so arranged as to receive the raw material at one end, and deliver it at
the other ready made up into perfect unfelted hat bodies; all the various
operations of selecting the desired qualities of each kind of stuff, mixing, clean-
ing, and weighing off the proper amount for each body, being done in the
machine, without being touched by hand from first to last. It would require
drawings in order to convey a clear idea of the various parts. The invention

128 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

is one of ingenuity and importance. The quality of work it turns out is said
to be better than that done by the ordinary process.—Scientific American.

IMPROVED CLOCK ESCAPEMENT.

An improved escapement, patented by E. K. Reynolds, of New York City,
is more particularly designed for clocks and other time-keepers, which are in-
tended to run a long time without winding; on account of its very slow
movement it is particularly suited to year clocks. It consists in an escape-
ment lever, whose point works in a spiral groove or screw thread, in or upon
the staff of the balance; the latter is arranged perpendicularly to the arbors
of the lever and escapement wheel. It is a very ingenious but simple improve-
ment, adding but very little to the expeuse of a time-piece, although greatly
increasing its convenience. Applied to a common one-day clock, the latter
will run a week without winding; while an eight-day piece will only require
to be wound once a month. Year clocks, we are told, can be produced with
equal facility.— Scientific American.

IMPROVEMENTS IN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

Improved Pianoforte Action.—In all pianoforte movements, one of the most
important requisites is such an arrangement and connection of the keys with
the hammers as will permit an easy and perfect repetition of the same rate.
An invention recently patented by Mr. John S. Merlin, of New York, de-
‘signed to effect most perfectly this desired end, consists in the peculiar appli-
cation of a lever to the jack, in combination with a block attached to the
hammer, whereby, after the hammer escapes, it is caught at a short distance
below the string, and held in readiness for a free and rapid repeat; whereby
also, the return of the point of the jack into the notch of the hammer butt is
facilitated.

Wind Regulator for Organ Pipes.—In church, and other organs, the throats
or lower parts of the music-pipes rest on a box called an air-chest, into which
the air from the bellows first flows. Holes are made through the air-chest,
and into them the pipes are placed to receive wind. ‘The tone of each pipe is
set or tuned by altering the size of its throat. If the sound is too low, the
throat is jammed together a little with a hammer; if too shrill, it is enlarged
with a mandrel. An invention, recently patented by Daniel George, of Naza-
reth, Pa., consists in simply placing a common stop-cock in the throat of each
tube—an improvement which permits the tuning of the pipes with the utmost
convenience and perfection.

Driggs’s Improved Pianos.—My. 8. B. Driggs, of New York, who has occu-
pied himself many years in considering the structure and capabilities of the
pianoforte, claims to have made several improvements, as follows:

1, To have arranged the strings so as to secure a tone clear of harmonic
vanishings, and hence purer. ;

2. To have added an atiachment—in this case metallic forks—which, subject
to the action of a third pedal, affords a new and agreeable sound. This is not

~

. MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 129

a continued sound, but short and crisp, like a musical-box, and capable of
being mixed with the ordinary tone. It has been played upon at a concert
and much admired, the pieces being encored.

3. By a certain disposition of the strings, Mr. Driggs enables the two
strings, giving to each one note, and tuned accordingly in unison, to be tuned
together by a single and easy turn of the tuning-fork. This is certainly a
great improvement. It lessens the labor of tuning the piano, and secures a
more complete accordance in the hands of most, tuners. It must take the
place of the old piano in use.—New York Tribune.

MISCELLANEOUS INVENTIONS.

Ornameniing Wood.—Thomas Clayton, of Oldham, England, has obtained a
patent for transferring the designs of graining on choice wood, such as mahog-
any, rosewood, yew, etc., from engraved metallic heated rollers, or flat sur-
faces, to the surfaces of common woods, such as pine, whereby a close imita-
tation of choice and expensive woods is produced.

Marbleizing the Surface of Stone-—Myr. J. Claudot, of Paris, has recently ob-
tained a patent for covering the surface of common stone or plaster of Paris
figures with a coating of marble, as follows:—He lays upon the surface of the
stone successive coats of milk of lime, allowing each to dry before the other is
put on. When these coats have attained to a proper thickness; he smooths
them down and polishes them until the surface resembles marble in brilliancy.
Carbonic acid is then applied upon the outer surfaces, when it becomes real’
marble. The milk of lime may be colored so as to produce the exact appear-
ance of variegated marble.

Arrangement for Washing Windows.—A useful and novel arrangement for’
washing windows has been invented by G. A. Meacham, of N. Y. It is per-
haps the first attempt to reduce to an exact science the principles of this
sloppy, sploshy, and intrinsically hateful operation. An oil-cloth protection is
stretched on an extensible frame across the window-sill, to catch the drippings,
and a sponge filled with clean water is applied by a pole to every portion
of the glass surface. The sponge is kept wet by a small hose-pipe of India
rubber, which leads up to a-pail previously suspended at a higher level, and
the operation is completed by removing the sponge and allowing the water to
flow through a nose and rinse off the last remaining particles.

Freeing Canal Boats from Waoter—An invention of William Loughridge, of
Weverton, Md., has for its object the discharge of the leakage from canal
boats and other vessels without the employment of pumps. It consists in the
peculiar arrangement of a float in the interior of the vessel combined with a
tube operating on the syphon principle, by which the discharge is rendered
automatic, and the vessel freed from its leakage at all times, without the as-
sistance of the crew, rendering examinations as to the quantity of water made
unnecessary, and obviating the necessity for a watch to pump out during the
night.

Absentees’ Register—The Boston Medical Journal notices the invention of a
useful little contrivance called the Absentees’ Register, for indicating the hour

6*

130 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

when a person absent from home may be expected to return, which is very
convenient for medical men. It consists of a small plate of metal, on the
back of which two discs are made to revolve. On the circumference of one
dise are printed the hours in Roman numerals, the other contains the minutes
in Arabic characters. By turning the discs every hour and minute may be
shown, by bringing them opposite two apertures in the metal plate.

Machine to record the Beatings of the Pulse-—In a machine for the above
purpose, invented by Professor Bierordt, Frankfort, Germany, the arm of the
patient is placed in a longitudinal cradle, and screwed down sufficiently to
keep it steady. A small erection on one side holds a sort of lever worked on
a hinge, at the end of which a pencil is inserted, the point of which has been
dipped in Indian ink. This goes into a cylinder upon which paper has been
stretched. The lever rests~upon the pulse, and at every moment records the
action upon the paper. If the pulse is steady a regular, zig-zag line is drawn
on the paper, but in cases waere the pulse is rapid and jerking, the line goes
up and down, making long and uneven marks.

Japanning Leather.—A. V. Newton, of London, has secured a patent for
opening the pores of leather, by impregnating it with sulphur, for the purpose
of preparing it for enduring a great degree of heat, and for toughening its
fibers. The sulphur is combined with varnish, and any gum-elastic solution
may also be combined with it.

Bearings for loose Pulleys ——The object of this invention of Messrs. Campbell
& Shippen, patented October, 1854, is the placing of a loose pulley and hanger
beside a driving pulley on a line-shaft, or on any intermediate shaft bearing
the same relation to a lathe or other machine, to be detached as a line-shaft,
whereby is obviated the continual wear attendant upon the loose pulley, shaft-
ing, and belts, when a lathe, or loom, or other machine, driven in from the
line of shafting is not running. The loose pulley and hanger having an axis,
may be made to revolve independent of the shaft. The improvement obvi-
ates the necessity of throwing belts off the pulley in order to prevent the
wear of machinery while the engine is in motion, also making it more safe
for the operatives. /

Machine for Trimming Books.—Few substances are more difficult to cut,
with a smooth, true edge, than sheets of paper laid together in quantities.
Printers and bookbinders have always experienced the truth of the fact, al-
though many an inventor has studied hard to relieve their troubles from this
cause. Complete success, however, has never been reached. Many ingen-
ious devices have been made, but nearly ail of them fall short of the mark, in
one way or another. Mr. Riehl, of Cincinnati, claims for an invention recently
patented a superiority over all others. The sheets of paper to be severed are
laid on a table, the knife is attached to a crank arrangement and pitman, in
such amanner that by turning the crank the knife-edge is forcibly drawn
across the paper and the cutting thus effected. This drawing movement of the
knife is the peculiar feature.

Improvement in Screw-Hastenings.—This invention of Loudon & Ahlstrom,
of New York City, relates to expanding screw-fastenings, to be used under
conditions in which bolts and nuts of the common construction are not appli-

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS, 131

cable. It consists in a method of constructing either a bolt-head or a nut, as
the case may require, whereby the screwing up of the nut or the bolt causes
it to expand, and makes it fit tightly within any opening or hole within which
it is inserted, and so wedges it in that it can not be directly drawn out.

Uncorking and Decanting Machine.—This consists of a neat little ornamental
metal stand, carrying an inclined rest for the reception of the bottle during
the process of uncorking. At the part where the bottle-neck projects over
the frame-standard is a cork-screw, which steadily withdraws the cork from
the neck. Clamped in position upon the frame, and all strain being within
the frame itself, no shaking can ever arise. When the cork is out the butler
tips up the holding rest, with the bottle with it, to the required angle for de-
canting the contents, without disturbing the crust or sediment.—London
Practical Mechanics’ Journal.

Improvement in Water-Pipes.—Mr, Waite, of Leeds, England, has patented
water-pipes formed internally of white delf, with a glazing like that of porce-
lain, and surrounded and compacted with a thick covering of a sort of concrete,
forming a strong and impervious substance not liable to decay, and as capable
of resisting violence as iron-pipes, and more economically produced. They
are also said to be well adapted for gas-pipes, and to be so air-tight as to pre-
vent leakage.

THOMPSON’S IMPROVED LIFE-PRESERVER.

This invention, by Mr. Nathan Thompson, of New York, is designed to
serve the purpose of a seat on all ordinary occasions; but, unlike the other
forms of life-preserving seats, when employed as a preserver, it encircles the
- body like a belt, and may be supposed capable, if perfectly tight, of sustaining
the body not only after the hands are too weak or numb to grasp one of the
ordinary kind, but even after life is extinct; and the skeleton of the lonely
voyager may be supposed to drift backward and forward until a storm should
wash it from its secure position. Although the latter stretch of imagination
may not of itself be particularly soothing to the nerves, the superiority of such
a device over the ordinary canister-shaped seats can not well be questioned.
Thompson’s is in fact a species of double box, the halves being hinged to-
gether in such a manner, that when folded together it forms a compact seat,
and when extended, produces a kind of rectangular float, with a sufficient
aperture in the center to admit the body of a stout man. It this position,
with the arms hanging over the sides, the support would be much better and
more prolonged than by any method of grasping the legs of a stool—New
York Tribune.

IMPROVEMENT IN TAILORS’ MEASURES.

An improvement in tailors’ measures has been recently patented by John
M. Krider, of Middletown, Va. Various instruments for taking the measure
of persons, in order to cut the cloth accurately for garments, have been used ;
but these, it is stated in the patent of Mr. Krider, haye been defective, “by
depending on the judgment in contracting the curved admeasurements, such

132 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

as that arising in measuring from the arm-pit to the collar and back seam,
wherein the tape measure has two directions ta give the curve, which must
be uncertain when laid on the cloth as a plane.” The object of this instru-
ment is to secure a proper measure, independent of any exercise of the judg-
ment, simply by an application of it to the body; and, after the several
measures are taken from fixed points, all of them can be transferred to the
cloth. The lines, measured over a curve on the body, are flattened and ap-
plied to the cloth on a plane, and these are made to occupy the same place
on the body in the coat as when measured by the instrument, thereby insur-
ing perfect accuracy of fit.

GAS REGULATORS.

A patent has been granted in England for an apparatus for regulating the
supply of gas to the burners, consisting of a cast-iron vessel, with inlet and
outlet passages, for the admission and emission of the gas. The inlet passage
is covered by a yalye—the edge of which dips into a groove containing mer-
cury, rendering it perfectly gas-tight, without impeding the motion of the
valve, which moves with the slightest pressure. It is attached by a rod to a
short cylinder, the lower part of which is open, and also dips into mercury.
This cylinder covers and surrounds the inlet, and, as the gas flows through it,
exerts an upward pressure, which adjusts the supply. If the pressure is in-
creased, the cylinder rises and closes the valve; and, as the gas is consumed,
the cylinder falls and opens the valve.

In another arrangement, also recently patented in England, the regulation
is effected by a slide, or disc valve, formed by two corresponding surfaces,
placed together between the inlet from the main and the outlet to the
burners. The supply is increased or diminished by the continuous opening
and closing of the passages in this valve, which movements are effected by
the variable pressure of the gas within a small gasometer, which, as it is
greater or less, increases or diminishes the area of the supply passages, and
thus regulates the supply to the burners.

A regulator, invented by Mr. 8. P. Parham, of Trenton, N. J., consists of a
chamber into which the gas enters through a nipple at the bottom, and from
which it passes to the burner through an opening above. . This chamber con-
tains an inverted cup to cover the nipple, and a conical valve to fit the open-
ing at the top, the valve and nipple being attached to the same stem. The
cup is larger than the nipple, and the top of the latter is serrated, so that the
gas can always escape freely into the cup and down its sides to enter the
chamber. The entrance to the passage, which forms the seat of the valve, is
made slightly elliptical, so that it never can be perfectly closed by the valve.
The ct, the valve, and the stem, are all made of such thin metal as to be
light enough for the gas, as it is passing through the chamber to the burner,
to suspend them. The flow or consumption of gas is regulated by the posi-
tion of the valve, which will be so controlled by the relative pressures in the
chamber below and the burner above, that ‘the area of the opening between
the valve and its seat will always be proportional in the inverse ratio to the

*

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 1a

pressure of the gas in the prpes. An mcreased pressure of the gas in the
pipes and chamber raises the valves, and contracts the opening, a diminished
pressure causes the valve to drop, and the opening to be enlarged.

In a patent granted during the past year to Palmer and Woodruff, of New
Haven, Conn., for gas-regulators, the apparatus has two cylinders, one ar-
ranged within the other, and having communication all round the bottom,
making them equivalent to an inverted syphon. There is a space between
the two constituting an air-chamber, haying communication with the atmos-
phere through two small tubes at the top. The interior of one cylinder is the
gas-chamber. This chamber is always filled with gas, and the pressure is the
same as in the pipe. The valves of the inlet and outlet tubes are conical, and
close downward; they are attached to a rod which has a float on it, resting
on the water in the lower part of the gas-chamber. The gas and air-chambers
are filled with water to such a height as to give the valves a full opening
when the burners are all open and the pressure lowest. As the pressure in
the pipe tends to increase by pressure on the main, acting on the inlet, or by
shutting off some of the burners, acting on the outlet, the pressure in the
gas-chamber increases, and acts on the surface of the water, depressing its
level, and forcing it into the air-chamber, when the float of the valves falls,
and contracts the gas-openings. When the pressure of the gas diminishes,
the contrary effect is produced, and thus the pressure in the pipe which sup-
plies the burners is rendered uniform.

WEIGHT OF COAL.

A recent decision of the United States Circuit Court of Philadelphia es-
tablishes the weight of a ton of coal at 2,240 lbs., instead of 2,000 lbs. The
judge ruled that a company of grocers might as weli meet and agree to reduce
the number of ounces in a pound, and make the smaller number the standard
of a pound for their customers, as for coal-dealers to agree that the weight of
a ton shall be 2,000, and furnish that amount to their customers.

DEDERICK’S IMPROVED HAY-PRESS.

A curious fact in relation to rail-road economy has recently been stated,
namely, that there are at present more horses employed in connection with
the different rail-road companies in New York City, than were used twenty
years ago upon all the stage routes directly leading to the city. This greatly
increased number of horses within New York has also occasioned the con-
sumption of a vast additional amount of hay, nearly all of which is brought to
market in a pressed and baled condition. This in turn creating an additional
’ necessity, has required a better and more efficient form off hay-press than was
formerly used. An old-fashioned hay-press required a separate and entire
building for its accommodation, and was an expensive and inconvenient ma-
chine. This has, however, beer superseded by a press invented by Mr. Levi
Dederick of Albany, N. Y., which appears to combine all the advantages de-
sired. The main improvements in this press relate to the arrangement of the

134 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. A

doors and of the “ follower,” giving to the latter a parallel motion while press-
ing, by means of toggle-levers. A-clear expianation of the principles of the
press can not be given without engravings, but it is sufficient to say that the
press is portable, easily taken down and put together, and inexpensive. In
short, a farmer, instead of being obliged to build an expensive structure as
formerly, can now order a hay-press with as much facility as he can a reaping-
machine or a horse-power.

THOMPSON’S CIRCULAR SELF-ACTING GATE,

A patent has been recently granted to William Thompson of Nashville,
Tenn., for an improved peculiarly self-acting gate. The invention relates to
gates for farms, parks, and inclosures of any kind, and consists in constructing
the gate of a circular form like a wheel, and allowing it to rest, when closed,
on a vibrating rail which is operated by a person, wagon, or carriage on the
track, to make the gate roll to the one side and open when approaching it,
and then roll back when the carriage or wagon has passed through to close
it. This lever railway is hung upon a pivot, with its long end toward the
opening of the gate, so as by its weight at that end to tilt down the gate into
its place, self-acting, when the lighter end is relieved from the weight or
pressure of a carriage, etc., on the roadway, after it has passed through. The
platform, or track which is connected with the lever, may be provided with
any suitable fastening, such as a spring switch with a vertical lever at one side,
which will set free a catch on the platform, and allow it to act so as to pre-
vent animals opening the gate by merely getting on the platform.

There is claimed for this gate great simplicity of construction; and when
its cheapness, utility, and beauty (if desired) shall be remembered, and it is
likewise borne in mind what little skill is required to make it, and how little
its liability to get out of repair, it is believed that it will be regarded as prefer-
able to the common gate swinging on hinges; and may possibly be esteemed
superior to any form of gate among the various inventions of more modern
date.

THE GREAT INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION AT PARIS.

One of the most memorable events in the scientific history of the past year
has been the Great Industrial Exhibition of Paris. In many respects it was
far in advance of the London Exhibition of 1851. ‘‘ Every one,” says the
London Practical Mechanics’ Journal, “who compares the two Exhibitions
must perceive a decided advance since 1851 in almost every branch of manu-
facture; and we think that the Paris Exhibition must be held to afford a more
complete and accurate idea of the state of the industrial arts of the present
day, than did our Exhibition of the state of the arts of that day.” There were
several distinct parts of the Exhibition haying separate buildings near each
other. First, the exhibition of the fine arts, containing a wonderful collection
of more than 2,000 paintings, the works of painters now living or lately
dead, as well as a great number of pieces of sculpture, engravings, ete., amount-
ing in all to 5,112 works of art. Secondly, the ‘ Palace of Industry,” and

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 135

adjacent to this a circular building called the “ Panorama,” holding tapestry,
Sévres porcelain, the regalia of France, etc. Lastly, there was a supplemental
building, called the Annexe, which contained the machinery, raw products,
etc. The space devoted to exhibition amounted to about 1,050,000 square
feet, this being about 4,000 feet more than the contents of the London Exhibi-
tion. The Palace contained 500,000 square feet, the Annexe 400,000, and the
Panorama and galleries 150,000. The Palace is in shape an oblong quad-
rangle, 930 feet by 360, with projecting portions at the corners, and in the
middle of the two principal fronts. It is constructed of stone, and is roofed
archwise with glass. The doors are twenty-eight in number. The Annexe
is nearly three quarters of a mile in length. Excluding the fine arts, the num-
ber of exhibitors was about 19,000, or 2,000 more than in London.”

The exhibition made by American exhibitors was quite small, and confined
mostly to agricultural implements, India-rubber goods, and a few machines.
In results, however, the American department was most successful. In the
trials of agricultural implements the American machines, whenever competing,
bore away the prizes, and, as in England in 1851, established a superiority
above all others. In the general agricultural department of the Exhibition
little of interest to American exhibitors was shown. The plows, with the ex-
ception of the English, could not compare with the American varieties, either
in design or workmanship. “The chief anxiety of the contrivers would seem
to be,” says Mr. Greeley, in the Zribune correspondence, “that each shall be
thoroughly guarded, at whatever cost, against running too deep into the
ground, though to that excess they manifest not the slightest inclination.”

“Many of the harrows exhibited were constructed with a respect for the
truth that the pointed, wedge-shaped tooth is radically vicious, tending to
compact the soil which it tries to pulverize and loosen. Harrow-teeth based
on the principle of the plow and the cultivator, cutting easily, lifting and turn-
ing over all the soil that they disturb, are evidently coming into fashion.”

A drain-tile of somewhat novel construction was exhibited. The novelty
consists in an independent collar or broad ring (say three inches wide) which
loosely covers each junction of the tile, not so much to prevent their fillmg up
with earth as to keep one from sinking below or rising above the other, so as
to stop the flow of water. The material is, of course, that of the tile.

“Tt is unsafe,” says the writer above quoted, in commenting upon the ag-
ricultural department of this Exhibition, “to condemn what you do not fully
comprehend ; but many of the European contrivances for mowing, reaping,
ete., by horse-power, seem absolutely puerile compared with those known in
our country. So the machines for thrashing and cleaning grain here exhibited
seem generally such as we have for the last twenty or thirty years been su-
perseding by better, and some of them clumsily made and in bad condition, as
if they had been brought here from an old lumber-room, without cleaning.”

But a decision made in favor of one of the ten American pianos exhibited,
created more astonishment and surprise than the performance of the agricul-
tural machines. ‘The French people, with their limited knowledge of the
‘half-civilized people of America,’ pretend to comprehend how it is possible for
them to excel in the invention of such labor-saving machines as a sparse

136 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

population and a scarcity of hands compel them to invent; but that America
should send a piano which could take a premium over the three hundred fine
French pianos in the Exhibition is a problem which they can not understand.
They imagined that they furnished the United States with nearly all the
pianos they required, and that in consequence it was an industry not yet de-
veloped there, and that the people were not capable of excellence in that
branch.”

The following are the principal awards made at the Paris Exhibition to
American exhibitors:—

Grand Medals of Honor, Gold.—McCormick’s Reaper and Mower; Chas.
Goodyear’s Preparations of Vulcanized India-rubber.

Medals of Honor, Gold.—J. A. Pitts, of Buffalo, Thrashing Machine; Messrs.
Bache & Saxton, Washington, D.C., United States Standard Weights and
Measures; Lieut. M. F. Maury, National Observatory, Washington, Wind and
Current Charts.

Medals of the First Class, Silver.—Col. Allston, 8. C., Raw Cotton; John
H. Manny, Illinois, Reaper and Mower; Tounsley & Read, N. J., Oscillating
Steam-Engines: Thos. Blanchard, Boston, Machine for Bending Ship-Timber;
T. Richmond, Boston, Machine for Cutting Boiler Iron; Singer & Co., New
York City, Sewing Machines; D. King, Albany, Model of Steamboat; U. 8.
Navy Department, Models of Vessels of War; Sam. Colt, Conn., Fire-arms;
Merriam, Brewer & Co., Boston, Cotton Fabrics; Gov. Seabrook, 8. C., Raw
Cotton; A. W. Ladd & Co., Boston, Pianos; Claude Mirmont, N. Y., Violins.

Medals of the Second Class, Mixed Commission, Silver.—Hamilton Mills,
Lowell, Cotton Fabrics; Manchester, N. H., Print Works, Printed Fabrics.

No part of the Great Exhibition of Paris appears to have excited a greater
interest on the ground of novelty, than the contributions from Algeria. This
territory occupies a length in Northern Africa of 700 miles from east to west,
and of indefinite breadth from north to south, gradually merging into the
domain of the mountain tribes, for its southern limits are traversed by ranges
of the Atlas mountains. The whole is divided into three provinces—Algiers,
Oran and Constantine. A great portion of this country is distinguished by its
natural fertility; yet the indolence of the people, the oppression of the govern-
ment, the want of roads and interior communications, caused three fourths of it
to be left uncultivated, till, in 1830, it was entirely subjugated by the French;
and now Europe is astonished at the extent of the products indicative of the
vast resources of the country, as exhibited on the present occasion. The speci-
mens of wood sent from this district were extremely interesting and instructive;
of the olive-tree, planks and blocks of enormous size were exhibited; one of
the latter, the base of the trunk, with the bark on, would be considered very
large for an oak. The color and graining of the wood, and of the root-portion
especially, are eminently beautiful, and render it invaluable for ornamental
and cabinet-work. Under the name of Thuja, were shown some samples of
a most beautiful wood. This Thuja is common throughout Algeria, most so
when proceeding from east to west. Though but recently restored to notice,
it was highly prized by the ancients. According to Pliny, the “Citrus” (such
was its name among the Romans) was so rare that tables made of it were

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS.

hardly to be procured even at fabulous prices; and the females who were
reproached with extravagance in dress and ornaments, retorted on their
husbands with the prices which their lords had paid for tables of citrus-wood.
Cicero gave the sum ofa million of sesterces, equal to 250,000 frances, or
£10,000, for one of them, and still larger prices are cited by Pliny, especially
for one table which had belonged to the Moorish king, Juba. The root, with
its knots, afforded the most prized portions; and though it was generally used
for inlaying and veneering, the Emperor Commodus possessed also vases and
cups made of it.

The peculiar qualities of this wood explain its value and fashion. None is
so full of spots, satiny luster, and variegated veins; it takes a lovely and per-
fect polish, and the hues pass from deep fiery red to those of the pinkest
mahogany; and these tints are permanent, not fading like rosewood, or
becoming black like mahogany. It combines so many elegant qualities, that
the Parisian cabinet-makers unanimously prefer the Thuja wood to every
other.

The London Atheneum, in commenting on the Great Industrial Exhibition
of Paris, makes the following suggestive remarks in reference to the great
artistic effect so carefully studied in every production by the French people.

“Tt would appear to many people that Art in France has been here culti-
vated, not in aid of, but at the expense of, all the solid qualities of manufac-
turing industry. In their haste to print the pattern they have neglected the
modest office of the loom. In their admiration ofa brilliant dye they have
forgotten the uses of a solid thread. We are told their furniture is splendid
-with golden trellice-work, marvelous for the rich grouping of costly materials;
but as yet no Paris door swings fairly upon its hinges. In cotton cloth they
can not approach the inartistic genius of Manchester. English steel defies
the competition of the first Gallic manufacturers. We are reminded that we
might even carry the distinction from the salon where glows the furniture of
Jeauselme to the kitchen wherein the disciples of Brillat de Savarin preside.
Light as air—daring to rashness—gorgeous, till the eye aches and is fatigued
—is the style of Art at which France has arrived in her workshops. The
draughtsman here knows no bounds. All that floats to the surface of his
brain goes direct, without a second thought, to the tip of his pencil. He
wants a handle to the jug upon which he is engaged :—two crocodiles, one
with its hind-quarters in the ample jaws of the other, are not too formidable
for his purpose. A tailor gives him an order:—the Obelisk of Luxor becomes
a stripe down the leg of a pair of trowsers. Hieroglyphics tell upon flounces.
Coins that would enrich any museum, are effectively strung together for a
lady’s hair. A stack of arms, with Napoleon in a contemplative attitude
before them, are an apt combination for a tooth-pick stand. A chiffonier,
with his basket at his back and his lantern in his hand, stands in bronze,
with a load of lucifers behind and a spirit-burner in his lantern, at the con-
venience of the smoker. The marriage of the Emperor is not a composition
too complex for the embroiderer of shirt-fronts, as the reader may notice in
the French Gallery of the Universal Exhibition. Neither is the French
designer inconvenienced by ‘ Puritanic stays ;’ as his designs, realized in sugar

138 _ ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

and chocolate, and displayed in gorgeous shops on the Boulevards and in the
Rue Vivienne every New Year’s Day, fully testify.

“But the artist-workman of Paris does not produce in common materials.
It is not his mission to diffuse a sense of beauty over his country. If he can
conceive any errand beyond that which enables him to frequent his Barriére
ball, it is to show how ornament may be added to ornament—how silver may
be wedded to gold, and ebony to satin-wood. In the Fable for Critics, we
are assured that

Over-ornament ruins both poem and prose—
dust conceive of a Muse with a ring in her nose !

Now the art-workman’s Muse has a ring in her nose. Not a plain gold ring,
if you please; but a circle studded all round with gems! His Muse wears
nothing plain. Her bonnets are orchards; her dresses employ hundreds of
hands to each; her fingers display the revenue of a State; and upon her
bosom lies the wealth that would feed armies. To this Muse the Paris work-
man turns his eyes unceasingly, looking out from a mansarde where a pot of
flowers, bought near the Madeleine after market-hours, is the only beauty.
For it is remarkable that Paris, the city where Art is the passion of the
masses, is conspicuous for the tastelessness of its common household goods.
Angular straw chairs, deal tables, thick clumsy crockery, and frightfully bar-
barous stone-ware, make up the poor man’s ménage. With the middle classes,
you see a gaudy salon, with a splendid clock, chairs elaborately ornamented,
handsome lace curtains—but here household grace ends. A tea-service is
permanently placed upon the salon table for the inspection of visitors, and
very beautiful this service is, often. But proceed to the dining-room, examine
the crockery in daily use, and you will be thoroughly disenchanted; for these
will invariably be found coarse and ugly. It is not that the master of such a
ménage has no appreciation of Art-manufacture: the truth is, he loves it; but
it is beyond his means. All he can afford is a salon furnished, as he expresses
it, with luxe; and there being no medium between luxe and positive plainness
and ugliness, he is compelled to adopt the style, or want of style, perceptible
in his dining-room.”

#

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY.

ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TERMINATIONS OF LIGHTNING-
CONDUCTORS.

At a recent meeting of the Scottish Society of Arts, an animated discussion
took place in reference to the construction of the terminations of lightning-
conductors—one party maintaining that the present pointed terminations
were theoretically and practically wrong, and that balls, or knobs, should be
substituted, and the other that the electricity was best discharged by pointed
conductors. The arguments in favor of the use of balls instead of points
were given by Mr. Hepburn, who stated ‘that he had been led to doubt the
efficiency of the conductors usually adopted, terminating in points, which was
contrary to the plan found to be necessary in the management of artificial
electricity, in which, while the fluid is gradually collected from the excited
cylinder by a row of pointed wires attached to the prime conductor, its trans-
mission from the conductor to the battery, and the discharge of the battery
itself, is always effected by balls. It thus appears that for the absorption and
transmission of an accumulated mass of electricity an extended surface is re-
quired; and as in the protection of buildings it is necessary to provide for the
instantaneous absorption of a concentrated mass of electricity darting through
the air in the form of a flash or ball, Mr. Hepburn conceived that the con-
ductor ought te terminate in one or more pear-shaped balls, having a surface
sufficient to absorb at least as much of the fluid as the descending rod is
capable of carrying to the earth. It remains to be determined whether a
large hollow ball, or a smaller solid one is preferable.”

STRINGFELLOW S POCKET ELECTRIC BATTERY.

This is an ingenions arrangement for supplying a continuous stream of elec-
tric fluid for medical purposes, and it especially recommends itself by its
extreme portability, and by the convenient manner in which it can be applied.
A battery of sufficient power for most purposes is contained in a holder no
larger than a lady’s card-case, and it owes its comparative compactness to
contrivances by which an immense number of minute surfaces of suitable
metals are arranged so as to induce the voltaic action. The novelty of the
arrangement consists in the repetition of a peculiarly constructed element,
which is made as follows: A narrow strip of thin zinc is bound round with a

a

140 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

flat copper wire, some non-conducting substance, as cotton, silk, or gutta-
percha, being interposed between the two metals. At each end of the ele-
ments short lengths of flat copper wire are made to project, and these are
soldered to the ends of the zinc plate of the adjacent element. Any metals
capable of inducing voltaic action may be used, and the inside strip may be
covered by the outer metal in a variety of ways. In one of the forms adopted,
rows of transverse slots are cut out of the enveloping metal. In another are .
holes, like perforated window-blinds; while in a third the outside metal is in
the form of wire-gauze, which last is said by the inventor to act very well.
The elements are soldered together in sets of ten or eleven each, and two or
more of these sets are hinged together to form a battery. - At each end of the
battery is fixed a small socket—one being the positive pole, and made of
gold; the other the negative, and made of silver. These sockets project
through holes provided for them in the case, and it is to them that the con-
ductor cords are attached by a common clasp. These cords have a fine metal
wire twisted up with them, and covered by an external: braiding of silk or
mohair. They terminate in small metal plates, which are provided with slots
at the back for the introduction of a tape to bind them to the body. The bat-
tery is excited by being slightly moistened by dilute acetic acid, and the
conductor-plates are wetted and applied at the parts between which it is
wished to pass an electric current. The battery, in its neat case, may be car-
ried in the pocket, or worn about the person in any convenient manner.

APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING ATMOSPHERIC ELECTRICITY FROM
TELEGRAPH WIRES.

An invention, recently patented in the United States by John N. Gamewell,
of England, relates to an apparatus for discharging into the earth all atmos-
pheric electricity with which the telegraph wires become surcharged when
the atmosphere is in a highly electrical state, thereby obviating all danger of
injury to the magnet or telegraph instrument, and enabling the telegraph to
be operated during the severest thunder storm. The theory on which this
instrument is constructed is based upon the established principle that atmos-
pheric electricity will leap from one conductor to another, but that a galvanic
current will not pass through the smallest space without a continuous con-
ductor.

Mr. Gamewell provides an angular coil of wire, placed near the telegraph
instrument or receiving magnet. The wire composing the coil is either made
tapering, and diminishes from the size of the telegraph wire to a very small
diameter, or in lieu thereof, the elbows of the coil are made of a poorer con-
ducting metal than the other portions. This is for the purpose of causing the
atmospheric electricity, when it arrives at the elbows, to leap from them on to
some conducting points of better metal, which are placed almost in contact
with the elbows. The conducting points are all arranged on a metallic bar
and this is connected with the earth by arod. The apparatus is placed be-
tween the end of the telegraph wire and the telegraph instrument, so that all
electrical currents, in approaching the instrument, must pass through the el-

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 141

bowed coil. The conducting points attract off the atmospheric electricity, and
convey it safely to the earth, while the galvanic current passes freely to the
instrument.

M. Becquerel, of France, has also recently presented to the French Academy
an apparatus, invented by M. Bianchi, which is intended to preserve tele-
graphic apparatus from the disturbing influence of atmospheric electricity. It
consists of a metallic sphere, traversed by the circuit wire, and kept in the
center of another glass sphere, formed of two hemispheres united by a broad
copper ring, armed at its inside with equi-distant points directed toward the
center of the metallic sphere, and approaching within a short distance of its
surface. The two hemispheres end in sockets, into which the connecting wire
passes and is cemented. The lower part of the copper ring is provided with
a metallic stop-cock, which permits a vacuum to be made in the apparatus,
and kept in it if it be thought necessary. This stop-cock has a screw-thread
which is to receive a metallic rod designed to put the metallic armature into
direct connection with the earth, while the circuit wire, and the sphere which
forms part of it, are completely insulated. All the atmospheric electricity
which comes upon the conducting wire of the telegraph is transmitted to the
ground through the points with which the ring is armed.

Such an apparatus is to be erected at each station; experiment has proved
to the author that when the discharge of a battery of eight jars is passed into
a telegraphic conductor provided with this apparatus, the dynamic current is
not affected, and all the statical electricity passes into the earth, under the
influence of the points.— Comptes Rendus.

ON THE “STRATIFICATION” OF ELECTRIC LIGHT.

Before the Paris Academy a paper has been read by M. Gaugain on the
stratification of electric light, as he calls that disengagement of differently
colored light we see produced when an electric spark is transmitted through
gas, rarified by the air-pump. Of all the phenomena produced by the pass-
age of electricity through rarefied mediums, perhaps the most singular is
visible in the residuary vapors of alcohol, or the essence of turpentine, where
the luminous nebulosity, caused by the passage of electricity, is divided per-
pendicularly to the direction of the current, in parallel sections, separated
by dark spaces. These alternatives of light and obscurity were thought to
point out the existence of an undulatory phenomenon, and some philosophers
hoped it would enable them to detect the still hidden mechanism of the
propagation of electrical actions. This hope M. Gaugain dissipates. He
especially examined three different mediums—air, exempt from vapors; the
yapor of essence of turpentine; and mixtures of variable proportions of air
and. the vapor of essence of turpentine. It is generally admitted that the
phenomena of stratification may be produced in air exempt from vapor; for,
when the observer uses a globe in which turpentine, alcohol, or any other
substances suitable for the formation of strata have been used, the strata are
eonstantly obtained, even after the air in the globe has been several times
renewed. Nevertheless, M. Gaugain affirms these strata are not due to the

142 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

air itself, but to the remaining traces of the combustible vapor, which dis-
appear if some drops of concentrated sulphuric acid are placed inside the
globe. Then the electrical light presents these characteristics: the negative
ball and the rod which supports it are enveloped by a luminous aureola,
which seem to be formed of several layers, which are all of a blue color, but
of different shades; the positive ball, and a certain portion of its supporting-
rod, are also enveloped by a luminous, brilliant, rosy, very thin and cotton-
like layer; and between the two balls is a sort of cloud of continued, dif-
fused, red-colored light, in the form of a candle’s flame. When the electric
light is produced in a space exclusively occupied by essential vapors, the
negative aureola presents the same characteristics as when in air, but the
different layers which form it are of a dimmer color. There is no luminous
layer upon the positive ball, and between the two balls there is a sheaf of
light, wide-spread, white, and finely stratified. When the medium is a mix-
ture of air and the vapor of essence of turpentine, the. aspects of the light
vary with the proportions of the mixture; when the air is in great excess,
the appearance is nearly the same as in pure air, but the luminous sheaf is
divided into six or seven irregular forms of a lively red, which are sometimes
nearly a centimeter thick; they have a very short existence. In a few
seconds they are succeeded by that cloudy and diffuse light which charac-
terizes the air exempt from vapors; and, commonly, if the current is inter-
rupted some minutes, the red strata momentarily re-appear; when the essence
of turpentine is in great excess, the luminous appearances are the same as in
the case when the essence is alone; the strata, however, are red and pur-
plish. When the current has acted for some time, the red color gradually
disappears, and is replaced by that dim color, proper to the vapor of essence;
a temporary interruption of the current does not make the red color re-
appear. These two last phenomena are easily explained, if it be granted, as
M. Gaugain contends, the red strata arise from the combustion of the essence;
when the combustion is ended, the red strata are replaced by the diffused
light which characterizes air exempt from vapor, or by the white strata
which mark the vapor of essences. This assumption, M. Gaugain clearly
shows by experiment to be founded on the truth. But why is not the effect
uniform ?—why, by the side of a brilliant, is there an obscure section? M.
Gaugain says, because the first effect of electrical forces is to separate ma-
terially the gaseous medium into sections of different natures.

4

CAUSES OF CHAIN LIGHTNING.

In a paper recently communicated to the Royal Society, Mr. Grove stated,
and proved by experiment, that the effects of rarefaction upon gases, either
produced by the air-pump or by heat, tend to render discharges of electricity
more facile, and to enable them to pass across much larger spaces than would
otherwise be the case. So strikingly was this evidenced with flame, that
when the flame of a spirit-lamp was held near one of the terminal points of
a coil-apparatus, the terminals being separated to a distance far beyond that
at which the spark would pass in cold air, the spark darted to and along the

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 143

margin of the flame, and could be curved or twisted about in any direction,
at the will of the experimenter, giving a perfect illustration of the crooked
form of lightning, and of the probable reason why it does not pass in straight
lines—the temperature of the air being different at different points in its pas-
sage, and much of this variation of temperature being in all probability oc-
casioned by the mechanical effects of the discharge itself upon the air.

VELOCITY OF THE ELECTRIC CURRENT.

M. Quetelet, at a recent meeting of the Belgian Academy, described Mr.
Airey’s experiments with the electric telegraph to determine the difference
of longitude between Greenwich and Brussels. The time spent by the electric
current in passing from the one observatory to the other was found to be
0.109’ or rather less than the ninth part of a second, and this determination
rests on 2,616 observations. The distance between the towns being 270
miles, the velocity of the current, supposing it to be uniform, must rather ex-
ceed 2,500 miles per second, or about one seventh greater than that obtained
by the American observers, a speed which would “girdle the globe” in ten
seconds. ‘The difference of longitude from two series of observations, and by
two methods, ‘was found to be 17’28.9’ Observations made by an eclipse
of the sun in May 1836, gave precisely the same results, which may be con-
sidered the most correct. An eclipse of the sun in 1842 gave four tenths of a
second less; lunar occultations gave nine tenths of a second less; and obsery-
ations by chronometers gavé one second and three tenths less. A second in
this case represents a distance of 455 yards, and a tenth of a second 453 yards.
Assuming the first-mentioned time to be correct, the error in the chron-
ometrical determination is equivalent to 591 yards, or the ninth part of a
mile, which, after all, is only the 2430th part of the whole distance.

THERMO-ELECTRIC CURRENTS.

A number of interesting experiments on the construction of thermo-electric
batteries have recently been conducted by Mr. Adie, of England, the object, to
a certain extent, being to test the direction of the electric current in relation
to that in which the heat passes. In the first instance a bismuth joint was
formed by soldering together two bars of the same metal—172 pairs of plates
being thus connected. When gold, silver, platinum, copper, zinc, cadmium,
antimony, iron, or soft steel, were employed, the electric current flowed in an
opposite direction to that of the heat. When palladium, lead, and tin were
used, the direction of both currents was the same. When two bars, each of a
different metal, soldered together by bismuth, were acted on, the results were
various: In 28 pairs the direction of the heat current was opposed to the
electric; in one pair composed of lead and tin, the heat and electricity crossed
the joint in the same direction; in 31 cases the pairs acted according to their
thermo-electric relations, independent of the side joint to which the heat was
applied. There were only four cases in which the heat and electricity coursed
in the same direction, and in these the peculiarity was attributed to the tend-

144 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ency the bismuth had to alloy with the other metals; but on repeating the experi-
ments by tying, instead of soldering the bismuth between the plates, in every
case the heat and electric currents traveled in opposite directions. |The pieces
of bismuth in these experiments were obtained by holding a bar of metal in the
flame of a candle until tear-like drops fell, which were received on a smooth
surface as discs, to obtain the requisite thickness; and afterward cut into small
pieces from 1-40th to 1-50th of a grain. The result arrived at was that the
source of the thermo-electric current was at the surface of the joint; and that
to make a thermo-electric battery for practical purposes a contact joint is gen-
erally better than a joint by soldering, in which the metals have a tendency
to become alloyed, and that in some cases the amount of the electric current
is greatly dependent upon the surface of the metals in contact. It is probable
that, although experiments on thermo-electricity have yet been productige ofno
definitively practical results, telegraphic communication may yet be established
by the simple agency of a flame of gas.

ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH IN INDIA.

We extract the following notice of the peculiarities of the electric telegraph
in India, from a report recently made to the Court of Directors of the East
India Company, by Dr. W. B. O’Shaughnessy. He says:—

“The overground lines differ materially from those used in America and
England. No wire is used, but a thick iron rod ?ths of an inch in diameter,
weighing one ton tothe mile. The advantages of using thick iron rods are
stated to be the following:—immunity from damage or fracture by wind or
mechanical voiolence ; immunity from injury if accidentally thrown down;
they can not be broken or bent without great trouble; their mass of metal gives
so free a passage to the electric current no insulation is required, the rods are
attached to the bamboo posts, etc., without employing glass, porcelain, or any
other non-conductor, yet through these lines they work without interruption,
during tropical deluges of rain, with miniature batteries consisting of 12 cells of
platinum wires and zinc; no tension is required, as is the case with wire lines;
the thick rods admit of rusting that would be fatal to a wire line not coated
with zinc; rods (in India) are not more costly than wires. In India it is ne-
cessary to use the simplest instruments possible, as they are apt to be deranged,
owing to the prodigious electric excitement of the atmosphere, and there are
no mechanics at hand in the rural districts. _ In all the lines running north and
south there is a natural current of electricity continually flowing, and this cure
rent deranges the polarity of the needles, confers permanent polarity on soft
iron, and produces chemical stains on prepared tissues.”

FARMER’S IMPROVEMENT IN THE TELEGRAPH.

At the Providence meeting of the American Association, Mr. Moses G,
Farmer, of Boston, gave an account of some improvements recently effected
by him in the electric telegraph, whereby two or more terminal stations can
make simultaneous use of the same wire for the transmission of messages. By

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 145

a very simple combination and arrangement of the two systems of House and
Morse, from two to twenty-eight messages might be in the process of transmis-
sion over the same wire at one and the same time. Thus: Suppose we have two
letter-printing telegraphs, one situated in Boston, the other in New York, and
connecied as usual for the purpose of transmitting messages; suppose, further,
that the axis of the type-wheel in the Boston machine was connected by a
wire with one pole of a suitable galvanic battery, while the other pole of this
battery was connected by an extended wire with the axis of the type-wheel
of the machine in New York; further, let us remove the two type-wheels from
their axis and substitute therefore a slender spring on each, at right angles to
the axes, and which in the course of a revolution of the shafts shall make
contact with the twenty-eight circular segments arranged concentrically
around the axis of the type-wheel and insulated from it and from one another;
still further, let each of the twenty-eight segments in the Boston instrument
be connected severally with one pole of a complete “‘ Morse” machine, which
is, at the other pole, in connection with the earth; there will then be
twenty-eight ‘‘ Morse” machines at Boston attached to the ‘‘ House” machine,
and by the revolution of the type-wheel axis these twenty-eight machines will
be successively put into connection with the common communicating wire.
Suppose twenty-eight ‘‘ Morse” machines similarly connected with the “House”
machine at New York; if now the slender spring in each ‘“ House” machine
presses on the “ A” segment and the two type-wheel shafts be made to rotate
rapidly in the usual manner, at every revolution of the type-wheels the “ A”
machines at Boston and New York will be at once in connection with each
other by means of the slender springs, the segments, and the common wire.
If the type-wheels should make twenty revolutions per second, the dots or im-
pulses would succeed each other so rapidly as to make nearly a continuous
line, which could be broken up into short and long lines by means of the key
in the usual manner. He had operated with this arrangement on a circuit of
several miles in length at Boston.

IMPROVEMENT IN ELECTROTYPING.

‘When a page of type, or a wood engraving, is to be duplicated by the elec-
trotype process, an impression of the article to be reproduced, is taken in soft
beeswax. The mold thus made is dusted over with finely ground plumbago,
and then placed in a solution of sulphate of copper, where it is subjected to
the galvanic battery. The plumbago serves as a metallic base, on which cop-
per is- deposited in the same manner that substances composed wholly of metal
are coated or galvanized. The dusting of the wax molds has heretofore been
done by hand, which is a slow and laborious operation; it is also imperfect,
for unless great care is taken to dust every portion evenly, the electrotype
will prove defective. An improvement has been recently patented by Mr. J.
A. Adams, of Brooklyn, N. Y., for accomplishing this dusting wholly by the
aid of a vibrating brush, combined with a carriage-way, thus performing the
work more perfectly and economically than before.

7

a

146 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

TELEGRAPHIC COMMUTATOR,

M. Garnier, at the Great Exhibition of Paris, exhibited a telegraph “ com-
mutator” of very ingenious construction, intended to be used with Morse’s
telegraph. Instead of operating the key by hand for sending messages in the
common way, the message was composed beforehand, and disposed helically
along a cylinder, which is provided with two thousand keys, made of some
non-conducting substance, and according as they are arranged on the cylinder
they effect the breaking and closing of the circuit and write the message. The
operator turns a small winch, and his message is written a thousand miles dis-
tant in dots, dashes, and spaces, with the greatest rapidity. We witnessed a
dispatch of two hundred and ten words transmitted by this apparatus im one
minute. ‘The mere idea thus ingeniously carried out by M. Garnier, as ap-
plied to the Morse telegraph, is undoubtedly new; but it was substantially
applied to Bain’s telegraph in 1847. Bain composed his messages on strips
of perforated dry paper, which opened and closed the circuit. These strips
were run between rollers by simply turning a small winch, and thus the mes-
sage was sent forward through the wires at a great rate-—Scientific American.

EXPERIMENTAL OBSERVATIONS ON AN ELECTRIC CABLE.

In the Physical Section of the British Association, Glasgow meeting, Mr,
W. Whitehouse introduced the subject of submarine telegraphing. He re-
garded it as an established fact that the nautical and engineering difficulties
which at first existed had been already overcome, and that the experience
gained in submerging the shorter lengths had enabled the projectors to pro-
vide for all contingencies affecting the greater. Mr. Whitehouse then drew
the attention of the section to a series of experimental observations which he
had recently made upon the Mediterranean and Newfoundland cables, before
they sailed for their respective destinations. These cables contained an ag-
gregate of 1,125 miles of insulated electric wire—and the experiments were
conducted chiefly with reference to the problem of thé practicability of es-
tablishing electric communications with India, Australia, and America. The
results of all the experiments were recorded by a steel style upon electro-
chemical paper by the action of the current itself, while the paper was at the
same time divided into seconds and fractional parts of a second by the use of
apendulum. This mode of operating admits of great delicacy in the deter-
mination of the results, as the seconds can afterward be divided into hun-
dredths by the use of a ‘‘vernier,” and the result read off with the same
facility as a barometric observation. Enlarged fac-similes of the electric au-
tographs, as the author calls them, were exhibited as diagrams, and the actual
slips of electro-chemical paper were laid upon the table. The well-known
effects of induction upon the current were accurately displayed; and con-
trasted with these were other autographs showing the effect of forcibly
discharging the wire by giving it an adequate charge of the opposite electricity
in the mode proposed by the author. No less than 8 currents—4 positive
and 4 negative—were in this way transmitted in a single second of time

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 147

through the same length of wire (1,125 miles), through which a single current
required a second and a half to discharge itself spontaneously upon the paper.
Having stated the precautions adopted to guard against error in the observa-
tions, the details of the experiments were then concisely given, including
those for “velocity,” which showed a much higher rate attainable by the
magneto-electric than by the voltaic current. The author then recapitulated
the facts, to which he especially invited attention: First, the mode of testing
velocity by the use of a voltaic current divided into two parts (a split cur-
rent), one of which shall pass through a graduated resistance-tube of distilled
water, and a few feet only of wire, while the other part shall be sent through
the long circuit, both being made to record themselves by adjacent styles
upon the same slip of electro-chemical paper. Second, the use of magneto-
electric “‘twin-currents,” synchronous in their origin, but wholly distinct in
their metallic circuits, for the same purpose, whether they be made to record
themselves direct upon the paper, or to actuate relays or receiving instru-
ments which shall give contacts for a local printing battery. Third, the effect
of induction, retardation of the current, and charging of the wire, as shown
autographically ; and contrasted with this—fourth, the rapid and forcible dis-
charging of the wire by the use of an opposite current; and hence—fifth, the
use of this as a means of maintaining or restoring at pleasure the electric
equilibrium of the wire. Sixth, absolute neutralization of currents by too
rapid reversal. Seventh, comparison of working speed attainable in a given
length of wire by the use of repetitions of similar voltaic currents as con-

trasted with alternating magneto-eleciric currents, and which, at the lowest
- estimate, seemed to be 7 or 8 to one in favor of the latter, Eighth, proof of
the co-existence of several waves of electric force of opposite character in a
wire of given length, of which each respectively will arrive at its destination
without interference. Ninth, the velocity, or rather amount of retardation,
greatly influenced by the energy of the current employed, other conditions
remaining the same. Tenth, no adequate advantages obtained in a 300 mile
length by doubling or trebling the mass of conducting metals. The author,
in conclusion stated his conviction that it appeared from these experiments,
as well as from trials which he had made with an instrument of the simplest
form, actuated by magneto-electrie currents, that the working speed attainable
in a submarine wire of 1,125 miles was ample for commercial success. And
may we not, he added, aaly conclude also that India, Australia, and Amer-
ica, are accessible by telegraph without the use of wires larger than those
commonly employed in submarine cables?

ON PERISTALTIC INDUCTION OF ELECTRIC CURRENTS IN SUB-
MARINE TELEGRAPH-WIRES,

The following paper was read to the British Association by Professor Thom-
son. “Recent examinations of the propagation of electricity through wires in
subaqueous and subterranean telegraphic cables have led to the observation
of phenomena of induced electric currents, which are essentially different
from the phenomena (discovered by Faraday many years ago) of what has

148 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

hitherto been called electro-dynamic, or electro-magnetic induction, but which,
for the future, it will be convenient to designate exclusively by the term
electro-magnetic. The new phenomena present a very perfect analogy with
the mutual influences of a number of elastic tubes bound together laterally
throughout their lengths, and surrounded and filled with a liquid which is
forced through one or more of them, while the others are left with their ends
open or closed. The hydrostatic pressure applied to force the liquid through
any of the tubes will cause them to swell and to press against the others,
which will thus, by peristaltic action, compel the liquid contained in them to
move in different parts of them in one direction or the other. A long solid
eylinder of India-rubber, bored symmetrically in four, six, or more circular pass-
ages parallel to its length, will correspond to an ordinary telegraphic cable
containing the same number of copper-wires, separated from one another only
by gutta percha; and the hydraulic motion will follow rigorously the same
laws as the electrical conduction, and will be expressed by identical language
in mathematics, provided the lateral dimensions of the bores are so small,
in comparison with their lengths, or the velocity of the fluid so great, that
the motions are not sensibly affected by inertia, and are consequently depend-
ent altogether on hydrostatic pressure and fluid friction. Hence the author
considers himself justified in calling the kind of electric action now alluded
to, peristaltic induction, to distinguish it from the electro-magnetic kind of
electro-dynamic induction. Among the results noticed, he mentioned, as
being of practical importance, that the experiments which have been made
on the transmission of currents backward and forward by the different wires
of a multiple cable, do not indicate correctly the degree of retardation that is
to be expected when signals are to be transmitted through the same amount
of wire laid out in a cable of the full length. It follows that expectations as
to the working of a submarine telegraph between Britain and America,
founded on such experiments, may prove fallacious; and to avoid the chance
of prodigious losses in such an undertaking, the author suggested that the
working of the Varna and Balaklava wire should be examined. He remarked
that a part of the theory communicated by himself to the Royal Society last
May, and published in the Proceedings, shows that a wire, of 6 times the
length of the Varna and Balaklava wire, if of the same lateral dimensions,
would give 36 times the retardation, and 36 times the slowness of action.
If the distinctness of utterance and rapidity of action, practicable with the
Varna and Balaklava wire, are only such as to be not inconvenient, it would
be necessary to have a wire of 6 times the diameter; or better, 36 wires of
the same dimensions; or a larger number of still smaller wires twisted to-
gether under a gutta percha covering, to give tolerably convenient action by
a submarine cable of 6 times the length. The theory shows how, from care-
ful observations on such a wire as that between Varna and Balaklava, an
exact estimate of the lateral dimensions required for greater distances, or
sufficient for smaller distances, may be made. Immense economy may be
practiced in attending to these indications of theory in all submarine cables
constructed in future for short distances; and the non-failure of great under-
takings can alone be insured by using them in a preliminary estimate.”

~~

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 149

On the Polar Decomposition of Water by Frictional and Atmospheric Elec-
tricity, by Professor Andrews.—The author having drawn attention to the fact
that water had never been decomposed by the action of the common friction
electricity, so as to collect the gases and exhibit them at the opposite poles,
stated that the cause of the failure of the experiment was the solution of the
gases in the mass of the liquid. Byfusing platina wires in thermometer tubes
this difficulty is avoided, and the gases may be then obtained and collected
with the same facility as in ordinary eudiometric experiments. By arranging
a series of such tubes, the operations may be almost indefinitely repeated.
On raising an electrical kite, the author succeeded in obtaining the polar de-
composition of water by atmospheric electricity. The observations were made
in fine weather, when the atmosphere was not usually charged with electricity.
Although the gases were easily collected and measured, from the delicate form
of apparatus employed, the quantity of water decomposed in this case amounted
only to one 700,000th of a grain in the hour.—Proc. British Association.

Bonelli Experiments in Electric Communication—Experiments have recently
been made in Sardinia by M. Bonelli with a view of using the common iron
railway track as a conductor of electricity for telegraphic purposes. It is thus
proposed to convert railways into telegraphic lines and make the electro-mag-
netic machine an attachment and servanttothelocomotive. Inan experiment
reported, it is stated that a locomotive running at full speed repeatedly ex-
changed messages with the station whence it started. The questions and
answers were varied and repeated during numerous trips, without a single
fault, and the inventor finally announced his complete success to the Minister
of Public Works at Turin from a car running at the rate of a mile in two
minutes.

THE MEDITERRANEAN SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH.

The work of completing the Mediterranean Electric Telegraph, which will
ultimately furnish a communication between London, Egypt, and India, has
been vigorously pushed during the past year. It will be remembered that last
year* 110 miles of cable were laid down between Spezzia and the mostnorth-
ern point of Corsica. For this section of the line 90 miles of cable, weighing
eight tons to the mile, and containing six insulated wires, were required; the
remainder was taken to the straits between Corsica and Sardinia, and twelve
miles were laid down there, the communication having meantime been com-
pleted along the island of Corsica by land. The communication being now
complete from London to Cagliari, in the south of Sardinia, and the line from
Algiers to Cape Bonan, on the African coast, having been opened January,
1855, nothing is now wanted to complete the communication between Lon-
don and Algiers but a submarine cable from Cape Spartivento, adjoining
Cagliari, to Bonan. This cable is already manufactured, and is the largest and
heaviest, beside being the longest, ever laid down. It is 150 miles long,
each mile weighing 8 tons, and the whole cable weighing 1,200 tons. This
is exclusive of 12 miles of lighter cable sent with it to avoid all chance of

* See Annual of Scientific Discovery for 1855, pp. 166-168.

150 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

deficiency. In its stowage in the vessel for transportation, the greatest care
has been exercised owing to the enormous weight, and the circumstance
that it is all in one piece. Seventy-one miles of it have been put in the
lower hold, forty-two miles on the orlop deck, thirty miles in ’tween decks,
seven miles in the after hold, and the twelve spare miles of what is called
small cable, although it weighs five tons to the mile, is also on tween decks,
and every one of these portions has to be shored at very short intervals, to
prevent the movement of the cable.

In laying down the last portion of the cable, that between Spezzia and
Corsica, it took five days, including the stoppage that had to take place in
cutting the cable, and going round to lay the short lengths between Corsica
and Sardinia. It is expected that the present cable will be laid down in
four days. The Mediterranean Telegraph Company anticipate that in two
years and a half they will have a direct communication with Bombay, and
thence, by telegraphs already at work in the presidencies, to Calcutta; and
they consider this line they are just about to complete as only the preliminary
step to this result. Their proposed line, joining the one at present open to
Cagliari at Cape Spartivento, will first be taken to Malta, and thence direct
under the Mediterranean to Alexandria. This will be an immense distance:
984 miles of submarine cable without a station; from Alexandria to Suez,
by land, 248 miles; another submarine cable under the Red Sea to Aden,
with two stations, Cosiri and Liddah, 1,552 miles, and from Aden to Bombay,
with stations at the Kooria Moorta Islands and Ras-al-had, 1,900 miles.
When this undertaking is completed the communication with Calcutta, which
now takes on average thirty-six days, will be reduced to a few minutes.
Professor Faraday, about two years ago, called the attention of telegraph
companies to the fact that there was great difficulty in sending any commu-
nication through a greater length of wire than 300 miles; but since that time
Mr. Brett, the Superintendent, has been experimenting, with a view to over-
come this difficulty, and has perfectly succeeded in doing so. By connecting
each individual wire in this coil of six, and also those belonging to another
cable intended for an American company, he was enabled to experiment on
a length of 1,250 miles with perfect success, and he has prepared a new in-
strument for use with wires of great length.

ELECTRIC TIDE-GUAGES AND REGISTERS.

Throughout the long extent of the American sea-board there are many
‘harbors, much frequented by coasting and other vessels, where the entrances
are blocked by sand-bars or reefs, over which, at certain stages of the tides,
there is not a sufficient depth of water to permit safe navigation. The same
may be said of various shoals. It is often a matter of difficulty for a mariner,
in approaching such places, to determine whether or not the depth is sufii-
cient for his vessel: through a want of correct information he is often de-
layed from going into port, and is driven off by a storm; or, what is more
frequent, his ship strikes bottom, and becomes a wreck. An invention by
Alex. Boyd of New York, is intended to guard against these difficulties.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 151

He erects a frame-work on the locality of danger, in which he places a com-
bination of simple mechanism for raising and lowering signals—fiags or balls
for the daytime, and colored lights for the night. The mechanism is operated
by a float resting in the water. As the tide rises and falls the machinery
moves and the signals change. Thus, there may be a signal for each foot of
depth; when the water is two feet deep, two signals will be shown; as
soon as the tide has risen another foot, three signals will be exhibited—and
80 On, vice versd.— Scientific American.

On the detection and measurement of Atmospheric Electricity by the Photo-
barograph and Thermograph.—Photography has already rendered considerable
aid to science, and some results brought before the British Association by Mr.
Johnson, Radcliffe Observer, Oxford, furnish an example of this. On examin-
ing and comparing the registrations of the thermometer and barometer certain
peculiarities presented themselves which indicate a curious connection between
the course of these instruments and the state of the weather. The line which
indicates this course is sometimes serrated, sometimes even and continuous ;
and these appearances correspond to certain determinate states of the weather.
The most remarkable result is a sudden change of the height of the barometric
column, which takes place simultaneously with the occurrence of a peal of
thunder :—a contemporaneous effect was produced upon the thermometer,

ON THE AURORA BOREALIS.

Ait the last meeting of the British Association, Sir John Ross, presented a
communication, in support of a theory respecting the origin of the Aurora
Borealis, which he first promulgated some years ago. Sir John Ross says:—
“Tt having occurred to me that, if my theory was true, namely, ‘that the phe-
nomena of the aurora borealis were occasioned by the action of the sun, when
below the pole, on the surrounding masses of colored ice, by its rays being
reflected from the points of incidence to clouds above the pole which were
before invisible,’ the phenomena might be artificially produced; to accomplish
this, I placed a powerful lamp to represent the sun, having a lens, at the focal
distance of which I placed a rectified terrestial globe, on which bruised glass,
of the various colors we have seen in Baffin’s Bay, was placed, to represent the
colored icebergs we had seen in that locality, while the space between Green-
land and Spitzbergen was left blank, to represent the sea. To represent the
clouds above the pole, which were to receive the refracted rays, I applied a hot
iron to a sponge; and, by giving the globe a regular diurnal motion, I produced
the phenomena vulgarly called ‘The Merry Dancers,” and every other appear-
ance, exactly as seen in the natural sky, while it disappeared as the globe turn-
ed, as being the part representing the sea to the points of incidence. In cor-
roboration of my theory, I have to remark that, during my last voyage to the
Arctic Regions (1850-1), we never, among the numerous icebergs, saw any that
were colored, but all were a yellowish white; and during the following winter,
the aurora was exactly the same color; and, when that part of the globe was
covered with bruised glass of that color, the phenomena produced in my exper-

152 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

iment was the same, as was, also, the Aurora Australis, in the Antarctic re-
gions, where no colored icebergs were ever seen. At the time this theory was
first promulgated a controversy took place between the celebrated Prof. Schu-
macher, of Altona, who supported my theory, and the no less distinguished M.
Arago, who, having opposed it, sent M. G. Martens and another to Hammer-
fest on purpose to observe the aurora, and decide the question. I saw them
at Stockholm on their return, when they told me their observations tended to
confirm my theory ; but their report being unfavorable to the expectations of
M. Arago, it was never published; neither was the correspondence between
the two Professors, owing to the lamented death of Prof. Schumacher. I re-
gret that it is out of my power to exhibit the experiments I have described,
owing to the peculiar manner in which the room must be darkened, even if I
had the necessary apparatus with me; but it is an experiment so simple that
it can easily be accomplished by any person interested in the beautiful pheno-
mena of the Aurora Borealis.”

A GALVANIC ACTION IN THE EARTH.

An eminent London cutler (Mr. Weiss of the Strand), to whose inventions
modern surgery is under considerable obligations, has remarked that steel
seemed to be much improved when it had become rusty in the earth, and pro-
vided the rust was not factitiously produced by the application of acids. He
accordingly buried some razor-blades for nearly three years, and the result
fully corresponded to his expectation. The blades were coated with rust,
which had the appearance of having exuded from within, but were not eroded,
and the quality of the steel was decidedly improved. Analogy led to the con-
clusion that the same might hold good with respect to iron, under similar
circumstances; so, with perfect confidence in the justness of his views, he
purchased as soon as an opportunity offered, all the iron, amounting to fifteen
tons, with which the piles of London Bridge had been shod. Each shoe con-
sisted of a small inverted pyramid, with four straps, rising from the four sides
of its base, which embraced and were nailed to the pile; the total length, from
the point which entered the ground, to the end of the strap, being about sixteen
inches, and the weight about eight pounds.

The pyramidal extremities of the shoes were found to be not much corroded,
nor, indeed, were the straps; but the latter had become extremely and beauti-
fully sonorous. When manufactured, the solid points in question were con-
vertible only into very inferior steel; the same held good with respect to such
bolts, and other parts of the iron-work as were subjected to the experiment,
except the straps: these, which, in addition to their sonorousness, possessed a
degree of toughness quite unapproached by common iron, and which were, in
fact, imperfect carburets, produced steel of a quality infinitely superior to any
which, in the course of his business, Mr. Weiss had ever before met with ; in-
somuch, that while it was in general request among the workmen for tools, they
demanded higher wages for working it.—These straps, weighing altogether about
eight tons, were consequently separated from the solid points, and these last
sold as old iron. The exterior difference between the parts of the same shoe,

ey ee ee eet

a a

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 158

led, at first, to the supposition, that they were composed of two sorts of iron;
but besides the utter improbability of this, the contrary was proved by an ex-
amination, which led to the inference that the extremities of the piles having
been charred, the straps of iron closely wedged between them and the stratum
in which they were imbedded, must have been subjected to a galvanic action.
which, in the course of some six or seven hundred years, gradually produced
the effects recorded.

ELECTRO-CHEMICAL PAPER FOR TELEGRAPHIC PURPOSES.

M. Maisonneuve has recently presented to the French Academy an electro-
chemical paper for telegraphic purposes, which seems to fulfill all the condi-
tions necessary for complete success, which he enumerates as follows: Ist.
cheapness; 2d. sufficiently sized to take annotations in ink; 3d. sufficiently
humid to be a conductor, yet without excess, so-as to receive these annota-
tions; 4th. slightly acid, to increase its conductibility, yet not enough to affect
the metals which it touches; 5th. easily decomposable by electricity; 6th.
giving, by means of this decomposition, a deep-colored, insoluble and stable
salt; 7th. of so simple a composition that it can be prepared at the stations
themselves, if found advisable; 8th. not requiring any peculiar kind of paper
pulp; 9th. of an easy and simple composition, not requiring the proportions
of the salts to be very exact.

The formula for the preparation of this paper is as follows:—Water, 100
parts; crystallized nitrate of ammonia, 150; yellow cyanide of potassium and
iron, 5. By using 150 parts nitrate of ammonia this paper acts well in the
summer, and without requiring to be kept from the air. A short immersion
mn water will remove any excess of these proportions. It may be prolonged
without injury to the clearness of the characters.

COMPASS VARIATIONS IN THE MERCANTILE MARINE.

Colonel Sabine, of England, in a recent publication on the danger to which
vessels are exposed from compass variations, expresses the opinion that in all
large ports, at least, in which vessels are equipped, a competent person should
be appointed, whose duties should be—to select in every ship an advantageous
position for a standard compass, combining the two requisites in such selection
of a manageable local attraction, and of convenient access for navigating the
ship; to determine experimentally the local deviations of the standard com-
pass in different azimuths; to instruct the master how to repeat the same on
future occasions; and to see that he rightly and thoroughly understands the
deduction of the true magnetic courses from those of thé standard compass,
and of the course by the standard compass corresponding to the true course
which he desires to steer. The performance of these duties on the part
of the person so appointed to be imperative, at least in all cases of iron ships
and steamers, by a regulation that no such ship should be permitted to leave
the port until a certificate should be produced that they have been duly per-
formed.

5*

154 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

«

MAGNETIC FORCE OF OXYGEN.

M. Becquerel, succeeding Faraday, has also established the fact that oxygen
is magnetic, and that atmospheric air, in virtue of the oxygen it contains, par-
takes of the same property. The mode of experiment to measure the force
exercised by a magnet on a gas in comparison with the effect produced upon
a body taken as unity, consisted in placing successively small bars of glass,
wax, etc., in a vacuum and in different gases, in order to determine the mag-
netic power of the gas by the difference of effect produced under these two
conditions. . He thus established that the relation between the attraction of
oxygen by a magnet, and the repulsion in an equal volume of water, is pro-
portioned to the density of the gas, and that it is represented by 0°18 at the
temperature of 12° Cent. If we reflect that the earth is surrounded by a mass
of air equivalent in weight to a stratum of mercury 76 centimetres in height,
we can understand that a similar mass submitted to the incessant variations
of temperature and pressure, ought to exercise an influence on some of the

phenomena dependent on terrestrial magnetism. In calculating what is the

real magnetic power of this fluid mass, we find that it is equivalent to an im-
mense shell of iron, of a thickness of ;4,th of a millimeter, covering the entire
surface of the globe. The results of Faraday, Becquerel, and Matteucci, at-
tained by different methods, all agree. M. Plucker having reached other
results by a process of his own—a method by weight—Becquerel has renewed
his researches, and confirms anew his previous results.

DR. BELL ON THE SO-CALLED ‘SPIRITUAL PHENOMENA.”

We extract from the July number of the American Journal of Insanity the
following extract of a paper read by Dr. Bell, of the McLane Hospital, Mass.,
at the recent meeting of the Superintendents of Insane Hospitals, assembled
in Boston. A paper on a similar subject was presented by Dr. Bell at a
previous meeting of the Association, held in Washington, D.C., but this, by
request of several members, was not reported. They considered that the
whole subject was then too immature, and so much connected in the public
mind with the ridiculous, as to make it inexpedient that it should be more
than announced generally as among the topics discussed by the Association.

Dr. Bell commenced by expressing his surprise in finding last. year that at
so large a meeting of persons, whose lives were spent in investigating the
reciprocal influences of mind and body, scarcely a single member had given a
moment's attention to a topic directly in his path, which, whether regarded
as merely an epidemic mental delusion, or as a new psychological science,
was producing such momentous effects upon the world. It was now said to
number over two millions of believers, had an extended literature, a talented
periodical press in many forms, and had certainly taken fast hold on many
minds of soberness and power. He was well aware how easily it was turned

to ridicule, and that there were many who would be ready to ask, when ~

they saw hospital directors seriously discussing the sp‘ritrual phenomena. Quis

—SS ee eer ee ST CU

Rep ee ee

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 1a

custodiet ipsos custodes? But if there was any class of men who had duties
in this direction, it was those of our specialty. Our reports contain the record
of many cases of insanity said to have been produced by it. It was im-
portant, whether true or false, or mixed, that its precise depth, length. and
nature, should be studied out. As is well-known, mystery always loses its
terrific character when boldly met, and opened to the light of noon-day. Dr.
Bell remarked, that on his return home from the meeting at Washington, he
had a peculiar wish to verify his previous observations on what are techni-
cally known as the physical manifestations of this new science. He could
not pretend to doubt his repeated personal observations, addressed to his
sight, hearing and touch, and separated, as he believed, trom any possibility
of error or collusive fraud. Yet the offer by Professor Henry, of a large sum
to any person who would make one of his tables move iz the Smithsonian
Institution, and the obvious incredulity of many of the “brethren,” had in-
duced the desire again to see some full and unequivocal experiments in table-
moving. An opportunity was not long wanting. On the occasion of the visit
of a well-known gentleman long connected with the insane, and who never
had seen any of these phenomena at the Asylum, Dr. Bell invited him to go
to a family where a medium of considerable power was visiting. The medium
was a young lady of eighteen or twenty, of very slight figure, weighing eighty
or ninety pounds, and had discovered herself to be a mediwm while on a
visit to these distant relatives. A family, from character and position more
entirely beyond the suspicion of even winking at any thing like fraud or irreg-
ularity, does not exist in the world. They were so fortunate as to find the
medium at home, and the circle was made of five persons. The ordinary
manifestations of raps, beating of musical tunes and responses to mental and
spoken questions, were very completely presented, as well as the movements
of the table under the mere contact of fingers’ ends. Finding that things
appeared very favorable to a full exhibition of what he wished to see, as
evineed by the very facile movements of the table under contact, Dr. Bell
proposed trying the grand experimentum crucis of the physical manifestations
—ihe movement of the table without any human contact, direct or indirect.
He was permitted to arrange things to suit himself, and began by opening
the table more widely, and inserting two movable table-leaves, which in-
creased the length from about six to perhaps nine or ten feet. This he felt
also gave him an opportunity to see and upset all wires and mechanism con-
cealed, or at least to answer positively as to their non-existence. The table
was a solid structure of black-walnut, with six carved legs—the whole of such
a weight that, when the castors were all in the right line for motion, he could
just start it by fhe full grasp of the thumb and fingers of both hands. The
persons stood on the sides of the table, three and two, and back from its edge
about eighteen inches. As Dr. Bell is some six feet two inches in height, he
averred that he had no difficulty in seeing between the table and the persons of
allpresent. The hands were raised over it at about the same height of a foot
and ahalf. Atarequest the table commenced its motion, with moderate
speed, occasionally halting, and then gliding on a foot or two at once. It
seemed as if its motion would have been continuous, if the hands above it had

156 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

followed along pari passu. On reaching the folding-doors, dividing off the two
parlors, and which were open, it rose over an iron rod on which the door-
trucks traversed, and which projected half or three-quarters of an inch above
the level of the carpet. It then entered the other parlor, and went its whole
length, until it came near the pier-glass at its end, a center-table having been
pushed aside by one of the party to allow its free course. At request, for
they during this time spoke as if to actual beings, the motion was reversed,
and it returned, until it again reached the iron rod. Here it stuck. The
table hove, creaked, and struggled, byt all in vain; it could not surmount the
obstacle. The medium was then “impressed by the spirits” to write, and,
seizing a pencil, hastily wrote that if the fore-legs were lifted over the bar,
they (i. e. the spirits) thought they could push the others over. This was
done, and the motion kept on. Once or twice Dr. Bell requested all to with-
draw a little further from the table, ‘to see how far the influence would ex-
tend.” It was found that, whenever a much greater distance, say two feet,
was reached, the movement ceased, and a delay of three or four minutes
occurred before it recommenced, giving the idea that, if broken off, a certain
re-accumulation of force was needful to put it in motion again. The table
reached the upper end of the parlor, from which it had started, but was left
some four feet from the median line of the room. Dr. Bell expressed the
thanks of the company for the very complete exhibition with which they had
been favored, but remarked that the obligation would be enhanced if the
“spirits” would move the table about four feet at right-angles, so that the
chairs would come right for their late occupants. This was immediately
done, and the performance was deemed so perfectly full and satisfactory,
that nothing more was asked at this session. Dr. Bell was understood
to say that this made some five or six times in which he had seen the
table move without human contact, and all under circumstances apparently
as free from suspicion as this just related.

Dr. Bell mentioned that, in his last experiment—that just. narrated—the
entire space moved through was over fifty feet. Dr. Bell then passed to the
topic of responses to mental and verbal questions, and gave several narratives
of long conversations with what purported to be the spirits of persons dead
for twenty-five to forty years, in which every question he could devise relating
to their domestic history and to events in it, known only to them and him, had
been truly answered. Some of the subjects put mentally—7. e. without speaking
or writing—had half a dozen correct replies, forbidding of course completely
on any doctrine of chances, the contingency of accident or coincidence, as such
mental questions, per se, negative the explanation of previous knowledge on
the part of the medium. A brief abstract of one of these will give a general
idea of their character. Dr. Bell had frequently remarked to his “ spiritual”
friends that if any medium could reproduce the essential particulars of a final
interview which had occurred between himself and a deceased brother, in
1826, he should be almost compelled to admit that it came from his spirit,
because he was sure that he (Dr. Bell) never had communicated it to any
living being. Hence as it had never been known to but two persons, and
was of so peculiar, well-marked a character, as not to be capable of being

ne a oY ald

3 NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 157

confounded by generalities, he should hardly be able otherwise to explain it.
A few weeks afterward, what purported to be the spirit of that brother nar-
rated the essential particulars of the interview, the place where, down to the
well-recollected fact that he was adjusting the stirrups of his horse, preparatory
to a distant journey, when it was held! Pretty early, however, in his invest-
igations, Dr. Bell began to find that, however correct his spiritual conferees
were in most of their responses, the moment a question was put involving a
response the truth of which was unknown to him, uniform failure occurred.
Sometimes when he believed at the time that his questions were truly
answered, subsequent information had shown him that he had been mistaken.
He had answers which he believed to be true, when the facts were decidedly
otherwise. Pursuing this train of inquiry, he found the “spirits,” while aver-
ring that they could see him distinctly, ‘face to face,” never could read the
signatures taken from an old file, and unfolded without his having seen the
writing. Yet as soon as he had cast his eye upon the signature, without
allowing any one else to see it, it was promptly and correctly reproduced by
the alphabetical rappings. And again, when he had made a previous arrange-
ment with his family that they should do certain things every quarter of an
hour at home—he, of course, not knowing what—while he was to ask the
“spirit” what was done at the instant, uniform failure occurred. He proved,
too, that the theory of the “Spiritualists” to meet such difficulties, viz.: that
evil or trifling spirits interfered at their end of the telegraph—was not tenable.
For the responses just before and after these gross failures had been eminently
and wonderfully accurate, and the ‘‘spirits” not only declared that they saw
with perfect clearness what was going on at his house, but denied that there
had been any interruption or interference. Dr. Bell also gave examples
where test questions, involving replies unknown to the interrogator, had been
designedly intermixed with those which were known. The result uniformly
was that the known responses, however curious and far remote, were cor-
rectly reproduced; the unknown were a set of perfectly wild and blundering
errors, the responses often being obviously formed out of the phraseology of
the question, as a stuck school-boy guesses out areply! The result of the
inquiries of Dr. Bell and his friends—for several gentlemen of eminently fitting
talents pursued the investigation with him—was briefly this: that what the
questioner knows, the spirits know; what the questioner does not know, the spirits
are entirely ignorant of. In other words, that there are really no superhuman
agencies in the matter at all—no connection with another state of existence;
but that it bears certain strong analogies to some of the experiences of clair-
voyance, in that mysterious science of animal magnetism, as it has been pro-
truding and receding for the last hundred years. Dr. Bell thought there was
some reason to believe that the matter reproduced may come not only from
the questioner, but if in the mind of any one at the circle, that it might be
evolved. He made some observations upon the evidences of spirit existence,
drawn from the character of the matter communicated by the mediums in a
state of impression, when, as is believed, spirits express themselves through
the human agent. Of course, the quality of such composition is more or less
a question of taste. Much of it is elevated, indicating high intellectual and

By is hn

158 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

moral capacities in the mind to which it owes its origin. Much more is .
absurd, puerile and disgusting, infinitely below the grade of the human pro-
ductions of the same persons from whom it professedly comes. Yet the
spiritual revelation has given us nothing of such extraordinary value or
novelty as to stamp it, in the judgment of unprejudiced minds, as of super-
raundane production. Dr. Bell alluded to a treatise which had been put into
his hands by an earnest spiritualist, purporting to be the work of Thomas
Paine, the author of ‘The Age of Reason,” etc., which was thought would
carry conviction to any body, as it purported to be a full explanation of
the formation and changes of this earth by one who, from his situs, must
know all about it. The truth was that the work was the production of some
mind, celestial or mundane, ignorant of the very first rudiments of chemical
philosophy, in which the most ridiculous blunders were made on every page
in matters which are as demonstrable as mathematics, and where, of course,
the answer can not be made that the revelation was too high for common
readers. Nor does Dr. Bell believe, from his observations, that the waters
from this fountain ever reach a higher level than their source. The most
elevated specimen of the spiritual literature would no doubt be found in the
communications from Swedenborg and Lord Bacon, in Judge Edmond’s and
Dr. Dexter’s first and second volumes. Yet whoever reads the very elegant
and powerful preliminary treatises of these gentlemen, which Dr. Bell thought
would compare favorably with any writings of the kind ever published,
would not be able to feel that Swedenborg and Lord Bacon, after their nearly
one and more than two centuries’ residence respectively, amid the culture and
refined senses of the superior spheres, had more than equaled their unpre-
tending amanuenses still in ‘the vale of tears.” Dr. Bell concluded by the
expression of his full conviction that, while the faith in spirits must be given
up as being connected with these facts, it was a topic, whether regarded as a
physical novelty, or even as a delusion, cutting deeply into the very religious
natures of our people, which was worth our fullest examination. There were
great, novel, interesting facts here. They had not been treated fairly and
respectfully as they should have been. The effect was that the community
knowing that here were facts, if human senses could be trusted at all, went
away from those who should have thrown light upon the mysteries, but who
would or could not, to those who gaye some explanation, even if it was one
which uprooted all previous forms of religious faith. He hoped that the
members of this Association, who were as much required to examine this
topic as any order of men except, perhaps, the clergy, would not be afraid
of looking it in the face from any apprehensions of ridicule or of degrading
their dignity.

Dr. Gray inquired if there were any perceptible effects produced upon the
feelings or health of the mediums by the exercise of this power.

Dr. Bell replied that his inquiries of them led him to suppose that there
were no palpable influences from this cause.

Dr. Cutler wished to know if Dr. Bell supposed that the medium was con-
scious of what was passing in the mind of the questioner.

Dr. Bell thought such was not the case. The mediums all concur (and

pe er

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 159

many of those in private life, at least, are of the highest worth—and, indeed,
he believed that many of those who gratified those interested by paid sessions
to be no less worthy) in declaring that they have no consciousness of any par-
ticipation in what is going on before them. Nor could he see, in the temper-
aments or other indications of the mediums, any thing in common. They ran
through a wide expansion of intelligence, from Judge Edmonds down to the
most moderate intellectual development.

Dr. Cutler inquired how Dr. Bell supposed the raps to be made.

The doctor admitted his entire inability to suggest how, any more than why
the magnetic needle should insist upon turning toward the north instead of
S.S.E.

Dr. Bell remarked that there was a great number of very curious facts con-
nected with the various branches into which these phenomena had run off,
which he had not time to enter into the consideration of He considered them
all as of less intense interest that the great question of the veritable existence
of the “spirits.” The trance speaking, the impressions of a visual panoramic
order, the composition of all sorts of prose and poetry, the curious “ spirit-
drawings,” and still other manifestations; of some of them it is very difficult
to make an explanation ; others may hereafter be found in the class of hyster-
ico-nervous excitements, in which the individual, without any intention to de-
ceive, is so wrapped up in an internal flow of fancies as to lose consciousness
of external things; yet the intellectual process goes on. Still other pheno-
mena may perhaps be proved to be connected with the duality of the brain.
Ii is undoubted that that organ is like the ear and eye, each of which is one
of two symmetrical duplicates. When both act concurrently, but one class of
effects is produced. When the ear or eye becomes dislocated from its fellow,
double vision and disturbed audition result. One eye may be habitually pass-
ive, as seems to be one perfect optics of the cross-eyed, and the attention is
not called to the images which it presents, although these images may be all
distinctly pictured on the retina, and may, by some association or diseased
action, be subsequently reproduced. The analogy of the brain to these facts
is shown in the phenomena of dreaming, when we do and say and think
things which are utterly foreign to our habitual feelings and views, as much
as one mind could vary from another. Or, again, it is illustrated in not un-
frequent examples of periodical mania, where, for a period of weeks, or months,
or years, the patient lives in a certain state of moral, intellectual, and affect-
ive existence, perfectly unlike the other remnant of his life. Were a new
guide or governor known to enter the sensorium and assume the reins, a more
completely distinct set of results could not be expected. In inebriety the
same facts exist. The phenomena of impressions made upon an organ, and
afterward reproduced on disease, are common in the books.

Dr. Bell admitted that many of the responses made by the purporting

“spirits” of your friends are so odd and unnatural, as compared with your

own thoughts or manner of speech, as to make it difficult to believe that they
ever came from your own habitual brain—that is, that part of your brain
which you recognize as responsible to your own individuality. He related an
incident illustrative of his meaning. He was once attcnding a session, or

160 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

circle, where his position was at the bottom of a long table, at the head of
which the “medium” sat, and on each side of her were some other persons
All had paper and pencils in hand to minute down the responses, ete. Owing to
some “ want of harmony” or other cause, the “ spirits” failed in correct replies,
and a good deal of confusion and repetition occurred. Often their reply
through the alphabet was, ‘we don’t know,” “we can’t tell,” ete. Dr.
Bell was amusing himself, under these delays, in drawing with his pencil
a grotesque figure of an imaginary animal—a sort of griffin with horns, tusks,
ete. After one of the replies of the “spirits” that they “ did n’t know,” the
doctor rather pettishly lifted his pencil from the paper, and said, “ Well, do
you know what this is?” The response was at once rapped out, “It is hard
naming that beast!” As he was in a position where no eye could overlook
him, and where no person beside himself could know what was drawn, he was
at a loss to know out of whose brain, except his own, the quick repartee
could originate. He certainly had no consciousness of it. Dr. Bell also men-
tioned other cases where the idea in the questioner’s mind was reproduced,
but in different phraseology from that he held. A “spirit,” for example, was
asked where she had been buried. The answer was St. Augustine. The let-
ter S was first rapped: he waited at A, having no idea that the contraction
would be used, but ¢ was, the rap being made at T.

Dr. Nichols inquired whether Dr. Bell had any further experiences and ob-
servations in the curious inverted reverse handwriting, of which he had given
an account last year.

Dr. Bell replied that he understood that that phenomeunt of handwriting,
where the pencil began at the last part of the last letter of the last word of
the last sentence, and run back rapidly to the beginning, being also upside
down to the writer, was not uncommon, although he had not again met with
it. In one instance in his experience lately, the medium wrote in a reversed
manner, so that the writing could be read in a mirror, or by being held up to
the light, back to the reader—an obviously very easy thing as compared with
that just described.

Dr. Bell had seen many of the “ spirit-drawings,” which seemed like incon-
egruous grotesque specimens of Chinese art—flowers, fruit, and leaves being
ageregated against all the precedents of nature or laws of botanical philosophy.
They were only remarkable from being the production of persons unskilled
in the use of the pencil, as was declared to be the case. Dr. Bell concluded
by remarking that he regarded the question, whether the spirits of the dead
had any thing to do with these phenomena, to be so much more important, in
a practical point of view, than any other minor facts connected with them,
that he had pretermitted much of his attention to these curious incidents, in
order to direct his investigations more to the other point, the result of which
he had endeavored to give.

CONSTITUTION OF THE SUN—SOLAR MAGNETISM.

Mr. Thomson, one of the physicists who, with Carnot, Joule, Meyer, and
others have largely contributed toward establishing the relations between heat

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 161

and mechanical foree, has extended his researches to the heat emitted by the
sun; and he observes that this heat corresponds to a development of mechan-
ical force, which, in the space of about 100 years is equivalent to the whole
active force required to produce the movement of all the planets. The author
examines successively the different sources of heat, and ends by concluding
that the solar heat can have no other than a meteoric origin, and that it re-
sults from the motion of meteors which fall into the sun—an idea first put
forth by Mr. Waterson at the meeting of the British Association at Hull,
Whatever may be the value of this hypothesis, we would ask whether it
would not be more simple to admit that the solar heat proceeds simply from
the rotatory movement of the sun. Mr. Thomson admits himself that the
rotation is necessary to the production of the heat. It is known that the sun
moves on its axis, and what use is this invention of meteorites, which nothing
justifies? This idea of deriving heat from motion, which was rejected more
than thirty years ago, suggests the hypothesis which assigns an analogous
origin to terrestrial, and hence to planetary magnetism. The question of
solar magnetism has been conclusively settled by the researches of M. Secchi,
director of the observatory at Rome. The sun, which is a source of light,
and a source of heat, is then a source of magnetism also—heat, light, electric-
ity, and magnetism have then a common origin—matter in motion—l.
Nickles, Paris Correspondence Silliman’s Journal.

FARADAY ON THE NATURE OF GRAVITY AND PHYSICAL FORCE.

It is probably of great importance that our thoughts should be stirred up at
this time to the reconsideration of the general nature of physical force, and
especially to those forms of it which are concerned in actions at a distance.
These are connected very intimately with those which occur at insensible dis-
tanees; and it is to be expected that the progress which physical science has
made in later times will enable us to approach this deep and difficult subject
with far more advantage than any possessed by philosophers at former pe-
riods. At present we are accustomed to admit action at sensible distances,
as of one magnet upon another, or of the sun upon the earth, as if such ad-
mission were itself a perfect answer to any inquiry into the nature of the
physical means which cause different bodies to affect each other; and the
man who hesitates to admit the sufficiency of the answer, or of the assumption
on which it rests, runs some risk of appearing ridiculous and ignorant before
the world of science. Yet Newton, who did more than any other man in
demonstrating the law of action of distant bodies, including among such the
sun and Saturn, which are nine hundred millions of miles apart, did not leave
the subject without recording his well-considered judgment, that the mere at-
traction of different portions of matter was not a sufficient or satisfactory
thought for the philosopher. That gravity should be innate, inherent, and es-
sential to matter, so that one body may act upon another at a distance through
a vacuum without the mediation of any thing else, by and through which their
action and force may be conveyed from one to another, is, he says, to him a
great absurdity. Gravity must be caused by an agent acting constantly ac-

162 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

cording to certain laws; but whether this agent be material or immaterial he
leaves to the consideration of his readers. ‘This is the onward-looking thought
of one who, by his knowledge and like quality of mind, saw in the diamond
an unctuous substance coagulated when as yet it was known but as a trans-
parent stone, and foretold the presence of a combustible substance in water a
century before water was decomposed or hydrogen discovered; and I can not
‘help believing that the time is near at hand when his thought regarding gravity
will produce fruit; and, with that impression, I shall venture a few considera-
tions upon what appears to me the insufficiency of the usually accepted no-
tions of gravity and of those forces generally which are supposed to act at a
distance, having respect to the modern and philosophic view of the conserva-
tion and indestructibility of force.

The notion of the gravitating force is, with those who admit Newton’s law,
but go with him no further, that matter attracts matter with a strength which
is inversely as the square of the distance. Consider then a mass of matter
(or a particle), for which present purpose the sun will serve, and consider a
globe like one of the planets, as our earth, either created or taken from distant
space and placed near the sun as our earth is; the attraction of gravity is
then exerted, and we say that the sun attracts the earth, and, also, that the
earth attracts the sun. But if the sun attracts the earth, that force of attrac-
tion may either arise because of the presence of the earth near the sun, or it
must have pre-existed in the sun when the earth was not there. If we con-
sider the first case, I think it will be exceedingly difficult to conceive that the
sudden presence of our earth, ninety-five millions of miles from the sun, and
having no previous physical connection with it, nor any previous physical econ-
nection caused by the mere circumstance of juxtaposition, should be able to
raise up in the sun a power having no previous existence. Asrespects gravity,
the earth must be considered as inert, previously, as the sun, and can have no
more inducing or affecting power over the sun than the sun over it. Both
are assumed to be without power in the beginning of the case; how then
can that power arise by their mere approximation or co-existence? That a
body without force should raise up force in a body at a distance from it, is
too hard to imagine; but it is harder still, if that can be possible, to accept
the idea when we consider that it includes the creation of force. Force may
be opposed by force, may be diverted, directed partially or exclusively, may
even be converted, as far as we understand the matter, disappearing in one
form to unite in another; but it can not be created or annihilated, or even
suspended, 7. ¢., rendered existent without action, or without its equivalent
action. The conservatism of power is now a thought deeply impressed upon
the minds of philosophic men; and I think that, as a body, they admit that
the creation or annihilation of force is equally impossible with the creation or
annihilation of matter. But if we conceive the sun existing alone in space,
exerting no force of gravitation exterior to it, and then conceive another
sphere in space, having like conditions, and that the two are brought toward
each other; if we assume that by their mutual presence each causes the other
to act, this is to assume not merely a creation of power, but a double creation,
or both are supposed to arise from a previously inert to a powerful state. On

- ae oe 2 ee ~ ee -

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 163

their dissociation they, by the assumption, pass into the powerless state again,
and this would be equivalent to the annihilation of force. It will be easily
understood that the case of the sun and the earth, or of any one of two or
more acting bodies is reciprocal, and also that the variation of attraction,
with any degree of approach or separation of the bodies involves the same
result of creation or annihilation of powers as the creation or annihilation of
either of the acting bodies would do.

Such, I think, must be the character of the conclusion, if it be supposed
that the attraction of the sun upon the earth arises because of the presence
of the earth, and the attraction of the earth upon the sun because of the
presence of the sun; there remains the case of the power or the efficient
source of the power having pre-existed in the sun (or the earth) before the
earth (or the sun) wasin presence: In the latter view it appears to me that,
consistently with the conservation of force, one of three sub-cases must oc-
cur; either the gravitating force of the sun, when directed upon the earth,
must be removed in an equivalent degree from some other bodies, and when
taken off from the earth (by the disappearance of the latter), be disposed of
on some other bodies; or else it must take up some zew form of power when
it ceases to be gravitation, and consume some other form when it is devel-
oped as gravitation; or else it must be always existing around the sun
through infinite space. The first sub-case is not imagined by the usual hy-
pothesis of gravitation, and will hardly be supposed probable ; for if it were
true, it is scarcely possible that the effects should not have been observed
by astronomers, when considering the motion of planets in different positions
with respect to each other and the sun. Moreover, gravitation is not assumed
to be a dual power, and in them only as yet have such removals been ob-
served by experiment or conceived by the mind. The second sub case, or
that of anew or another form of power, is also one that has never been
imagined by others, in association with the theory of gravity. I made some
endeavors, experimentally, to connect gravity with electricity, having this
very object in view, but the results were entirely negative. The view, if held
for a moment, would imply that not merely the sun, but all matter, whatever
its state, would have extra powers set up in it, if removed in any degree
from gravitation; that the particles of a comet at its perihelion would have
changed in character, by the conversion of some portion of their molecular
force into the increased amount of gravitating which they would then exert;
and that at its aphelion this extra gravitating force would have been con-
verted back into some other kind of molecular force, having either the former
or a new character; the conversion either way being to a perfectly equivalent
degree. One could not even concéive of the diffusion of a cloud of dust, or its
concentration into a stone, without supposing something of the same kind to
occur; and I suppose nobody will accept the idea as possible. The third sub-
case remains, namely, that this power is always existing around the sun and
through infinite space, whether secondary bodies be there to be acted upon by

the gravitation or not; and not only around the sun, but around every particle

of matter which has existence. This case of a constant necessary condition
to action in space, when as respects the sun the earth is not in place, and of

164 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

a certain gravitating action as the result of that previons condition when the
earth zs in place, I can conceive consistently, I think, with the conservation
of force; and I think the case is that which Newton looked at in gravity, and
is in philosophical respects the same as that admitted by all in regard to light,
heat, and radiant phenomena; and in a more general sense is forced upon
our attention by the phenomena of electricity and magnetism, because of their
dependence on dual forms of power.

RENDULUM EXPERIMENTS FOR THE DETERMINATION OF THE
EARTH’S DENSITY.

Professor Airy, the Astronomer Royal, recently delivered a lecture before
the Royal Institution, “On the Pendulum Experiments lately made in the
Harton Colliery, for ascertaining the Mean Density of the Earth.” He com-
menced by explaining the importance in astronomical investigations of acquir-
ing a correct knowledge of the mass of the earth, as the means of determining
the force of gravitation and the density of other planetary bodies, and then
noticed the different plans which had been adopted to ascertain the mean
density of the earth, incliding the attraction of a plummet to the side of the
mountain Schechallian, and known as the Schechallian experiment; Mr.
Cavendish’s cabinet experiment, in which he had attempted to arrive at the
same result by the attractions of large spheres of lead on light bodies; and the
pendulum experiments which, with the assistance of Dr. Whewell, Professor
Airy had made in 1826, and again in 1828, in the Dolcoath Mine, in Cornwall.
Both those experiments were failures, for in each case, after many days of
persevering toil and observation, unforeseen accidents injured the instruments,
and prevented the attainment of any satisfactory results. Professor Airy
minutely explained the principle on which the vibration of a pendulum de-
pends, and on which the pendulum experiments were contrived to determine
the density of the earth. As the rapidity of the vibration of the pendulum
increases with the increase of the force that attracts it downward, it was ex-
pected that by noting accurately the number of vibrations in a given time on
the surface and at the bottom of a deep mine, the difference would afford a
measure of the relative attractions of gravitation at the two points. In those
early experiments the great difficulty experienced was in ascertaining pre-
cisely the correspondence or difference in the vibrations of the pendulums
placed at the top and at the bottom of the mine, which was attempted to be
done by means of a chronometer. The recent application of voltaic electricity
in the Observatory at Greenwich had suggested a ready mode of noting the
variations of the pendulums, and the Astronomer Royal, therefore, with this
new power at command, determined to repeat the experiments. With the
assistance of a numerous staff of observers, drawn from the different obsery-
atories in the kingdom, he commenced operations in the Harton Colliery, near
Newcastle, which is 1,600 fect deep. The Electric Telegraph Company gave
their aid in laying down insulated wires, and, by means of a clock, to make and
break contact with the voltaic battery, galvanometers at the vottom and at the
top of the pit made simultaneous deflections every fifteen seconds. Several ob-

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 165

servations were made in varied forms, each one being continued for 104 hours,
and the correspondence between them was so exact as to leave no doubt of
the accuracy of the experiments. The results showed a difference of two
seconds and a quarter in 24 hours between the pendulum at the lower point
and that at the mouth of the pit, the lower one having gained that much in
consequence of the greater attraction of gravitation. Professor Airy said it
could be mathematically demonstrated that the counteracting attraction of the
shell of the earth above the pendulum would be exactly neutralized by the
attraction of the same thickness of matter in other parts of the sphere, so that
the actual force of gravitation acting on the pendulum would be represented
by the mass beneath, not including the shell, of 1600 feet. All the requisite
computations have not yet been made, but sufficient has been done to ascer-
tain that the mean density of the earth is greater than the estimated density
by the Schechallian experiment. By that experiment it appeared that the
mean density is between five and six times the specific gravity of water,
while the pendulum experiments make it between six and seven times more
dense.

Pendulum Detachment.—An ingenious and novel pendulum detachment for
ehurch clocks has been invented by J. R. Brown, of Providence, R. I. This
arrangement, illustrated with diagrams, may be found described in the Scien-
tific American, February 10th, 1855.

ON SOLAR REFRACTION.

Among other interesting and important consequences of the dynamical
theory of heat, Professor W. Thomson having deduced the necessity of a re-
sisting medium, the condensation of this about the sun, and a consequent re-
fraction of the stars seen in that neighborhood, Professor Piazzi Smyth has
endeavored to ascertain, by direct astronomical observation, whether any such
effect was sensible to our best instruments. Owing to atmospheric obstruc-~
tions, only three observations, yielding two results, had been yet obtained ;
but both these indicated a sensible amount of solar refraction. Should this
effect be confirmed by more numerous observations, it must have important
bearings on every branch of astronomy; and as the atmosphere at all ordinary
observatories presents almost insuperable obstacles, the author pointed out
the advantage of stationing a telescope for this purpose on the summit of a
high mountain.—Prov. British Association.

COLOR BLINDNESS.

This term is applied to an inability to distinguish different colors. It in-
cludes all varieties and degrees of the affliction. In some cases there is total
blindness to colors, the distinction of black and white alone being perceived.
More frequently there is inability to discern a single color, such as red, or in-
ability to distinguish between two colors, such as red and green. A work on
this subject has recently been published by Dr. George Wilson, of England,
m which he takes occasion to point out the danger attending the present sys-

166 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

tem of rail-way and marine colored signals. Dr. Wilson has collected a great
number of new and well authenticated facts on all branches of the subject.
The frequency of the affection appears to be far greater than had previously
been suspected. The experience of the well-known oculist of Glasgow, Dr.
Mackenzie, that in forty thousand cases of eye-disease treated by him he had
met with only two cases of color-blindness, does not invalidate other statements
as to its frequency. He may not have often directed his inquiries to the
point, and possibly the physical condition of the eye producing this affection
renders it less sensitive and liable to other complaints. Dr. Wilson estimates,
from his own observations and inquiries, the per centage of color-blind per-
sons in the community as high as one in twenty, and strongly marked cases
about one in fifty.

COLOR IN NATURE AND ART.

Frames of pictures in general are no better than necessary evils; for, if
they are requisite to isolate a picture from surrounding objects, yet it must
be confessed that the contiguity of the frame to the picture is exceedingly
detrimental to the illusion of perspective. It is this which explains the dif
ference between the effect of a framed picture, and the effect of the same pic-
ture when viewed through an opening which allows of our seeing neither
frame nor limits. The effect then produced recall all the illusion of the
diorama. In the case of not a few pictures, taste is best shown in knowing
how little frame is necessary. The color of the wall, and nature of surround-
ing objects, must be considered in judging of this. We once saw a painting
by a German artist, representing the interior of a Gothic ruin, with a snowy
landscape visible through the open archway of the door, and some snow,
drifted in, lying upon the steps and stone floor inside. The perspective was
exquisite—magical ; and the drifted snow upon the steps and floor seemed —
‘as if you could lift it off with a knife. The picture was in the possession of
an able connoisseur—and how had he treated it? Most people would have
put round it a frame proportionate to the value of the picture; that seems
to be the usual way—so many inches of frame to a £20 picture, and so many
more to one worth £100. Not so with this connoisseur. When we saw it,
this gem of a painting had round it a simple, narrow bead of gilding, and was
hung upon a wall of an orange-cream color—the unobtrusive frame, allowing
the exquisite perspective to appear to advantage, while the peculiar color of
the wall served to bring out, in all its brilliance, that other fine point in the
piece, the snow.

With this warning against having too much frame—which we can not, of
course, shape into any definite axiom, but which will answer the purpose if
it make people think at all upon the subject—we proceed to consider the
relation of color which ought to exist between a frame and the picture which
it surrounds. Gilt frames are, of all others, the handsomest and most
generally applicable, and are especially suited for large paintings in oil. Many
landscape-paintings in oil are well set off by a gray frame, particularly if we
take a gray tinted with the complementary (or opposite) of the dominant color

ma ~~ e
fe

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 167

of the picture. For black engravings and lithographs, gilt frames suit per-
fectly, provided a certain breadth of white paper be left round the subject.
frames of yellow wood, such as bird’s-eye maple, etc., likewise accord well
with lithographs; and it is possible greatly to modify the appearance of tho
drawing by mounting it on tinted paper, when we do not desire the effect of
a white margin.

As to the hanging of pictures in a room, we only repeat the general canon-
when we say that engravings and plain lithographs should not be placed
beside oil-paintings or colored drawings. When we wish to place pictures
upon a papered wall, the latter ought to be ofa single color, if possible—if
not, of two tones of the same color, and with a simple pattern. Also, the
dominant color of the paper-hangings ought to be complementary to the
dominant color of the picture. Pearl-gray, or normal-gray a little deeper, is
a good tint to receive engravings and plain lithographs in gilt or yellow
wood frames. Yellow hangings can receive with advantage landscapes in
which greensward, and leaves, and a blue sky predominate; and the most
suitable frames in this case are those of violet-colored ebony (palixandre) or
wood painted gray or black. Oil-paintings, in gilt frames, are effective on
walls of olive-gray; upon which ground the flesh-colors of the picture, and
the gold of the frame, assort well. Paper of a deep green, and even of a
deep blue, may likewise be advantageously employed in many cases. We
know one artist, whose drawing-room wall, covered with oil-paintings in gilt

frames, has a flock-paper of deep green, the velvet pattern being of nearly

equal extent with the smooth ground, but of a darker shade. The effect is
very good. Had it been a picture-gallery, the paper would have been un-
questionably better if of a perfectly uniform color; but, by having it patterned,
and of two shades of the same color, the requirements of a drawing-room are

. answered with the least possible detriment to the effect of the pictures.

So much for the mechanical accessories of the Fine Arts, whether these be
exhibited in a noble gallery, or in the houses of our middle-classes. In com-
ing to the furniture of our dwellings, it must be confessed that, so innumera-
ble are the possible combinations of color, it is impossible to lay down many
laws of general application. In large rooms, bright, contrasting colors may

_ be employed; whereas, in small rooms, the harmony should be not of con-

ian ai a a aa

trast, but of analogy; in other words, the furniture of small rooms should in
general have but one predominant color, and the contrasts exhibited be only
those of tone. On this principle, hangings, with varied and brilliant colors,
representing flowers, birds, human figures, landscapes, etc., may be employed
in the decorating of large rooms; whereas, chintzes are only suitable to small
rooms, such as cabinets, boudoirs, etc. In bed-rooms, the window-curtains
and those of the bed should be similar; and, if there be a divan, it may be
similar also; for, we may remark, that it is conformable with the object of
boudoirs and similar places, to diminish their extent to the eye, by employing
only one material for the hangings and chairs, instead of seeking to fix the eye
upon many separate objects.

Of hangings—and our remarks are almost equally applicable to the general
tone of a room—we may say that in consequence of an apartment never

168 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

being too light, since we can diminish the day-light by means of blinds and
curtains, it is best that the hangings be of a light and not of a dark color, so
that they may reflect light rather than absorb it. Dark hangings, therefore,
are proscribed, whatever be their color. Red curtains are to be met with
very frequently in this country; yet it must be said that red and violet, even
in their light tones, ought to be proscribed, because they are exceedingly un-
favorable to the color of the skin. Orange can never be much employed, it
fatigues the eye so much by its intensity; and, indeed, among the simple
colors there is scarcely any which are advantageous, except yellow, and the
light tones of green and blue. Yellow is lively, and combines well with ma-
hogany furniture, but not generally with gilding. Light-green is favorable,
both to gilding and to mahogany, and also to complexions, whether pale or
rosy. Light-blue is less favorable than green to rosy complexions, especially
in day-light; it is particularly fayorable to gilding, associates better than
green with yellow, or orange-colored woods, and does not injure mahogany.
White hangings, or hangings of a light gray, either normal, or tinged with
green, blue, or yellow, uniform, or with velvet patterns, similar in color to the
ground, are also good for use.

In regard to the draping of floors, it must be borne in mind, that for a
carpet to produce the best possible effect, it is not enough it is of the best
manufacture, and of excellent colors and pattern; it is also requisite that its
pattern be in harmony with the size, and its colors with the decorations of
the room. It is important for manufacturers to know how to produce carpets
which will suit well with many different styles of room furniture; and, in our
opinion, the best mode for attaining this end is, to make the light and bright
coloring commence from the center of the carpet; for it is there (that is to
say, in the part most distant from the chairs, hangings, etc.) that we can em-
ploy vivid and strongly-contrasted colors without inconvenience. And if we
surround this bright central portion with an interval of subdued coloring, we
shall be able to give to the framing-colors (those around the margin of the
carpet) a great appearance of brilliance, without injuring the color of the
chairs and hangings. With respect to the carpets of small or moderately-sized
rooms, we may lay down the rule that the more numerous and vivid the
colors of the furniture, the more simple should be the carpet alike in color and
pattern—an assortment of green and black having, in very many cases, a good
effect. On the other hand, if the furniture is of a single color, or if its con-
trasts consist only of different tones of the same color, we may, without
detriment, employ a carpet of brilliant colors, in such a way as to establish a
harmony of contrast between them and the dominant hue of the furniture.
But if the furniture is of mahogany, and we wish to bring out its peculiar
color, then we must not have either red, orange, orscarlet, as a dominant color
in the covering of the floor.

The covering of chairs may present either a harmony of contrast or a
harmony of analogy with the hangings, according as the room is large or
small; and a good effect may be produced by bordering the stuff at the parts
contiguous to the wood with the same color of the hangings, but of a higher
tone. Nothing, we may add, contributes so much to enhance the beauty

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 169

of a stuff intended for chairs, sofas, etc., as the selection of the wood to which
it is attached; and, reciprocally, nothing contributes so much to augment the
beauty of the wood, as the color of the stuff in juxtaposition with it. In
accordance with the principles of coloring, which we laid down in a preceding
part of this article, it is evident that we must assort rose, or red-colored woods,
such as mahogany, with green stuffs; yellow woods, such as citron, ash-root,
maple, satin-wood, etc., with violet or blue stuffs; while red woods likewise
do well with blue grays, and yellow woods with green grays. But in all
these assortments, if we would obtain the best possible effects, it is necessary
to take into consideration the contrast resulting from height of tone; fora
dark blue or violet stuff will not accord so well with a yellow wood as a light
tone of these colors does; and hence, also, yellow does not assort so well
with mahogany as with a wood of the same color, but lighter. There is
no wood more generally used by us than mahogany, and no covering for
sofas and chairs more common than a crimson woolen stuff; and in this
we are influenced not so much by any idea of harmony, as by the twofold
motive of the stability of the crimson color and the beauty of the ma-
hogany. In assorting these, we will often do well to separate the stuff from
the wood by a cord or narrow galloon, of yellow, or of golden yellow, with
gilt nails; or, better still, a narrow galloon of green or black, according as
we wish the border to be more or less prominent. The red woods always
lose a portion of their beauty when in juxtaposition with red stuffs. And
hence it is that we can never ally mahogany to vivid reds, such as cherry-
color; and more particularly to orange reds, such as scarlet, nacarat, and
aurora; for these colors are so bright, that, in taking away from this wood
its peculiar tint, it becomes no better than oak or walnut. Ebony and
walnut can be allied with brown tones, also with certain shades of green
and violet.— Horticulturist.

SUBSTITUTE FOR THE CAMERA LUCIDA.

The following description of a new instrument for drawing objects or land-
scapes in correct perspective was read before the Scottish Society of Arts, by
the Rev. W. Taylor:

This apparatus consists of a wooden box, 15 by 12 inches, and 1 inch deep,
The lid is made, when open, to stand at right angles, and fixed there. On
the opposite side of the box a slip of wood is fixed, having a hole at the top,
through which the eye looks at the object to be copied. Opposite to this,
parallel tubes are fixed upon the open lid of the box, operating as a photo-
graph. At the upper end of the parallel tubes is a hole through which the
eye sees the object to be copied, and this orifice is made to travel along the
outline of the object. The other end of the parallel tubes has a pencil fixed
in it, which is pressed by a spring to a piece of paper fastened to the inside
of the lid by button-pins, and which accordingly traces the outline of
the object, being the counterpart of the object itself} traced by the other
end of the parallel tubes. By means of this instrument, the author stated
thai, any object or landscape could be more eorrectly copied than. by

- 8

170 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

the camera licida, or any other instrument known to him; that a few trials
will be found sufficient to enable a person to use the instrument; and that it
has the advantage of being portable, easily made, not difficult to use, and not
expensive.

ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF SIGHT.

The following is an abstract of a communication presented to the American
Association, Providence meeting, by Dr. T. C. Hilgard: He commenced by
alluding to the faculty which the eye has of accommodating itself to different
distances—of adjusting its focus. This consists not in any rounding cut of
the cornea for near objects, or by any motion of the lens, as has been laid
down, but, as Dr. Graefe has lately proved, in a lateral compression of the
eyeball, so as to give it greater depth. It has to be drawn out for near ob-
jects just as any other spyglass is. If any body will hold this print as closely
to his eye as possible, and make it distinct, he will feel a constriction of the
eyeball. The scope of sight, therefore, depends on the refractive power of
the cornea and the lens, and the casual shape ‘of the bulb. Distinetness and
indistinctness of vision depend on a certain anatomical organization of the re-
tina, by which images under a certain size are not perceived; on the power
of the center of the retina to distinguish forms more keenly than the outer
portions ; upon whether the retina is in focus or not; upon the Y-formed ar-
rangement of the fibers of the lens, which often makes one see stars when he
does not bump his head; upon the width of the pupil as the lateral part of
the lens do not unite rays into an exact focus; upon the meeting of the axes
of the two eyes, for when both eyes are looking at one point, ail objects,
further or nearer, appear double, as they are not cast on the corresponding
places of the two eyes; and upon the condition of the light arriving, which
is so serene on Alpine heights that black letters 1,500 feet high, set up against
snow-fields 40 miles distant, might be as easily read as letters one-twentieth
of an inch in height at the distance of 8 inches, the angle being the same.
We have therefore a scope of distinct sight equal, within all distances to which
the eye can accommodate itself, for objects subtending the same angle. We
have one limit of most minute vision, namely, as near as an object can be
borne, and also a comfortable distance for long-continued minute vision, such
as reading. Physiologists are still wondering why we see things upright,
when the image on the retina is upside-down, just as in a camera-obscura.
The truth is that we do not consciously perceive the image; we only perceive
by it, and our ideas of position are formed by the sense of touch. The new-
born infant has no clear vision; at most it perceives only light and darkness;
but it feels, and fecling is its only available sense; it first becomes aware of
the position and form of things by feeling. And so, when we come to see, we
think that sight goes out and touches the objects that we see, and we say
with all the rest of the world, ‘‘ As far as the eye can reach.” The fiery rings
which are seen when the eyes are pressed, although formed in the eye, seem
to be several inches before it. Persons who are born blind acquire a most
perfect knowledge of position by touch, and on receiving sight, immediately
perceive things upright. So, standing on the head alters nothing in our ideas

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NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 171

of up and down, and astronomers and microscopists are not aware that they
see things reversed. We have also no consciousness of the absolute or even
relative size of the image on the retina, since an object looks no larger at the
distance of 1 foot than of 10, although the image is 100 times as large. The
idea of size is a function of judgment, of reference to touch. After referring
to the law of complementary colors, Dr. Hilgard stated that while the central
part of the retina can distinguish forms most distinctly, the eccentric portions
seem most susceptible to intensity of light and quality of color. This every
one will recognize who has noticed that a faint star may be seen by looking
at some point near it when it can not be seen by looking immediately at it.
So, gazing at a faded sunset directly, it appears faintest. But turning the
head sideways, or up or down, while the eye still looks at the sunset, will
cause an increase of light and color. The same result is obtained by pressing
the eyes or inclining the head sideward, so that the eyeballs become slightly
distorted in their endeavor to maintain a horizontal position. In these cases
distinctness of form is sacrificed to luminosity and coloring. The colored
minutize disappear, and are followed by a fusion of colors beautifully “soft.”
This is caused by the production of the image on the lateral portions of the
retina.

ON BINOCULAR VISION.

The following is an abstract of a paper on binocular vision, read before the
American Association, Providence, R. I., by Professor W. B. Rogers :—

Prof. Rogers began with the first principles on which the stereoscope is founded.
Ifa bright bead be placed on an erect pin at one end of a board five feet long,
and two black beads be set up in the same way near the middle of the board
at such distance apart that when the face is at the other end, one black bead
will hide the bright one from the right eye and the other from the left; on
looking for the bright bead the eye will see three black beads. The middle
or brightest one will be made up of the right bead, seen by the right eye, and
the left bead seen by the left eye; the right hand image will be the right bead,
seen by the left eye; and the other, the left bead, seen by the right eye.
Now arrange a diaphragm, so that each eye shall see but one bead, and there
will be but one image in the mind made up of two objects. This is the stereo-
scope. Every figure appears to be where the axes of vision intersect when
they seem to see it. If the right eye sees only the left object, and vice versd,
the image will be seen nearer than the object, and larger; if, as usual, the
right object be seen by the right eye, etc., the image will be more remote and
larger. But one thing is curious: the eye must adjust its focus to the distance
of the object, but in binocular vision the focus of the eye is not adapted to the
place where the axes cross, but to the real distance of the objects. It does
not always do this readily, and: the effort necessary to make this adjustment
is often the main difficulty in the use of the stereoscope. The lines that try
the eye most are those that are to represent perpendicular lines at different
distances from the eye. Ifyou adjust the axes of the eye to the nearer wires
of a bird-cage, those of the opposite side must appear double, and if you look
at them the nearer ones will be doubled. In binocular vision this tries and

172 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

confuses the eye. Two lines not parallel may be combined in one, but then
the plane of the combined image will no longer be perpendicular to the eye,
but the ends that are nearer each other will appear nearest the eye. Figures
that are unequal may be combined, as a triangle with a narrow base with
another with a wide one, or even a straight line with the are of a circle, but
the resulting image is always thrown out of plane, and may even be warped.
All these must be in a horizontal direction; two triangles of different heights
can never be combined, nor can a horizontal line be combined with the are
of a circle. How is this combination effected? Brewster believes it is instant-
aneous; Wheatstone that the eye begins by adjusting one point on one line
to the corresponding one of the other, and then another adjoining, and thus
gradually forcing an image into the required plane. Brewster maintains
that the eye can combine them by the light of an electric spark that lasts only
a few millionths of a second. Professor Rogers doubted this, or thought it
must at least be a rare case. Sometimes the eye gets fatigued in the opera-
tion; the lines remain open for a time, and at last return to the plane of the
paper and remain uncombined. A high degree of approbation was elicited
by this paper, which it is difficult to report fairly without copies of the figures
and drawings of the apparatus used.

Professor Holton related an instance of combining two real objects into one
image. He was lying in a berth of a steamship, with a Venetian blind within
three inches of his face. The slats were horizontal, while his eyes were, of
course, one above another. Two slats were combined in one, removed to
twice the distance, and doubled in size, so perfectly that the sense of touch
was not sufficient to destroy the illusion. He desired also to call the attention
of the Section to the importance of raising the stereoscope from a philosophic
toy to an important use in descriptive botany and zoology. Means may yet
be found for taking photograph pictures of fresh orchid flowers, rare insects,
etc., from which colored engravings may be prepared for the stgreoscope,
giving an idea of forms that could not be otherwise acquired but by models,
without a journey to the tropics.

ON THE BINOCULAR VISION OF SURFACES OF DIFFERENT
COLORS.

The following is an abstract of a paper read at the last meeting of the British
Association by Sir David Brewster :—Professor Dove had published an account
of some beautiful experiments in connection with this subject some years ago.
M. Dove showed in his paper that when different colors at the same real
distance are regarded by the eye they appear to be at different distances;
this is also the case when a white surface is compared with a black. Now
M. Dove argues if a white surface and a black one be stereoscopically com-
bined, one of them must be seen through the other. Taking a figure for the
left eye with a white ground, and a second figure of the same object on a
black ground for the right eye, when these two figures are combined, a beauti-
ful effect is observed: the figure starts into relief, and its sides appear to
possess a shining metallic luster. This is the case when the surface of each

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 173

single object is quite dull and lusterless. On this experiment M. Dove founds
a theory of luster, supposing it to be produced by the action of light received
from surfaces at different distances from the eye. Antexample of this is the
effect observed on looking at varnished pictures: one portion of the light
comes from the anterior surface of the varnish, and the other from its posterior
surface, the action of both of these conspiring to produce the observed luster.
The metallic luster of mica is also referred to by M. Dove as an example of
the same kind. In his present communication Sir David Brewster controverts
the theory here laid down, and bases his objections on the following remark-
able experiment: where a white surface without definite boundary and a
black surface of the same kind are regarded through the stereoscope no luster
is observed. Sir David therefore infers that the luster is due not to the rays
from one surface passing through the other to the eye, but to the effort of the
eyes to combine the two stereoscopic pictures.

STEREOSCOPIC DAGUERREOTYPES.

When two pictures, taken with two ordinary cameras, placed 24 inches
apart, are placed in the stereoscope, they do not exhibit that relief which is so
striking in pictures taken in cameras placed further apart. Now as the human
eyes are only separated by a distance of 24 inches, the fact as above stated
has excited much attention and inquiry, ending in controversy. Mr. Mascher,
a well-known photographic artist of Philadelphia, is of the opinion that an
explanation may be found in the fact that the lenses of the camera, are much
larger than the eyes, and he infers that the distance separating the camera
ought to be increased in porportion as their lenses are larger than the eyes.
In the course of his experiments, he took a camera and reduced the opening
by which light entered to a diameter of one eight of an inch, that being the
diameter of the diaphragm of the humaneye. He found that the focal range of
the lens was thereby much increased. He then removed the lenses, and dis-
covered that the pictures of external objects thrown upon the ground glass of
the camera were very clear and distinct. Substituting a metal diaphragm
with an opening one fiftieth of an inch in diameter for the picture diaphragm
of one eighth of an inch in diameter, he obtained an excellent picture upon a
prepared daguerreotype plate, without the intervention of a lens. His next
proceeding was to make two apertures one sixty-sixth of an inch in diameter
in the same camera, and the images were thrown on the same plate. After
twenty minutes, exposure, good pictures were produced. These pictures pos-
sessed the proper amount of relief in the stereoscope, but being taken on the
wrong side of each other for this purpose, it was necessary to cut the plate in
two, and reverse their relative position.

PHOTOGRAPHIC TELESCOPE.

In accordance with a recommendation made to the British Association, by Sir
John Herschel* in 1854, that daily photographic pictures be taken of the sun’s
disk, for the purpose of studying by comparison its physical features and changes,

* See Annual of Scientific Discovery for 1855, p. 203.

174 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

a photographic telescope has been ordered for the Kew Observatory. The
proportions of the instrument, which is nearly completed, are as follows:—
The diameter of the object-glass is 34 inches, and its focal length 50 inches,
the image of the sun will be 0°465 inch, but the proposed eye-piece will, with
a magnifying power of 25°8 times and focal length a, increase the image to
12 inches, the angle of the picture being about 13° 45’. The object-glass is
under-corrected in such a manner as to produce the best practical coincidence
of the chemical and visual foci. Other arrangements have been made with
great care and accuracy for regulating the light, the time of producing the
image, and for measuring the diameter of the spots, ete.

PRINTING ON CLOTH BY THE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESS.

The following method for printing designs on cloth by means of photography
has been invented, and to some extent introduced in France. The cloth to be
printed, or figured on, is first plunged into achemical solution, and then dried
in the dark: it thus becomes sensible to the action of the light. It is then
exposed to the light, in the presence of the object to be reproduced, and when
it has been submitted to the action of the solar rays, it is subjected to a solu-
tion which develops the colors and renders them permanent. This is the
operation for fixing the colors, after which the material is washed. The print.
ing machine is composed of a simple rectangular frame, mounted on four feet.
The frame has on one side a flexible bar, and on this bar is rolled the cloth
which is to be printed, properly prepared. From thence the cloth goes over
the table and passes under a pane of glass, on which, by means of a combina-
tion of opaque or transparent objects, pieces of paper, for example, any design
which is to be produced is figured. All the part of the cloth which is to be
covered by the square remains under it the time necessary to subject it to the
chemical action of the light, and it will be understood that this action is only
exercised on those parts of the cloth which remain exposed to the solar rays.
Those which are shaded are of course preserved. While this exposure lasts,
the cloth remains in contact with the under side of the glass. This contact is
procured in the following manner: The portion of the cloth exposed rests on a
cushion composed of a pine board and several thicknesses of flannel, and two
Springs, one on each side, press the cushion against the glass.

As soon as the chemical action has been effected, which is discovered by the
exposed surface becoming white or brown, according to the preparation which
has been used, the workmen lower the cushion by aid of a lever, the cloth
becomes free, and a new portion of it takes the place of the square of the one
which was previously there, the first going on to be subjected to the fixing
operation. For this purpose the last is carried by two rollers (rouleaua de guides)
under the same table, where there is a trough containing the solution which is
to develop the impression. The piece is drawn through by a couple of cylinders
forming a roller, which are turned with a crank by a man, as soon as he has
lowered the cushion which has just been mentioned. The setting the color is
now done, and the cloth must be washed. This takes place immediately, the
cylinders forming a roller, and depositing them in a tub filled with water.

Si i al i em ad i fol

ae.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 175

The principal colors obtained by this wonderful process are red, yellow,
purple, blue, white and green. To produce a pale blue design on a white
ground, or white on a deep blue, they employ solutions of citrate or tartrate
of iron, and ferrocyanide of potassium. The cloth is afterward plunged into
a solution of sulphuric acid. Brown or chamois shades are obtained with a
solution of bichromate of potash. The salt which impregnates the portions on
which the light has not reacted, being removed by washing, these portions
remain white, or are decomposed by salts of lead, to form a yellow chromate
of that metal. By combining the two processes, and employing in addition
madder, campeachy, etc., an infinite variety of shades may be obtained.

The exposure to the light varies from two to twenty minutes, according to
the method employed, and the pattern used. Numerous experiments have
shown that the light of a short winter day has all the power necessary—very
beautiful specimens have been produced as late as four in the afternoon in the
month of January-

IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHY.

Photographic Impressions of Flowers.—Regnault, in a late sitting of the Acad-
emy at Paris, presented, in the name of A. Braun, of Dornoch, an album of
actinic impressions of flowers, which were remarkable for their harmony and the
chasteness of their model. Braun has proposed to form a collection of studies,
intended for artists who use flowers as elements of decoration, whether in
calico or wail-paper printing, or on porcelain, etc. He has attached groups
of branches and flowers, so as to produce the most interesting effects in an ar-
tistic point of view. Those presented to the Academy, although a hundred in
number, were only a small portion of what he had executed, all perfectly
successful — Humphrey's Journal.

Application of Photography to Porcelain——M. Camarsac has recently pub-
lished a plan for the “transformation of photographs into indelible pictures,
colored and fixed.” It appears to resemble the usual operations of paint-
ing on porcelain, though he also proposes to work on glass and enamel.
The paper of the positive is consumed in the heat of a muffle (an enameler’s
oven), leaving the photograph on the porcelain, glass, or metal. These are
colored with enamel colors, and burned in. He operates on white or colored
bases. On the dark bases, the lights are formed by the reduced silver deposit,
which obtains a great brilliancy from the fire. On porcelain, white enamel,
and transparent glass, the blacks are formed by the metallic deposit, which he
afterward treats with the salts of tin, the salts of gold, and of chrome. An-
other method he proposes, is to cover the porcelain, glass, or enamel, with a
sensitive resin, and, by means of a negative, to print a positive thereon, on
which he works with enamel colors,*to supply the place of the sensitive var-
nish, which is to be destroyed by the heat of the muffle-—Liverpool Photo~
graphic Journal. [

Lunar Photographs.—At a recent meeting of the Astronomical Society of
London, Mr. Hartnup presented actinic maps of the moon, taken on collodion.
The original impressions were one inch and a third in diameter, while those

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176 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

presented were from 2 to 44 inches. For taking the impressions, the heliostat
was regulated in such a manner as that the telescope gradually followed the
moon’s right ascension—the hour circle and the circle of declination having both
been stopped, which maintained the moon as perfectly as possible in the same
place as she appeared in the searcher, by means of the screw which gives the
instrument its smooth motion in right ascension and declination ; the telescope
being 4 feet diameter. Two of the images taken, one before the other, from
the full moon, when combined together in the stereoscope, gave a sensation of
well-detached relief; we may saya semi-globe, with the half transparent.
The enlarged views have been projected on a screen by the magic-lantern, and
are much admired.—Humphrey’s Daguerrean Journal.

Colored Photographs obtained by sinuple exposure to light—At a recent meet-
ing of the Sociéié de Photographie, Paris, M. Beauregard exhibited a number
of colored photographs, of which the following description was given. The
prints form a series of colored images, some uniformly blue, yellow, or rose ;
others possessing the different tints, in relation to natural colors upon the same
sheet of paper. Among the latter, one represented the head of a woman
draped with a transparent vail, and bearing a basket of foliage. The flesh is
of the natural color, the vail violet, and the foliage green. Another is a por-
trait of a woman, whose face and hands are flesh-colored, the eyes blue, the
hair light-brown, the dress green, and the collar and sleeves white. Lastly, a
portrait of a child, which, besides the flesh-color of the face, hands, and legs,
presents a dress striped with green and yellow, black boots, white linen, and
a couch of black wood with chamois cushion. There is also a little landscape,
with the effect of sunset, tinted with different colors.

M. de Beauregard set out from the long-known fact that there exist salts
which are colored in a different manner by light; that this diversity of color-
ation is manifested not only in relation to the special nature of each of the
salts, but also from the same salt, in proportion to the duration of the action
of light; or, in other words, to its intensity. This point being settled, M. de
Beauregard asked whether, by combining several of these salts, either directly
in the same bath, or on the paper itself, by means of successive immersions in
baths of different compositions (such, for example, as photographers at present
use for producing iodide of silver), it would be possible to obtain papers which,
when exposed at once to the action of light, would manifest the different
colors, and these more or less deep in tint, according to the nature of the salts
and the intensities of the luminous rays.

It is important to state here that the process of M. de Beauregard does not
consist in applying colors locally, as in the printing or dyeing of stuffs. The
colors which he obtains are produced in the printing-frame itself; by one and
the same impression of light, except merely the fixation and final development
of the print, as with the hyposulphite baths in the ordinary process. The first
idea of M. de Beauregard was simply to study the means of producing photo-
graphic prints at a low price, and for this purpose he set to work to finda
substitute for the salts of silver. He first tried ferro-cyanide of potassium.
This salt it is which, in moderately concentrated aqueous solution, gives the
print that uniform blue tint which we see in the various specimens exhib-

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 177

ited. It gives a very rich scale of tints, from the lightest to the deepest, ac-
cording to the duration of the exposure to the light. The paper is prepared
by placing it for a few minutes on the surface of the bath and immediately
drying it. When sufficiently impressed by the light, through the negative
which it is desired to print, the image is fixed by the immersion for some time
in pure water. At this moment the print has not attained its perfection; by
immersing it in a strongish solution of alum, the color is heightened in a re-
markable manner. M. de Beauregard obtained the yellow color by impreg-
nating the paper with a solution of bichromate of potash, and a prolonged ex-
posure to light causes this color to change to green. He fixes the print by
washing in common water and then by immersion in a solution of alum. The
bichromate of potash may also be usefully employed for giving black tints,
which may be carried to a very great intensity, without any salt of silver; a
most important result in regard to economy in the production of positives.
The mode of treatment is this :—After removing from the frame the print ob-
tained on paper impregnated with the bichromate of potash, it is immersed for
a few minutes in pure water. Then it is passed through a solution of proto-
sulphate of iron. The paper is washed again, and then loses all trace of the
picture. But on plunging the paper into a bath of gallic acid, the print is de-
veloped, and assumes a blue-black color, the intensity of which may be in-
creased by using an infusion of logwood. One of the most interesting points
of the process of M. de Beauregard, and that which has most strongly excited
attention, is the different coloring upon the prints. The process by which he
obtained these various colors, which he has succeeded in producing on the
same paper by a single exposure to the light in the printing-frame, consists in
impregnating the paper with two mixtures successively, taking care to dry the
paper after the employment of each mixture. The first mixture is formed by
@ solution of permanganate of potash with the addition of tincture of turn-
sol. The second mixture is formed of ferro-cyanide of potassium acidulated
with sulphuric acid. The paper thus prepared must lastly be subjected to a
bath of nitrate of silver. After the impression has been obtained, the paper is
first washed in pure water, then immersed in a weak bath of hyposulphite of
soda; finally after a fresh washing, the colors are brought out vividly ina
bath of neutral gallate of ammonia.

It remains to give an explanation of the phenomena presenting themselves
in the production of these prints. They are referable to a physical and chem-
ical reaction produced by solar light on the different bodies and salts above
indicated and employed for the first time in photography. M. Beauregard
advances a theory in reference to this discovery, which is, that the different
luminous rays impress the collodionized glasses in a manner precisely similar
to that which is necessary for the exact reproduction of the natural colors ; so
that the negative well brought out by light, possesses in itself} and by the
effect of the radiations of the different rays of-the spectrum, the relative and
proportionate intensities. proper to develop, on the positive paper prepared by
his process, the natural colors of the model.

Ifthis theory should prove true, the problem of obtaining color directly by
~ the agency of light would be solved.—Jour. Phot. Soc. London.

g*

178 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Improvement in the Collodion Process—The great difficulty with this most
sensitive process has been the rapid loss of sensibility after the plate has been
properly excited. This has arisen from the rapidity with which the ether and
alcohol of the collodion are removed by evaporation. Messrs. Spiller & Crookes
of London, have adopted the following method, which seems to overcome the
difficulty in question: After the collodion plate has been fully prepared in the
usual manner, it is placed in a bath of nitrate of zine containing a small
quantity of nitrate of silver. In a few minutes it absorbs a sufficient quantity
of this salt to secure a long-continued moisture on the surface; and thus
platés which have been prepared for five days have retained a sensibility equal
to that which they possess, under ordinary circumstances, for five minutes.

Photography and Wood Engraving—Mr. R. Langton, wood-engraver and
draughtsman, of Manchester, has produced some very successful and beautiful
specimens of photography, taken by himself; on blocks of box-wood. This
photograph, so taken, is quite ready for the application of the wood-engraver’s
burin. It is impossible to say how greatly this will advance the process of
wood-eneraying, especially by saving all the preliminary labor of the draughts-
man; which, in many cases, constitutes the chief element in both the time
and the cost attendant on the production of wood-engravings of a high class.
Even in many of the lower branches of the art, the new application of sun-
drawing will be an invaluable auxiliary. For instance, it is an exceedingly
difficult matter to get accurate drawings of machinery in perspective; me-
chanical draughtsmen only represent it in plane; and artists are generally
found extremely reluctant to employ a large amount of time so unprofitably
as the drawing of a complicated machine in perspective demands. These
photographs can now, in a few seconds, accomplish what it would require
hours for the artist to effect, and in point of accuracy the instrument must
ever have the preference. But great as will eventually be the boon which
this new application of photography will confer on the practical art of wood-
engraving, it may be made more extensively valuable as a cheap form of
producing pictorial objects. By Mr. Langton’s process, portraits, landscapes,
etc., could be produced on any smooth piece of wood, duly prepared; and
thus even wooden snuff-boxes, hand-screens, etc., may be decorated with por-
traits, or scenes from nature, or copies of works of art, at a cost much less
than daguerreotypes on metal plates. Indeed, it is difficult to say where the
application and uses of this new process may extend. The inventor does not
limit his invention to its use in wood-engraving, but claims for it an equally
valuable application in other directions, in connection with practical art.— Civil
Engineer and Architect's Journal.

Duration of Photographs.—W hat is the average duration of a photograph or
daguerreotype? Is their longevity in a ratio with the period of time of their
production, or is their existence’s length determined by other elements? In
these matters, time is the only possible Cidipus. But some photographs last
longer than others, and some have already faded away from the sensitive plate.
It seems, however, these may be recalled (according to MM. Davanne and

Girard) by a salt of gold, but with different aspects and shades, which go |

from red to black and blue; there being a complex reaction, viz, a pre-

ae ey

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. " 179

cipitation of metallic gold, and the formation of a chloride of silver. The
cause of the non-durability of photographs is suggested as due to the use of
the hydro-sulphate of soda; and ammonia has been suggested as better for
use, instead of the former.

This phenomenon has also attracted attention during the past year in En-
gland; and in London a committee of scientific photographists has been con-
stituted, and a fund raised for inquiring into and reporting on the subject.

The number of applications of the photographic art to the practical opera-
tions of every-day life, is rapidly increasing. An extensive coach-building
establishment in England has recently adopted the practice of having a photo-
graphic picture taken of every carriage finished. A picture in accurate
perspective is thus obtained, with eyery detail fully wrought out, in a manner
that would defy the highest powers of the best skilled artists. The customers,
also, of the establishment, who generally can make nothing out of plain, geo-
metrical side elevations and working drawings, are enabled to judge of the
actual effect of an equipage, before committing themselves to an order for it.
The camera also greatly assists the private operations of the coach-builder,
for, after finishing any complicated or uncommon kind of carriage, he can in
this way obtain a perfect representation of it, in all its parts and proportions;
so that he can build an exacily similar one at any subsequent time—perhaps
after the lapse of many years, when the details might otherwise have been
forgotten.

It is also obvious that this plan might with the same advantage be applied
to many other forms of construction as well as carriages.

The introduction of photographic views as evidence in the case of suits and
trials at law, for the purpose of explaining the position of buildings, utensils,
nuisances, locations, etc., has been extensively resorted to in England.

Photography has been used successfully at Paris in taking views of clouds;
they have been obtained by Bertsch in hardly a quarter of a second, in a style
that leaves nothing to be desired. These pictures are adapted to resolve all
important questions relative to their form, distribution, and height. | M.
Pouillet measures the height by means of two photographic apparatuses
placed at a distance from one another.

Another interesting use which has been made of the photographic art, has
been the delineation and reproduction of the scenes and localities of the
Crimean war. The London Atheneum in noticing the wonderful accuracy
and life-like appearance ofa published portfolio of these pictures, thus re-
marks :—“ For the first time since men fought we shall have history illustrated
by the certainty of a reporter who never blunders, never errs. Men will fall
before the battle-scythe of war, but not before this infallible sketcher has
caught their lineaments and given them an anonymous immortality more
lasting, perhaps, than ‘storied urn or animated bust.’ As photographists
grow stronger in nerve and cooler of head, we shall have not merely the
bivouac and the foraging party, but the battle itself painted; and while the
fate of nations is in the balance we shall hear of the chemist measuring out
his acids and rubbing his glasses to a polish. We shall then have indisput-
able tests for promotion; and may, perhaps, form galleries of national victories

180 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

more simple but more veracious than the poor melodramas of Versailles or
the Louvre. Then, every Englishman’s portfolio will be a hero’s Westminster
Abbey; and aricher reward than star or ribbon will’ be conferred on the
leader, whose monument would be forever before the eyes of his grateful
country.

Photographic Impressions of Blood-Globules—Photographic views of blood-
globules taken by M. Duboscq, of Paris, have lately formed the subject of a
microscopic exhibition at the Royal Polytechnic Institution. The globules of
the blood of the human race, of animals, of birds, reptiles, and fishes, were
shown upon the white curtain. The specimens all exhibited the same gene-
ral features, varying only in size and shape. The subject is highly important,
not only in a medical, but a judicial, poiat of view, for all blood-stains could
thus be analyzed and be made to assist in eliciting the truth, while, for medical
purposes, every disturbance that affects the human economy could thus be
scrutinized and remedies suggested according to the appearances indicated.

ON A PROCESS OF OBTAINING LITHOGRAPHS BY THE PHOTO-
GRAPHIC PROCESS.

Professor Ramsay at the British Association, Glasgow, described a process by
which Mr. Robert M‘Pherson, of Rome, had succeeded in obtaining beautiful
photo-lithographs. The steps of the process are as follows:—1l. Bitumen is
dissolved in sulphuric acid, and the solution is poured on an ordinary litho-
graphic stone. The ether quickly evaporates, and leaves a thin coating of
bitumen spread uniformly over the stone. This coating is sensitive to light—a
discovery made originally by Mr. Niepce, of Chalons. 2. A negative «n glass,
or waxed paper, is applied to the sensitive coating of bitumen, and exposed
to the full rays of the sun fora period longer or shorter according to the
intensity of the light, and a faint impression on the bitumen is thus obtained.
3. The stone is now placed in a bath of sulphuric ether, which almost instan-
taneously dissolves the bitumen which has not been acted upon by light,
leaving a delicate picture on the stone, composed of bitumen on which the
light has fallen. 4. The stone, after being carefully washed, may be at once
placed in the hands of the lithographer, who is to treat it in the ordinary man-
ner with gum and acid, after which proofs may be thrown off by the usual
process.—Professor Ramsay then proceeded to state that the above process,
modified, had been employed with success to etch plates of steel or copper,
without the use of the burin:—1. The metal plate is prepared with a coating
of bitumen, precisely in the manner noticed above. 2. A positive picture on
glass or paper is then applied to the bitumen, and an impression is obtained
by exposure to light. 3. The plate is placed in a bath of ether, and the
bitumen not acted upon by light is dissolved out. A beautiful negative
remains on the plate. 4. The plate is now to be plunged into a galvano-
plastic bath, and gilded. The gold adheres to the bare metal that refuses to
attach itself to the bitumen. 5. The bitumen is now removed entirely by the
action of spirits and gentle heat. The lines of the negative picture are now
represented in bare steel or copper, the rest of the plate being covered by a

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 181

coating of gold. 6. Nitric acid is now applied, as in the common etching pro-
cess. The acid attacks the lines of the picture formed by the bare metal, but
will not bite into the gilded surface. A perfect etching is thus obtained.

THE AMBROTYPE.

This term has been applied to the result of a new process, recently patented
by James A. Cutting, of Boston, which consists in taking pictures photograph-
ically on a film of collodion, on the surface of a sheet of glass, the collodion
being suitably prepared for the purpose. The nature of the process will be
easily perceived by the following abstract of the specification accompanying
the patent :

It has been found that when gun-cotton has been exposed to the action of
the atmosphere for the purpose of drying it, the sensitivencss of the collodion
prepared from it is sensibly diminished. By the use of alcohol it may be de-
prived of its moisture after being washed, without exposure to the air, and
without the constant deterioration of its sensitiveness. This part of my pro-
cess I conduct as follows: So soon as the cotton has been sufficiently exposed
to the acids, and has been thoroughly washed, it is plunged into strong alco-
hol, which effectually deprives it of the water which it contains, without
exposing it to the atmosphere for the purpose. From this alcohol it is taken
immediately to the mixture in which it is to be dissolved for the purpose of
forming the collodion. This mixture consists of 10 parts of sulphuric ether
and 6 of alcohol, or thereabouts. The collodion thus formed is allowed to
remain until it has settled perfectly clear, which usually requires about 24
hours. It is then decanted, and in every pint is added 80 grains of iodide
of potassium dissolved in alcohol. It is then well shaken, and 32 grains of
refined gum-camphor is added to each pint of the collodion, and after it is
again settled it is fit for use. The object of the camphor is to increase the
vigor and distinctiveness of delineation of the positive pictures, and particu-
larly of the half tints. It also greatly increases the beauty of the picture, by
giving a fineness of deposit not heretofore attained by any other means. The
use of the gum-camphor in the manner above described forms the second
branch of my invention. The collodion is then applied to the surface of the
glass in the following manner:

The plate of glass being held horizontally, a portion of the collodicn is
poured upon it, and it is then inclined in different directions, so as to cause
the collodion to flow over its whole surface, upon which it forms a colorless
transparent film; the excess of collodion is then allowed to run off, and the
glass, being still held horizontally, is inclined to one side and the other, until
the collodion becomes partially thickened or set. When this has taken place,
and before it is dry, it is rinsed in a solution of crystallized nitrate of silver, of
a strength of 40 grains to the ounce of water; the film is thus impregnated
with iodide of silver, and after remaining in this bath a sufficient length of
time for the ether to escape from the collodion, the plate is ready to be placed
inthe camera. After being exposed a sufficient length of time in the camera,
it is taken to a dark room, where the latent picture is developed by the appli-

182 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

cation of a solution of protosulphite of iron, acetic acid, and nitric acid, in
about the following proportions: 1 quart of soft water, 1 ounce protosulphite
of iron, 32 drachms No. 8 acetic acid, 1 drachm nitric acid. These exact
proportions are not rigid, but I have found them to be sufficient for the pur-
pose of developing the picture. After this is accomplished, it is washed in
clean soft water, and then the remaining iodide of silver is dissolved from the
collodion film by a solution of hyposulphite of soda, after which the picture
is entirely cleansed by the hyposulphite solution by washing as before in soft
water. The picture is then dried, either in the open air, or by the aid of a
gentle heat, and the process is completed.

To permanently improve the beauty of the pictures, and to deprive them of
a bluish, hazy, and indistinct look, is the object of my third improvement ;
which consists in the application of a coating of balsam of fir to the surface
of the glass upon which the picture is made, the balsam being confined to the
picture-plate by a secondary plate or glass, which is applied to the picture-
plate in a manner which will now be described, and which hermetically seals
up the picture and protects it from every and any injury not sufficient to frac-
ture the glasses themselves. This part of the process will now be described:

A second plate of glass is prepared, of the same size as that which carries
the picture, and is thoroughly cleansed; the picture-plate is then held hori-
zontally, the picture-side uppermost. The balsam is then applied in a line
along one edge of the glass, and one edge of the secondary plate is then ap-
plied to the edge of the first which contains the balsam. The two plates are
then pressed gradually together, by which the balsam is caused to flow en-
tirely across the picture toward the opposite edge, and the air is effectually
excluded from between the plates. The superabundant balsam is then re-
moved by pressing the glasses together, and a thin coating of it only is left
upon the surface of the picture. The beauty and distinctness of the pictures
are greatly enhanced by this application, the finer lines as well as the dark
portions and shadows being rendered far more distinct, and the most minute
delineations being brought out and made visible, while the application of the
second plate of glass secures the whole from the action of air, moisture, and
dust.

ENGRAVING FROM DAGUERREOTYPES.

From the Report of the U. 8. Coast Survey for 1854, by Professor Bache, we
derive the following information respecting some most interesting and import-
ant experiments made under the direction of the Department by Mr. George
Mathiot, for obtaining directly, by chemical means, from drawings, engraved
plates for printing. The particulars of the experiments are embraced in the fol-
lowing extract from the report made by Mr. Mathiot to the Superintendent. Mr.
Mathiot says, “‘ During the past summer I have made a number of experiments
on the natural-engraving processes proposed by Donné, Grove, Gaudin, Talbot,
and Niépce, with a view of obtaining by chemical means, and directly from
the original drawings of the survey, copper-plates ready for printing maps,
without the long and tedious process of the mechanical artist. So far, I have
not determined that I shall obtain a chemiglyphie process; yet I have been

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 183

much encouraged by my experiments, and have strong hopes of being able
to substitute this process for a considerable portion of the engraving, if not
to make a complete map. My examination has not yet extended to the pro-
cesses of Niépce and Talbot, except that I have determined that their processes
can be worked on copper, which is much more economical than steel, as the
plates of copper can be prepared by the electrotype process of perfect surface,
while expensive manual labor only can furnish those of steel.

“M. Donné proposed to etch a Daguerreotype with nitric acid. The
chemical difference between the ‘lights’ and ‘shades’ of the Daguerreotype
appears to be sufficient to determine the action of the acid to the dark parts,
which are supposed to be silver, while the lights are mercury. I found this
process extremely uncertain. In twenty carefully-conducted experiments, I
succeeded but once in getting definite markings, and this only on a portion
of the plate experimented on: hence, I conclude the process is not likely ever
to beturned to account. Professor Grove proposed to engrave the Daguerreotype
plate by electro-etching it, making it the positive electrode in a strong bath
of chlorohydric acid. This process gives engraving of great beauty, but, un-
fortunately, of very great delicacy. I made over a hundred trials of this pro-
cess, and, although I generally obtained a beautiful engraving, yet in only
two instances did I obtain lines of sufficient depth to print from, and then the
quantity of ink which could be held in the line was only sufficient to give a
mere stain on the paper, instead of a well-defined black line. M. Gaudin pro-
posed to conduct the process of M. Donné on a plate of steel, covered with a
film of silver, to enable it to receive the Daguerrean image. This was de-
signed for producing the graving on a more durable material than silver. But
M. Gaudin does not state whether he designed merely to communicate a silver
character to the surface of the steel, to enable it to be used as a Daguerrean
plate; or whether he designed such a coating, that while it might be eaten
through in the shades, to expose the easily-oxidable steel, the lights would be
protected by the silver film. Ifthe former were his design, I must conclude,
from my experiments, that it is impossible, because an infinitely thin coating
of noble metal over an oxidable one, determines the formation of multitudes
of small galvanic circles on the surface.

“T have long had the idea of silvering a copper plate just sufficiently thick
to defend the copper from such chemical action as would corrode it, and of
then eating through this film by the process of Professor Grove, and afterward
well biting the copper in the bared parts. This I have great expectation of
determining to be a practicable method of producing a chemiglyphic line-
engraving ; but the essential idea of this is probably due to M. Gaudin, instead
of myself.

“The thickness of the film of silver required for the protection of the base
metal I have found to be quite considerable ; and this, combined with the very
slight depth to which the silver can be etched, makes the problem of obtaining
an engraved plate by the method I propose, one of great delicacy. Unfortu-
nately, the requisite thickness of the film is nearly equal to the greatest depth
of bite that can be obtained ; and hence we may have a good Grove’s etching
on the film, yet the base metal only partially denuded; and then, if we at-

184 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

tempt to enter the lines into the base metal, the result will be extremely ir-
regular and partial. Again, if the film of silver is not quite sufficient in
thickness, the lights of the Daguerreotype will be attacked, and the shades
blurred by the spread of the lines. The problem depends, therefore, on get-
ting a good protecting film, and then a good biting through this film. If the
thickness of the film was not, unfortunately, so nearly equal to the depth to
which the silver can be etched, I think the making of an engraved plate by
chemical means would be comparatively easy.

.“ A copper plate should have the surface prepared very perfectly. It is
then to be electro-plated to the weight of one eighth of a grain to the square
inch; but this thickness is not yet well determined. The plate, after being
washed in distilled water and dried, is to be slightly buffed, and the Daguerre-
otype taken inthe usual manner. Professor Grove recommended chlorohydric
acid as the electrolyte for etching ; but, in acting on a plate of base metal merely
enfilmed with the silver, we evidently should select an electrolyte which will
not be liable to act on the base metal. Of the various electrolytes I tried, I
found chloride of sodium the best: this seems to free the generated chloride
of silver more readily than clorohydric acid, is without much action on the
copper base, and has the very great advantage of being free from poisonous
qualities or disagreeable exhalations.

“The object of the biting process, so far, has been only to remove the silver
from the parts where we want the copper to be bitten in deep lines; but this
process evidently can not be continued till the copper has been bitten suffi-
ciently deep, for it acts on the silver as well as the copper; hence, the first
biting should be continued only long enough to work through the silver film ;
here there is a liability of spoiling the work in the beginning, by overdoing
the first biting, which will infallibly remove the silver from the lights in some
places, and give the whole plate a blurred or mezzotinted appearance. I can
give no directions for the time of the biting through the film; practice and
dexterous manipulation, as in the Daguerreotype process, are the only helps
here. After the plate has been bitten through the film, it should be washed
by immersing in water, and dried over a current of heated air. If on exami-
nation, there appear no marked defects, the process of entering the lines into
the copper may be gone on with. For this purpose I have used perchloride
of iron, persulphate of iron, and also nitrate of silver. I have not determined
which of these is the best; but, so far, I have a preference for the perchloride
of iron. The perchloride may be added to water till it has a lemon-yellow
color. The plate is to be immersed in a horizontal position, with the face up
in the solvent, and a soft camel’s-hair pencil swept gently over it from time to
time. In the course of thirty minutes, or less, the action of the perchloride
will have thrown up the chloride of silver, so that the brush can sweep it
away, and the bright copper will appear in the bottoms of the lines. The
plate may then be washed and dried, and if, on inspection, it should not be
thought deep enough to hold the ink for printing, it may be returned to the
bath of perchloride for a short time. I have not yet obtained a plate which
has not been much corroded in the lights; and this corroding in the light has
caused me to discontinue the second biting, before the depths of the lines has

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 185

been sufficient to hold the full quantity of ink required to give a clear black
print. When nitrate of silver is used for the second biting, the tendency to
open the pores of the film is not so great as when the iron salts areused ; but
this solvent has a very great tendency to deposit the reduced silver in the fine
lines, and this even closes the pores of the film; but, for coarse lines, I have
thought that it made a cleaner plate than the iron salts. I have sought to
obtain a third biting, by filling the lines obtained by the second biting with
some non-conducting substance, and then heavily silvering or gilding the lights,
dissolving out the non-conducting substance from the lines, and again biting ;
but every experiment I have made in this direction has failed for the following
reasons :—the only salts of silver and gold which can be successfully used
for electro-deposition are alkaline; the alkali, acting on the oil, gum, resin,
wax, or other hydro-carbon which fills the line, dissolves it before the lights
are sufficiently coated. Again, when the non-conducting film in the lines is
very thin, it is ruptured by the affinity which the negative element of the
electrolyte has for the copper. I find that asphaltum is not very readily acted
on by the alkaline salts of the noble metals, but I have not yet succeeded in
working this substance into the lines.

“T took an alto by the electrotype process, from a plate, after the first biting,
and gave the alto a good coat of gold, and ground down the raised lines with
a soft piece of charcoal, so as to cut through the gilding and expose the cop-
per. The plate was then bitten with the perchloride of iron: all the fine lines,
as the hair-strokes of the letters and figures, were destroyed, but a good solid
cutting ofthe coarser parts was obtained. In putting on the silver, I judged
of the thickness and weight by making the current which reduced the silver
pass through a voltameter in the same circuit, and carefully noting the volume
of hydrogen evolved, and referring to the respective equivalents and specific
eravities. This is a rather laborious process, but it is probably the only one
by which small quantities of electro-deposited metal can be measured.

Some of the trial maps for the Coast Survey printed from Mr. Mathiot’s
plates are perfect in detail, yet deficient in vigor, which is the only thing re-
quired to make them engravings of the very first order. As it is, some of the
plates, executed in the short space of eighteen minutes, from drawings on
paper, are, with a slight retouching by the graver, sufficiently perfect for use;
thus producing an immense saving in time, labor, and expense. Mr. Mathiot
is still prosecuting his experiments under the direction of the Coast Survey
Office, and further interesting results may be expected.—Ediior.

Some fears haying been expressed by the editor of Humphrey's Photo-
graphic Journal in regard to this process, “that the action of the acid in
biting in the copper in the barred parts, would also proceed laterally as well
as deeply; and thereby breaking up the superficial coating, whether of silver
or gold, and producing rough and uneven lines,” Mr. Mathiot, in a reply, pub-
lished in the Journal, Nov. 15th, 1855, says: “These objections are indeed
formidable. I believe these difficulties have confronted every one who has
thought of actino-engraving, and have hitherto been considered as insur-

“mountable, in their very nature. They also attend the common etching pro-
cesses of the engravers; here, too, it is found that the fine lines become un-

186 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

dereut in an irregular manner, and blended together, and the broad lines are
~ gmooth on the bottom.

“ But all these difficulties were duly considered in the Coast Survey Office,
in the very beginning, and had there not appeared at least a prospect of over-
coming them, the announcement had never been made that we were en-
deavoring to apply actino-engraving to facilitate the production of our charts.
The difficulty has not, indeed, been wholly overcome; for then the whole
problem of actino-engraving were completed; yet it has been greatly reduced,
and what remains of it does not appear of such magnitude but that it may
be overlooked, at least in the production of the coarser kinds of engraving.

“ First of all, it has been found that the great irregularity, undercutting, and
spreading of the lines in the common etching process, are due to the peculiar
nature of the solvent (nitric acid) employed, and the irregular texture of the
metal; which irregularity causes one part to serve in an electrical relation to
another; thus thousands of points and lines of action are formed, other than
those of the design. Again, nitric acid is an electrolyte, just the thing to
concur with the irregular texture for the production of irregular action; and
the nitric acid, in acting on the metal, is decomposed into several substances,
which have various actions on the metal. Ifa clean line is once begun, why
should not the solvent act on it uniformly on all the parts? If it does not,
there are reasons for it, and those reasons I have given you above. I indeed
am aware that ‘to find the cause of a disease is not to find the cure,’ but still
it is to find where the cure is to be applied.

“Tn the Daguerreotype, the mercury is determined to those portions of the
plate where the light has acted, producing a drawing in mercury on a silver
ground. The chemical difference between mercury and silver, with respect
to nitric or hydrochloric acid, has been the fundamental idea in all the pre-
vious attempts to engrave the Daguerreotype; the mercury being noble to
silver, it was supposed that it would serve the part of the common etching
ground, to limit the action of the acid. But the chemical difference between
silver and mercury is not at all sufficient for this purpose. Silver forms but
an extremely feeble voltaic combination with mercury; and the two metals
behave very nearly alike with nitric or hydrochloric acid. I have now de-
termined, in the most indisputable manner, that the formation of the etching
is not at all owing to the mercury acting as a protecting film. Let a strong
Daguerreotype be made, and finished in the usual method, except the gilding ;
then let the design be rubbed out, and the plate well buffed and galvanized:
Now let the plate be connected with the battery for etching, after the manner
proposed by Professor Grove, and, lo! the design will appear by being etched.
Where now is the protecting film of mercury? Any mode of etching
founded on such an idea is but a chimera, and must necessarily fail.

“T have come to the conclusion that the Daguerrean image is molecular,
and not chemical, in its production and constitution. Waat do you think of
a picture all the way through the plate, and the plate wholly formed of pure
copper? I can easily produce such now. In the lights of the picture the
silver is cristallized, and the cristallization is proportional to the intensity
and duration of the light. The action of the light on the halogenized sur-

a

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 187

face, is either to produce an incipient crystallization of the silver, which is
afterward continued by the mercury, or else it in some way promotes the
susceptibility to being crystallized by the mercury. It is well known that
the action of mercury in small quantities on a metal is to crystallize it. In
some of the metals its action is so energetic that the mass is severed by the
new arrangement of the metal. That it is the crystallization which deter-
mines the action of the solvents to the design, will appear from the well-
known fact that crystallization resists the action of solvents, and also that
the plate is bitten all over; most in the deepest shades—least in the brightest
lights. If the mercury acted as a protecting film, the action would spread
under the lights and cut-lines, wider at the bottom than at the top, and leave
the lights smooth and flat, and terminating abruptly. But any person who
will take the trouble to etch a Daguerreotype, will soon perceive that the
edges of the lights are-rounded off, and the lines are wider at the top than in
the bottom. The crystallization in the Daguerreotype goes down deep into the
metal; it also extends itself under the shades, or laterally, from where the
mercury has deposited. Now, the consequence of this spreading of the crys-
tallization under the shades is, that the lines [whites?] of the etching are, in
the beginning, somewhat narrower than in the Daguerreotype or in the draw-
ing. Here is a provision against the spread of the lines, in deepening into
the copper.

“With the smoothness of the bottom of the wide lines I shall not trouble
myself yet awhile. The electrotype process must necessarily be employed
for forming the plates; by no other means can metal of absolutely uniform
texture be made. But the electrotype gives us the means of entering a plate
at any desirable part, and altering its contexture; and this is giving us the
means of making the solvent bite what is called a “grain” at any desirable
depth from the surface. Suppose, after the plate has been formed to the
thickness of an hundredth of an inch, it be taken from the electrotype
apparatus and dusted over with powder of silver, and then returned to the
apparatus and completed in thickness, would not the solvent, in biting down
from the face of such a plate be resisted by the particles of silver, and thus
form a very rugged surface ?”

NEW PROCESS FOR ENGRAVING ON ZINC.

M. Dumont, an engraver of Paris, describes, under the name of Zincography,
a process for electric engraving, which is promising. Upon a thick plate of
zine, planed and grained with a steel tool and fine sand, he draws any subject
with a kind of lithographic crayon; upon the design, when finished, he sprin-
kles a fine powder, mixed with resin, Burgundy pitch, and bitumen of Judea;
by heating the zinc plate he melts this powder, which is converted into a
varnish, and spreads over the parts of the surface which have been covered
with fat crayon, that is, on every thing which constitutes the design. To bite
‘in the plate, and obtain the design in relief, he plunges it, while in connection
with the positive pole of the pile, into a bath of sulphate of zinc, in face of
another plate connected with the negative pole; the current passes and cor-

188 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

rodes the zinc which is not covered by the ink, and thus the design is brought
out; from the plate thus engraved in relief} a gutta percha mold is taken, in
which copper is deposited to obtain the engraved plate, from which proofs
may be taken by the ordinary typographic press.

ORSERVATIONS ON THE MEANS OF INCREASING THE QUANTITY
OF HEAT DERIVED FROM COMBUSTION,

The following is an abstract of a paper presented to the American Associa-
tion, by Professor Henry, at the Providence meeting:—Rumford noticed the
fact that a mixture of clay with sea coal caused more heat to be evolved than
he was able to produce with coal alone. He found that when the sides and
back of a chimney are lined with fire-brick, they give out more heat than the
coal itselff Rumford also suggested that the bottom of the fire grate be
covered with balls of clay, in order that a greater radiation of heat may take
place. He gives, however, no account of experiments definitely made, or of
the cause of the phenomena he witnessed. In reading the account of his ex-
periments, his results appear at first sight paradoxical: but Rumford was an
eminent experimenter, and the facts he has stated in connection with various
branches of physical science are found to be supported as science advances.

After expounding Rumford’s plan, Professor Henry said the idea had oc-
curred to him to repeat the count’s experiments, or to make further researches
with the aid of such appliances as modern science furnishes. These investi-
gations had been prosecuted for a number of years. His method of operating
was as follows :—He took a thermo-electric apparatus, applied a tube at the
end of the instrument so as to cireumscribe the field of radiation, and placed
it near a coal fire. The idea was to see if fire could be made hotter. And it
was. ‘The result confirmed the assertions of Rumford. -A coal fire, however,
was difficult to manage; the coal was anthracite, and not bituminous: the
latter was probably employed by Rumford. The experiment was repeated
with ordinary flame—with the flame of hydrogen and that produced by the
combustion of alcohol, placed at such a distance that the needle of a galyanom-
eter stood at 15°. A platinum wire, coiled, was inserted in the flame, when
the radiation increased, and the galvanometer marked 27°. Subsequent ex-
periments were made with carbonate of lime, sulphate of lime, stone coal, fire
clay, ete. These substances were introduced into flame and the degree of
radiation marked. Different substances produced different effects; the greatest
effect being produced by carbonate of lime. Precise results were not ascer-
tained. Wecould not suppose that the absolute amount of heat was increased.
The most probable conjecture Professor Henry thought was, that the heat of
combination was converted into radiant heat. To test this he had placed a
platinum wire in the apex of a flame and introduced a slip of mica, one-fifth
of an inch in breadth, vertically beneath it. The wire immediately diminished
in intensity of light and of radiant heat, so that while the mica itself was
radiant with light and heat, it was evident that its introduction cooled the
flame above it, verifying the idea that the intensity of radiation was produced
at the expense of the heat of combination. So if fuel was to be employed in

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. - 189

the evaporation of water by combustion under a kettle, its effect would be
diminished by any substance intervening between the flame and the kettle,
and the flame ought to be made to strike directly on the kettle with consider-
able force. But a very different fire was required to warm aroom. In that
case, radiating substances might be employed to advantage.

ON THE DEGREES AND_ ZERO OF THE THERMOMETER.

The following communication was presented to the American Association
by Professor J. F. Holton:

The thermometer is not, as its name would indicate, a measure of heat. It
merely shows that one temperature is the same as another, or higher, or
lower, but it does not measure the difference between them. The thermom-
eter shows, for instance, the temperature that we name 40°, 50°, 60°, but it
does not follow that the difference between 40° and.50° is the same as that
between 50° and 60°. Indeed, it is not proved that these distances are com-
mensurable quantities at all, or that the one is either equal to the other,
greater, or less. It may be as impossible to assert such equality or inequality
as to say that a pound is equal to an hour, or greater, or less. To make this
clear let us propose to divide the difference between the boiling and freezing
point into two equal parts. We may attempt to fix the middle point by mix-
ing a pound of water at 212° with a pound at 32°; or we may take a pint
of each with a different result. If we substitute some other substance for
water we have every time a new result. If we abandon mixtures and resort
to expansions we succeed no better. Take for the most satisfactory of these
the expansion of the perfect gases. The rule is commonly stated that 448
volumes of gas at 0 Fahrenheit increase one volume for each degree. It
would follow that 480 volumes at 32° becomes 570° at 122°, and 660° at 212°.
In other words, 100 volumes at 32° become, by an increase of 90°, 118°75,
while 90° from 122 to 212 increase 100 volumes only to 115°79. Thus causes
which we assume to be equal produce unequal effects. But the assumed law
of expansion of gases may itself be called in question. For if 480 volumes at
32° lose one volume with each degree of temperature, at 447° they will be re-
duced to a single volume, and at 448° annihilated. But if we admit the law
for temperature above 32°, and would so modify it that each increase of 1° of
temperature shall convert 100,000 volumes into 100,208, then must the divi-
sions on the scales, both of the air thermometer and also of the mercurial, be
made logarithmic and progressively larger as the temperature increases. This
would add to the difficulty of graduation without any compensating advan-
tage. If equality can be predicated of increments of heat it must presuppose
an ascertainable absolute zero, just as equal gradations on a hygrometer, were
there such an instrument, would be based on an absolute dryness of a gas.
I will not speculate on the possibility of ever measuring the absolute heat in
any temperature. I have designed only to show that all the points on all our
thermometric scales are arbitrary, like those of Wedgewood’s pyrometer, and
all that we can do is to select such as can be best ascertained and repeated in
successive instruments. The safest and most ready of these is by using the

190 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

difference of expansion between mercury and glass. A boiling point and a
freezing point being duly established, the space between them should be
divided into equal parts, and the points between them constitute permanent
landmarks for the indication, not the measure, of temperature.

Two points are still open to discussion: the size of the degrees, and the
zero. ‘The size of the degrees should not be larger than the least now in use.
It would be better for the purpose of graduation that the number between
boiling and freezing were 256, or some otMr power of 2; but the mechanical
difficulty and the necessity for exactness are not so great as to demand a
change from 180, which makes them so small that we never divide them, ex-
cept in mean temperatures. Those of the Centigrade, and still more those of
Reaumer, are seriously objectionable, as observations ought generally to be
recorded in fractions. As to the zero, it should not be higher than the lowest
in use, as even that requires negative signs in observations on the air in high
latitudes. It is a pity that a zero were not taken near the freezing point of
mercury, or even below the supposed temperature of the planetary space; but
the number of observers in high latitudes is too few to render a change ad-
visable for their convenience. But a zero at the freezing point is a serious
evil, involving so much labor in placing signs of positive and negative, and so
much error in the use of them as justly to demand a new scale were there
none better.

But has the Centigrade scale no advantage over that of Fahrenheit in virtue
of its centesimal division? I answer, none whatever—absolutely none,
Decimal sub-divisions are a great convenience, and it is to be hoped that the
first examples of each—the American coin and the French weights and
measures—may soon become universal but such convenience is not promoted
by the Centigrade scale, which has no subdivisions. For every day thousands
multiply and divide by 12, because 12 makes a dozen, 12 lines make an inch,
12 ounces a pound, and 12 pence a shilling; no one ever yet multiplied by 32,
because it is the freezing point, or divided by 212, because that is the boiling
point. Let us then adhere to our present scale so long as it shall be the best
extant, and not, by grasping at the shadowy advantages of a centesimal di-
vision, lose the substantial good of small degrees and a zero below the ordinary
range of atmospheric temperature.

ON THE FROZEN WELLS OF_OWEGO, N. Y.

At the last meeting of the American Association, Professor Brocklesby read
accounts of frozen wells in Tioga County, New York, one of which, situated
in a table-land, 30 feet above the level of the Susquehanna, has ice in it the
year round. The well has been dug 21 years; depth from surface to the ice
61 feet. Ice could not be broken by a heavy weight attached to a rope;
thermometer descended 38° in 16 minutes; men can not endure to work
more than two hours in the well, and a candle let down shows a deflection of
the flame in one direction, proving the existence of a current of air. A large
piece of ice was drawn up July 25, 1837. No other wells are within 60 or
80 rods, and none present similar phenomena. A gentleman in Owego haz

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 191

since discovered two wells in that village, 60 feet deep, which freeze up.
They are situated a short distance from the Susquehanna, and below its bed.

In the discussion which followed, Professor Guyot said he had observed on
the Jura a number of ice caves. One was 60 feet deep. At the opening,
columns of ice had formed, falling to the bottom. His explanation was, that
in places nearest of access to the snows in winter, we are sure to find ice in
summer, if the quantity of snow was large enough. In the case of Mr.
Brocklesby’s well, the place admits large quantities of snow, which melts, but
not readily, because it is not accessible to the sun. It therefore goes through
tire process which the glaciers of the Alps undergo. The snow freezes again
during the night, after being partly melted; and we have the formation of the
glacier without movement. It is exactly the same in this as in the Alps.

Professor W. B. Rogers cited similar occurrences in a range of mountains.
composed of a porous sand rock in Southern Virginia. But he could not see
that any accumulation of snow at the bottom of a well should generate ice
about its sides. He could, however, well imagine this condition of things,
viz: That if the atmosphere became very much chilled, the well becomes the
recipient of the coldest air in the neighborhood, on account of its greater
specific gravity. The temperature of the well in such case becomes perfectly
abnormal, and because of the bad conducting power of its materials retains
the cold.. This was his explanation.

Professor Denison Olmstead held that very cold air exists in the interior of the
earth, which may find a ventilating shaft in the well. In ice houses wastage
is prevented by allowing a current of air to pass freely, rather than to permit
the ice to be closely housed. Liquefaction after congelation is a very slow
process.

Professor Agassiz questioned whether any very low temperature exists in ice
resting upon other bodies. When attempting to ascertain the temperature
of the Glaciers, by running a thermometer ten feet below the surface, he had
failed to find any thing but a fraction of a degree below 32°. A self-register-
ing thermometer, sunk 20 feet below the glacial surface, remained there all
winter, and indicated no such temperature as we would be ready to admit as
possible under influences so intensely cold.

Professor Henry said that during the past winter he had been struck with the
fact that pieces of ice wrapped in a cloth were frozen to it, although not one
out of the several thermometers would go down to 32°. It appeared from
this, as from the old observation of La Place, who found that the ice surround-
ing the worm through which they were transmitting gases was soon frozen to
the worm, that melting ice produced a certain degree of colds

Professor Guyot stated that the ice caves which he had referred to were
3,000 feet above the level of the sea, where the quantity of falling snow was
very great.

Professor Brocklesby could not see the analogy between an ice cave and a
frozen well. The temperature of deep wells generally being about the mean
temperature of the place; the temperature of wells in Owego would not vary
much from 46° or 47°. He did not think that the phenomenon had been
explained.

192 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Dr. Gould alluded to the ordinary method of freezing ice together by mere
juxtaposition. It was his fortune to have a friend who was particularly fond
on warm days of refreshing himself with a very highly iced beverage in
which the ice was present in very small pieces compounded in various ways,
and sometimes eaten with a spoon, though that was not the ordinary method.
His experience was that pieces of ice frequently adhered to the spoon and
that too although the mixture was not one of pure water but sometimes an
alcoholic one.

Mr. Hill suggested that the phenomenon alluded to by Professor Henry and
Dr. Gould was due to crystallization. With regard to ice going down below
the freezing point he had the testimony of scientific witnesses to the fact that
ice gathered in Tennessee would not keep so long as that gathered in New
Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Professor Henry said that the fact presented by Dr. Gould was also referred
to him by the same gentleman, who was also a friend of his. He repeated the
experiment. [Laughter.] To produce a perfect experiment it was necessary
that all the conditions should be observed. [Renewed Laughter.] He must
therefore give them: Sugar and wine and water were mingled with ice, but
instead of depending upon the taste he introduced a thermometer, and
observed a reduction. With strong alcohol he obtained a still greater reduc-
tion, showing that alcohol has so great an affinity for water that it melts the
ice—that this is a freezing mixture.

Professor Agassiz explained the different kinds of ice. First was that pro-
duced by the freezing of the surface of the water and successive layers of water
beneath it, a laminated schistose mass. Into this, bubbles from the bottom
of the pond were frequently frozen, and when it was subjected to the action
of the sun the bubbles became heated, melted the ice around them and ren-
dered it of no marketable value. It would therefore be worth while for ice
gatherers to cover their ponds with cloths, or something which would prevent
these bubbles from rising. Glacier ice was formed like pudding-stone; com-
pact masses being cemented together so that when you exposed a large lump
of glacier ice to the heat of the sun it would crumble in pieces. It was like
the decomposition of conglomerate; we had ice-sand. Icebergs could be
determined to be derived from glaciers and not to be the frozen surface of the
ocean by their conglomerate. composition. Pebbles in glaciers becoming
heated melted the ice beneath them and quarried their way down to where
the heat of the sun could not reach them. The pot holes formed in this way
Were soon covered with a thin film of ice, but it was only during the pro-
tracted cold of winter that they were frozen through.

RESISTANCE OF AIR TO THE FLIGHT OF PROJECTILES.

The subject of projectiles for the purposes of war naturally excites, at this.
moment, peculiar interest, and has led to inquiries as to the nature of the re-
sistance of the air as the medium through which they move. Air is highly
elastic, and, at the level of the ocean, presses uniformly with the force of about
15 lbs, on the square inch of surface. It has been ascertained that air, under

‘

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 193

this natural pressure, will rush to fill a vacuum with a velocity of from 1200 to
1400 feet in a second. It has been, accordingly, conceived that when a solid
substance, such as a cannon-ball or rocket, is moving through the atmosphere
with a greater velocity than 1400 feet in a second, a vacuum will be produced
in its rear as it passes forward. Sir Howard Douglas and other eminent au-
thorities on gunnery, seem to have adopted this theory; but we perceive that
it is questioned and denied by Colonel Parlby, of the Bengal Artillery, who
considers it a popular error to suppose that there is any vacuum left behind a
solid projectile. It is well known that whenever there is a vacuum produced
in the air by thunder, by the violent detonation of any powerful chemical com-
pound, or from any other cause, sound more or less loud is produced by the
particles of air collapsing upon each other. If there were, therefore, any vacu-
um created behind a projectile in its flight, it would necessarily be accompanied,
during the whole of its passage through the air, with a noise resembling thun-
der, so long as its velocity continued to exceed 1400 feet inasecond. While a
cannon-ball or other projectile remains stationary, the atmosphere will press
equally upon every part of the surface; but supposing it to move at the rate of
700 feet in a second, or with half the velocity with which air is supposed to
rush into a vacuum, then the air will be a resisting medium in front, and an
equivalent assisting medium in the rear. Colonel Parlby conceives that, when
the velocity reaches 1400 feet, as the air is highly elastic, it rushes round the
ball with a whirlpool rapidity; and that, under this high pressure in front, the
velocity with which the particles of air move to the rear of the ball will be
regulated by that pressure, and not by the uniform velocity of 1400 feet in
a second. Coupling the absence of any succeeding loud noise with the above
theory, Colonel Parlby comes to the scientific conclusion that there can not be
any vacuum left behind a projectile at a velocity at which we can propel it.

EFFECTS OF GUNPOWDER EXPLOSIONS.

At the American Association, Prof. Olmstead read a paper on the Wil-
mington Gunpowder Explosion of May 31st, 1854. On that day, as three
wagons from Dupont’s Mills were passing through Wilmington, Del., each
with 150 barrels of Gunpowder, about 12,000 pounds, they exploded, demol-
ishing buildings and destroying life. Such wagons were accustomed to pass
that route daily for fifty years. The regulations prescribed had fallen into
disuse. They had left the mill at distances of half an hour, but had got within
twenty-five feet of each other. Wishing to trace out analogies between this
explosion and some phenomena of tornadoes, Professor Olmstead wrote to
Bishop Lee, whose house was destroyed, and received in answer from his son
some interesting facts. The cause of the explosion does not appear, but it is
known that two of the men were smoking by the side of their teams. Some of
the phenomena were surprising. A splinter from a Venetian blind was blown
through an inch board, making as smooth a hole as if pointed with steel. Metals
were often displaced. The shoes were torn off the horses’ feet, castors from fur-
niture, and hinges from doors, and a wagon-tire was torn off and straightened,
and one piece left on a hill a quarter of a mile off. "Windows were destroyed

7]

194 . ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

-for the distance of more than a mile. Those near the spot were burst in, those

further off had the nearest windows burst in, the others out; those further off
were all burst out. A piano open near the spot was little injured; one closed,
further off, was burst open and nearly ruined. The effect on the animal
system was to produce a sense of suffocation at first, and afterward soreness
of the throat, or even hemoptysis. Many were carried some feet and dropped
erect. A man on horseback was lifted out of the saddle and dropped into it
again. But the most wondrous effect was exhibited by three depressions
where the wagons had stood. The one under the middle wagon was ten feet
by five, and three feet deep. It appeared that the earth (Macadamized) had
not been removed, but condensed. Professor Olmstead knew of no instance of
greater power, even in the great explosion of Brescia, where two millions of
pounds of powder exploded, that equaled this. Iron water pipes were broken
four or five feet under ground. In the New Haven tornado of 1839, a piece
of bureau was carried half a mile and found sticking into a barn, having pene-
trated through a thick plank. Feathers have been stripped off of fowls, and a
woman washing found herself and her tub, with its water, in the cellar, while
some ofthe clothes she was washing were found beyond West Rock, a distance
of two miles. Fowls haye been known to be stripped of their feathers in such
tornadoes.

Professor Mahan said that sappers and miners had a rule that the lateral
force of an explosion of a mine would destroy the works at three or four times
the distance to the surface, and the downward force would do the same to
three quarters the distance of the surface.

Professor Henry saifl, that the explanation of the blowing off of the horses’
“shoes he found in simple zzertia. The shoes were not blown away from the
dead horse, but the horses were blown off the shoes; the gravity of the shoe
being seven, while the specific gravity of the whole horse is about one.

Mr. William C. Redfield saw no satisfactory evidence of a vacuum. Causes
are often mistaken, but he had never found any clear evidence of a vacuum,
though too much had been attributed to such a cause.

Professor Brainard thought many phenomena resembled those of electricity,
as stripping doors of their hinges and birds of their feathers.

Professor Loomis thought the indentation in the ground was analogous
to the process for submarine explosions, only as the resistance of water is
greater than air the force is proportionally greater. As to ffathers, the loss of
them has been attributed to vacuum, but a fowl suddenly exposed to vacuum
loses no feathers. Professor Loomis put a live fowl into a gun of two-inch
bore, with a sixth of a charge of powder, and aimed at zenith. It came down
denuded of feathers, and mangled by using more powder than was necessary.

Professor Johnson thought there was an analogy between the indentation
of gunpowder here and that often exhibited by more violent fulminates. Two
ounces of fulminating mercury will perforate an inch plank when there is
nothing to oppose it in any direction.

Professor Rogers thought that there never could be any condensation of
air by explosion without a subsequent rarefaction, and that vacuum eyed a
necessary part of the phenomena of tornadoes.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 195

Judge Osborn gave some curious circumstances about sand-blasting. The
hole is not to be entirely filled, and the sand should be dry. Dry chaff may
be substituted for sand, and would be better than wet sand. At an explosion
he noticed that those who were furthest from the explosion were thrown
furthest and least injured. The nearer ones were moved little, but denuded
and mangled.

ON MECHANICAL NOTATION,

The following paper on the mechanical notation to be used in describing
machinery, was read before the British Association, Glasgow Meeting, by Mr.
Babbage. The method proposed is one of great importance to all engaged in
the construction and description of machinery, since without the aid of
mechanical notation it would be beyond the power of the human mind to
master and retain all the details of complicated machinery.

“To understand the construction of a machine, we must know the size and
form of all its parts—the time of action of each part—and the action of one
part on another throughout the machine. The drawings give the form and
shape, but they give the action of the parts on each other very imperfectly,
and nothing at all of the time of action. The notation supplies the deficiency,
and gives at a glance the required information. Having made the drawings
of a machine, we must assign letters to the different parts. Hitherto, I
believe, this has been left to chance; and each one has taken the letters of
the alphabet, and used them with little or no system. With respect to letter-
ing, the first rules are, that all framework shall be represented by upright
letters. Movable pieces shall be represented’ by slanting letters. Hach
piece has one or more working points—each of the working points must
have its own small letter—the working points of framework having small
printed letters, and the working points of the movable pieces having small
written letters. We have the machinery divided into framing, indicated by
large upright letters; movable pieces by large slanting letters; working
points of framing indicated by small printed letters; working points of moya-
ble pieces indicated by small written letters. In letter drawings the axes are
to be lettered first. Three alphabets may be used—the Roman, Etruscan,
and written. These should be selected as much as possible so that no two
axes which have arms or parts crossing each other shall have letters of the
same alphabet. Having lettered the axes, all the parts on them, whether
loose or absolutely fixed to them, must be lettered with the same alphabet,
care being taken that on each axis the parts most remote from the eye shall
have letters earlier in the alphabet than those parts which are nearer. It is
not necessary that the letters should follow each other continuously, as in the
alphabet ;—for instance, D, L, T. may represent three cog-wheels on the same
axis; D must be the most remote, L the next, and T the nearest. The rule is,
that ‘on any axis, a part which is more remote from the eye than another,
must invariably have a letter which occurs earlier in the alphabet.’ By this
system very considerable information is conveyed by the lettering on a draw-
ing; but still more to distinguish parts and pieces, an index on the left hand,

196 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

upper corner, is given to each large letter; this is called the ‘index of iden-
tity,’ and all parts which are absolutely fixed to each other must have the
same index of identity; no two parts which touch, or interfere with, or cross
each other, on the drawings, must have the same index of identity. This
may generally be done without taking higher numbers than 9. All pieces
which are loose round an axis must have a letter of the same character,
Roman, Etruscan, or writing; but a different index of identity will at once
inform us that itis a separate piece, and not fixed on the axis. I shall now
endeavor to explain how the transmission and action of one piece on another
is shown, beginning from the source of motion. Each part is written down
with its working points; those of its points which are acted on are on the
left-hand side; those points where it acts on other pieces are on the right
hand; if there are several, a bracket connects the small letters with the large.
The pieces being arranged, arrow-headed lines join each acting or driving
point of one piece with the point of another piece, which it drives or acts on.
It is usually necessary to make two or three additions when a machine is
complicated, before all the parts can be arranged with simplicity; but, when
done, ‘the trains,’ as they are called, indicate with the utmost precision the
transmission of force or motion through the whole machinery, from the first
motive power to the final result. It is, however, one of the principles of the
notation to give at one view the greatest possible amount of information, so
long as no confusion is made; and it has been found that without in any way
interfering with the simplicity of ‘the trains,’ a great deal more information
may be conveyed. For instance, while looking at ‘the trains,’ it is often con-
venient or necessary to know something of the direction of the piece under
consideration, and, by the use of a few signs placed under the large letters,
we can convey nearly all that is wanted in this respect. Again, though the.
drawings of a machine are specially intended to give the size and shape of
each piece, yet by the use of some signs of form which are placed over the
letters, the shape of each piece may be indicated. It is found that these signs
do not confuse the trains; but on the contrary, extend their use by making
the information they convey more condensed, and more easily accessible. I
now pass to ‘the cycles’ as they are termed, or to that part of the notation
which relates to the time of action of the different parts of a machine. ‘The
cycles’ give the action of every part during the performance of one complete
operation of the machine, whatever that may be. Each piece has a column
of its own, and the points by which it is acted on are placed on its left hand,
and the points by which it acts on other parts are placed on its right; and
each working point has also its own column. The whole length of the
column indicates the time occupied in preparing one operation, and we divide
that time into divisions most suited to the particular machine. During each
division of time that a piece is in motion, an arrow up and down its column
indicates the fact; and during the time of action of each working point, an
arrow in its column shows the duration of its action. The times thus shown
are, of course, only relative and not absolute time; but it would be easy to
show both, by making the divisions of the column correspond with the num-
ber of seconds or minutes during which the machine performs one operation.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 197

The arrows which point upward indicate circular motion in the direction
screw in, and the arrows which point downward, screw out; where the
motion is linear, the downward arrow indicates motion from right to left.”

CHAUVENET’S GREAT CIRCLE PROTRACTOR.

One of the most valuable nautical instruments recently invented is the
“Great Circle Protractor,” of Professor Chauvenet, of the United States Naval
Academy. It consists of a circular chart of the meridians and parallels of lat-
itude of the globe, in a form familiar to all navigators; on which is centered a
thin transparent revolving-chart, representing to the eye the great circles
which pass through any given points on the lower chart. It gives by inspec-
tion, without the aid of scales, compasses, or other instruments, the great circle
or shortest route from place to place—the distance as well as the course being
read off from the Chart or Protractor; also the latitude and longitude of all
intermediate places. In sailing with head winds, the navigator can see at a
glance which is the best track to sail upon. The chart itself contains all
necessary directions, and is quite portable, being only 18 inches square. It
gives the azimuth and amplitude of the sun or a star with all necessary pre-
cision, and a sufficient approximation to the time and latitude to serve asa
check to the ordinary calculations. To get the latitude from a meridian alti-
tude of the sun, the navigator has only to “set the point W. on the declina-
tion of the sun, take the parallel of distance on the transparent chart, which
corresponds to the altitude of the sun, counting from the line of courses toward
W., follow this parallel to the edge of the jized chart, and read off the latitude
of the ship.” It is true that no saving of time is gained by this particular
process, but it is useful as a check to the usual calculations. Having the time
from noon by the chronometer or otherwise, and the sun’s altitude, a simple
inspection of the chart shows the latitude. The time at the ship is also found
by inspection from the altitude.

NEW SURVEYING INSTRUMENT.

An apparatus for delineating sections of surveys for rail-roads, canals, ete.,
and for computing the solid contents of cuttings and fillings, was exhibited by
M. Collin & Wagner, at the Paris Exhibition. It consisted of a standard
three feet high, supported on a carriage having three wheels. From this
standard there was suspended a pendulum, the rod of which extended beyond
the suspension-point and there actuated a series of levers as it vibrated.
When it was desired to delineate a section of a rail-road survey, it was drawn
on the ground, on the proper line, and of course the undulations gave a pro-
portionate amount of vibration to the pendulum, which again actuated the
series of peculiarly combined levers mentioned. One of them operated a pen-
cil, and traced the undulating line of the road on a piece of prepared paper,
which was wound off ona cylinder. The other two moved counters constructed
on the principle of a calculating machine, which showed the actual amount
of solid contents to be excavated, from elevations, and the fillings-up to be
‘made in depressions of the road to a specific level.

198 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

BAROMETRIC ANOMALIES ABOUT THE ANDES.

Lieutenant Maury, in a communication to Silliman’s Journal, gives the fol-
lowing account of some very curious barometric anomalies observed by
Lieutenant Hernden in the vicinity of the Andes of South America. This
officer, who explored the Valley of the Amazon, and determined the heights
of various places above the level of the sea, both by barometric pressure and
by the boiling-point of water, states that at the eastern base of the Andes he
found the pressure of the atmosphere, as measured by the temperature of boil-
ing water, to be nearly as great as it is usual at the sea level; and after
having descended the river for nearly a thousand miles below this place of
great pressure, he found that, judging by the boiling-point of water, he had
ascended nearly 1,500 feet. The explanation offered by Lieutenant Maury of
this phenomenon is as follows: The Andes extend from 3 to 5 miles up into
the atmosphere. The trade winds blow almost perpendicularly against them,
of course these winds are obstructed by an obstacle which extends as far up,
or nearly as far up, as they themselves do; and being thus obstructed in their
course, would produce a banking up of air against their slopes, as there is of
water against a rock or other impediment over which the current of a rapid
river has to force its way. In such case there would be a ridge or pile of
water above the obstruction, and a depression or hollow in the water both
above and below this ridge. The same effect is doubtless produced in the at-
mosphere. Admitting this to be true, we derive a practical rule that the
height of a chain of mountains, determined by barometric pressure, depends
upon the way the wind blows.

NEW PLANETARIUM.

Mr. J. W. Hatch of Utica has nearly ready a Planetarium, the largest ever
constructed in the United States. In this model the planets are made to re-
volve in vertical orbits. These are projected on a screen or medium, behind
which all the machinery is concealed, so that there appears no visible sustain-
ing power between the planets and the sun. The whole is arranged with
folding-curtains, by which the celestial scenery can be brought on with
theatrical effect. The eclipses of the satellites take place as they come into
that part of their orbits relative to the sun to produce those results. The
great comet of 1680 is represented traversing an elliptic orbit througha circuit
of 50 feet.

NEW HYGROMETRIC REGULATOR.

A hygrometric regulator exhibited at the Fair of the American Institute by
Dr. Joel H. Ross, is designed to equalize the condition of the air with regard
to moisture, irrespective of temperature. Dr. Ross’s plan is especially designed
for buildings warmed by steam-pipes. He attaches a cock to blow a stream
of vapor into the room, and makes the cock self-adjusting by the aid of a
weight and a long linen string. The weight continually strives to open the
cock, while the string restrains it; but as the linen fibers are contracted by

—

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 199

every accession of moisture and lengthened as the air becomes too dry, it fol-
lows that the cock is alternately opened and closed, according as the air in the
building requires more or less moisture.

ACCURACY OF THE CHINESE AS OBSERVERS.

At a recent meeting of the Chinese Asiatic Society, Dr. MacGowan remarked
that the subject of Snow Crystals, which engaged considerable attention last
winter in England, had come under the notice of Chinese observers ; that from
a remote period there has been an axiomatic expression met with in their
conversation and books, to the effect that ‘‘ snow-flakes are hexagonal,” which,
like their knowledge of the acarus in the cuticle of persons affected with itch
(figured and described by their medical writers long before Western patholo-
gists admitted the existence of that parasite), shows, among many similar
cases, that the Chinese are accurate observers of nature.

.

ON THE STRENGTH OF BUILDING MATERIALS.

Atthe Providence meeting of the American Association Professor Henry read
a paper on the modes of testing building materials, and an account of the mar-
bles used at Washington. He had been appointed on a committee to test the
materials offered for the extension of the Capitol at Washington. The com-
mittee had to take into consideration many minute sources of disintegration,
such as that every flash of lightning produced an appreciable amount of nitric
acid, which diffused in rain-water acted on the carbonate of lime and the ac-
tion of dust carried by the wind against the building. The committee sub-
jected specimens to actual freezing, and after several experiments a good
method was obtained. It was found that in ten thousand years one inch
would be worn from the blocks by the action of frost. Blocks of one and a
half inch cube were subjected to pressure, and thin plates of lead, as had been
the case in former experiments, being introduced to equalize any inequalities
which might occur in the surfaces. But upon experiment it was found that
while one of these cubes would sustain 60,000 pounds without the lead plates
it would sustain only 30,000 with them. They had therefore to invent a ma-
chine to cut the sides of the block perfectly parallel, when it was found that
the marble which was chosen for the Capitol, from a quarry in Lee, Massa-
chusetts, would sustain about 25,000 pounds to thesquareinch. The manner
of its breaking was peculiar. With the lead plates interposed, the sides,
which were free, first gave way, leaving the pressure on two cones whose
bases joined the plates, and whose apexes met each other, and that they then
yielded with comparative ease. This marble absorbed water by capillary at-
traction, and in common with other marbles was permeable to gases. Soon
after the workmen commenced placing it in the walls it exhibited a brownish
discoloration, although no trace of it appeared while the blocks remained in
the stone-cutter’s yard. A variety of experiments were made with a view to
ascertain the cause of this phenomena, and it was finally concluded to be due
to the previous absorption by the marble of water holding in solution organic

200 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

matter, together with the absorption of another portion of water from the mor-
tar. To illustrate the process, he supposed a fine capillary tube with its lower
end immersed in water, whose internal diameter was sufficiently small to al-
low the liquid to rise to the top to be exposed to the atmosphere. Evapora-
tion would take place at the upper surface of the column, and new portions
of water would be drawn up to supply the loss, and if this process were con-
tinued any material which might be contained in the water would be found
deposited at the top of the tube, the point of evaporation. If however, the
lower portion of the tube were not furnished with a supply of water, the
evaporation at the top would not take place, and the deposition of foreign
matter would not be exhibited, even though the tube itself were filled with
water impregnated with impurities. The pores of the marble, so long as the
blocks remained in the yard, were in this last condition, but when the same
blocks were placed in the wall of the building, the water absorbed from the
mortar at the interior surface gave the supply of liquid necessary to carry the
coloring materials to the exterior surface, and deposit it there at the mouths
of the pores. The cause of the phenomenon being known, a remedy was
readily suggested ; the interior surface of the stone was coated with asphaltum,
rendering it impervious to the moisture of the mortar, and the discoloration
was gradually disappearing. In a series of expériments made some ten years
ago he had shown that the attraction of the particles for each other of a sub-
stance in a liquid form was as great as that of the same substance in a solid
form. Consequently, the distinction between liquidity and solidity did not
consist in a difference in the attractive power occasioned directly by the re-
pulsion of heat; but it depended upon the perfect mobility of the atoms, or a
lateral cohesion. He might explain this by assuming an incipient crystalliza-
tion of atoms into molecules, and consider the first effect of heat as that of
breaking down these crystals and permitting each atom to move freely around
every other. ,When this crystalline arrangement was perfect, and no lateral
motion was allowed in the atoms, the body might be denominated perfectly
rigid. We had approximately an example of this in cast steel, in which no
slipping took place of the parts on each other, or no material elongation of the
mass; and when a rupture was produced by a tensile force, a rod of this ma-
terial was broken with a transverse fracture of the same size as that of the
original section of the bar. In this case every atom was separated at once
from the other, and the breaking weight might be considered as a measure of
the attraction of cohesion of the atoms of the metal. The effect, however, was
quite different when we attempted to pull apart a rod of lead. The atoms or
molecules slipped upon each other. The rod was increased in length and dimin-
ished in thickness until a separation was produced. Instead of lead we might
use still softer materials, such as wax and putty, until we arrived at a substance
in aliquid form. This would stand at the extremity of the scale, and between
extreme rigidity.on the one hand and extreme liquidity on the other, we might
find a series of substances gradually shading from one extremity to another.
According to the views he had presented, the difference in tenacity of steel
and lead did not consist in the attractive cohesion of the atoms, but in their
capability of slipping upon each other. From this view it followed that the

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 201

form of the material ought to have some effect upon its tenacity, and also that
the strength of the article depended in some degree upon the process to which
it had been subjected. He had, for instance, found that softer substances in
which the outer atoms had freedom of motion, while the inner ones by the
pressure of those exterior were more confined, broke unequally, the inner
fibers, if he might so call the rows of atoms, gave way first and entirely separ-
ated, while the exterior fibers showed but little indications of a change of that
kind. Ifa cylindrical rod of lead, three fourths of an inch in diameter, were
turned down in a lathe in one part to about half an inch, and then gradually
broken by a force exerted in the direction of its length, it would exhibit a
cylindrical hollow along its axis of halfan inch in length, and at least a tenth
of an inch in diameter. With substances of greater rigidity this effect was less
apparent. It existed, however, even in iron, and the interior fibers of a rod
of this metal might”be entirely separated, while the outer surface presented
no appearance of change. From this it wouldappear that metals should never
be elongated by mere stretching, but in all cases by the process of wire-drawing
orrolling. A wire or bar must always be weakened by a force which per-
manenitly increases its length without at the same time compressing it. An-
other effect of the lateral motion of the atoms of a soft heavy body when acted
upon by a percussive force with a hammer of small dimensions in comparison
with the mass of metal, was that the interior portion of the mass acted as an
anyil upon which the exterior portion was expanded so as to make it separate
from the middle portions. Professor Henry exhibited a portion of bar origin-
ally four feet long, which had been hammered in that way so as to produce a
perforation through the whole length of its axis, rendering it a tube. This
fact appeared to him to be of great importance in a practical point of view, as
it might be connected with many of the lamentable accidents which had oc-
curred in the breaking of the axles of locomotive engines. These ought in all
cases to be formed by rolling, and not with the hammer.

ON THE PECULIARITIES ‘OF CERTAIN LOCALITES IN CITIES.

Most persons think that the reason why the west end of London is more
fashionable than the east is nothing more than the topographical figuration of
the capital. But the Academy of Sciences at Paris, at a recent session, pro-
nounced this opinion to be a delusion. In the first place, it appears that it is
not only at London, but at Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Turin, St. Petersburg, and
almost every other capital in Europe—at Liege, Caen, Montpellier, Toulouse,
and several other large towns—wherever, in fact, there are not great local
obstacles—the tendency of the wealthier inhabitants to group themselves to
the west is almost as strongly marked as in the “Great Metropolis.” In the
second place, at Pompeii and other ancient towns the same thing may be
noticed ; and, in the third place, where the local figuration of the town neces-
sitates an increase in a different direction, the moment the obstacle ceases
houses spread toward the west. This last fact may, it is stated, be particu-
larly observed at Rome, and, to a certain extent, at Edinburg. When, then,
all cities and towns have their best districts in the west, it is pretty clear that

9*

202 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

the cause of it must be some general law entirely distinct from local situation.
What is that law? ‘It arises from the atmospheric pressure,” answers the
Academy of Sciences. ‘ When,” it continues, ‘the barometric column rises,
smoke and pernicious emanations rapidly evaporate in space. In the con-
trary case we see that smoke and pernicious vapors remain in apartments and
on the surface of the soil. Now, every one knows, that of all winds, that
which causes the greatest ascension of the baronfetric column is that of the
east, and that that which lowers it most is the west. When the latter blows,
it has the inconvenience of carrying with it to the eastern parts of a town all
the deleterious gases which it meets in its passage over the western parts. It
results from that that the inhabitants of the eastern part of a town have to
support not only their own smoke and miasma, but those of the western part
of the town, brought to them by the western winds. When, on the con-
trary, the east wind blows, it purifies the air by causing to ascend the per-
nicious emanations which it can not drive to the west. Consequently, the in-
habitants of the west receive pure air from whatever part of the horizon it
may arrive; and it may be added that, as the west winds are those which
most frequently prevail, they are the first to receive the air pure, and as it
arrives from the country.” After thus explaining why the western parts are
the best, the Academy makes these recommendations:—1. That persons who
have the liberty of choice, and especially those of delicate health, should
reside in the western parts of towns. 2. That all establishments from which
emanate pernicious vapors and gases should be placed in the east. 3. That
in building a house in a town, and even in the country, the kitchens and other
dependencies from which pernicious emanations may arise should be placed
to the east. The members of the Academy who have announced the preced-
ing discovery, and made the preceding recommendations, are Messrs. Pelouze,
Pouillet, Boussingault, and Elie de Beaumont—all of them of European
reputation as savants.

.

ON CERTAIN CURIOUS MOTIONS OBSERVABLE ON THE SURFACES
OF WINE AND OTHER ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS.

The following is an abstract of a paper on the above subject read at the
last meeting of the British Association by Mr. J. Thomson:—The phenomena
of capillary attraction in liquids are accounted for, according to the generally
received theory of Dr. Young, by the existence of forces equivalent to a ten-
sion of the surface of the liquid, uniform in all directions, and independent
of the form of the surface. The tensile force is not the same in different
liquids. Thus it is found to be much less in alcohol than in water. This fact
affords an explanation of several very curious motions observable, under
various circumstances, at the surfaces of alcoholic liquors. One part of these
phenomena is, that if, in the middle of the surface of a glass of water, a small
quantity of alcohol, or strong spirituous liquor, be gently introduced, a rapid
rushing of the surface is found to occtir outward from the place where the
spirit is introduced. It is made more apparent if fine powder be dusted on
the surface of the water. Another part of the phenomena is, that if the sides

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 203

of the vessel be wet with water above the general level surface of the water,
and if the spirit be introduced in sufficient quantity in the middle of the vessel,
or if it be introduced near the side, the fluid is even scen to ascend the inside
of the glass, until it accumulates in some places to such an extent that its
weight preponderates, and it falls down again. The manner in which Mr.
Thomson explains these two parts of the phenomena is, that the more watery
portions of the entire surface, having more tension than those which are more
alcoholic, drag the latter briskly away, sometimes even so as to form a hori-
zontal ring of liquid high up round the interior of the vessel, and thicker than
that by which the interior of the vessel was wet. Then the tendency is for the
various parts of: this ring or line to run together to those parts which happen
to be most watery, and so that there is no stable equilibrium, for the parts to
which the various portions of the liquid aggregate themselves soon become
too heavy to be sustained, and so they fall down. The same mode of ex-
planation, when carried a step further, shows the reason of the curious mo-
tions commonly observed in the film of wine adhering to the inside of a wine-
glass when the glass, having been partially filled with wine, has been shaken
so as to wet the inside above the general level of the surface of the liquid;
for, to explain these motions, it is only necessary further to bring under con-
sideration that the thin film adhering to the inside of the glass must very
quickly become more watery than the rest, on account of the evaporation of
the alcohol contained in it being more rapid than the evaporation of the
water. On this matter Mr. Thomson exhibited to the Section a very decisive
experiment. He showed that in a vial partly filled with wine, no motion,
of the kind described, occurs as long as the vial is kept corked. On his re-
moving the cork, however, and withdrawing, by a tube, the air saturated
with vapor of the wine, so that it was replaced by fresh air capable of pro-
ducing evaporation, a liquid film was instantly seen as a horizontal ring
creeping up the interior of the vial, with thick-looking pendant streams
descending from it like a fringe from a curtain. He gave another striking
illustration by pouring water on a flat silver tray, previously carefully cleaned
from any film which could hinder the water from thoroughly wetting the
surface. The water was about one tenth of an inch deep. Then, on a little
alcohol being laid down in the middle of the tray, the water immediately rushed
away from the middle, leaving a deep hollow there, which laid the tray bare
of all liquid, except an exceedingly thick film. These and other experiments,
which he made with fine lycopodium powder dusted on the surface of the
water, into the middle of which he introduced alcohol gently from a fine
tube, were very simple, and can easily be repeated. Certain curious return
currents, which he showed by means of the powder on the surface, he stated
he had not yet been able fully to explain.

INTERESTING PHILOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES.

At a recent meeting of the Asiatic Society, London, a communication was
read from Mr. Hodgson, who is at present residing in Central Asia for the
purpose of philological research. The writer has obtained thirty new vocab-

204 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ularies from Tibet, Horsok, and Sifan, and by their aid he has completed a
comparative analysis of all the languages of this class, reaching nearly over
the whole globe, in which he finds a perfect uniformity of the laws regulating
the composition of words and their arrangement, extending over the whole
class The paper stated briefly some of the results arrived at, leaving the
data for further communication at full length. The following are some of its
results: The old dogma which Horne Tooke fancied he had discovered, that
all the numerous words which we generally call particles, such as prepositions
and conjunctions, and the syllables and letters which modify root words in
the way of derivation, conjugation, and declension, were originally vital words,
having definite meanings, is perfectly true of the Tartar tongues, and the fact
is found in them in every stage of development. The distinction between
monosyllabic and polysyllabic languages is without foundation, polysyllables
being merely iterations and accretions of monosyllables; and the languages
do, in fact, graduate into each other. The researches of Mr. Hodgson demon-
strate the affinity of the Sifan, Horsok, Tibetan, Indo-Chinese, Himalayan,
and Tamulian tongues, by identity of roots, identity of compounds, and, above
all, by the absolute uniformity of the laws regulating them. All the Tartar
tongues, from America eastward, through the Old World to Oceania, consti-
tute one great family. All the Tamulian languages, and those of the aborigi-
nal tribes of India, are of one class, and that class is Tartar. All derive their
vocables from the Northern tongues, either directly or vid Indo-China, and the
routes or relative lines of passage are plainly traceable. A great many Arian
vocables, even in Sanscrit, are Tartar, as well in their composite and ordinary
state as in their roots. Mr. Hodgson is finally of opinion that the Tartar
tongues, taken all together as a great unity, throw a brilliant light on the
state of language in general, as it existed prior to the great triple division
into Semitic, Iranian, and Turanian languages.

‘CHEMICAL SCIENCE.

ON THE CHEMICAL EQUIVALENTS OF CERTAIN BODIES, AND
THE RELATIONS BETWEEN OXYGEN AND AZOTE.

THE following is an abstract of a paper recently read before the Royal
Society of Edinburgh, by Professor Low:

The author commences his paper with a review of the opinions entertained
by Dalton, Berzelius, and others, regarding the equivalent numbers of hydro-
gen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon, which have been differently fixed accord-
ing as we start from combination by weight or by volume. He remarked
that while either view was perfectly suited to explain all the general phenom-
ena of decomposition, yet since chemists had begun to examine the phenomena
of substitution, it became apparent that it was absolutely necessary to employ
the equivalents determined by weight. The author then proceeds to show
that on a proper comparison of the properties of these elements, and of the
constitution of their compounds, their atomic weight must be hydrogen 1,
carbon 6, nitrogen 7, oxygen 8.

Reference is then made to the nature of azote, and to the opinion more than
once expressed since its discovery in 1772, that it might be a compound, and
to the views of Davy and Berzelius, the latter of whom supposed it must con-
tain an inflammable base, which he proposed to term nitricum. The author
stated that he had long since arrived, by an entirely different line of argu-
ment, at the conclusion that nitrogen was a compound substance containing
carbon; and as no other element can possibly combine with that substance so
as to produce a compound whose equivalent shall be 7, except hydrogen, he
concludes that azote is actually represented by the formula C H. Pursuing
the same line of argument, he pointed out that oxygen might be a compound
of azote and hydrogen, and referred to certain properties of azote as indicat-
ing its compound nature. The author concludes his paper by showing how,
in all probability, other elements might actually be considered as compounds,
referring particularly to selenium and tellurium, chlorine, iodine, and bromine,
and the metallic basis of the alkaline earths and alkalies.

ON THE ABSORPTION OF MATTER BY THE SURFACES OF
BODIES.

At the meeting of the British Association, Sir David Brewster stated that
if we smear, very slightly with soap, the surface of a piece of glass, whether

206 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

artificially polished or fused, and then clean it perfectly with a piece of cham-
ois leather, the surface, when breathed upon, will exhibit, in the most brilliant
manner, all the colors of thin plates. If we breathe through a tube, the colors
will be arranged in rings, the outermost of which is black, corresponding
to the center of the system of rings formed between a convex and a plane
surface. In repeating this experiment on the surfaces of other bodies, Sir
David found that there were several on whose surfaces no colors were pro-
duced. Quartz exhibited the colors like glass, but calcareous spar and several
other minerals did not. In explaining this phenomenon, the author stated
that the particles of the soap, which are dissolved by the breath, must either
enter the pores of the bodies or form a strongly adhering film on their surface.
This property of appropriating, temporarily, the particles of soap, becomes a
new distinctive character of mineral and other bodies.

PREPARATION OF AMMONIA IN THE SMELTING OF IRON.

s

The following suggestions from the London Mining Journal, by Mr. T. H.
Leighton, are worthy of consideration :

“The vapors which escape from iron blast furnaces may be regarded simply
as the atmosphere highly charged with carbon, or as a mixture of carbonic
oxyd, cyanogen, and nitrogen. When steam, at a sufficiently high tempera-
ture, and air excluded, is mingled with these gases, the oxygen of the steam
decomposes the cyanogen, and converts the carbonic oxyd into carbonic acid,
while the hydrogen and nitrogen combine to form ammonia; thus carbonate
of ammonia will result; but as it may prove difficult to condense this effectu-
ally, if the vapor of ammonia were conveyed into a chamber charged with an
insoluble lumpy material, so arranged that the ammonia, in ascending would
come in contact with a cold solution of salt trickling down, carbonate of
soda and muriate of ammonia might be at once obtained. If, however, an
ample supply of sulphate of iron could be procured, it would be more adyvis-
able to fix the ammonia by means of sulphuric acid expelled from sulphate
of iron, because at the same time, pure oxyd of iron would be produced,
which would prove valuable in the subsequent forging of iron. Alkali refuse
should be composed of sulphuret of calcium and coke dust. When this is
acted upon by steam with sufficient heat, the oxygen of the steam converts
the calcium into lime, while the sulphur and hydrogen pass off as sulphuretted
hydrogen. When the latter is mingled with the vapors from a dense purely
carbonaceous fire, consisting of carbonic oxyd and nitrogen, the latter com-
bines with the sulphuretted hydrogen, and forms sulphuret of ammonia.
If these vapors are then partially cooled down, and a large quantity of cool
air admitted, the carbonic oxyd becoming carbonic acid, combines with
the ammonia, and disengages sulphur; thus carbonate of ammonia and sub-
limed sulphur might be obtained. If, on the other hand, the heat of the va-
pors is maintained, and a large quantity of heated air thrown in, the sulphuret
of ammonia is converted into sulphite, which rapidly passes into sulphate
of ammonia, by means of which more salt may be decomposed; and thus
alkali refuse may be brought to yield sulphate of soda, muriate of ammonia,

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 207

and carbonized lime dust. This latter material will be valuable in agricul-
ture; it should be worked into the land when preparing it for seed, muriate
of ammonia being afterward applied to the growing crop, when the first
shower of rain will carry it into the soil, when carbonate of ammonia will be
disengaged in direct contact with the root of the plant. By treating gypsum
as sulphate of lime, with small coal and high heat in a reverberatory furnace,
it would be reduced to sulphuret of calcium, and may, by a similar mode of
treatment, yield the same product as alkali refuse.

“ REFUSE OF SMELTING FURNACES.

The production of iron by the smelting-furnaces of Great Britain has reached
3,000,000 tons annually; and by a moderate calculation, it may be assumed
that for every ton of iron two tons of slag are formed, making an aggregate of
at least 6,000,000 tons of this hitherto refuse material. Not only has this
vast accumulation of slag been to the present time comparatively useless, but
it has proved an incumbrance and source of heavy expense to the ironmasters ;
for it is calculated that a sum of not less that £150,000 sterling is annually
expended by and lost to them in removing the unsightly heaps from their
_ premises, to be used as the most worthless of materials in mending old roads,
and in filling gullies and other vacant spaces.

Within the past year, however, a company has been formed in England for
the purpose of turning this heretofore waste material to a useful account,
under the direction of Dr. W. H. Smith, of Philadelphia, the patentee of the
process. In a paper read before the London Society of Arts, Dr. Smith stated
that according to the treatment it receives, slag can be rendered brittle or
tough, hard or soft, compact or porous, rough or smooth. It can be cast into
as great a variety of forms, solid and hollow, as iron itself; with the superior
advantage of being susceptible of the admixture and blending of colors, so as
to render it équal in brilliancy to agate, jasper, malachite, the variegated
marbles, and other more valuable varieties of the mineral kingdom. When
properly annealed, it can be made to acquire a ‘surface, or texture, at least 10
times as durable as that of marble, and is susceptible of a polish equal to
agate or cornelian. As a building material, slag can be readily adapted to
any variety of architectural design, from the simple slab to the most ornate
and complex decoration; while its beauty and durability chiefly recommend
it as an article of luxury. ‘

Dr. Smith entered into a comparison of the relative expense of the manu-
facture of clay bricks as compared with that of bricks or blocks of slag; and
he reminded us, that in making bricks of the latter, the raw material costs
less than nothing, inasmuch as the ironmaster saves by its utilization the
heavy expenditure now attendant upon its removal from the furnace premises.
In fusing slag for the operation of casting no expense is incurred, inasmuch as
this item of expenditure is charged by the metallurgist to the metallic and not
to the earthy products of the smelting operation; whereas, in making bricks
of clay, the raw material has an intrinsic value, while the consecutive opera-
tions of digging the clay, preparing it for use, and transporting it, added to

208 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

the process of pressing and annealing, consume at least twice as much time and
labor as are employed in working slag. ‘From those simple, yet clear data,”
observed Dr. Smith, “we can fairly infer that the cost of making clay bricks
will be double that of making blocks, tiles, or more decorative and valuable
articles from slag. By extending this calculation to other products, such as
marble slabs, columns, carved architectural ornaments of stone, etc., and in
our estimate contrasting the plastic power of fusion available in slag with the
laborious hewing and fashioning by mechanical means required for blocks of
marble and other stones, we may arrive at still more satisfactory results in
proving the commercial value of slag.”

The samples which were exhibited and examined by the auditory excited
general admiration, from the closeness of the texture, the height of the polish
and the beauty and apparent durability of the articles. Some of them had
been made from the slags of American furnaces, others from those of the fur-
naces of France and England; and it was evident, from their inspection, that

the commercial value expressed in the above calculation was by no means
extravagant.—London Mining Journal.

FUSIBLE SAFETY-PLUGS.

It is well known that plugs of metal composed of some alloy fusible at a
comparatively low temperature, have been prescribed for steam-boilers, especially
those of the steamboats on our Western waters, so as to insure greater safety
to the traveling community, as well as to engineers themselves. Some have
contended that these plugs were a perfect protection against too high steam
pressure (whereby its heat is increased) and also against low water in boilers;
others again have contended that they were of no use whatever, not being
uniformly reliable, either as to the degree of heat at which they will melt when
new, also by altering their nature entirely when used for some time, so as to
be in no manner different from the metal of the boiler itself as it respects melt-
ing. This subject being referred by the St. Louis Association of Steamboat
Engineers to a committee of its members, they have examined into the matter
and made a report of their labors. In that report. they mention the experi-
ments with Easton’s and Evans’s safety-guards of fusible alloys, and point out
their uncertainty, and conclude as follows :—

“Finally, after having given this subject our most careful consideration, and
after having proven our opinions, by many years’ experience as practical en-
gineers, during which we have had the most ample means of determining the
value of alloy safety-valves, we have arrived at the candid conviction that they
are useless to the engineer, and of no protection to the traveling public. IfCon-
gress shall still insist upon the use of fusible alloy safety-guard, we respectfully
ask that it will cause such investigation to be made and such manufactures of
these alloys established as will insure them to be uniform in operation and
satisfactory in their results (if these are practicable), and that the mechanical
device, by which the alloy may be applied, be left open to the inventive ge-
nius of the country; the best of which to be determined from time to time
by some proper and competent authority.”—WScientific American.

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 209

In reference to the above subject, we would add that Professor James C.
Booth, of Philadelphia, is now engaged, by the order of government, in an
extensive series of experiments on fusible alloys, and their employment in con-
nection with steam-boilers. A report of great value may be anticipated—
Editor.

USE OF ZINC FOR THE SHEATHING OF VESSELS.

The Vieille Montagne Company of Belgium are now engaged in manufac-
turing extensively zinc for the sheathing of vessels. In a pamphlet issued
they present testimonials of the use of zine sheathing in various ships for eight,
nine, and even twelve years. The average duration of a zinc suit is, however,
fixed at six years. The superiority of the zine to copper in point of durability
is based on the following grounds :—

1. It is used in thicker sheets than either copper or yellow metal.

2. It does not oxydize or corrode, as copper or brass, by immersion in sea-

water; on the contrary, it is covered with an adhesive coat of peroxyd, which
becomes a permanent protection to the body of the metal.
_ 3. When barnacles or sea-weeds that may have gathered upon it, fall, or
are scraped off, the metal remains almost uninjured, while, with a copper or
brass sheathing, they commonly leave it greatly thinned, eaten through, and
crumbling off.

The cost of copper in sheets, in relation to that of zine, is generally as 3} ig
to 1; if to this be added the well-known fact that a suit of copper sheathing
seldom lasts more than four years, the economy of using zinc will be self
evident. The same conclusion applies to brass or yellow metal sheathing, the
cost of which is only one sixth less than that of copper, and which is acknowl-
edged seldom to last more than three years.

An attempt has also been made with success, to construct a vessel entirely
of zine. A schooner built of zine constructed at Nantes, France, in 1854,
has since been employed as a regular trader between Marseilles and Rio
Janeiro. The zinc plates used overlapped each other one inch, and were
riveted with wrought zinc rivets, one and a quarter inches apart.

A zine vessel, while it is hardly inferior in strength to one of iron, has over
the latter many advantages :

1, It will cause no deviation of the compass. 2. The plates not beingliable
to corrode or rust, do not require painting. 3. In ordinary cases of collision,
while iron would in all probability crack or break, causing a leakage in the
vessel, zinc would yield and bend without endangering the safety of the vessel
and hands, or interrupting her course. 4. In the event of stranding near
shore, and in a position and under circumstances allowing salvage, the zine
hull might be cut or sawed in pieces, having a real value, while the iron hull
would be abandoned as worthless.

NEW METALLIC ALLOYS.

Messrs. de Ruolz and Fontenay, of Paris, have invented an “alloy which
may be employed for almost all purposes to which silver is usually employed.

210 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

The improved alloy is composed only of silver, copper, and purified nickel;
which metals may be combined in any suitable proportions, but the following
are preferred :—Silver 20 parts, nickel from 25 to 31 parts, and the rest up to
100 parts in copper. An alloy is thus produced containing 20 per cent., or
thereabouts, of silver, and constituting silver of the third degree of fineness,
‘thus reversing the proportions of the ordinary composition of the second de-
gree; this latter containing 800 parts of silver and 200 of alloy, whereas the
improved compound contains 200 parts of silver, and 800 parts of alloy. The
copper employed must be the purest obtainable in commerce; and the nickel
should be purified by some suitable process. Although the proportions above
given are those generally employed for the production of the improved alloy,
the proportion of silver may be variously increased up to the following limit:
—silver 30 parts, nickel 31 parts, and copper 49 parts. Total, 110 parts. It
is advantageous, first, to melt the copper and nickel in the granular state, and
afterward to introduce the silver; and the flux to be employed in this state
consists of charcoal and borax, both in the state of powder; and the ingots
obtained are to be rendered malleable by annealing for a considerable time in
powdered charcoal. It hag also been ascertained that phosphorus can be
usefully introduced into these alloys, and, in certain cases, extracted after the
required effect has been produced by it. The operation is as follows :—Phos-
phuret of copper is prepared in the ordinary way, and its richness in phos-
phorus is ascertained by analysis. This phosphuret of copper is then re-
melted and granulated; after which the following mixture is melted :—Phos-
phuret of copper 49 parts (of such a strength as to be capable of introducing
into 100 parts of the alloy from 1 to 20-1000ths of phosphorus), nickel 31
parts, and silver from 20 to 40 parts, or more, as desired by consumers. It
must be well understood that the silver must not be introduced into the alloy
until the phosphuret of copper and the nickel are completely melted, and
combined or mixed. The effects produced by this introduction of phosphorus
are to augment the fusibility of the alloy, causing it, when melted, to run in a
very limpid state, to obtain a closer grain, to avoid all porosity, and to have
a greater homogeneity, and finally to render the whiteness greater.

Alloys for Journal Bowes.—The following claim for a new alloy for journal
boxes has been patented by Joseph Garrat, Sen., of Indianapolis, Ind.:—“TI
claim the production of an alloy of a bluish gray color, which, while it has
unsurpassable anti-friction qualities, has also sufficient tenacity to allow of
journal boxes being formed of it, that do not require the protection of outer
casings of a harder metal; the said alloy being composed of zine, copper, and
antimony, in about the following proportions, viz., seventeen parts zinc, one
part copper, and one part and a half of antimony, or any other mixture sub-
stantially the same, and which will produce the same effect.”

‘ Boxes,” says the Scientific American, “formed of this alloy, possess in-
herent strength and hardness sufficient to prevent them being pressed out of
form, as is the case with Babbitt metal. The latter has to be encased with
brass or some very hard substance. This new alloy causes as little, if not
less friction, than brass boxes, or those formed with the Babbitt metal. They
are easily worked, receive an excellent polish, and as they can be manufac-

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 211

tured much cheaper than common boxes, their use on railroads and every

‘species of machinery, would probably effect an important economy.”

ON ALLOYS OF IRON, POTASSIUM, AND ALUMINUM NOT SUBJECT
TO OXYDATION.

Professor Calvert at the British Association stated that he had succeeded
in preparing the following alloys of iron and aluminum: lst alloy, 4 equiva-
lents of iron; 1 do. of potassium: 2d alloy, 6 equivalents of iron; 1 do. of
potassium. These alloys were prepared with a view of solving one of the
great chemical and commercial questions of the day—namely, that of render-
ing iron less oxydable when exposed to a damp atmosphere; as it is believed
that no kind of coating can be discovered which will resist the constant fric-
tion of water, as in the case of iron steamers. Professor Calvert has also
succeeded in producing two new alloys, composed of iron, combined with that
most valuable and extraordinary metal, aluminum. These alloys are com-
posed as follows :—lIst, 1 equivalent of aluminum; 5 do. of iron; 2d, 2 equiv-
alents of aluminum; 3 do. of iron. The last alloy presents the useful
property of not oxydizing when exposed to a damp atmosphere, although it
contains 75 per cent. of iron.

ON THE INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYMENT OF EARTHY METALS.

The great affinity of aluminum for carbon, with which it forms a very
stable and exceedingly hard alloy, renders if valuable in the manufacture of
steel. It serves to fix the carbon in the metal, so that the same piece of steel
may be heated and tempered several times without alteration. Aluminum
generally gives steels and alloys of great hardness very white, dull, and
damasked. These alloys are ductile and malleable. The alloys of silicium, on
the contrary, have a short granular fracture, are of a dull white, without any
luster. They are excessively hard but brittle, and become more and more so
in proportion as the quantity of silicium is increased. 5 or 6 per cent. of sili-
cium renders metals and alloys capable of being pounded like stones under
the pestle.— Comptes Rendus.

ON THE ELECTROLYTIC PREPARATION OF THE ALKALINE AND
EARTHY METALS, BY DR. MATTHIESSEN.

Induced by Bunsen’s experiments upon the alkaline and earthy metals, the
author has endeavored to prepare these bodies by electrolysis in Bunsen’s
laboratory. The treatment of chloride of calcium, chloride of barium, and
chloride of strontium, between two large plates of charcoal, presented peculiar
difficulties which required to be got rid of. These arise from the circumstance
that the metallic granules deposited upon the anode are carried over to the
cathode by the currents produced by the evolution of chlorine at the latter.
The metals burn at both poles with flames. At the metallic pole oxyd is
separated from the protochloride, which becomes basic, from the action of the

212 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

moisture of the air; and by this means the current very soon becomes too
weak. As Bunsen has found that the decomposition of the chlorides into
metal and chlorine depends especially upon the density of the current, par-
ticular attention was to be paid to the fulfillment of this condition. By the
employment, opposite to the great positive charcoal-pole, of a wire of the
thickness of a knitting-needle, the reduction of potassium, sodium, calcium,
strontium, etc., took place so easily that the author regards this experiment as
one that may hereafter be performed at lectures. It is, however, difficult to
obtain the separated metals in large globules. For this purpose the author
has suggested the three following methods:

1. The employment of a platinum wire as the positive pole. By this means
the metal is alloyed with the platinum.

2. Two chlorides are melted together, in simple atomic proportions, to form
a fluid double chloride; the temperature is regulated so that a solid crust is
only formed round the negative pole. On cooling, this is found filled with
metallic granules.

3. The separation of the metal is affected immediately beneath the surface
of the fused chloride, by means of a pole composed of a pointed iron wire.
It remains protected by a thin stratum of the fused chloride, which covers it
like a varnish, and collects in masses of the size of a mustard-seed.

Calcium.—The method here first described is, it must be confessed, uncer-
tain in its results, but, in favorable cirumstances, it furnishes globules of cal-
cium of the size of peas. A mixture of 2 equivalents of chloride of calcium
with 1 equivalent of chloride of strontium and muriate of ammonia is
melted in a Hessian crucible until the last-mentioned salt is volatilized; a
cylinder of iron, serving as a positive pole, is then immersed in the fused mix-
ture, together with a narrow clay cell of the length of a finger, previously
heated to redness and filled with the same fused mixture; this serves for the
reception of the negative pole, which consists of a piece of iron wire, or a
stick of charcoal of the thickness of a knitting-needle. When the fused
chlorides in the clay cell stand front 4 an inch to 1 inch higher than in the
erucible, the heat of the charcoal furnace may easily be regulated so that a
solid crust shall be formed only in the clay cell; beneath this the separated
metal collects, without coming in contact with the clay cell. If the current
from 6 charcoal and zinc elements be then allowed to pass through for from
half an hour to an hour, a large quantity of reduced calcium is obtained.
But in general, by this process, the calcium is found in a pulverulent form dif
fused through the mixture of chlorides, which violently decomposes water.

The metal is obtained with more certainty, although in smaller fused glob-
ules, by putting the mixture into a small porcelain crucible, such as is used
for the calcination of precipitates, heating by charcoal or the spirit-lamp, and
passing the current through the mixture by a charcoal pole of as large size as
possible, and a piece of iron piano-forte wire (No. 6), not more than 2 lines in
length, which is united with the negative pole of the battery by means of a
stronger wire reaching close to the surface. A small crust is to be formed
round the wire at the surface. To collect the small globules deposited on the
wire, the latter must be taken out about every three minutes, together with

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 213

the small crust. The globules are crushed in a mortar, and the flattened
granules are then picked out.

It may also be obtained in very small granules, but with more difficulty, by
just touching the surface of the fused mass of chlorides for a minute or two
with the tip of the wire, so that the action of the current produces a sort of
appearance of fermentation. The globules are rather larger than when the
point of the wire is immersed and withdrawn until an electrical flame makes
its appearance. By this means an alternate heating and cooling is produced
by which the pulverulent metal is fused together.

Properties of Calcium.—The properties of the metal prepared in the above
manner are as follows. Some of them have hitherto not been correctly recog-
nized :

It is a pale yellow metal, of the color of bell-metal, or of silver alloyed

with gold. Freshly filled spots appear paler and remarkably glittering.
Fracture-jagged, becoming granular, it is very ductile, and may be cut, bored,
or filed. A piece of the size of a mustard-seed could be beaten out to a leaf
of 10 or 15 millims., and then only show a few breaks at the margin. In
dry air it remains shining, but soon tarnishes in a moist atmosphere. It melts
at a red heat on platinum foil, and then burns with a splendid luster, so that
pieces of the quarter the size of a pin’s head give a ball of fire of a cubic inch
in size. Calcium filings thrown into the flame of a spirit-lamp give beautiful
stellate sparks. Dry chlorine has but little action upon it; when heated in
‘chlorine gas, or in vapor of iodine or bromine, it burns with bright incandes-
cence. When thrown upon boiling sulphur, it combines with it, with violent
evolution of flame. It combines with vapor of phosphorus, without incandes-
cence, forming phosphuret of calcium. With hot mercury it readily forms a
white amalgam. It violently decomposes water, becoming converted into
hydrate of lime. Dilute nitric, muriatic, and sulphuric acids facilitate the
oxydation. Thin laminz frequently become ignited under the surface of dilute
nitric acid; in concentrated nitric acid it retains its bright surface, and is only
attacked at a boiling heat. With distilled water as the exciting fluid, it be-
haves negatively with potassium and sodium, positively with magnesium. It
is not, however, reduced from its chloride by petassium or sodium.—Liebig’s
Annalen, xciii. p. 277.

ON SILICIUM AND TITANIUM. BY H. SAINTE CLAIRE DEVILLE.

Among the compounds of oxygen with simple bodies, there is a group of
substances whose analogies are incontestible, and which may be characterized
by a single feature in their history. These oxyds, which are not acted upon
by chlorine alone, become converted into chlorides when in contact with
charcoal, under the influence of a current of chlorine at a moderate tempera-
ture. Among them I shall mention those which will be referred to in this
note, namely, silica, titanic acid and boracic acid. The radicals of these
generally-diffused substances have not yet been studied in all their details,
and I now lay before the Academy the result of my researches upon this
subject.

214 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

When sodium is treated with chloride or fluoride of silicium im a tray
placed in a porcelain tube heated to redness, the last traces of the metal may
be removed; and all that is then necessary is to wash the residue, in order
to obtain silicium with all the characters attributed to it by Berzelius. But
if the portions which do not adhere to the tray be selected, put into a crucible,
surrounded and covered with pure fused chloride of sodium, and heated toa
sufficientiy high temperature for the volatilization of the greater part of the
alkaline chloride, two kinds of products are obtained, which vary according
to the temperature and the nature of the flux. In the first place the graphit-
oid silicium may be produced: fused silicium is also obtained in the midst of
a ganeue which resists the action of heat; it is then frequently crystallized.

Crystallized silictum has much resemblance in color with specular iron ore
when a little iridescent. Its form can not be exactly measured, the faces of
crystals being always curved; but the form presents so close a resemblance
to those of the diamond, that this comparison has been made immediately by
all the mineralogists to whom I have shown it. In this state silicium cuts
flags) <:'

The analysis of the crystals which accompanied the specimen exhibited
furnished the following results:—100 silicium gave 205 of silica; calculation
requires 209. The small quantity of matter which was wanting also contained
silica and iron, but in proportions which might be neglected. Thus silicium,
like carbon, beside which it has been placed in the series of metalloids, is
capable of assuming three distinct forms :—

1. The silicium of Berzelius, which represents ordinary carbon.

2. Graphitoid silicium, which corresponds with graphite, and is obtained
under the same circumstances as artificial graphite.

3. Crystallized silicitum, which is the analogue of the diamond.

Silicium, consequently, differs from the metals in every respect.

T also exhibit some fused silicitum; which has been extracted from different
gangues. I can not, however, state exactly either the temperature, which
was very high, employed in this new experiment, or the mode of preparation
which is most proper for attaining a certain result. I must observe only that
silicium takes up iron, wherever it exists, even in vessels of common porce-
lain, which it corrodes in a singular manner.* In preparing silicium, it is
necessary, therefore, to exhaust every precaution in the purification of the
original materials, particularly the sodium; to analyze it, it is put with a few

drops of nitric acid into a small crucible of Sevres porcelain, and a very small

quantity of pure hydrofluoric acid is added (silicium, when strongly heated,
resists the action of hydrofluoric acid and nitromuriatic acid); it should dis-
solve entirely, and the liquid, when evaporated to dryness, should have no
trace of ferruginous matter.

Silicium alloys metals, especially copper, to which it communicates a hard-

* Tt reacts upon alumina, at least in the presence of bases, furnishing vitreous products
which appear to be new, and which I am at present engaged in analyzing. The vessels
which I prefer are crucibles of coke, calcined, and immersed while still hot in boiling
muriatic acid. After remaining for some time in the acid, and being repeatedly washed,
these crucibles are very good. i? am

~

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 215

ness so great that the metal resists the action of the file. This is copper-
steel.

Titanium, obtained by exactly similar processes, and calcined in crucibles of
alumina, is infusible at a temperature which causes the vaporization of platin-
um; it resembles very iridescent specular iron ore, and crystallizes in prisms
with a square base.— Compies Rendus, April 30th, 1855, p. 1034.

ON THE METAL ALUMINUM.

M. Wéhler having contested the priority of the extraction of the metal
aluminum from alumina with M. Deville, the latter has replied in a paper
before the French Academy urging that the metal he has obtained by sodium
and by using new apparatus, differs essentially in the distinctness of its
reactions from the aluminum of M. Wobhler. This difference is due to im-
purities which can not possibly be removed when the operation is made in
platina vases: and he asserts that he has ascertained by minute analysis that
the aluminum prepared according to M. Wohler’s method contains soda and
the platina: now platina raises the point of fusion of the alloy, and the sodium
takes from it its most precious properties: making it subject to the influence
of boiling water and the weak acids, while pure aluminum resists them; fur-
ther imperceptible but pure globules have remained three months in sulphuric
acid or weak nitric acid, and have not yet been in the least degree changed,
and in boiling nitric acid the dissolution proceeds so slowly that M. Deville
was forced to abandon that method of analysis; lastly, if a globule of pure
aluminum was dropped on red hot and melted caustic soda, it resisted that
energetic agent. The aluminum employed in these experiments (it has been
analyzed) wasperfectly pure, and it is upon these properties, joined to its
inalteration when exposed “to the air, that M. Deville grounds his hopes to
make it useful. It is also worth attention that while M. Wohler obtained
merely microscopic globules, M. Deville now produces masses of it whose
volume is limited only by the quantity of matter employed. He ended this
reply by suggesting that other more common metals than aluminum, are
perhaps less known than may be thought, and he expressed the hope that
when he shall have completed a memoir on the pure metals produced and
melted by certain yet secret processes, which he has long been preparing, he
shall exhibit some unexpected results. Thus he instanced, cobalt and nickel
which possess useful physical properties, such as malleability, ductility, devel-
oped to a most extraordinary degree; further they enjoy a tenacity far ex-
ceeding that of iron, which hitherto has passed as the most tenacious metal;
for according to the experiments made by M. Wertheim on these metals, the
weights which determine the rupture of wires of iron, cobalt, and nickel of
the same dimensions, are 60 for iron, 115 for cobalt, and 90 for nickel, which
shows the tenacity of cobalt double that of iron; besides, nickel and cobalt
are worked at the forge with the same facility as iron, are oxydized less easily
than iron, and are susceptible of being employed in the same manner as iron.

The following is an abstract of a report presented to the French Academy
on the subject of aluminum and its preparation :— :

216 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

“The thorough working of aluminum by means of the chloride of this metal
and sodium, is, by general admission, a great acquisition to science. M.
Deville procured chloride of aluminum by causing the chlorine to react on a
mixture of alumina and coal-tar, previously calcined. The operation was
effected in a gas retort with extraordinary facility and perfection. The result
of M. Deville’s observations is that the action of the chlorine is procured upon
a layer of one, or at most, two decimeters of the mixture, so that the absorp-
tion of the gas is alwayscomplete. The condensation of chloride of aluminum
is effected in a chamber of masonry lined with tiles. This chloride is so com-
pact that it can be seen on the table, of considerable density, and composed
of yellow crystals. Very slightly ferruginous, it is purified completely during
the process of extracting the aluminum, in which its vapor passes over iron
filings heated to 400° C. or thereabout. The sesqui-chloride of iron, as volatile
as the chloride of aluminum, is changed by contact with the iron, and becomes
comparatively very fixed. The vapor of the chloride of aluminum rising from
the apparatus forms colorless and very transparent crystals. Sodium is being
prepared the meanwhile in large and small vessels with remarkable facility.
Haying studied with particular care the influence of temperature on the sur-
faces exposed to heat, and the activity of the vapor of sodium as it escapes
from the apparatus, M. Deville is convinced that, by properly regulating the
relation between the heated surfaces and the section of tubes from which the
sodium issues, one could procure this metal at a moderately high temperature,
about that, perhaps, of the melting point of silver. Already even the cylin-
ders are much less heated than are the vessels used in the manufacture of
zinc. The author is now employed in producing sodium in continuous ap-
paratus. ts

* As to the reaction of the chloride of aluminum upon the sodium, that is

‘done in metallic tubes, the form and management of which are not yet sufii-
ciently scientific. In this particular there is yet something deficient. It will
be remarked undoubtedly, that in the details above there is no mention of the
very reduced price which Messrs. Dumas and Balard have promised. It ap-
pears that, for the present at least, this price is still very high, and very far
from being what would be considered the net cost, as stated by us condition-
ally, of the agents necessary to extract the aluminum. Moreover, M. Dumas
has not explained himself formally concerning the price even of the new metal,
and he has anticipated too much in this respect. Now, if sodium, which cost
lately 1,000 francs a kilogram, should rise 30 francs more, as it requires
three times the quantity of that to extract a proportion of aluminum, it will
be perceived that this latter article would not be so accessible as they would
have it seem, not to mention other particulars which increase the expense.
Still there is reason to believe that a factory of aluminum established at Mar-
seilles, turning to account the chlorine of muriatic acid, which is produced in
superabundance, and the aluminum of certain deposits in the vicinity, could
offer this precious metal at a price sufficiently low to place it shortly among
the more common ones. .

“Scarcely has aluminum been ranked among metals before, independently
of the unexpected service it will render as such to the arts and sciences, it

a a

re

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 217

begins to figure as an electro-chemical agent in a no less remarkable manner.
The director of the galvano-plastic department of the Mint, M. Hulot, sub-
mitied to the Academy, through M. Dumas, some assays in which this metal
‘was substituted for platina as an electro-negative element in the piles to a
single liquid. M. Hulot has succeeded, not without great difficulty, in rolling
perfectly and without loss, an ingot of aluminum of thirty and some gram’s, pro-
cured from one of the first meltings of this metal obtained by M. Rousseau—less
white than at first, and containing traces of iron and silicium. A connection
of aluminum and zinc amalgamated for a long time, charged with water acid-
ulated with a twentieth of sulphuric acid at 66°, disengaged during the first
hours considerable hydrogen, and produced a current equal, if not superior,
to that of a connection of platina and zinc excited to the same degree. The
author asserts that the next day the electro-motive force of the pile was re-
duced nearly one quarter; but he remarks that it suffices to immerge the
aluminum in nitric acid, or still better, as it appears, in sulphuric acid—as it
is expedient to effect it at once—to give to the circle its first force.

“ As aluminum is nine times lighter than platina, and presents also a surface
nine times more extended than the latter metal, with an equal thickness, its
substitution for platina should be productive of real advantages, above all now
that its price has become very accessible. The aluminum here spoken of is
very difficult to forge. In order to roll it, it has been found necessary to an-
neal it at each pass. By deposing copper electro-chemically on a plate of
aluminum, they have succeeded, by the aid of rollers, in reducing it to very
thin plates. Hard aluminum acquires by annealing an inflexibility which
would make it of great use in the suspension of all kinds of scales for assays
or analyses. This metal is so light that, the weights of the system being the
same, the arms of the beam can be elongated a great deal, and long blades
can be placed even or the extreme points of suspension, as on the center of
oscillation. The author does not doubt that in weighing 20 grammes, the
sensibility of the balance would not rise a half-millionth.”

The price of alun%num a short time since in France was about the rate of
gold. M. Dumas, in a recent communication to the Academy, stated that,
owing to recent discoveries reducing the expense of extracting it, the cost of
production was now about one hundred times less; and M. Balard, another
member, stated that there was little doubt that the effect of competition in
its manufacture, together with the advantage of throwing it open to the in-
dustrial resources of the world, would be to-reduce the price as low as five
franes the kilogram, or about forty cents a pound.

This important result is mainly attributable to the facility with which we
are now able to procure pure sodium in abundance, which is the active agent
for the revivication of aluminum, and which was at one time very expensive.
M. Dumas observes that the generalization of the procedure of M. Deville, the
application of chlorine to the extraction of metals, forms a new era in metal-
lurgy. Among the many remarkable qualities of aluminum, such as its re-
sistance to oxydation, either in the air or by acids, its hardness, its wonderful
lightness, its malleableness, the facility of molding it, etc., M. Dumas mentions
‘another, its sonosity. An ingot was suspended by a string, and being lightly

10

ft
3
S .
:
r
p
aN
a

218 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

struck, emitted the finest tones, such as are obtained only by a combination
of the best metals.

PREPARATION OF METALLIC LITHIUM.

Bunsen has continued his observations on the alkaline and earthy metals,
and has succeeded in isolating lithium upon a sufficiently large scale to admit
of an accurate determination of its chemical and physical properties. Lithium
is more easily prepared than the other metals belonging to the same class, and
iis separation forms an easy and certain lecture-room experiment. Chloride
of lithium is to be fused in a small thick porcelain crucible over a Berzelius
lamp, and decomposed by a current of from 4 to 6 Bunsen’s elements. The
eurrent passes from a point of gas-carbon through the fused chloride toan iron
wire as thick as a knitting-needle. After a few seconds a small silver white
regulus forms and adheres to the wire, gaining in a few minutes the size of a
small pea. The mass is to be removed from the fused chloride by passing
under it a small iron spoon, and withdrawing the spoon and the wire electrode
together so that the metal shall remain covered with a varnish of the fused
chloride. The spoon is then to be cooled under naptha, and the metal scraped
off with a penknife. As these operations may be repeated every three min-
utes, an ounce of chloride of lithium may be reduced ina short time. Lithium
is a white metal having the color of silver, but a freshly cut surface soon be-
comes yellowish from oxydation. Fused at 180, and quickly pressed up be-
tween two glass surfaces, lithium gives a mirror which perfectly resembles
polished silver in color and luster. Its streak is gray, while that of calcium,
barium, or strontium is yellow. Lithium is also a very tough metal, and can
easily be drawn to a wire like lead, but its tenacity is much less than that of
the latter metal. Lithium fuses at 180°, is not volatile at a red heat, and can
be welded at ordinary temperatures. Its density is 0.5936, and itis the lightest
of all solid bodies. If we take its equivalent at 81.7 (0100) its atomic vol-
umeis137. It is less oxydizable than potassium or sodium—takes fire at a tem-
perature far above 180° Centigrade, and burns quietly without sparks, and with
a white and unusually dense light. The elevation of temperature is here so
great that a piece of lithium weighing only 0.005 qr. will melt a hole of 36
millimeters in a piece of mica, upon which it moves with a serpentine motion,
Strontium and calcium burn in a similar manner—with a yellowish light, how-
ever, and not so quietly, but with sparks and a hissing noise. Lithium burns
in oxygen, chlorine, bromine, carbonic acid, vapor of iodine, and upon fused
sulphur, like calcium and strontium, with extraordinary brilliancy and intense
white light. Upon water lithium floats and oxydizes like sodium, but without
fusing. Silica glass and porcelain are reduced by lithium under 200° Centi-
grade, but by calcium and strontium only at a red-heat. Calcium and stron-
tium are not white metals, as has been stated, but show under the polishing
steel, as well as when reduced to a red-heat and freshly cut, a beautifal gold
yellow color.—Ann. der Chemie und Pharmacie, 1855, xciv.

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 219

mes
ELECTRO-PLATING WITH THE WHITE METALS.

Aluminum and Silicium obtained from Clay, Stone, and Sand.—In the An-
nual of Scientific Discovery for 1855, pp. 235, 236, some account was given of the
experiments of Dr. Gore, of Birmingham, England, whereby he was enabled
to effect an electro-plate of the white metals aluminum and silicium, from the
compounds of their oxyds, clay, sand, etc. As this subject is one of no little
importance, we give in the following article the experiments of Dr. Gore some-
what in detail.

To coat articles of copper, brass, or German silver with aluminum, take
equai measures of sulphuric acid and water, or take one measure each of sul-
phurie and hydrochloric acids, and two measures of water; add to the water
a, small quantity of pipe-clay, in the proportion of five or ten grains by weight
to every ounce by measure of water (or one half ounce to the pint), rub the
clay with the water until the two are perfectly mixed, then add the acid to
the clay solution, and boil the mixture in a covered glass vessel one hour.
Allow the liquid to settle, take the clear supernatant solution, while hot, and
immerse in it an earthen porous cell, containing a mixture of one measure of
sulphurie acid and ten measures of water, together with a rod or plate of
amalgamated zinc; take a small Smee’s battery, of three or four pairs of plates,
connected together intensity fashion, and connect its positive pole by a wire
with the piece of zinc in the porous cell. Having perfectly cleaned the sur-
face of the article to be coated, connect it by a wire to the negative pole of
the battery, and immerse it in the hot clay solution; immediately abundance
of gas will be evolved from the whole of the immersed surface of the article,
and in a few minutes, if the size of the article is adapted to the quantity of the
eurrent of electricity passing through it, a fine white deposit of aluminum
will appear all over its surface. It may then be taken out, washed quickly in
clean water, and wiped dry and polished ; but if a thicker coating is required,
it must be taken out when the deposit becomes dull in appearance, washed,
dried, polished, and reimmersed; and this must be repeated at intervals, as
often as it becomes dull, until the required thickness is obtained. With small
articles it is not absolutely necessary, either in this or the following process,
that a separate battery be employed, as the article to be coated may be con-
nected by a wire with the piece of zinc in the porous cell, and immersed in
the outer liquid, when it will receive a deposit, but more slowly than when a
battery is employed.

To coat articles with silicium, take the following proportions: three quar-
ters of an ounce, by measure, of hydrofluoric acid, a quarter of an ounce of
hydrochloric acid, and forty or fifty grains either of precipitated silica, or of
fine white sand (the former dissolves most freely), and boil the whole to-
gether a few minutes, until no more silica is dissolved. Use this solution
exactly in the same manner as the clay solution, and a fine, white deposit of
metallic silictum will be obtained, provided the size of the article is adapted
to the quantity of the electric current. Common red sand, or indeed any
kind of silicious stone, finely powdered, may be used in place of the whito

220 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

sand, and with equal success, if it be previously boiled in hydrochloric acid
to remove the red oxyd of iron, or other impurities.

Both in depositing aluminum and silicium, it is necessary to well saturate
the acids with the solid ingredients by boiling, otherwise very little deposit
of metal will be obtained.

Among the many experiments I have made upon the subject, the follow-
ing are a few of the most interesting:—Experiment 1. Boiled some pipe-
clay in caustic potash and water; poured the clear part of the solution
into a glass vessel, and immersed in it a small earthen porous cell containing
dilute sulphuric acid and a piece of amalgamated zinc ; immersed a similar piece
of bright sheet copper in the alkaline liquid, and connected it with the neg-
ative pole of a small Smee’s battery of three pairs of plates; connected the
zinc plate with the positive pole, and let the whole stand undisturbed all
night. On examining it next morning, I found the piece of copper coated
with a white silver-like deposit of metallic aluminum. Experiment 2. Boiled
a mass of red sand rock in hydrochloric acid to remove the red oxyd of iron,
washed it clean with water, and dissolved it by boiling in a mixture of hy-
drofluoric acid, nitric acid, and water; immersed in this solution a porous cell
with dilute acid and zinc, as before ; connected a piece of brass to the zine
by a wire, and suspended it in the outer liquid, which was kept hot by
means of a small spirit lamp beneath. After allowing the action to proceed
several hours, I found the piece of brass beautifully coated with white metallic
silicium. Experiment 3. Took one part, by weight, of the same sand-stone,
after being purified by the hydrochloric acid, and 2} parts of carbonate of
potash, fused them together in a crucible until all evolution of gas ceased,
and a perfect glass was formed; poured out the melted glass, and when cold,
dissolved it in water; used this solution in the same manner as the former
ones; allowing the action to proceed about twelve hours, when a good white
deposit of metallic silicium was obtained. Experiment 4. Took some stones
with which the streets of Birmingham are Macademized; pounded them fine
in a mortar; boiled the powder in hydrochloric acid, to purify it from iron;
washed it well in water, and dissolved it by boiling an excess of it in a mix-
ture of £oz., by measure, of hydrofluoric acid, 4 oz. of this solution in the
same manner as the former liquids, and readily coated in it a piece of brass
with a beautifully white deposit either of aluminum or silicium.

From these and many other experiments which I have tried, it is quite
clear that common metal articles may be readily coated with white metals,
possessing similar characters to silver, from solutions of the most common
and abundant materials, and thus bring within the purchase of the poorer
classes articles of taste and cleanliness, which are at present only to be ob-
tained by the comparatively wealthy.

BRASS FORMED BY GALVANIC AGENCY.

Copper is more electro-negative than zinc, and separates more easily from ‘
its solution than a metal less negative. If, then, in order to obtain a deposit
of brass by galvanic means, we employ a solution containing the two com- : A

oN:

P.. CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 221
ponent metals, copper and zinc, in the proportions in which they would form
brass, there will only be produced by the action of the battery a deposit of
real copper; the zinc, more difficult of reduction, remains in solution. What
must be done, then, to obtain a simultaneous precipitate of the two metals in
the proportions required, is either to retard the precipitation of the copper, or
accelerate that of the zinc. This may be done by forming the bath with a
great excess of zinc, and very little copper. Dr. Heeren gives the following
proportions as having perfectly succeeded:—“ There are to be taken of the
sulphate of copper 1 part; warm water 4 parts; and then sulphate of zinc
8 parts; warm water 16 parts; cyanide of potassium 18 parts; warm water
36 parts.

Each salt is dissolved in its prescribed quantity of water, and the solutions
are then mixed; and therefore a precipitate is thrown down, which is either
dissolved by agitation alone, or by the addition of a little cyanide of potas-
sium; indeed it does not much matter if the solution be a little troubled.
After the addition of 250 parts of distilled water, it is subjected to the action
of two Bunsen elements, charged with concentrated nitric acid, mixed with
one tenth of oil of vitriol. The bath is to be heated to ebullition, and is in-
troduced into a glass with a foot, in which the two electrodes are plunged,
The object to be covered is suspended from the positive pole. The two
metallic pieces may be placed very near.

The deposit is rapidly formed if the bath be very hot; after a few minutes
there is produced a layer of brass, the thickness of which augments rapidly.
Deposits of brass have been obtained in this way on copper, zinc, brass, and
Britannia metal; these metals were previously well pickled. Iron may, prob-
ably, also be coated in this way; but cast iron is but ill adapted for this
operation.—London Mining Journal.

NEW PROCESS FOR ELECTRO-GILDING.

A new process for electro-gilding has been proposed by M. Briant, and
favorably reported on by the Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg. It con-
sists essentially in the substitution of the oxyd for the chloride of gold in the
preparation of the gilding bath, and in the employment of a very feeble ¢cur-
rent from a constant or sustaining battery. 802,88 grains of gold are to be
dissolved in nitric muriatic acid, and the solution evaporated, for the purpose
of obtaining the chloride of gold dry, and as free as possible from acid. The
chloride is then dissolved in 11 pounds of hot water, and 1,544 grains of well-
sifted magnesia added, and allowed to digest at a moderate temperature. The
oxyd of gold, when separated, is found in combination with the magnesia.
The magnesia, well washed, is then treated with water acidulated with nitric
acid, in the proportion of 3,759 grains of acid to 5 kilograms of water. The
magnesia is dissolved by the acid, leaving the simple hydrated oxyd of gold,
which is now thrown upon a filter and washed till quite free of acid.

It is with this oxyd of gold thus prepared that M. Briant proposes to form
his bath. He takes of yellow prussiate of potash 500 grains; of caustic pot-
_ ash 120 grains; water 5 kilograms. To this solution the oxyd of gold with
eS

ag

229 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

the filter is added, and the whole boiled for twenty minutes. The oxyd of — 4
gold dissolves, and there is formed at the same time a precipitate of sesqui-
oxyd of iron. It is allowed to cool, and is then filtered, by which a yellow
liquid fit for use is obtained. The objects to be gilded should be well cleaned,
and attached to the negative pole of an element of Daniell’s battery, while a
plate of platinum is attached to the positive pole. The gilding may be effected
either in a warm or cold solution; in the first case a deposit forms more rap-
idly, but with less delicacy. In order to obtain a durable deposit, analogous
to fire gilding, several hours are required. When the liquid is exhausted of
its gold, fresh oxyd is added, by which a further precipitation of oxyd of iron
is produced. The gilding obtained by this process admits of being burnished,
and of undergoing all the operations employed to produce mat, or dead gold.

One of the most difficult problems to solve in this branch of manufacture is
the production of dead surfaces. Its production in the ordinary way is always
accompanied with a loss of metal, inasmuch as it necessitates a system of cor-
rosion of the surface by chlorine. By Briants process a matted surface can
be obtained by galvanic agency not inferior to the best of Paris, while it does
not require any of the subsequent operations required in fire gilding. The
mat appearance is spontaneously produced as soon as the coating of gold has
acquired a certain thickness; it is most beautiful when the operation is car-
ried on in the cold. By a very simple artifice a more or less reddish tint, on
the one hand, or a whitish one on the other, is produced ; it is merely required
to dilute the bath with more or less water. When the objects to be gilded
are polished or brilliant, the electro-gilding will also be brilliant, and it re-
quires a longer time and a thicker coating of gold to produce a deadened sur-
face. It is therefore important to communicate, in the first instance, a dead-
ened surface to the objects by the process employed in fire-gilding; or, more
economically, by covering them at once with a thin pellicle of copper by the
electric agency, which, as is well known, produces a beautiful matted surface.
When any part of the object is to be protected from the action of the gilding
process, the choice of the substance to be used in “stopping out” these parts
is of importance, for it must be remembered that the bath is alkaline; for this
purpose plaster, impregnated with an alcoholic solution of lac isrecommended,
—Bulletin Société d Encouragement.

ARTIFICIAL PRODUCTION OF SILICATES AND ALUMINATES,

By bringing chloride of silicium and other volatile chlorides in contact with
lime and other bases at a red heat, decomposition occurs, and silicic acid is
produced and is deposited in crystals, either alone or in combination with the
bases present. By means of lime, magnesia, alumina or glucina, and chloride

of silicium, crystallized quartz is obtained in its usual form, and part of the —

base is converted into a silicate. With lime Wollastonite (table spar) is obtained
in rhombic tables, with two faces replacing the obtuse angles, exactly as in
the natural crystals. These tables are frequently united in the form of across,
like the crystals of staurotite. By means of magnesia, peridote is obtained, in
rectangular prisms. Alumina gives a silicate in long prisms with an oblique

°

:

q
;
4

*

ae:

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 223

base, which is not attacked by acids, is infusible, and has all the properties
of kyanite. It is interesting to observe that in this reaction chloride of alu-
minum is produced at the cost of the silicium.

In order to produce a double silicate, it is not enough to mix with two_

bases in the requisite quantity, but there must be an excess of one of them in

‘order to supply the requisite amount of oxygen to the silicon. In this way a
mixture of lime and magnesia yields colorless and transparent crystals of
‘augite (diopside). By a mixture of seven equivalents of potash or soda, and
‘one of alumina, or one of alkali, one of alumina, and six of lime, erystals of the
form and characters of feldspar are obtained. By using different bases, and
modifying their proportions, crystallized Willemite (silicate of zine), idocrase,
garnet, phenakite, emerald, euclase, and zircon are obtained. By making a
mixture corresponding to the constituents of magnesia, tourmaline and iron,
and magnesia tourmaline, adding excess of lime or magnesia, and exposing
the whole to the chloride of silicium, in addition to rock crystal, very distinet
hexagonal prisms with all the properties of tourmaline were obtained. By
passing chloride of aluminum over red-hot lime, crystals of alumina, corre-
sponding to the two well-known forms of corundums, were obtained. When
magnesia is used, the silicic acid unites with the excess, and crystals of spin-
elle are produced. A mixture of chloride of zinc and aluminum, brought in
contact with lime, produces gahnite. Chloride of titanium, acting on lime,
produces titanic acid in the form of Brookite. Chloride of tin gives the crys-
tallized oxyd. Chloride of iron gives specular iron ore, and if mixed with
chloride of zine, Franklinite is produced. Chloride of magnesium gives crys-
tallized magnesia, exactly similar to the periclase of Monte Somma.

The result of these experiments lead to many interesting conclusions. They
show us how such minerals as augite, garnet, epidote, axinite, and many
ethers, which certainly can not have been produced by fusion, may be formed.
Indeed, the production of a large number of minerals may, with great proba-
bility, be attributed to the action of volatile chlorides and fluorides, and the
penetration of those into the fissures of limestone; and the very powerful ac-
tion of lime on these compounds may explain the abundance of silicates which
exist disseminated through many limestones. Minerals, such as spinelle,
chondrodite, mica, augite, amphibole, serpentine, etc., are frequently found in
limestones which contain no magnesia, and this hitherto unexplained fact may
be due to the difference in the chemical affinities of lime and magnesia; for it
is observable that in all these experiments chloride of magnesium is decom-
posed by them. Many other obscure facts may also be explained by reference
to these researches, which are of very great mineralogical interest—JZ Dau-
bree. Comptes Rendus, v. XXxix, p..135.

ON THE ELECTRO-CHEMICAL EXTRACTION OF METALS FROM
THE HUMAN ORGANISM.

During the past year great success has attended the workings of a plan de-
vised by M.M. Vergnes and Poey, for extracting metallic compounds from
the human system by means of chemico-electricity. The arrangement of the

<a

224 — ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

bath is as follows:—The patient is plunged to the neck into a metallic bath
isolated from the ground, and is seated with the legs horizontal on a wooden
bench of the whole length of the body, which is also isolated from the bath.
The water is acidulated with nitric or hydrochloric acid for the extraction of
mercury, silver, or gold, and with sulphuric acid for lead. The patient being
in the bath, one end of the bath is put in contact with the negative pole of the
battery by means of a binding screw, and he is made to take the positive pole
sometimes in the right and sometimes in the left hand. The arm is sustained
by means of supports in connection with the bench. The patient being thus
placed, the current enters the body, circulates from the head to the foot, and
is neutralized on the sides of the bath at the negative pole. Being isolated
from direct contact with the negative pole, his body radiates in the bath the
electricity which forms in it, a multitude of currents issuing from the entire
surface, after having traversed the internal organs, and even the bones, to be
neutralized on the negative side of the bath.

ON THE ELECTRO-CHEMICAL TREATMENT OF ORES OF SILVER,
LEAD, AND COPPER, BY M. BECQUEREL.

This electro-chemical process consists in preparing the ores in such a man-
ner that the resulting compounds of silver and lead (in operating upon galena)
may be soluble in a saturated solution of common salt; these compounds are
chloride of silver and sulphate of lead. When the solution is made it is put
into a wooden reservoir, when the decomposition of the metallic salts is ef-
fected with couples formed of plates of zinc and tinned iron, or copper, of
masses of calcined charcoal, cr even of plates of lead and the same negative
elements. The plates of zinc or lead are placed in bays of sail-cloth filled
with a saturated solution of salt, which are immersed in the metallic solution ;
the other plates are put into the latter, and the communication established
between them by means of wires. With plates of zinc a deposit of very fine
particles of all the reducible metals is obtained on the negative plates. With
lead plates the deposit consists of silver in greater or less purity, according to
‘the proportion of lead in the solution. Wooden boxes, steamed for the re-
moval of all extractive substances, are better than the sail-cloth bays; or
porous earthen vessels may be employed, filled with fragments of amalgamated
zine and mercury. The action is then more regular, and ‘the quantity of zinc
consumed is in atomic proportion with that of the deposited metals. By
varying the constitution of the voltaic couples, each of the metals contained in
the solution may be successively separated.

This process has been tried on a large scale, and is stated to be especially
applicable to the working of silver ores, not only in the case of the positive
want of mercury, but even when the price of that metal becomes rather high,
—Abridged from the Comptes Rendus, June, p. 1095, Chemical Gazette, No.

286. . TO a

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. O9fee..

_ NEW PROCESS FOR THE DETERMINATION OF COPPER IN MIN-
_—sERALS AND ARTIFICIAL PRODUCTS, BY M. RIVOT.

aoe te

_ -The author having found that all the principal processes for the determina
tion of copper in minerals and alloys were liable to error, has adopted a new
- method, which is founded on the insolubility of the sulpho-cyanide of copper
Oy S? Cu’, and the great solubility of the sulpho-cyanides of all the other
_ metals in acid fluids. It consists in the three following operations :—
1, All the metals contained in the substance under examination are dis-
solved in hydrochloric acid, avoiding the use of oxydating agents.

2. The salt of copper is brought to a minimum by means of a reducing
agent (hypo-phosphorous or sulphurous acid), and a dilute solution of sulpho-
cyanide of potassium is poured into it; this immediately precipitates the
copper alone.

3. The metal is determined by drying the sulpho- -cyanide thus obtained at
a moderate heat. The determination may be checked by converting the
sulpho-cyanide into sulphuret of copper by fusion with a little sulphur in a
porcelain crucible, from which the air must be excluded.

This process may be simplified when the substance to be examined contains
no metals (besides copper) precipitated by sulphuretted hydrogen. In this
case the solution of all the metals is affected by muriatic acid, and the copper
precipitated by sulphuretted hydrogen. The precipitate is converted into
sulphuret of copper by fusion with a little sulphur.— Comptes Rendus, p. 865,
1854.

SEPARATION OF COBALT FROM NICKEL.

Liebig has found that when a current of chlorine is passed into a cold solu-
tion of the double cyanides of cobalt and potassium and of nickel and _ potas-
sium, the liquid being kept alkaline by the addition of caustic soda or potash,
the nickel is completely converted into sesqui-oxyd and precipitated, while the
cobalt remains in solution as unaltered double cyanid. The sesqui-oxyd of
nickel may be washed and ignited, and the nickel weighed in the form of
protoxyd; it is perfectly free from cobalt. The solution, after passing the
chlorine, must still be alkaline. The smallest trace of nickel gives an inky
black color when dissolved in cyanid of potassium, and treated with chlorine.
This method of separating cobalt and nickel has, perhaps, some advantages
over Liebig’s second method, which, it will be remembered, consists in boiling
double cyanids with oxyd of mercury, which precipitates the nickel but not
the cobalt.

IODO-NITRATE OF SILVER.

This substance, the active principle in the collodion photographic process,
has been found to be a definite compound of the iodide and the nitrate of
silver, its composition being represented by Ag O, NO5 + Ag I; it is
blackened on exposure to light much more rapidly than either of its ingredients
alone. It is unaffected by and insoluble in absolute alcohol, but is decom-

10*

226 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

posed by water. Its proper solvent is a concentrated solution of nitrate of
silver. It may be obtained in regular crystals. Photographic silver baths
which have been for some time in use always contain a portion of this com-
pound, the reason of their superiority to those more recently prepared.
Chloride and bromide of silver do not yield similar double salts, which ex- 2
plains why negative photographs on bromide of silver alone are deficient in
intensity.

SPONGY METALS.

M. Chenot has often remarked that in compressing spongy iron, the pro-
duction of a harsh sound accompanied the rupture of the molds employed.
Very recently, in compressing spongy silicium, this fact was reproduced in a
very marked manner. Three gram’s of silicium in the spongy state having
been submitted to a pressure equal to 300 atmospheres, it exploded with a
fearful noise—the fragments of steel from the broken matrix, entered many
millimeters into a plate of cast iron, and the body of the hydraulic press,
which was 20 centimeters in thickness, was broken, and this although the
safety valve was open, thus showing the sudden violence of the shock. The
action was entirely from above, downward, since no portion of the upper part
of the compressed metal in this case suffered.

ON THE DETECTION OF MANGANESE.

The following paper has been read before the Royal (English) Society by
Edmund Davy, Esq. :

Manganese is chiefly found combined with oxygen, but its oxyds are com-
monly mixed with those of iron, and though different methods of separating
them have been recommended, yet no very simple or unobjectionable test for
manganese seems to be known. Two methods for detecting manganese are
recommended—viz., 1. The pure hydrated fixed alkalies, potash and soda,
and especially potash. 2. Sulphur. With regard to the first method. Though
the compound chameleon mineral, made by strongly heating niter or potash
and peroxide of manganese together, has long been known, yet it appears
hitherto to have escaped observation that potash seems to be a more delicate
test of manganese than any other known substance. The use of potash in
this way is simple and easy; it is employed in solution; equal weights of the
alkali and water form a fluid well adapted for the purpose; different metals
may be used in the form of slips on which to make experiments, but a, prefer-
ence is given to silver foil, as it is less acted qn by alkalies than platina, and
is more readily cleaned. A slip of such. foil, about two or three inches in
length and half an inch wide, answers well. Solids, to be examined for
manganese, are finely pulverized; fluids require no preparation; the smallest
portion of ether is mixed with a drop or part of a drop of the alkali on the
foil and heated by a spirit-lamp (for many experiments a candle affords sufficient
heat), when on boiling the alkali to dryness and raising the heat, the charac-
teristic green manganate of potash will appear on the foil. The delicacy of
the alkali as a test thus applied will be obvious on using the most minute por-

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 227

tions of manganese ores in fine powder, and the author’s son, Dr. E. W. Davy,

y “readily detected manganese in a single drop of a solution containg one grain

of solid sulphate in ten thousand grains of water. The presence of other
-oxyds does not appear to impair the efficacy of this test. A strong solution
of hydrate of soda in water, used in a similar manner, affords an excellent
‘test for manganese, little inferior in delicacy to potash, but the latter is shown
to be preferable. Carbonate of soda has long -been regarded as one of the
most delicate tests of manganese, especially if aided by a little nitrate or
chlorate of potash; but that carbonate is much inferior as a test for manga-
nese to potash or soda, requiring a far higher temperature to form the manga-
nate of soda, and the aid of oxydizing substances, as niter and chlorate of
potash, which are quite unnecessary with those alkalies. Borax, too, in point
of delicacy is not to be compared with the fixed alkalies as a test for manga-
nese. The author is of opinion that the fixed alkalies in solution and silver
foil will form a valuable addition to the agents employed by the mineralogist and
chemist in the examination of minerals, ores, &c. 2. Sulphur.—lf a little
flower of sulphur be mixed with about its own bulk of the common peroxide
of manganese, and exposed on a slip of platina foil to a red heat, sesqui-
oxyd, sulphuret, and sulphate of manganese will be formed, and by continu-
ing the heat for a short time, an additional quantity of the sulphate will be
produced from the sulphuret. On treating the mass with water and filtering
the fluid, a solution of sulphate of manganese will be obtained, which will
yield a white precipitate with the ferro-cyanide of potassium, without a trace
of iron. Similar experiments may be made with any manganese ores, or with
substances known or suspected to contain manganese. The quantity of ma-
terials operated on may be increased or diminished at pleasure; but if in-
creased, the heat should be continued a little longer, to decompose any re-
maining sulphuret, and thus add to the quantity of sulphate formed. In.the
same way manganese was detected in some minerals in which it was known
to exist, and in others in which it had not been previously found; likewise in
soils and subsoils, in the ashes of coal and peat, in a number of pigments, and
also in the ashes of different fabrics partially dyed brown by manganese.
Sulphate of manganese is formed, with sulphuret, when sulphurous acid gas
is made by heating a mixture of peroxide of manganese and flowers of sul-
phur, even in close vessels. The sulphate may also be more readily obtained,
in quantity, by simply boiling a solution of common green vitriol in water for
about a quarter of an hour or upward, in contact with an excess of sesqui-
oxide of manganese in fine powder, till the solution affords a white precipitate
with ferrocyanide of potassium. Chloride of manganese may also be formed
in a similar manner by boiling an aqueous solution of protochloride of iron
with an excess of sesquioxyd, or it may be made with greater facility by dis-
solving this oxyd in the common muriatic acid of commerce, taking care that
the oxyd be present in excess. The brown sesquioxyd of magnesia may be
made, not only by means of sulphur, but more readily and better by mixing
the common peroxyd with about one third of its weight of peat-mold, saw-
dust, or starch, and exposure to ared heat in an open crucible, with occa-
sional stirring for about a quarter of an hour, or until the oxyd acquires a

228 . ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

uniform brown color. The sulphate and chloride of manganese being exten-.

sively used in dyeing, calico-printing, and other arts, and in making the com-
pounds of manganese, the simple means stated of forming those salts, free
from iron (it is presumed), are material improvements on the circuitous meth-
ods hitherto adopted.

ON THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL.

In a recent communication to the Boston Society of Natural History, on
the nfanufacture of steel, Dr. C. Y. Jackson stated, that when iron is mingled
with a considerable proportion of manganese, a brittle compound results; but
when combined with avery small proportion of manganese, a steel of very fine
quality is obtained, which has this advantage over carbon steel: carbon steel
becomes coarse when tempered in thick masses, from segregation of the par-
ticles of carbon, but no such trouble arises with manganesian steel. Parties
in England have lately introduced excellent wire for piano-forte strings, made
of this kind of steel, as well as for cutting instruments and other purposes.
In the wire Dr. Jackson has found 1-12 per cent. of manganese, and has es-
tablished the fact that it resists, to a very remarkable degree, the action of
hydrochloric acid. Sixteen years since Franklinite iron was manufactured by
Mr. Osborn into very hard and fine steel. This steel required tempering at
a lower heat than carbon steel. Many of our manganesian irons might be
manufactured into steel by the simple process of fusion, and a steel of uniform
ebaracter might be made without previous cementation with carbon. Man-
ganesian iron ore is reduced to pure iron, or “ comes to nature,” in the lan-
guage of the workmen, with much greater rapidity than carbon iron; hence
the two metals are often mixed to “come to nature” at a good time, requiring
less care and watchfulness on the part of the workmen. Manganesian iron
makes the best bar iron.

RUNDLE’S METHOD OF SEPARATING GOLD.

In a letter to the London Mining Journal, J. H. Rundle of the Colonial
Gold Works, at Rotherhithe, states that mercury, in the separation of gold
from auriferous sands, unites with it in varying quantities. The quantity of
gold absorbed by mercury depends, he says, on the following conditions:
first, the more or less finely divided state of gold in the ore; second, the
length of time during which the mercury remains in contact with it; third,
the temperature at which the amalgamation is conducted; fourth, the pres-
ence of other metals in the amalgam.

_ The following method of separating gold from mercury, when the latter by
assay is found too rich, is employed: The mercury, after being strained, is
assayed; granulated zinc, previously cleaned with dilute sulphuric acid, is then
added to it. As soon as the zinc is completely amalgamated, which takes
place in a few hours, the mercury is well stirred and restrained; a solid
amalgam is obtained, containing, practically speaking, the whole of the gold,
and the greater part of the zinc which has been added. The proportion of

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 229

_ gine necessary is about 3 of the weight of the gold to be extracted, that is,
an equivalent of zinc to one of gold. With less the whole of the gold is not
obtained. If more than an equivalent be employed, the mercury retains a
considerable quantity of zinc; the difficulty of refining gold is also increased.
When the object is to extract ali the gold, it is advisable to use a small ex-
cess of zinc, as there are generally traces of other metals in the mercury
which interferes with the uniformity of the results.

IMPROVEMENTS IN PUDDLING IRON.

The following improvements in puddling iron have been patented in En-
gland, by James Nasmyth, the well-known inventor. The improvements con-
sist in the disengagement of the carbon from the molten metal in the puddling-
furnace, by subjecting it to the action of currents of steam, introduced as near
as possible at the lowest portion of the molten metal; thence diffused upward
so as not only to mechanically agitate the metal, and thereby expose fresh
surfaces to the action of the oxygen of the air passing through the furnace,
but also to remove the sulphur and other deleterious substances in the iron,
by thus making the oxygen of the air, and also the hydrogen of the water,
combine with and carry them off in the state of gas. It is stated that this
process shortens the period of puddling, and greatly improves the character
of the iron, rendering it tough and strong to a remarkable degree. The steam
is introduced by a pipe under the molten metal, and the supply of it shut off,
when, in the judgment of the operative puddler, the metal has been suf-
ficiently decarbonized. The patentee states that water may be forced under
the surface of the metal to produce the same effects: but this would cause ex-
‘plosions; small quantities, however, he says, would be equivalent to steam.
The steam is not used for about five minutes after the metal is melted. Care
must be exercised not to use it too long, or the oxygen of the steam will unite
with the iron and form an oxyd.

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TYPE.

An English patent has been granted to J. R. Johnson for improvements in
the manufacture of type, which consist in employing tin in the place of lead,
mixed with antimony. The advantage gained is, that the type produced is
so hard, tough, and enduring, that they allow of being used as a punch on
the ordinary type-metal. Type so prepared preserve their faces sharp for a
great length of time, and in the end prove more economical than the cheaper
alloy of lead and antimony. The proportions used by the patentee are 75
parts of tin to 25 of antimony, but this may be to some extent varied. When
lead is also used, it must not exceed 50 parts in 100 of the combined metals
employed ; for if the lead be employed in much larger quantity an alloy is
formed which approaches ordinary type-metal in properties, notwithstanding
the presence of a large per centage of tin.— Chemical Gazette, May 1, 1855.

Another composition for type-metal has been recently patented in Bavaria,

The principal constituent is zinc to which the requisite properties are given

230 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

by the addition of tin, lead, and copper. The following proportions are reco.
mended: 89 to 93 parts of zine, 3 to 6 parts of tin, 2 to 4 parts of lead, and
2 to 4 parts of copper.

DETECTION OF PHOSPHORIC ACID IN ROCKS.

The solution of phosphate of lime in fused chlorides of sodium, and its
Separation on cooling, furnish an excellent means of detecting minute quanti-
ties of phosphoric acid in rocks, etc. For this purpose the powdered sub-
stance is heated with 50 per cent. of chloride of sodium, which, when the
substance is tolerably fusible, separates from the silicates as an upper layer.
When the substance is not fusible, the chloride of sodium remains partially

mixed with it, in cavities distributed throughout the mass, and presenting .

after the solution of the chloride a remarkable similarity to the vesicular cav-
ities of amygdaloid. The small crystals of apatite generally project like hairs
from the surfaces of the partially dissolved mass, and being soluble in very
dilute hydrochloric or nitric acid, they may be collected by that means and
estimated. The author has in this way detected phosphoric acid in green-
stone belonging to the primitive and transition formations of Scotland: in
the greenstone occurring as boulders in the more recent formations; in that
of the trap formation of Greenland; in the basalt of Steinheim; in a coarse
granular basalt or lava from Iceland; in three varieties of gneiss and granite
from Bornholm, and in two varieties of mica schist. From one Bornholm
granite, remarkably fine and distinct cryst@ls of apatite were obtained. The
observation made some years ago by Fownes of the presence of phosphoric
acid in rocks thus gains further confirmation, in addition to the testimony of
Swanberg and Struves.— Correspondent Edinburg Journal.

ACTION OF WATER AND AIR ON BASALT,

Bensch having ground a quantity of basalt to a fine powder with water on
a porphyry slab, left it for some months in a beaker glass, covered with paper.
At the end of that time it was found to have been converted into a mass so
hard as to require a smart blow of a hammer to break it. Its fracture was
similar to that of the natural basalt, and the interior consisted of a black core,
having a waxy luster, and surrounded by a less compact gray mass. By
longer exposure to the air, an efflorescence of carbonate of potash appeared
on the surface, and 18 per cent. was extracted by water. The specific
gravity of the basalt was 2°887, and after extraction of the carbonate of
potash, the internal portion of the altered basalt had a specific gravity of
2°1588; that of the external portion was 2°0423. There is no doubt that a
hydrate must have been formed in this case, and the observation may serve to
throw some light on the changes which take place in the weathering of rocks.
—Annalen der Chimie und Pharmacie, v. xci., p. 234.

SEPARATION OF BROMINE FROM IODINE.

Balard’s process gives a method of recognizing traces of iodine, and at the
same time separating it from bromine, with which it is so often associated.

Se Se a ae

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 231

It is based partially on the greater affinity of bromine for the metals, and
partially on the violet color which iodine communicates to the sulphuret of
carbon. The matter is treated with potash (or carbonate of potash, which
may be more easily obtained pure and free from chlorine); it is evaporated
and calcined to transform the bromate into bromid; it is then neutralized by
means of an acid; the liquid is put into a test tube, and a drop of sulphuret
of carbon is introduced, after which a drop or two of bromine, dissolved in
distilled water, is added; it is then agitated, and if there is iodine present,
the sulphuret of cobalt is colored violet. It is colored yellow by bromine.
It is important to avoid an excess of bromine, lest it form a bromid of iodine,
which does not act. I have tried the process, and found it exact nearly to a
tenth of a milligram of iodine.—WNickles’s Correspondence, Silliman’s Journal.

ISOLATION OF FLUORINE.

M. Fremy, of France, has continued his investigations during the past
year on the isolation of fluorine. By causing a powerful galvanic current to
act upon fused fluoride of potassium, an odorous gas was generated, which,
on disengagement from the mouth of the retort, decomposed water, producing
hydrofluoric acid. This gas, there is every reason to believe, was fluorine.

FLUORINE IN THE SCALES OF FISHES.

At a recent meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, Dr. C. T.

Jackson communicated some chemical researches which he had recently made
on the composition of the scales of the gar-pike. He stated that he had dis-
sovered fluorine as one of their components, and had etched glass with the
fluo-hydric acid, eliminated from the ashes of the scales by the action of sul-
phuric acid. The analysis was yet incomplete, but he would state that the
seales contain 45.2 per cent. of animal matter, destructible by heat, and that
the mineral matters consist of phosphate of lime, fluoride of calcium, and
phosphate of magnesia, with some carbonate of lime. The proportion of lime,
in 100 grains of the ashes, was 45.1 per cent., and of magnesia 8.8 per cent.,
while the phosphoric acid, already separated in this preliminary or qualitative
analysis, was 29.96 per cent.
_ Dr. Jackson remarked that the search for fluorine was suggested by an
idea communicated to him by M. C. Girard, that the scales of fishes were
“supposed to be anatomically homologous with the enamel of teeth,” an idea
that now is sustained by chemical analogy.

ON THE PRODUCTION OF BORACIC ACID AND AMMONIA BY
VOLCANIC ACTION. BY ROBERT WARRINGTON, F.C.S.

The simultaneous occurrence of boracic acid and ammonia in the neighbor-
hood of volcanoes has been frequently observed, and its cause has given rise
to a good deal of speculation, although no very definite conclusions have as
yet been arrivedat. Someinformation and specimens received from the Island

232, ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

of Vulcano, which is situated about twelve miles north of Sicily have enabled

me to make a few experiments, which, though not so complete as I could —

have wished, appear to throw some light upon this point. “The height of

the volcanic mountain is estimated at about 2,000 feet, and its crater is about

700 feet deep. The area at the bottom, which may be about ten acres in ex-
tent, is covered with small, loose pieces of limestone, just as though it had
been Macadamized, and the ground is so hot as rapidly to destroy the leather
of the shoes. On thrusting a thermometer between the stones, it indicated, at
different points, temperatures varying from 250° to 500° Fahrenheit. On looking
over this area from the top of the crater, one side of it appeared as if covered
over with beautifully-white drifted snow. On reaching the spot, however, this
white appearance was found to be caused by a deposit of finely-crystallized
boracie acid. On removing this incrustation, which formed a layer of about
an inch in thickness, and digging with a pick-ax, there spumed up a mass of
red-hot fused lava, similar in appearance to the slag of a glass-house; this
consists of fused saline matters in cohesion with volcanic debris. In other
parts of the crater there are holes like foxes’ holes, from which blue jets of
volcanic flame Pre issuing continually, and a deposition of sulphur occurs all
around.

“The boracic acid rises in vapor, and condenses on the surface of the ground
at the kottom of the crater like a light drifted snow; and when gathered up,
the surface becomes covered again with sublimed acid in two or three days.
To ascertain this point more decidedly, some hogshead casks, having their
heads removed, were filled with broom-plants and twigs, aud were placed over
yarts of the area from which the boracic acid had been carefully cleared away.
{n a few days the acid had been vaporized into them, and had deposited in
srystals like hoar-frost all over the twigs. On digging down for about eight
mches, wherever this boracic acid occurs on the surface, a red-hot mass of sal-
ammoniac is always found; sulphur comes up also with these. This volcano
is said to realize to the proprietors about £1,000 per annum. The products
are sulphur, from fusing the stone; sal-ammoniac, from the lixiviation of the
scoria or lava; and boracic acid, large quantities of which are reported to be
obtained annually from this source. The sides of the volcano are of sulphur-
stone, and brimstone is dug up all around for miles. The mountains producs
also alum, which exists in the schistose rocks; and there are likewise large
beds of lignite; but nowhere do we find sal-ammoniac or boracic acid, either
at Vulcano or in Tuscany, separate from one another. Had they done so, we
should certainly have found traces of it somewhere, but, so far as I know, this
has never been observed; and it is cértain that, at Vulcano, whenever the
acid lying on the surface is removed, the melted matter underneath is found
to contain salts of ammonia. It follows, therefore, that they must both be
produced from one and the same stratum, in which they occur in some form
of combination, from which they are separated by heat. In what substance
can they exist together ?”

An examination of the sublimate scraped from the surface of the crater,
shows that the ammoniacal salt was not a portion of the fused mass mentioned,
but had been obtained by its lixiviation and subsequent crystallization. The

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 233

__ boracie acid, however, was in the state in which it was found, and had the
form of white glistening scales of a nacreous luster, tinged in parts with
traces of adherent sulphur, and possessing a greasy, talcose feel. It was, in
the first instance, boiled with diluted hydrochloric acid, allowed to become
clear by subsidence, and the solution decanted from the undissolved portion.
The latter was washed, to remove the adhering acid, and boiled with a weak
solution of caustic potash, without the least trace of ammonia being liberated.
The residue was collected, washed with distilled water, and dried. Some
caustic potash was next fused in a tube of hard glass, and, while in this state,
was found to yield no evidence of ammoniacal gas. A fragment of the dried,
white, insoluble residue was then dropped into the potash, and the fusion re-
peated. Strong evidence of the formation and liberation of ammonia was
at once indicated. It was obvious, from this experiment, that the ammonia
could not have been really formed in this substance, but must have been pro-
duced by some decomposition effected by the potash. These phenomena re-
call to mind the interesting compound of boron and nitrogen discovered in the
year 1842 by Mr. Balmain, who applied to it the name of Ethogen, and which
has since been examined by Professor Wohler. This compound is produced
by heating borax and ferrocyanide of potassium, in their anhydrous states, to
a full red-heat, in a covered crucible. The white, infusible, porous mass which
results from their action is washed with a large quantity of boiling water,
acidulated with hydrochloric acid. The nitrate of boron so obtained is insol-
uble in water and acids, even when concentrated; but when fused with
caustic potash, ammonia is copiously evolved, and if heated in a current of
steam to a moderate red-heat, it is entirely converted into boracic acid and
ammonia. These characters correspond with those of the white compound
examined, as far as the evolution of ammonia is concerned, but owing to the
small quantity at my disposal, I was unable to determine the presence of
boracic acid, or rather of boron, except by its peculiar phosphorescence before
_the blow-pipe flame. The existence of this compound in active volcanoes
would also explain in a satisfactory manner the simultaneous presence of
boracic acid and ammonia.

ON THE OCCURRENCE OF OXALATES IN THE MINERAL KINGDOM.
ANALYSIS OF TWO NEW SPECIES.

Dr. Heddle, in a communication to the Royal Society, Edinburg, describes
two new oxalates recently discovered in a copper mine of Westmoreland,
England. Two oxalates only have been previously known in the mineral
kingdom; the one an oxalate of iron, analyzed by Rammelesberg, and named
by him Humboldtine; the other an oxalate of lime called Whevwellite. In
regard to the new minerals, Dr. Heddle says, I found one to be an oxalate of
lime, differing from Whewellite in having six additional atoms of water of
crystallization. Associated with these white crystals was a purplish red sub-
stance, which appearing to me to be new, I submitted also to analysis, when
it proved to be an oxalate of potash, with ten atoms of water of crystallization.
‘The color was due to some oxalate of cobalt. It is always desirable that a

234 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

mineralogist should be able to account for the occurrence of every substance
which comes under his notice. This is more especially the case when the sub-
stance is of an organic nature, and in general we have little difficulty in satis-
factorily explaining even such occurrences. The mineral Humboldtine, for in-
stance, being found either imbedded in lignite, or associated with decomposing
succulent plants, leaves no room for doubting that, as it is organic in its matrix,
so also it is organic in its origin. I am afraid, however, that our ingenuity
will be taxed rather severely to account for the three other oxalates which
We are now acquainted with, two of these having been found deep in the
womb of the earth, associated with a metallic lode. I think there can be
little question that they are of secondary formation, having resulted in some
way or other from the operations connected with the working of the mine;
but I profess to be perfectly unable to offer any explanation which appears
even to myself to be satisfactory. One theory has been brought forward—a
theory which I can not but dissent from; it is that the minerals were origin-
ally bi-carbonates—that metallic potassium having been brought into contact
with them, an atom of oxygen was abstracted, the result being necessarily ox-
alates. This does not appear satisfactory; neither bi-carbonate of lime or of
potash have yet been found in nature; and I can not place myself among
those who, whenever they wish to account for volcanic action, or to get out
of any difficulty, call in the aid of metallic potassium. I am very far from
thinking that no satisfactory theory can be brought forward, but I am content
for the present to look upon the occurrence of these oxalates as one of many
proofs that as yet we know but too little of the operations carried on in
nature’s laboratory. The first of these minerals has been named Conistonite,
from the locality; and the second Heddlite, after the analyst.

ON THE COMPOSITION AND PREPARATION OF WRITING
INKS.

The following is an abstract of a paper recently read before the Society of
Arts, Edinburg, by Dr. J. Stark:

The author stated that in 1842 he commenced a series of experiments on
writing inks, and up to this date had manufactured 229 different inks, and
had tested the durability of writings made with these on all kinds of paper.
As the result of his experiments, he showed that the browning and fading of
inks resulted from many causes, but in ordinary inks chiefly from the iron be-
coming peroxygenated and separating as a heavy precipitate. Many inks,
therefore, when fresh made, yielded durable writings; but when the ink be-
came old, the tannogallate of iron separated, and the durability of the ink was
destroyed. From a numerous set of experiments, the author showed that no
salt of iron and no preparation of iron equalled the common sulphate of iron
—-that is, the commercial copperas—for the purpose of ink making; and that
even the addition of any persalt, such as the nitrate or chloride of iron, though
it improved the present color of the ink, deteriorated its durability. The
author failed to procure a persistent black ink from manganese, or other metal
or metallic salt. The author exhibited a series of 18 inks which had either

cee ae ae ee

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=

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=

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CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 935

ia been made with metallic iron or with which metallic iron had been immersed,
and directed attent:on to the fact that though the depth and body of color

seemed to be deepened, yet in every case the durability of writings made with
such inks was so impaired that they became brown and faded in a few months.
The most permanent ordinary inks were shown to be composed of the best
blue gall nuts with copperas and gum, and the proportions found on experi-
ment to yield the most persistent black were six parts of best blue galls to
four parts of copperas. Writings made with such an ink stood exposure to
sun and air for twelve months without exhibiting any change of color; while
those made with inks of every other proportion or composition, had more or
less of their color discharged when similarly tested. This ink, therefore, if
kept from molding and from depositing its tannogallate of iron, would afford
writings perfectly durable. It was shown that no gall and logwooed ink was
equal to the pure gall ink in so far as durability in the writings was concerned.
All such inks lost their color and faded sooner than pure gall inks, and several
inks were exhibited which, though durable before the addition of logwood,
faded rapidly after logwood was added to them. Sugar was shown to have
an especially hurtful action on the durability of inks containing logwood—in-
deed, on all inks. Many other plain inks were exhibited, and their properties
described—as gallo-sumach ink, myrobalans ink, Range’s ink—inks in which
the tannogallate of iron was kept in solution by nitric, muriatic, sulphuric, and
other acids, or by oxalate of potash, chloride of lime, etc. The myrobalans
Was recommended as an ink of some promise for durability, and as the cheap-
est ink it was possible to manufacture. All ordinary inks, however, were
shown to have certain drawbacks, and the author endeavored to ascertain by
experiment whether other dark substances could be added to inks to impart
greater durability to writings made with them, and at the same time prevent
those chemical changes which were the cause of ordinary inks fading. After
experimenting with various substances, and among others, with Prussian blue
and indigo dissolved in various ways, he found the sulphate of indigo to fulfil
all the required conditions and, when added in the proper proportion to a
tannogallate ink, it yielded an ink which is agreeable to write with, which
flows freely from the pen, and does not clog it; which never molds, which,
when it dries on the paper, becomes of an intense pure black, and which does
not fade or change its color, however long kept. The author pointed out the
proper proportions for securing these properties, and showed that the smallest
quantity of the sulphate of indigo which could be used for this purpose was
eight ounces for every gallon of ink. The author stated that the ink he pre-
ferred for his own use was composed of twelve ounces of gall, eight ounces of
sulphate of indigo, eight ounces of copperas, a few cloves, and four or six
ounces of gum arabic, for a gallon of ink. It was shown that immersing iron
wire or filings in these inks destroyed their durability, as much as similar
treatment destroyed ordinary inks. He therefore recommended that all legal
deeds or documents should be written with quill pens, as the contact of steel
invariably destroys more or less the durability of every ink. The author con-
cluded his paper with a few remarks on copying inks and indelible inks, show-
‘ing that a good copying ink has yet to be sought for, and that indelible inks,

236 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. :

which will resist the pencilings and washings of the chemist and the forger,
need never be looked for.—London Artizan.

CLEANING AND RENOVATING COTTON WASTE.

Cotton waste, or the tangled and spoiled products of the cotton manufacture,
is extensively used in wiping all kinds of machinery, and is also deposited in
considerable quantities in the “boxes” of cars and locomotives, in which
sitaation it serves as a sponge for keeping the axle always sufficiently lubri-
cated. No other substance has been found so desirable as cotton waste for
this purpose, and the price of the article fluctuates slightly with the increasing
demand and variable supply ; but for the last few years has been about 9 to
94 cents per pound by the ton. i

Several efforts have been made to renovate and cleanse the old and satur-
ated waste, but until lately without success. The article has refused to |
assume a state fit for further service on machinery, and the expense of pre-
paring it for the paper manufacture has exceeded its final value. The Erie
_ Rail-road consumes in this manner ninety tons per annum, but a method has
lately been invented by Mr. Charles D. Cooper, a car-inspector in the employ
of that Company, which promises to revolutionize the wasting business
entirely. Mr. C. has erected a small establishment where this refuse material
may be completely regenerated at an expense of only about 14 cents per
pound. There are two species of foul waste—one, that which has been used.
for wiping machinery until its pores are pretty well filled with bad oil, iron
filings, chips and dust; the other, waste which has been kept saturated in
oil in an axle-box until the oleaginous fluid has become “gummy,” or hard
and sticky. The first class makes only clean waste, after going through the
necessary manipulations, but the box-waste makes oil and soap as well as
waste, so that what was originally a nuisance becomes, like a dead horse in
the hands of the Parisian dealers, a very considerable source of revenue. Box
waste is first subjected to a great compression in a hydraulic press, and the
drippings are, or may be, clarified into clear and transparent oil. The dry
mass is next treated with a suitable alkaline solution, and a kind of soap is
produced, which is, however, principally consumed at a later stage in washing
the fibrous material. Steam is liberally employed in warming, and the mass
is finally rinsed by machinery, dried, and “ picked” or beaten into a condition
actually superior for some purposes to the new material fresh from the mill

ON THE MANUFACTURE AND PROPERTIES OF GLYCERINE.

Mr. George Wilson, in a communication to the Royal Society, states that in
the course of a long series of experiments conducted on a large scale, he has
observed that the so-called neutral fatty bodies may be resolved, without
danger of injurious decomposition, into glycerine and the fatty acids, provided
that the still be maintained at a uniformly high temperature, and that a con- ;
tinuous current of steam be admitted into it. The temperature required for .
splitting the fats into their proximate elements varies with the nature of the

Ne Sa ee ee ee ee ee ee a NS Ke TT ST TS,

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 237

body itself, but all hitherto tried may be resolved into glycerine and fatty
acids at a temperature of 560° Fahrenheit, many at much below that temper-
ature. In the case of palm oil, cocoa-nut oil, fish oil, animal tallow, Japan
vegetable wax, and several others, they have yielded satisfactory results, the
fatty acid and glycerine distilling over together, but no longer in combination,
and separating in the receiving vessel. Mr. Wilson enumerates the properties
of glycerine as follows:—It has a taste like sugar; is applicable to the cure of
burns, rheumatism, and ear-diseases; it is a substitute for cod-liver oil, and
also for spirits of wine; also for the preservation of flesh; and can be applied
to photography, and preserving animals in their natural colors.

In regard to the application of glycerine to medicine, MM. Cap and Garot
have recently published some interesting statements. Glycerine may be used
in preparation of pharmaceutical preparations to great advantage, in the place
of every variety of oils or fatty bodies, whose use presents many inconye-
niences in external application. Thus oil does not dissolve, except perhaps in
very small proportions, the metallic salts, or those with a metalloid base. It
combines or decomposes in contact with the alkalies or more powerful acids.
When we endeavor to make it act on fresh plants, it removes very little but
chlorophyl and some aromatic principles, but nothing is less certain than its
action on the active principles. The vegetable juices, extracts, gums, sugar
and tannin are insoluble in it. Moreover, all fatty bodies present disadvan-
tages in surgical practice. Their application soils apparatus, and renders
wounds more difficult to cleanse. Oils, pomades are liable to become rancid
and injured by simple contact with the air. But glycerine presents none of
these inconveniencies. Its solvent power with respect to the metalloids, the
salts, and neutral organic bodies, equals, if not surpasses, that of water or
alcohol. In prescriptions it will unite with either aqueous or alcoholic liquids.
It is not likely to become rancid or spoiled. Finally, in surgical practice it
has this valuable quality, that any wound may be cleansed, or bathed with
either tepid or cold water; all topical applications of which glycerine forms
the vehicle, being so very soluble.

Gum Arabic is very soluble in glycerine. One part of glycerine and three
parts of powdered gum form a thick mixture which spread on cloth or paper,
adheres well and possesses a suppleness which remains unchanged by con-
tact with the air. Five parts of glycerine and one of powdered gum form a
transparent mucilage of a good consistence. By varying the proportions of
this mixture gum plasters may be prepared which retain their suppleness, and
into the composition of which various medicinal extracts may be introduced.
For instance, a little glycerine added to the gummy mixture used for the
preparation of court-plaster renders the latter flexible and prevents it from
cracking. Collodion, which of late has come into extensive use, has one
great mconvenience, that of drying too rapidly, and contracting the tissues on
which it is applied, and cracking. In a word, it is wanting in flexibility and
elasticity. Glycerine dissolves in collodion to a sufficient extent to overcome
the difficulty. 100 parts of collodion and 2 of glycerine give a perfect prepa
ration for surgical uses.

The following are the conclusions given respecting the solvent action of

238 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

glycerine :—1st. Its solvent action approaches that of dilute alcohol more
nearly than that of distilled water. 2d. In general those bodies are most
soluble in glycerine which are most soluble in alcohol. 3d. In most cases
the solvent power of alcohol is superior to that of glycerine; in some
others their power is nearly equal, and in the case of strychnia, it possesses a
greater solvent action. It must also be remembered that glycerine adds.to
any compound of which it forms a part, nothing but innocent, if not softening
and sedative properties, whereas alcohol has very active properties, which, in
certain cases, would be very injurious.

COAL-TAR AND ITS PRODUCTS.

At a recent meeting of the London Society of Arts, Mr. Grace Calvert gave
the following somewhat detailed account of the substance known as coal-tar,
and the many and curious products which science, within the last few years,
has extracted from it:—Coal-tar, as is well known, is the product left in gas-
works in the condensers, being formed with the gas from coal, and afterward
deposited from the gas upon cooling. This substance was generally sold to
the tar distillers, who obtained from it a volatile fluid called coal naphtha, a
light oil, composed principally of carbonic acid and a heavy oil of tar, a solid
substance, called pitch, being also left in the retort. Coal-tar has of late years
been used in paving. When this substance, together with tar and asphalte,
is heated, and poured while in a liquid state upon gravel, between the inter-
stices of the paving stones, the whole is bound together so durably, as not to
require repaving for several years. There is, however, this important sanitary
advantage connected with this plan, namely, that no impure matter nor stag-
nant water can percolate through this impervious pavement and collect be-
neath, giving forth noxious effluvia, to the injury of the health of the inhab-
itants. This pitch, when submitted to distillation in retorts, yields a porous
but at the same time a dense coke, and the oils distilled in the operation can
be employed to advantage for lubricating machinery. Coal-tar has also been
applied, when mixed with gutta-percha or India-rubber, to insulate telegraph
wires, and prevent metals from being acted upon by the atmosphere. One
of the first products which comes over in the distillation of tar is a mixture
of very volatile hydro-carbons, which has received the name of crude naphtha,
and this, when again distilled, is sold under the name of naphtha. When it
is intended to apply this product to more particular purposes, it is purified by
mixing it with 10 per cent. of its bulk of concentrated sulphuric acid; and
when the mixture is cold, about 5 per cent. of peroxyd of manganese is added,
and the upper portion submitted to distillation. The rectified naphtha found
in the receiver has a specific gravity of 0°85. This substance is used to dis-
solve caoutchouc. Rectified naphtha is also used for mixing with wood
naphtha, to render the latter more capable of dissolving resins for the produc-
tion of cheap varnishes. This rectified naphtha, submitted to a series of
further purifications, has received from the eminent French chemist, named
Pelouze, the name of ‘‘benzoin” or ‘‘ benzole,” which has the property of re-
moving with great facility spots of grease, wax, tar, and resin, from fabrics

PT ee eee ee

~ CHEMICAL SCIENCE. . 239

and wearing apparel, without injuring the fabric, its color, or leaving any
permanent smell or mark, as is the case with turpentine. The numerous
uses to which this valuable product can be applied in manufactures renders
it of extensive employment in place of alcohol and other fluids which are,
generally speaking, too expensive for common commercial purposes.

As an instance, Mr. Calvert cited that in Yorkshire there was a large quan-
tity of wool dyed before it was spun, principally for carpet manufactures. It
was then necessary to oil this dyed slubbing-wool, as it is called ; and up to
the present time no means had been discovered of removing the oil without
injuring the color; and thus this oil remaining in the fabric materially injured
the brilliancy of the color, as well as rendered the carpets thus manufactured
liable to become sooner faded or dirty. Now, by the employment of benzole,
which has not the property of dissolving colors, the oil can be removed from
such fabrics, and the full brilliancy of the colors fixed on this slubbing-wool
can be restored. He also states that this benzole can be employed with ad-
vantage in photography, in removing the grease from daguerreotype plates.
When this benzole is treated with strong nitric acid, it gives rise to a sub-
stance called nitro-benzole, which is every day becoming more and more used
as a substitute for essence of bitter almonds, used in perfumery. It is thus
interesting to observe that, by the triumphs of chemistry, a delicious perfume
has been produced from the noxious smelling refuse of coal. The next pro-
ducts he mentions which are distilled from coal-tar, are those denominated
light oils of tar, which remain on the surface of water, and are applied, to-
gether with the heavy oils, to the preservation of wood from rotting. The
introduction of the fluid into wood is effected by placing the wood in close
iron tanks, exhausting the air, and then forcing the oil into the whole sub-
stance of the wood, under a pressure of from 100 to 150 lbs. to the square
inch. There exists in these light oils of tar a highly interesting product,
called tar kreasote, or carbolic acid, which possesses extraordinary antiseptic
properties: such, for example, as prevent the putrefaction of animal substances.
Mr. Calvert has applied it with success in preserving bodies for dissection,
and also in keeping the skins of animals intended to be stuffed. Owing to
its peculiar chemical composition, he has also employed it successfully in the
preparation of a valuable dye-stuff, called carboazotic acid, which gives mag-
nificent straw-colored yellows on silk and woolen fabrics. The carboazotie
acid, prepared from the above-mentioned substance, can be obtained very
pure, and at a cheap rate, thus enabling the dyer to obtain beautiful yellows
and greens, which are not liable to fade by exposure to the air, as is the case
with most of those colors when obtained from vegetable dyes. The advan-
tage of the acid so prepared is, that it is entirely free from oily or tarry sub-
stances which have the property of imparting a disagreeable odor to the dyed
fabrics. The intense bitter which this acid possesses induced him to have it
tried as a febrifuge; and Dr. Bell, of Manchester, has succeeded in curing
several cases of intermittent fever by its aid. Mr. Calvert has lately applied
carbolic acid in a manner that offers advantages to dyers and calico-printers.
Tt is well known that extracts made from tanning matters can not be kept for
any length of time without undergoing deterioration, in consequence of the

940 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

tanning matter which they contain becoming decomposed and transformed,
by a process of fermentation, into sugar and gallic acid: which acid, he has
ascertained, not only has no dyeing properties, but, on the contrary, that it is
injurious, from having a tendency to remove the mordants which are employed
to fix the colors on the cloth. It is also known that gallic acid possesses no
tanning properties. By adding a small quantity of carbolic acid to the ex-
tracts of tanning matter, they can in future be kept and employed by the dyer
as a substitute for the substance from which they are obtained, by which will
be gained the double advantage of saving labor and obtaining a better effect
from the tanning matters. The third substance which passes off in the distil-
lation of tar is called heavy oil of tar. This oil contains a singular organic
product, first discovered by Dr. Hofmann, of London, and called by him
“Kkyanol,” or ‘aniline,’ which possesses the property of giving, with bleach-
ing-powder and other agents, a magnificent blue color. This fact led Mr,
Calvert to observe that this last-mentioned substance, as well as carboazotie
and indigotic acids, being produced as well from indigo as from coal-tar, proves
the great similarity and chemical connection which exists between the pro-
ducts of these two substances, and induces him to believe it extremely prob-
able that these products will be employed within a few years as substitutes
for indigo and madder. Laurent has succeeded in obtaining two products
from naphthaline, which have a great analogy to the coloring principles of
madder. A substance, for instance, called chloronaphthalic acid, has the
same composition as the coloring matter of madder, and would be identical if
the hydrogen gas was substituted for the chlorine which the acid contains,
Hence the chloronaphthalic acid has the property of giving, with alkalies, a
most superior red color. When the coloring principle of madder is treated
with nitric acid, a substance called alizaric acid is obtained, which is identical
with a substance also obtained from naphthaline, called naphthalic acid.
Naphthaline is a solid, white substance, which distills in large quantities
during the distillation of tar. It is an interesting fact, that if coals are distilled
at a low temperature, the products obtained differ from those which are pro-
duced when coals are distilled at a high temperature, as is the usual custom
in the manufacture of gas. Without entering into all the details on this point,
he mentioned one of the most striking differences of results, namely, that in
place of the naphthaline, a valuable lubricating agent, called paraffine, a solid
substance, and a large quantity of carburetted hydrogens are also distilled,
which, being free from smell, are valuable for commercial purposes, and have
received the general name of paraffine oil, or, as Dr. Lyon Playfair remarked
in his report of the Great Exhibition of 1851, it is ‘liquified coal gas.” This
paraffine oil, when mixed with other oils, is now extensively used in cotton-
mills both in England and the United States. Solid paraffine is also obtained
in the distillation of peat, and is employed for manufacturing candles, there
being added to it about 20 per cent. of wax. These candles are remarkable
for their transparency and the pureness of their flame.

— = =.

ie

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 241

pier

Lait OILS FOR LUBRICATION.

ok ’
_ The procurement of a suitable oil or substace for the lubrication of mechan-

ism, is a subject of great importance. All pieces of machinery, the works of
man, are nothing less than inanimate bodies, imitations of the works of the
Creator, as displayed in the animate creation; and as is proved by practical
experience, the nearer the imitation of the one to the other, the nearer perfec-
tion is arrived at. Nature supplies all animals with a lubricating medium
between the solid parts of the joints, as well as the internal passages of the
body, to facilitate the motion of solids and fluids, and the outer covering of
animals is furnished with the same oily substance in quantity and quality
aecording to the density of the element in which they move, and the velocity
they maintain. Marine animals are striking instances of this. Every animate
being possesses the fullest facility of motion with the least muscular exertion,
thus all mechanism designed for motion must be governed by the same laws,
and its economy. can only be maintained on the same principles of giving
facility to motion, which can only be done by the purity and chemical proper-
ties contained in the oil or substance employed for lubrication. This theory
is most beautifully developed in that class of mechanism connected with our
cotton manufacture. The competition to which this business has been sub-
ject has brought such an amount of science to bear upon its economy as is
not to be met with in any other class. Science has brought every portion of
the mechanism of the cotton-mill under the strict laws of motion and force,
and the most scrutinizing tests are employed for ascertaining the facilitating
or the retarding influence any new oil may offer previous to its application.
By this course of study such an immense amount of motion is obtained from a
given power, and with a wearing of the parts so immeasurably small, that it
ean, only be equaled by motion in the natural body. The power or force
necessary to give to the spindle a revolution of three thousand per minute is
so infinitely small that it can scarcely be calculated. With the vast number
of separate bodies in motion, some of them moying with great rapidity, the
freedom from accidents, and the security to life and property in those estab-
lishments, is surprising. Cotton manufacturers consume the largest propor-
tion of the sperm oil imported, for which they pay a high price—a maiter,
however, of secondary importance, when the increase of power thereby pro-
duced is taken into consideration. This is the only class of mechanism upon
which artificial power has been properly developed, with the exception, per-
haps, of private carriages, where the power of the horse has been greatly
economized by the use of patent axles, giving stability and facility of motion,
and preventing the destructive influence of oscillation; thus lighter carriages
and cattle are employed, and the speed has been increased, with greater
security and at less cost. It is now considered economical to purchase the
most expensive oils for the axles even of town-caris. Railway and marine
machinery suffer greatly from friction, and its inseparable companion, oscilla-
tion. The laws that govern motion in the manufactory are precisely those
which ought to govern motion on the rail, but these two great interests

ll

242, ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

manage their mechanism on precisely opposite principles; hence the economy
of the one and the expensive character of the other. The difference appears
to be that the factory is worked with a view to individual profit, the other
for that of a company. ‘The ear of one is ever keenly open to the discoveries
of science, the other is ever closed, except it happens to flow through certain
fayored channels. A new era appears, however, to be dawning upon railway
machinery, as several of the English leading railway companies have accepted
the offer of some of their engine-drivers to work by contract. If this plan
should be liberally carried out by the companies, it will be the first step to-
ward the development of locomotive steam-power. The personal interest and
responsibility will ultimately work as great changes on the rail as the manu-
facturer has accomplished in his mill, and will lead to the same principles
being carried out in both classes of mechanism. When that is accomplished
it is impossible to say at what speed it may not be perfectly safe to travel,
and how much the cost may be reduced. The same remarks are applicable
to marine machinery, and if the substances employed as lubricating materials
by the large steam-ship companies were tested, it would be found difficult to
meet with substances offering greater resistance, and, in other respects, more
chemically unfitted for the purposes to which they are applied. The purity
of the oil supplied to the marine engine is of very great importance. The
large bearing surfaces exposed to friction, and the nature of the metallic
alloys of which they are composed (copper, zinc and tin) render them suscep-
tible of electrical influence, and that influence once exerted, is always Hable
to a repetition, producing heat, expansion, and all the consequences resulting
therefrom. If this subject were better understood by the companies, or some
personal interest brought to bear upon the development of marine power, it
would lead to much greater economy in its working, and add much to the speed
of the ship. A better knowledge of the science of lubrication might also lead
to the idea of lubricating the ships themselves, after the manner of marine
animals. If that could be accomplished, the velocity of ships might be much
increased. It is quite certain, from the great necessity of economizing steam
power, that companies and individuals employing it must, sooner or later, use
better lubricating materials; their own interests will force it upon them. But
the great question is, where are they to be had. It does not appear possible
to obtain a greater supply of sperm oil, or oils or seeds of a better quality,
than at present. Foreigners, as a body, have an objection to adopt any thing
new, unless, indeed, when they run no risk by doing so; therefore, so long
as a favorable market is found for their produce, we shall have no improyve-
ment, and it must rest with the home cultivator—dJournal of the Society of
Arts.

IMPROVEMENTS IN SOAPS AND OILS.

Use of Linseed Oil-cake in the Manufacture of Soap.—Pelouze states that
old oil-cakes may be advantageously used in the manufacture of an economi-
cal soap. All that is necessary is to mix them with an alkaline solution;
but the quantity prepared must be small, as the abumenoid matter contained

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. aes

in them begins to decompose in about a fortnight, producing a disagreeable
odor. -

On the Preparation of Oil from Seeds, Nuts, etc—Pelouze states that any
edible oil will have a different composition and taste, according to the length
of time that has elapsed before the seed from which it has been extracted
was submitted to pressure. The best oils for the table are those which have
been extracted immediately after the crushing of the seed.

New Oil.—At a recent meeting of the Liverpool Chemists’ Association, says
the London Lancet, sample of shark liver oil was presented, and possesses
some peculiar interest. Hitherto sperm oil possessed the lowest specific
gravity, .875, and was the lightest oil known; but shark oil is found to haye
a specific gravity of only .866. It came from Marseilles, and was stated to
be procured from sharks caught on the coast of Africa.

fish Blubber Soap.—R. Johnston, of Aberdeen, North Britain, has taken
out a patent for manufacturing soap as follows:—He first boils fish or blubber
for some hours, then lets the contents in the boiler settle, and takes all but
the deposit at the bottom, which is thrown out and composted to make
manure. He then strains the liquor through a coarse bag, which is put into
a press, and all the loose matter pressed out. That which is left in the bag
is put into the soap kettle, with one fourth its weight of tallow, and boiled
with caustic, soda, or potash for seven hours. The soap thus made is stated
to be without smell, and of good quality.

Purifying Whale Oil.—Peter Arkell, of Stockwell, England, has taken out
a patent for purifying whale oil as follows:—He puts common whale oil in an
iron still, with one ounce of sal ammoniac and a pint of turpentine to each
gallon, and applies heat to the still. The still is stirred by a rod passing
tight into it during the period distillation is going on. The oil that is distilled
over is stated to be peculiar in its character, and of a superior quality. <A
quantity of black pitch is left behind in the still.

Improved Soap.—W. A. Armand, of London, has secured a patent for the
following method of making a soap called “ saponitoline,” and which is stated
to be of a superior quality. He places in a copper 88 gallons of soft water,
and mixes with it 112 lbs. of crystal soda, or 79 Ibs. of salts of soda, and,
after two or three hours have elapsed, agitates it, and adds 112 lbs. of com-
mon soap. He then heats the whole to 40° or 45° Centrigrade, and adds 17
Ibs. of pearl-ash, and 17 lbs. of quick lime. When ebullition has commenced
in the copper, he slowly agitates the heated mass, and pours into it about 5
gallons of mucilage of linseed or marsh-mallow seed, after which he adds 74
Ibs. of borax, or about 22 Ibs. of calcined alum. When the whole is well
mixed in the copper, and the liquid presents the appearance of being perfectly
homogeneous, he leaves it to boil on a slow fire for three quarters of an hour.
The fire is then extinguished, the copper covered over, and the temperature
allowed to fall to 55° or 60°. He then pours the liquid into barrels, where
it becomes solidified in about 24 hours (supposing that hard soap has been
used; if otherwise, it remains in a gelatinous state).

Bleaching Oils, Resins, etc—An improvement has been patented in England
for causing oils, fats, and resins, when in a heated state, to be thrown by

244. ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

centrifugal force through fine wire gauze into an inclosed chamber containing
chlorine. The apparatus is like a centrifugal sugar pan, surrounded with a
lead chamber containing the bleaching gas. A slide is employed to shut
off communication (when required) between the revolving pan and the bleach-
ing chamber.

New Preparation of Wool Oil—The following is a claim of a patent recently
granted to Thomas Barrows, Esq., of Dedham, Mass., for a new preparation
of oil for wool and other purposes :—TI claim, for the treatment and imbuing
of wool, during or previous to its manufacture into yarn or cloth, the applica-
tion thereto, of mucilage, possessing an attraction for water, such being found
in sea-mosses and allied vegetable productions, or in various seeds, such as
flax-seed, it being used either alone or in mixture with an oil, or some other
material. I use any of the oils, adapted to oiling wool, in mixture with
mucilage, although some mixture, by rest, for a longer or a shorter time, will
become separated into oil, which floats, and mucilage which subsides; but
prefer the prepared oleic acid or olein mixture, as it often remains uniform
several days. J, however, lay no claim to the application of olein, as
described.

Action of some Animal Fluids on Fats—It is known that M. Bernard
attributes to the pancreas the property of emulsionating fatty substances. M.
Bloudlot, Professor in the School of Medicine at Nancy, finds that this prop-
erty does not belong exclusively to the pancreas, but that the chyme pos-
sesses it to an equal degree. M. Longet now announces that the seminal
fluid possesses this property in a much higher degree, and that under a tem-
perature of 35° to 40° Centigrade, during 14 to 16 hours, fat is decomposed
into fatty acids and glycerine. Before subjection to heat, the emulsion has
an alkaline reaction, and after this treatment it is acid —Siiliman’s Journal.

Adulterations in Oils.—The detection of oils obtained from the cruciferous
vegetables, such as coiza, rape, camelina, mustard, when mixed ‘with other
oils, has hitherto been a matter of some difficulty. The following test is pro-
posed by Miahle: 25 to 35 grams of the oil in question are boiled in a
porcelain capsule, with two gram’s of pure caustic potash (prepared with
alcohol), dissolved in 20 grammes of distilled water. After boiling for a few
minutes, it is thrown upon a filter previously moistened, and the alkaline
liquor flowing from it is tested with paper impregnated with acetate of lead
or nitrate of silver. A black stain, showing the presence of sulphur, indi-
cates that one of the above oils has been added. A still more delicate method
is to boil the mixture in a silver capsule, which will be blackened if one of
the above oils be present even to the proportion of 1 per cent.—Artizan.

Purification of fixed Oils—The colorless olive oil which is used by watch-
makers is exceedingly dear, and yet the simple process of its purification
appears to be so simple that any watchmaker may prepare it himself. If com-
mon olive oil be mixed with an equal quantity of very strong spirits of wine
(sp. gr. 0°853) and allowed to stand for about 14 or 15 days, during which
time it must be repeatedly shaken; already, in the course of a few days, the
yellow color of the oil begins to disappear, and then gradually fades, until, at
the end of the period mentioned, the oil becomes colorless. If the mixture

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 245

be exposed to the direct action of the sun, this change takes place much
more rapidly. The under layer of oil is separated from the spirit, which floats
upon it, and is preserved in well-closed botties (stoppered, or with plugs of
wood or gutta-percha); the spirit may also be prepared for another operation,
or if large quantities be employed, it may be distilled after each operation.
The removal of color is not the only advantage which is gained by treating
olive oil with alcohol, for a considerable quantity'of the margarine which it
contains is also dissolved out, and hence oil so treated will not solidify so
readily as the raw oil. The process just described, and which is undoubtedly
better than treatment, first with sugar of lead, then with sulphuric acid, wash-
ing with boiling water, and drying with chloride of calcium, or any other-of
the processes in common use is applicable, more or less, to all other oils, even
to coarse fish oils. It may be of importance to painters in oil, who are anxious
not to injure the delicate tints of ultramarine, rose, scarlet, and other delicate
shades of red, and in fact of all pure tones, to know, that linseed oil, even the
darkest and muddiest, may be so far bleached as to become bright and clear,
and have only a slight yellow tinge; a good deal of oil is now purified in
this manner in Great Britain.—Polytechnisches Journal.

On the employment of Sea-weed in the manufacture of Soap.—Mr. Claussen,
of flax-cotton notoriety, in a paper before the British Association, stated the
following facts relative to the employment of marine plants in the manufacture
of soap:

“When I was experimenting on several plants for the purpose of discover-
ing fibers for paper pulp, I accidentally treated some common sea-weeds with
alkalies, and found they were entirely dissolved, and formed a soapy com-
pound which could be employed in the manufacture of soap. The making of
soaps directly from sea-weeds must be more advantageous than burning them
for the purpose of making kelp, because the fucusoid and glutinous matter
they contain are saved and converted into soap. The Brazilians use a mal-
vaceous plant (Sida) for washing instead of soap, and the Chinese use flour of
beans in the scouring of their silks; and I have found that not alone sea-
weed, but also many other glutinous plants, and gluten, may be used in the
manufacture of soap with advantage.” ;

METHOD OF RAPIDLY BLEACHING WAX, AND PURIFYING TAL-
LOW, OILS, ETC.

Wax, properly speaking, consists of pure wax and a coloring matter.
There are several kinds of wax, distinguished commercially by the relative
amount of coloring matter which they contain. Formerly it was supposed
that wax could only be bleached by the action of sunlight. To effect this
object the operations were commenced early in the spring, and continued for
3 or 4 months. The wax required to be made into ribbons of great tenacity,
or feathered as zinc is, by being poured into water. This must be repeated
several times during its exposure to thesunshine. The whole process requires
a heavy outlay of capital, and the results are moreover uncertain and variable
~ according to the weather. In order to diminish the amount of capital which

+

246 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

required to be sunk in this branch of trade, and above all to shorten the time
required to bleach the wax, M. Cassgrand, of France, some years since, in-
vented a process which has been most successful, but has only recently come
before the public.

This process consists in melting the wax by means of steam until it becomes
very liquid, and then passing it along with the steam through a kind of ser-
pentine worm, by which a large surface becomes exposed to the action of the
steam. After traversing the worm, it is received in a pan with a double bot-
tom, heated by steam, where water is added in order to wash it; from this it
is elevated by a pump, kept hot by steam, into another pan similarly heated,
and where it isalso treated with water, and is again passed through the ser-
pentine. This operation is repeated twice, thrice, or four times, according to
the quality of the wax. During the passage with the steam through the worm
it becomes denser, by absorbing, it is said, and deposits in the upper pan. It
is allowed to repose for about 4 or 5 minutes after each passage, and after
the last one, about 1 or 2 hours, according to quantity, in order to allow of
any impurities to subside. The wax is then granulated in the ordinary way
by means of cold water, is allowed to dry during 3 or 4 days, and the ac-
tion of light and air does the rest, for which one person is sufficient. The-
whole of the operations do not require more than a few days, are perfectly
certain, and attended with no danger. Independent of the advantage which
such an apparatus has for bleaching wax, it has also that of enabling its qual-
ities, according to relative whiteness, to be distinguished. For this purpose
it is only necessary to present the wax in masses to the end of the worm, and
in a second or two the vapor determines the relative color it will yield. This
process is also applicable to the purification of tallows and oils; even fish-oil,
when passed through the apparatus and washed as described, is completely
deprived of its disagreeable smell; and if it be set aside in a place where the
temperature only reaches from 59° to 68° Fahrenheit, a fresh deposit will
form, and the oil become perfectly clarified and nearly colorless.

This process is worthy the attention of soap-boilers, as it is much more
effective than the present method of purifying oils, especially where sulphuric
acid is used. The only modification required for the purification of oil would
be to divide the oil as much as possible by means of a diaphragm of copper,
pierced with holes in the first steam-vessel, and thus expose the largest pos-
sible surface to the action of the steam in flowing through the pierced dia-
phragm into the worm.—Dublin Journal, Industrial Progress.

DISTILLATION OF -COAL IN HYDROGEN GAS.

It is well known to chemists and others who. have experimented in the de-
structive distillation of coal, that at different degrees of temperature products
of very different character are produced—gaseous, liquid, and solid. The gas-
eous products consist of marsh gas, olefiant gas, carbureted hydrogen, and
carbonic acid. The liquids consist of bodies closely analogous to petroleum,
and the solids are coke and mineral pitch. The relative proportions of the
above products vary with the temperature of the retort; the lower the tem-

*

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 247

perature the less gas and the more liquid produced, and the higher the
temperature, the larger the volume of gas. An invention recently patented
by Stephen Meredith of Meadville, Pa., has for its object the facilitation of
the process of distillation, and this is accomplished by the admission to the
retorts, during the distilling operation, of a jet of heated hydrogen gas. In
this way the liquids are distilled in an atmosphere of hydrogen, and thus pre-
served from igneous decomposition, while the hydrogen at the same time takes
up a portion of the sulphur and ammonia contained in the coal.

PURIFICATION OF GAS.

A very great improvement in the purification of gas is claimed to have
been effected by Mr. Statter of England, by the employment of hydrated clay
along with the lime usually employed for this purpose. Hydrated clay unites
with the ammonia of the gas as with a base, and at the same time with its
sulphuret of carbon as with an acid, and thus removes both of these noxious
impurities from the gas exposed to its influence. Its good offices are, more-
over, said not to be limited to these, as, in conjunction with the lime, it assists
in removing tarry vapor and other impurities. The illuminating power of the
gas appears, from a detail of experiments, to be positively increased by the
clay purification from 22 to 334 per cent.—London Builder, No. 585.

GAS FROM PEAT.

There has been much discussion in Paris in connection with the renewal,
of the engagements of the city with the gas companies. Attention has been
called to the gas manufactured from peat, which for some time has been
manufactured in Paris. M. Foucault has been charged with measuring the
comparative illuminating powers of coal and peat gas; and the result is in
favor of that of peat, its power being 342, while that of coal gas is 100.
The manufacture of peat gas is also more simple than that of coal. The peat,
if put into an ironretort heated to alow red-heat, affords immediately a mixture
of permanent gases and vapors which condense into ansoleaginous liquid, which
two products separate on cooling. The oil is collected in a special vessel,
and the gas passes into a gasometer. This carbureted hydrogen is wholly
unfit for illumination, it giving a very small flame, nearly like that from brandy.
The oil from the peat is a viscous, blackish liquid, of a strong odor. It is
subject to a new distillation, and resolved wholly into a permanent gas and
hydrogen very richly carbureted. This mixture is strongly illuminating, giy-
ing a flame six or eight times brighter than the first, and of a more lively
brilliancy. The two are mixed, and a gas of intermediate character obtained,
which is delivered over for consumption.

M. Foucault has made his trials with a photometric method not yet made
public. Its unit was not a single wax candle, but a collection of seven can-
dles, arranged in an hexagonal manner, with spaces of one centimeter. A
single candle is liable to too much variation, a compensation for which is se-
cured when a number are employed. By this method, a mean of five deter-

248 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

minations gave for a burner of peat gas a light equivalent to 23} candles;
and the same burner with coal gas, 6,3; candles. The illuminating power of
the pure oil from peat, the illuminating material par excellence, has been found
at equal pressures 705, the intensity for coal gas being 100: and with equal
volumes their numbers are as 756: 100.—Silliman’s Journal.

ARTIFICIAL GUTTA-PERCHA AND INDIA-RUBBER.

The following communication was read before the British Association by
M. Claussen :— u

“Tn the course of my travels as botanist in South America, I had occasion
to examine the different trees which produce the India-rubber, and of which -
the Hancornia speciosa is one. It grows on the high plateaux of South
America, between the tenth and twentieth degrees of latitude south, at a
height from three to five thousand feet above the level of the sea. It is of
the family of the Sapotaceze, the same to which belongs the tree which pro-
duces gutta-percha. it bears a fruit, in form not unlike a bergamot pear, and”
fall of a milky juice, which is liquid India-rubber. To be eatable this fruit
must be kept two or three weeks after being gathered, in which time all the
India-rubber disappears or is converted into sugar, and is then in taste one
of the most delicious fruits known, and regarded by the Brazilians (who call
it Mangava) as superior to all other fruits of their country. The change of
India-rubber into sugar led me to suppose that gutta-percha, India-rubber,
and similar compounds, contained starch. I have, therefore, tried to mix it
with resinous or oily substances, in combination with tannin, and have suc-
ceeded in making compounds which can be mixed in all proportions with
gutta-percha or India-rubber without altering their characters. By the fore-
going it will be understood that a great number of compounds of the gutta
percha and India-rubber class may be formed by mixing starch, gluten, or
flour with tannin and resinous or oily substances. By mixing some of these
compounds with gutta-percha or India-rubber, I can so increase its hardness
that it will be like horn, and may be used as shields to protect the soldiers
from the effects of the Minié balls, and I have also no doubt that some of
these compounds, in combination with iron, may be useful in floating batteries
and many other purposes, such as the covering the electric telegraph wires,
imitation of wood, ship-building, ete.”

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SIZING OF PAPER.

The following is a description of a new process for sizing paper, invented
by Dr. J. Macadam, of Glaszow. The plan is more particularly applicable in
the manufacture of such kinds and qualities of paper as are partially or en-
tirely “resin sized” and machine made, and it consists in the partial or total
substitution of aqueous solutions of single sulphates, or of other binary com-
pounds, for the double sulphate of potash and alumina, known by the name
of alum, usually employed according to the present system of manufacture.
The acid best suited for this purpose is sulphuric acid, and is employed in

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 249

quantity sufficient for the neutralization of the whole, or a part of the alkali
of the resin size which is used. The quantity or proportions of acidulous solu-
tion, when free acids are employed, is accurately determined by alkalimetri-
cal processes; and such acid solutions are added to the paper pulp either be-
fore or after the addition of the resinous size. In carrying out the invention,
the aid of single sulphates, or other binary compounds in the form of aqueous
solutions, and suited in quantity to the alkali present in the size, are used.
Paper produced under this system of treatment is peculiarly well-suited for
printing by lithography or from engraved plates, as it possesses an absorbent
surface of a uniform character. It has also a less injurious effect upon the
engraver's plates, and is well-suited for letter-press printing, as it is readily
susceptible of uniform damping, and affords a clear impression. The follow-
ing is a detail of the materials used and the plan followed:

In the preparation of the resin size, as ordinarily used, the resinous matter
is dissolved through the medium of water by alkaline compounds, carbonate
of soda, or carbonate of potash, for example. When alum is added to such
solution in contact with the paper pulp, decomposition of the size-solution
takes place; the acid of the alum neutralizes the alkali which is present, and
the resin is precipitated in contact with the fibrous matter of the paper pulp.
In sizing with resin the antiseptic influence of alum is not required, as in the
case of sizing paper by the agency of animal matters; or if at all necessary, it
is only so within a very limited extent. The invention, therefore, essentially
consists in the application and use of the free acids, or single sulphates, or
other binary compounds, by the agency of which the desired neutralization of
the alkali of the size-solution is secured in a more economical manner, and
with superior results as regards the quality of the paper, than when the chem-
ical effect arises solely from the use of alum in the ordinary way. The agents
named are employed to a greater or less extent, in accordance with actual cir-
cumstances, introducing at the same time more or less alum as may be advis-
able. When single sulphates are used to effect by their continued action the
neutralization of the alkali of the size-solution, they are applied in accurate
atomic proportions. The size-solution is constantly prepared from the same
proportions of resin, water, and alkaline compounds, so that whether commer-
cial carbonate of soda or potash, or soda ash be used, the proportion of alkali
in a given measure of the size-solution may be as constant within such narrow
limits, as any fluctuations in the per centage of alkaline value of such com-
pounds will admit. The strength of the acid aqueous solutions is constant.
Thus, taking sulphuric acid as an example, it is employed as an aqueous solu-
tion, having a strength of 20° by Twaddell’s hydrometer. While this strength
is convenient for regulating and measuring the required quantities, the degree
of dilution is otherwise unimportant. It is advisable, however, to make this
the minimum amount of dilution.

The requisite of the dilute acid is regulated as follows: The size-solution
being constant, or nearly so, in alkaline strength, and being used in definite
and constant quantity for each class of paper, as sized in any particular engine
of the paper-maker’s works, according to the capacity of such engine, a pre-
liminary experiment is made to ascertain, by means of a graduated tube (di-

11°

250 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

vided into equal spaces) such as is usually in the estimation of the value of
alkalies, what number of such graduated spaces filled with acid are necessary
for the neutralization of a known proportion of the total amount of size-solu-
tion as required for the paper in any particular engine, in accordance with
the special variety of paper being manufactured. The point of saturation is
ascertained by stirring well the size-solution on each successive addition of
the acidulous solution, and until the size-solution so treated slightly reddens
litmus paper. The quantity of acid solution being thus determined for a
known proportion of the size-solution, it is easy to ascertain by calculation the
requisite amount for the whole of the size-solution to be decomposed. Buta
more convenient system for practical purposes is, to have a series of measures
capable of containing the requisite amounts of the acidulous solution to neu-
tralize the alkali present in one, two, three, or other number of gallons of the
size-solution, so that the treatment is then reduced to an exceedingly simple
form. In the practical manufacture of paper the following order or sequence
of the applied substances, or treatment, is found to be the best, although the
order may be varied more. or less: The paper pulp being introduced in the
Sizing-engine, with the customary quantity of water, the necessary or determined
quantity of size-solution is added, and at an interval of 20 minutes, more or
less, and when the neutralization is complete, and the deposition of the resin
thus economically accomplished, any alum which is to be applied, is added.
This substance, for ordinary printing papers, is commonly added in the
proportion of about two pounds’ weight to each hundred weight of the pulp
necessary for the manufacture of paper. The proportion varies, however, ac-
cording to the required hardness of the surface of the paper, this hardening
effect being the chief result due to the introduction of alum in the improved
process. In some kinds of paper, alum may be entirely dispensed with in
working out this process. This dispensing with alum applies more particu-
larly to papers used by lithographers and engravers, for whose work alum is
known to be prejudicial. After the addition of the materials to the pulp has
taken place in the hereinbefore described order, the usual coloring matter is
applied, and at this stage also, any fire-clay, or any other material, with which
it may be desired to impregnate the paper.—Practical Mechanics’ Journal.

IMPROVEMENTS IN TANNING LEATHER.

Waitles’s Tanning Compound.—The claims of a patent recently issued to O.
B. Wattles, of Waddington, N. H., is as follows:—

First, I claim the employment or use of soap combined with salt and lime,
for unhairing or depilating the hides. Second, I claim the employment or use
of soap combined with the tan liquor for tanning the hides, substantially as
described.

The above process consists in the use of the ingredients specified in the
claim for the purpose of softening the hide, improving its quality, and pre-
venting the injurious effects which have hitherto resulted from the use of lime
in unhairing. Mr. Wattles uses the soap, salt and lime in unhairing, and the
soap and tanning liquors in tanning. The ereat study of all cood tanners has

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 251

been to turn out the leather with little injury to the gelatine, of which it is
largely composed. But their efforts have generally been fruitless. One of
the best improvements, in this direction, was a patent granted for the use of
potash in combination with lime and salt. In this process the potash robbed
the skin of some of its gelatine, and formed soap. The quality of the leather
thus produced, though better than that which the old mode permits, is still de-
fective. Mr. Wattles claims to have discovered an improvement. The appli-
cation of a special soap bath, while it cleanses out the lime, softens the skin
and opens its pores for the reception of the tannin liquor, without in any way
impairing the gelatine. The combination of soap with the tannin liquor
also has an important effect in mollifying the latter, whereby green hides may
be introduced without any danger of becoming hard. Indeed, the soap, by
neutralizing undue acidity aud opening the pores, causes the liquor to pene-
trate the skin, and unite quickly and thoroughly with the gelatine; the result
being the production of a firm, pliable and superior quality of leather.

Enos’s Improved Process.—The following is an extract from the specification
of apatent granted to Roswell Enos, July, 1855, for tanning leather.

No new substances are employed, those which the patentee uses having
been long known to tanners; he only employs them in a different manner
from that which has been practiced heretofore :—

“The hair is first removed from the hides in any usual manner, and the hides
thoroughly cleansed in either pure water or in a solution of salt and water.
A batch of fifty sides are then placed in a liquor composed by steeping forty
pounds of Sicily sumac, or one hundred and fifty pounds of unground native
sumac, in two hundred and fifty gallons of water, and adding twenty-five
pounds of salt thereto. The sides remain in said liquor from twelve to twenty-
four hours—the length of time depending upon the temperature of the said
liquor and the condition of the sides. About blood heat is the best tempera-
ture for the aforesaid liquor. After the sides have remained the aforesaid
length of time in the salted infusion of sumac, the liquor is strengthened by
adding thereto somewhere about two hundred gallons of strong oak or hem-
lock liquor, and fifteen pounds of salt, and the sides allowed to remain in
this strengthened liquor for the space of from twelve to twenty-four hours.
The sides should then be withdrawn, and placed in about the same quantity
of a strong cold oak or hemlock liquor, containing twenty pounds of salt in
solution, and allowed to remain in it for five or six days. They are then with-
drawn and placed in the same quantity and quality of liquor—save that it
should be of about blood-warm temperature, are allowed to remain therein
five or six days, which latter operation should be repeated for six or seven
times, when the side will generally be found to be completely tanned. While
passing through each stage of this said tanning process the sides should be
repeatedly handled, as all tanners are fully aware.”

This is a description of the process. Practical tanners will perceive that
neither acids nor alkalies are used for raising the hides, but that the salt sumac
liquor is employed for the preparatory, and the common tan liquor for the
finishing process. The inventor, an experienced tanner, says:—‘The salt
sumac liquor enters at once into the pores to the very heart of the sides, and

252 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

so acts upon them as to give them an exceedingly pliable yet firm basis, and
so prepares them that the strongest liquors of oak or hemlock, &c., may after-
ward be applied without binding or injuring the hides.”

We have been assured, says the editor of Hunt’s Merchant's Magazine, that
the sole leather made from this process, from sweated Buenos Ayres hides,
will make sewed work equally as well as the limed slaughter hides. The
leather is also tough and strong. The length of time required for tanning a
dry Buenos Ayres hide is ninety days, with 75 per cent. gain. The time re-
quired for tanning an Oronoco hide is much less, with a gain of 80 or 85 per
cent. This method will tan slaughter sole leather in thirty days: harness or
upper leather in the rough in twenty days, and calf-skins in from six to twelve
days.

MANUFACTURE OF GLUE FROM OLD LEATHER.

J. H. Johnson, of London, has obtained a patent for preparing old leather
scraps to render them fit to be made into glue. The leather is first chopped
into small pieces and thoroughly washed, then placed in vats where it is di-
gested with a potash or soda. It is taken out, after a few hours, and subjected
to pressure, and again immersed in a stronger alkaline solution for some hours, -
which processes remove all the tannic acid. It is now taken out and washed
well with water, and submitted to a steep of a very weak sulphuric acid for
twenty-four hours, to remove all the coloring matter. This being accom-
plished, it is again submitted to a weak alkaline solution of the carbonate of
soda, then washed in water, and is fit to be made into glue by the common
process.

ON THE ACTION OF GALLIC AND TANNIC ACIDS ON IRON AND
ALUMINA MORDANTS.

Mr. Calvert, in a communication on the above subject to the British Asso-
ciation, drew the following conclusions:—Ilst. That there can be no doubt
that tannic acid is the matter in tanning substances which produces black
with iron mordants. 2ndly. That the reason of gallic producing no black dye
is, that it reduces the peroxyd of iron in the mordant, forming a colorless and
soluble gallate of protoxyd ofiron. 3rdly. That gallic acid has the property
of dissolving hydrate of alumina, and also of separating alumina mordants
from the cloth on which they are fixed. 4thly. That the reason of extracts
of tanning matter losing their dyeing properties is, that the tannin is
transformed into gallic acid. 5thly. That gallic acid possesses the property
of dissolving iron, and thus lays claim to the character of a true acid; while
tannin, not having this action, appears to me to be in reality a neutral sub-
stance.

ECONOMIC APPLICATIONS OF BENZOLE.

English patents have recently been granted to Mr. F. C. Calvert for the
employment of purified benzole, or coal naphtha, for the removal of paints,

CHEMICAL(\ SCIENCE. 2538

oils, tar, grease, etc., from any variety of fabric, from leather, wool, for the
cleaning of gloves, etc. For the above articles the benzole is employed by
simple rubbing, and through its great volatility no mark or permanent odor
remains on the substances treated. Mr. Calvert also applies benzole for the
extraction of grease, oils, etc., from cotton-waste and rags used in wiping
machinery. These substances are first saturated in a close vessel with the
benzole, which is afterward pressed out, and subjected to distillation. The
benzole distills over at a low temperature, but the grease and oils dissolved
by it remain behind, and can be collected and used.

PHYSIOLOGICAL AND THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS OF CARBONIC
ACID.

Some time since M. Herpin stated the following facts to the French
. Academy :—Dr. Struve took the Marienbad waters for a painful affection of
the leg. He had been unable for several weeks to walk without a crutch.
Dr. Struve had the notion one day of exposing his leg to the action of the
carbonic acid which escapes freely from the spring at Marienbad, and forms
a bed several diameters deep over its surface. After exposure for a while it
produced a pricking sensation and warmth, which went on increasing till it
occasioned a profuse perspiration of the diseased limb. Upon withdrawing
his leg, he was surprised to feel no pain, and to find that he was able to
walk without his crutch. He continued this treatment for some time, and
has since experienced no return of his complaint. There are now in Ger-
many special establishments for baths, douches, and the inhalation of carbonic
acid. According to M. Herpin, the first effect of exposure to the gas is a
sensation of pleasant heat, like that from a garment of fine wool, then a prick-
ing, and afterward a burning which has been compared to that from mustard.

On the occasion of this communication, M. Boussingault related how he
happened in 1826 to witness some of the effects mentioned by M. Herpin.
He was visiting in the Quindin, New Granada, a part of the Cordillera, some
soljataras, where numerous workmen were occupied melting and purifying
sulphur. He encountered a crevice, whence issued abundantly a gas of the
. odor of sulphureted hydrogen. He attempted to descend in it in order to
ascertain the temperature; but he had hardly entered the crevice when he felt
a suffocating heat, which he estimated to be at 40° Centigrade, and a pricking
in the eyes; respiration being difficult, he ascended quickly ; his face was red,
and his perspiration abundant. After a while he descended again with his
thermometer, and was surprised to find a temperature of only 192° Centigrade.
The extreme temperature was 22° Centigrade. The gas was composed of 95
per cent. of carbonic acid, and 5 per cent. of atmospheric air and sulphureted
hydrogen. It was hence the carbonic acid which caused the sensation of heat
and the irritation of the eyes. At two other times, in 1827 and 1830,
M. Boussingault experienced again the same sensations. He observed
that the workmen who worked long in the solfataras of the Cordillera, in
contact with carbonic acid, experience an enfeebling of the sight, and some
of them become blind. Dr. Herpin confirms the fact with regard to the

.

254. ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

action on the eyes of the baths of gaseous carbonic acid. He observed
that the douches of carbonic acid had been used against “ amblyopie” or
enfeebling of vision, and different precautions were used to moderate the
effects of the gas, or diminishing the force of the jet, or its distance; or
its direct action by interposing muslin. When the eyes have an inflam-
matory tendency, it irritates the organ and the neighboring parts; the
heat sometimes produces dangerous congestion.

FOOD AND ITS ADULTERATIONS.

During the past year Dr. Hassall, of London, has published the results of the
inquiry instituted by government respecting the adulterations of food—the
investigations being conducted by a sanitary commission of which Dr. Hassall
was a prominent member. The subject, from its very nature, says the London ~
Athenceum, is one of no ordinary difficulty. The very first article on the list .
of substances examined is a proof. Coffee is found to be adulterated with
chicory ; but if persons prefer their coffee mixed with chicory, this can hardly
be called an adulteration, even if it be a misnomer to call the compound cof:
fee. We know a coffee-dealer who, wishing to avoid the imputation of
adding chicory to his coffee, gave up the practice, when, to his great surprise,
his coffee trade fell off to such an extent that his only alternative was shutting
up shop or returning to his chicory. On adding chicory his trade again re-
vived, and we see his name in Dr. Hassall’s list ag selling coffee “ adulterated
with chicory.” To those, however, who prefer pure coffee it will be some
consolation to know that the use of the microscope is a means by which this
addition as well as many others can be detected.

Passing from coffee we come to sugar; and here it appears that little or no
adulteration is practiced. A little mite, belonging to the same family as those
which attack our figs, dates, cheese, and other kept food, is found in brown
sugar, but not in lump. It is different with sweetmeats and bonbons. Chil-
dren are really exposed to the swallowing of such trash, which sometimes
proves fatal, in these compounds, that it would be a wise and safe rule to give
them nothing but lump sugar in indulging their taste for this article of diet.

Arrowroot seems subjected to an adulteration in the shape of potato flour.
This is a great fraud, for whereas genuine arrowroot costs one shilling or
eighteenpence a pound, potato flour is not worth more than threepence or
fourpence. The difference in form of the starch grains of potatoes and the
arrowroot plants renders this fraud not difficult of detection. There is, how-
ever, one great comfort attendant upon this adulteration; and it is, that, so
far as the ultimate action of potato starch on the system is concerned, it is
precisely the same as arrowroot. This is not a poisonous adulteration.

Every one will naturally turn to bread as the staff of life, and inquire how
much it is exposed to adulteration. With the exception of a little alum, in
so small a quantity as to be questionable whether it is really pernicious, this
important article of diet seems not to be exposed to any great amount of

adulteration.
The reports on beer are not so full as could be wished, with one exception,

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 255

and that is on Allsop’s bitter ale. The assertion of a French chemist that
the strychnia, manufactured so largely in France, was used in England for
adulterating bitter beer, put our brewers upon their mettle; and Mr. All-
Sop was the earliest to place specimens at the disposal of the chemist for
analysis. As was to be expected, no strychnia was found in these ales, nor
other kind of adulteration. The adulterations most frequently detected in Lon-
don porter are salt and treacle.

From beer we turn to milk—and here nothing more deleterious than water
could be discovered to have been added, and this only in eleven cases out of
twenty-six.

Snuif in some instances was found to contain lead, and cases are cited where
lead-colic and painter’s palsy have been induced by the use of snuff. Pickles
anchovies, spices, and preserves, were frequently found to contain injurious
materials. On the whole, says the Atheneum, as the result of this inquiry,
we have a higher notion of the morality of the trade than we had before.
In by far the larger number of articles examined there was no adulteration.
In another set of cases, the alleged adulteration, as in the case of chicory
with coffee, is a matter of taste, and not of fraud. In another class of cases,
and these a very large majority of the adulterations, the substances, though
fraudulently added, were not injurious—as in the case of water with milk.

ON THE USE OF SALIVA.

The action of the saliva upon the starch we take as food, is similar to that
of a ferment, and causes it to undergoa change into sugar. If you take a por-
tion of pure starch and hold it in the mouth for only two minutes, you can
obtain distinct and decided traces of sugar. We have herea solution of starch
not treated with saliva, and if we employ our test for sugar, which you well
know (sulphate of copper and liquor potassee), we have no reduction of the
oxyd of copper; but in this other mixture of starch and water, which has
been held in the mouth for two minutes only, you may see distinctly a beauti-
ful red line of reduced copper, the evidence of the presence of sugar. If the
starch is left in the mouth for three minutes, astill more manifest action is ap-
parent; and if it remains there five minutes, there is a distinct mass of reduced.
copper, which is proportioned to the quantity of sugar formed out of the starch.

— Bence Jones's Lecture.

PREPARATION AND USE OF COFFEE.

From a report in the Jour. Franklin Institute, of a series of experiments
instituted by Messrs. Dalson and Wetherill, of Philadelphia, we make the
following extracts :— “3

In addition to the tannin contained in coffee, and which is somewhat altered
during the process of roasting, the berry is characterized by two other sub-
stances; one caffein, a product containing nitrogen, which exists in the pro-
portion of about one per cent. (the same exists in nearly a double proportion
in tea), and is not altered in the roasting process; and the other a peculiar

256 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

volatile oil, developed during the roasting, existing in extremely minute
quantity, and to which coffee owes its delicious flavor.

In this country a really good cup of coffee is the exception rather than the
rule, and this may probably be attributed to the nation from which we are in
a habit of selecting our cooks, since there is nothing in the whole culinary art
which requires more ‘‘sense” than the preparation of good coffee. The ex-
periments were instituted with a view of ascertaining whether a portable
coffee, so simple in its operation that it can not be spoiled, could not be pre-
pared for a price at least as low as that for which the raw or roasted material
may be offered. This was only to be hoped for by extracting from the berry
a larger amount of its nutritive substance than is done in the household, and
in such proportion as would pay the expense of the operations to which it
must be subjected. The attempt was not successful, yet some of the con-
clusions arrived at by the experiments are of interest

In respect to the most important part of the operation of making good coffee
(the roasting), it is recommended that the roasting should take place in a
cylinder, constantly turned over a bright fire; when a white smoke begins to
issue from the joints of the cylinder, its contents must be carefully watched,
and every few minutes a few grains extracted, and their color and brittleness
examined. As soon as they break easily into several fragments by a slight
blow, at which time the color will be a light chestnut brown, the operation is
completed, and the coffee, if in large quamtity, must be cooled, by taking por-
tions up in a large tin cup, and letting them drop through the air. The quan-
tity of aroma which might be supposed would be lost in this way is incon-
siderable, and the danger of over-roasting, if the coffee is left in a heap, or
covered up, is great. The coffee, both roasted and ground, may be kept in
quantity without loss of flavor, if the vessel be corked air-tight. The best
form of coffee-pot was found to be that which has an upper compartment,
with a perforated bottom, upon which the coffee is placed, and the boiling
water strained through. But in preparing the infusion in any way, both the
coffee and the water should be measured in the proportion of a half an ounce
in weight of coffee to a cupful of six fluid ounces of water, for each cup of
the infusion. A small measure, containing somewhat less than an ounce of
water, will hold half an ounce weight of ground coffee. It is important to
keep the coffee-pot perfectly clean, as the least musty smell indicates a dis-
agreeable taste, which is imparted to the coffee.

Experiments were made to ascertain whether the aroma lost in roasting
coffee might not be collected advantageously. The volatile products generated
in roasting were all carefully collected. Seven pounds of good Mocha coffee
gave a little more than two ounces of dark liquid matters, possessing no very
noticeable properties; and in no instance could any product be obtained of
sufficient quantity or reaction to warrant any advantage in a practical point, of
collecting the aroma. It appears in reality that but a small quantity of aroma
is in reality lost by roasting, and what is dissipated is mingled with very dis-
agreeably-smelling vapors, from which it would be difficult to free it. An
experiment was also made to ascertain whether the fragrant volatile oils
might not be driven from roasted coffee by steam, and a dried extract of the

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 257

residual coffee made, to which the same oils might be afterward added, giving
a good portable coffee. This attempt was also unsuccessful.

_ It was next tried to obtain a portable coffee by making an aqueous extract
of raw coffee, evaporating to dryness, and roasting the residue. An extract
was obtained that, under some circumstances, gave good coffee, but as a whole
the results were not satisfactory.

An experiment was also made to ascertain whether a very concentrated
aqueous solution of coffee could not be made from ground roasted coffee by
displacement with cold water, thus extracting more soluble matter than is
done in the household, and at the same time obtaining a more portable cofiee.
A pound of ground roasted coffee was placed in each one of a series of five
displacement apparatus, and river water poured through them, a pint at a
time, using that which had run through the first to pour upon the second,
and so on through the series. The coffee swelled, and each pound absorbed
a quart of water during the swelling, which it did not suffer to drop, but which
was displaced by fresh water. As soon as a quart and a half had been passed
through one of the series, the absorbed liquid remaining in the coffee was
pressed out by an hydraulic press of nine tons’ power, and the droppings
added to the following numbers in the series, which were treated in a similar
way. By this means a very concentrated liquid was obtained.. There were
in all 24 pints of water added, and the resulting portions of coffee solution
amounted altogether to about 18 pints, from which it follows that, notwith-
standing the powerful pressure, the coffee residue retained six pints of water,
or 1}th its weight. When this coffee residue was dried, it was much lighter
in color than ordinary coffee, and a cup of infusion, made in the ordinary way,
had not the slightest flavor of coffee, and resembled in taste the decoction
that one is served with in country taverns in the interior of Pennsylvania.

Those articles offered in the market under the name of “extract of coffee,”
and which profess to enable one by adding them to ground coffee to save in
the preparation of the beverage, are all worthless and catch-pennies. They
contain burned sugar, chickory, carrots, sometimes coffee, and other materials,
and act only by giving a dark color to the infusion, and a peculiar taste,
which misleads persons to think that the coffee made by their aid is stronger.
The excellence of coffee as a beverage depends upon its caffein and a peculiar
volatile oil, which are not contained in the above-mentioned additions, As
early as 1782, one of these coffee essences was analyzed, and found to contain
an alkaline carbonate; and it has been lately proposed to add carbonate of
soda to the ground roasted berry in the proportion of 43 orains of the former
to a pound of the latter, but it may be questioned whether this is a valuable
addition, as Béhmes observed that a small quantity was useless, while a
larger quantity communicated an unpleasant taste to the coffee.—Journal
Franklin Instituie.

CURIOUS CHEMICAL CHANGES OBSERVED IN CERTAIN WATERS.

The following paper was recently communicated to the Boston Society of
_Natural History, by Dr. A. A. Hayes:

258. ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Last autumn I received a parcel of “ efflorescences,” from the soil of the
desert, between the head waters of the Missouri River, bordering on the
eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains, from Lieutenant Grover, U. 8. A., who
conducted a party engaged in a reconnoissance of that region. The earth, of
many square miles of surface, is covered by a gray saline frosting, which ex-
ists so abundantly that vegetation does not appear, and the features of steril-
ity are so widely displayed as to cause a true desert. Chemical analysis
proved the efflorescence to be sulphate of soda, with minute traces of sulphate
of lime and common salt, mixed with fine sand, to which the gray color was
due; noother saline compound was present. The sulphate of soda was nearly
anhydrous, being, in fact, thenardite, but evidently formed from a hydrous salt
by desiccation. No distinct crystals were included in the specimen received.
The occurrence of this salt, as an abundant exudation from the soil, is inter-
esting in a mineralogical view; and its presence, under the form of an efflor-
escence, illustrates the physical law, in accordance with which saline waters
rise through the soil, and in evaporating from the surface, leave their saline
parts at that point, thus forming deserts. It has been long known to me that
the water of the Missouri River contains sulphate of soda, and the presence
of this salt in the water occasions a change in the composition of the water of
the Mississippi River, after these waters become mixed, below St. Louis.

The water of the upper Mississippi contains a large amount of organic
matter, of a kind which, in changing its composition, out of contact with air,
attracts oxygen powerfully, and will decompose oxydized bodies. The dark
color of the buried salt is due to the presence of sulphuret of iron, formed
from the oxyd of iron of an ocherous clay, reduced and rendered a sulphate
of iron, by the presence of sulphates of soda and lime in the water. So abund-
ant is this organic matter, that the silt of the Mississippi water, after having
been kept ten years, has the power of decomposing alkaline sulphates, and
forming the sulphate of iron with the sulphur of the sulphate, while the soda,
in presence of carbonate of lime and carbonic acid, is eliminated as a sesqui or
bicarbonate of soda. Below St. Louis the turbid water of the Mississippi
contains, as its characteristic salt, the bicarbonate of soda; and its suspended
matter being deposited by rest, we always find in the clear water this alkaline
salt, constituting a large part of the whole saline matter. I have been able
to trace the steps of the production of the bicarbonate of soda from the sul-
phate of soda, by the silt of this river in my vessels. The sulphate of iron,
also produced at the same time, oxydizes in free air, becoming oxyd of iron
and free sulphur. Sulphates are not the final result of the oxydation of basic
sulphates usually. The clay-colored cliffs and banks of the Mississippi exhibit
the oxydized state of the small portion of iron oxyd, one of its constituents,
while the dark, and even black, color of the buried mass beneath the surface,
is due to the reduced, and generally sulphureted, state of the iron, a condi-
tion caused by the changing organic matter. Until the discovery of the exist-
ence of sulphate of soda in the soil washed by the tributaries of the Mississippi,
its origin in the water was a subject of doubt, and in this connection the new
fact becomes important. Regarding the immense body of water discharged
by the Mississippi, as a diluted solution of bicarbonate of soda, which falls

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 259

into a warm ocean containing lime salts, easily decomposed by the soda salts,
we lave chemical action on an extended scale. The result of this action
must be some form or forms of carbonate of lime, fitted either for the habita-
tions of shell-building fish, or for consolidating calcareous rocks.

Returning to the first exhibition of chemical change, we see the influence
of the minute quantity of organic matter dissolved in the water—a constituent
so small in weight that it has been generally neglected in the analysis of
waters—and yet, under favorable circumstances, becoming a sufficient cause
in bounding a coast line with cliffs, or even producing a rock formation.

As the facts cited might be considered an unusual occurrence, favored by
certain local causes, Dr. Hayes in a subsequent paper referred to another in-
stance where, from similar changes, the water flowing below the surface, and
constituting the drainage of the country, is largely composed of a solution of
the bicarbonate of soda.

The subterranean waters of the peninsular of Boston, have at the depth of
about 140 feet, a remarkable uniformity of composition, and the flow toward
the shore line is abundant. Like the water of the lower Mississippi, they are
turbid, holding in suspension finely divided carbonate of lime and iron, and
hydrate of silicic acid; affording, when greatly heated, a precipitation of hy-
drated carbonate of lime, due to the instantaneous decomposition of sulphate
of lime, by a solution of bicarbonate of soda present. The latter salt is in
these cases always in excess; so that the whole mass of the drainage, at
about the same level, has a marked alkalinity, and belongs to the class of
alkaline waters.

Numerous observations have shown that this water is covered by a com-
pact marl-earth, which has so large a proportion of clay that it effectually di-
vides the upper drainage from the lower, or alkaline water, which, from its
depth below the surface, can enter the harbor water only at some distance
from the shore. When attempts have been made by continuous pumping for
many days, to exhaust the supply, or overcome the flow of the water at one
point, the wells or borings at contiguous points have shown a reduction of
volume in the water; but a reflux of the ocean water through the same chan-
nels has been effected only where, after several days, a very large volume of
water had been pumped from one opening. This fact establishes our knowl-
edge of a continuous flow of alkaline water toward the sea from the shore
line, while the depth of the stratum under which it flows, shows that it is
overlaid by the mass of sea-water near the shore. A continuation of solid
marl stratum below the water near the shore, would prevent any intermixture
of the alkaline water with the sea-water at that point, and allow it to gradu-
ally mix only when the soundings are about twenty-five fathoms. There is
no cause apparent, which would prevent a continued suspension of the mi-
nutely divided matter, until the turbid water mixes with the sea-water. In
the cases of pumping referred to, the water, after some days, became more
turbid than at the commencement of the trials, leading to the conclusion that
turbid water occupied every part of the submarine channels of flow.

Proceeding to the more distant sources of this water, I have resorted to
chemical analyses of the waters from various points in the vicinity of Boston,

260 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

and the evidence that this water enters the strata in the country back from
the neighboring city of Charlestown, is almost conclusive. Many of the open
wells of that city contain a clear water, having bicarbonate of soda in excess
over the earthy salts also contained in it, and I have found that the argillite
and clay beds contain sulphates of lime and soda, as well as silicates of soda
and potash.

The occurrence of fresh water forced up from below the ocean, along the
border of our Southern States, has been frequently described. I have ob-
served phenomena in several places among the West India Islands, illustrating
this flow from the land under the water of the ocean, where the elevation of
volcanic mountains was considerable.

The mere presence of fresh water at the bottom of the ocean infiltrating
through the slime, or sand, would be sufficient to induce chemical changes by
the disturbance of electrical relations. While the surface and mass of the
ocean water, absorbing oxygen from the air, would be positive to a stratum
of sea-water mixed with fresh at the bottom, decompositions of oxydized
bodies with simpler forms of matter would take place near the line where
they blended. I am disposed to consider the presence of organic matter,
either carried in solution from the land, or taken up from the salt and stirred
by the fresh water, as the more active cause of decomposition of oxydized
bodies. The formation of the sulphurets of metals, from metallic masses,
which have been deposited at the bottom of the sea, on soundings, is more
simply explained by this mode of action also. The existence of a drainage
flow of turbid water, or a water containing bicarbonates of alkalies, or alka-
line earths, along a coast line, would account for the green color of sea-water
on soundings near coasts. The division of blue water into many thin portions
between reflecting surfaces, produced by the presence of suspended solid par-
ticles, alters its color to the hue which, by contrast, is called green. These’
solid, though finely divided particles, would be far more abundant in the case
of the flow of alkaline waters, for the mixing of such waters with the ocean
would be followed by the constant decomposition of the lime salts of the
ocean water, and the production of carbonate of lime in a hydrous, gelatinous
form, passing into the state of opaque particles, and precipitating continuously.
A natural cause for the production of carbonate of lime, by precipitation from
the lime salts held in solution by sea-water, is thus acting along the coast line
of this and probably other countries. The influence of the minute quantity
of organic matter contained in drainage water in producing chemical changes
of importance is rendered apparent, in this connection, by its power of decom-
position of oxygen sources. .

Professor W. B. Rogers remarked that the fact of the entire deoxydation
of sulphuric acid on a great scale in nature was well exemplified in the
tertiary clays and sands of extensive districts in the marl region of Virginia.
Some of these deposits contain, even now, so much free, or only partially
neutralized, sulphuric acid as to impart to the mass a strong acid flayor and
reaction. The shells originally imbedded in them having been entirely
removed by the solvent action of the acid, have left in the clay and sand
innumerable hollow casts, beautifully impressed with the external markings

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 261

of the fossils, while the sulphate of lime formed by this reaction has been
accumulated often in large groups of selenite crystals in the lower and com
paratively impervious layers. In many cases, the residuary sulphuric acid, in
the presence of much diffused organic matter, has been wholly deprived of its
oxygen, and reduced to the condition of sulphur, so that, over wide areas,
these ancient, and now effete marl beds, exhale a sulphurous odor, and yield
a sensible amount of sulphur when exposed to heat in a close vessel.

Professor Rogers then referred to the acid and alkaline springs of the slate
formations of the Appalachian belt, as depending on the development and re-
actions of sulphuric acid. The former class of springs, always containing an
excess of this acid, along with earthy and other sulphates, were observed to
-originate in belts of slaty rock, containing no carbonate of lime, either diffused
or in the shape of interpolated layers. The latter issued from slates rendered
more or less calcareous by the presence of fossil shells and plates of limestone.
The sulphuric acid evolved by the oxydation of the iron pyrites abounding in
both these varieties of slate remained, in the former case, in part uncarbonized.
and was carried off by the waters of the so-called Alum Springs; but in the
ealeareous slates the effect was different. Here, reacting with the carbonate
of lime, it became neutralized, and, at the same time, set free an immense
amount of carbonic acid. This agent, favored probably by pressure due to
depth, as well as by relative quantity, dissolved out a portion of the carbon-
ates of lime and magnesia of the slates, and by reacting on the salts of soda,
always present, formed the carbonate of that base. The percolating water
thus became impregnated with earthy and alkaline carbonates, and with an
unusual amount of silica due to the solvent action of the latter, and in this
way, as he conceived, were formed the well-known alkaline springs of these
slate regions.

OBJECT OF SALT IN THE SEA.

Professor-Chapman, University College, Toronto, has published an interest-
ing paper on the object of sea-water being salt, and after giving his objections
to the usually received opinions, he urges the theory that the object is to
regulate evaporation. If any temporary cause renders the amount of saline
matter in the sea above its normal value, evaporation goes on more and more
slowly. Ifthis value be depreciated by the addition of fresh water in undue
excess, the evaporating power is the more and more increased. He gives the
results of various experiments in reference to evaporation on weighed quanti-
ties of ordinary rain-water, and water holding in solution 2°6 per cent. of salt.
The excess of loss of the rain water compared with the salt solution was, for
the first twenty-four hours, 0°54 per cent.; at the close of forty-eight hours,
1°04 per cent.; after seventy-two hours, 1°46 per cent., and so on in increas-
ing ratio.

APPLICABILITY OF GELATINE PAPER FOR COLORING LIGHT,

This material was invented in 1829, but up to the present time has not been
successfully applied to any more useful purposes than the manufacture of ar-

262 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

tificial flowers, address cards, tracing paper, wafers, etc. It is commonly
manufactured in sheets, measuring 22 inches in length by 16 in breadth,
which are sold at a small price; but sheets can be easily made of any dimen-
sions not exceeding those of which plate-glass is capable. It can also be
made of any thickness from the finest tissue upward. It may be obtained as
transparent as the best glass, and more free from color, or of all colors and
shades, without interfering with its transparency. It is exceedingly light, and
may be bent or rolled up without injury. It can be cut with the scissors
like ordinary paper, and may be easily stitched with a needle and thread.
By means of an aqueous solution of gelatine, it can be made to adhere accu-
rately to plates of glass, without any interference with its transparency.
When varnished with collodion, it becomes perfectly water-proof, more pliable,
capable of bearing a considerable degree of heat without injury, and its trans-
parency is not affected. Hence it appears that gelatine paper, in addition to
its transparency and susceptibility to various colors and forms, is cheap, port-
able, and durable. Such being the properties of the material, Mr. Dobell
suggests its employment for various purposes, and especially for preserving
and benefiting the sight, for which it may be used as follows :-—A small sheet
‘of very pale green or blue gelatine paper may be used in reading. The sheet
is simply to be laid upon the page of the book, and the light conducted
through the colored medium. If used in a faint light, the reading paper is
to be raised a little from the book to admit more light beneath it. A sheet
of gelatine paper may be set in a light frame, and placed like a screen before
the window, or lamp of the engraver, the watchmaker, etc. ; thus providing a
light of genial color in which they may pursue their occupations. Similar
appliances may also be used by needle-women. For this purpose screens are
to be provided, both of green and blue gelatine paper; so that the white
materials employed in needle-work may be changed to a pleasant green, by
the screen of that color, the yellow materials to a green by a blue screen,
and by one or the other of these screens the reds softened down into
violets or browns. For either of the two last purposes on a larger scale,
the gelatine paper may be attached to the window-glass of the apartment,
thus coloring, if necessary, all the light admitted during daylight. Shades
for the eyes, in certain affections of the sight, may be made of gelatine paper,
to take the place of the green or the blue silk, or card shades, worn by many
persons. The gelatine paper, being transparent, will allow the wearer to see
his way about, at the same time that the eyes are protected from glaring
light. This may be especially useful in cases where it is desired not only
to shade a diseased eye, but also to protect its nerves from strong light
admitted by the sound eye. Masks of gelatine paper may also be used for
protecting the eyes of travelers against the glare of snow-fields and of sandy
deserts.—Lon. Edin. and Dub. Phil. Journal.

ON THE PREPARATION OF ROUGE AS A POLISHING POWDER.

To get the employment of oxyd of iron obtained by the calcination of
protoxalate of iron in preference to the lixiviated coleothar as a polishing

CHEMICAL SCIENCE, 263

powder for optical glasses, metals, ete. At the present price of sulphate of
iron and oxalic acid, it may be prepared for about five shillings per pound.
—Buchner’s News Report.

ON HYDRAULIC LIME, ARTIFICIAL STONES, AND SOME NEW
APPLICATIONS OF THE SOLUBLE ALKALINE SILICATES.

M. Kuhlmann, in a recent communication to the French Academy presented
some interesting facts respecting the hydraulic limes, artificial stones, ete. His
examinations show that all limestones, especially the hydraulic limes and nat-
ural cements, contain notable quantities of potash and soda. The part which
these alkalies serve, is to bring the silica to the lime, forming silicates which,
in contact with water, pass into a state of hydratation similar to that of gyp-
sum. A fat lime may be immediately transformed into an hydraulic lime by
simple contact with a solution of silicate of potash. If after the burning of
the limestone, potash be in contact with the silica, the silicate which is formed
must necessarily react; but this can not occur until the lime is brought into
contact with water. If fat lime and an alkaline silicate, both in fine
powder, be mixed in the proportion of ten or twelve of the silicates to 100
of lime, a lime can be obtained which presents all the characters of an hy-
draulic lime. If the ingredients were not finely powdered the reaction would
be incomplete, and after the solidification, a disintegration of the mass would
take place. This affords the means of constructing, at moderate expense,
buildings to resist the action of water, where none but fat limes are found.
By mixing powdered chalk with a solution of silicate of potash, a cement is
obtained which hardens slowly in the air, and becomes sufficiently hard to be
applicable under certain circumstances, for the restoration of public monu-
ments, the manufacture of molded objects, ete., etc. Chalk, whether in an ar-
tificial paste, or in its natural state, if plunged into a solution of silicate of
potash, absorbs even in the cold, a quantity of silica, which may be increased
to a considerable extent by exposing of the stone alternately, and for many
times to the action of the solution and of air. The chalk assumes a smooth
appearance, a compact grain, and more or less of a yellowish color, according
as it is more or less impregnated with iron. Stones thus prepared are sus-
ceptible of receiving a high polish. The hardness which at first is but super-
ficial, penetrates by degrees into the center, even when the stones are of con-
siderable thickness. They appear susceptible of undoubted utility in the
formation of works of sculpture and various ornaments, even those of the
most delicate workmanship; for where the silicatization has been effected on
well-dried chalk, which is essential for the production of the best results, the
surface remains unaltered. Some attempts have been made to apply these
stones for lithography which promise success.

This method of converting soft limestone into silicious limestone may
become of great value in the art of building. Ornaments unaffected by damp
and of great hardness may thus be obtained at little cost, and in many cases
a plaster made with a solution of silicate of potash will preserve from decay
ancient monuments formed of soft limestone.

264 | | ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

_ M. Kuhlmann in the course of his investigations has submitted the silicified
stones to a true process of dyeing, by impregnating them in the first instance
with certain metallic salts, which by precipitation would produce the required
color. Thus by impregnating the stones with salts of lead or copper, and then
exposing them to sulphureted hydrogen gas, or a solution of sulphuret of ammo-
nium, he obtained at pleasure different shades of gray, black, or brown. With
the salts of copper and ferrocyanide of potassium, I obtained a copper color,
ete. In this connection was observed a fact, which in a theoretical as well as
practical point of view, is not without interest. M. Kuhlmann found that por-
ous limestones, and all other bodies of similar composition, when boiled in a
solution of a metallic sulphate, the base of which is insoluble in water, gives
rise to the disengagement of carbonic acid, and the fixing to a considerable
depth of the metallic oxyd. in intimate combination with sulphate of lime.
When the metallic sulphates contain colored oxyds, we thus obtain very beau-
tiful tints of different colors. Thus with sulphate of iron we get a rusty color,
more or less deep, according to the degree of concentration of the solution.
Sulphate of copper gives a beautiful green color; sulphate of manganese a
brown; and a mixture of sulphates of iron and copper, a chocolate. The af-
finities which determine these reactions must be very powerful for the metallic
oxyds of the sulphates to be so completely absorbed by the carbonate of lime,
that with some oxyds, such as that of copper, there remains not in the solu-
tion, after boiling in, with excess of chalk, a trace appreciable by the most
delicate tests. In this way corals and shells may be colored with a great va-
riety of tints.— Comptes Rendus.

Another step taken by M. Kuhlmann was the application of alkaline
silicates, to painting; and instead of oils and the ordinary vehicles, he
uses a concentrated solution of silicate of potash, finding it to work well with
vermilion, ultramarine-blue, the ochres, oxyd of chrome, and some others.
These colors applied to a wall become, so to speak, part of its substance and
almost imperishable. Prepare your wall, paint it of any color, then sprinkle
the whole surface with a solution of silicate of potash, or soda, and you cover
it with a permanent glaze. Advantage has been taken of this discovery in
the decoration of public buildings in Germany, with the happiest effects.

Wood, affected as it is by moisture, is not so well adapted for the silicated
colors as brick or stone. The most suitable kinds, according to M. Kuhlmann,
are ash and horn-beam. But glass, porcelain, and metal, if quite dry, take
the colors readily. In glass particularly, a semi-transparency is obtained,
which renders it applicable, at low cost, to the windows of private houses or
of churches; and we all know what admirable effects can be produced by
colored panes artistically introduced. At this point the author makes the fol-
lowing practical remarks: ‘ Artificial sulphate of baryta, applied by means
of the silicate of potash to glass, gives to the latter a milk-white color of great
beauty. The sulphate becomes intimately incorporated with the silex, and
after a few days can not be washed off even with hot water. On subjecting
the glass thus painted to the action of an elevated temperature a beautiful
white enamel is produced on. the surface, which would economically replace
the enamels that have oxyd of tin for their base. Ultramarine-blue, oxyd of

_— a

os

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 265

chrome, and colored or porphyrized enamels, are a great resource in this new
method of painting, for if there be no chemical combination in all these appli-
cations of color, there is at least a very powerful adherence determined by
the silicious cement, of which the hardening is doubiless facilitated by the ex-
cessive division wherewith it is presented to the action of the air.”

M. Kuhlmann has further succeeded in using his silicated colors for designs
on paper-hangings, on cotten and woolen cloth, and in letter-press printing.
“The processes,” he says, ‘ differ very little from those in use in the various
modes of printing. One important condition is to maintain the silicious colors
in a uniform state of humidity during their application, whether the applica-
tion take place with blocks of wood or metal, or by having recourse to type.
All the colors that I have applied,” he adds, “‘ on stone, wood, metal, or glass,
serve for printing on paper or woven cloths. Typography, color-printing, the
application of gold or silver in powder or in leaf, can all be executed with the
same facility, taking care, with certain colors, to keep out sulphur in the prep-
aration of the silicates. Ultramarine is fixed in cloths with more solidity
and economy by the silicate of potash than by the methods now in use.”

Here we have a wide range of applications arising out of M. Kulhmann’s
discovery, and that the range will be extended is not doubtful. We may add
that by grinding the charcoal used in the preparation of Indian-ink with sili-
cate of potash in solution, a writing-ink is obtained almost indestructible by
chemical agents; and the same solution, mixed with a decoction of cochineal,
gives a red ink, the color of which resists for a long time the action of chlorine
and the acids.

New Cements——A. cement recently patented by Captain Scott, R. A,
Woolwich, England, is prepared by mixing quicklime and carbonate of lime
in such proportions as enable them to form, when properly treated, a sub-
carbonate. These substances are then to be reduced to a powder, and mixed
with hot or cold water, and can be used as mortar or for molding purposes.

Another English patent has been used during the past year for making a
cement, by calcining charcoal with chalk and the oxyd of zine. After being
well calcined in a proper kiln these materials are suffered to cool, then ground
to powder, and in that state are fit to be mixed with water and make a good
cement.

NEW PLASTIC COMPOUND FOR USEFUL AND ORNAMENTAL
PURPOSES.

The following is the description of an invention, for which patents have re-
cently been obtained, by J. H. Scoutetten, of Metz, France. It refers to the
manufacture of a paste, composed of vegetable and mineral substances, the
number and quantity of which varies according to the purpose for which the
paste is required. Thus gutta-percha, caoutchouc, pitch, resin, wax, gum-
lac, oxyd of iron, golden sulphuret of antimony, ultramarine, chrome, zine
white, etc., may be used.

Manufacture of the Pasie-—A steam engine serves to furnish steam to two su-
' perposed hollow cylinders. These cylinders are themselves moved by the steam,
12

266 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

crush the substances which enter into the composition of the paste, and form
a2 homogeneous mass. Double-bottomed cauldrons, equally heated by steam,
receive the matter, which, according to circumstances, may be heated dry or
in hot water. When paste is made it is put into molds and compressed, in
order to produce the objects required. These molds are composed of gutta-
percha, containing a twentieth part of caoutchouc; this process of molding
affords results hitherto unknown. Each mold should be bound with iron,
This paste may also be composed chemically. In this case the gutta-percha,
caoutchoue, and pitch, are dissolved in the sulphuret of carbon. When the
solution is complete and the combination well effected, the solution is purified,
the sulphuret of carbon is drawn off, and a mass is obtained which may be
heated dry in close vessels. Ifit be desired to make pipes, boot-soles, straps,
etc., add to the above substances, held in solution in the sulphuret of carbon,
carded cotton, all the portions of which are penetrated or exactly coated with
the material. It is then purified, as in the former case, and a mass is ob-
tained which is heated dry and passed under rollers. Under other circum-
stances, and according to known processes, the cotton is replaced by
linen, canvas, silk, wool, or any other textile substance. The paste, thus
prepared, may be colored by adding one or more of the oxyds indicated.
When it is desired to render paper or stuffs impermeable, the caoutchouc and
the gutta-percha must be separately dissolved in sulphuret of carbon, in the
proportion of 8 of gutta-percha to 100 of sulphuret of carbon, well purified.
The solution is left to rest during 8 days, and the white of eggs is added to it.
When the impure matters are deposited, it is poured forth to obtain an almost
colorless liquid. Paper or stuff may be then steeped in this liquid, and drawn
from it by passing the fabric between cleansing rollers, which equalizes the
layer of the matter. These stuffs become fit for all impermeable clothing.
The paper, rendered impermeable, is suitable for photography ; it is a substi-
tute for parchment; and it serves for the preservation of valuable papers, to
prevent their falsification, erasures, and the action of chemical agents. As
to the applications of the paste, they are innumerable; they comprise a com-
plete molding material, either for objects of art or utility; and in many cases
may replace leather, pasteboard, plaster, carvings in wood, ete. The objects
may be bronzed, gilt, or silvered.

Wood's Artificial Stone—A patent has been recently granted to John
Wood, of Brooklyn, N. Y., for an artificial stone, prepared in the following
manner :—The proportions are fifteen parts clean sand, five parts calcined
plaster, and four parts animal blood. When first mixed, the composition is
about the consistency of stiff mortar, and the most fragile plaster mold is
sufficient for its retention during the few hours necessary to the perfection of
its form.

The chemical action of this mixture has been described by Professor Mapes,
as follows:—The potash of the blood dissolves a portion of the sand, and
diffuses it throughout the mass as silicate of potash, the element to which al]
material analogous to this owes its adhesive properties. The albwmen of the
blood becoming thoroughly commingled by manipulation, is coagulated by the

silicate of potash, and rendered insoluble—thus forming locks holding all the ~

es. ae

|

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 267

parts firmly together, while the iron of the blood forms a sesqui-oxyd, and
still further cements the mass. The union of silex and alkali alone pro-
duces, in some cases, a very high degree of hardness, as in the case with
feldspar, and in this composition are fulfilled all the conditions of a perfect
stone, no element except time being wanted to insure its extreme hardness,
strength, and ability to resist the action of the elements. The uses for which
this artificial compound seems especially adapted are statues and architectural
ornaments, as it may be molded with the same facility as plaster, and grad-
ually hardens into a perfect and unchangeable stone. It resembles red sand-
stone in color, but may be painted and sanded to conform to any tint desired.

Artificial Coral—Mr. S. Isaacs, of London, has taken out a patent for
making artificial coral, by causing alabaster to be impregnated with oil con-
taining red coloring matter, such as madder, after the alabaster has been
treated with a very weak solution of sulphuric acid.

TURKISH RECIPE FOR HYDRAULIC MORTARS AND CEMENTS,

As the aqueducts of Constantinople are attracting additional notice the
more they are studied and examined, being astonishing works (especially if
we take into account the infant state of chemical and mechanical science
among the Turks), the following recipe will be found of interest, and desery-
ing examination and trial. It is, moreover, a curious fact that other semi-
barbarous nations, also, are in the possession of mechanical procedures and
contrivances, inaccessible even to European science and art; as, for instance,
the art of the Chinese to unite (solder) cast iron, ete.

Lime Mortar is prepared with fresh water, and mixed with two parts
of powdered lime, and one part of river sand.

Hydraulic Mortar.—Bricks are pounded until the grains attain the size of
common river sand, and one part of the brick powder is mixed with two
parts powdered lime, and the necessary quantity of fresh water. In using
this mortar, a layer of mortar is placed between the bricks or courses of
bricks of the same thickness of the brick, which must have been previously
soaked in water. This latter treatment is never neglected.

Hydraulic Cement for the internal dressing of arched aqueducts, cisterns,
and all constructions through which water flows, or is contained. Take 100
ockas (of 24 lbs. of 16 ounces) of fluid lime, and twenty-four ockas of very
minutely plucked tow, which is to be distributed very accurately throughout
the mass. If these two ingredients have been duly mixed and worked up,
the mass thus obtained has to remain quiet during at least eight days, that
the tow may have time to combine thoroughly with the lime. Ifthe mortar
is to be used, it is to be again well stirred up, and is to be spread with a
small trowel. For the sake of protecting it still more from the action of
water, and to make it durable for a long time, it is then to be coated with a
putty which is called lukin, and is thus prepared:—To 100 ockas of freshly-

burnt lime, which has been converted into dust, 25 ockas of the best linseed

oil are added, as well as 20 drachms of rough cotton. The lime is to be

worked or mixed in @ wooden chest or trough, while the linseed oil and

268 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

cotton are added in succession, until the mass has attained the consistency
of dough. This mass is preserved in large pieces resembling loaves of
bread. If it is to be used, it is stirred up with linseed oil until it becomes
fluid, and fit to make a coating, which is painted over twice or thrice.
Cements so prepared and allowed to dry, acquire the hardness of stone, resist
all moisture, and possess an indestructible durability.

ACTION OF SEA-WATER ON CEMENTS.

M. Vicat states in a communication to the French Academy, that he has
determined as the result of his experiments, that sea-water will destroy every
cement, mortar, or puozzolana, if it can penetrate into the mass immersed in
it. As, however, certain of these compounds are perfectly durable when con-
stantly immersed in sea-water, they can not have been penetrated by it. Its
penetration has been prevented by the surfaces, and the power of this ina-
bility to penetrate is chiefly caused by a superficial coating of carbonate of
lime which has formed either anteriorly or posteriorly to their immersion,
and which in time augments in thickness. The effect of a kind of cementa-
tion produced by the decomposition of the sulphate of magnesia, of the sea-
water and the deposition of carbonate of magnesia, in the superficial tissue
of the mass, and the formation of incrustations and submarine vegetation,
contributes also to this impermeability. But all such superficial impermeable
coatings are not attached with the same force to the mass which they en-
velop. The differences which have been observed in this respect depend in
some cases upon the chemicai constitution and upon the peculiar cohesion of
the silicates, and in others upon their submarine situation, relative to the ac-
tion upon the waves and the rolling and dashing of shingle upon them.
Hence the differences which have been observed by engineers in the durability
of concretes of which such silicates form the gange.— Comptes Rendus, Jan.
1854.

ON THE PRODUCTION OF ALCOHOL FROM BICARBURETED
HYDROGEN,

The following account of this most important chemical discovery of the
year is taken from the proceedings of the French Academy:

When the chemist exerts his skill on materials of organic origin, he ex-
tracts a series of substances, each proceeding from the other, whose composi-
tion becomes more and more simple, until it reaches some species known to
mineral chemistry. Vegetable economy constantly realizes under our eyes the
inverse operation; it takes in air, water, and mineral elements which it assimi-
lates, and, in virtue of certain of its own forces, disposes them in molecular
groups of a certain stability. It would appear as probable that these forces
are inherent to the exercise of life; nevertheless it may be conceived that be-
fore the constant challenge given by the “subtlety of nature” to the ‘ sub-
tlety of sense and intellect,” science should endeavor to imitate nature, and
try to ascend in the series of combinations from the simplest to the composite,

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CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 269

Chemists know that by following an accustomed routine, alcohol (an organic
substance) may be decomposed into two simpler compounds, viz., water, and
bicarbureted hydrogen. The plan is as follows: alcohol is placed in a retort,
with a portion of concentrated sulphuric acid. On the application of heat,
carbureted hydrogen gas is liberated, which burns with great brilliancy, while
steam and a measure of water is left behind. The inverse operation to this
would consist in uniting the bicarbureted hydrogen and water in such pro-
portions as to form alcohol. This, and other like operations, chemists have
deemed impossible. It was the problem which M. Berthelot, of France, pro-
posed to himself, and which has resulted in a complete solution. The point
which is, perhaps, the most remarkable of the process, is that the solution is
grounded on the use of the same body which hitherto has served to effect
the decomposition of alcohol. The same sulphuric acid which at 160 degrees
Centigrade acts to separate water from the carbureted hydrogen acts alto-
gether differently at the ordinary temperature; in contact with the gaseous
body it gradually absorbs and disposes it to re-enter into combination.

This is the plan followed by M. Berthelot in his experiments: Having pre-
pared about thirty quarts of bicarbureted hydrogen, he placed them in a
close retort with 900 grammes of pure and highly concentrated sulphuric acid.
To this was added five or six volumes of water. The whole was then sub-
mitted to successive distillations, carbonate of potash being used to retain the
water. In the last condenser, M. Berthelot found 52 grammes of an alcoholic
liquid, corresponding to 45 grammes of absolute alcohol, and three fourths of
the gas employed; the remainder was lost in the manipulations. This alcohol
possessed all the properties of ordinary alcohol; the same taste and odor, the
same point of ebullition, the same inflammability at the approach of a body
in combustion, and the same colored flame; it had, too, the same dissolving
power and the same reaction on all bodies—it was indeed regenerated alco-
hol. The bicarbureted hydrogen used by M. Berthelot was obtained from
the decomposition of alcohol; he made also other experiments with bicarbu-
reted hydrogen found in common illuminating gas, and obtained the same result.
In this case, then, beyond a doubt chemistry has succeeded in making and un-
making the same composition of organic origin, and (perhaps the curious
point) it was made in both instances by the same reagent, by a mere change
of temperature. M. Berthelot had already obtained analogous results by ope-
rating on the products resulting from the decomposition of oleaginous sub-
stances. By placing these products together and letting them act slowly at a
suitable temperature, he succeeded not only in regenerating the natural fats,
but associating these products of decomposition in different manners, he suc-
ceeded in forming bodies analogous to the fats which are naturally formed.
What can be concluded from these different examples, but that after being
successful in transforming a composite substance into two others, the chemist
has always a right to hope he may be able to reunite them and remake that
which gave them birth. In any event success would be an interesting fact
for science, and besides such a fact would give rise to important applications.
Thus when dilute sulphuric acid is allowed to act upon cane sugar, the latter

is converted into glucose, or the sugar of grapes—the grape sugar taking an

270 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

additional equivalent of water. If now we could effect the inverse reaction,
grape sugar would be transformed into cane sugar, and as the former can
easily be obtained from woody fiber or starch, the inverse process would ena-
ble us to transform sawdust into cane sugar, or table sugar.

M. Bertholet has moreover submitted his experiments to another carburet
of hydrogen—‘ propylene.” Submitted to the action of sulphuric acid, and
to successive distillations, it gave a spirituous liquor which presents the most
striking analogy with ordinary alcohol, and which from this quasi-identity has
been called propylic alcohol.

According to Marx, this discovery, put forward by Berthelot, was made
twenty-seven years ago by Hennel, who, in the Philosophical Transactions for
1828, p. 365, says: ‘‘ By combining olefiant gas with sulphuric acid, we may
form sulphoyinic acid, from which we may obtain at pleasure, by varying the
circumstances of decomposition, either alcohol or ether.” The method of
performing this experiment now recommended is to pass common Coal gas
through sulphuric acid, and then to add water in excess.

ACTION OF ALCOHOL UPON THE STOMACH.

The following facts respecting the action of aleohol upon the stomach and
tissues, communicated by Dr. A. A. Hayes of Boston, are somewhat different
from the generally-received opinions on this subject:

Undiluted alcohol consists of 4 equivalents of carbon, 6 of hydrogen, and 2
of oxygen. This substance in its undiluted state, introduced into the stomach,
causes death, and is ranked by toxicologists among the narcoto-acrid poisons.
In a diluted state, mixed with from one to eight times its volume of water, it
represents the active principles of nearly all the alcoholic liquors. Leaving
out of view the volatile aromatic oils, the sugar, the vegetable matter, ete., of
the distilled and fermented liquors, we have to consider the mixed vapor of
alcohol and water, exhaling in the body at the temperature of 98° Fahrenheit.
This vapor, when it comes in contact with oxygen, either as a gas or dissolved
in fluids, undergoes a rapid change, resulting in the formation of aldehyde,
which consists of 4 equivalents of carbon, 4 of hydrogen, and 2 of oxygen.

This substance is the uniform product of the exposure of the mixed vapor
of alcohol and water, in contact with extended and porous surfaces, to the
smallest quantity of oxygen the alcoholic vapor can combine with at 98°
Fahrenheit.

The evidence of its production in the system obtained by Ducheck and
others, is sustained by appropriate chemical experiments. As alcohol cor-
rugates the tissues and coagulates the blood, it does not probably pass into
the circulation (and in experiments which seem to show its existence in the
blood, ete., aldehyde was probably mistaken for alcohol, which it very nearly
resembles). Aldehyde boils at 71° Fahrenheit, and therefore exists in the
system only as a vapor, capable, if restrained, of exerting a high tension. Its

affinity for oxygen is very strong, and by the union of one of its equivalents -

of hydrogen with oxygen, water is formed, and the substance is changed to
acetous acid. Probably the oxydation is carried one step further in the body,

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CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 271

and acetic acid is formed. The heat produced by the combination of oxygen
with the hydrogen of alcoholic vapor is not a new quantity gained from a
special food for respiration, but it is heat from one source substituted for the
heat which would have been obtained from another source.

Alcohol, in changing into aldehyde, abstracts oxygen from the system.
The result of this is an increased respiration to restore the oxygen thus taken
away, and an apparent increase of heat. The action of alcohol in the system,
so long as it remains alcohol, is to excite and stimulate; afterward, as alde-
hyde, it acts as an anzesthetic.

AMMONIA AND NITRIC ACID IN RAIN-WATER.

The following are the results of the experiments undertaken by Messrs.
Lawes and Gilbert, of England, for the determination of the amount of ammonia
and nitric acid present in rain-water. The average of the determinations
made on monthly mixed samples of rain which fell at Rothamsted, England,
during more than a year, gave about one part of ammonia per million of rain-
water; the average of many determinations by Boussingault at Alsace, in
France, was about four fifths of this amount; while the estimations of M.
Beinal and Boussingault at Paris gave as much as 3 or 4 parts, or even more,
of ammonia per million of rain-water. The amounts of ammonia obtained by
Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert in the rain of different entire months, when con-
sidered in connection with the registered amounts of fall, the direction of the
wind, and the general characters of the weather, were perfectly consistent in
kind with the results of Boussingault in his special examinations of rain falling
under different circumstances, of the water of dew, fogs, ete.

In regard to the quantities of nitric acid obtained, the authors do not speak
with as much confidence concerning the ammonia, as the methods of de-
termining small quantities of nitric acid are by no means satisfactory. As a
general result, however, it would seem that while the per centage amount of
ammonia was generally less in the rain of thunder-storms and when there was
a large fall of rain, the amount of nitric acid, on the other hand, appeared to
be increased under the influence of storms. The results further indicated
that the amount of nitrogen yielded by rain-water in the form of nitric acid,
was considerably greater than that which existed as ammonia; and since there
could be no doubt that nitrates applied as manure greatly enhanced the growth
of plants by virtue of the nitrogen they contained, the amount of nitrogen
brought down from the atmosphere in the form of nitric acid must be con-
sidered to have a very important influence on vegetation.— Chemical Gazette.

NEW INVESTIGATIONS IN AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY.

The following communication has been read before the French Academy,
by M. Roy :—

Of all the ammoniacal salts, the carbonate of ammonia is the only one which
furnishes assimilable nitrogen on a large scale. The leguminous plants of
artificial soils have the remarkable faculty of absorbing gaseous carbonate of

272 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ammonia by means of their leaves. This property renders these plants valu-
able in agriculture. Grains in general, those of natural meadows and cereals,
do not absorb carbonate of ammonia by means of their leaves, they only ab-
sorb it in a state of solution by means of their spongioles.

The nitrogen of the air is not absorbed by the aerial organs of plants, but
the nitrogen dissolved in water, which penetrates into plants by means of
their roots, is assimilated. This explains the contradictory statements of MM.
Boussingault and Ville as to the assimilation of nitrogen. A plant placed in
a limited atmosphere, which thus accomplishes all the phases of its develop-
ment, does not transpire water by means of its leaves. It follows that it only
absorbs a limited quantity of water by means of its roots, and consequently
an inappreciable quantity of nitrogen.

Plaster produces a direct and marked effect only on plants which absorb
carbonate of ammonia in a gaseous state—that is, by means of their leaves;
such are the leguminous plants of artificial meadows, lucerne, ete. The effect
of plaster is to cause the absorption by the leaves of the carbonate of ammonia
which the dew and rain bring to the surface of the earth-and plants. During
the last stage of decomposition of manures, the nitrogen is disengaged from
the soil in the state of carbonate of ammonia. The dew brings it back upon
the plants, moistening their surfaces and obstructing their respiratory organs.
In these conditions the carbonate of ammonia can not be absorbed. It is
disengaged among the first products of the vaporization of the dew before the
stomates are dried. The presence of plaster in the soil and on the plants has
this effect: 1st, of fixing the ammonia in the dew in a state of sulphate, and
forming, at the same time, carbonate of lime; 2d, under the influence of a
continued vaporization, when the organs of plants are not moistened, the
sulphate of ammonia, which is not volatile in the presence of carbonate of
lime, causes a slow disengagement of carbonate of ammonia to the organs of
absorption, and the re-formation of sulphate of lime. This latter thus acts
indefinitely.

Plaster and the leguminous plants on which it acts consequently aid in
enriching nitrogenous manures; it is to this enriching that I attribute generally
the potato disease. The careful study of this matter has shown that the
disease which destroys the potato is due to the absorption of carbonate of
ammonia by the roots of the plants. There is an elaboration of the nitrogen
in fermentation in the superior organs, an accumulation of this matter in the
tuber—whenee all the symptoms and manifestations of the disease. I have
proved the correctness of this conclusion by causing the absorption of car-
bonate of ammonia by some roots, which became thus inoculated, if I may
use the term, with the malady in different degrees.— Comptes Rendus.

INDIRECT MODE OF DETERMINING THE PRESENCE OF PHOS-
PHORIC ACID IN ROCKS,

At the last meeting of the British Association, Dr. Daubeny gave an account
of anew method adopted by him for indirectly determining the presence of
phosphoric acid in rocks, and of obtaining proofs of its existence in the Silurian

‘
,

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 273

rocks. The manner in which he made his examination was by taking certain
portions of eleven different species of rock, having the soil which covered it
entirely removed. The rock was then bruised till it had the appearance of
common soil. He had introduced above 22 cwt. into his garden, and raised
a crop of autumn grain upon it, and he was thus able to advance a general
theory with regard to the presence of phosphoric acid in the rock. Mr. Gilbert
said that the rock would be of little use for manufacturing and agricultural
purposes unless it contained at least 50 per cent. of phosphate of lime.

ASSIMILATION OF NITROGEN BY PLANTS.

This subject is still under discussion among the French savans. M. Bous-
singault persists in denying, more strongly than ever, that plants can assim-
ilate nitrogen directly from the atmosphere. His experiments: have always
been made on limited portions of air, while M. Ville, on his side, has constantly
operated in the free air, and perseveringly sustains the fixation of nitrogen.
The following explanation, offered by M. Roy, appears to harmonize these
discordant results. He admits that nitrogen from the air is not absorbed by
the leaves, but that, when dissolved in water, it is taken up by the roots.
But a plant in an inclosed portion of atmosphere, which is developed wholly in
this condition, does not transpire water by the leaves; and hence must absorb
by the roots only a very limited quantity of water, and consequently an inap-
preciable quantity of nitrogen. Such is the case in the experments of Bous-
singault. On the contrary, a plant endowed with great powers of transpira-
tion, as wheat, placed in the apparatus of M. Ville, absorbs as much more
water as the transpiration is more active from the renewal of the air. The
quantity of nitrogen which is then taken up by the water into the interior
of the plant, and assimilated, is sufficient to be sensible in analysis—FParis
Correspondence of Silliman’s Journal.

ON THE PRODUCTION OF CARBONIC ACID GAS BY THE SOIL,
ORGANIC, AND MANURES.

Since the time of Saussure we have known that humid organic matters,
when exposed to the air, remove oxygen, absorb a portion, and that there is
a production of water with their hydrogen, and carbonic acid at the expense
of their carbon. But hitherto no chemist has tried to appreciate, even ap-
proximatively, the quantity of carbonic acid which the soil and substances in
the course of decomposition emit spontaneously into the air. M. Corenwin-
der, in a recent communication to the French Academy, states that he has
ascertained that argilaceous earth, enriched with farm-yard manure, exhales,
in 24 hours, 15°70 litres per square metre of surface. This earth contained 12
to 13 per cent. of moisture, and the thickness of the layer experimented on
was 8 centimetres. The temperature varied from 68° to 86° Fahrenheit
during these observations. As might be expected a soil which contains but
little manure produces a smaller quantity of carbonic acid. By stirring the
surface a larger proportion of carbonic acid is disengaged, because fresh mole-

12*

274 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

cules of organic matter are exposed to the action of the air. This is probably
the cause of the efficacy of deep harrowing or plowing. Manures produce a
large quantity of carbonic acid, and most when most decomposed. For ex-
ample: Ist. Fresh cow-dung gives off, in 24 hours, 12 litres of carbonic acid
per square metre; if kept for 4 days it gives about 20 litres of gas from the
same superficies. 2d. Fresh horse-dung only exhales 5 litres of carbonic
acid per square metre in 24 hours. After 4 days the fermentation becomes so
considerable that the production of gas rises to 88 litres per square metre in
24 hours. The thickness of the layers experimented on was uniformly 8 cen-
timetres. Dry sugar and moist wood alcohol do not produce carbonic acid ;
guano exhales a very small quantity; 1 kilogram of unbleached flax disen-
gages spontaneously from 11 to 12 litres in 24 hours, after having been ex-
posed to the air in a damp state for 3 or 4 days. The temperature during
these experiments varied from 68° to 86° Fahrenheit. The results of these
experiments show that the quantity of carbonic acid furnished to vegetables
by the decomposition of the organic matters in the soil, is more consider-
able than has hitherto been supposed. It is pretty generally admitted that
the carbonic acid necessary to vegetation is due almost entirely to the respira-
tion of animals, and ponderation has been established between the two
kingdoms which has been, perhaps, too absolute, when we consider the great
quantity of carbon annually fixed in the mass of vegetables which cover the

cultivated portions of the earth, and the comparatively small relative quantities ©

of carbonic acid furnished by the respiration of animals. My experiments
appear to me destined to prove that if we consider the amount of carbonic
acid emanating from animal respiration, combustion, and volcanoes, it will
still be necessary to attribute to the production of carbonic acid from the
surfacé of the earth the greater share in the alimentation of vegetables. It is
rational to admit from the above that vegetables are placed on the surface of
the earth in an atmosphere charged with carbonic acid, which is perpetually

being renewed, and is the most abundant when the temperature is high and -

the soil moist—circumstances which aid the decomposition of manures.

ON THE ORIGIN OF GOITRE.

M. Maumené, of France, has recently been engaged in investigating the
causes of goitre, or the frightful swelling of the glands of the neck so common
in Switzerland and some districts of France. Goitre is undoubtedly due to
the action of certain waters in particular cases. Some young men have been
known to give themselves goitre in 2 or 3 months to escape military service;
successive families have been found to be attacked with goitre when they oc-
cupied houses on certain streams; even animals develop it in these condi-
tions. M. Maumené, suspecting that the fluorid of calcium might have an
important influence, administered this salt, together with the fluoride of so-
dium, to a small dog for about 4 months. The effect was to produce an
enlargement of the neck to such an extent as to attract notice, which enlarge-
ment has remained permanent.

Pe ee ee ee ee ee eee eee en ee

ee a ee a ee ee

LC

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 275

ON THE CONSTITUTION AND PROPERTIES OF OZONE, BY
THOMAS ANDREWS, F.R.S.

The conflicting views which have so long existed as to the true constitu-
tion of ozone, induced the author to undertake a careful investigation of the
whole subject, particularly as he had reason to doubt the accuracy of the only
quantitative experiments which have yet been made to elucidate this difficult
question. According to the experiments before made, two substances have
been confounded under the name of ozone, one a compound body, having the
formula HO3, the other an allotropic variety of oxygen. To ascertain whether,
in conformity with this statement, ozone obtained in the electrolysis of water
contains hydrogen as a constituent, the author made two series of experiments.
In the first series he followed nearly the same line of investigation by which
its compound nature is supposed to have been established, but modified so as
to ayoid a source of error, which, if neglected, vitiates altogether the results.
Electrolytic oxygen, unless very great precautions are taken, is always accom-
panied with a small but appreciable quantity of carbonic acid, which is liable to
be partially absorbed by the potassa set free when a neutral solution of iodide
of potassium is decomposed by ozone. By adding a little hydrochloric acid to
the solution of iodide of potassium before the commencement of each experi-
ment, this error may be avoided. The method of performing the experiment
was to conduct a stream of electrolytic oxygen through a compound apparatus
previously weighed, which contained on one side an acid solution of iodide of
potassium, and on the other sulphuric acid; the former to decompose the ozone,
the latter to prevent the escape of moisture. The increase in weight of this
apparatus gave the entire weight of the ozone, and the iodine, when set free
and reduced to its equivalent in oxygen, the weight of the active oxygen.

The result of five experiments performed in this manner, proved that the
active oxygen is exactly equal to the weight of the ozone, and is therefore
identical with it.

In the next series of experiments, the author shows that no water is pro-
duced by the decomposition of electrolytic ozone by heat. Large quantities
of electrolytic oxygen, containing from 38 to 27 milligrams of ozone, were
decomposed by heat, but no water was obtained in a weighed absorption ap-
paratus, in which the gas was exposed, not only to the action of sulphuric
acid, but was also passed through a tube containing anhydrous phosphoric
acid. Having confirmed by new experiments the fact that ozone is formed by
the action of the electrical spark on pure and dry oxygen, the author proceeds
to institute a comparison between the properties of ozone derived from different
sources. These he found to be in every respect the same. The ozone, however
prepared, is destroyed, or rather converted into ordinary oxygen, by exposure
to a temperature of about 237° Centigrade, and catalytically, by being passed
over peroxyd of manganese, no water being formed in either case. It is not
absorbed by water, but when sufficiently diluted with other gases, is destroyed
by agitation with a large quantity of water; it is also, contrary to the usual
statements, destroyed by being agitated with lime-water and baryta water,

2e6 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

provided a sufficient quantity of these solutions be used; it has always the
same peculiar odor; it bleaches without producing previously an acid reac-
tion; it oxydizes in all cases the same bodies, etc. From the whole investi-
gation the author draws the conclusion ‘“‘that ozone from whatever source de-
rived, is one and the same substance, and is not a compound body, but oxygen
in an altered, or allotropic condition.” —Proc. Royal Society.

Influence of Ozone.—For some time past continuous observations have been
made in Europe on ozone. The general result of many scattered observers
seems to show that there really exists an intimate connection between the
quantity of ozone in the air and certain epidemic diseases, such as cholera,
erippe, intermittent fever, etc. It is claimed to have been established that the
appearance of the grippe coincides with the presence in the air of an excess
of ozone; while on the contrary the invasion of cholera is accompanied by an
almost complete absence of ozone in the air; this is at least true for Berne, in
Switzerland, and Strasburg and Nancy, in France. It will be remembered that
this view of the connection of ozone with cholera was taken by some of the
medical journals in the United States in 1849, at the time of the cholera in-
vasion.

The following is a new mode of preparing ozone, or a similar body, which
is capable of oxydizing silver, decomposing iodide of potassium, of forming
ammonia, of disengaging chlorine from hydrochloric acid, and of forming water
with hydrogen. It consists in treating peroxyd of barium with monohydrated
sulphuric acid at a temperature below 70° Centigrade. The oxygen disengaged
in this process possesses the properties named above, and it has the charac-
teristic odor which is known as the lobster odor.

ON THE PREPARATION OF CALOMEL IN THE HUMID WAY.

It has long been known that protochlorid of mercury is precipitated from
the solution of the perchlorid, by sulphurous acid. This behavior appears
to be available in the practical preparation of calomel. It is obtained as a
very delicate powder in this manner, and of a dazzling white color, which
glistens in the sunlight. The difficult process of sublimation, and the tedious
preparation would be thus avoided, and its preparation in the laboratory
would be a very easy matter. It would be obtained immediately in the
finely-divided state in which the pulverulent sublimed calomel is procured,
without any necessity for an operation of so much danger as the preparation
of calomel by sublimation, which, moreover, can only be performed on a
large scale. As the calomel formed by sulphurous acid is crystalline, and
therefore in the same condition as the#sublimed, there can also be no doubt
that it will not differ from this in its medicinal efficiency. For its preparation
it is only necessary to dissolve commercial perchlorid of mercury in water
heated to about 122° Fahrenheit, until this is saturated, and afterward to pass
sulphurous acid gas into the hot solution. The gas is evolved by heating
coarse charcoal powder with concentrated sulphuric acid. The separation of
the calomel commences immediately. "When the solution is saturated with
gas, it is digested for a time, then left to get cool, and filtered from the

CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 277

calomel, which is afterward washed.—Professor Wholer, Chem. Gazette,
July 18, 1854.

MISCELLANEOUS CHEMICAL IMPROVEMENTS.

Black Stain for Wood.—The London Chemical Gazette gives the following:
4 lbs., or two quarts of boiling water are poured over 1 ounce of pounded

commercial extract of logwood, and when the solution is effected, 1 drachm
-of yellow chromate of potash is added, and the whole well stirred. The fluid

is then ready for use as a writing ink or wood stain. It has a beautiful violet
blue color, but when rubbed upon the wood it produces a pure black. It is
applied to the wood without warming or any other preparation by means of
a brush or sponge. When dry, the application of the dye is repeated,
and three, or at most four applications, produce a deep black color, which
acquires the highest beauty when polished or stained, and with equally good
results with different kinds of wood.

Softening Horn.—The London Artisan mentions an invention for softening
horn, and rendering it elastic like whalebone. The horns are cleaned, split,
opened out and flattened, and immersed for several days in a bath com-
posed of 5 parts of glycerine, and 100 parts of water. They are then
placed in a second bath, consisting of 3 quarts of nitric acid, 2 quarts of
pyroligneous acid, 124 lbs. tannin, 5 lbs. bitartrate of potash, and 5 lbs. sul-
phate of zinc, with 25 gallons of water. After leaving this second bath
it will have acquired a suitable degree of flexibility and elasticity to enable
it to be used as a substitute for whalebone for certain purposes.

Improvement in Preparing Vegetable Fiber—The following is the claim of a
patent recently granted to J. Blane, of New Orleans, for improvements in pre-
paring vegetable fibers:—I do not claim burying the plants in either wet sand
or mud, as described in the “ India” process, found in the Agricultural Reports
of the Patent Office for 1854, page 174. Nor do I claim simply rotting the
plants on end with the butts down. ButI claim the staking of the plants,
butts down, ina pit dug for said purpose, and surrounding them with dry
leaves, or straw, with earth thrown around the same, thereby inclosing
them entirely on all sides, leaving the top open and uncovered, as fully set
forth.

Gun Cotion.—The use of gun-cotton for artillery has to some extent been
adopted by the Austrian government during the past year. Four batteries
(32 pieces) have been already constructed, and others are in preparation.
Twelve-pounders, intended to be used with gun-cotton, require only the same
weight of metal, as six-pounders. The following are some of the results of
experimentation with this substance:—A twelve pound ball was fired from
a gun, charged with powder, at some thick boards prepared for the purpose,
and another ball, of the same weight, was fired from one of the new guns,
charged with gun cotton; although the new gun was six hundred yards
further from the target than the old one, the hole made by the shot of the
former was well defined and clean, while the orifice made by the latter was
jagged and splintery.

278 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

IMPROVEMENT IN SUGAR REFINING.

In some stages of sugar refining, and in Turkey-red dyeing, bullock’s blood,
in a natural state, is used, and in this condition it is difficult to carry and dis-
agreeable to keep. To obviate these evils, J. Pillars, of London, has taken
out a patent for pressing the clotted blood of animals into cakes, then drying
them with currents of hot air. It is afterward ground to powder in a machine,
and in that state is used by sugar refiners and dyers. This is certainly a
valuable improvement over the old method, if it answers as good a purpose,
and the attention of all sugar refiners should be directed to it. The serous
portion of the blood which has been pressed out, is dried like the clotted
parts, and is supplied to calico-printers for using with their colors, and also to
the refiners of wine, for their operations, as a substitute for the white of eggs,

RENDERING WOVEN FABRICS WATER-PROOF.,

An invention by James Murdock of London, renders cotton cloth water-
proof by the application to its surface of the following varnishes:—In three
gallons of water, half a pound of alum, one pound of ox-gall, and two pounds
of linseed cake, are boiled for one hour, then allowed to cool, and applied
with a brush to the surface of the cloth to be coated, which is afterward
placed in a stove-room to dry. The next coating is composed of 3 gallons of
linseed oil, + ib. of litharge, $ Ib. of India-rubber, 4 lb. of tar, and 4 Ib. of
Prussian blue—the latter as a coloring material. These are boiled for about
an hour, and well stirred all the time, when it will form a strong varnish. It
is now allowed to cool, and is put on the surface of the cloth with a brush or
machine. The cloth is then allowed to dry again in a stove room, and when
dry, its surface is rubbed with pumice-stone to make it smooth. The third
and last coat is composed of 3 gallons of linseed oil, boiled over a strong fire
for 2 hours, with 2 ozs. of the salts of tin, and the same amount of the sul-
phate of zinc—both dryers. This varnish may also be colored with Prussian
blue, or other coloring material. When cold, it is applied to the surface of
the cloth like the other coatings, and the cloth is afterward dried in the same
manner. The last coating is given with a thin copal varnish.

ON THE ABOLITION OF THE SMOKE NUISANCE IN ENGLAND.

At a recent scientific meeting in England, Mr. Spence questioned the great
benefit likely to be derived from the abolition of the smoke nuisance. ‘The
imperfect combustion of fuel, as carried on at present, only led to an annoying
deposit of carbon, and this Mr. Spence regarded as a healthy body. By the
more complete burning of the fuel, this carbon would be oxydized into car-
bonic acid, a poisonous gas, and the sulphur at present escaping combustion
would pass into sulphurous acid. He instanced the smoke-consuming move-
ment in Manchester, and observed that vegetation in the neighborhood was
being destroyed, owing to the very much larger quantity of carbonic-and sul-
phurous acids, which were now thrown into the atmosphere.

. La ns ee
ni: .

CHEMICAL SCLENCE. 279

CHARCOAL RESPIRATOR.

Dr. Stenhouse recently described to the London Society of Arts a new
species of respirator filled with powdered animal charcoal, to absorb and de
stroy any miasmata or infectious particles present in the air in the case of
fever and cholera hospitals, and of districts infected by ague, yellow fever,
and similar diseases. The respirator fitted closely to the lower portion of the
face, extending from the chin to within half an inch of the eyes, and pro-
jected about an inch on either side of the mouth. It therefore included the
nostrils as well as the mouth. The frame of the respirator was made of thin
sheet copper, but the edges were formed of lead, and were padded and lined

' with velvet, so that it could be easily made to fit tightly to the face. The

powdered charcoal was kept in its place by means of two sheets of fine wire
gauze, about a quarter of an inch apart. The object in view was, by filtering
the air through such a porous substance as animal charcoal, to intercept the
miasmata which might have got mixed with it. Repeated trials with the
respirator had shown that certain noxious and offensive gases, such as am-
monia, sulphureted hydrogen, and hydrosulphate of ammonia, had been
rapidly oxydated and destroyed in their passage through the pores of the
charcoal. The author then mentioned several instances in which the bodies
of dead animals had been completely covered with thin layers of charcoal,
which entirely prevented any effluvia or odor being perceptible. He con-
sidered that covering a church-yard to the depth of from two to three inches
with coarsely-powdered charcoal, would effectually prevent any putrid exhal-
ations ever finding their way into the atmosphere. Charcoal, though a de-
odorizer or disinfecting agent, was not, as laid down by chemical works, an
antiseptic. On the contrary, it favored the rapid decomposition of the dead
bodies with which it was in contact; so that in the course of six or eight
months little was left except the bones.

An interesting experiment illustrating the sanitary powers of charcoal has
been instituted at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, by Dr. Stenhouse,
An atmosphere rendered highly offensive by putrefactive decomposition going
on within the chamber in which it is confined, is drawn through charcoal
filters, by means of a rotating fan machine, and is passed into an apartment
adjoining. Although this air is disgustingly fetid, it fows out into the room
perfectly free from smell, The remarkable property which charcoal has of
condensing within its pores large quantities of the fetid gases is greatly in-
creased by a process of platinizing the charcoal. This new invention merits
the attention of the man of science, from the extraordinary energy with which
ie acts upon the gases, and of all those persons—scieutific or not—who are
interested in the public health, since it furnishes us with a new power for re-
moving from among us the agents of disease.

GEOLOGY.

ON THE GEOLOGY OF EXTREME NORTHERN AMERICA,

Av a recent meeting of the London Geological Society, Mr. Isbister presented
a paper on the geological features of the extreme northern portions of America.
In respect to the Rocky Mountains, he stated that granite, limestone, and
slate (probably of Silurian age), and conglomerate and sandstone, nave been
met with on their eastern slopes. Rocks probably referable to the Carbonif-
erous series, haye been found by the author near the northern extremity of
the range. The Lawrentine Mountains, or the range flanking the north bank
of the St. Lawrence, also consist of granite, with other crystalline rocks.
These are prolonged (with a narrow slip of paleeozoic rocks intervening) in a
N.W. direction, from Lake Superior to the Arctic Sea, in a broad zone of but
slight general elevation. It is crossed by numerous rivers, and greatly inter-
sected by lakes; indeed, along its western margin nearly all the great lakes
of North America occur. Between this range and Hudson’s Bay is the great
Silurian basin of Hudson’s Bay, which extends also along the northern margin
of the Lawrentine Mountains. The shores of the Bay itself are flat and allu-
vial. The Silurian limestone of Hudson’s Bay has been traced more or less
continuously to the Arctic Sea, through the enormous range of thirty degrees
of latitude; and the fossils obtained from it, both in the North and near Hud-
son’s Bay, appear to belong exclusively to the Upper Silurian series. The
Silurian basin of Lake Winnipeg was next described. Many fossils have been
collected, but some obscurity still exists with regard to the age of the rocks
of this tract; in some respects they appear to be referable to the Lower
Silurian age. The valley of the Mackenzie River is chiefly occupied by rocks
of Devonian age, in which sandstones alternate with bituminous shales, some-
times to a depth of 150 feet. In the Mackenzie Valley there are also rocks
referable to the Silurian, and some which the author refers with doubt to the
Carboniferous series. The latter include—l1st, the great alum-shale deposits
occurring along the Arctic coast from Mackenzie River to Liverpool Bay;
2d, the extensive band of lignite and coal, described by Sir J. Richardson,
from whose account it appears that a vast coal-field skirts the eastern base of
the Rocky Mountains, and is apparently continued far into the Arctic Sea,
where coal has lately been met with by Captain M‘Clure. In the drift-coal
of Jameson’s Land and of Melville Island, and in the coal-fields of Oregon,
plants like those of the English coal measures have been found. The author

‘GEOLOGY. 281

next noticed the few patches of fossiliferous pleistocene deposits yet observed
on the Arctic shores, and the drift phenomena of the whole region under con-
sideration.

ATTEMPTS TO SOUND THE NIAGARA RIVER.

Several attempts have recently been made to sound the river below Niagara
Falls, one of which is thus described: “ The attempt was made with an iron
of about 40 lb. weight, attached to a No. 11 wire, all freely suspended, so as
not to impede the fall of the weight. I then let the weight fall from the
bridge, a height of 225 feet. It struck the surface fairly, with the point down
—must have sunk to some depth, but was not longer out of sight than about
one second, when it made its appearance again on the surface, about 100 feet
down the stream, and skipped along like a chip, until it was checked by the
wire. We then commenced hauling in slowly, which made the iron bounce
like a ball, when a cake of ice struck it, and ended the sport. I am satisfied
that no metal has sufficient specific gravity to pierce that current, even with
a momentum acquired by a fall of 225 feet. The velocity of the iron when
striking must have been equal to 124 feet per second; and, consequently, its
mementum near 5,000 lbs. Its surface opposed to the current was about 50
superficial inches. This will give an idea of the strength of that current, and
at the same time hint at the Titan forces that have been at work to scoop out
the bed of the Niagara river.”

OBSERVATIONS ON THE COAL-FIELDS OF PENNSYLVANIA,

The following interesting remarks on the coal-fields of Pennsylvania are
made by Professor H. D. Rogers, as introductory to a description of numerous
species of new fossil plants found there :—

The following new species of fossil plants, one hundred and ten in number,
are some of the results of a systematic investigation of the fossil flora of the
carboniferous strata of Pennsylvania and the adjacent coal-fields of Ohio and
Virginia. Many of these hitherto undescribed forms were discovered in the
slates, associated with the beds of anthracite in the coal-fields of eastern Penn-
sylvania, which, compared with the bituminous coal measures of western
Pennsylvania, appear not only to contain a greater variety of species, but to
present them in a condition of more perfect preservation for study.

These species, as briefly described by Mr. Lesquereux, associated with Pro-
fessor Rogers in the Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, constitute about one
half of the total number of well-defined forms hitherto detected by him in the
coal measures and lower carboniferous rocks (the vespertine series) of Penn-
sylvania; more than one hundred of the two hundred and twenty species ex-
amined by him proving to be entirely identical with species already recognized
in the European coal-fields, and some fifty more of them showing differences
so slight, that a fuller comparison with better specimens, may result in their
identification likewise. As a further evidence of the near affinity of the North
American to the European fossil flora of the carboniferous age, he has re-

282 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

marked, in the course of his investigations, that even these new species which
seem restricted to this continent, are every one of them in close relationship
with European forms. It deserves mention, moreover, that the commonest
European species are likewise the most common American ones.

A stratigraphical analysis of the anthracite measures of Pennsylvania calls
for their division into two groups, a lower series, distinguished by the white or
very pale color of the ashes of nearly all the coal seams, and an upper series,
including coals as remarkable for yielding only pinkish or red ashes. Between
these groups there usually exists, especially in the southern or Pottsville
basin, a small transition group of two or three beds of gray ash, or pinkish-
gray ash coals. The entire number of coal seams, of a thickness admitting
mining, in the middle portion of the southern basin, where the whole forma-
tion is thickest and most replete in coal-beds, does not exceed about twenty-
five; and counting those of all dimensions, the total series does not amount
to more than from thirty to thirty-five separate layers.

In the bituminous coal-measures west of the Alleghany Mountains, the
whole number of workable seams is less than one half of that above named,
as belonging to the anthracite formation, while, including the thinner and less
persistent beds, the entire series can not there amount to more than eighteen
or twenty. That portion of this great Appalachian coal-field which lies
within Ohio, appears to possess even somewhat fewer than the eastern
half in Pennsylvania, the beds suitable for mining being estimated at seven,
and the small seams about ten, in addition. Advancing westward to the
great coal basin of Indiana and Illinois, the coals thick enough for working
are counted at only six, and the thin ones proportionately few; and this re-
markable progressive reduction in the coal-beds, going westward, seems to be
maintained as far as we advance in the formation; for crossing the Missis-
sippi to the wide shallow coal-fields of Missouri and Iowa, the number of
workable beds there believed to exist does not amount to more than three or
four. Accompanying this interesting gradation in the amount of coal, there
occurs an equally noteworthy diminution in the thickness and coarseness of the
associated strata, showing a progressive thinning down of the whole land-derived
coal-bearing portions of the carboniferous deposits. Wherever I have studied
either of the anthracite fields of the great Appalachian basin, I have remarked
that the lower, or ‘‘ white ash” division of the coal measures gives indications
of more violent and frequent disturbances of level in the surface at the time
of the deposition of the strata, than are noticeable in the composition of the
upper or “red ash” part of the formation. Among the proofs are, more abrupt
and frequent alternations of coarse and fine deposits, more diversified and
rapid changes in the thickness, composition, and arrangement of the strata,
both of the mechanical deposits and the life-derived beds of coal, and the far
greater mutability and inconstancy of all those strata, even the most quietly
deposited, within the same area or extent of outcrop. The lower strata of
the anthracite coal measures are, indeed, remarkable for the diversity in the
coarseness of the sandstones, and for the unsteadiness in thickness of the coal-
beds themselves. Though these carbonaceous layers are the accumulations
of once perfectly level sea-meadows, at successive depressions of the surface,

“GEOLOGY. 283

it is evident, from their comparatively rapid thickening and thinning, and fre-
quent coalescing and diverging, that the floors upon which they were collected
were neither so wide as those which grew the vegetation that resulted in the
bituminous coal-beds, nor so uniform and gradual and horizontal in their slow
movements of elevation and depression. Commensurate with the more fluc-
tuating size and more restricted range of these lower coal seams, is a greater
inconstanecy and diversity in their fossil flora. The more widely extended
upper beds appear to exhibit a more limited specific vegetation, expanded over
wider areas.

As far as our researches have gone, we notice that the lower strata, both in
the anthracite measures and in the great Appalachian coal field, abound in the
larger species, especially in Lepidodendra, while the higher seams are charac-
terized by the smaller herbaceous species, most generally the herbaceous ferns.
We conceive that the large proportion of species common to the coal strata
of North America and Europe clearly establishes identity of age between the
two deposits, and a close accordance, if not identity, in the geographical and
climatal conditions prevailing at their formation. A yet closer agreement is
noticeable between the species found in the several coal fields in the United
States. Indeed so alike are all the anthracite basins in their fossils that Mr,
Lesquereux already recognizes more than 20 familiar European species as
common to these once continuously united coal fields. It has been indicated
above that the two different groups of the coal strata of Pennsylvania—the
lower or white ash, and the upper or red ash—are characterized by somewhat
different species, though these more or less intermingle. Satisfied of this fact
of a general prevalence of certain forms in certain parts of the coal measures,
we have aimed at carrying our inquiry a step further to ascertain whether or
not any or all of the individual coal seams themselves are separately recogniz-
able by their fossil plants. Undoubtedly, in some of the broadly-deposited
and uniformly-conditioned coal beds and coal slates of the western bituminous
coal fields, we do observe a most striking prevalence of the same species
within the same layer, over comparatively wide areas; but amid the more
irregularly accumulated beds, of especially the lower or white ash anthracite
strata, formed on a less stable portion of the nowhere absolutely stationary
crust, the inconstancy in: the vegetation of even the same coal seam is for the
most part, if not even quite, too great to permit us to attempt fo identify it
by its fossils merely. Again, in some instances, coal beds which are demon-
strably different, are almost absolutely identical in their fossils. This is the
case with the “Gate” and the “Salem” coals, near Pottsville. So strikingly
alike are they in their vegetation, that Mr. Lesquereux strongly inclines to
regard them as but the detached parts of originally one sheet of coal, and to
suspeet that there is some error of obscurity in my section, which shows them
to be separated by several hundred feet of strata, including a number of beds
of coal. Of the validity of the proofs showing the so-called vein to be differ-
ent coal from the Gate vein, and several stages higher in the series, there can
not, however, be any question, and the paleontological evidence for identity
must give way before the higher and decisive demonstration from superposi-
tion of their difference in age.

284 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

PHYSICAL CHANGES IN THE CHARACTER OF THE NORTH
AMERICAN CONTINENT.

The following letter was directed to the Secretary of the New York His-
torical Society, by Professor Agassiz, in answer to an inquiry whether his
forthcoming work—‘ Contributions to the Natural History of the United
States”’—would bear upon the civil history of our country. ‘In reply Profess-
or Agassiz says: I hardly need remind you of the fact that the attention of
historians has but recently been called to the importance of considering the
physical character of the different parts of the world in connection with the
successive centuries of civilization and the primitive abode of the different
races of men. But there is one feature of this subject which has thus far been
entirely neglected. I allude to the character of the vegetation and the animal
creation in each natural area of the globe, which must at all times have
greatly influenced every where the progress of civilization, a picture of which
may in future be expected as a sort of frontispiece to the general history of
every great country. There are still other more general features yet little
known even to naturalists, which may in time add another charm to these
contemplations of the Kosmos—the contrast between the different parts of the
world when compared with the previous conditions or our globe in successive
geological periods. For instance, Europe has a physical character now which
ig not exemplified in any of the past ages of our earth; while New Holland,
as it is now, reminds us of the condition of certain portions of Europe during
the middle geological ages (the Jurassic period in particular), and North
America recalls, both by its physical condition, its large lakes among others,
and its animals and plants, features prominent in Europe during the tertiary
times; and I need only allude to the opossum, the snapping-turtle, the bull-frog,
the large salamanders, etc., the hickories, the swamp-cedar, the white gum-
tree, etc.—all found in the tertiaries of Europe, and now entirely extinct there
—to show the resemblance. Moreover, North America nourishes now a
number of fishes, and other animals, such as the king-crab, no representatives
of which are found alive in any other part of the globe, though they were
largely distributed over Europe in several geological periods. This character
of the North American fish fauna is so peculiar that, in alluding to it, I have
oiten been tempted to apply to it the epithet of old-fashioned. Two of these
curious fishes occur even in the State of New York—the gar-pike and the so-
called mud-fish—and the others are scattered over other parts of the country.
I shall, of course introduce a full account of these remarkable relics of past ages
in my new proposed work, for they throw as much light upon the physical
condition of former periods in the history of our globe, as the ruins of Egypt
and Nineveh would furnish upon the history of those periods in the life of
mankind, could they be restored to their former splendor before our gaze, and
studied in the full animation of their greatest prosperity, as we may investi-
gate our living animals. May I not add to all this that there are features in
the embryonic growth of animals which signify, as it were, the natural growth
of mankind? §o true is it that while civilization has gradually estranged

GEOLOGY. 285

man from nature, a higher degree of intellectual culture brings us back and
nearer to its wonders.

GEOLOGY OF CENTRAL AFRICA.

The following interesting facts respecting the geology and topography
of Central Africa have been gleaned from the reports of Dr. Vogel, who, it
will be remembered, has succeeded Dr. Barth in the work of exploration.

The great plain of Central Africa presents nowhere as far as 94° north lati-
tude (a few isolated small granitic cones excepted) an elevation exceeding
950 feet. Dr. Vogel says that in about 11° north latitude, 120 miles from
Kuka, he found, at a depth of 20 feet under the surface of the ground, the
same layer, consisting of limestone and freshwater shells, which he met with
at Kuka 6 feet under the ground, and he suggests that the whole region ex-
tending thus for upward of 100 miles §.S.E. from Kuka, was at one time
occupied by Lake Tsad, when its limits extended greatly beyond its present
ones. But whether this assumption be correct or not, the well-ascertained
fact as to the slight elevation of that region, together with the results of the
previous hypsometrical observations of Dr. Vogel and Dr. Overweg, as well as
of the discoveries and acute estimates of Dr. Barth, relating to altitudes, are
well worthy consideration, as they completely upset our previous notions of
African geography. It is well known that all our best authorities represent
the Great Desert of Sahara, and nearly the whole of Northern Africa, as one
vast plain, if not a dead level, at least one of very little elevation; whereas,
immediately to the south of Lake Tsad, the existence of mountain ranges, alp-
ine groups, highlands, and mighty table-lands of many thousand feet eleva-
tion was asserted and taught us as well-established facts. Now, from the
observations made by the members of the Expedition to Central Africa, this
is found to be quite the reverse, and both features may be truly said to have
changed places—an extensive table-land, from 1,000 to 2,000 feet average
elevation, occupying the Sahara; whereas, on the other hand, the extensive
basin of Lake Tsad and the River Shary forms a great interior depression,
which attains its minimum elevation in the lake with 850 feet. On every
side the basin of Lake Tsad is fringed with more or less elevated tracts which
separate it from the other hydrographical systems, as, for instance, those of
the Nile and the Kowara. These new facts of the relative elevation of In-
ner Africa also explain to us many features connected with the physical con-
figuration, the climate, botany, and zoology of the regions they refer to.

The countries round Lake Tsad form an immense alluvial plain. Dr. Vogel,
after leaving the oasis of Aghadem, situated upward of 250 geographical
miles north from Kuka, did not see a single rock or stone till he came to Waza,
which lies upward of 100 miles 8.S.E. of Kuka, thus leaving an alluvial tract
between the two points of upward of 350 geographical miles in the heart
of Africa. At Waza an isolated group of granitic cones rises almost perpen-
dicularly out of the alluvial plain to the height of 400 feet above their basis.

286 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ON THE GROOVING AND POLISHING OF HARD ROCKS AND
MINERALS BY DRY SAND. BY W. P. BLAKE, U. 8. GEOLOGIST,

The phenomena about to be described were observed in the pass of San
Bernardino (California), in 1853. This pass is one of the principal breaks
through the southern prolongation of the Sierra Nevada, and connects the
Pacific slope with the broad and low interior plain of the Colorado Desert.
It is bounded on each side by high mountains; the peak of San Bernardino
rising on the north to the height of about 8,000 feet, and San Gorgonio on the
south to about 7,000 feet. The elevation of the summit level is 2,800 feet
above the Pacific, and the width of the gap at that point is about two miles.
On the eastern declivity of the pass—the side turned toward the desert—the
granite and associated rocks which form the sharp peak of San Gorgonio, ex-
tend down to the valley of the pass in a succession of sharp ridges, which
being devoid of soil and vegetation, stand out in bold and rugged outlines
against the clear unclouded sky of the desert region. It was on these pro-
jecting spurs of San Gorgonio that the phenomena of grooving were seen.
The whole surface of the granite over broad spaces, was cut into long and
perfectly parallel grooves and little furrows, and every portion of it was
beautifully smoothed, and though very uneven, had a fine polish. Fora
moment it was impossible to realize the cause of all this abrasion performed
in a manner so peculiar. The action of glaciers and of drift was thought of in
succession, but the appearance of the surface was so entirely different from
that of rocks which have been acted on by these agents, that I could not
regard them as the cause. While contemplating these curious effects, the
solution of the problem was presented. The wind was blowing very hard,
and carried with it numerous little grains of sand. WhenI stooped down
and glanced over the surface of the rocks, I saw they were enveloped in an
atmosphere of moving sand, which was passing over and accumulating in deep
banks and drifts on the lee side of this point. Grains of sand were thus pour-
ing over the rocks in countless myriads, under the influence of the powerful
current of air which seems to sweep constantly through the pass from the
ocean to the interior. Wherever I turned my eyes—on the horizontal tables
of rock, or on the vertical faces turned to the wind—the effects of the sand
were visible; there was not a point untouched, the grains had engraved their
track on every stone. Even quartz was cut away and polished; garnets and
tourmalines were also cut and left with polished surfaces. Masses of limestone
looked as if they had been partially dissolved, and resembled specimens of
rock salt that had been allowed to deliquesce in moist air. These minerals
were unequally abraded, and in the order of their hardness; the wear upon
the feldspar of the granite being the most rapid, and the garnets being affected
the least. Whenever a garnet or lump of quartz was imbedded in compact
feldspar and favorably presented to the action of the sand, the feldspar was
cut away around the hard mineral, which was thus left standing in relief
above the general surface. A portion, however, of the feldspar upon the lee
side of the garnets, being protected from the action of the sand by the superior

‘GEOLOGY. 287

hardness of the gem, also stood out in relief forming an elevated string, osar-
like, under their lee. When the surface acted on was vertical and charged
with garnets, a very peculiar result was produced; the garnets were left
standing in relief, mounted on the end of a long pedicle of feldspar, which had
been protected from action while the surrounding parts were cut away. These
little needles of feldspar tipped with garnets, stood out from the body of the
rock in horizontal lines—pointing, like jeweled fingers, in the direction of the
prevailing wind. They form in reality a perfect index of the wind’s direction,
recording it with as much accuracy as the oak-trees do in the region about
San Francisco, where they are all bent from the perpendicular in one direction,
or in some places lie trailing along the ground. All these little fingers of
stone pointed westward, in the direction of the valley of the pass, to which
the wind conforms. We experienced the wind before reaching the point of
rocks and the sand drifts: it blew with great violence and seemed to bea
great air-current, as uniform in its direction and action as the great currents
of the sea. It flows into the interior with singular persistence and velocity,
sweeping down over the slope of the pass, not in fitful gusts and eddying
whirls, but with a constant uniformity of motion unlike any of the winds of
our Atlantic seabord, or of the plains. The pass would, in fact, seem to be a
great draught-channel or chimney, to the interior, through which the air
makes inland from the cool sea, to supply the vacuum caused by the ascent of
a column of heated air from the parched surface of the heated desert. This pass
is the only break of any magnitude in the mountain chain for a long distance,
and as an air-channel, holds the same relation to the Colorado desert as is
sustained by the Golden Gate at San Francisco to the broad interior valleys
of the Sacramento and San Joaquin.

The effects of driving sand are not confined to the pass; they may be seen
on all parts of the desert where there are any hard rocks or minerals to be
acted on. On the upper plain, north of the sand hills, where steady and
high winds prevail, and the surface is paved with pebbles of various colors,
the latter are all polished to such a degeee that they glisten in the sun’s rays,
and seem to be formed by art. The polish is not like that produced by the
lapidary, but looks more like lacquered ware, or as if the pebbles had been
oiled and varnished. On the lower parts of the desert, or wherever there is a
specimen of silicified wood, the sand has registered its action. It seems to
have been ceaseless at work, and when no obstacle was encountered on
which wear and abrasion could be effected, the grains have acted on each
other, and by constantly coming in contact have worn away all their little
asperities, and become almost perfect spheres. This form is evident when
the sand is examined by a microscope. We may regard these results as
most interesting examples of the denuding power of loose materials trans-
ported by currents in a fluid. If we can have distinct abrasion and linear
grooving of the hardest rocks and minerals by the mere action of little grains
of sand falling in constant succession and bounding along their surface, what
may we not expect from the action of pebbles and boulders of great size and
weight, transported by a constant current in the more dense fluid, water?
We may conclude that long rectilinear furrows of indefinite depth may be

288 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

made by loose materials, and that it is not essential to their formation that
the rocks and gravel, acting as chisels or gravers, should be pressed down
with violence or imbedded in ice, or moved forward en masse under pressure
by the action of glaciers or stranded icebergs.

If it were possible it would be exceedingly interesting to ascertain the
length of time required for the little grains of sand to carve the surface of the
granite ridge to its present form. How inappreciably small must be the
effect produced by a single grain! And yet by their combined and long-con-
tinued action mighty effects are produced. That the action of the grains
singly is not visible, is proved to us by the polished surface, for no one
grain cuts deeply enough to leave ascratch. Ages have doubtless elapsed
since this action of the sand began, and we can noi tell how deep the abrasion
has extended: cubic yards of granite may haye been cut into dust and driven
before the wind over the expanse of the desert.—Silliman’s Journal.

ANCIENT LAKE IN THE COLORADO DESERT.

Mr. W. P. Blake, the geologist of the U. S. Pacific Railroad Survey in
California, under the command of Lieutenant R. 8. Williamson, U. 8S. Topo-
graphical Engineer, recently reports that a large tract of country, over one
hundred miles in length, at the head of the Gulf of California, has been over-
flowed at a comparatively recent period, and probably by the waters of the
Gulf* There is evidence of the existence of a vast lake there, which occupied
nearly the whole area of the present desert. This lake was of fresh or brackish
water, as is shown by the numerous shells which are found in the thick
strata of blue clay forming the surface of the desert. At the base of the
mountains along the borders of the desert, distinct beach-lines, or water-lines,
were found on all the rocks, and the surface of the last was found to be
covered with a thick calcareous crust, nearly two feet thick in some places.
This calcareous coating was seen to extend up the sides of the mountain
spurs for a height, in some places, of over one hundred feet, and its upper
limit has a well-defined horizontal line, marking the former level of the water.

Mr. Blake considers it probable that the Gulf of California once extended
as far north as the base of the pan of San Bernardino, 175 miles north-west
of its present limits, and that the deposition of silt from the Colorado river
has gradually accumulated opposite its mouth, so as to isolate the upper part
of the Gulf, and leave it in the condition of a lake, fed at times by the over-
flow of the Colorado, until at length the evaporation became more rapid than
the supply, and the desication of the lake was effected—a result which would
be soon accomplished in that region of high and arid winds. This explana-
tion is supported by the present phenomena, for the Colorado continues to
overflow, and send streams off toward the north at times of great freshets.
There is much reason for believing that a part of the desert-valley north of
the present lagoons, which are fed by the off-shoots from the Colorado, is
below the level of the sea. This subject is discussed at length in the report,

* Preliminary Geographical Report, accompanying the Report of Lieutenant R. 8.
Williamson, House Documents, 129, Washington, 1855.

!
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i
4
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‘GEOLOGY. 289

and many important facts concerning that singular and interesting region are
given.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE FORMATIONS OF THE MOON.

Professor Nichol at the British Association stated that to our satellite
hitherto those very ideas have been applied which confused the whole early
epochs of our terrestrial geology, the notion, viz., that its surface is a chaos,
the result of primary, sudden, short-lived and lawless convulsion. We do not
now connect the conception of irregularity with the history of the earth :—it
is the triumph of science to have analyzed that apparent chaos, and discerned
order through it all. The mode by which this has been accomplished, it is
well known, has been the arrangement of our terrene mountains according to
their relation to time: their relative ages determined, the course of our world
seemed smooth and harmonious, like the advance of any other great organiza-
tion. Ought we not then attempt to apply a similar mode of classification to
the formations in the moon—hoping to discern there also a course of develop-
ment, and no confusion of manifestation of irregular convulsion? Professor
Nichol then attempted to point out that there appeared a practical and posi-
tive mode by which such classification might be effected. It could not, in so
far as he yet had discerned, be accomplished by tracing, as we had done on
earth, relations between lunar upheavals and stratified rocks; but another
principle was quite as decisive in the formation it gave, viz., the intersection
of dislocations. There are clear marks of dislocation in the moon—nay, the
surface of our satellite is overspread with them. These are the rays of light,
or rather bright rays, that flow from almost all the great craters as their cen-
ters, and are also found where craters do not at present appear. Whatever
the substance of this highly reflecting matter, it is evidently no superficial
layer or stream, like lava, but extends downward a considerable depth into the
body of the moon. In short, we have no likeness to it on earth, in the sense
now spoken of, except our great trap and crystalline dykes. It seemed clear,
then, that the intersection of these rays are really intersections of dislocations,
from which we might deduce their chronology. Can the intersection, how-
ever, be sufficiently seen?—in other words, is the telescope adequate to de-
termine which of the two intersecting lines has disturbed or cut through the
other? Professor Nichol maintained the affirmative in many cases, and by aid
of diagrams, taken down from direct observation, illustrated and enforced his
views.

ON THE ‘“‘ MAUVAISE TERRES” OF NEBRASKA.

The following is an abstract of a’ paper on the above subject read at the
last meeting of the American Association by Professor James Hall:—The
country on the Upper Missouri River—Nebraska—he said had been known
to us for many years; but, until within a few years past, our knowledge had
been derived from Lewis and Clark, Nicolay, and some others. All these had
brought specimens from Nebraska, from which we have learned that for a
great distance along the Missouri River, beginning at the mouth of the Platte

13

290 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

and extending several hundred miles northerly, there was a cretaceous form-
ation, the most prominent fossils of which were Ammonites and Baculites.
All had shown that this existed on a largely developed scale, but, with the
exception of Nicolay, no attempt was made to establish subdivisions. In
1847 we had for the first time a published notice of the existence of an ex-
tensive tertiary formation in that region, given by Dr. Prout, of St. Louis.
This was, however, to the west of Missouri. Subsequently Mr. Culbertson
brought collections, and Dr. Owen directed Mr. Evans to make collections,
from which we had a pretty good knowledge of the tertiary formation and its
fossils. Mr. Hall’s object in making collections was not to make discoveries
of new species, but the investigations of Dr. Owen did not tell us whether
there were distinct formations or not, and moreover it seemed an important
consideration that the flora corresponding to the ancient fauna should be
known. That was not accomplished by the expedition sent out under the
charge of Mr. Meeks; but we had some more details with regard to the
tertiary and cretaceous formations. In the neighborhood of the mouth of the
Platte the carboniferous formation terminated. Passing up the Missouri we
found that the carboniferous passed into cretaceous. At their junction was a
sand-stone, which might perhaps be older than the cretaceous. Upon it lay
a buff caleareous rock, which would mark like chalk, containing scales and
jaws of fishes. Above this was a great thickness of clays which contained -
most of the species that had been brought from this part of the country. A
thinner -bed above the clay was characterized by a large baculites. Those
subdivisions extended over the western country, and we had yet to seek their
characteristic fossils. The species already described already amounted to
between thirty and forty, and he had about an equal number of new species.
At a considerable distance west of the Missouri, the cretaceous beds began to
dip slightly to the west. Above the bed characterized by baculites, and 80
miles west of the Missouri, commenced the tertiary, at first containing no
fossils, but about 80 miles further on there were palzeotherium and fossil tur-
tles within twenty feet of the cretaceous, although the tertiary nearer the
river was 50 or 60 feet high. They concluded, therefore, that the beds were
unconformable, the cretaceous dipping westward, and the tertiary being de-
posited horizontally upon it so that the eastern tertiary began to be deposited
when the western was already 250 feet thick. The Mauvaises Terres were
formed of this tertiary extensively denuded. Two new species of mammals
had been discovered, one of them allied to the musk deer, and the other/a
small, carnivorous animal. The shortest term to express the character of
Nebraska was to say that it was a perfect desert, incapable of supporting men
or animals, except in a migratory condition. The buffaloes came in the
spring with the grass, and went away in midsummer when it was gone, and
the Indians followed them. There was almost no wood; some few shrubby
willows, and a cotton-wood a foot in diameter was always known as the big
cotton-wood, and now that it was gone, the place was still called Big Cotton-
wood Spring, Pure water was rarely met with. There were occasionally
some springs in the baculite formation which commenced 75 miles west. of
the Missouri. The deep clay beneath it was almost impassable. In the

GEOLOGY. 291

spring it was all mud, and in the summer the clay cracked so as to draw out
the roots of vegetation and destroy it. Along the bottoms was occasionally
@ little good soil, but it was not valuable. This clayey soil was dark, but not
with organic matter. He had seen in Mr. Meeks’s notes that night after
night he was compelled to camp with bitter water, and send out the men to
gather a few stunted willows or cotton-wood for fire. Most of the water was
impregnated with saline materials; and, as all the water in the Mauvaise
Terres contained sulphate of magnesia, the party were compelled to submit
to its medicinal effects. Southward, toward the Platte was some better land,
but little wood. Kansas was much like Nebraska, and the climate was such,
that in a great part of the territory it would be difficult for New-England men

‘to exist. He knew that Nebraska was a desert, and would remain so for all
time to come. [This curse of barrenness does not apply to the settled por-
tions of Kansas. They are carboniferous. |

Professor Agassiz said that this was very important to us as presenting for
the first time the subdivisions of the cretaceous. His friend hadomitted in his
account of early explorers, the Prince of Neuwied, who in his travels col-
lected cretaceous fossils, and went back to Europe and gave us for the first
time the information that there were cretaceous fossils there. Several of them
were published, and one species, the mosasaurus, had not been rediscovered.
Now it was evident that these cretaceous deposits were not one and the same,
but farmed a succession of deposits which contained different fossils. Now in
Europe the whole series of cretaceous formations had lately been subdivided
into a number of subdivisions, and although he agreed completely with the
doctrine laid down by the chairman (Professor Dana), that we should not com-
pare our formations servilely to those of Europe, yet the deposition of the
whole cretaceous series in Europe and in America were in the main syn-
chronic. He believed that the specimens of Professor Hall, limited as they
were, afforded in themselves sufficient evidence that the cretaceous deposits
in Nebraska corresponded to the upper strata of the cretaceous in Europe.
He had not yet seen a single entire fish-scale, only drawings of fragments of
scales, but he was sure that the upper beds were the equivalents of the En-
glish white chalk.

Mr. Hall then spoke on the geology of the Rocky Mountains. He said
that his knowledge of the Rocky Mountains was derived from specimens
brought by Frémont and Emory. All the specimens from the metamorphic
regions, whether from the north or south, had one character, and there was a
large proportion of red feldspathic granite associated with other rocks. Their
age he could not determine. After leaving the mouth of the Platte nothing
but the cretaceous and tertiary were to be found until one reached the head
waters of the rivers flowing eastward, the cretaceous came out again from
beneath the tertiary. He had not yet learned of cretaceous fossils being found
west of the Rocky Mountains. Beyond this was the carboniferous limestone
belonging above the coal-bearing beds. It generally rested on metamorphic
rocks, which formed the bases of the mountains. There were none of the
mica and talcose slates so frequent in the Appalachian. The elevation of the
Rocky Mountains was post-cretaceous, the cretaceous beds being uplifted with

292 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

these metamorphic masses. You continued to find outlayers of the upper
carboniferous limestone through the region to the West. Crossing the
Rocky Mountains and going toward Salt Lake, tertiary is again found. The
ranges west of Salt Lake were all capped with this carboniferous limestone,
All the coal deposits of the south-west were of tertiary origin, and he strongly
suspected that that brought by Captain Stansbury was tertiary also. There
was positively tertiary coal in the plateau between the first range and the Salt
Lake.

DRIFT PHENOMENA.

At the Providence meeting of the American Association, President Hitch-
cock gave an account of the manner in which he was first led to the obsery-
ance of glacial marks, and the localities in which he had since found them,
from Monroe to Shelburne and from Becket to Westfield, on the tributaries of
the Connecticut. He was first led to notice them by seeing east and west
scratches in the side of a gorge, while on the summits on either side were
the north and south strize of the drift. He had found also what he was com-
pelled to call moraines. He had scarcely explored the Hoosac range at all
with this object in view, but it did seem to him that he had too many cases
to be the result of imagination.

Mr. Daniels said that in Wisconsin he had found one case of drift-strize
which declined 40 degrees from the meridian, though the variation was gen-
erally from 20 to 25.

Mr. Redfield said that the drift-strize seemed to him to be divided into two
systems, one measuring $.S.H. and the other S.S.W. These two systems
sometimes occurred together, and seemed to be. owing to the two currents,
as there were now two currents in the ocean. So far from being led down
into the valleys, there was a case in New Jersey where strise rose up over a
high hill, where there was a valley on both sides.

Mr. Leslie cited a more striking similar instance in Pennsylvania, where
the valley on one side was 2,000 feet deep. He had seen in Wales Y-shaped
valleys, with the point turned upward, which could never be owing to
glaciers.

Mr. Lee had noticed similar grooves north of the Catskill Mountain-House,
2,700 feet above the sea.

Dr. Stevens alluded to a block of granite found in the very act of digging
& groove in limestone in Western New York. The boulder was considerably
rounded.

President Hitchcock said that the difference between drift and modified
drift was as distinct as between the silurian and cretaceous formations.

GEOLOGICAL MEMORANDA.

Relative Levels of the Red Sea and Mediterranean.—The French engineers,
at the beginning of the present century, had come to the conclusion that the
Red Sea was about thirty feet above the Mediterranean, but the observations

GEOLOGY. 298

of Mr. Robert Stephenson, the English engineer at Suez; of M. Negretti, the
Austrian, at Tineh, near the ancient Pelusian, and the levelings of Messrs.
Talabat, Bourdaloue, and their assistants, between the two seas, have proved
that the low-water mark of ordinary tides at Suez and Tineh is very nearly on
the same levels, the difference being that at Suez it is rather more than one
inch lower.—Leonard Horner, Proc. Roy. Soc., 1855.

Conversion of the Arabian Desert into a Lake.—Captain William Allan, of
the British navy, has published a book advocating the conversion of the
Arabian Desert into an ocean. The author believes that the great valley
extending from the southern depression of the Lebanon range to the head of
the Guif of Akaba, the eastern branch of the head of the Red Sea, has been
once an ocean. It is in many places 1,300 feet below the level of the Medi-
terranean, and in it are situated the Dead Sea and the Sea-of Tiberias. He
believes that this ocean, being cut off from the Red Sea by the rise of the
land at the southern extremity, and being only fed by small streams, gradu-
ally became dried by solar evaporation. He proposes to cut a canal of
adequate size from the head of the Gulf of Akaba to the Dead Sea, and
another from the Mediterranean, near Mount Carmel, across the plain of Es-
draelon, to the fissure in the mountain range of Lebanon. By this means the
Mediterranean would rush in, with a fall of 1,300 feet, fill up the valley, and
substitute an ocean of 2,000 square miles in extent for a barren, useless desert,
thus making the navigation to India as short as the overland route, spreading
fertility over a now arid country, and opening up the fertile regions of Pales-
tine to settlement and cultivation.

ON THE OCCURRENCE OF FOSSIL BONES IN THE AURIFEROUS
J ALLUVIUM OF AUSTRALIA.

In a paper presented to the London Geological Society, Mr. Clarke states
that fossil bones of extinct mammalia have been found throughout a range
of eleven degrees of latitude, and at heights varying from one hundred feet
below to sixteen hundred feet and upward above the sea-level. The author
refers to the analogous occurrence of bones in gold-drift in the Ural and in
California; and in the latter country, as in Australia, this drift is frequently
overspread with the products of volcanic outbursts, or with the débris of vol-
canic rocks. It would appear that a great part of the now dry land of these
countries was under the water when these osseous remains were buried; and
probably the destruction of these mammalia at last was connected with the final
outbreak of igneous forces, which changed the horizon of considerable tracts,
and introduced a state of things incompatible with the existence of these, for
the most part, gigantic animals, now extinct.

ON EARTHQUAKE PHENOMENA,

The following report has been submitted to the French Academy, by M. de
Beaumont, Lamé, and Lionville, charged to consider a memoir presented to
the Academy, by M. Alexis Perrey, Professor in the Faculty of Sciences, at

294. ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Dijon, “On the Relations which may exist between the Frequency of Earth-
quakes and the Age of the Moon,” and “On the Frequency of Harthquakes
relatively to the times of the Moon’s passing the Meridian.”

The Report says:

“Tf as is now generally supposed, the interior of the earth is in a liquid
or, pasty state, through heat, and if the globe has for its solid part only
a crust comparatively very thin, the interior liquid mass must tend to yield,
like the surface waters, to the attractive forces exerted by the sun and moon,
and there must be a tendency to expansion in the direction of the radius
vectors of these two bodies; but this tendency encounters resistance in the
rigidity of the crust, which is the occasion of fractures and shocks. The in-
tensity of this crust varies, like that for the tides of the ocean, with the
relative position of the sun and moon, and consequently with the age of the
moon; and it should also be noted that as the ocean’s tides rise and fall twice
in a lunar day, at periods dependent on the moon’s passing the meridian, so
in the internal fluid of the globe, there should be two changes a day, the
time varying with the same cause. Without entering now into more details,
it will be easily conceived that if the mobility of the internal mass of the globe
plays a part in the production of earthquakes, there must be some dependence,
admitting of study, between the occurrence of an earthquake and the circum-
stances which influence the action of the moon on the whole globe, or on any
place or portion of it; that is, the angular distance with the sun, its actual
distance from the earth, and its distance from the meridian of the place; or,
in other terms, the age of the moon, the time of perihelion, and the hour of
the lunar day. These considerations, which have not escaped M. Perrey,
have, beyond doubt, inspired the idea of the twofold work which we have
been charged to examine, and they have obtained for the views the interested
attention of M. Arago and many other men of science. They have involved
on the part of the author the determination of the precise date and period of
the moon for each earhquake on record, and even for each shock of which
earthquakes may consist—a work of vast labor.

‘““M. Perrey has tabulated all the earthquakes recorded since 1801, and ‘by
discussing the catalogues which he has formed, shows by three ways, inde-
pendent of one another, the influence of the course of the moon on the
production of earthquakes,’ viz.:

“1st. That the frequency augments on the syzygies.

“2d. That the frequency augments in the vicinity of the moon’s perigee,
and diminishes toward the apogee.

“3d. That the shocks of earthquakes are more numerous when the moon
is near the meridian than when 90° from it.

‘‘ But in each of these results he finds some ‘ minor’ and some ‘large anom- —
alies.’

“Tn a recent discussion on the theory of M. Perrey, before the Boston Society
of Natural History, Mr. Stodder proposed the hypothesis that the centrifugal
force of the diurnal rotation of the earth, acting on the fluid interior mass (if
such is the condition of the interior) of the earth, was the cause of earth-
quakes, and that if there has been any change in the position of the poles of

GEOLOGY. 295

the earth, that the centrifugal force, which gives the earth its spheroidal form,
in changing the form of the earth to correspond with the new position of the
poles, is sufficient to account for all the geological phenomena of the fracturing
of strata, elevation of mountain chains, ete.

Dr. C. Y. Jackson remarked that if the sun and moon exerted a tidal action
upon the fluid matters of the interior of the globe as they do upon the ocean
waters, that it ought to be manifested by the rising and falling of the liquid
lavas of volcanoes, especially in those great volcanic openings in the Sandwich
Islands. He would ask Dr. Pickering, who was familiar with these volcanoes,
whether, at Kilauea, or at any of the other craters in those volcanic islands,
any regular periodicity was observable in the rising and falling of the liquid
lavas, and ifso, whether they correspond to the times of the moon’s phases ?

Dr. Pickering replied that he was not aware of any regular periods of ele-
vation and subsidence of these lavas. He was under the impression that they
were quite irregular.

Professor W. B. Rogers remarked that while there was much ingenuity in
the idea of thus converting the insular volcanic mountain into a vast tide
gauge for measuring the movements of the fluid nucleus of the globe, we have
no right to anticipate any obvious correspondence between the fluctuations of
level in the liquid of the crater and the tidal movements beneath the earth’s
crust. Supposing a connection to exist, the channels must be variable and
tortuous, and often probably connected with cavities containing gas and vapor,
and having numerous and changing outlets. From this would arise great and
variable resistances, retarding, diverting, and even arresting the movement
propagated from below, just as when the ocean tides are transmitted through
narrow and ramifying passages, or when they reach open spaces through
different channels and in opposite phases, we find the tidal phenomena greatly
modified, and sometimes even entirely destroyed.

Recurring to M. Perrey’s researches, Professor Rogers remarked that the
results, if confirmed by a fuller indication, would be of the utmost importance
to geological theory: first, by setting at rest any doubts that may exist as to
the igneous fluidity of the interior of the globe; and secondly, by demonstrat-
ing the great thinness of the earth’s crust, which alone could make it sensitive
to the tidal movements of the molten mass beneath. Such tenuity of the
crust had long since been urged by Professor H. D. Rogers and himself, as in-
ferable from the arched and folded structure of mountain chains, as well as
from the wave-like motion in earthquakes; but geologists are still far from
being agreed on this and the allied points relating to internal heat. Even
the general fact of an increasing temperature as we descend below the sur-
face, although leading directly to the inference of an intense heat within
the earth, has not been accepted by all as proving the existence of a fluid
' nucleus, and among those who admit the latter conclusion as demonstrated,
there are many who contend that the solid crust, instead of being some 30
miles, can not be less than 800 miles in thickness. This last estimate of the
thickness of the earth’s crust, deduced by Professor Hopkins, of Cambridge,
England, from mathematical considerations connected with the precession of
the equinoxes, had apparently been accepted by Sir Charles Lyell as a basis

296 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

of geological argument, but Professor Rogers looked upon it as belonging to a
class of inferences which are more of the nature of ingenious mathematical
exercises on physical problems than expressions of the facts or laws of nature.
Such problems often involve mechanical conditions too various and complex
to be amenable even to the most profound analysis; so that to bring them
_within his grasp, the mathematician is compelled to resort to simplifying
hypotheses, and in doing so, departs, often greatly and to an unknown extent,
from the actual physical conditions of the problem. Professor Rogers main-
tained that conclusions so derived, however true as logical deductions from
the premises, are not to be received as demonstrated physical facts. Should
the correspondence of earthquake phenomena with those of the tides be con-
firmed by further comparisons, to which M. Perrey has been invited by the
French Academy of Sciences, it would furnish a proof of the igneous fluidity
of the interior of the globe, and of the yielding thinness of its inclosing shell,
too conclusive to be weakened by any calculations deduced from hypothetical
data.

Professor Rogers then alluded to the late experiments of Hopkins and
Fairbairn, to determine the influence of pressure upon the melting point of
solids. As we know that pressure augments the temperature necessary to
vaporize liquids, it has become a question of interest, bearing upon the inter-
nal fluidity of the globe, to ascertain if it has a like effect upon the tempera-
ture at which solid bodies become fluid. According to Hopkins and Fair-
bairn, such an effect actually occurs with spermaceti, wax, sulphur, and
stearine, but has not yet been detected in certain other very fusible solids
experimented upon. Should it prove to be a general law, applicable also to
mineral masses, which is yet far from being demonstrated, we should have
to admit a higher internal temperature than would otherwise be needed to
maintain the interior in a fused state; but this addition would, most probably,

form but a small fraction of the whole temperature. In regard to the influence ~

of centrifugal force in causing earthquakes, Professor Rogers remarked that
such effect could only arise from a variation of the centrifugal force, and
therefore of the earth’s velocity of rotation. But the uniformity of this rota-
tion is so nearly perfect that a change amounting to even a fraction ofa
second in a day, would be too startling an -occurrence to escape astronomers.
Hence, any variations of centrifugal force that may arise must be comprised
within extremely narrow limits. Even at the equator, where this force is
greatest, its proportion to gravity is very small, and when we consider that
any admissible fluctuation of its intensity must be a very minute fraction of
the whole force, and hardly more than an infinitesimal part of the force of
gravity, the effect of such change, even at the equator, must be regarded as
entirely inadequate to those extensive movements, and permanent Sars 5 of
level, attending earthquakes.

At a subsequent mecting, a communication was presented fiom Dr. Winslow
of California, who stated that he had recently spent a short time in investigat-
ing the geology of Acapulco, Mexico, and the earthquake phenomena, of
which that place is peculiarly the focus. He states that he found that the

shocks were more numerous there as winter approaches, and during December

- GEOLOGY. 297

and January. The earth passes its perihelion about the last day of December.
His theory is, that an increasing condensation of the matter of the globe, and
its contraction as it approaches the sun, augments necessarily the tension of
the fluid mass embraced within its crystalline or consolidated crust. A repuls-
ive action necessarily ensues between the molecules of the molten mass, and
the mobility of this mass so acts, here and there, as to rupture the crust and
allow the melted earth to insinuate itself between strata, or vertically through
the entire crust, in the form of dykes, or to be forced out of volcanic openings.

NOTICE OF EARTHQUAKE WAVES ON THE PACIFIC COAST OF
THE UNITED STATES.

The following communication was presented to the American Association,
Providence, by Professor A. D. Bache.

On the 23d of December, 1854, at 9 a.M., an earthquake occurred at
Simoda, on the island of Niphon, Japan. The harbor was first emptied of
water, then came in an enormous wave which again receded. (It appeared
that the whole character of the harbor of Simoda, previously surveyed by the
Powhatan, had been changed by the earthquake.) A report from the Bonin
Islands is not sufficiently exact to use for our main purpose, but points to
Simoda as the center of disturbance. (Simoda, according to the Rev. Mr.
Jones, is volcanic; Bonin appears not to be.) Now the Coast Survey has
three self-acting tide-gauges—at Astoria. on Columbia River, San Francisco
and San Diego. They record the rise of the tide on a cylinder turned by
a clock. The apparatus is protected more or less from the oscillations that
wind waves would cause, which only cause a trembling of the index or
stylus. The gauge at Astoria was but slightly affected by the earthquake
Wave, owing to the bar on the river and the distance it had to ascend.
At San Francisco, 4,800 miles from Simoda, the wave arrived 12 hours
16 minutes after the beginning of the earthquake. A series of seven waves,
each about half an hour in duration, or 35 minutes, each series succes-
sively smaller, and separated by a quiet time of an hour from the preceding,
was recorded at San Francisco. At San Diego the wave had traversed
5,200 miles in 12 hours 38 minutes, and produced likewise a series of seven
waves, each nearly corresponding to those at San Francisco, but the second
series stronger than the first and third. In height they were less, the highest
at San Francisco being °7 of a foot, at San Diego 6. The waves at San Diego
could not have come from San Francisco, as they would have arrived much
later. These waves would have escaped detection by ordinary observation,
being 39 feet in height only on the average at San Diego, and 44 feet at San
Francisco. Three series are distinctly traceable at San Francisco, the highest
wave being 65 feet in height on a tide falling two feet. The time of oscilla-
tion there was 33 minutes, and at San Diego 30 minutes. The violence of
the earthquake was so great at Simoda, in Japan, as to raise a wave some 30
feet high there, and 15 feet at Peel’s Island, about 500 miles to the southward.
The velocity with which a wave travels depends on the depth of the ocean,
The second and third series were but repetitions of the first wave that had

13*

298 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

reached the same points, traveling through shallower water. The calcula-
tions based on these data ‘give for the Pacific Ocean a depth of from 14,000 to
18,000 fathoms. It is remarkable how the estimates of the ocean’s depth
have grown less. La Place assumed it at 10 miles, Whewell at 3°5, while
this estimate brings it down to about 2 miles.

At arecent meeting of the Asiatic Society, China, Dr. Macgowan read a
paper on recent Physical Phenomena in China and Japan. The communica-
tion related to the earthquake at Simoda, which appears in many of its features
to have resembled that which destroyed Lisbon in 1775, when the lakes of
Scotland were suddenly elevated, and the sea at Madeira rose to a prodigious
height. Thus, the late earthquake at Japan was followed by arise of the
inland waters of Chihkiang in China, and by an extraordinary receding and
subsequent elevation of the sea at the Bonin Islands. The appearance of
“white hairs,” as they are styled by natives, following earthquakes in China,
was alluded to; and it was suggested that they are a salt formed by the
emission of vapor and sulphuric acid coming in contact probably with alumina
in the earth. Notice was made also of the rise and subsidence of a volcanic
islay ’ near Formosa in 1854, and of showers of dust in the China Sea.

THE ERUPTION OF MOUNT VESUVIUS IN 1855.

An saceresting report on the recent eruption of Vesuvius has been made
by Professor Palmieri of the Observatory of Naples. It appears that the
magnetic needles, which had been slightly affected on the 29th of April, were
greatly agitated on the 30th; and on the following day the eruption broke
out. No fewer than ten craters opened in the course of a few hours, followed
by many smaller ones, all throwing out lava and heated stones, accompanied
by subterranean thunders and ruddy masses ef smoke. These streams, de-
scending into the plain, called the Atrio del Cavallo, formed there a sea of
fire, whose shores were on either side the mountain of Somma and the lava
of 1850. Early in the progress of the eruption, the lava was 100 palms in
depth; and it was considered that if another such an accumulation took ,
place, which certainly has now happened, the Hermitage and the Observatory
would be in danger.

The magnetic apparatus of Lamont was used by Professor Palmieri on the
oceasion of the earthquake of Melfi; and the results were such as to induce
him to think that it would not be mute, as the event has proved, on the oc-
casion of an eruption of a volcano. Anticipating, as it has done, such a
catastrophe by several days, it is one of the most beautiful and convincing
proofs of the practical applicability of science to the service of human beings
that modern days has furnished us with. Passing from magnetism to elec-
tricity, Professor Palmicri says that on the first day of the eruption observa-
tions were impossible; but, on the clouds clearing off, he ascertained that
there was a great tension of positive electricity, which increased considerably
on the fall of some ashes on the evening of the 2d inst. In general, the
electricity was always stronger when the wind blew toward the Observatory.
It manifested itself very vigorously to the movable conductor, not-always-to

GEOLOGY. 299

the fixed conductor; “and, during the fall of the ashes,” he says, “I verified
a curious fact, which I have observed during the fall of rain, also, that while
with the movable conductor we had positive electricity, with the fixed con-
ductor a faint, negative electricity was observed.” This eruption is described
as having been extremely grand, and many interesting observations were
made respecting it. A correspondent of the London Athenzeum thus de-
seribes the course of lava:—‘It was pent within the deep banks of a wide
bed, and was flowing down, not like a fluid, which is the ordinary motion of
it, but like a mountain of coke, or at times like highly gaseous coal. It split,
and crackled, and sparkled, and smoked, and flamed up, and ever moved on
in one vast compact body. Pieces, detaching themselves, rolled down, leaving
behind a glare so fierce, that I could have imagined myself at the mouth of
an iron furnace; and as every mass fell down with the noise of thunder, or
rolled sideways from the upper surface into the gardens and vineyards, the
trees flamed up, and the crowds uttered shouts of admiration and regret.
Following the course of the stream, or rather tracing it back to its source, we
walked by the side of that huge leviathan, through highly-cultivated grounds,
now trodden under the feet of multitudes, until we arrived at the edge of a
precipice, whence we looked into the boiling flood, fed by the cascade of
lava, which was pouring down from above. The sublimity of that spectacle
is indescribable; and, were I to live the life of Methusellah, the impression it
made upon me would never be obliterated. J can think of nothing else;
and when I close my eyes, still the stream of fire dazzles my sight. Full
1000 feet fell that glowing, flaming Niagara, in one unbroken sheet, over the
precipice at the back of the Hermitage and the Observatory. Forming, at
first, two cascades, the interval between had been filled up by the immense
masses of scoriz#, which the mountain had thrown out; and now it majes-
tically rolled down one continued stream into a lake of boiling fire, and then
descended into the plains which it had left. There were times when pro-
jections in the face of the lava seemed to impede its course, or when the
adhesive character of it appeared to bind it up in a temporary rigidity; then,
behind those projections, accumulated tons upon tons of material. It was a
moment of breathless expectation ; all eyes were fixed upon that one black-
ened spot. There was a slight movement; one heard a click; a few ashes
and stones fell down like avant-couriers, and down went a mountain of solid
fire into the boiling, smoking abyss, with the noise of thunder.”

EARTHQUAKE INDICATOR.

Dr. Kreil, formerly Director of the Observatory at Prague, has invented an
ingenious instrument to measure the force, duration, and direction of earth-
quakes. It consists of a pendulum, so contrived that, while it can move in
any direction, it can not return. A perpendicular cylinder is attached, which,
by means of clock-work, turns on its vertical axis in twenty-four hours. A
pole, with a thin elastic arm, is fixed near the pendulum; this arm points
toward the cylinder, and presses on it gently a pencil, by which means an
unbroken line is formed on the surface of the cylinder as long as the pendulum

800 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

is at rest; but, ifit is put in motion by an earthquake, the pencil makes
broken marks, which show the strength, direction and period of the earth-
quake.

ON SUPERFICIAL CHANGES IN THE MERIDIONAL STRUCTURE
OF THE GLOBE.

At the last meeting of the British Association Mr. E. Hopkins read a paper
on the meridional and symmetrical structure of the globe, its superficial
changes, and the polarity of all terrestrial operations. This paper was illustrated
by maps and diagrams, including a section, on a large scale, of the Cordilleras,
from the plains of the river Meta to the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
Among other speculations, he said that 9,000 years ago the site on which
London now stands was in the torrid zone, and, according to perpetual changes
in progress, the whole of England would in time arrive within the Arctic
circle-—The views of the expositor were stongly controverted by Professor
Ramsay and Professor Nicol.

MODERN ELEVATION OF LAND.

General La Marmora, who has been employed twenty-four years on a geo-
graphical and geological survey of Sardinia, recently presented an outline of
his researches in the latter department to the Geological Society of France.
In this paper he states that near Cagliari he found a raised beach containing
shells mixed with works of human art (pottery), at an elevation of 197 feet
(60 metres) above the sea. It seems to be slightly inclined; and he speaks of
another deposit, probably a newer one, a little further on, which is horizontal
and almost at the level of the sea. He estimates that at Alghero, 100 miles
N.N.W., the.rise produced by the same upheaval has been 328 feet, not ate
tested however, by human remains, but by the position of a ‘quaternary sand-
stone.” The extreme rarity of raised beaches containing such remains ren-
ders these facts interesting. Mr. Lyell refers only to three—“ one which I have
seen, at Putzuoli, 20 feet above the present sea level; another near Stock-
holm, 60 feet above it, and a third in Peru, seen by Mr. Darwin, 85 feet. It
now appears that some parts of Sardinia have been upheaved 197 feet since
the island was occupied by man.”

ON THE EXISTENCE OF ACARI IN MICA.

At the British Association, Sir David Brewster stated that while recently
examining with a microscope a thick plate of mica from Siberia, about five
inches long and three inches wide, he was surprised to observe the remains
of minute animals, some the 70th of an inch, and others only the 150th of an
inch in size. Some of these were inclosed in cavities, round which the films
of mica were in optical contact. These acari were, of course, not fossil, but
must have insinuated themselves through Opeaaee between the plates of mica,
which afterward closed over them.

GEOLOGY. 801

REVENUE OF COAL ESTATES, —

Comparatively few have an adequate conception of the magnitude and real
value of the coal estates of the three great anthracite regions. In Schuyl-
kill county, where operations have been carried on more extensively, and
for a longer period than elsewhere, the revenue derived is truly astonishing.
From a single tract of 200 acres, in that county, the income, since 1836, we
have been informed, has averaged $18,000 per annum. This is but one of
many cases that have come to ourknowledge. There are, indeed, other estates
that yield even more abundantly. Inthe Luzerne region, the profits that attend
mining operations are equally remarkable. The Baltimore Company, located
two miles from Wilkesbarre, cleared in 1853, $60,000. Their investments in
lands and machinery have been but $130,000—which, therefore, is returned
to the stockholders every two or three years. The Pennsylvania Coal Com-
pany, in the same region, though laboring under great disadvantages in the
shipment of coal, netted the same year, $330,000. The coal department of
the Scranton Company, also, during the same time, cleared a profit of $76,000
upon but 100,000 tons mined, although most of their large expenditures for
development were increased during this period.

Waste of Coal.—Mr. Holmes, in his Treatise on Coal Mines, states the waste
of small coal at the pit’s mouth to be one fourth of the whole. The waste in
the mines is computed to be one third.— Mining Journal.

ASCENT AND MEASUREMENT OF MOUNT HOOD.

The California papers give an account of the ascent of one of the Oregon
Peaks, known as Mount Hood, which has been ascertained by measurement
to be 18,361 feet. This is the highest peak on the North American continent,
and one of the highest in the world. The mountain was ascertained to be
volcanic, smoke being seen to issue from the summit. The peak of Mount
Hood is thus described:

“We found the top similar to that of Mount Helen—extremely narrow,
laying in acrescent shape. Mount St. Helen’s facing the northwest by a
crescent, while Mount Hood’s faces the southwest. The sharp ridge on top
runs from the southwest to the north, making a sharp turn to the west at the
north end. The main ridge is formed of decomposed volcanic substances, of a
light reddish color, with cones from twenty to fifty feet high at intervals of a
few rods. These cones or rocks are full of cracks or fissures, as if they had
been rent by some convulsion of nature at a remote period. Between these
cones there are numerous holes, varying from the size of a common water
bucket down to two or three inches in diameter. Through these breathing
holes—as we shall call them—and through the crevices in the rocks there is
constantly escaping hot smoke or gas of a strong sulphuric odor. In passing
over the ridge for near half a mile we discovered a large number of these
breathing holes; through some the heat was more intense than in others.
«We did not carry up a thermometer; therefore, we could not get the ex-

302 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

act degree of the heat; but from holding our hand over several of them, we have
no doubt that the thermometer would have shown ‘boiling heat’ in some of
them.” ;

MANUFACTURE OF SALT IN THE UNITED STATES,

It is known that in the south-eastern part of Ohio, salt water is found
abundantly; but heretofore the water has been found too weak to compete
successfully, for more than local use, with the salines of Kanawha, or of Syra-
cuse. Hence the quantity manufactured in Ohio has been comparatively
small. But of late the tables are likely to be turned. The difficulty in the
old wells was, in not boring deep enough. The real saliferous rock in that re-

‘gion, lies about 1,000 feet in depth. The old wells were generally dug about
400 or 500 feet in depth. They got water but it was not the original springs,
but a diluted quality. Recently, however, boring has been carried to the salt-
bearing rock, and salt water in great abundance is obtained, and of strength
sufficient to compete with other western salines. The most successful experi-
ments of this kind have been made at Pomeroy, Ohio, where wells have been
sunk to the depth of 1200 feet. The strength of the brine is from 9° to 10°
B. From some of the wells sufficient carbureted hydrogen gas issues to
supply the furnaces with a large amount of fuel. From a well at Coalport,
Ohio, there is at times a copious flow of petroleum. The greater portion of
this mineral oil is sold at 25c. per gallon for the purpose of making the patent
medicine ‘‘ Mustang Liniment.” 5

The product of salt in Ohio, according to the census of 1850, was 550,350
bushels. The amount estimated for the year 1855 is 1,300,000 bushels, which
exceeds the product of any State, except New York and Virginia.

REMARKABLE BRAZILIAN DIAMOND.

The largest and finest diamond which has as yet been found in Brazil, has
recently been imported into Paris, and has received the name of the ‘ Star of
the South.” In its rough state it weighs 807.02 grains, or 2544 carets. When
cut it will be reduced to about 127 carats, and will therefore exceed the Koh-
i-noor in size. Independently of its magnitude, it possesses much scientific in-
terest from the regularity of its crystalline forms, and the indication it affords
of the mode in which the diamond occurs. The general form of the “ Star
of the South” is a rhomboidal dodecahedron, having each of its faces beveled
by a face set on very obliquely, so that it has in all 24 faces. On one of its
faces there is a pretty deep cavity obviously produced by an octahedral crystal
which has been implanted in it. The interior of this cavity when examined
with a lens shows octahedral striee, and it can not therefore be doubted that
the crystal which has left its trace was a diamond. On the posterior face of
the crystal there are two other cavities of less depth also showing stris, and
one of them even exhibits traces of three or four different crystals. On the
same side of the crystal there is a flat part where the cleavage appears, and
which M. Dufrenoy considers to be a fracture, and possibly as the point by

- GEOLOGY. 803

which the diamond was attached to its matrix. From these facts it appears
that the “Star of the South” has been only one of a group of diamonds simi-
lar to the groups of rock crystal, coal spar, or any other orystalline mineral
—Compte Rendus, vol. x1., p. 3.

ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF IRON.

Mr. J. D. Whitney in a communication to the American Association, Provi-
dence, remarked that there were scattered over the earth deposits of iron of
peculiar character and extraordinary purity, and that the mode of their occur-
renee was also peculiar; they belonged to certain systems of rocks, and were
found only in those systems. The principal localities in which this iron oc-
curred were Scandinavia, Northern New York, Superior and Missouri. In
Sweden there was a single bed 700 feet in width by four or five miles in
length. The deposits in northern New York were not so extensive, but the
Cleveland Iron Mountain in the Lake Superior country rose to the height of
1,039 feet above the lake, with a breadth of 1,000 feet, and was entirely com-
posed of iron ore. Along its summit were numerous knobs 50 to 100 feet in
height, which were perfectly pure. There were numerous other mountains in
Missouri which furnished equally pure ores. The ores thus found were almost
always of two kinds, specular and magnetic. The specular predominated in
Sweden, Superior and Missouri, while the magnetic prevailed in northern New
York. In Superior the iron beds lay between trap and talcose slate; in Mis-
souri porphyry was near; in New York it seemed to have been sedimentarily
deposited in lenticular masses, and afterwards subjected to metamorphic ac-
tion; these all in azoic rocks. As the azoic periods were more violent in
‘their action than later periods, it was probable that what was thrown up
during those periods came from a deeper portion of the earth, and we might
hence infer that there were great deposits of pure iron deep down in the
earth. :

Professor Hall in reply to a question, stated, that all the rocks below the
paleozoic, which occurred in any considerable quantities in this country,
were metamorphic from sedimentary rocks. Not only the great systems of
these rocks, but even subordinate portions of them had been deposited under
somewhat different circumstances physically and chemically. Although some
shells and sandstones in different formations might have considerable simi-
larity, still they presented differences, and these slight differences were
brought in metamorphism. He was satisfied that when our metamorphic
rocks came to be more thoroughly known, every group that had had any con-
siderable characteristic in its original formation would in its metamorphoric
state be found to present such peculiar minerals as to characteriz2 it as per-
fectly as the fossiliferous rocks are characterized by their fossils.

~

ON THE OCCURRENCE OF NATIVE IRON IN LIBERIA.

During the year 1853, a specimen of malleable iron was sent from the
vicinity of Bexley, Bassa County, Liberia, to William Coppinger, Esq., of

804 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Philadelphia, with a letter from the Rev. Mr. Davis, of Liberia, in which he
says:—‘‘I have seen and conversed with a number of natives, who affirm
that it is actually the pure ore, or just as broken from its native bed.” This
specimen, during the past year, was placed in the hands of Dr. A. A. Hayes,
of Boston, by Rev. Joseph Tracy, for chemical examination. This examina-
tion by Dr. Hayes brought to light the remarkable fact that the iron in ques-
tion was pure native iron, not meteoric, but probably occurring as a deposit
by itself, unalloyed with any other metals. The following is the report of Dr.
Hayes on the subject: —

The specimen had been drilled and filed when I first saw it. The filed
surface arrested my attention, as the arrangement of the particles of the iron
resembled that of the unalloyed part of meteoric iron, and was unlike that of
any iron that had been hammered or rolled. Artificial iron is presented to
us under two forms; first, that of crude or cast iron, which, always granular,
is brittle, though sometimes malleable in a slight degree; second, wrought or
ductile iron, the product of refining either cast iron, or as the result of skillful
reduction from an ore, in a forge fire, by alternate heating and hammering.
In either case, the particles of the iron have certain definite forms, arranged
as crystals in the cast iron, which are broken down and rearranged in the
ductile iron, as plates, or scales, or longitudinal fibers.

The native iron presents only very minute crystalline grains, which have
not been broken or blended. Their color is lighter gray than that of any
hammered iron. They are without much luster, resembling iron which has
been aggregated by electrical deposition. The mass is tough; and when a
fragment is broken, repeated bending and doubling is required, and the frac-
ture is hackly. The texture is not uniform. Some parts are less compact
than other portions, rendering the specific gravity of the mass less than that
of other iron. This inequality is due in part to the presence, in the mass, of
crystalline quartz, magnetic oxyd of iron, and a zeolite mineral, having a soda
basis in part; conclusively proving that the iron has never been melted arti-
ficially.

Its chemical composition is—

PICO ITOM sere seers Mere eaiene Se essere ee miateists (she cieis erepristaucievel Oe crsintece a cele iefe 98°40
Quartz grains, magnetic oxyd, 1-60
er Os Taney me sis wik ast meiua i eam opie gehen

There are no other metals present: a fact which prevents us from placing
this iron in the class of meteorlites. And the absence of carbon in any form
removes all doubt in regard to its being possibly of artificial formation.

Every form of iron which has been the subject of manufacture, contains
carbon. And it is an interesting observation in this connection, that, in the
large number of samples of ancient irons and those produced by semi-civilized
people, which I have analyzed, not only has carbon been present, but the
proportion was always larger than exists in the iron of commercial people.
It appears that the rude workmen, in producing this useful metal, stop at that
point where the half-refined iron is sufficiently ductile to take, under the

- GEOLOGY. 305

hammer, the required form; while the purer irons are produced later in his-
tory, when the more highly prized qualities become known,

The evidence which has been collected respecting the locality and history
of this iron tends to show that the natives of the vicinity have drawn their
supplies from it for many years. Various implements are now in the United
States which have undoubtedly been manufactured from native iron.

Mr. Davis says, in the letter accompanying this specimen: “I am told by
the natives that it is plentiful, and about three days walk from our present
residence. It is obtained by digging, and breakingrocks. It isalso said to be
in large lumps. In these parts, the natives buy no iron, but dig it out of the
ground, or break the rocks and get it, as the case may be.”

The Rey. John Seys, in a letter published in the African Repository for
June, 1851, says :—

“ Such is the purity of the iron ore obtained by the natives of Africa in the
immediate vicinity of Liberia, and which they represent as being abundant,
that they have no furnaces. Theyneed none. All their rude agricultural and
’ warlike instruments are made by them of ore so pure that, when heated, it
becomes sufficiently malleable to admit of being wrought into any shape or
form. They make knives, bill-hooks, war-cutlasses, spears, axes, hoes, etc.,
out of this ore, without the process of smelting.”

Mr. James Hail, under date of July, 1855, writes:

“The natives manufacture iron in quantities in the interior. It is very soft
and pure. I have often been told by the beach natives who have traveled in-
land, that ‘they take plenty wood and coal; make a big pile; put tone (stone)
on him; then more wood, more coal, and more tone; then set him on fire,
and burn him trong, two, three days; then iron come up.’ This is the talk
all along the shore; that is, the reliable talk. Although many say they find
the pure iron, I am sure no pure iron was ever found in Liberia or its vicinity
in any considerable quantity, before I left in 1840.”

Strictly speaking, Mr. Tracy remarks, an “ore” is a rock composed of or
containing a metal in chemical combination with some other substance.
“ Smelting” is the reduction of a metal in an ore by the application of heat to
its metallic form. A fire like that described above could never produce a heat
intense enough to “smelt” any ore of iron; and besides, the result of smelting
iron ore is always cast iron, and not malleable. But if in “breaking the
rocks,” the rocks should not readily yield to blows, it would be a very natural
Gevice to place it on a very hot fire. The result would be that the rock
would crack into pieces and the iron would be released; and being heavier
than the decrepitated stone, it might, especially if stirred a little, fall together
and become welded into one mass. This, beyond all question, is the usual
process in the mountainous regions south of St. John’s River.

Mr. Tracy further says: There is reason to suppose that native iron exists
in other parts of Africa, especially the western—Adanson, a French naturalist,
whose ‘“ Natural History of Senegal” was published in the latter part of the
last century, asserts that the natives of that region make implements of it. A
description, probably derived from him, of the native iron of Senegal, applies
well to the lumps found on the “‘ New Jersey purchase” and at False Cape.

806 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Further south and east, beyond the Niger, the Rev. J. L. Wilson found that
the Pangwe people, who are gradually migrating from the inland mountains
toward the coast near the equator, have “iron of their own,” of superior
quality, usually in ‘‘ pieces about the size, and somewhat in the shape of a
horse-fleam, and probably produced from lumps of native iron of nearly uni-
form size.” At Loando, about nine degrees south, the natives of the interior
sell iron implements of their own manufacture for European goods, at prices
less than the cost of the European iron which would be required to. make
them. In South Africa, the Rev. Dr. Adamson, long a missionary there, in-
forms me, meteoric iron is abundant; but whether it has been found to be
meteoric by analysis, or only presumed to be so, because all native iron has
hitherto proved so, I am not informed.

The existence of native iron has often been asserted. Pallas was said to
have found it in Siberia, and others in South America, New Mexico, Virginia,
and other regions. But all these, so far as they have been analyzed, have
proved to be meteoric. The native iron of Liberia, therefore, is a substance
perfectly new to the world of science and of art. Its existence in large de-
posits is as probable as was that of native copper before the opening of the
mines on Lake Superior. Native copper had been known for ages to exist;
but till the opening of those mines, it had never been found in quantities suf
ficient to be of much commercial importance. Now, it is found in great abund-
ance, and some of it in masses so immense that the miners are troubled with
their vastness. Whether the native iron of Liberia exists in similar abun-
dance, can be determined only by an actual examination of the country. But
if large quantities can be found at the water’s edge, or even twenty-five miles
inland, its commercial value must be immense.

Native Iron of Canaan, Connecticut.—In all the minerological works pub-
lished during the last few years, native iron has been registered as occurring
at Canaan, Conn. The authority for this statement rested on a single speci-
men preserved in the cabinet of Yale College. After the results of the exam-
ination of the Liberian iron by Dr. Hayes were made known, a portion of this
specimen was placed in his hands by Professor Silliman for examination. Dr.
Hayes has since shown, in the most indubitable manner, that the Canaan iron
is cast-iron, containing charcoal, plumbago, and other impurities.

ON THE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF METALS AND OTHER
MINERAL PRODUCTS IN GREAT BRITAIN.

From the report of Robert Hunt, keeper of the mining records of Great
Britain, for the year 1854, we derive the following statistics respecting the
production and consumption of metals and other mineral products in Great
Britain :

The total quantity of tin ore raised in Cornwall and Devonshire in 1853 was
8,866 tons, the average value of which was about £68 per ton. The black
tin, or tin ore, produces on the average 65 per cent. of metallic, or white
tin, as it is called. The quantity of this metal of British produce brought into
the market, is about 6,000 tons annually. The annual importations of tin into

GEOLOGY. 307

Great Britain from Singapore, India, China, Peru, and Brazil, amounts to
2,500 tons. Of this foreign tin there is re-exported about 1,000 tons, and of
British tin rather more annually. The average production of the five largest
tin mines of England for 1853 was about 250 tons, the maximum produce
being 282 tons.

Out of the tin produce arises another, but not very extensive, branch of
mineral industry—the production of arsenic; most of the tin ores contain both
that substance and sulphur, which are got rid of by exposing the powdered
ores in peculiarly constructed furnaces to the action of fire. The quantity of
arsenic annually produced has been estimated at 2,000 tons; the chief market
for it is, however, now closed, the principal portion of it having been used in
the preparation of Russian leather.

In 1853 the value of the copper ore sold in Cornwall was £1,155,167; and,
in addition to this, Ireland produced 11,278 tons of copper ore, and some hun-
dreds of tons were produced in Wales and the northern English counties. The
importance of some scientific knowledge to the mining population is well ex-
emplified by the fact, that hundreds of tons of the gray sulphuret of copper
have been thrown over the cliffs of the western shores into the Atlantic Ocean,
and hedges have been built with copper ores of twice the value of the ordin-
ary copper pyrites. Immense masses of the black oxyd of copper had from
time to time been thrown aside; eventually, the miner became acquainted
with the value of these ores, and they are now, of course, carefully preserved
whenever they occur.

Mr. Hunt gives some details of the produce of the principal copper mines
in Cornwall, whence all the copper ore raised is sent to Swansea, the trade
employing about 150 vessels and 800 seamen. The ships carry back coal to
Cornwall, which is employed chiefly in the production of the mechanical force
by which the water is pumped from the mines and the ores raised. The
smelting establishments of Swansea support, by their direct or indirect influ-
ence, nearly 15,000 people: thus we have an example of the effects of a pe-
culiar branch of industry rising up at a distance from the locality in which the
material sought for is produced. The importation of copper ores from the
mines of Cuba, Chili, etc., would, it was feared, greatly reduce the value of the
British ore. Now, although Cuba exports to England 15,000 tons of her rich
ore annually, Chili at least 18,000, and Peru, Spain, South Australia, and our
other colonies, about 20,000 tons more, the value of the Cornish copper ores
have steadily increased, the combination of the two being necessary for the
production of the best kinds of metal.

Mr. Hunt describes the Cornish pumping-engine as, perhaps, the Bae ex-
ample of the application of steam as a motive-power which the world had yet
produced. This superiority he attributed to the necessity imposed upon the
engineers of effecting a great economy of fuel, in a locality so far distant from
the coal-fields; and, again to the circumstance that the duties of the engines
were regularly reported in what are called “duty papers.” The duty of a
Cornish pumping-engine is estimated by the number of pounds lifted a foot -
_ high by the consumption of a bushel of coals. Taylor’s engine, at the United
Mines, reached the high duty of lifting 110,000,000 pounds. The average

3808 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

duty of all the engines at present at work is 51,620,000, while the average
duty of the best engines amounts to 99,000,000. This enormous power,
which may be estimated at equal to the power of 5,500 horses, is employed to
raise more than 9,000 ga!lons of water per minute from the mines, and to lift
a large portion of the ore which is raised. The manufacture of these engines
gives rise to other and important industries, each of these large engines cost-
ing from £2,000 to £4,000. The machinery at one of the largest mines in
Cornwall has been estimated to be of the value of £75,000. From estimates
which have been carefully made it appears that nearly 30,000 persons were
employed in and about the Cornish mines; of these 5,500 were women, and
5,000 children, the women and children being employed on the surface only.
In one way or another at least 100,000 persons derive their means of subsist-
ence from the tin and copper mines of western England.

The production of lead from the English mines, for 1853, was 85,121 tons
of ore, or 61,021 tons of lead. Most of this iead contains silver which is now
profitably extracted. The average produce of silver from the lead ores of
Devonshire is 40 ozs. to the ton, those of Cornwall 35 ozs., those of the Isle
of Man 20 ozs., of Wales about 15 ozs., of Ireland 10 ozs., and of the northern
counties about 6 or 7 ozs. Formerly it was not profitable, by the processes
adopted—the oxydation of lead—to separate the silver when it existed in less
proportions than 15 ozs. to the ton. By the process of desilveration intro-
duced by Mr. Pattinson, it is now economical to separate the silver when not
more than 5 ozs. exist in a ton of lead. From this process an enormous
amount of wealth has been added to the national store, and there is now
obtained from British lead ores at least 700,000 ozs. of silver, which may be
valued at £92,500. A process has lately been introduced in which zine is
employed in combination with the fused metal: by the action of affinity the
silver is thus readily eCard, but as yet this process is not extensively
employed.

Zine mining receives but little attention in England, nearly the whole sup-
ply of the British Islands being derived from Belgium.

In the working of manganese the English are not able to compete with the
German mines.

The clays of Great Britain are in the highest degree valuable; the amount
raised in 1853 being upward of 100,000 tons.

During the year 1853 the whole number of iron furnaces in blast was 550,
and the total product nearly reached 3,000,000 tons.

The exact quantity of coal raised is not accurately known; many of the
proprietors of mines declining to furnish information. Mr. Hunt estimates the
amount for the year 1853, at about 60,000,000 tons, having a value at the mouth
of the pit of £11,000,000, and at the place of consumption of £18,000,000. In
producing this quantity 233,650 workmen were employed under ground, and
about 50,000 on the surface. Mr, Hunt estimates the quantity of coal remain-
ing in the great English coal-fields of Northumberland and Durham, to be
equal to 1,251,232,504 Newcastle chaldrons of 53 ewts. each. By this esti-
mate, at the present rate of demand, these coal-fields will be exhausted in 331
years. .

GEOLOGY. 3809

The manner in which the coal raised in England alone, during the year
1853, was disposed of, is estimated as follows:

For household purposes, about.............. 19,000,000 Tons

MOL. ITOD=WOLKS 5 Sacopocines em iaale efaiess wake ape 13,000,060

Tor steam, gas, and coking coal ............. 9,0¢0,¢00

BESPOLE oo. Sone Coes oo ome eee anes 4,000,000 45,000,000

The value of all the raw material produced from the British mines during
the year 1853 is given as follows:

Goal atthe piysmouth’s. 2... sss ve tsees £11,000,000
Hon: Tavs. Gabe. B ke a LE See 10,000,000
COPDOF «se asaeesictetans eine hom aero eee 1,500,600
Lt Ree REE Me eee ene ecole hes aee 1,000,009
PIO ete ero wie ai 0) 5 loc at eters. 5, c.e en aitiee aun el ctate ee 400,000
Silver SoCs - Shas gaa a Pee eta ce eeeeeee 210,000
MENS MGI. ESOL OT. Lai MSDS SATE 10,000
Salipand other minerals, 2:2 33. peeceee ses oe 400,000 24,520,000

In this estimate neither clays, lime, or the produce of stone-quarries, are
included, which will augment the sum given above to at least £30,000,000,
and when the cost of labor employed in converting this mass of matter into
articles of utility or objects of ornament is added, it will be swelled a hundred-
fold.

MINERAL WEALTH OF THE LAKE SUPERIOR DISTRICT.

The immense wealth and the vast importance of the Lake Superior iron
and copper region, is every day becoming more apparent to intelligent, dis-
cerning men. New discoveries of copper deposits, and new developments of
the wonderful mineral wealth of this region, are constantly being made. Al-
most every mail from Lake Superior brings us additional intelligence calcu-
lated to increase and strengthen the public confidence in the vast resources of
the copper regions. In 1854 a mass of pure native copper was found in one
of the mines, of a weight of not less than 212 tons, and during the past season
the discovery of another mass, weighing 250 tons, and worth in market
$175,000, has been chronicled. These, of course, are not every day discov-
eries, but they will serve to give some idea of the inexhaustible extent of the
copper deposits of the Lake Superior mineral region. In 1853 the produce of
the copper mines of Lake Superior was estimated at 2,800 tons, and those of
the iron mines to over 810 tons of blooms and 405 tons of ore. The capital
invested in thirty-four copper-mines which have lived through or have been
established since the era of wild speculation, amounts to $2,120,000, and
represents a market value—constantly increasing—of $7,033,500. The best
authorities estimate the production of copper for the last season, putting it at
the lowest mark, at 3,600 tons. Though these statistics leave out of view the
heavy losses incurred in opening mines which have proved worthless—losses
of which we have no exact statements, but which we presume would show

310 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

that the whole course of operations in that region has by no means been so
profitable as would else appear—still the history of legitimate mining opera-
tions affords no other example of such an extraordinary development of the
mineral wealth of a country. Nine years ago the entire southern shore of
Lake Superior, nearly equal to the sea-coast of New England, was an unbroken
wilderness, save where the missionary had collected a small band of natives
into a settlement, or the Ojibways had formed their camping-grounds during
the fishing season. Yet that district promises for this year shipments of cop-
per equal in amount to one third of the entire produce of the English mines
during the same period—mines, the productiveness of which is increased to
the highest possible limit by the science and experience of centuries, a profu-
sion of capital, cheap labor, and the market of immense manufacturing dis-
tricts, and, in fact, of the world.

The imagination hardly dares conceive the results of another nine years’
operations on Lake Superior, now that the difficulties incident to the opening
a new country and to the establishment of a new commercial interest have
been overcome, and mining placed upon a firm, scientific, and industrial basis.
In considering the great prospective increase of the mining interests in ques-
tion, it must not be forgotten that the explorations of each successive year,
beside developing new veins and deposits upon land already occupied by com-
panies, are extending continually the limits of both the copper and iron pro-
ducing districts. At first, but a few points upon the Keweenaw Peninsula,
and a spot or two near the Ontonagon, were known. Now the entire range
from Copper Harbor to some distance west of the Ontonagon has passed into
the hands of mining companies. Last season the advanced posts had reached
Agogebic Lake, and their labors had so much of success that they have now
gone beyond that lake, and new companies are forming at this very time to
commence upon that part of the range; and that, too, with prospects as en-
couraging as those upon many locations now considered of established value.
We also hear of successful explorations still further West.—W. Y. Tribune.

Since the writing of the above, nearly complete returns from the various
Lake Superior mines have been received, and the amount of copper produced
exceeds the estimate by more than a thousand tons. The quantity mined and
sent to market, or in a state ready for shipment in the various districts, is as
follows :—In the Ontonagon district, 2,190 tons; in Keewenaw district, 2,225
tons; in Portage Lake districts, 3454 tons; making a total of 4,790} tons, or
9,581,000 lbs. of copper as the total yield of the range for 1855. This, at the
present prices, is worth over $1,600,000.

The produce of the Cliff Mine was 1,600 tons; of the Minnesota, 1,350;
and of the North American, 265.

ON THE DISCOVERY OF A FOSSIL TREE WITHIN THE ARCTIC
CIRCLE.

Sir Edward Belcher, at the Glasgow meeting of the British Association,
gave the following description of the trunk of a fossil tree discovered erect
as. it grew within the Arctic Circle, in 75° 32’ N., 92° W., or immediately

GEOLOGY. 311

to the northward of the Narrow Strait which opens into the Wellington
Sound :-—

Having dispatched several shooting parties in quest of hares and ptarmigan,
one commanded by the boatswain returned about midnight, on the 12th of
September, 1853, bringing a report that they had discovered the heel of the
topgallant-mast of a ship in an erect position, about one mile and a half in-
land; and the carpenter’s mate, one of the party, asserting that it was cer-
tainly “‘a worked spar,” of about eight inches diameter, seemed to confirm
this report. Such a communication from such authorities—considered of
sufficient importance to awake me, startled me not a little. One point, how-
ever, was not so clear to my imagination—it was too far inland, and, more-
over, ina hollow. On the morrow I proceeded, accompanied by the boat-
swain, armed with picks and crows, to search for and bring in this discovery ;
but it was not without great difficulty that it was rediscovered, snow having
nearly obliterated the footmarks of the previous day. JI at once perceived
that it was not a mast, nor a worked spar, nor placed there by human agency.
It was the trunk of a tree that had probably grown there and flourished, but
at what date who would venture to determine? At the period when whales
were thrown up and deposited, as we found them, at elevations of 500 to 800
feet above the present level of the sea, and the land generally convulsed, and
also when a much higher temperature prevailed in these regions, this tree
probably put forth its leaves, and afforded shade from the sun. Such achange
of climate just then would have been peculiarly acceptable! I directed the
party which attended me to proceed at once to clear away the soil, then frozen
mud, and splintering at every effort like glass. The stump was at length
extracted, but not without being compelled eventually to divide the tap root;
and collecting together the portions of soil which were immediately in contact,
and surrounding the tree, in the hope of discovering impressions of leaves or
cones, the whole was carefully packed in canvas, and eventually reached En-
gland. Near to the spot in question, I noticed several peculiar knolls, from
which I was led to infer that other trees had grown there; and I caused them
to be dug into, but they proved to be peat mosses, about nine inches in
depth, and, on closer examination in my cabin, proved to contain the bones
of the Lemming, in such extraordinary quantity as to constitute almost a,
mass of bony manure. Through the kindness of Dr. Hooker, the entire matter
having been forwarded to Sir. W. Hooker, at Kew, I am enabled to furnish
the following interesting remarks ‘—“The piece of wood brought by Sir
Edward Belcher from the shores of Wellington Channel belongs to a species
of pine—probably to the Pinus (Abies) alba, the most northern conifer. This,
the ‘white spruce,’ advances as far north as the 68th parallel, and must be
often floated down the great rivers of North America to the Polar Ocean.
The structure of the wood of the specimen brought home differs remarkably
in its anatomical characters from that of any other conifer with which I am
acquainted. Each concentric ring (or annual growth) consists of two zones
of tissue; one, the outer, that toward the circumference is broader, of a pale
color, and consists of ordinary tubes of fibers of wood marked with discs com-
mon to all conifere. These discs are usually opposite one another when

812 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

more than one row of them occur in the direction of the length of the fiber,
and what is very unusual, present radiating lines from the central depression
to the circumference. Second, the inner zone of each annual ring of wood is
narrower, of a dark color, and formed of more slender woody fibers, with
thicker walls in proportion to their diameter. These tubes have few or no
discs upon them, but are covered with spiral strice, giving the appearance of
each tube being formed of a twisted band. The above characters prevail in
all parts of the wood, but are slightly modified in different rings; thus the
outer zone is broader in some than in others, the disc-bearing fibers of the
outer zone are sometimes faintly marked with spiral striz, and the spirally
marked fibers of the inner zone sometimes bear discs. ‘These appearances
suggest the annual recurrence of some special cause that shall thus modify
the first and last formed fibers of each year’s deposit, so that that first formed
may differ in amount as well as in kind from that last formed, and the peculiar
conditions of an Arctic climate appear to afford an adequate solution. The
inner or first formed zone must be regarded as imperfectly developed, being
deposited at a season when the functions of the plant are very intermittently
exercised, and when a few short hours of hot sunshine are daily succeeded by
many of extreme cold. As the season advances the sun’s heat and light are
continuous during the greater part of the twenty-four hours, and the newly-
formed wood fibers are hence more perfectly developed; they are much larger,
present no signs of strize, but are studded with discs of a more highly organ-
ized structure than are usual in the natural order to which this tree belongs.”

At a recent meeting of the Geological Society, London, Sir R. J. Murchison
stated that from an examination of the geological specimens brought home by
the recent various English Arctic expeditions, he inferred that the oldest sedi-
mentary rock of the Arctic archipelago is the Upper Silurian limestone, which
contains several corals and other fossils known in the formations of that age
in Gothland, Wenlock, and Dudley. No clear evidence has been afforded as
to the existence of Devonian rocks, though extensive masses of red and brown
sandstone may belong to that formation. True carboniferous Producti and
Spirifert have been brought home by Sir E. Belcher from Albert Land, north
of Wellington Straits; and codly matter has been detected in many localities.
Sceondary rocks, it is surmised, may exist in the smaller islands north of
Wellington Channel, as fossil bones of saurians were found in them. As there
are no clear traces of the older tertiary rocks, the author inferred that the
older deposits of the Arctic region had been elevated at an early period, and
had remained in that position during a very long time; for the objects to
which the attention of the geologist is next drawn by the collections of the
voyagers, are certain silicified stems of plants, which are widely spread over
all the islands, between Wellington Channel and the east and west coasts of
Banks’s Land, and which, from the examination already bestowed on them
by Dr. Hooker, appear to be allied to, if not identical with, coniferous trees.
At one spot, namely, Coxcomb Range, Banks’s Land, and at a height of 500
feet above the sea, Captain M‘Clure collected a large Cyprina, undistinguish-
able from C. islandica of the glacial drift of the British isles) There are small

_ GEOLOGY. 813

stems of plants, some of which exhibit passages from a silicified condition to
that of lignite and of wood, and numerous fragments of which seem to be
referable to existing species of coniferze. Most of the specimens were buried
in frozen mud or silt, and these have preserved, during a long period, their
woody fiber in a natural condition. Attention was particularly dicted to
the portion of a trunk of one of these fir-trees, three feet six inches in circum-
ference, which had been procured by Captain M‘Clure from a ravine in Banks’s
Land, where much of the wood is strewed about, in different states of presery-
ation, at heights varying from 300 to 500. feet above the sea, together with
cones apparently belonging to an Abies, resembling A. alba (a plant living
still within the Arctic circle). One of Lieutenant Pim’s specimens of wood
from Prince Patrick’s Island is of the same character, and much resembles
Pinus strobus, or the American pine, according to Professor Quekett, who
refers another specimen, brought from Hecla and Griper Bay, to the larch.
Having alluded to the fact of the remains (including entire skeletons) of
whales having been found by Sir E. Belcher to the north of Wellington Chan-
nel, at considerable heights above the sea, the author inferred that the exist-
ence of the remains of these animals, with those of fir-trees of considerable
size, in latitudes ranging from 74° to 78° 10’, could be most easily explained
by supposing that the greater portion of this region was submerged, when the
remains of whales and the Cyprina were lodged on a former submarine sur-
face, and when quantities of wood were floated or carried by ice-floes (ac-
companied by much silt and detritus) from the mouths of the nearest great
rivers; a subsequent elevation of such sea-battom having produced the
present relations. At the same time he admitted that a case which had been
brought to his notice by Sir E. Belcher, might induce some persons to believe
that the trees grew upon the spot where their remains are now found; since
that officer examined a trunk in lat. 75° 30’ north and lon. 92° 15’ west,
which he states to have been in a vertical position, with its roots extending
downward into a clayey and peaty soil with sand. Remarkable as this case
is, and leading, as it might, to the inference that a very different climate pre-
vailed here when such vegetation existed, the author prefers the simpler view
above mentioned to one which would necessarily involve the hypotheses of
—1l. A much warmer climate, at a time when these Arctic lands were high
above the sea. 2. A depression to the extent of several hundred feet, to
account for the distribution of Arctic marine animals over the surface; and
3dly, another elevation to bring about the present configuration. In short,
however willing to allow for great upheavals and depressions in quasi-modern
times, the author does not see how the coexistence of the remains of whales
and marine-shells with living specimens of trees on the same lands can be
satisfactorily accounted for, except by a former action of drift, similar to that
which covered Northern Europe and North America with erratics and débris
—the polar examples differing only from those of other countries by the
preservation of wood in its pristine condition through the excessive cold of
the Arctic region.

14

«
314 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ON THE DISCOVERY OF THE ICHTHYOSAURUS WITHIN THE
ARCTIC CIRCLE,

Among several interesting fossils brought home by the recent Arctic ex-
pedition, under Sir Edward Belcher, were some fossil remains of the Ichthyo-
saurus. The position where the remains were found is on the summit of
Exmouth Island, about 700 feet above the level of the sea. The upper
stratum is limestone, containing numerous fossils, and is about thirty feet in
thickness. The inferior stratum is entirely of red sandstone, of a deep red
color, which gave to the island, in the first instance, the name of Red Island.

CONNECTION OF FOSSIL FOOT-PRINTIS WITH THE THEORY OF
PROGRESSIVE DEVELOPMENT,

At a recent meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, Professor H.
D. Rogers exhibited a number of fossil impressions occurring in the red shale,
or carboniferous red sandstone, next underlying the anthracite coal measures
of Pennsylvania. A portion of them are identical with specimens found some
years ago, by Isaac Lea, Esq., of Philadelphia, in the same geological horizon,
and by him attributed to Reptilians; others are from a horizon 1,300 feet
lower. These specimens also present a series of impressions, not observed by
Mr. Lea in his specimens, consisting of the right and left feet, and apparently
the fore and hind feet of a small species. Professor Rogers had not yet formed
definite conclusions as to their nature, but they are obviously Reptilian.
They occur invariably upon surfaces which appear to have been slimy and
exposed to the air: some show the spots which are attributed to rain-drops;
others, trickling water marks and wave marks. The slimy surface is attrib-
uted by Professor Rogers to the finest clayey deposit from the ocean, at dif-
ferent intervals, giving the rock the tendency to scale off in thin layers. The
thickness of the carboniferous red sandstone is estimated by Professor Rogers
at 3,000 feet; some of these specimens came from a depth of 2,000 feet in
that formation, and appear to be the oldest vestiges of reptilian creatures yet
found in the paleeozoic rocks of America. The position of the footprints dis-
covered by Mr. Lea is 1,000 or 1,500 feet above the base of the conglomerate,
or first member of the coal measures, while these described by Professor
Rogers extend, as has just been stated, some 2,000 feet below that geological
horizon.

Longitudinal markings, looking like trails, probably of mollusca, are often
found in these rocks, and were exhibited by Professor Rogers. The most
common of these impressions is about half an inch in breadth, and consists of
three separate lines of corrugations, the central band having the corrugations
exceedingly minute. Toward one margin of the trail there is invariably a
narrow, sharp groove, two or three inches in length, which runs out by a
gentle curve toward the edge of the trail, and another commencing within the
margin, and terminating likewise by a slight inflection in advance of the first.

. GEOLOGY. 315

These it was suggested as possible, may have originated from the edge or lip
of the shell of the crawling mollusk, grooving the softened mud.

After describing, in a general way, the reptilian footprints in the carbon-
iferous red sandstone of Pennsylvania, assigning the positions which they
occupy in the formation, Professor Rogers proceeded to offer some reflections,
showing the bearings of our present knowledge of the footmarks in the ancient
strata generally, on certain cardinal doctrines of geology, especially on the
theory of a progressive development in the extinct inhabitants of the earth.
He called attention to the fact that, associated with the earlier bird tracts,
there are none ascribable to quadrupeds, or any mammalian creatures, while
in company with those of the earlier reptiles, occur none attributable to birds,
The first birds seem to have appeared about the close of the Triassic or dawn
of the great Oolitic period of the middle secondary ages, and no mammalian
animals have left either their prints or their skeletons in strata of a date so
old; while of neither bird nor mammal is there print or vestige of any kind
in the still more ancient deposits of the carboniferous and yet earlier rocks, in
which the tracks and bones of reptiles and fishes, and the trails and shells of
mollusks are of frequent occurrence. Such successive disappearance of the
traces of the higher forms of life with the advance of geological time, is one
of the clearest proofs we can have of a progressive elevation in the scale of
structure of the races successively created. The law of successive appearance
of the footprints, is quite as conclusive as that of the parallel introduction of
the actual skeletons and remains of the creatures themselves; it is perhaps
of even more weight, as precluding all discussion upon the differences in de-
gree of destructibility of the bones or carcasses of the several classes of
animals which peopled the ancient world. Some of the bird-tracks and rep-
tilian footprints left on the once soft surfaces of the old rocks, are as clear and
legible imprints as any impressed yesterday on surfaces of moist mud or
sand, by the creatures of corresponding structure. Once buried and sealed
up, their preservation has been independent of the lapse of time. This law
of a progressive rise in the character of the footprints, like that so generally
recognized in regard to the organic remains themselves, distinctly refutes the
view urged by Sir Charles Lyell, and some other disciples of the Huttonian
theory of the earth’s history. Fancying a uniformity in the series of past
changes in the animate and inanimate world, they contend that the evidence
in support of the theory of progressive development of organic life is incon-
clusive, on the ground that the higher forms being inhabitants of the land, we
ought not to look for their remains in strata of marine or aqueous origin,
but must suppose they were never entombed. But the negative evidence
from footprints is of positive force when it appeals to appearances in the im-
printed surfaces of the rocks which show that they were exposed in a moist
state to the air, above the level of the waters, and in situations as accessible
to mammalia as to birds, and in the case of the still earlier formations, as
accessible to both mammalia and birds as to the reptiles, which left their
tracks in such numbers upon them.

Professor Rogers also adverted to the superior value of the evidence
afforded by such unequivocal shore marks as those of the footprints, and the

316 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

markings which usually accompany them, over that of the “ripple markings,”
so generally appealed to by geologists as the signs of the ancient water levels
or sea-margins of the globe. Explaining, in accordance with the suggestions
of Babbage, how these latter may be produced under deep water, by the elastic
undulation of the fluid molding the movable sediments into wave-like grooves
and ridges, having the semblance of the ripple transmitted to the bottom of
shallow waters by the wind, he showed how easily this appearance in the
strata may lead geologists to erroneous inferences as to prolonged subsidences
of the earth’s crust where the phenomenon abounds. The footprints of birds
and reptiles on the rocks give evidence which is less fallacious, for they
indicate, without any ambiguity, that they were impressed in marine or tidal
strata, while these were yet moist, and were intermittingly exposed, wet, to
the air, and covered up. They are, therefore, among our best records of the
ancient water levels of the continents.

NEW FOSSILS FROM THE SANDSTONES OF THE CONNECTICUT
VALLEY.

The position of the sandstones of the Connecticut valley is of much interest
to the geologist, and has never been positively determined. This is mainly
owing to the fact that with the exception of the footmarks, very few well-
characterized fossils have been discovered in this formation.

Mr. Edward Hitchcock, Jr., ina communication to “Silliman’s Journal” de-
scribes a fossil fern found in the sandstone of Mount Tom, near Easthampton,
Mass., which seems without doubt to belong to the genus Clathropteris of
Brongniart. Previous to this discovery several specimens of this genus had
been found, and are now in the cabinet of Amherst College, but none so well
defined as to indicate the genus to which they now seem undoubtedly to be-
long. Brongniart regarded this fern as very characteristic of the Lias sand-
stone.

The specimen in question was found in a coarse reddish sandstone, in the
west face of Mount Tom. The upper part of this mountain is trap, beneath
which the sandstone crops out with an easterly dip of about 25°. The sand-
stone has a south-easterly dip accross the whole of the Connecticut valley.
That east of this trap range is made up of finer materials and is of a more
slaty character than that on the west. The place where this fern occurs is
somewhat west of the middle of the valley. President Hitchcock has lately
found by measurement that the thickness of the sandstone east of Mount
Tom is more than 8000 feet, and that on the west, or below Mount Tom, is
nearly 5000 feet. Supposing one half of this thickness to be accounted for
by original deposition on an inclined surface, there will still remain a thick-
ness of some thousands of feet both above and below the locality of the fern.
A thickness equally great, for the sandstone of the Connecticut valley was
found in measuring another section, across the valley at Turner’s Falls, thirty
miles north of Easthampton. It appears therefore to be certain that a species
of Clathropteris occurs in the sandstone of the Connecticut valley not far
from its center, measuring across the strata, and near to the interstratified

3 GEOLOGY. 317

beds of trap, both above and below. Now since this fern is found in Europe
only in the upper part of the Trias and the lower part of the Lias, it is very
probable that it occupies the same geological position here. If so, we ascer-
tain the existence of a zone of rock in the Connecticut valley not far from the
junction of the Lias and Trias. And since two measurements of sections
across this valley show a thickness of sandstone strata both above and below
this zone thicker than the Lias and Trias of Europe, the probability seems
very strong that the equivalent of both of these rocks exist here, and perhaps
some others both newer and older.

At arecent meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, Professor
Jeffries Wyman exhibited some fossil bones from the sandstone of the Con-
necticut valley. They had been examined twenty-five years ago, and
were recognized as bones by Mr. Ellsworth. Fifteen or sixteen specimens
had been recently sent him for examination, but they were mostly in very
small fragments. Only one or two give any clew to the nature of the animals
to which they belonged: but one, which he exhibited, he had found to be a
vertebra, with portions of other vertebrze in front of and behind it. This vertebra
presented two important features, viz., transverse process and an inferior spin-
ous process. This proved the bone to have belonged to a higher class of ani-
mals than fishes. A concave extremity and other markings make it pretty
evidently correspond to the vertabra of a reptile, possibly to an anterior caudal
vertebra of a Saurian. In one or two specimens, a transverse section pre-
sented a large cavity surrounded by a thin wall—rather resembling the bone of
a bird than that of any other animal. The greatest improbability connected with
the subject is, that the remains of birds and reptiles should be found mingled
together in the same formation. They are certainly not mammal, but Dr.
Wyman has not much hesitancy in pronouncing some of them reptilian.

During the latter part of the year 1855, in some excavations made at
Springfield, Mass., on the east side of the Connecticut river, in the red sand-
stone, portions of the skeleton of a vertebrate animal were discovered. The
bones were the most entire of any hitherto met with in the sandstone rocks
of this valley. Their character has not, however, as yet been determined.
Accompanying these bones were numerous plant impressions, evidently fucoidal
in their nature.

ON THE CHARACTER OF SOME LIGNITES.

At a late meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, Professor
Rogers exhibited two specimens of lignite, one from the middle secondary
rocks of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and the other from the coal-bearing
rocks of Eastern Virginia.

These specimens are interesting, not only as examples of the beautiful
preservation of woody structure in lignite, but as affording additional evi-
dence of the close relationship between the groups of strata in which they are
respectively found. Both specimens are jet black, and, when broken trans-
versely to the fiber of the wood, present the smooth, conchoidal fracture, and
the luster of anthracite coal. The longitudinal surfaces exhibit the structure

318 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

of the woody stem as perfectly as the finer varieties of silicified avood, and
what is chiefly important, the details of structure are the same in both speci-
mens. The most prominent characters under the microscope, are—

1. The mass consists of elongated cells, with areolar markings, and includes
few or no proper ducts. 2. These cells are intersected by thin, medullary
plates, composed of short cells, with similar, but more scattered markings.
3. The areole of the elongated cells are arranged in a single, very rarely a
double row, on each side of the two faces which are parallel to the medullary
plates, but are entirely absent from the other faces of the cells. In all these
particulars, as well as in the dimensions of the cells, and the size and form
of the areole, Professor Rogers considered the structure of these lignites as
closely agreeing with that of the fossil coniferous wood described and figured
by Witham, under the name of Peuce Huttonia and P. Lindleiana. This fos-
sil genus, almost identical in woody structure with the modern pine, was
found by Witham to be restricted to rocks of the Oolitic period. Hence the
characters of these lignites, while they furnished a new evidence in favor of
the view which Professor Rogers has heretofore maintained of the near af-
finity in time of the so-called new red sandstone, or Triassic rocks of this
country, and the-coal-bearing deposits of eastern Virginia and North Carolina,
helped to confirm his conclusion that both these belts belong to a period cor-
responding to the lower part of the Oolite or Jurassic series of Europe. Pro-
fessor Rogers added that these lignites appear to be identical in structure
with that variety of silicified wood found in the coal-bearing rocks of eastern
Virginia, to which he had formerly referred when speaking of the Jurassic
age of these deposits. :

ON THE FORMATION OF FOSSIL RAIN-DROPS.

At a recent meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, Professor
Jeffries Wyman exhibited some of the results on experiments on the forma-
tion of rain impressions in clay; from which it appears that ordinary rain
marks are characterized by the existence of radiating lines around the circum-
ference of the impressions, which are caused by the fragments of the drops
as they are dispersed often impinging upon the plastic surface. If a mass of
water is thrown into the air and allowed to fall on soft clay, the form of the
impression will depend upon the condition of the drops at the time of con-
tact. In descending, the drops assume the following forms, viz.: first, that
of the flattened sphere; second, that of a cup with the concavity downward ;
third, that of a ring; and fourth, those of two or more spheres formed by the
rupture of the ring. If the sphere be above a certain size, the impression
presents a reticulated appearance in the center, with radiating lines around
the circumference. The impression formed by the cup is reticulated in the
center without radiating lines. The ring forms an impression corresponding
with its shape, with radiating lines on its inner border, and sometimes on
its center border. Professor Wyman thought that rain marks could be dis-
tinguished from those of spray. The rain mark is modified by the condition
of the surface on which it strikes; if the latter is hard, or of a coarse material,

GEOLOGY. 319
the minuter details are not shown. On examining the fossil rain marks he
had not found that the radiating lines were preserved. They were doubtless
destroyed by the drifting in of the new material by which they were covered
up. In other respects they resembled recent rain marks, and could be ac-
counted forin no other way than by the contact of drops of falling water.

At a subsequent meeting Professor W. B. Rogers presented the results of cal-
culations which he had lately made, of the terminal velocity of rain drops of
different diameters. As the impinging force of the drop must in all cases de-
pend on its weight and velocity jointly, the determination of the latter quan-
tity, even approximately, would seem to be of considerable interest in con-
nection with the subject of rain-drop impressions. Were the space around
the earth a vacuum, a falling body would continue to be accelerated at a
nearly equal rate to the end of its descent, and would not attain its maximum
velocity until the moment of its impact on the ground. Such, however, is
not the condition of a body descending through the atmosphere. The parti-
cles of air lying in its way oppose a resistance to its motion, and this force
increases in a very rapid ratio as the velocity augments. There will, there-
fore, in every case, be a certain speed at which this resistance, acting upward,
will precisely equal the weight of the falling mass, and when this is once at-
tained all further acceleration must cease. In these conditions, supposing the
air to be of uniform density down to the earth, the body will fall through the
remaining distance at a uniform rate. This terminal velocity, therefore, is ob-
viously the greatest speed which, under the conditions, the body can acquire
by descending through the air, however great the altitude from which it may
be supposed to fall.

Assuming, what is probably in most cases the fact, that the rain-drops fall
from a sufficient height to attain a terminal velocity before the close of their
descent, and taking as the basis of the calculation the formula of Hutton,
which expresses numerically the law of resistance as determined by experi-
ment in the case of spherical bodies, Professor Rogers, in the first place, com-
puted the terminal velocity of a drop of water one tenth of an inch in diameter.
Thence he deduced the velocities corresponding to other successively smaller
diameters, by the simple rule that for unequal spheres of like material, the
terminal velocities are proportional to the square roots of the diameters. In
this way was calculated the following table of the terminal or greatest attain-
able speed of spherical rain-drops ranging in diameter from one tenth to one
fourthousandth of an inch.

Diameter. Ter. Veloc. per second.
BAO NO) 8 eat eis ceebe nope een 715 feet.
1-20 Gey dinjaials: = s'cpmgeivio sveete eis aha ine aera 505 =
1-30 OE PO OE ee me? pH 41-4 «&
1-40 BOD ccwlere Jae ba pele se celeiaie aan amet So°6 St
. 1-50 SF ccke vids die tid Sele ofaelueneiae ae 82°08
7 i aC EE Mere EPS Ol are eee 225%. .
PONE cnx e a ics sac tS eh i2 &
ET ian win ig) 2) om ceed a ea ea om ob 0G, ..-
BER OGOS “PRISE SEE Saehates Cts cea oe 850 “

These numbers would of course require to be more or less modified, if

820 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

account were taken of the altered form of the drops as they descend, but as
we are ignorant of the nature and amount of this change we can not deter-
mine its effect on the terminal velocity.

If, instead of assuming the descending globule to consist of water through-
out its whole volume, we suppose it to be a hollow shell of water like a
microscopic soap-bubble, it is obvious that for the same diameter the terminal
velocity would be greatly less than in the above table. Admitting with
Saussure and others that clouds are made up of such hollow vesicles of ex-
treme minuteness, it can be shown that their descent to the earth would be
so slow as to make their gravitating tendency inappreciable during the short
time in which we watch them as they float by.

ON THE EPOCH OF THE MAMMOTHS ; ELEPHAS PRIMIGENIUS.

At a recent meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, Professor H.
D. Rogers called attention to the interesting paleeontological fact that while
the remains of the fossil elephant or Siberian mammoth of the Eastern Conti-
nent are imbedded in the great drift stratum, those of the fossil elephant of
America are as invariably above it, lying in superficial deposits of a distinctly
later age. It is now generally conceded that the relics of the Mastodon gi-
ganteus of North America, which do not extend beyond this continent, are
nowhere involved in the general or earlier drift, but lie upon it, inclosed either
in more recent swampy deposits, or in the nearly as recent later local diluvial
clays and gravels of the great lake and river valleys of the country. But the
fact that the bones and teeth of the extinct elephant on this continent are en-
tombed in the same superficial materials seems not to have been sufficiently
adverted to by geologists, or, if passingly stated, its bearings have been over-
looked.

That the American elephant was the cotemporary of the 4astodon giganteus
is not only proved by the occurrence of great numbers of their teeth and.
bones side by side in the great marshy alluvium of Big Bone Lick, but is
manifest on a scrutiny of the conditions under which its remains are alleged
to be imbedded. <A careful review of all the cases on record of the positions
of the elephant remains must satisfy geologists, familiar with the more recent —
strata of this country, that these two colossal animals lived together in the
long period of surface tranquillity which succeeded the strewing of the general
drift (the period of the Laurentian clays), and were overtaken and extermin-
ated together by the same changes, partly of climate, partly of a second but
more local displacement of the waters—that namely which reshifted the drift,
and formed our later lake and river terraces. The fact that these extinct
animals thus occur only above the true drift in North America, and in it in
Siberia and Europe, would seem to indicate one of two things: either that the
drifts of the two continents are not of the same epoch, or these being of one ©
age, that the fossil elephants of the two regions are not of one and the same
species. If we admit, with the great body of geologists, that the general
drift-covering of all the northern latitudes of both continents is of one origin
and one date, we are constrained to regard the mammoth of these respective

GEOLOGY. 821

lands as different. Yet the identity of date of the two drift formations should
not be dogmatically pronounced upon in the present incomplete condition of
comparative geology.

INTERESTING FOSSILS.

At the last meeting of the American Association, President Hitchcock, ex-
hibited the jaw of a fossil fish which he had received from the coal-fields of
Illinois. The specimen was about a foot long, curved like a saber, and on
its edge were set, in sockets, seven teeth with serrated edges. It was found
about three inches above a bed of coal three or four feet in thickness, making
it certain that it was in the coal measures. Professor Agassiz said that this
was one of the most interesting specimens he had ever seen. The idea of a
shark was at once suggested, and yet it could not be a shark for this reason,
that although the shark had teeth in seven rows yet they were not set ina
socket, and they were behind each other, not by their edges but by their flat
surfaces. Moreover, no shark had teeth in his upper jaw, if we understood
by that term what was understood in higher animals. The bones of the
upper jaw were in charts reduced to cartilages at the sides of the mouth, and
the palatine bones which in higher animals formed the roof of the mouth were
in sharks set with teeth. Sharks’ upper teeth were, therefore, palatine teeth
and not jaw teeth. But in some sharks, as in skates, we had the beaks uni-
formly pointed. In the saw-fish the beak projected with a double row of
teeth at the sides in sockets, and this was the only type in which any thing
similar to the fossil could be observed. Furthermore this bone when sub-
jected to the microscope was found to be made up of the same hexagonal
tissue, to have the same tesselated structure as the cartilage of sharks and
skates and the saw of the saw-fish. He concluded, therefore, that this was a
projection from one side of the shark’s head, and its point met a correspond-
ing projection from the other side, both forming a semicircle in front of his head.

Professor Agassiz also stated that the general result of his comparison of
the fossil fishes of the American coal measures was, that there were two very
different kinds of fishes, one represented by the very metamorphic fragments
now on the table, and identical in its character with that which Dr. Newberry
had found in Ohio, the other in southern Illinois, whence Dr. Cassidy had sent
him a number of fossils, among which were ten or twelve species of fish, as
many as were generally found in a water basin after fishing for one season.
The fish found here were identical in their character with those of Bristol in
England. The two were as different as the fish fauna of the Baltic and
Mediterranean, or the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.

President Hitchcock also exhibited a series of footmarks of an animal which,
from analogy, he had called a Batrachian. It was web-footed, and the web
extended beyond the toe. It was a two-legged frog, with feet twice as large
as an elephant’s. They had in Europe the Labyrinthodon, which was as large
as an ox, but he was a mere pigmy compared with this. What he had
formerly considered a nail he was now convinced was but a protuberance.

Professor Hall remarked in this connection that he was convinced that

14*

822 = ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

about three fourths of the Missouri and Illinois coal-fields marked out by
Owen would have to be wiped off the map, and its place supplied by Silurian
strata with its Pentamerus, Oblongus, and other characteristic fossils. He had
seen Lower Silurian and Upper Silurian fossils over large areas of Owen’s
coal-fields. He supposed most of that coal to be outlayers resting in basins,
and having no connection with each other.

New Species of Dinornis.—At a recent meeting of the London Zoological
Society, Professor Owen communicated a memoir on a new species of Dinornis,
remains of which have, from time to time, been received from New Zealand.
The name proposed is Dinornis gracilis (Slender-legged Dinornis), as the
chief peculiarity of this remarkable species is that it manifested the propor-
tions of a wading-bird, on the scale of the ostrich. This singular bird must
have stalked about New Zealand, and probably waded the streams, or along
the shores and estuaries of the island, like a gigantic stork or crane. Pro-
fessor Owen had received indications of such a species ten years ago; but
had delayed announcing it, until evidence satisfactory to other naturalists had
arrived. It forms the thirteenth well-established species of extinct wingless
birds that have been restored from the evidence of fossil remains discovered in
the island of New Zealand.

Impressions of Insects in the Triassic Rocks.—At a recent meeting of the
Boston Society of Natural History, the President, Dr. Warren, remarked that
some time since he had stated that, though a matter of great doubt, he
thought it probable that, at some time, the impressions of insects and their
tracks would be found in solid rock. Since making that observation, he had
received several small slabs, upon which are tracks apparently, if not really
made by insects, which resemble the tracks of the cricket, cockroach, or
beetle. Upon several specimens, these tracks are of the same width and
general appearance; and the individual footprints, if they may be so consid-
ered, are alike in all the specimens. These specimens were from the banks
of the Connecticut. One of the slabs likewise presented an impression very
much like that of a spider’s body and extremities. .

New Gigantic Fossil Bird.—At a recent meeting of the French Academy,
M. Prevost submitted the fossil bone of a bird found in the Paris basin, near
Meudon. It was a tibia or leg bone; its length 17% inches, its breadth, at
the lower end, fully 3 inches; at the upper, 32; at the middle 1%. A differ-
ence of opinion existed among the naturalists as to whether it belonged to an
Echassier (a long-legged bird) or a Palmipede. If the former, M. Prevost
thought that it must have had twenty times the bulk of the swan. M. Valen-
ciennes regarded it as more allied in form to the albatross, and in this case
its dimensions will not be so great as M. Prevost conjectured. It has been
named Palzeornis Parisiensis, and was found at the bottom of the tertiary
beds, resting on the chalk. It was, therefore, much older than the huge
birds of New Zealand and Madagascar, which are found in alluvial deposits.

New Fossil Reptile—At a recent meeting of the London Geological Society,
Professor Owen described a new species of extinct bidental reptile (Dicynodon
tigriceps), transmitted from South Aftica. The skull surpasses in size that of the
‘argest walrus, and resembles that of the lion or tiger in the grcat dcvelopment cf

GEOLOGY. 3823

the occipital and parietal ridges, the strength of the zygomatic arches, and the
expanse of the temporal fossee—all indicating the possession of temporal (biting)
muscles as largely developed as in the most powerful and ferocious of the car-
nivorous mammalia. This unique modification of a sauroid skull is associated
with the presence of a pair of long, curved, sharp-pointed, canine tusks, descend-
ing as in the machairodus and walrus, outside the lower jaw when the mouth is
shut, these tusks being developed to the same degree as in the smaller species of
Dicynodon (D. lacerticeps, D. testudiceps, ete.), described by the author in a former
memoir; and, as in those species, so in the present more gigantic one, no other
trace of teeth was discernible, the lower jaw being edentulous, as in the extinct
Rhynchosaurus, and the Chelonian reptiles. Most of the extinct reptiles ex-
emplify the law of the prevalence of a more general structure, as compared with
the more specialized structures of existing species. The Labyrinthodonts com-
bined sauroid with Batrachian characters; Rhynchosaurus, saurid with Chelo-
nian characters. The Ichthyosaurus had modifications borrowed from the class
of fishes, and the Pterodactyle others borrowed from the type of birds and bats—
in both cases engrafted on an essentially sauroid basis. The Dicynodonts—
which were like lizards in their more important cranial character, as for ex-
ample, the divided nostrils, the dependent tympanic bone, and the pair of
symmetrical suboccipital processes—resembled the crocodiles in the extent of
ossification of the occiput, resembled the Tryonyces in the extent of ossi-
fication of the palate, and in the form and position of the posterior nostril ;
and resembled the Chelonia generally in the edentulous trenchant border of
the whole of the alveolar part of the lower jaw, and of a great part of that
of the upper jaw. But they also superadded to this composite reptilian
structure of the skull a pair of long, sharp, descending tusks, and temporal
fossee and ridges, which seem to have been borrowed from the mammalia
class.

NEW: MINERAL OOGUANOLITE.

At arecent meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, Dr. A. A.
Hayes presented a specimen of a fossilized egg from the Guano Islands, off
the coast of Peru, which in its interior contained a new mineral compound.

The form of the original mass was ovoid, the circular outline having been
reduced by compression, about one third. Externally rough, from adhesions,
there were smooth parts, from which a thin layer could be removed, which
when cleaned, had the organized structure of egg shell, although partly
changed in chemical composition. In the examination of one half of the
specimen, fragments of shell were found, crushed into the mineral occupying
the cavity. The color of the mass was Nankin-yellow externally, deep yel-
low and reddish brown within. The compact parts scratched calcareous spar,
its general hardness fully equaling that of this mineral. The fracture of the
mass exhibited a crystalline structure, most remarkable near the center, where
the yolk may have decomposed. The crystals, in no case distinct, presented
anageregate of flat, plumose prisms, radiating from centers; these have a
marked pearly, or satin-like luster, and readily divide along natural joints.

824 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

The odor of the mineral is the same as that of guano, while its taste is saline,
leaving a pungent impression. Soluble in water, excepting some sand, lime
soap, and remains of shell; the solution is light yellow in color, and gives, by
appropriate tests, the reactions of sulphuric acid, ammonia, and potash, being
slightly acid. The chemical analysis of the most pure parts of the crystalline
portion, demonstrated the interesting fact that this mineral is a double sul-
phate of ammoaia and potash, a compound hitherto unknown as occurring
naturally.
100 parts afforded :—

INT OISUUBE)/ Po .cis atlas caine bien acto on oehoisele see eee 1-00
Sulphate or otash - -....:14 52,205 Jesipsismeiie dese oe 51°66
“2 s ATNIN OIA «|. cite en see eal astaae Ree 88°25

Ooo ee a LAIN). Shiney mises erence eich aes att,
Phosphatevof Magnesia. tec ccinnelraseees seem 1'08
Soap of Lime and Carbonate of Lime............. 2°20
Hermginous Hand |. sjoces 4,000 le oeiecisscies setae oe 4:30
99.66

The atomic proportion of sulphate of ammonia for 51.66 sulphate of potash,
is 40.84, and when we dissolve this mineral in water, and allow the impurities
to subside, the clear fluid affords crystals in groups, which have this composi-
tion. Other parts of the mass contain more sulphate of potash, even so much
as 70 per cent., being obviously a mixture. The luster, and perhaps the
plumose form of these crystals, is due to the presence of the other compounds
at the moment of their formation. It was found that pure crystals, dissolved
in water containing guano, presented the same peculiarity as they assumed
‘the solid form. There are, in this connection, some points which need further
elucidation, and for this purpose a portion of the specimen has been retained.
The occurrence of salts of potash, instead of soda salts, in the guano of the
rainless climates, has been alluded to by chemists, but I have nowhere met
with the fact stated, that these guanos, however ammoniacal, and, in conse-
quence, apparently alkaline, are truly always acid in their reactions. Regard-
ing this mineral as affording a beautiful illustration of the withdrawal of a
definite compound of soluble salts, from a putrefying mass, through which
they were distributed unequally, it becomes connected with the more perma-
nent and perfect forms having earthy constituents. In any system of mine-
ralogy, it will take a place with potash salts, as a double sulphate of potash
and ammonia bases.

In accordance with the practice of naming such minerals with reference to
their origin, I have adopted the name Odéguanolite for this body.

METEORIC IRON FROM GREENLAND.

Forchammer describes a meteoric stone discovered by Rinck, in possession
of the Esquimaux at Niakoruak, lat. 69° 25’, by whom it had been found at a
short distance from their hut, on a stony flat through which the river Annorri-
tok flows into the sea. It weighed 21 pounds. The specific gravity of the
whole mass 7°00, that of small fragments varied from 7:02 to 7°07. It was

GEOLOGY. 825

so hard that it could neither be filed nor sawed, but was very brittle. Its
fracture was granular; it took a high polish, and showed beautiful Widmann-
stitt’s figures when acted upon by nitric acid. By treatment with acids it
evolves sulphureted hydrogen, and hydrogen of bad odor exactly like inferior
cast iron. At first iron alone is dissolved, and a black matter consisting of
minute crystals is left behind, which eventually dissolves, and a black powder,
which proved to be carbon, floats through the fluid, while, in place of the
fragment of the iron, a gray porous mass amounting to 1 or 2 per cent. of the
stone is left. It contained iron, 93°39; nickel, 1°56; cobalt, 0°25; copper,
0°45; sulphur, 0°67; phosphorus, 0°18; carbon, 1°69; silicon, 0°38; total,
98°57.

Besides these there are found metals of the alumina group (with oxyds solu-
ble in caustic alkalies), of the Zinconia group (with oxyds insoluble in alka-
lies, but precipitated from their salts by sulphate of potash), and of the Yttria
group (oxyds insoluble in alkalies, soluble in carbonate of ammonia, and not
precipitated by sulphate of potash). The two latter groups, which have not
been previously found in meteorites, form the principal part of the undissolved
gray porous mass, but their quantity is so small that the author has been un-
able to determine with certainty what members of these groups are present.
The crystalline grains, which are less soluble than the rest of the mass, con-
sist of iron and carbon, with small quantities of sulphur and phosphorus.
Although it is difficult, if not impossible, to stop the solution at the proper
point, so as to insure this substance being pure, Forchammer has made two
analysis, and found 11:06 and 7-23 per cent. of carbon. A carbonate of iron
having the formula Fe2 C, would contain 9°66 per cent. of carbon, and this is
probably its constitution. Its specific gravity is 7-172. This meteoric iron
belongs to a very rare variety, and contains so large a quantity of carbon that
it may be called meteoric cast iron. That found in Greenland by Parry, as
well as another specimen mentioned by Forchammer were perfectly malleable.
Poggendorf's Annalen, vol. 93, p. 155.

NEW METEORITES.

Dr. J. Lawrence Smith, in a communication to Silliman’s Journal, describes
several meteorites not before examined:

The first is a meteorite from Tazewell County, Tennessee, of the weight of
55 pounds. It was not seen to fall, but was found in plowing. A section
of it, when heated with nitric acid, displayed the Widmannstattean figures
most beautifully. Its composition was iron 83°02, nickel 14°62, with small
proportions of copper, cobalt, phosphorus, chlorine, silica, sulphur, and mag-
nesia. An examination of the mass led to the discovery of small particles of
Schreibersite disseminated through it. This mineral is a phosphuret of iron
and nickel, and is one of the most interesting substances associated with
meteoric bodies. It resembles very closely magnetic iron pyrites, and Dr.
Smith expresses an opinion that much of the so-called magnetic pyrites, as-
sociated with meteoric iron, will not, upon examination, be found to contain
a trace of sulphur. In several meteorites examined by him this has proved

826 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

the case. Schreibersite is especially interesting from the fact that it has no _
representative, either in genus or species, among terrestrial minerals. Al-
though among terrestrial minerals phosphates are found, not a single phosphuret
is known toexist. So true is this, that with our present knowledge, if any
one thing could prove more strongly than another the non-terrestrial origin of
any natural body, it would be the presence of this or some similar body. It
is commonly alluded to as a residue from the action of hydrochloric acid upon
meteoric iron, when in fact it exists in plates and fragments of some size in
almost all meteoric irons; and there is some reason to believe it is never
absent from them in some form or other. What is meant by ‘‘some size” is
that it is in pieces large enough to be seen by the naked eye, and be detached
mechanically.

Dr. Smith also describes a meteorite weighing 44 ounces, found in Camp-
bell County, Tennessee; the mass of meteoric iron belonging to the Smith-
sonian Institution at Washington, brought from Coahuila, Mexico, and weigh-
ing 252 pounds, with two other meteorites now existing at Tucson and
Chihuahua, Mexico. The Tucson meteorite weighs 600 pounds, and consists
of nickeliferous iron 93°18, chrome iron 49, Schreibersite 84, olivine 5°06.

The meteorite of Chihuahua is still larger, and weighs 3,853 pounds.—Silli-
man’s Journal.

Exanvination of a Supposed Meteorite—During the past year, at one of the
meetings of the Royal Society, Sir R. I. Murchison presented a specimen found
in the heart of an old willow-tree, and which was supposed to be a meteorite.
When the specimen was first seen, its scoriaceous and peculiar aspect, when
coupled with the evidence of persons living on the spot, showing that the tree
was seriously blighted on one side in a storm which occurred about 16 years
ago, had led to the suspicion that it might be a meteorite, and when nickel, co-
balt, and manganese were detected in the metallic portions of the mass the sug-
gestion was strengthened. Professor Shepard, of Amherst College, United
States, who was in England, expressed his belief in the extraneous body being
a true meteorite, and it was under these circumstances that Sir Roderick
Murchison thought it right to have the matter thoroughly investigated. In-
dependently of the origin of the substance, the manner in which the tree had
grown round it was of deep interest to botanists. A chemical examination
by Dr. Percy has, however, almost conclusively proved that the substance
was simply a portion of slag; for while fragments found on the ground (one
of them obviously a ntanufactured slag) contained nickel, cobalt, etc., as well
as the mass in the tree, it is the opinion of Dr. Percy that they can ail be
paralleled with the known refuse of furnaces. This result will throw consider-
able doubt upon the origin of many so-called metallic meteorites, which,
though they have not been seen to fall, have had an extra mundane origin
assigned to them from their containing nickel, cobalt, ete.

COAL FROM THE ARCTIC REGIONS,

Mr. E. Merriam of Brooklyn, N. Y., publishes the following notices of coal
cbtained within the Arctic circle. The Hartstein Arctic Expedition visited

_ GEOLOGY. 827

Haroe Island, latitude 70° 25’ North, longitude 54° 45’ West, and obtatined
bituminous coal of an excellent quality. The coal strata crops out within a
few feet of the shore in the side of a hill, and is from four to five feet thick,
and a few feet above the sea level. The samples furnished me by the officers
contain small pieces of crystallized naptha, of a color as bright as the finest
specimens of gum arabic. I find that on exposing this coal to the action of our
atmosphere it loses weight rapidly, and I have, therefore, been obliged to
keep it in air-tight vessels.
They have also furnished me with the English analysis, as follows :—

Specific:eravity’.. ./.s eee nes coe eae 1,3848
V olatile:matter::i2. So ao. 2 se 50°6

Coke. common): .cs.depaeetaselaten sae 9°84
Bixeds Carbon «..o0 ccc aan eee megane 89°56

The natives burn this coal in stoves, and prefer it to the English. The
Island of Disco contains abundance of this coal. Captain Hartstein mined the
coal on Haroe Island and it was brought on board the vessel in tubs. Cap-
tain Inglefield visited these mines and obtained seventy tons of coal, and
remarked that a thousand tons could be obtained ina few hours. Captain
McClure found coal (bituminous) in latitude 75° North, longitude about 120°
to 122° West. Captain Parry, in 1819, found pieces of bituminous coal on
Melville Island in latitude 75°, longitude 111°; and the captain of a whaler
who entered Behring’s Straits with Captain Colinson, informs me that anthra-
cite and bituminous coal is found on the shores of the western coast of the
Polar seas.

Coal in China.—Some recent investigations into the character of the an-
thracite coal deposits of Fuhkeen, China, have been made by Dr. Macgowan.
The mineral is sometimes found equal to the best American variety, and can
be landed at the port of Amoy at $44 per ton. At present only a small
quantity is produced, chiefly, however, on account of the limited demand that
exists for it, as the natives only employ it in the burning of lime; the smelt-
ing furnaces of the adjacent iron mines not being furnished with a sufficiently
powerful blast to allow of anthracite being used in them. Fossils obtained
from the ‘“underclay” appeared to be identical with similar remains of Stig-
maria from corresponding strata of the carboniferous series of England and
the United States.

VERD-ANTIQUE MARBLE.

Within a recent period extensive quarries of the beautiful mottled green
marble, or aggregation of marble and serpentine, known as Verd-antique,
have been discovered, and are now extensively worked, at Roxbury, Vt.
The quarries of this stone in the old world, which were drawn upon to fur-
nish decorating materials for some of the finest works of ancient architecture,
have almost entirely disappeared. The location of the modern Verd-antique
is on the summit of the Green Mountain Range, in Roxbury, Vt., in a narrow
valley made by branches of the White River and the Dog River, the former

328 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

running southerly into the White River and the Connecticut, and the latter
into the Winooski and Lake Champlain. The quarries lie on the westerly
side of this valley, where full of richness and beauty as they are, they have
been lying dormant, but in full view of settlers, and even explorers, for years.
The marble so far as it has been discovered, lies in a line running nearly north
and south, a distance of about half a mile immediately contiguous to the
Vermont Central Railroad—the rails passing, indeed, at the very foot of the
quarries. The quarries located and now owned by the American Verd-
antique Company, consist of six or eight out-crops, a few rods distant from
each other, and ranging in height above the railroad from twenty to one
hundred feet. One of these quarries has been opened and worked to consid-
erable extent—sufficient to test the quality of the material and to indicate an
exhaustless supply. The marble is found to improve rather than otherwise,
as the quarrying proceeds, in texture and beauty, and in all the qualities
which render it so superior to other marbles, especially in strength. It is
ascertained also, to a practical certainty, that blocks of any desirable dimen-
sions can be got out and wrought with facility into all the various forms
which utility and ornament may suggest. Hitherto whenever any thing like
the Verd-antique has been discovered among our rocks, it has been in small
fragmentary quantities, and never in a condition to be available for any use-
ful or ornamental purpose. So universal has been the experience in this
respect, that every scientific man, on first hearing of the discovery at Roxbury,
has at once declared his firm conviction that the Verd-antique could not be
found there in any useful quantity. The doubt has, however, been dispelled
by the production of perfect and entire blocks 20 feet in length, 8 in breadth,
and 3 or 4 in thickness. The green color, varying from the deepest to the
lightest hue, pervades; and the seams or veins are of the purest white and
scattered throughout the material in every direction, with a variegation of
gracefulness which no art could produce. The Verd-antique Company have
contracted with the Government to furnish a considerable quantity of this
magnificent material for ornamental portions of the new Capitol at Washing-
ton. They are now engaged in fulfilling this contract, and among the pieces
to be furnished are several columns about a foot in diameter and ten feet in
length.

Dr. Hayes, who has carefully examined this marble, pronounces the hasis
to be an indefinite mixture of serpentine and greenish-white talc; with a
silicate of alumina and protoxyds of iron and manganese, which serves to
render it compact and probably imparts much of the green color. Some
specimens also contain actinolite, with tale firmly united so as to present a
close texture and considerable resistance to fracture. The portion of chrome
iron ore in crystalline grains, varies in different specimens; but it is never
large enough to seriously interfere with the operations of sawing and polish-
ing. The white portions of the marble, Dr. Hayes has ascertained to be an
anhydrous carbonate of magnesia, nearly pure.

GEOLOGY. 829

ON THE ARTIFICIAL FORMATION OF MINERALS.

There are a number of minerals with regard to which most mineralogists,
geologists, and chemists are of opinion that they can only be formed by crys-
tallization from a melted mass. A considerable portion of these minerals are,
however, infusible, or, at least, require such a temperature for fusion as can
not reasonably be supposed to have been concerned in the formation of the
rocks in which they occur. Some of those compounds, on the other hand,
may be easily formed by fusion at a moderate temperature. Thus, more than
thirty years since, Mitscherlich showed that augite or pyroxene—one of the
most widely distributed minerals—may be formed by melting together silica
and various bases of the magnesian series, in such proportions that the oxygen
of the acid amounts to twice as much as that of the bases. He also showed
that this mineral substance, with its proper form, occurs in the slags obtained
in metallurgical operations, and the subsequent examination of slags has led
to the recognition in them of several other compounds identical with, or anal-
ogous to native minerals. Nevertheless, there are a great number of minerals
in whose origin, it is very probable, intense heat has exercised an essential
influence, which have never been produced artificially, nor observed in the
products of metallurgical operations. The very happy, and in some respects
fertile idea of Ebelmen, to expose substances to the joint influence of heat and
a solvent capable of being volatilized, and thus obtain them crystallized,
has furnished some very valuable results; but although boracic acid—the solv-
ent used—has been found in many native minerals, in which its presence
had not been suspected, still its occurrence is too rare to admit of the opinion
that it has played any very considerable part in the production of the more
widely distributed minerals constituting the earth’s surface.

Forchammer has recently made experiments of the same character as
those of Ebelmen, but with substances as solvents which are less rare than
boracie acid—chlorid of sodium, calcium, mangnesium, ete.

The production of apatite was the object of the first experiments, and he
was led to them by the results of his analysis of sea-water, and his observa-
tions of the constant presence in it of phosphate of lime, together with a still
smaller amount of fluorid of calcium.

After failing in every attempt to produce apatite in the wet way, and
guided by the circumstance that apatite occurs chiefly in lava and metamor-
phic rocks, under conditions which appear to indicate an igneous origin, he
came to the conclusion that if this was the case, chlorid of sodium might
have been concerned in its formation.

By melting phosphate of lime with chlorid of sodium, and allowing the
mixture to cool very slowly, a mass was obtained which presented a great
number of cavities containing an abundance of long columnar crystals. The
residue left, after treating this mass with water and then with acetic acid, cor-
responded with the composition of apatite. The density of this artificial
apatite was found to be 3°069, and the hardness so great that a slab of fluor
spar became dull when rubbed with the powder. The occurrence of apatite

330 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

in the magnetite bed of Scandinavia, and the composition of the bog iron-
ore of the same locality, suggested the possibility that the former might have
originated from bog iron-ore under the influence of chlorid of sodium at
a high temperature. The bog iron-ore contains, besides oxyd of iron,
phosphoric acid, lime, silica, titanic acid, and carbonaceous organic substances.
The latter ingredient might correspond to the remarkable bituminous sub-
stance of the magnetite beds, and the silica, lime, and manganese might be
supposed to form, with oxyd of iron, the numerous compounds of the amphi-
bole series occurring in the magnetite beds, while apatite and titanium com-
pounds might also be derived from the eonasesine of bog-iron ore.

For the purpose of ascertaining the behavior of bog-iron ore when melted
with chlorid of sodium, a direct experiment was made. The cooled mass
presented cavities which, when the chlorid of sodium was dissolved out, were
found to contain apatite crystals. The ore itself had become black, strongly
magnetic, and had acquired such a hardness as scarcely to be scratched by
steel, together with a perfectly conchoidal fracture. In the larger cavities
the mass was covered with small, sharply-defined crystals, which, when mag-
nified, were found to be regular octahedrons. The ore was, therefore, actually
converted into magnetite, and the phosphoric acid had separated as apatite
from the oxyd of iron. In a comparative experiment with bog-iron ore
alone it did not show any sign of fusion or crystallization ; the color, though
darkened, was still brown.

There is a great amount of evidence for the opinion that the blue tinge of
some minerals, especially silicates and aluminates, is intimately connected
with the presence in them of phosphate of iron, and that vivianite is the hy-
drate of the compound, to which the colors of cyanite, sapphirine, spinel, and
correndum, as well as fluorite and apatite is owing. The author having as-
certained by analysis, the presence of phosphoric acid and iron in these min-
erals, endeavored to obtain further evidence by synthetical experiments, and,
first, to find whether the anhydrous phosphate of iron had the same color as
the hydrate. This was found, under certain conditions, to be the case, and
the whole course of experimentation showed that phosphate of iron is capa-
ble of producing, in combination with alumina especially, but likewise with
other substances, a series of colors, of which the intermediate phase is pure
blue; on the one side the dark violet seen in some varieties of fluorite, and
on the other the bluish green of the apatite. In some instances these colors
may pass, by a subsequent oxydation, into yellow and red shades, like those
so frequently observed in cyanite.—Hdinburg Philosophical Journal.

MINERALS OF THE GOLD REGIONS OF CALIFORNIA.

Mr. William P. Blake, United States geologist, ina communication published
in Silliman’s Journal, makes the following observations on certain of the mine-
ral productions of California :—

Crystalline Gold.—Good crystallizations of gold are comparatively rare in
California. At Forest Hill, Placer county, an imperfect octahedral crystal of
large size was found last year. The placers are only partially developed for

GEOLOGY. 381.

a short distance above and below the basal ridges, and the peculiarity of a
series of similar parallel planes, lying like plates one within the other is pre-
sented. The crystal is elongated in the direction of a line parallel with the
basal edges and thus becomes a regular octahedron.

The length of the longer base is one inch, and the shorter seven-eighths of
an inch. I believe this to be the largest crystal ever reported; it may be
ealled a skeleton crystal on @ grand scale.

Arborescent and Dendritic Gold—Placer county.—Some of the most remark-
able and beautiful specimens of gold ever seen, have been found at Irish
creek, three miles from Coloma. They simulate the veined and reticulated
appearance of leaves and more closely resemble the foliage of the Arbor Vite
or the fronds of the most delicate ferns than of any other forms of vegetation.
The filamentous and arborescent masses are frequently united to plates (as
broad as the hand) which are covered with lines of crystallization and are
brilliant with numberless faces of partly formed crystals. They are also com-
bined with good crystals which are generally octahedral and have perfect
faces. I have a very beautiful specimen of this character in the form of a
leaf: one side is beautifully arborescent, and the other is studded with perfect
octahedrons of various sizes and about twenty-five in number, including the
smallest. They are geometrically arranged, all their similar edges being
parallel. This is believed to be the most remarkable and beautiful speci-
men known. Its weight is 17 pwt. 10 grains. Length, two and one quar-
ter inches, width, one and a half inches. One of the foliated specimens
in my collection, bears a crystal having the form of a pentagonal dode-
cahedron with cavernous faces. One of the largest specimens of this arbor-
escent and foliated gold that has been procured, was about twelve inches
long and about four broad. A part of the specimen was a plate three or four
inches long, covered with triangular marks; the remainder was arborescent,
and the whole appeared to have grown from one end.

Another specimen slightly different in its character, and probably from
another locality in the vicinity, was ten inches long, three broad and about
half an inch thick. It weighed 31 ounces, and was free from quartz; form-
ing a most beautiful mass of a rich yellow color and a delicately marked sur-
face, consisting of a net-work of fibers. It appeared like a bundle of broken
fern leaves closely united together. These specimens are evidently from a
quartz vein, but although I have visited the locality, I have not been able to
see the place from which they were taken, or to obtain any reliable informa-
tion concerning their mode of occurrence and the associate minerals. Some
of the foliated specimens were incrusted with a thick scale of sesquioxyd of
ron.

Native Copper and Red Oxyd of Copper.—When visiting Camp Yuma at the
junction of the Colorado and the Gila rivers, in December, 1853, several large
masses of superior copper ore were shown to me by the officers of the fort.
_ This ore was brought from the adjoining State of Sonora, Mexico, and the
vein is reported to be near Altar. It is within the limits of the strip of ter-
- ritory recently acquired by purchase, and is therefore now in the United
States. Specimens are frequently brought in by emigrants who cross the Col-

332 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

orado at the ferry below the fort. The ore is principally the red oxyd of cop-
per associated with the pure metal and green crusts of carbonate. The speci-
mens that I saw ought to yield about ninety per cent. of pure copper. This
is probably the ore that has recently excited so much attention in California,
and has been reported to be highly charged with gold.

Antimony—Tulare county.—A large vein of the sulphuret of antimony (an-
timony glance) exists in the high granitic range that borders the Tulare val-
ley on the south. It is about eighty miles from Los Angeles and is most readily
_ visited from the Tejon. By observations with the barometer, I found the
out-crop of this vein to be at an altitude of about 6000 feet above the
sea. It is on the side of a precipitous ridge of granite, and not favorably
situated for examination. Its thickness was estimated to be ten feet or more.
A steep chasm or channel extends from the top of the ridge to its base, and
is partially filled with rocks and the debris of the vein. Solid blocks of the
ore were found with this accumulation, having been broken out from the vein
above; one of them was twenty-seven inches long and sixteen to eighteen
wide.

The ore is associated with quartz, and where it has decomposed, an abund-
ance of antimony ocher is found, together with crystals of selenite. Speci-
mens of quartz traversed by long prismatic crystals of the ore were obtained.

Chromic Iron—Monterey county.—Massive chrome ore of excellent quality
was shown me in San Francisco and reported to be from a short distance
south of the Mission of San Juan. It is an interesting fact that it is almost
identical in its appearance with the ore from “‘ Wood's pit” in Maryland and
like it, is partly covered with green coats and crusts of emerald nickel.

Salt.—Salt is found in small quantities as an incrustation or efflorescence on
the soil along streams or on the margins of ponds in nearly all parts of Cali-
fornia. It appears to be most abundant in connection with the tertiary strata
and in the streams that flow from them. It is doubtless the fact that a great
part of the incrustations called soda, consist principally of common salt.

Tulare county— Canada de las Uvas.—There is a small shallow lake near
the central part of this pass fed by springs and streams from the adjoining
valleys and ridges which are partly of tertiary strata. During the summer
season the water of this lake evaporates, and its bed becomes covered with a
white crust of salt which glitters in the sunlight like a, field of snow.

Taheechaypah Pass.—<A lake of a similar character to the one just described
is found in one of the elevated valleys of the Sierra Nevada near this pass.
At another locality in that vicinity and near the margin of the Great Basin,
salt occurs in a thick bed, from which one hundred mule loads have been
taken, and carried to the Tonjon Indian reservation for the use of the
Indians.

This salt is perfectly white and amorphous, being reduced to a fine powder
by simple pressure. It is sufficiently pure for table use.

BOTANY.

MOHL ON CHLOROPHYLL.

Mout believes that the grains of chlorophyll do not belong to the ternary
series of products at all, but consist of a soft proteinous substance, related to
albumen, in which in most cases one or more starch-grains are imbedded, and
which owes its green hue to the presence of an extremely small quantity of
green coloring matter, seemingly deposited only or principally in its outer
layer. By demonstrating the occurrence of chlorophyll in cells which con-
tained no starch, or the growth of the green globules after the starch-grains
have vanished, and in other cases the simultaneous increase of starch and
chlorophyll grains in the same cells, Mohl has shown the groundlessness of
Mulder’s hypothesis, that chlorophyll is formed of starch altered by deoxyda-
tion, and that the evolution of oxygen by green foliage is merely the result
of this supposed transformation of starch into green coloring matter and wax;
and he maintains that, by appropriate evidence, he has abundantly demon-
strated the principal mass of chlorophyll grains to consist of a substance allied
to protoplasm, which certainly can not originate from a metamorphosis of the
constituents of starch.

CHLOROPHYLL IN GREEN INFUSORIA.

Prince Salm Horstmar has found that the green infusoria which form so
abundantly on stagnant water, when treated with alcohol, give an extract
haying all the properties of a solution of chlorophyll. It gives the black band
in the red part of the spectrum described by Stokes, as well as dispersion of a
blood-red light. The same result was obtained with an alcoholic extract of
Spongia fluviatilis—Poggendorff’s Annalem, vol. xciii., p. 150.

THE MORA EXCELSA-TREE OF THE WEST INDIES.

Prominent among the trees which adorn the forests of Guiana, and which
astonish by their profuse verdure and gigantic size, stands the majestic Mora,
’ the king of the forest. Rising to the height of from 60 to 90 feet before it
gives out branches, it towers over the wall-like vegetation which skirts the
banks of the rivers of Guiana, forming a crown of the most splendid foliage,

334 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

_ overshadowing numerous minor trees and shrubs, and hung with lianas in
the form of festoons. The Mora, of all other trees of the forests of Guiana, is
peculiarly adapted for naval architecture; and it is to be found in such abund-
ance that if once introduced for building material into the dockyards, there
can never be any apprehension there would be a want of that timber which
could not be supplied. The wood is uncommonly close-grained, and gives
scarcely room for a nail when driven into it. When cleaned of sap, it is
durable in any situation, whether in or out of the water. With this property
it unites another of equal consideration to builders—it is strong, tough, and
not liable to split, has never been known to be subject to dry-rot, and is
considered, therefore, by the most competent judges, to be superior to oak
and African teak, and to vie in every respect with Indian teak. The full
grown tree will furnish logs from 30 to 40 or even to 50 feet in length, and
from 12 to 24 inches square, taken from the main stem, while the remain-
ing portions are suited to various purposes of naval architecture; such, for
instance, as keels, keelsons, stern-posts, flins, ribs, beams, knees, breasts,
backs, ete.

Thus wrote Sir Robert Schombergh fifteen years ago. (Transactions of the
Linnean Society, vol. xviii., p. 207) and, in the same volume, that there might
be no difficulty of distinguishing the tree in the search for it in other countries,
Mr. Bentham, from specimens sent by Sir Robert, publishes an excellent
figure and botanical history, under the name of Mora Facelsa; for it had pre-
viously no place in botanical works. It belongs to the natural order of
Leguminose, and to the same group or section as the well-known Cassias.
Yet it does not appear that the attention of any of our authorities or travelers
has been directed to the commercial importance of this tree till very recently.
The same tree has been found to prevail in certain localities of the Island of
Trinidad.— Hooker's Journal of Botany.

PECULIARITY OF THE REDWOOD (SEQUOIA) OF CALIFORNIA,

At the meeting of the American Association in August, Mr. W. P. Blake
showed the effect produced on the wood of the Sequoia by alkalies. The
wood has a light red color, like cedar; but when it is washed over with an
alkaline solution either of potash, soda, or ammonia, or lime-water, the color
changes to a-deep black, and the wood looks like ebony, but with a much
more distinct and beautiful grain. A decoction of the wood is also turned
black by alkalies; and Mr. Blake suggests that test papers for use in chemi-
cal analysis may be prepared, which will be equal or superior to tumeric pa-
per. When the alkaline solution is weak, the color produced on the wood is
not a deep black, but has a shade of red resembling old dark mahogany or
rosewood. From the ease and cheapness with which the effect may be pro-
duced on the wood, and the beauty of the panels thus treated, it will doubt-
less become common to stain articles of furniture made of it in preference to
covering them with paint. This wood is now in constant use in California
for building and carpentering, and is sold at about the price of pine.

BOTANY. 885

SUBSTITUTES FOR COFFEE,

Liebig states that asparagus contains, in common with tea and coffee, a
principle which he calls “taurine,” and which he considers essential to the
health of those who do not take strong exercise. Taking the hint from Baron
Liebig, a writer in the London Gardener's Chronicle was led to test asparagus
as a substitute for coffee. He says: “The young shoots I first prepared were
not agreeable, having an alkaline taste. I then tried the ripe seeds, and
these, roasted and ground, make a full flavored coffee, not easily distinguished
from fine Mocha. The seeds are easily freed from the berries by drying them
in a cool oven, and then rubbing them on a sieve.”

There is in Berlin, Prussia, a large establishment for the manufacture of
coffee from acorns and chicory, the articles being made separately from each.
The chicory is mixed with an equal weight of turnips to render it sweeter.
The acorn coffee, which is made from roasted and ground acorns, is sold in
large quantities, and frequently with rather a medicinal than an economical
view, as it is thought to have a wholesome effect upon the blood, particularly
of scrofulous persons. Acorn coffee is, however, made and used in many
parts of Germany for the sole purpose of adulterating genuine coffee.

ON THE VARIETIES OF PLANTS WHICH CAN FURNISH FIBERS
FOR PAPER PULP.

The following paper was read before the British Association by M. Claussen,
well known in connection with the flax-cotton experiment :—

What paper-makers require is as follows:—

They require a cheap material, with a strong fiber, en bleached, and of
which an unlimited supply may be obtained. I will now enumerate a few of
the different substances which I have examined for the purpose of discovering
a proper substitute for rags. Rags containing about 50 per cent. of vegetable
fiber mixed with wool or silk are regarded by the paper-makers as useless to
them, and several thousand tons are yearly burned in the manufacture of
prussiate of potash. By a simple process which consists in boiling these rags
in caustic alkali, the animal fiber is dissolved, and the vegetable fiber is avail-
able for the manufacture of white paper pulp. Surat, or Jute, the inner bark
of Corchorus indicus, produces a paper pulp of inferior quality bleached with
difficulty. Agave, Phormium tenax, and banana or plantain fiber (Manilla
hemp), are_not only expensive, but it is nearly impossible: to bleach them.
The banana leaves contain forty per cent. of fiber. Flax would be suitable
to replace rags in paper manufacture, but the high price and scarcity of it,
caused partly by the war, and partly by the injudicious way in which it is
cultivated, prevents that. Six tons of flax straw are required to produce one
ton of flax fiber, and by the present mode of treatment all the woody part is .
lost. Nettles produce 25 per cent. of a very beautiful and easily bleached
fiber. Palm leaves contain 30 or 40 per cent. fiber, but are not easily
dleached. The Bromeliacez contain from 25 to 40 per cent. fiber. Bona-

336 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

partea juncoidea contains 35 per cent. of the most beautiful fiber known; it
could not only be used for. paper pulp, but for all kinds of manufactures in
which flax, cotton, silk, or wool are employed. It appears that this plant
exists in large quantities in Australia, and it is most desirable that some of
our large manufacturers should import a quantity of it. The plant wants no
other preparation than cutting, drying, and compressing like hay. The bleach-
ing and finishing it may be done here. Ferns give 20 to 25 per cent. fiber,
not easily bleached. Equisetum from 15 to 20 per cent. inferior fiber, easily
bleached. The inner bark of the lime-tree (Tilia) gives a fiber easily bleached,
but not very strong. Althea and many Malvacez produce from 15 to 20 per
cent. paper pulp. Stalks of beans, peas, hops, buckwheat, potatoes, heather,
broom and many other plants contain from 10 to 20 per cent. of fiber, but
their extraction and bleaching present difficulties which will probably prevent
their use. The straws of the cereals can not be converted into white paper
pulp after they have ripened the grain, the joints or knots in the stalks are
then so hardened that they will resist all bleaching agents. To produce paper
pulp from them they must be cut green before the grain appears, and this”
would probably be not advantageous. Many grasses contain from 30 to 50
per cent. of fiber, not very strong, but easily bleached. Of indigenous grasses
the rye grass contains 35 per cent. of paper pulp; the phalaris 30 per cent. ;
arrenatherum 30 per cent.; dactylis 30 per cent., and carex 30 per cent.
Several reeds and canes contain from 30 to 50 per cent. of fiber, easily
bleached. The stalk of the sugar-cane gives 40 per cent. of white paper
pulp. The wood of the coniferze gives a fiber suitable for paper pulp. The
leaves and top branches of Scotch fir produce 25 per cent. of paper pulp.
The shavings and sawdust of wood from Scotch fir gives 40 per cent. pulp.
The cost of reducing to pulp and bleaching pine wood will be about three
times that of bleaching rags. As none of the above named substances or
plants would entirely satisfy on all points the wants of the paper-makers, I
continued my researches, and at last remembered the papyrus (the plant of
which the ancients made their paper), which I examined, and found to con-
tain about 40 per cent. of strong fiber, excellent for paper, and very easily
bleached. The only point which was not entirely satisfactory was relative to
the abundant supply of it, as this plant is only found in Egypt. I directed,
therefore, my attention to plants growing in this country; and I found to my
great satisfaction that the common rushes (Juncus effusus and others) contain
40 per cent. of fiber, quite equal, if not superior, to the papyrus fiber, and a
perfect substitute for rags in the manufacture of paper, and that one ton of
rushes contains more fiber than two tons of flax straw.

HOOKER’S PLANTS OF BRITISH INDIA AND THE HIMALAYAS.

In the years 1848-50 an enterprising and perilous mission was undertaken,
under government auspices, Dr. Hooker, of England, with the view of ex-
ploring the botany of British India, and collecting specimens of its plants,
Starting from Calcutta the traveler proceeded first to Behar, ascended the
Soane Valley, and crossing the Kymor range to Mirzapur, descended the

BOTANY. 837

Ganges, and proceeded to Sikkim. The plants collected during this journey
amounted to 1000 species. The summer of 1848, and the greater part of
1849, were then spent by Dr. Hooker in the Sikkim and Fast Nipal Hima-
laya, during which time he botanized the whole country from the plains to
the Tibetan frontier, with an assiduity that accumulated an herbarium of
3,500 species; and in December of that year he was met at Dorjiliug by Dr.
Thomson, who had been botanizing in the plains and mountains of North-
West India for seven years previously. Before quitting England, Dr. Hooker
had already made a voyage to the south polar seas, with Sir James Clark Ross,
in the ill-fated Erebus and Terror, and having published a Flora of the principal
antarctic islands in a style of minuteness that signally qualified him for fur-
ther research, the travelers met upon equal ground, so far as experience and
the scientific knowledge of their favorite pursuits were concerned, and re-
solved to botanize-in company. In May, 1850, Drs. Hooker and Thomson set
of together to the Khasia Hills, where the summer was spent, their joint
collection of plants amounting to 3,000 species, and in November of that year
they visited Silhet and Cachar, and descending the Meena to the Bay of Ben-
gal, proceeded to Chittagong, returning by the Sunderbunds to Calcutta. At
Caleutta they embarked for England with an herbarium of 8,000 species of
plants, comprising not only many varieties of most of the species, but also
many individual specimens of most of the varieties. On the arrival of the
travelers in England with so complete a collection of the plants of British
India, formed as it was with a high philosophic knowledge of the variability
of species, accompanied by drawings and dissections, and by voluminous notes
indicative of distribution, habit, and structure, botanists were anxious that no
time should be lost in making so unprecedented a mass of materials available
to science. The enterprising botanizers were not less urgent themselves to
publish the fruits of their researches, but the labor of sorting and identifying
the named species, and of unraveling the synonomy of each, to say nothing
of describing those that were new, presented obstacles which only time and
the command of considerable funds would enable them to encounter. The
subject was brought before a Committee of the Natural History section of the
British Association at the meeting of 1851, and the members were unani-
mous in memorializing the Directors of the East India Company for their aid
in behalf of the undertaking. The application was, however, unsuccessful,
and Drs. Hooker and Thomson have since undertaken the task at their own
expense, and as the first product of their labors have published, during the
past year, a beautiful volume of 560 pages. Mil

To give an idea of the labor of these assiduous botanists in the field, we
may mention that the specimens were all ticketed as they were collected,
with particulars of locality and elevation, and in Sikkim and the Khasia Hills
500 specimens of wood were cut, palms, bamboos, and tree-ferns being pre-
served entire, while colored drawings and dissections of upward of.a thousand
species were made by Dr. Hooker from the living plants. But the work of
collecting material in the field has been surpassed, even thus far, in extent
by the labor of analysis in the closet. The number of books and periodicals
in which Eastern plants have been described is immense, and all have to be

15

888 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

consulted and studied. No less than 120 authors’ names are attached to the
430 species described in the present volume, and upward of 1000 volumes
will have to be referred to before the “ Flora” is completed. A large propor-
tion of the plants of India have, moreover, proved identical with those of
other countries, and in every large genus the authors have had to make a
critical study of the European, Siberian, Chinese, and Japanese floras, elicit-
ing results of interest totally unexpected, and of the highest importance in
their bearings on the science of botanical geography.

FLAX AND HEMP CULTIVATION IN EUROPE.

The importance of the rettery system of treating flax, as enabling the
grower to sell his flax-crop without becoming involved in the processes of
stecping, drying and scutching, is evidenced in the fact that large retteries are
now at work in England, Scotland, France, Belgium, Holland, Austria, Prus-
sia, and Bavaria. Fourteen steeping establishments are now in operation in
Treland, carrying out the modern patented methods of treatment. In some, a
portion of the straw is steeped in open-air tanks, but all of them press the
flax-straw between rollers after its removal from the steep, and from this
treatment the fiber shows a marked improvement. The present unmechanical
process of scutching seems to be now getting some improvement, for the
attention of very many inventors has been drawn to the subject. The govern-
ment returns show the number of scutehing-mills in Ireland, in 1852, to have
been 1,056; there having been, in 1852, but 956 mills. The Belgium Instructor
reports thus on the growth of hemp:—‘“ From personal observation, I have
arrived at the opinion that hemp can be only grown profitably in Ireland in
the following manner:—It should be sown after potatoes, the field being
thoroughly cleansed while digging that crop. The hemp-crop can be followed
by a flax crop. The hemp should receive some artificial manure—such as
guano, or rape-cake dust—at the sowing period, to create a quick stimulus to
the young plant, the manure to be applied with the seed. The seed should
not be sown either broadcast or in drills, but with the usual wheat-sowing
machine, and covered crossways with the roller; or better still, plowed in, in
the same way as wheat, along with the artificial manure, so that the crop
will be in drills of three or four inches apart. As only 140 plants at most are
required per square yard, and each pint contains 10,570 seeds, it follows that
32 quarts would be sufficient quantity of seed per statute acre: but I would
recommend an increase ef one fourth that quantity for the following reasons:
—FExperience has shown clearly that, although the female plant is the most
vigorous at the ripening period, the male plant will take the lead until it
arrives in blossom: that the male forms about one fourth of the whole crop,
and possesses little fiber, and that of inferior quality, reaching maturity fully
four weeks before that of the female. By pulling the whole crop at the ripen-
ing period of the female, the male plant becomes valueless. By taking a
medium—that is, two weeks after the ripening of the male, and two weeks
before that of the female—the valuable seed is sacrificed, and the straw steeps
unevenly, with a mixed fiber of inferior quality. To obviate these evils, a

BOTANY. 839

very simple plan may be adopted. By sowing the crop in drills, as described
above, a fourth of the plants can be easily removed; and as the male takes
the lead, by simply pulling the most advanced plants at the time the crop is
6 to 12 inches high, it will turn out an almost female crop, securing tbe great-
est yield in both seed and fiber, without any after irouble in the treatment
between the plants of each sex. Experiments have also proved the possibil-
ity of taking off the seed by the ordinary thrashing-machine, provided an even
crop be obtained: ‘and that the hemp-straw can be scutched in the common
flax-scutching mill, by simply having the diameter of the beaters, to which
the wipers are attached, enlarged.

ON THE INFLUENCE OF LIGHT ON THE GERMINATION OF SEEDS.

At the British Association, Dr. Daubeny gave an account of some experi-
ments on the germination of seeds—the object of which was to determine
whether the opinion that this process is most favored by the chemical rays of
light, be well founded or otherwise. Five sets of experiments were instituted
for this purpose, in each of which from 40 to 60 seeds, of several different kinds,
were exposed to the action of light transmitted through different media. Ina
south aspect, indeed, light which had passed through the ammonia-sulphate
of copper, and even darkness itself, seemed more favorable than the whole of
the spectrum; but this law did not seem to extend to the case of seeds
placed in a northern aspect, where the total amount of light was less consid-
erable. Nor did there appear to be any decided difference in those cases where
the band of light was different, the quantity transmitted being nearly the same.
From these experiments Dr. Daubeny deduces the conclusion, that light only
affects germination in so far as it induces a degree of dryness unfavorable to
the process; and this he believes to be accordant with the experience of
maltsters.

Dr. Gladstone stated that he had performed a series of experiments on the
same subject, and had come to the same conclusions as Dr. Daubeny. He
found that plants growing under the influence of yellow light produced larger
roots than those in other colored light.

CULTIVATION OF QUINA IN JAVA.

Some time since, under the direction of Professor Miquel, of Amsterdam,
the Dutch government undertook the cultivation of the Quina or Peruvian-
bark-tree in Java. The experiment, by the last accounts, has proved en-
tirely successful. The young plantations established in the mountains thrive
extremely well. Lately, M. Karl arrived in Java with a whole ship-load full
of young plants and seeds from Peru; so that in a few years Java will be
able to supply almost as much quina-bark as is wanted, which is the more a
matter of congratulation, as the quina forests in South America are fast
approaching their entire extermination.

ZOOLOGY.

ON THE RELATION OF CELLS TO CONSCIOUSNESS AND MUSCULAR
MOVEMENTS.

ArT the meeting of the British Association, Dr. Laycock communicated some
of the views he entertained as to the relations of cells to consciousness, and
to the adaptation in the movements and functions of organisms to a definite
object. These phenomena are variously interpreted in relation to conscious-
ness. While, on the one hand, it was a firmly established opinion that vege-
table organisms had no sensation, although they adapted themselves, often
with exquisite skill to external circumstances, of which Dr. Laycock adduced
several examples—on the other, it was an equally fixed doctrine that the
lower animal organisms (e. g., insects) were as susceptible of pain as man him-
self. Now all these adaptive phenomena were manifested in the highest
degree in that ultimate constituent of animated beings, namely, the micro-
scopic cell; and that whether the organism was unicellular, or composed of
groups of individual cells, or evolved from a primordial cell, there did not ap-
pear the slightest ground for concluding that these were endowed with
consciousness; it followed, therefore, that the whole of their adaptive phe-
nomena were the result of a force inherent in them, but distinct from mind,
The entire structure of the higher organisms, whether vegetable or animal,
being evolved out of cells, and the aim of their whole vital activity being
directed to the attainment of the same object as that aimed at in cell action,
viz., the well-being and happiness of the individual, it follows that in these that
object may be aimed at wholly independently of the will or the consciousness.
Such appears to be the case with vegetable organisms; but to determine the
presence or absence of these in plants, and even the lower animals, is necessar-
ily beyond the reach of observation. It may be argued, indeed, from analogy,
that they may possess a sense of pleasurable existence, inasmuch as such an
endowment would be entirely compatible with that grand scheme of beneficent
adaptation upon which all organisms and the entire creation are arranged.
As to insects, experiments show that it is at least very doubtful whether they
feel pain; while the infinite variety of instruments supplied to them to ad-
minister to their own happiness, and the inherent skill which they display in
the use of those instruments (illustrated by the mathematical accuracy with
which the domestic bee constructs its hexagonal cell), might serve as some

ZOOLOGY. 841

proof of the pleasure they may have in existence. Dr. Laycock next pro-
eeeded to place the seat of these adaptive movements in the cells of the ves-
icular neurine which constitute the ganglia of the nervous system, and to
show that these could react as a co-ordinating apparatus upon the instrument
provided by Divine Providence for the well-being of the animal. He stated
that the seat of consciousness is almost universally acknowledged to be in the
ganglia within the cranium of Vertebrata; yet the headless trunk of a frog
would leap away if it were irritated, or swim away if thrown into water.
-Hence the conclusion that the cells of the vesicular neurine act, under given
circumstances, as adaptively and yet as unconsciously as in the lowest forms
of animal and vegetable life. Dr. Laycock then extended these views to the
cells constituting the vesicular neurine of the brain, and argued that it might
fairly be inferred, both @ priori and from observation, that their endowments
and works of action were not inferior to those of the vesicular neurine in
insects. It followed, therefore, that they also might act adaptively and in
accordance with their assigned functions independently of the will or con-
sciousness of the individual. To this automatic action (the link between
man’s spiritual nature and the external world) Dr. Laycock referred the phe-
nomena of mesmerism, electro-biology, spirit-rapping, etc., and expressed his
conviction that the derangement of the intellect which those phenomena im-
plied could not be altogether harmless, but might lead, and, indeed, had led
to permanent injury to the brain.

ANALYTIC MORPHOLOGY.

The foliowing is an abstract of a paper read before the American Associa-
tion, by Professor Peirce:

Analytic morphology, said Professor Peirce, is the science of organized
forms, whether those made by the Deity or those made by man. It seemed
to him the only way for us to understand the organization of the universe
was that by which we must understand any human work. We would not
understand a play of Shakspeare until we tried to construct it over again
for ourselves. Then, and then only, could we understand how all the parts
of the play belonged together. So with regard to the work of the Deity; it
was not possible for us to understand this as an organization until we looked
at it from the point of view of the Creator. If it were possible for us to un-
derstand at all the reason of our divisions, and what their nature really was,
we could only do it by looking at it as the man who knew most looked at it.
That man, he thought, would make the world just as he saw it made, suppos-
ing it to be a perfect work—a work worthy of being made by Divinity.
Under that point of view, suppose that he, knowing nothing of works of ar-
chitecture, should examine the details of bridges; he would find three forms—
truss, arched, and suspension bridges. Considering himself as the maker, he
would recur to the materials of which they were formed, and he would per-

ceive immediately that wood, as a material, necessitated a truss bridge; stone,
an arched bridge; and iron, a suspension bridge. He would have to make his
work correspond to his materials. He took it that the main difference between

~ .

342 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

organic and inorganic structures was that while an inorganic structure must
be in a state of unstable equilibrium, an organic structure must be in a state
of stable equilibrium. This, he thought, was the fundamental idea of the
structure of almost all organic bodies, and to accomplish this the solid parts
were connected together by something more or less approximating to a per-
fect fluid. He would consider in the case of fluids what would be the grand
classification. He had demonstrated that there were but four forms in which
one fluid lying in another of equal specific gravity, as in the case of the em-
bryo, would remain in equilibrium and not crowd together in a sphere. The
geometer as well as the naturalist was therefore obliged to divide the subject
into four parts. One of them would be the form of a ring radiating about its
own axes, which he took to be the fundamental idea of the radiata. The
molluscs would be represented by an eliptical cylinder, the form of their
embryo,; the articulata by a cylinder with constrictions at regular distances, a
shape produced by the revolution of a wavy line round the axis of the cylin-
der, and the vertebrata by a double cylinder having a regular side and corre-
sponding to the spinal marrow and the intestinal cavity. The length of the
limb would be determined by the vibration of the pendulum. On the ways
and means of locomotion there were a great many different points on which
light might be thrown by the geometer, not that the geometer had any right
to suppose that he was getting at the fundamental idea of the subject, but he
was assisting the naturalist.

Professor Agassiz in commenting on this communication said that the work
of the system was not ours, but our Creator’s. We could not but come to
the conclusion, from a consideration of the whole, that it was all devised in
order to place man at the head, and millions of ages ago his coming was seen -
as the culmination of the thought which devised the fishes and the lowest ra-
diata. When we came to the deep conviction that this whole was the com-
bination of these facts in a logical manner, and as whatever intelligence we
had was derived from Him and in His image, that coincidence made it possi-
ble for us to understand His objects.

ON THE DISTINCTIONS SUPPOSED TO LIMIT THE VEGETABLE
AND ANIMAL KINGDOMS.

The following is an abstract of a lecture on the above subject delivered be-
fore the Royal Institution by Professor Lankester, F.R.S.:—

In commencing, the lecturer made some general remarks on classification,
and pointed out the importance of accurate definitions in order to constitute
the classes, families, genera, and species of the naturalist. The importance
of defining species was greater than that of larger groups, because these were
composed of species. As genera were collections of species, and families
collections of genera, so the animal and vegetable kingdoms were but col-
lections of species. The difficulty in distinguishing between the animal and
vegetable kingdoms consisted in our imperfect knowledge of the character of
species which existed on what might be called the limits of the two king-
doms. The history of the attempts at defining animals and plants, for sys-

ZOOLOGY. 848

tematic purposes, would afford the best idea of the nature of these difficulties.
The definition of Linnzus, that minerals grow, plants grow and live, and
animals grow, live, and feel, was first examined. In order to apply this defi-
nition, the terms growth, life and feeling, required explanation. Growth simply
indicated increase. The term life could not be defined in such a manner as
to render it inapplicable to the physical phenomena of the inorganic world,
and at the same time embrace the lowest forms of organized beings. Feeling
could not be defined so as to separate the movements evinced by so many
members of the vegetable kingdom, on the application of external stimulants,
as the movements of the leaves of the sensitive plant, and the closing ani
unfolding of flowers, from those of the animal kingdom. Such were the dis-
tinctions attempted to be made by one who disregarded the use of the micro-
scope.

One of the most obvious distinctions between the organic and inorganic
kingdoms was the presence of the cell in the former. Under some circum-
stances it was not easy to detect the cell, as in certain fossils, and sometimes
inorganic matter assumed a cellular form. Another distinction adopted by
naturalists, even since the general introduction of the microscope into natural
history inquiries, was, that animals moved, while plants were fixed. This
distinction, though applicable to the higher forms of plants and animals, was
more than ever applicable to the organisms which required the microscope to
detect their existence. Recent researches had shown that the motile tissues
in animals were composed of the same substance that was found to be present
in the cells of aH plants, and which under the names of nucleus, cytoblast,
primgidial utricle, and endoplast, had been recognized by all vegetable physi-
ologists. This substance composed of protein, was as actively motile in the
plant as in the animal. It was this substance that gave motility to the cells
of protococcus, the fibers of oscillaria, the spores of various Conferve and
fungi, and probably also to all otlier movements observed among plants.
When cilia were originally discovered as the agents of movement in infusoria,
and upon the internal organs of higher animals, they were regarded as
characteristic of animal life. These organs were now known to be present
in the zoospores of various Confervz, and were active agents of movement
in the Volvox globator, of whose vegetable nature there could be but little
doubt.

The possession of what were called eye-spots in doubtful organisms had
been brought forward to decide the animality of these beings. Such eye-
spots as present red points in certain stages of the growth of volvox, and
other undoubtedly vegetable organisms, and according to Henfrey, were cus
to the relation of the contents of the cell to light, were in no way the
agents of vision in the cells in which they are found. The definition of Aris-
totle, that animals possessed a mouth, while plants had none, had recently
been revived; and of all merely structural characters it was the one best
suited to the purpose of the naturalist. Until recently the exceptions to this
definition were numerous; but since the botanist had claimed so large a num-
ber of mouthless infusoria, it was more than ever applicable. There were
however exceptions, and these are found in the Foraminifera, and other low

844 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

organisms which have no permanent mouth. Some of these have the power
of forming a temporary sac for the purposes of digestion.

Chemistry had from time to time offered its aid to the naturalist. At one
time the possession of cellulose by the vegetable kingdom was considered dis-
tinctive, and the ready application of iodine and sulphuric acid as the test of
its presence rendered it an easily ascertainable diagnostic mark. Cellulose
has, however, been detected in some species of mollusca and in the brain and
spleen of man. Chlorophyll also appeared at one time to pronounce the
presence of plants; but this has been found in animal organisms. Starch
was another vegetable product easily detected by iodine, whose universal
presence in the plant seemed to offer the best practical chemical test; but
starch has been detected in the brain of man, and there is reason to suppose
it might be very generally present in the animal kingdom. It was thus
seen that no one point in structure or chemical composition could furnish a
means of distinction. A physiological point of much interest and importance
had principally determined a certain number of botanists in claiming the Di-
atomaceze and Desmideze as plants. In certain Conferve it had been ob-
served that previous to the production of the zoospore two contiguous cells
united, and each contributed its contents to form the germinating spore.

Whatever might be the difficulties presented in any individual case, in the
application of any or all of the before-mentioned distinctions, there was evi-
dently a great antagonism or polarity exhibited by the animal and vegetable
kingdoms, viewed as a whole. They were mutually dependent, attained
the same end in their growth and organization, but by contrary means. The
great function of the animal tissues was the absorption of oxygen and the
disengagement of carbonic acid. The great function of the vegetable tissues
was the absorption of carbonic acid and the disengagement of oxygen. The
processes in the history of the life of the two kingdoms in which these dis-
tinctive functions appeared to be reversed, were not exceptions to the law,
but were due to other agencies than those connected with the essential life
of the plant or animal. Thus, carbonic acid was given out by plants at
night during fructification and germination. In the first instance, the gas
given out was that which has been taken up during the day, and was not
decomposed by the agency of light. In the latter instance, a process of exu-
dation took place, in which the contents of the cells were undergoing change
independent of the life of the plant. The germ, during the growth of its
cells, absorbed carbonic acid and gave out oxygen, as in the growth of all
other vegetable cells. The development of the carbonic acid arose from the
decomposition of the starch and sugar of the albumen of the seed. In cases
where animals had been found to give off oxygen, it was doubtful as to
whether plants were not present, or even mistaken for animaleules. Atten-
tion was drawn to the fact that in all cases vegetable compounds are formed
from carbonie acid and water, or from carbonic acid, water and ammonia, by
the loss of oxygen. Acetic acid was referred to as an exceptional instance;
but it was shown that it was more probable, where acetic acid occurred as
the result of vegetation, that it occurred as a result of deoxydatiom than of a
process of fermentation in which alcohol was developed and subsequently

ZOOLOGY. 845

oxydized. An exception was also referred to in the animal kingdom, in
which fat is supposed to be formed by the deoxydation of sugar, but attention
was drawn to the fact that this process admitted of another explanation not
opposed to the physiologico-chemical distinction pointed out. These processes
were further shown to be connected with the relations existing between the
aniinal and vegetable kingdoms. The plant was produced from mineral
compounds—carbonic acid, water and ammonia—the substances out of which
the animal was formed; and no instance was known of the animal appropri-
ating and forming organic substance out of these compounds. This was the
distinguishing feature of the life of the plant, and the liberation of oxygen
gas its most constant result. The appropriation of substances thus formed,
and the uniting them once more to oxygen was the distinguishing feature of
~ animal life, and the formation of carbonic acid gas its most constant result.
Minor changes occurred; but these were the grand distinguishing features
of the two kingdoms, the recognition of which by structure, function, or
results, could alone enable us to distinguish between plants and animals.

ON THE INFLUENCE OF INDUSTRIAL OCCUPATIONS ON THE
EYES.

The London Society of Arts some time since instituted an inquiry respect-
ing the effect of industrial employments on the bodily health of particular
organs, and commenced their undertaking with an inquiry into the “indus-
trial pathology of trades which affect the eyes.” From a lengthened report
on this subject to the Society we make the following extracts. Mr. Dixon,
surgeon to the Royal Ophthalmic Hospital gives as his opinion that weakness
of sight, as a general thing, is owing to over-use of the eyes, and not to any
special employment of them, since every day’s experience teaches us that the
most trying work for the eyes may be followed, provided due moderation is
observed.

Tailors, it is stated are most liable of any class to exhaustion of visual
power from over-use of the eyes. Needlewomen and dressmakers come
under the same head. It is suggested that needlewomen, embroiderers, ctc.,
should work in rooms hung with green, and having grcen blinds and curtains
to the windows. In China this rule is adopted by the exquisite embroiderers
of that country. Needlewomen would also find it greatly to their advantage
to change the color of their work as often as possible. The rationale of this
is found in the law that variation of stimulus is necessary to preserve the tone
and health of any organ of sense, and that prolonged application of the same
stimulus exhausts it.

Tnjurious consequences to the eyes often result from long continuance of
work in the sitting postire. Congestive diseases of these organs are indi-
rectly attributable to this cause, which produces stasis of the circulation, in
the abdominal organs, and secondary venous congestion of the choroid coat.

Among all classes of persons occupied in various ways upon minute ob-
jects, instances occur in which the fatigue and distress of the eyes arises not
- so muclr from the actual amount of work, as from the patient’s attempting to
; 15*

846 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

execute it, after a certain time of life, without the assistance of glasses suited
to correct the gradual change of focus which the eye itself undergoes. Some
persons even in early life—in childhood—who have very acute sight for distant
objects, require the aid of slightly convex glasses, to enable them to sustain,
for any considerable time, the effort of observing minute objects which are near
them. This assistance is still more frequently necessary in adults who have
passed the age of fifty. With convex glasses, accurately adapted to their
peculiar focus, such persons are frequently able for many hours to follow their
occupation of needlework, when, without such aid, their sight would wholly
fail after a few minutes’ application. In a like manner, short-sighted persons
suffer from attempting to work without suitable concave glasses.

Dr. Caplin, of Manchester, says:—-If we take the trouble to investigate the
effect of light on the eye, we shall find that it is not so injurious as it is gene-
rally thought. An organ, whatsoever ft may be, is not injured so long as it
can perform its fmecous with facility. The stress on the eyes results from
want of light, and whenever the light falls on the object we want to see, and
not on the eyes themselves, it does not prove hurtful. Ihave known many

ersons accustomed all their lives to most minute work, such aS engraving,
whose eyes were neither affected nor impaired. This fact ~s in accordance
with the law of physiology, by which the strength of an organ is in propor-
tion. to its activity. Oblique and bad light are the cause of affection. But it
may be remedied by altering the window, or changing the place or position
of the worker. ‘The question whether the eye or any of the other organs of
sense, is capable of improvement in proportion to its use, or whether like a
human mechanical contrivance it wears out by employment, is a very serious
one. <A great deal of our conduct in daily life depends on the way we answer
it to ourselves. It is probable that the “wearing out” contrasted in the
popular saying, with “rusting out,’ is often falsely attributed to the human
body, and that perfectly healthy organs are made more efficient. by use—pro-
vided that such use does not diminish the nutrition of the system; but at the
same time local injury is certainly experienced in many parts e the body,
especially the eye, by working too long hours. The explanation appears to be
this, viz., that after the body has been long employed, sufficient vigor does
not remain in each separate organ to enable it to do its duty—it can not be
called healthy after the general strength is exhausted. Overworking the eyes,
means working with the eyes in an unnatural condition.

Yn using artificial light, the light should be above the level of the face, so
as to allow, as in nature, the brow, the lashes and the iris to shelter the pupil,
and thereby the expansion of the optic nerve from the direct rays. Neglect
of this precaution is injurious in two ways: first, the influx of such rays con-
tinued for a considerable period tends to exhaust the normal susceptibility of
the retina; and, secondly, by eclipsing the brilliancy of the rays reflected from
the work, so that the workman is induced to increase the light to a degree
otherwise superfluous, dazzling and pernicious.

The folowing suggestions have been made in regard to the prevention from
injury of the eyes from artificial light. 1. Color of the light. To fully under-

stand the object to be attained, it is necessary to bear in mind that daylight

ZOOLOGY. 847

is composed of three primary colors in the following proportions :—yellow,
3, red 5, blue 8. The red and yellow rays are the most exciting to the eyes,
and in proportion as artificial light possesses them in excess, it is fatiguing
and injurious to those organs. The bad effects, however, may be obviated,
Ist, by surrounding the flame with a chimney tinged pale blue; 2d, by sur-
rounding the light with a shade colored azure blue on the inner side. In
these contrivances the color of the light is improved by the addition of the
deficient blue rays. 2. Position of the light. A frequent cause of the inju-
rious effects of artificial light is the direct and concentrated manner in which
it is permitted to fall upon the eyes. No light should be placed in front of
the eyes, but it should be either above the head, or rather behind, and on one
side, so that the object can be well illuminated, while the eyes are fully
protected from the heat and glare. 3. Unsteadiness of the flame. The
steadier the flame the better for the eyes; lights should therefore have glass
chimneys to assist combustion and prevent flickering. 4. Heat and dryness.
This can not be avoided in rooms heated with hot air, nor where there are
many lights; but it may be obviated by placing in some convenient situation
a flat dish containing water; and those engaged in work requiring a strong
light should place a large wet sponge near them, to cool and moisten the air
by evaporation. It may be also remarked that full blue and green glasses,
which are often worn by persons having weak eyes, are highly ovjectionable,
being of definite colors, and exciting complementary colors. Neutral-tinted
glasses, being, as the name implies, of no definite hue, screen the eye from
all colors alike, and produce an effect most grateful to irritable eyes.

PEARLS AND PHARL-MAKING IN CHINA.

The following information respecting the method adopted by the Chinese
for facilitating and shaping the growth of the pearl in the pearl-oyster is com-
municated to the Journal of the London Society of Arts, by Dr. Macgowan:

The practice of the art is confined to two coterminous villages near the
district city Tehtsing, in the northern part of Chihkiang, in a silk producing
region. In the month of May or June large quantities of the mussel (Mytilus
eygnus) are brought in baskets from the Tahu, a lake in Kiangsa, about 30
miles distant, the largest among the full-grown being specially selected. As
their health suffers on the journey they are allowed a few days’ respite in
bamboo cages in water before being tortured for the gratification of human
vanity, when they are taken out to receive the matrices. These are various
in form and material, the most common being pellets made of mud taken from
the bottom of water-courses, dried, powdered with the juice of the camphor-
tree seeds, and formed into pills, which, when dry, are fit for introduction into
the unfortunate subject. Moulds which best exhibit the nacreous deposit are
brought from Canton, and appeared to be made from the shell of the pearl-
oyster; the-irregular fragments thus procured are triturated with sand in an
iron mortar until they become smooth and globular. Another class of moulds
consists of small images, generally of Buddha, in the usual sitting posture ;
or sometimes of fish. They are made of lead, cast very thin by pouring on

348 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

a board having the impression. Pearls having these forms have excited much
surprise since they first attracted the attention of foreigners a few years back. |

The introduction of the pearl nuclei is an operation of considerable delicacy.
The shell is gently opened with a spatula of mother-of-pearl, and the free por-
tion of the mollusc is carefully separated from one surface of the shell with an
iron probe; the foreign bodies are then successively introduced at the point of
a bifureated bamboo-stick, and placed in two parallel rows upon the mantle or
fleshy surface of the animal. A sufficient number having been placed on one
side the operation is repeated on the other. Stimulated by the writating
bodies, the suffering animal spasmodically presses against both sides of its
testaceous skeleton, keeping the matrices in place. This being done the
mussels are deposited one by one in canals, or streams or pools connected
therewith, five or six inches apart, at depths of from two to five feet, in lots
of from five to fifty thousand.

If taken up a few days after the introduction of the mould these will be
found attached to the shell by a membranous secretion which, at a later
period, appears as if impregnated with calcareous matter; and, finally, layers
of nacre are deposited around each nucleus, the process being analogous to
the formation of calculary concretions in animals of a higher development. A
ridge of marl generally extends from one pearly tumor to another, connecting
them all together.

About six times in the course of the season several tubs of night-soil are
thrown into the reservoir for the nourishment of the animals. Great care is
taken to prevent goat manure from falling in, as it is highly detrimental to the
mussels, preventing the secretion of good nacre, or killing them, according as
the quantity may be great or small.

In November the shells are carefully collected by the hand, the muscular
portion removed, and the pearls detached by a sharp knife. If the basis of
the pearl be of nacre it is not removed, but the earthen and metallic matrices
are cut away, melted yellow resin poured into the cavity, and the orifice art-
fully covered by a piece of mother-of-pearl. In this state these more than
semiorbicular pearly pellicles have much of the luster and beauty of the solid
gem, and are furnished at a rate so cheap as to be procurable by all who care
to possess them. They-are generally purchased by jewelers and others, who
set them in tiaras, circlets, and various ornaments of female attire. Those
formed on the image of Buddha are finished in the same manner, and are
used as ornaments and amulets on the caps of young children. A few shells
are retained, with their adhering pearls, for sale to the curious or superstitious,
specimens of which have by this time found their way into the principal pub-
lic and private cabinets of Europe and America. They are generally about
7 inches long, and 5 broad, containing a double or triple row of pearls or im-
ages—as many as 25 of the former and 16 of the latter to each valve. That
the animal should survive the introduction of so many irritating bodies, and
in such a brief period secrete a covering of nacre over them all, is certainly-a
siviking physiological fact. Some naturalists, indeed, have expressed strong
doubts as to its possibility, supposing the pearls were made to adhere to the
shell by some composition, but the examination of living specimens in differ-

ZOOLOGY. 849

ent stages of growth, having both valves studded with pearls, has fully dem-
onstrated its truth. A tinge of yellow is found over the whole inner surface
of some shells, showing that the more recent secretion of nacre by the suffer-
ing animals was unnatural; the flesh of all, however, is eaten.

Above five thousand families are represented as being engaged in this sin-
gular branch of industry in the villages of Chungkwan and Sian-chang-ngan ;
they, however, mainly derive their support from cultivating the mulberry, and
in rearing silk-worms, and other agricultural occupations. Those who are not
expert in the management of the shells lose 10 or 15 per cent. by deaths;
others lose none in a whole season.

NEW THEORY RESPECTING THE CHOLERA.

A work of considerable importance has been published in Germany during
the past year by Dr. Max Pettenkober, bearing the title: “ Investigations
and Observations in regard to the Propagation of Cholera, with Reflections on
the proper means of arresting its Progress.” The author is Professor of Medic-
inal Chemistry at the University of Munich, and has been employed by the
government during the whole of last year investigating the progress and
mode of propagation of the disease in the principal towns of Bavaria. The
present work is the result of his and other physicians’ researches, in the form
of a report to the government, and has given such complete satisfaction that
its gratuitous distribution has been ordered throughout the kingdom at the
expense of the government.

The author advances no new theory, but produces a volume of facts of a
most positive and conclusive character. These facts could hardly have been
ascertained with the same precision in any other country; for not only would
it have been impossible to ascertain age, condition, mode of life, ete., of the
sick, but the patients themselves would not willingly have subjected them-
selves to a similar control. Observations were made in Munich, Nuremburg,
Augsburg, Wurzburg, Ebrach, Ingolstadt, Gaimersheim, Rattisbone, Fraun-
stein, and Freysing, and the author compares his results with the “ Report of
the Mortality of Cholera in England, 1848-49,” and the reports on the cholera
in India, during the years 1817, 1818 and 1819, by James Jameson. He
shows conclusively that there is no contradiction in these reports—that the
facts ascertained in India are precisely those which have been observed later
in England, and but last year in Bavaria; that any apparent contradiction is
due solely to accompanying circumstances by which the results were modified,
and which in part are mentioned by the authors themselves. The facts which
Dr. Pettenkober claims to have fully established are as follows :—

1. That it is not contagious, in the usual sense of the word; but that it
can, nevertheless, be carried from one place to another.

2. That it always follows the usual routes of commerce.

3. That no elevation above the level of the ocean, furnishes a guaranty
against the disease nor is any depth necessarily exposed to its ravages.

4, That no contagious cholera matter is floating in the atmosphere, and
that consequently the disease is not propagated by currents of air.

2

350 .° ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

5. That it is not propagated through the water.

6. That it is propagated through the earth.

7. That the earth receives and develops the cholera contagion from the
excrements of diseased persons.

8. That excrements from a diseased person thrown into a sink or privy, are
capable of transforming the whole mass into a hearth of cholera contagion.

9. That the gases disengaged by the decomposition of organic substances,
especially of excrements, penetrate the earth, rise to the surface, and become
then the cause of fevers and of cholera.

10. That there has not been a single case of cholera observed in Bavaria
that could not be traced to that species of infection.

il. That the stools of persons afflicted with cholera, or that peculiar species
of diarrhea which usually precedes cholera, are more infectious than those
who are actually seized with the disease.

12. That cholera is always carried to a place where it has not yet appeared
by a diseased person, and communicated through excrements brought in con-
tact with the earth; and that there is no other way of propagating the dis-
ease. Immediate contact with the patient, inhaling the air of the sick-room,
washing of the dead body, nay, even dissecting it after death, does not com-
municate the disease. ’

13. Not every species of earth acts on the process of decomposition in like
manner, and the capacity for spreading the contagion in the manner above
stated varies in consequence with the composition of the soils on which
dwellings are built. On rocky foundation, granite or sandstone, cholera never
becomes epidemic. An alluvial soil, underlaid with lime or clay, or any other
cause which keeps the ground moist, may become a teeming womb for the
cholera contagion.

14. The cholera poison may be in a person from one to twenty-eight days
without manifesting itself This fact furnishes a measure for the distance to
which it may be carried from one place to another.

15. The disease which is not communicated by contact is carried to the
inmates of houses, sleeping in rooms exposed to the cholera poison as above
engendered. .

16. If the cholera, as proved in London, is more intense and fatal in the
plain than on elevations, it will, on investigation, be found that it is owing to
the better drainage, by which filth is removed before it is decomposed, or
before it enters, as in damp and wet soils, into process of fermentation. Dr.
Pettenkober found some of the worst cases of cholera on hills where the
privies of houses still higher situated emptied into sinks or sewers of improper
fall. The upper houses were generally exempt.

17. To prevent contagion, the stools of cholera patients must be disinfected
before they are emptied. The best disinfecting agent is vitriol of iron. Chlo-
ride of lime only purifies the air, but does not destroy the cholera poison.

18. When strangers from cholera districts are expected to arrive, the
privies of hotels and boarding-houses where they are expected to put up,
ought to be disinfected with vitriol of iron—say once a-week. In the rooms
and corridors of hospitals, turpentine may be spread on paper and exposed to

} ZOOLOGY. 851

the atmosphere. The ozone (electrified oxygen) thus given out is the best
purifier of the atmosphere.

19. Care must be had not to allow any linen to be washed which is soiled
with the excrements of a cholera patient. The process of maceration to
which soiled clothes are usually subjected is capable of developing and com-
municating the disease in its worst form. Jameson found the same truth in
1817, 18 and ’19 in India, without tracing it to its source.

20. There are no other sanitary regulations capable of preventing or arrest-
ing cholera in its progress, than those which have reference to cleaning and
purifying those places which serve to collect or convey human excrements.

ON THE ANATOMY OF THE TORPEDO.

Professor J. Wyman recently presented to the Boston Society of Natural
History the result of some observations on the torpedo, well known for its
electrical powers. His attention had been particularly directed to the termi-
nation of the nerves in the lamine which compose the efficient part of the
battery. The plates consist of an exceedingly thin membrane which appears
to be nearly homogeneous, its surface showing only traces of striations. On
this membrane are distributed ultimate nerve fibers and capillary vessels.
When the primitive nerve-tube reaches the plate it breaks up into numerous
fibers, and these in turn subdivide and reunite so as to form a regular net-
work over the whole surface. Professor Wyman estimated the whole number
of the plates at between 250,000 and_300,000. There were about 100 to the
inch in each electric prism, which is less than the number counted by Mr.
Hunter, viz., 150 to the inch. The number of prisms in each battery was
about 1,200, each prism measuring from 1 to 2 inches in height. The inter-
val between the plates was filled with a fluid consisting of about 90 per cent.
of water, containing albumen and common salt in solution. On examining
the contents of the stomach, it was found that during the process of the diges-
tion of the bones, the caleareous matter was removed before the gelatinous
matter was dissolved, and Dr. Wyman had noticed the same result in the dis-
section of other fishes. This is the reverse of what occurs in dogs and hyenas,
where the gelatinous matter alone is removed, the calcareous matter not being
dissolved. The stomach of the specimen had been acted upon by the gastric
fluid after death, and was perforated in its large curvature. Hydrochloric
acid was detected in its contents.

Professor Rogers alluded to the analogy betweeen this animal battery and
the ordinary metallic battery. The nervous tissue might act both as generator
and conductor, generating in its minute ramifications, and conducting by its
larger branches. Tine disproportionate quantity of nervous tissue would not
be an objection to this, as batteries are constructed in which the copper-plate
bears but a small proportion in size to the zinc, not more than one-twelfth
perhaps, which yet exert a powerful effect, especially when a hot acid is em-
ployed. .

352 . ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

”
FOUNTAIN OF BLOOD IN HONDURAS.

In the Annual of Scientific Discovery for 1855, a description derived from
Silliman’s Journal of the so-called ‘‘ Fountain of Blood,” in Honduras, was
given, without any explanation of the observed phenomena.* In the Jour-
nal for March, 1855, a letter is published from Mr. E. D. North, which solves
the mystery of the appearances observed. Mr. North says: “The brown
liquid which flows from the cavern, according to my examinations, must be
a solution of the dung of bats. An examination of the liquid under the micro-
scope, even when excessively diluted with water, exhibits various portions
of the harder and less destructible parts of insects, together with perhaps
occasional fragments of small crustaceans. Since the notice of the fountain
mentions that the cavern is frequented by ‘vast numbers of large bats (vam-
pyres),’ that ‘the liquid has the color, smell, and taste of blood,’ (of course
we may make large allowance for exaggeration), and that ‘dogs eat it eagerly,’
we may conclude that the vampyres gorge themselves to such an extent
that, as is common with all animals over-fed, much of their food passes with-
out being digested. As to the statement that the ‘blood’ is found ‘in a state
of coagulation,’ a physiologist will withhold his belief until a careful examin-
ation by one who knows what the coagulation of blood really is. Hvapora-
tion and settling will reduce a solution of any dung to a semi-solid mass.” —
Silliman’s Journal.

NEW METHOD OF PRESERVING ENTOMOLOGICAL SPECIMENS.

Dr. Dummer, of Jersey City, has devised a method of preserving entomologi-
cal specimens by inclosing them in small glass tubes, inclosed and sealed by
means of the blow-pipe. This renders the tube air-tight, and forms a recep-
tacle well adapted for preserving insects without spirits, or drying, as in the
ordinary way.

Mr. W. S. Van Duzee, of Buffalo, N. Y., also proposes, in Silliman’s Journal,
the following method for the arrangement and preservation of a cabinet of
insects. He proposes to take glass-stoppered jars with a large mouth, attach
to the under side of the stopper a rectangular strip of cork or soft board
(whitened with paper or otherwise) as broad as the stopper and as long as the
jar will hold; then arrange the insects on one side of this upright piece. The
insects thus arranged would show finely in a collection—could be always on
the shelves for exhibition—would be perfectly secure from insects, even with-
‘out camphor, though it may still be used—and the jars could be easily opened
and insects taken out for special examination. Moreover, he suggests that
the insects may be numbered on the opposite side of the board, and the names
of the species be given.

New Method of Preserving Anatomical Specimens.—At a late meeting of the
Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Dr. John H. Britten stated that he had suc-
ceeded, after a series of experiments, in preserving a dissected leg, retaining

* See Annual of Scientific Discovery for 1855, p. 862.

ZOOLOGY. 3538

the natural size, form, and appearance of the specimen, by coating it with
gutta-percha from a solution. The specimen which was exhibited had the
appearance of the purest papier-maché preparation, and possessed the advan-
tages of presenting not only the natural color of the tissues, but also the re-
lations of the muscles, nerves, vessels, etc. _

For detailed account, see Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sciences, Phil.

ON THE DESTRUCTION OF MARINE ANIMALS BY CHANGES IN
TEMPERATURE, ‘

At a mecting of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Hugh Miller called atten-
tion to the extensive destruction efiected last winter of the shell-fish on the
coast of Scotland, by a severe frost—coincident at new-moon with a stream-
tide. In some places the beaches were covered with tens of thousands, chiefly
of two species, a Solen, or razor-fish, and a Mactra. Other species of shells,
equally abundant and exposed to the cold, did not appear to suffer—at least
to any great extent. This wholesale destruction by a frost, a few degrees
more intense than is common, strikingly shows, how simply by slight changes
of climate, induced by physical causes, whole races of animals may become
extinct.

Observations on the Preservation of Marine Animals in an “ Aquarium.”—
In a discussion on the above subject before the British Association, Mr. War-
rington stated that temperatures below 45° destroyed many forms of animal
life, especially Crustacea, while a temperature exceeding 60° Fahrenheit, was
destructive of both animal and vegetable life. Too great exposure to light
was also destructive of creatures kept in the Aquarium.

Dr. Fleming related, in connection with the subject of keeping animals in
sea-water, that he had in his possession an <Actinia, originally captured by.
Sir John Dalyell, that had now been in captivity twenty-eight years.

ON THE ROOSTING OF BiRDS.

At arecent meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, Professor J.
Wyman referred to the commonly received explanation of the manner in
which birds retain their position in roosting. SBovelli attributed the bending
ofthe toes to the mechanical action of the salient angles, over which the
flexor tendons passed. Professor Wyman thought this gave, at best, but a
partial explanation; for, while roosting, the body requires to be accurately
balanced, since, at every act of respiration, the center of gravity must neces-
sarily be changed, and the requisite adaptations can be effected by muscular
action only. In those waders which roost on one leg, the balancing of the
body becomes a matter of still greater nicety; and in these, too, the tibia is
not flexed upon the tarsus, therefore the tension of the tendons, as stated by
Bovelli, would not be effectually produced. In bending the leg of a dead
bird, the toes do not adapt themselves to the surfaces on which theyrest. He
thought the explanation must be found in reflex muscular action, an explana-
tion which had been suggested to him by Dr. 8. Cabot.

854 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ON THE STING OF THE MOSQUITO.

At a recent mecting of the Boston Society of Natural History, Dr. Durkee
remarked that one of the most remarkable features in the anatomy of the
mosquito is, that the parts which constitute the mouth are elongated so as to
form a beak extending horizontally like that of some birds. The beak or
sting is about half the length of the body, and to the unassisted eye appears
to be very simple in its structure. When examined with the microscope,
however, it is found to be composed of seven different parts, which are com-
paratively stout on oneedge. These parts vary in length, and can be separated
from each other without much difficulty They are broad at the upper part,
where they are united to the head, and they gradually taper toa point. Oneof
the parts is a tubular canal or groove, in which the others are lodged when
the proboscis is not in use. Dr. Durkee stated that he had not been able to
find any appearance of teeth, except on the two longest pieces; in these he
had found them. near the tip. The two longest pieces, also, are marked by
transverse lines, extending from one edge to the other, throughout their whole
length.

ON THE ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION OF SALMON NEAR PERTH,
SCOTLAND.

At the last meeting of the British Association, Mr. Edward Ashworth gave
an account of some interesting experiments made upon the river Tay, Scot-
land, in respect to the artificial propagation of salmon. The experiments
were made upon the estate of the Earl of Mansfield, by a company of gen-
tlemen associated for the purpose. A small stream flowing into a mill-pond
offered every facility for the equable flow of water through the boxes and
pond. Three hundred boxes were laid down in twenty-five parallel rows,
each box partly filled with clean gravel and pebbles, and protected at both
ends with zine grating to exclude trout and insects. Filtering beds were
formed at the head and foot of the rows, and a pond for the reception of the
fry was constructed immediately below the hatching ground. On the 23d of
November, 1855, operations were commenced, and by the 23d of December
300,000 ova were deposited in the boxes. The fish were taken from spawn-
ing beds in the Tay. So soon asa pair of suitable fish were captured, the
ova of the female were immediately discharged into a tub one fourth full of
water, by a gentle pressure of the hand from the thorax downward. The
melt of the male was ejected in a similar manner, and the contents of the tub
stirred with the hand. After the lapse of a minute, the water was poured
off, with the exception of sufficient to keep the ova submerged, and fresh
water supplied in its place. This also was poured off and fresh substituted
previous to removing the impregnated spawn. The ova was placed in boxes
as nearly similar to what they would be under the ordinary course of natural
deposition as possible, with this important advantage: in the bed of the river,
the ova are liable to injury and destruction in a variety of ways. The allu-

t

ZOOLOGY. 855

vial matter deposited in time of flood will often bury the ova too deep to ad-
mit of the extrication of the young fry, even if hatched. The impetuosity of
the streams flooded will frequently sweep away whole spawning beds and
their contents. While deposited in boxes, the ova are protected from injury,
and their vivification in large numbers is thus rendered a matter of certainty,
and the young fish are reared in safety. On the 31st of March, 1854, the first
ovum was observed to be hatched, and in April and May the greater portion
had come to life, and were at large in the boxes; in June they were admitted
into the pond, their average size being about an inch and a half in length.
From the period of their admission to the pond the fry were fed daily with
boiled liver, rubbed small by the hand. Notwithstanding the severity of the
winter, they-continued in a healthy condition, and in the spring of the year
1855 were found to have increased in size to the average of three and four
inches in length. On the 2d of May, 1855, a meeting of the committee was
held at the pond, to consider the expediency of detaining the fry for another
year or allowing them to depart. A comparison with the undoubted smelts
of the river then descending seaward with the fry in the ponds, led to the
conclusion that the latter were not yet smelts, and ought to be detained.
Seventeen days afterward, viz., on the 19th of May, a second meeting was
held, in consequence of great numbers of the fry having in the interim as-
sumed the migratory dress. On inspection it was found that a considerable
portion were actual smelis, and the committee came to the determination to
allow them to depart. Accordingly the sluice communicating with the Tay
was opened, and every facility for egress afforded. Contrary to expectation,
none of the fry manifested any inclination to leave the pond until the 24th of
May, when the larger and more mature of the smelts, after having held them-
selves detached from the others for several days, went off in a body. <A series
of similar emigrations took place until fully one half the fry had left the pond,
and descended the sluice to the Tay. It has long been a subject of contro-
versy whether the salmon assume the migratory dress in the second or third
year of their existence. In order to test the matter in the fairest possible
way, it was resolved to mark a portion of the smelts in such a manner that
they might easily be detected when returning as grilse. A temporary tank,
into which the fish must necessarily descend, was constructed at the junction
of the sluice with the Tay; and as the shoals successively left the pond, about
one in every hundred was marked by the abscission of the second dorsal fin. A
greater number were marked on the 29th of May than on any other day, in
all about 1,200 or 1,300. The result has proved highly satisfactory. Within
two months of the date of their liberation, namely, between May 29 and July
31, twenty-two of the young fish so marked when in the state of smelts
on their way to the sea, have been in their returning migration up the river,
recaptured and carefully examined; the conclusions arrived at are most grati-
fying, and prove what has heretofore appeared almost incredible, namely, the
rapid growth of the young fish during their short sojourn in the salt water;
this fact may be considered as still farther established by observing the in-
creased weight according to date of the grilse caught and examined ; those
taken first weighing 5 to 54 lbs., then increasing progressively to 7 and 8 lbs. ;

3856 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

while the one captured on 31st of July weighed no less than 94 lbs. In all
these fish the wound caused by marking was covered with skin, and in some
a coating of scales had formed over the part. Although twenty-two only are
mentioned, the taking of which rests on indubitable evidence, nearly as many
more are reported from distant parts; the weights and sizes of these have
not been forwarded. Tfie experiment at Stormontfield has afforded satisfac-
tory proof that a portion at least of the fry of the salmon assume the migra-
tory dress and descend to the sea shortly after the close of the first year of
their existence; and what is far more important in a practical point of view,
it has also demonstrated the practicability of rearing salmon of marketable
value within twenty months from the deposition of the ova. A very inter-
esting question still remains to be solved. At what date will the fry now in
the pond become smelts? Hitherto, they have manifested no disposition to
migrate; and if the silvery coat of the smelt be not assumed till the spring
of 1856, a curious anomaly will present itself. Some of the fry as smelts
will, for the first time, be descending seaward, of the average weight of 2
oz.; some as grilse will be taking their departure to the sea; and others still
more advanced will even have completed their second migration, and return
to the river as salmon 10 or 12 lbs. in weight. It is much to be desired that
the experiment at Stormontfield could be continued for a year or two longer,
till the links in the chain of evidence now wanting to complete the natural
history of the salmon should be obtained.

NEW ANIMALS FROM WESTERN AFRICA,

At the recent meeting of the British Association, Mr. A. Murray read a
paper ‘On the recent Additions to our Knowledge of the Zoology of Western
Africa,” in which he notices a new electric fish, called Afalapterurus Benineusis.
Mr. Thomson, who has studied its peculiarities, states that its electrical prop-
erties are made use of by the natives as a remedy for their sick children. The
fish is put into a vessel of water, and the child made to play with it: or the
child is put into a tub of water in which several fishes are placed. It is in-
teresting to find a popular scientific remedy of our own anticipated by the
unlettered savage. Mr. Thomson also mentioned an instance of the electric
power of this fish, which may be worth mentioning. He had a tame heron
which, having been taken young, had never had the opportunity of searching
for and choosing its food for itself It was fed with small fishes; and on one
occasion there happened to be a newly-caught electric fish among them,
which it*swallowed but immediately uttered aloud cry, and was thrown
backward. It soon recovered, but could never afterward be induced to dine
upon Malapterurus.

Among other interesting fish there is a species of Lophius, or Mud-fish,
which appears undescribed. The curious habits of this semi-amphibious
family, of crawling out of the water, using their fore-fins like legs, and then
sitting staring about with their great gogele eyes, is noticed as very marked
in this species. If placed in a basin, it will crawl up the side, and sit on the
edge looking about.

ZOOLOGY. 857

ON THE PRODUCTION OF LAC.

+

At a meeting of the English Asiatic Society, a communication on the habits
and uses of the lac insect, was made by General Briggs. The name of the
insect is said to have been derived from the well-known Indian word lakh,
meaning, figuratively any very large amount, expressing the immense num-
ber comprising each community. The lecturer noticed, in a general way, the
several insects which had been known in Europe for twenty centuries, as pro-
ducing a red dye; but observed that the lac insect was certainly a different
creation. The insects are found upon and supported by a variety of trees.
All plants yielding a milky juice served them for food; and it not unfrequently
happens that large trees are destroyed by swarms of these insects settling
upon them. The natives of India, in collecting the lac, destroy the insect;
but Europeans, having found that its cells only are valuable, have devised
methods for collecting the products without destroying the producers. The
lac is found incrusted around branches or sticks, and is thence called stick-lac.
In this crude state it is sold by the collectors at from a farthing to a half-
penny per lb. When separated from the resinous matter and pulverized, it
becomes seed-lac. Other processes convert it into lump, plate, and shell lae.
The preparation of lac for the London market is chiefly carried on in India by
Europeans; and its price varies from eleven pence to two shillings and two
pence per lb., according to the locality or factory from whence it comes. In
1809, the quantity imported into England was 40,600 Ibs.; but during the
last twenty years, the imports of lac-dye have increased 675 per cent., and of
the shell-lac 275 per cent. The stock on hand in 1854 was 3,300,280 lbs.
of lac-dye, and 2,358,750 lbs. of shell-lac. In India, as in England, it is used
as adye for producing a permanent red color, and also as a pigment and
varnish combined, which resists the effect of cold water, and does not wear
off. It is used, when colored with yellow orpiment, for making bracelets,
chains, and other ornaments, which are scarcely distinguishable in appear-
ance from gold. Lac was first introduced into England in the shape of seal-
ing-wax. As a dye, it produces a color equal to cochineal, and is less liable
to change from wet; so that it is now extensively used in the dyeing of red-
cloth. It produces also the color called by artists lac-lake. Shell-lac, dis-
solved in naphtha, is largely employed by hatters in forming the frame or base
of the hat. It enters largely into all varnishes and French polish; but one
of its most important uses is in the production of Mr. Jeffrey’s valuable dis-
covery called marine glue, which consists of a mixture of shell-lac and caout-
choue dissolved in naphtha. Here then was an Indian product, which but a
few years ago was unknown in England, but is now an article of very great
importance. How many more articles of value produced in our Indian
dominions may still be hidden from us, it is impossible to say; but it is to be
hoped that the ignorance which still exists respecting them will soon be dis-
pelled, and that improved communications, and greater intercourse with the
people of that country, will make known to us other productions valuable
alike to us and to them. In the course of the lecture, General Briggs took

358 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

occasion to state that the lacquered or japanned goods of China, Japan,
Borneo, ete., are not manufactured, as is generally supposed, from the produc-
tions of the lac insect, but from a vegetable production—a liquor obtained by
making incisions in the bark of certain trees.

ON THE OPATE INDIAN, OR “BEAR-WOMAN.”

At arecent meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, Dr. Kneeland
read the following paper, on a so-called Opate Indian, exhibited in Boston, in
September, 1855:—

This girl, who is 22 years of age, 4 feet 6 inches in height, and of the
weight of 112 lbs., is probably a member of some Indian tribe inhabiting the
Sierra Madre Mountains; these mountains run for the most part parallel to
the Gulf of California, through the Mexican States of Sonora and Cinaloa;
their distance from the sea varies from 200 to 50 miles, and in the neighbor-
hood of Mazatlan they come still nearer to the coast. This girl has been
called an Opaie Indian; if she belong to this tribe, she is from the central
part of Sonora. It has also been stated that she was obtained from the
Sierra Madre Mountains in Cinaloa, in the neighborhood of Copula. This is,
however, of little consequence, as the girl, without doubt, belongs to some
one of the Indian tribes between the Sierra Madre Mountains and the Gulf of
California, in the Mexican provinces of Sonora and Cinaloa; and whatever
may be the particular tribe of a scattered race which may claim her, she is
just as much a curious, rare and interesting specimen of humanity.

As to her tribe living in caves, in a naked state, on an equality with brutes,
and partaking of their food, that would degrade her to a level with the Digger
Indians of California, who, though very degraded, are yet far above the brutes.
The locality of the Digger Indians is several degrees further north than the
Sierra Madre range. This resemblance to the brute is mentioned, as the
popular belief seems to-be in her case, as in the Aztec children, that she is a
specimen of a race, half human and half brute.

The girl is modest, playful in her disposition, pleased with playthings, like
a child, and at times rather hard to manage from her obstinacy and impulsive
character. She is quite intelligent, understands perfectly every thing said to
her, can converse in English, and also in Spanish; she has a good ear for
music, and can sing tolerably well; she can also sew remarkably well; she is
very fond of ornament and dress. Her appearance is far less disgusting than
the representations of her; the enormous growth of hair on the face, and the
prominence of the lips from diseased gums, give her a brutish appearance.
Her hair is long, very thick, black and straight, like that of the American
Indian; the hair, of the same color and character, grows on the forehead
quite to the eyebrows, varying from one half to an inch in length, having
been partially cut off in the middle of the forehead: the eye-brows are very
thick and shaggy, and the lashes remarkably long: the hair also grows along
the sides and alce of the nose, upper lip, cheeks and about the ears, which
are large and with very large lobes: the chin is also well supplied with a
black fine beard or goatee, two or three inches long: the arms are hairy for a

ZOOLOGY. 859

woman, though not for a man; on other parts of the body there can be said
to be no unusual growth of hair. There is a great mammary development. I
have measured her head carefully, and it does not differ much from the aver-
age of these races as given by Dr. S. G. Morton.

Long, Par. Front, Inter m’stoid Occip, Frent Horizontal

Diam. Diam, Dian. arch, arch. Periphery,
Ordinary 6°7 in. 6 4-9 146 131 20
Opate 63 5d 42 185 15 20

» These measurements are somewhat approximative, as the integuments over
the skull are preternaturally thick; she has, therefore, a well-proportioned
though small brain, and is capable of considerable cultivation. This head
varies somewhat from that of an American Indian: there is no characteristi¢e
prominence of the vertex, no flatness of the occiput or forehead, no want of
symmetry in the two sides: the shape of the cheeks and the complexion is
hardly Indian. The space between the orbits is large, the eyes are very black
and piercing; there is no obliquity to be noticed as in the Mongol. The nose
is flat, quite unlike the aquiline nose of the Indian, and yet not like that of the
Negro. The mouth is very large, and the lips prominent and rather thick; the
gums are in a curious condition, being swelled all round so as to rise above
and conceal the teeth; they are not sensitive, and so hard as to allow her to
crack hard nuts with them; the growth in the upper jaw is chiefly hyper-
trophy of the bone, and in the lower jaw principally a disease of the gum
resembling ‘“‘ vegetations.” The molars, bicuspids, and canines are normal,
though the latter are imbedded in the abnormal gum, while the back teeth are
behind it; she is said never to have had incisors, but that must be an error,
as she has the stump of one even now in the upper jaw, and there is no reason
to believe that she had not the normal number; this condition of the gums
might readily cause the loss of the exposed front teeth, while the back teeth
might remain sound. She has a decided chin which would indicate ler hu-
manity if nothing else did. She has a well-formed arm, and a small symmet-
rical hand; she has also small feet. She is a perfect woman in every respect,
performing all the fanctions of women regularly and naturally.

She is evidently human, and nothing but human; she is quite unlike the
mixed African. Is she an American Indian? It may be here remarked that
her complexion, soft skin, hair, and shape of the head, face, and nose, remind
one more of an Asiatic than an American type; her disposition, too, is
mild and playful, her manners gentle and communicative, differing from the
sullen, taciturn, and forbidding ways of the Indian. It is well known that
some authorities maintain that the California Indians are of Asiatic origin—
Malays who have been thrown in some way on the American shore from the
Pacific Islands. The notion also prevails among many of the tribes bordering
on the Gulf of California (among the Ceris for instance), that they are of Asi-
atic origin. This girl seems either of Asiatic origin, or of Asiatic and Ameri-
can Indian mixed. She is no specimen ofa degenerate race, but an exceptional
specimen, such as occurs not unfrequently in all races. Hairy women have
lived before ber without any suspicion of brute paternity. The conformation

3860 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

of her mouth, in so far as it is abnormal, is more likely the result of disease
than a character of a tribe. The causes of these peculiarities must be sought
for among those which modify the products of conception and impress various
fancied or real animal or vegetabie resemblances upon the foetus in utero; and
which, in some inexplicable way, seem to arrest or modify animal develop-
ment.

THE HUMAN RETINA.

In a memoir read before the Academy of Sciences, September 26, 1854, by
Kolliker and H. Muller, they announce some important investigations relative
to the structure, the connection, and the probable function of the different
parts of the retina, They describe the following layers: 1. Rods and cones.
2. Nucleiform bodies. 3. Gray substance. 4. Expansion of the optic nerve.
5. Limiting membrane. Passing over the last, it has been discovered by
Kolliker that the expansion of the optic nerve is interrupted atthe macula
lutea, which exhibits no trace of nerve-fibers, while the nerve-cells form there
a very thick layer of 9 to 12 superimposed rows. In other parts the termina-
tion of the nerve-fibers of the retina directly in the nerve-cells has been
fully confirmed, the fibers becoming continuous with the processes, 1 to 6
in number, which these cells present, resembling entirely the prolongations
of the ganglionic corpuscles of the brain and nervous ganglia. The nerve-fibers
may, therefore, be said to originate from the nerve-cells. The cones (hitherto
imperfectly described) are thicker and shorter than the rods, on the inner part
of which they are placed; they present externally a prolongation resembling
a short rod; they are pretty regularly set, and at the macula lutea, where the
rods are entirely wanting, the cones are abundant and form a continuous
layer. From the internal part of each cone and rod there proceeds a fiber
which passes through all the layers of the retina, and becomes lost on the
inner surface of the limiting membrane. These fibers, first observed by H.
Muller in animals, are in relation with the nucleiform bodies; they have been
named “fibres radiares,” and are probably of great importance in regard to
the functions of the retina.

From their observations the authors conclude that the nerve-fibers of the
retina do not serve for the objective perception of light, because they are de-
ficient at the macula lutea, where vision is acute, and because the optic nerve
itself is insensible of luminous impressions. It is improbable that the nerve-
cells, or nucleiform bodies which exist in several superimposed rows, can give
rise to any very exact visual impression. The cones and rods remain, there-
fore, as the most likely parts to receive the impression of light, of which the
Mosaic-like disposition would render the sensation as defmite and exact as
possible. The authors, however, have not completely demonstrated the con-
nection by which such impressions could be transmitted to the fibers of the
optic nerve; but they suppose that this communication takes place, 1st, by
means of the radiary fibers, which connect the cones with the nucleiform
bodies. 2d. By means of the processes of the nucleiform bodies, which be-
coming continuous with the external processes of the nerve-cells, would com-

- ZOOLOGY. 361

plete the communication from the nucleiform bodies to the nerve-fibers of the
retina. However this may be, the authors conclude that the nerve-cells are
the organs for the direct sensation of light, either immediately or by the inter-
vention of the cones, rods, and radiary fibers; that these cells form a true
ganglion or nervous center, and that the optic nerve serves merely to transmit
the sensations from the center to the organ of intelligence and consciousness,

OBSERVATIONS ON THE STRUCTURE OF HAIR,

Mr. Browne, of Philadelphia, well known for his researches and theories on
the constitution of animal hair, has applied his theory to the question whether
the people whose remains are found in the mounds are identical with the ex-
isting race of American Indians. His conclusion is, that they are, which he
founds upon the identity of form between the horizontal sections of the hair
of the former and that of hundreds of specimens of the latter.

Mr. Browne divides the hair of the human family into the cylindrical, the
oval, and the eccentrically elliptical, as characterizes the various races. Mr.
Browne has examined the hair of the mummy of a young American Indian,
supposed to be a female of about ten years old, from Pachacarnack, Temple of
the Sun, five leagues from Lima, South America. This cemetery has not been
used since the Spanish conquest, previously to which (according to Herrera) it
was kept sacred for the nobles and other dignitaries of Peru. The hair of
this Indian, which is in good preservation, is cylindrical, diameter 1-364 of an
inch. Mr. Browne has also examined eight other ancient specimens of In:
dian pile, and finds similar results.

On the other hand, he has submitted to the most critical investigation the
hairs found upon the mummies of Egypt and Thebes, and has found them to
be oval, without a solitary exception.

These observations of Mr. Browne bear upon the very interesting question
in ethnology, as to the origin of the aboriginal inhabitants of America. Pro-
vided the hair theory be true, the favorite doctrine with many, that the In-
dians of this continent are descended from the Asiatics, must be false.

ON THE OVA OF THE SALMON.

A paper has been presented to the Royal (English) Society by Mr. Hogg,
on the “External Membrane of the Unimpregnated and Impregnated Ova
of the Salmon.” Mr. Hogg commences by mentioning the opinions which sev-
eral authors and physiologists hold with regard to the penetration, by the fe-
cundating principle of the milt of the male salmon, the semen of the common
frog, rabbit, and other animals, through pores or cells, or even through a cleft
or aperture, in the exterior membrane or envelop of the ova of the females;
and then showed that the numerous spermatic animalcules, or spermatozoa,
which abound in the milt and liquor seminis of the males, constitute the sole
fecundating agents. With a view of ascertaining, if possible, the existence
of any pores or aperture in the external membrane of the ova of the salmon,
as well the unimpregnated as the impregnated, Mr. Hogg magnified portions

16

862 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

of their membranes under a good microscope, but was not able to perceive any
whatever, the membrane presenting a transparent plain tissue. He also ex-
amined some of the entire ova, contained in both phials, with a powerful lens,
without detecting any cleft or orifice, the absence of which, indeed, confirms
Mr. Newport’s careful examination of the envelops of the ovum of the frog.
Mr. Hogg concluded by stating that the latest discovery of this lamented
physiologist, which he made known on the 18th April of last year proved
that the spermatozoa do not reach the interior and yelk of the frog’s ovum by
any aperture in its envelop, but that they penetrate forcibly the very substance
of the envelop wherever they may come accidentally into contact with it.
This fact will also account for the non-appearance of any special pore, or cleft,
or orifice, in the enveloping membrane of the ova of the salmon.

SARDINES IN CALIFORNIA.

Myriads of sardines abound along the whole southern coast of California.
The bay of. Monterey has especially become famous for its abundance of this
small, but valuable fish. It is a matter of surprise that the taking and prep-
aration of this fish, which enters so largely into the commerce of the world,
has never been attended to as a source of revenue and profit there, to supply
the home demand, instead of importing, as is now done, some 8,000 or 9,000
cases.—Journal of the Society of Arts.

CURIOUS HABIT OF A CALIFORNIA WOODPECKER.

Mr. John Cassin, in his beautiful work on the birds of California and Texas,
notices a curious habit of a species of woodpecker from California, the Melan-
erpes formicivorus, of storing away a supply of food for the winter in holes
made for the purpose in the bark of trees. He says: “In the autumn this
species is busily engaged in digging small holes in the bark of the pines and
oaks, to receive acorns, one of which is placed in each hole, and is so tightly
fitted or driven in as to be with difficulty extracted. Thus the bark of a large
pine, forty or fifty feet high, will present the appearance of being studded with
brass nails, the heads only being visible. The acorns are thus stored in large
quantities, and serve not only the woodpecker in the winter season, but are
trespassed on by jays, mice, and squirrcls.

ON THE BIRDS OF THE UPPER AMAZON.

At a recent meeting of the London Zoological Society, Mr. Gould exhibited
to the meeting a portion of a collection of birds, formed by Mr. Hauxwell, in
a district lying on the eastern side of the. Peruvian Andes, in the neighbor-
hood of the river Ucayali, one of the tributaries of the Upper Amazon. Mr.
Gould observed that the exploration of this district had been one of the ear-
liest objects of his own ambition, but that, until within the last few years, no
naturalist had visited it. The splendid collection sent by Mr. Hauxwell, of
which the birds exhibited formed a part, fully bore out the anticipations en-

ZOOLOGY. 868

-tertained by Mr. Gould that, when explored, it would prove one of the richest
and most interesting ornithological districts with which we are acquainted.
Among the birds exhibited were some Cotingas, differing from the ordinary
species found in the lower countries of Brazil, and remarkable from the splen-
dor of their coloring, together with species of Phenicercus, Rhanphocelus, etc.,
of the most dazzling brilliancy. As a contrast to these Mr. Gould exhibited
a series of dull-colored birds (Thammophili), also contained in the collection,
and remarked that this striking difference in the coloration of birds inhabiting
the same locality was due almost entirely to their different degrees of expo-
sure to the sun’s rays; the brilliantly-colored species being inhabitants of the
edges of the forest, where they fly about among the highest branches of the
trees, while the others form a group of short-winged insectivorous birds,
which inhabit the low scrub in the heart of the dense humid jungle, where
the sun’s rays can rarely, if ever, penetrate. Mr. Gould also remarked that
the colors of the more brilliant species from the banks of the Ucayali, a dis-
trict situated toward the center of the South American continent, were far
more splendid than those of the species which represented them in countries
nearer to the sea; and from this circumstance he took occasion to observe
that birds from the central parts of continents always possess more brilliant
colors than those inhabiting insular or maritime situations. This rule applies
even to birds of the same species—the tits of central Europe being far
brighter in color than British specimens. Mr. Gould had observed a like differ-
ence between specimens of the same species inhabiting Van Diemen’s Land
and the Continent of Australia. He attributed this principally to the greater
density and cloudiness of the atmosphere in islands and maritime countries ;
and in further illustration of the influence of light upon color, he remarked
that the dyers of England can never produce tints equal in brilliancy to
those obtained by their continental rivals, and that they never attempt to
dye scarlet in cloudy weather.

NEW GENERIC TYPE OF FISHES,

At a meeting of the California Academy, February 26, 1855, Dr. Ayres
presented a specimen of a new generic type among fishes, which has been
named anarrhichthys occellatus Ayres. It has a very long body in proportion
to its thickness, being nineteen times the length of its greatest thickness, thus
resembling the eel, but in other respects it is very different. It is very rare;
only two specimens of it have yet been seen.

GEOGRAPHY AND ANTIQUITIES.

EXPLORATIONS IN CENTRAL AFRICA.

THE present age, says the New York Tribune, is emphatically the age of
geographical discovery. At no period since the days of Columbus and Cor-
tez has the thirst for exploration been more active and universal than now.
One by one the outposts of barbarism are stormed and carried; advanced
parallels are thrown up, and the besieging lines of knowledge, which, when
once established, can never be retaken, are gradually closing around the yet
unconquered mysteries of the globe. Within the last twenty-five years all
the principal features of the geography of our own vast interior regions have
been accurately determined; the great fields of Central Asia have been tra-
versed in various directions, from Bokhara and the Oxus to the Chinese Wall;
the half-known river-systems of South America have been explored and sur-
veyed; the icy continent around the Southern Pole has been discovered; the
North-western Passage—the ignus-fatuus of nearly two centuries—is at last
found ; the Dead Sea is stripped of its fabulous terrors, the course of the
Niger is no longer a myth, and the sublime secret of the Nile is almost
wrested from his keeping. The Mountains of the Moon, sought for through
two thousand years, have been beheld by a Caucasian eye; an English
steamer has ascended the Chadda to the frontiers of the great Kingdom of
Bornou; Leichardt and Sturt have penetrated the wilderness of Australia ;
the Russians have descended from Irkoutsk to the mouth of the Amoor; the
antiquated walis of Chinese prejudice have been cracked and are fast tum-
bling down, and the canvas screens which surround Japan have been cut by
the sharp edge of American enterprise. Such are the principal results of
modern exploration. What quarter of a century, since the form of the earth
and the boundaries of its land and water were known, can exhibit such a list
of achievements ?

Of all the more recent schemes of exploration none approaches in interest
and importance the expedition to Central Africa, which has now been carried
on for nearly six years under the combined patronage of the English and
Prussian governments. Notices of the progress of this expedition have from
time to time been given to the public. Piece by piece, with long inter-
vals between, the story of its difficulties, its dangers, its defeats, and successes
has been transmitted across the Sahara, from whose further bourn so few

GEOGRAPHY AND ANTIQUITIES. 865

travelers return, and for a long time its final fate seemed to hang by a thread
which the slightest chance might snap. One after one the intrepid explorers
sickened and died, and when, a year ago, it was reported that Dr. Barth, the
last remaining member of the original company, had been murdered in Tim-
buctoo, the world was almost ready to believe that the Central African secret
was but a lure to tempt brave men to their destruction.

But the truth is, this expedition seems destined to become the turning point
in the history of African exploration. After much disaster, it is at last suc-
cessful beyond all expectation. On the morning of the 8th of September Dr.
Barth landed at Marseilles, precisely five years and nine months after his de-
parture from that port in 1849, on his way to Tripoli to join Mr. Richardson,
who had command of the expedition. The intervening period contains a
history of greater peril and privation, greater hazards, and more wonderful
escapes, greater disappointments and more complete triumphs, than has ever
fallen to the lot of any African traveler. As the return of Dr. Barth may be
looked upon as the termination of the original expedition, notwithstanding
Dr. Vogel still remains to attempt further discoveries, we proceed to give a
brief outline of what it has accomplished.

The undertaking originated with Mr. James Richardson, who had previously
explored the northern part of the Sahara. In the summer of 1849 he re-
ceived a commission from the British Government to visit Central Africa on a
political and commercial mission. Drs. Barth aud Overweg, who were highly
recommended by Humboldt, Ritter, and Encke, volunteered to accompany
him, the former as antiquarian and philologist, the latter as naturalist, on con-
dition that the British Government should defray their expenses. Their offer
was accepted, and an appropriation of $4,000 made for them, in addition to
which they received $3,000 from the Geographical Society of Berlin, the
King of Prussia and other sources. The explorers met at Tripoli, where they
were delayed some time for the purpose of having a boat constructed for the
navigation of Lake Tsad. Finally, on the 30th of March, 1850, the party
started, comprising a caravan of forty camels, with which they joined the
great semi-annual caravan to Bornou.

On the 6th of May they reached Mourzuk, the capital of Fezzan, where
they were obliged to await the arrival of a chief of the Tuarick tribe, who
was to escort them to Ghat. Instead of following the caravan route from
Mourzuk to Central Africa by way of Bilma, they determined to proceed
from Ghat in a south western direction through the unknown kingdom of
Air or Ashen, which had never been visited by Europeans. Dr. Barth, in at-
tempting to explore a group of hills near Ghat, called Kasr Djenovn, or the
Palace of Demons, lost his way and remained twenty-eight hours in the des-
ert without water. His tortures were so great that he opened a vein and
drank his own blood. The Tuaricks considered his preservation miraculous,
as they had never known any one to survive more than twelve hours’ depri-
vation of water.

Leaving Ghat on the 25th of July they continued their journey southward
through unexplored deserts, and in a month reached the frontiers of Air.
Here, after being attacked by Tuaricks, threatened with death by the fanatical

366 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Moslem priests, who were determined that no infidels should pass through
their country, and exposed to demands for tribute from En-noor, the sultan
of the kingdom, they were obliged to remain for more than three months
awaiting a safe opportunity to proceed further. During this time Dr. Barth
made a journey to Agadez, the capital of Air, a city containing 8,000 inhabi-
tants, situated in a rich and beautiful valley. The entire kingdom contains a
population of 70,000. The climate is healthy for Europeans. The inhabit-
ants appear to be a branch of the Tuarick or desert tribe mingled with the
race of Soudan. They are tall and finely formed, and some of them are quite
European in features and complexion.

After a period of great uncertainty and anxiety, the travelers finally won
the good-will of Sultan En-noor, who escorted them over the remaining por-
tions of the desert into Soudan, on the borders of which they arrived on the
Ist of January, 1851. At the village of Tagelal, in the country of Damergou,
they separated, and, in order to explore as much of Soudan as possible, took
separate routes, making Kuka their place of rendezvous. Mr. Richardson
took the direct road, by way of Zinder, the capital of Damergou, while Dr.
Barth set out for Kashna and Kano. Mr. Richardson remained nearly a
month at Zinder, and continued his journey, encountering no difficulties on
the way until the close of February, when he fell sick at a village called Un-
gurutua, only six days’ journey from Kuka. From his journal, which has
since been published, lie seems to have suffered severely from the heat and
the fatigue of travel. He never rallied, but gradually became weaker, and
died on the 4th of March. Dr. Barth did not hear of his death until the 25th
of that month. He immediately hastened to Ungurutua, and succeeded in
saving the papers of the lost leader, which were forwarded to England, and
have since been published.

Dr. Barth, on whom the management of the expedition now devolved,
hastened on to Kuka, where he arrived on the 2d of April. He was very
hospitably received by the Sultan, and received a loan of $100 from the viz-
ier, without which aid he would have been greatly embarrassed, as the expe-
dition was completely disorganized and its means almost exhausted. Dr.
Overweg, who had undertaken to explore Gaber and Mariadi, two independ-
ent pagan countries, in the direction of Sackatoo, was kindly received by the
natives, who are a cross between the Tuaricks and the negro races. He spent
two months in their countries and obtained much valuable information respect-
ing them. He proceeded to Kuka by way of Zinder, and finally rejoined Dr.
’ Barth on the 7th of May.

The two travelers immediately began to prepare for further explorations.
Dr. Barth, while on his way from Kano to Kuka, received accounts of a large
kingdom to the south, called Adamawa, which was said to be the most beau-
tiful portion of Central Africa. After much hesitation, the Sultan of Bornou
gave him a letter to Adamawa, and furnished him with a captain and three
men as escort. He started on the 29th of May, and traveled southward for
three weeks over broad, fertile plains, and through forests infested with lions
and elephants. On entering the kingdom of Adamawa he found the country
very thickly populated, the inhabitants possessing large herds of cattle. The

GEOGRAPHY AND ANTIQUITIES. 367

cultivation of the soil is carried on by slaves, who greatly outnumber the free
inhabitants; there was no person so poor as to have less than three or four.
On the 18th of June Dr. Barth discovered the great river Benué, at its junc-
tion with an affluent called the Faro. The name signifies the “ Mother of
Waters,” and the stream is half a mile wide, and nine feet deep in the chan-
nel. Dr. Barth conjectured that this river was in reality the Chadda, the
eastern arm of the Niger—an opinion which has since been confirmed by
actual exploration.

On the 22d of June he reached Yola, the capital of Adamawa, a town two
miles and a half in length by one and a half in breadth. It is situated on a
level plain, at the foot of the mountain Alantika, which rises to the height of
10,000 feet. The sultan, whose name was Mohammed Hoel, having taken
offense at some expressions in the letter of the Sultan of Bornou, Dr. Barth
was ordered to leave the place, after a stay of three days. He returned by
the same route, and reached Kuka on the 22d of July. During his absence,
’ Dr. Overweg launched the boat of the expedition on the waters of Lake Tsad,
and employed five weeks in exploring the islands and shores. He found it
to be about 80 miles in breadth, but very shallow, the soundings ranging be-
tween 8 and 15 feet. The greater portion of the lake is occupied by a vast
labyrinth of small islands, inhabited by a tribe called the Biddumas, who treated
the explorer with the greatest kindness.

After the return of Dr. Barth, the travelers planned an excursion to Kanem
and Borgon—an unexplored country lying to the north-east of Lake Tsad, and
extending midway to Egypt. They obtained the protection of an Arab tribe,
and had almost reached the capital of Kanem, when the Tibboos fell upon the
Arabs and defeated them—obliging the travelers to retreat in haste. They
returned to Kuka after two months’ absence, and found the sultan preparing
to send an army to subjugate Mandara, a country lying to the south-east of
Bornou. They immediately resolved to take part in the campaign, which
lasted from the 25th of November to the lst of February, 1852. The army,
consisting of 20,000 men, penetrated to the distance of two hundred miles in
a south-eastern direction, and returned with a booty of.5,000 siaves and
10,000 head of cattle. The country was very level, and abounded with
marshes.

The travelers immediately set about planning other explorations with an
energy as admirable as it is rare. Dr. Barth left Kuka toward the end of
March, and, after great difficulties and dangers, succeeded in reaching Masena,
the capital of Baghirmi, a powerful kingdom to the east of Bornou, which had
never before been visited by a European. He was not able to penetrate fur-
ther to the East, as had been his intention, but was obliged to return to Kuka,
where he arrived on the 20th of August. Dr. Overweg attempted to pene-
trate the great Fellatah kingdom of Yakoba, lying on the River Benué, but
was driven away from its frontier, and reached Kuka after an absence of two
months. His constitution, which was naturally ill-adapted to endure the
mid-African heats, began to give way, and after several attacks of weakness
and fever, he finally met the fate of Richardson. He died on the 27th of
September, 1852, in the arms of Dr. Barth, who buried him near the village of

868 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Maduari, on the shores of Lake Tsad, which he was the first European to
navigate.

Meantime letters and funds had arrived from England, and Dr. Barth, find-
ing his own health unimpaired, determined to carry on the undertaking single-
handed, regardless of the perils and privations that awaited him. He made
preparations to leave for Sackatoo and Timbuctoo, but first took the precau-
tion of forwarding all his papers to England. He finally left Kuka on the
25th of November, 1852, reached Sackatoo in April, 1853, and entered the
famous city of Timbuctoo on the 7th of September. After this nothing was
heard of him for a long time, and the most serious apprehensions were felt
concerning him. Word at last reached Tripoli, by way of Bornou, that he
had fallen a victim to the enmity of the chief of the desert tribes around Tim-
buctoo, who had sworn that he should never leave the city alive.

Previous to leaving Kuka he had written to the British Government re-
questing that another coadjutor might be sent out, to supply the loss of Dr.
Overweg. Dr. Edward Vogel, an assistant of Mr. Hind, the astronomer, vol-
unteered his services, which were accepted, and he was also permitted to take
two volunteers from the corps of sappers and miners. This new party left
Tripoli on the 28th of June, 1853, accompanied by Mr. Warrington, son of
the English consul at that place. They reached Mourzuk on the 8th of Au-
gust, and were obliged to remain there until the 13th of October, when they
started for Boruou with a caravan of 70 camels. The march across the Sa-
hara was very rapid and fortunate, and in December they arrived safely at
Kuka. The next news which reached England, and which immediately fol-
lowed the account of the murder of Dr. Barth, was the death of Mr. Warring-
ton and the dangerous illness of Dr. Vogel. The Expedition seemed to be
fated, in every way.

After some months of painful uncertainty, came the joyful intelligence that
Dr. Barth was still alive and had left Timbuctoo, after a stay of nearly a
year. The report of his death had been invented by the Vizier of Bornou,
who coveted the supplies belonging to the Expedition, and who would no
doubt have taken measures to have the story confirmed, for the sake of secur-
ing the plunder, had he not been deposed in consequence of a political revo-
lution in Bornou. What happened to Dr. Barth during his stay at Timbuctoo
has not yet been made known, but it is said that he owed his safety to the
friendship of the powerful Sultan of Houssa. He succeeded in exploring the
whole middle course of the Kowara (Niger), which no one but the lamented
Park, whose journals perished with him, ever accomplished. In his journey-
ings in those regions, he discovered two large kingdoms, Gando and Hamd-
Allahi, the very names of which were before unknown. He was treated with
the greatest reverence by the inhabitants, who bestowed upon him the name
of “ Modibo,” and seemed to consider him as a demi-god. He reached Kano,
on his return, on the 17th of October last, and on the 1st of December met
Dr. Vogel, his associate—the first white man he had seen for more than two
years! He probably spent the winter in Kuka, and started in March or April
on his return to Europe, as we find that he reached Mourzuk on the 20th of
July. Dr. Barth is not yet thirty-five years of age, and with the boundless

GEOGRAPHY AND ANTIQUITIES. 869

energy of an explorer, intends returning to Central Africa. He stands now,
indisputably, at the head of all African travelers.

The discovery of the River Benué led to another expedition to the Niger
last winter, under the direction of Mr. Macgregor Laird, who defrayed the
greater part of the expense. The steamer Pleiad ascended the Niger to the
Chadda, entered that river, and extended her voyage 250 miles beyond the
point reached by Allen and Oldfield in 1833.. This voyage established: the
fact that the Chadda and Benué are one and the same river—a river which is
navigable for steamboats to the very borders of Bornou, for six mon.hs in the
year. Here-is a highway for commerce into the very heart of Africa. A re-
markable feature of the voyage was, that not one of all who engaged in it
died, a result which was entirely owing to careful sanitary regulations.

Dr. Vogel, after his recovery, imitated Barth and Overweg in accompanying
the army of Bornou on its annual foray to the south-east in search of slaves
and cattle. He went about ninety miles beyond the furthest point reached
by his predecessors, and discovered a large lake and two or three rivers, the
existence of which was not previously known. The last accounts from Cen-
tral Africa state that he has succeeded in reaching Yakaba, the capital of the
great Fallatah kingdom, which Dr. Overweg endeavored in vain to penetrate.
He designs going thence into Adamawa, where he will ascend the great
mountain Alantika, and push his way further, if possible, into the countries of
Tibati and Baya, lying beyond. He will also endeavor to penetrate through
Baghirmi into the unknown and powerful kingdom of Weeday. It is almost_
too much to expect that Dr. Vogel will be successful in all these daring de-
signs, but he has youth, enthusiasm, and intelligence on his side, and there
are few difficulties which these three auxiliaries will not overcome.

We learn, also, from South Africa, that Mr: C. J. Anderson has succeeded
in penetrating from Walwich Bay, on the western coast, to the great Lake
N’gami, discovered four years ago by Dr. Livingston. He there heard of the
existence of a large town called Liberbe, nineteen days’ journey to the north-
east, which was said to be a great place of trade. Dr. Livingston, who made
his way northward from the Cape of Good Hope to latitude 10° south, came
down unexpectedly on the Portuguese town of Loanda last winter, and then
went back into the wilderness, will probably come to light again in another
year, and we shall then have the result of the most important exploration of
the southern half of the African continent which has ever been made. There .
now remains but a belt of fifteen degrees of latitude to be traversed to enable
the explorers of the north to shake hands with the explorers of the south.
In less than twenty years their trails will touch, and the secret of Africa be
won!

ON THE CUNEiFORM INSCRIPTIONS OF ASSYRIA AND BABYLONTA,

The following is an abstract of a paper on the above subject read before
the British Association by Colonel Rawlinson, well known for his Asiatic
researches. He began by saying he feared the vastness, as well as to a great
extent the novelty, of the subject would prevent him doing it any thing like

16*

“ia

870 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

justice, in the very limited time he had at his disposal. The excavations
which had been carried on in Assyria and Babylonia, had been continued
through six or seven years—they had ranged over tracts of country 1,000
miles in extent—the marbles excavated would be sufficient to load three or
four ships, and the historical information contained in them would exceed ten
thousand volumes in clay. Of course, in dealing with such a subject he
could only select a portion of it—and even of that he could only communicate
the heads. The part to which he wished to direct their attention was the
Cuneiform Inscriptions. This phrase merely signified the wedge-shaped form
of writing, and was not employed in any particular language or by one par-
ticular nation. The cuneiform system of letters was a species of picture-writ-
ing, invented, not by the Semitic inhabitants of Babylon, but by those who
preceded them. This writing was, however, reduced by the Semitic race to
letters, and adapted to the articulation of their language. Their mode of
writing consisted of several elements. There was the ideographic, or picture-
writing, and the phonetic, which was equivalent to the alphabet of their
language. He had been fortunately able to obtain among the ruins of Nineveh
a tablet which actually exhibited the several developments of this system of
writing into a regular alphabet. The Cuneiform Inscriptions were divided
into three branches—Persian, Scythic, and Assyrian;—and it was on the
third of these that he wished to say a few words. He then proceeded to ex-
plain how the decipherment of these inscriptions had been obtained. About
twenty years ago his attention had been directed to a series of inscriptions in
cuneiform characters on a rock at Behisttin, near Kermaixhah. The tablet
was divided into three compartments, giving three different versions of the
same inscription, and on the simplest of these, the Persian, he set to work,
and found by comparing it with the two others that they corresponded, with
the exception of two or three groups, from which, on further investigation, he
made out—Hystaspes, Darius, and Xerxes. By means of these proper names
he obtained an insight into the Persian alphabet, and by analyzing the names
of the ancestors of Darius and Hystaspes, and obtaining a list of the tributary
provinces of Persia he managed to form the alphabet. This was, however,

_but the first step; the great object being to decipher the Assyrian inscription,

and this could only be done by comparing it with the Persian. The tablet
was situated on the face of the rock, 500 feet from the ground, with a preci-
pice above it of 1,200 feet, and, in order to reach it, it was necessary to stand
on the top rung of a ladder placed almost perpendicular. Nor was this all,
for there was still the Babylonian to be copied, and it was engraved on the
overhanging ledge of rock, which there was no means of reaching but by
fastening tent-pegs into the rock, hanging a rope from one to the other, and
while thus swinging in mid-air, copying the inscription. An insight into the
system of writing being thus obtained, the fortunate discovery of the ruins of
Nineveh furnished a great mass of documents to which it might be applied.
Wherever they had found-tamuli, or any appearance of a ruin, trenches were

\ sunk, galleries opened, and in almost every case they came upon the remains

of inscribed tablets. Whether it was the king who wished to issue a bulletin,
a shopkeeper to make up his accounts, the same process had to be gone -

\
\
\
\

GEOGRAPHY AND ANTIQUITIES. 871

through of stamping it on clay tablets. The decipherment of these inscriptions
led to important results in an ethnological point of view, both as indicating
the race to which the writers belonged, and affording important information
with reference to the habitat of races and their migrations. Among the many
points which they were now enabled satisfactorily to settle, he alluded to the
connection between the Turanian and Hamic families, and to the occupation
of Western Asia by the Scythic, and not the Semiticrace. He also mentioned
that from the inscriptions he believed it could be shown that the Queen of
Sheba came from Idumea. As to the advantages conferred on geography by
these discoveries, he would not attempt to give in detail the ramifications of
geographical knowledge which had been thus obtained. He would proceed
to the most interesting and important branch of the subject, the historical.
An erroneous impression was at one time in circulation that the information ob-
tained from the inscriptions was adverse to Scripture. But so much was it the
reverse of this, that if they were to draw up a scheme of chronology from the
inscriptions, without having seen the statements of the Scriptures, they would
find it coincide on every important point. The excavations at Chaldea fur-
nished them with inscriptions showing the names of the kings, their parentage,
the gods they worshiped, the temples they built, the cities they founded, and
many other particulars of their reign. He then mentioned some circumstances
with reference to the mound at Birs-Nimroud, which he had recently uncoy-
ered, and which he found laid out in the form of seven terraces. These were
arranged in the order in which the Chaldeans or Sabeans supposed the planet-
ary spheres were arranged, and each terrace being painted in different colors,
in order to represent its respective planet. Another curious circumstance
with reference to this excavation was the discovery of the documents inclosed
in this temple. From the appearance of the place, he was enabled at once to
say in what part they were placed, and on opening the wall at the place he
indicated, his workmen found two fine cylinders. He also mentioned another
small ivory cyiinder which he had discovered, and round which were engraved
mathematical figures, so small that they could hardly be seen with the naked
eye, and which could not have been engraved without the aid of a very
strong lens. In concluding, he said that before the British Association met
next year, he hoped to be able to bring before them the decipherment of
several highly important inscriptions.

DR. KANE’S ARCTIC EXPEDITION.

The return of Dr. Kane’s Arctic Expedition may be said to close the event-
ful history of modern Arctic exploration, commenced by the dispatch of Sir .
John Franklin’s Expedition in 1845.

The expedition of Dr. Kane sailed from New York on the 21st of May,
1853. It consisted of the brig ‘‘ Advance,” which carried seventeen persons,
including the officers, and provisions for three years. The ostensible object
was to search for Sir John Franklin by a new route along the west coast of
Greenland, passing through Smith’s Sound, and, if possible, into a Polar Sea,
which was supposed to exist to the north. Great success attended the Ex-

st2 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

pedition during the first summer. The party reached the headland of Smith's
Sound as early as the 6th of August, 1853, when further progress became
difficult on account of the great accumulation of ice. The vessel was, how-
ever, warped through the pack, and the Expedition finally gained the north-
ern face of Greenland, at a point never before reached. Here the ice froze
around the vessel, and compelled them to seek a winter asylum, in which
they experienced a degree of cold much below any previous registration.
Whisky froze in November, and for four months in the year the mercury
was solid daily. In the ensuing spring the search was commenced, Dr.
Kane heading a party in March, along the north coast of Greenland, which
was followed until progress became arrested by a stupendous glacier. This
mass of ice rose in lofty grandeur to a height of 500 feet abutting into the sea.
It, undoubtedly, is the only obstacle to the insularity of Greenland, or in
other words, the only barrier between Greenland and the Atlantic. It is,
however, an effectual barrier to all future explorations. This glacier, in spite
of the difficulties of falling bergs, was followed out to sea, the party rafting
themselves across open water spaces upon masses of ice. In this way they
succeeded in traveling eighty miles along its base, and traced it into a new
northern land.

The explorations of the Expedition, as described by Dr. Kane in a letter to
Mr. Peabody of London, ‘embraced the entire shores of Smith’s Sound, and a
new channel expanding from its north eastern curve into an open Polar Sea.
This great watercourse embraced an area of 3,000 square miles entirely free
from ice. It washed a bold and mountainous coast, which has been charted
as high as latitude 82° 30’. Smith’s Sound terminates in an extensive bay,
which bears your name, and the coast of Greenland, after being followed
until it faces the north, was found cemented to the coast of America by a stu-
pendous glacier which checked our further progress toward the Atlantic.”

The land attached to Greenland by ice has been named “ Washington,”
and that to the north and west of the channel leading out of Smith’s Sound,
“Grinnel.” The second winter was one of great suffering—scurvy attacked
the party, and at one time every man of the Expedition, except Dr. Kane
and Mr. Bonsell were laid up by this disease. To aggravate their misfortunes
there was a deficiency of fuel, and they were even obliged to adopt the habits
of the Esquimaux and live upon raw walrus flesh. As it was impossible to
disengage the ship from her ice-bound position, it was resolved to abandon
her, and on the 17th of May, 1855, the party commenced their journey to the
south in boats and sledges, and finally arrived on the 6th of August at the
North Danish settlements in Greenland, having traveled 1,300 miles.

Le ee

ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY.

NEW PLANETS DISCOVERED DURING THE YEAR 1855.

THE number of planetary bodies belonging to the solar system has been
increased during the year 1855 by the discovery of four new asteroids. The
whole number at the commencement of the year was thirty-three, the present
number thirty-seven.

The thirty-fourth asteroid was discovered by Chacornac, of the Paris Ob-
servatory, on the night of the 6th of April. It appears as a star of the
eleventh magnitude, and has received the ‘name of Circe.

The thirty-fifth member of the asteroidal group was discovered on the 19th
of April, by M. Luther, of Bilk, Germany. It has received the name of
Leucothea.

The thirty-sixth asteroid was discovered by M. Goldschmidt, of Paris, on
the 4th of October. It has received the name of Atalanta.

The thirty-seventh asteroid was discovered by M. Luther, of Bilk, on the
5th of October, and has received the name of Fides.

COMETS OF 1855.

The first comet of 1855 was discovered by M. Dieu, of the Paris Observa-
tory.

The second was seen by Dr. Schweitzer, of Moscow, on the 11th of April.

The third comet was discovered at Florence, June 3d, by Dr. Donati. It
was also seen the next day at Gottingen and at Paris. Dr. Donati was unable
to detect any nucleus or tail, and estimated it as fainter than the nebulz in
Hercules.

Meteoric Appearances of 1855.—The periodical visitation of meteors occurred
during the past year much as usual. The observations at New Haven, on
the night of August 9th, as recorded by Mr. E. C. Herrick, were 385; August
10th, 290; llth, 95; 12th, 36. About four fifths of those observed were
conformable to the usual apparent radiant, or point of divergence, near the
cluster in the sword-handle of Perseus.

374. ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ON THE ZODIACAL LIGHT.

The following is a paper on the Zodiacal Light, read before the American
Association, Providence Meeting, by Reverend George Jones, U.S. N.:

Only some vague notices of the zodiacal light occur in ancient authors be-
fore it is distinctly and briefly mentioned by Chauldry, in 1661. It was first
carefully observed by Cassini, an Italian by birth, at the Observatory of Paris.
He thought it an emanation of the sun. His associate, Tacio, thought it a
ring around the sun. Miran, in 1731, thought it an atmosphere connected
with the sun. In all subsequent speculations no new observations after Cas-
sini’s were used till 1832. In 1844 Biot observed that the nodes of the zodi-
acal light did coincide with those of the earth, and suggested that it might be
more local than had been supposed. He found that it gave much more heat
than the tail of a comet did. No observations had been made previous to
those of Mr. Jones except in northern latitudes. These were made at sea
on a voyage to China. The zodiacal light appears best when it is on the
ecliptic. When at the summer solstice and on the tropic of Capricorn the
zodiacal light was visible from 11 to 1 in both horizons at once with their
apices approaching each other. In the center of the zodiacal light is a con-
densed part with a boundary of its own. On this voyage, January 31, 1854,
at Loochoo, he first noticed the pulsations of intensity in the space of a min-
ute or two that it exhibits on some occasions. He made 331 sets of observa-
tions. He found that if by the revolution of the earth he receded from the
ecliptic, the zodiacal light moved a little in the same direction, and vice versa.

Mr. Jones then stated that the following facts he had noticed could be ex-
plained by one supposition, viz., that of a nebulous ring surrounding the earth;
the following are the results of his observations:

1. This light can not be from any body involving us in its matter, else we
could not get boundaries to it any more than we could to a mass of fog or a
column of smoke in which we were involved. We must be apart from it in
order to get bounds.

2. It can not be from a planetary nebulous body revolving around the sun,
but must be from a nebulous ring; for it is to be seen every morning and
evening in the year, when the moon or clouds do not interfere, which could
not be the case were it any thing else than an unbroken ring.

3. If a ring, with the sun for its center, it can not be within the orbit of
our globe, for then it could not be seen simultaneously over the eastern and
western horizon at midnight, the spectator’s horizon then extending far above
it on either side; nor could its vertex ever be in the spectator’s zenith, or
indeed any great distance above his horizon, which is contrary to facts.

4. Is it a solar ring extending beyond the earth? On this subject I must
refer to the data afforded by these observations, for it is only from facts
that we are able to argue in the case. Any one examining these data will
see, I think, that the Jaleral changes from hour to hour in the boundaries
of the zodiacal light especially toward the horizon, could not have taken
place in a ring so distant as a solar ring would have been at the point where

ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 875

reached by the horizon. There is also in almost all these lateral changes a
striking coincidence between the character and extent of the change and the
change of place of the spectator with regard to the ecliptic. If I was on the
southern side of the ecliptic, though my left itself might be north, the lateral
changes were in the southern side of the zodiacal light; if I was on the north
of the ecliptic these lateral changes were on the northern side of the zodiacal
light. If in the course of four or five hours, the earth’s rotation carried me
from the southern to the northern side of the ecliptic or the opposite, the zo-
diacal light changed with me, its lateral boundaries shaping themselves accord-
ing to my change of place. This was not always the case, but it was the
general fact. When I was far in southern latitudes the greater mass of the
zodiacal light, instead of being on the northern side of the ecliptic as here,
had shifted over to the south; and as we came from Rio to New York, as
rapidly as steam could carry us, the mass of light came with us to the north
once more; still, however, in its varying positions having a reference to my
position with regard to the ecliptic. I ask, supposing that the zodiacal light
is from a solar ring, which would make the base of its light at its first and
last appearance, nearly or quite 180,000,000 miles off, would that light at its
base show such changes as it actually does in half an hour or an hour, when the
spectator’s place on the earth has been so slightly changed? I have taken a
few of my observations, and have submitted them to calculation, not making
much of a selection, for almost every observation in the book would give
similar results.

On September 4, 1854, lat. 22° 18’ N., last morning observation at 4h.
30m.: sun rose at 5h.48m.*; angle between the sun and my horizon conse-
quently 19° 30’; supposing a ring around the sun reaching to the earth, my
horizon would then cut it at a distance of 179,000,000 of miles. From 3h. 30m.
to 4h. 30m., the lateral change in the zodiacal light boundaries at the horizon
was 4°, or 16,000,000 of miles, while my own lateral change on tiie globe
with reference to the ecliptic in that time had been but 240 miles. Query,
could any amount of change of the spectator on our globe have produced
that lateral change of 16,000,000 of miles at the base of the zodiacal light,
179,000,000 of miles distance?

January 30, 1851, in the morning, lat. 26° 10’ N., my last observation at
5 o'clock: sun rose at 6h. 50m.; on the former supposition, distance of the
base of zodiacal light at 5h. 168,000,000 of miles; my lateral change on the
globe from 4,000 to 5,320 miles; the lateral change in the zodiacal light if
round the sun 35,000,060 miles.

November 20, lat. 36° 17’ N., morning, last observation at 5: sun rose at
6h. 46m.; base of zodiacal light at 5, 170,000,000 miles; my own lateral change
toward the ecliptic from 4 to 5, 240 miles; lateral change in the zodiacal light
at its base 16,300,000 miles.

January 9, 1855, evening lat. 8° 47’ N.: sun set 5h. 52m.; first observa-
tion at 7h. 20m., next at 8 o’clock; base of zodiacal light at first observation
distant 176,000,000 miles; lateral change there in 40’ 7,684,000 miles; my
own lateral change on the globe, 180 miles.

* I use apparent time.

4

376 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

March 16, 1855, evening, lat. 22° 55’ S., sunset 6h. 12m.; first observa-
tion at Th. 30m.; next at 8; nextat8h.30m. Rise of zodiacal light at Th. 30m.
distant 176,000,000 miles; lateral change in its light in half an hour 60, in
an hour 135 miles.

These figures, I wish to say are the result in part of inspection or measure-
ment on the chart; but they are sufficiently near for our use; and I put the
query whether a solar ring can be supposed to meet the data of the case?
An earth-ring will do it; that is, a nebulous ring around the earth will readily
allow such lateral changes to be produced by such a change of the spectator’s
place.

But there is another view of this subject which may be considered still
more conclusive against such a solar ring. Take cases which very often occur
when the ecliptic is somewhere toward a right angle to the horizon, and cir-
cumstances therefore favorable for a good display of the zodiacal light. Say
it is morning, an hour and a half before sunrise. The base of this light will
be exceedingly brilliant—as much so almost as if the sun were just going to
rise—while the vertex of the light overhead will be so dim as scarcely to be
made out. Yet on the supposition of a solar ring reaching beyond the earth,
the base of that light must be 180,000,000 of miles from us, and the vertex
comparatively only a very short distance, while also the whole circuit of the
ring is equally illuminated by the sun, and those portions near our zenith, as far
as I can judge, also more favorably situated for reflecting his light than those
portions at the base. We can scarcely imagine such a state of things.

Believing that this query must be answered in the negative, I am driven to
the only alternative of a nebulous ring around the earth. The moon’s zodiacal
light seems also to show that matter lies within the orbit of the moon. I
should judge from my observations that a cross section of this ring would be
pear shaped, allowing no inward curves to the pair; that its more condensed
or central portion is, as far as it shows itself to our eye, about 30° wide, while
the more diffuse will make an angle to the eye of 100°. It appears to lie in
general along the ecliptic, except in December and June, when observations
of several successive nights in both 1853 and 1854 seemed to indicate a cross-
ing of the ecliptic line at an angle of 5° to 8°; and perhaps, also, in Septem-
ber and March, a similar crossing in an opposite direction. We must
speak, however, with great distrust of its width, for we have only its reflec-
tion in the night, as its journeyings over the eye change its place with regard
to the ring itself, and thus bring different portions of its curved surface in a
position to produce reflection cognizant by the eye. Still, I think the dimen-
sions given above are near the truth.

I do not come here, however, ‘as the advocate of a theory, but to give you
the possession of facts. And the facts which I present are but meager com-
pared with what we need. I hope, if they do nothing more, that they will
increase the number of observers on this interesting subject; for it is not only
interesting in itself, but one of the most striking things about it is that it is
suggestive. It leads the mind far beyond itself! We may well query—if the
zodiacal light comes from a nebulous ring around our earth and within the
orbit of the moon, may not the shooting stars and even the aerolites have

ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 377

their origin there? Observations, I think, show that there is a constant com-
motion within the ring itself; may not the nebulous matter, half agglomerated
here and there, be shot by these commotions beyond its sphere, and, caught
by the attraction of the earth, be drawn down till, striking our atmosphere,
they glance in any casual direction, and taking fire become consumed, thus
giving us the shooting stars? And may not this nebulous matter, still farther
solidified and with a same fate, afford us the aerolites? For if such matter
could have once afforded us our moon, it may easily afford bodies such as
aerolites are found to be. What is nebulous matter? My observations throw
no light upon the subject. It is very transparent, for I had no difficulty in
seeing stars of the sixth magnitude through its most effulgent, and therefore
densest portions. But transparency does not argue tenacity as a matter of
course; for rock crystal and the diamond are the most transparent, while they
are the densest and hardest of all bodies. But of whatever composed, I do
not suppose the ring of the zodiacal light to be composite, for its internal dis-
turbances are opposed to this. But with our present knowledge, such reason-
ings can not satisfy us: they only beckon us on to be searchers and further
collectors of facts. |

Professor Peirce fully concurred with Mr. Jones in his theory, and if this
theory had been the first proposed no second would ever have been enter-
tained. His only objection had been that one satellite could never maintain
a ring, and he still is of that belief, but is convinced that it has many other
satellites too small to be seen, but that these satellites furnish the meteors
which fall to the earth. As to their distance, he thinks that some may be
within the ring and some beyond it.

Professor Alexander drew from the fact that the apices of the zodiacal light
when both were visible were 35° apart, that the diameter of the earth’s ring
was 25,000 miles.

Professor Silliman, Sen., recounted the history of the Weston meteor. Im-
mense masses have fallen. Now all of these must have a common origin, for
they have a common chemical character. They must fall every few months on
land or ocean. The height at which the Weston meteor exploded was sup-
posed to be about 16 miles and its diameter about 1,300 feet. But little of it
was found—where has the rest gone? He concluded that these masses re-
volve quite low.

Professor J. Lawrence Smith was certain that they were fragments of some
body belonging to our own terrestrial system, but not to the earth. The
questions of velocity and size are of the highest importance. They generally
strike with the velocity of a cannon ball, although they have been supposed
to enter the atmosphere with a velocity of about eighteen miles per second.
As to their size: After the explosion of the Weston meteor, if any fragment
went over it would have been visible many minutes after the explosion. He
thinks the diameter over estimated, and that the pieces picked up were all.
He made anexperiment. He illuminated a little piece of charcoal, so that at
the distance of half a mile, it showed an illuminated disk three times as large
asthe moon. Trigonometry would have made that point of charcoal 800 feet

378 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

in diameter instead of one eighteenth of an inch. He thought the Weston
raeteorite was several feet in diameter.

Professor Gould thought that Mr. Jones’s observations threw more light on
the nature of the zodiacal light than all before him. He added that if, in-
stead of a ring, the zodiacal light were but an extension of the earth’s atmos-
phere, it might not need planets to sustain it.

Professor Hackley thought that if the extent of the zodiacal light varied,
the fact of their being 35° apart would throw no light on the question of the

size.

ON CERTAIN ANOMALIES PRESENTED BY THE BINARY STAR,
70 OPHIUCHI, BY CAPTAIN W. 8S. JACOB.

This pair has been long known to astronomers as a binary system, but the
exact orbit is yet in doubt, although nearly a whole revolution has been com-
pleted since it was first observed by Sir W. Herschel in 1779. All the orbits
that have been computed fail at certain points in representing the observed
positions, and those which best represent the angles fail entirely as regards the
distances. The most remarkable point is, that even in those orbits which
agree best with observation, the errors in the angles assume a periodical
form, retaining the same sign through a considerable space of time. An
orbit has been computed with a period of 93 years, in which the errors are -+-
from 1820 to 1823 — with one exception from 1823 to 1830, doubtful in 1830
to 1832, and from 1833 to 1842 all--, after which they continue for the most
part —. This sort of error must depend upon some law; it might arise from
a change in the law of gravitation, but may be accounted for more simply by
supposing the existence of a third cpaque body perturbing the other two.
Such bodies have already been suggested to account for irregular motions
of apparently single stars, such as Sirius and Procyon. The body in this case,
if supposed to circulate as a planet round the smaller star, need not be very
large, as the deviation from the ellipse does not exceed about 01. As:
suming the small star to describe a secondary ellipse in which a=0’08,
e=0'"15 and w==-200°, and applying corresponding corrections to the com-
puted positions, the average errors in the angles is reduced from 50' to 37’,
and in the distances measured subsequent to 1837, from 0'14 to 0°11, or by
about 4; while the maximum errors are also reduced in about the same pro-
portion. There is, therefore, prima facie evidence for the existence of such a
body, and it is desirable that the fact should be still further tested by caréful
observation. The subject possesses an additional interest at the present
time, in reference to the opinion brought forward in the Essay “ Of the Plu-
rality of Worlds,” on the impossibility of double stars having attendant planets.
—Proc. British Association.

ON THE VARIABLE STARS CANCRI AND ALGOL.

M. Argelander has recently been devoting attention to the star Canerit,
which has been found to undergo periodical fluctuations of brightness analo-

ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 379

gous to those which distinguish the well known variable star Algol. On the
19th of December, 1852, he perceived the star when its light was very faint.
The interposition of clouds prevented him from observing the precise instant
of minimum brightness, and when the sky again cleared up, the light of the
star had already sensibly increased. He is of opinion, however, that the period
of variation as ascertained by him, viz., nine days, eleven hours, thirty-seven
minutes, can not differ more than two minutes from the true value. All his
observations of the star since February 16th, 1850, agree very well with this
determination; but he has not yet succeeded in observing an exact minimum.
As the star affords a visible minimum only every nineteen days, there is little hope
of a single individual accomplishing much by means of such observations, and
it were therefore desirable that other astronomers should direct their attention
to this remarkable object. A five-foot Fraunhofer, or even a four-foot instru-
ment with a dark sky, will suffice for this purpose, and the star is easy to find
by means of its situation with respect to Presepe and Cancri.

ON THE NUMBER OF THE DOUBLE STARS.

In the great work which Mr. Struve has lately published, containing the
record of his labors on Double Stars at Dorpat, he gives, as the result of his
careful examination and comparison of the whole body of facts in stellar as-
tronomy, some conclusions of a novel character respecting the number and
constitution of the double, or multiple stars. He examines especially the
brighter stars—those comprised between the first and fourth magnitudes—
and arrives at the conclusion that every fourth star of such stars in the heavens
is physically double. He even ventures to assert that when we have acquired
a more complete knowledge of double stars, it will be found that every third
bright star is physically double. Applying these considerations to the stars
of inferior orders of magnitude, he finally arrives at the following conclusion,
which he admits to be of an unexpected character :—that the number of in-
sulated stars is indeed greater than the number of compound systems; but
only three times, perhaps only twice as great.

e

ON THE ADAMS’S PRIZE PROBLEM FOR 1857.

At the last meeting of the American Association Professor Peirce, of Har-
vard, submitted some remarks on the above subject. The problem has for its
subject the Motion of Saturn’s Rings, allowing them to be solid or fluid,
concentric or eccentric. Professor Pierce disapproved much of this sort of
prizes that wasted all the minds but one that were occupied with them, and
still more so when they were limited to the graduates of a single university,
as to that of Cambridge, England, in this instance. He reserved the consider-
ation of solid rings of immovable parts for a meeting of the Mathematical
section, when by use of formule he would prove it untenable. Can it be
made up of a mass of satellite movable among themselves? Then they must
be in continual motion among themselves, revolving among themselves about

880 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

their common centers of gravity ; perpetual collisions ere this would haye re-
duced them to powder. We assume now that the rings are fluid. Then they
may vary in form. It was first shown that they had varied by Otto Struve.
The diameter of the outer part of the ring is not known to have changed.
The inner edge is contracting, as it seems to me. Huygens, in 1657, made it
(allowing for the irradiation of his telescope) 6.5’. Huygens and Cassini, in
1695, made it 6”; Bradley, in 1719, 5.4’; Herschel, in 1799, 5”; Struve,
senior, in 1826, 4.36; Incke and Galle, in 1838, 4.04’’; and Otto Struve, in
1851, 3.67’. Does it decrease uniformly? I think it is decreasing more rap-
idly, and the present rate will bring the ring to an end, in certain parts of
it, in about 80 years from now. I will show in the meeting in section that
the planet does nothing either to maintain or destroy the equilibrium of the
ring. The satellites tend to maintain it in place. The ring is not gas; its
density is nearly that of water. If the zodiacal light be a gaseous ring of the
earth it would need some solid parts to give body to it. May that gas be
the atmosphere around an infinity of small masses revolving about each other
and about the earth? May there not be collisions among these revolymg
masses that throw down parts of them to the earth? Is not that as good a
reservoir of meteors as the moon? Their melted state seems to lead us to
a lunar volcanic origin; but unless some lunar volcano pointed expressly at
the earth were put in furious operation, such a bombardment could not hit
the earth with one in ten thousand of its projectiles.

The action of Saturn would tend to bring a solid inflexible ring against
itself, But if almost the whole mass of the ring were gathered into a moon,
leaving the rest a ring not worth the name, then it might revolve as a satellite,
with the same side always toward the primary. ‘The ring at all events must
rotate around the planet in about ten hours, so that were it solid any inequality
seen, on one side would be on the other in about five hours. But it is often
seen to have an inequality remain on the same side for a number of days.
Now if the ring be liquid, it would revolve with a different velocity for dif-
ferent parts of the ring, so that a radius vector would pass over equal areas in
equal times. Those parts in perigee, so to speak, would therefore be smaller
and thinner in proportion to the velocity, and equal quantities of liquid would
pass any point at all times. In this state the planet does nothing to sustain
or destroy the equilibrium of the ring, but the attraction of the exterior sat-
ellites would tend to maintain its equilibrium.

The Adams's prize is from a fund established at Cambridge University,
England, in honor of the English discoverer of the planet Neptune. The
prize is to be given once in two years, for the best essay on some subject of
pure mathematics, astronomy, or other branch of natural philosophy, the com-
petition being open to all persons who have at any time been admitted to a
degree in this university. ‘The fund having been accepted by the university,
the examiners announce the conditions of competition, and the method in
which the subject is expected tobe treated. The successful candidate receives »
about £130.

ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 881

ON THE EARL OF ROSSE’S TELESCOPES, AND THEIR REVELATIONS
IN THE SIDERIAL HEAVENS.

The following extract from a lecture delivered by the Rev. Dr. Scoresby,
F.R.S., at Torquay, England, answers, to some extent, the question—What
has the gigantic telescope of Lord Rosse effected ?

The lecturer having himself had the privilege of observing, on different
visits, and for considerable periods, with both the instruments, was enabled to
reply, he hoped in a satisfactory manner, to this inquiry. His opportunitics
of observing, he said, notwithstanding interruptions from clouds and disturbed
atmosphere, had been somewhat numerous, and, not unfrequently, highly in-
structive and delightful. Of these observations he had made records of nearly
60, on the moon, planets, double stars, clusters, and nebule. He had been
permitted also to have free access to, and examination of, all the observatory
records and drawings, so that he was enabled on the best grounds, he believed,
to say that there had been no disappointment in the performance of the in-
struments; and that the great instrument, in its peculiar qualities of superiority,
possesses a, marvelous power in collecting light and penetrating into regions
of previously untouched space. In what may be called the domestic regions
of our planet—the objects in the solar system—all that other instruments may
reyeal is within its grasp or more, though by the prodigious flood of light
from the brighter planets, the eye is dazzled unless a large portion is shut out,

But in its application to the distant heavens and exploration of the nebu-
lous systems there, its peculiar powers have, with a steady atmosphere, their
highest developments and noblest triumphs. In this department—that tc
which the instrument has been particularly directed—every known object it
touches, when the air is favorable, is, as a general fact, exhibited under some
new aspect. It pierces into the indefinite or diffuse nebulous forms shown
by other instruments in a general manner, and either exhibits configurations
altogether unimagined, or resolves, perhaps, the nebulous patches of light into
clusters of stars. Guided in the general researches by the works of the
talented and laborious Herschels—to whom astronomy and science owe a
deep debt of gratitude—time has been economized, and the interests cf the
results vastly enhanced. So that many objects in which the fine instruments
of other observers could discern only some vague indefinite patch of light,
- have been brought out in striking, definite, and marvelous configurations.

Among these peculiar revelations is that of the spiral form—the most strik-
ing and appreciable of all—which we may venture to designate “ The Rossean
Configuration.” Its discovery was at once novel and splendid; and in refer-
ence to the dynamical principles on which these vast aggregations of remote
suns are whirled about within their respective systems and sustained against
interferences, promises to be of the greatest importance.

One of the most splendid nebulz of this class—the Great Spiral or Whirl-
pool—has been figured in the Philosophical Transactions for 1850. It may be
considered as the grand type and example of a class; for near 40 more, with
spiral characteristics, have been observed, and about 20 of them carefully

882 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

figured. Dr. Scoresby had the pleasure of being present at the discovery of
this particular form in a nebula of the planetary denomination, in which two
portions following spiral forms were detected. Its color was peculiar—pale
blue. He had the privilege, too, of being present on another interesting
. occasion, when the examination of the great nebula in Orion was first seen to
yield decisive tokens of resolution.

In these departments of research—the examination of the configurations of
nebulee, and the resolution of nebulze into stars—the six-feet speculum has had
its grandést triumphs, and the noble artificer and observer the highest rewards
of his talents and enterprise. Altogether, the quantity of work done, during
a period of about seven years—including a winter when a noble philanthropy
for a starving population absorbed the keenest interests of science—has been
decidedly great, and the new knowledge acquired, concerning the handiwork
of the Great Creator, amply satisfying of even sanguine anticipations.

Dr. Scoresby found, in September last, that about 700 catalogued nebulee
had been already examined, and transferred to the ledger records from the
journals of the Observatory (comprising only a selection from the general
observations), and the new nebula, or nebulous knots, discovered merely inci-
dentally, amounted to 140 or more. The number of observations, involving
separate sets of the instrument, recorded in the ledger (exclusive of very
many hundreds, possibly thousands, on the moon and planets), amount to
near 1700, involving several hundreds of determinations of position and angu-
lar measurements with the micrometer on the far distant stars. The carefully
drawn configurations, eliciting new characteristics, exceed 90, and the rough
or less-finished sketches amount to above 200. Of the 700 catalogued nebule
already examined, it should be observed that in full one half or more, some-
thing new has heen elicited.

In speaking of the effects of the flood of light accumulated by the six-feet
speculum of the Earl of Rosse, Dr. Scoresby remarked that this peculiarity of
the instrument (connected as it is with due length of focus and admirable
definition) enabled it to reach distances in space far beyond the powers of any
other instrument. This was its peculiar province; and in this, as to existing
instruments, there was not, nor, as he hoped to show, could there be, any
competition. For comparing the space-penetrating power of the six-feet
speculum with one of two feet (which has rarely been exceeded) we find it
three to one in favor of the largest, with an accumulation of light in the ratio
of 62 to 22, or 9 to 1. On comparing the powers of this magnificent instru-
ment with those of a refractor of two feet aperture, the largest hitherto
attempted, we have a superiority—making a due allowance for the loss of light
by reflection from two mirrors, and assuming an equal degree of perfectness,
figure, and other optical requirements in the refractor, and no allowance for
absorption of light—in the ratio of about 4°5 to 1, as to light, and as 2°12 to 1
as to the capability of penetrating space, or detecting nebulous or siderial
objects at the extreme distance of visibility. Hence, while the range of
telescopic vision in a refractor of two feet aperture would embrace a sphere in
space represented by a diameter of 2; the six-feet speculum (assuming both
anstruments to be of equal optical perfection, magnifying equally, and allow-

ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 883

ing 50 per cent. for loss of light for two reflectors in the one case, and none
(?) in the other) would comprehend a sphere of about 4°24 diameter—the
outer shell of which, 1°12 in thickness, being the province of the great instru-
ment alone. But let us reduce these proportions to sections of equal spaces,
that we may judge more accurately of the relative powers. Now the solid
contents of different spheres, we know, are in the ratio of the cubes of their
diameters. Hence, the comparative spheres, penetrated by the two instru-
ments referred to, should be 4°243 to 23; that is, as 9°5 to 1. Deducting, then,
from this vast grasp of space the inner sphere, capable of being ‘explored by
other instruments, we find that, out of nearly ten sections of space reached by
this telescope, there are nearly nine sections which the six-feet speculum
may embrace as peculiarly its own!

What its revelations yet may prove, then, we can have no idea. Several
thousands of nebulze have been catalogued: the great reflector might add to
these tens of thousands more. But this, seeing how few nights in a year are ~
favorable for the highest powers, must be the work of years of perseverance.
Tt would be a worthy undertaking for the government of a great country, to
afford the means of multiplying such gigantic instruments. Application is to
be made, in this direction, for a six-feet reflector at the Cape of Good Hope,
for the examination of the heavens toward the southern pole. Lord Rosse,
with his usnal nobleness of liberality, will yield up his laboratory, machinery,
and men, to the service of government, and is willing, moreover, to give the
direction and guidance of his master-mind. Will the British nation be con-
tent with a refusal?

The range opened to us by the great telescope at Birr Castle, is best, per-
haps, apprehended by the now usual measurement—not of distances in miles,
or millions of miles, or diameters of the earth’s orbit, but—of the progress of
light in free space. The determination, within, no doubt, a small proportion
of error, of the parallax of a considerable number of the fixed stars, yields,
according to M. Peters, a space betwixt us and the fixed stars of the small-
est magnitude, the sixth, ordinarily visible to the naked eye, of 130 years in
the flight of light. This information enables us, on the principles of sounding
the heavens, suggested by Sir W. Herschel, with the photometrical researches
on the stars of Dr. Wollaston and others, to carry the estimation of distances
and that by no means on vague assumption, to the limits of space opened out
by the most effective telescopes. And from the guidance thus afforded us, as
to the comparative power of the six-feet speculum in the penetration of space
as already elucidated, we might fairly assume the fact, that if any other teles-
cope now in use-.could follow the sun if removed to the remotest visible
position, or till its light would require 10,000 years to reach us, the grand
instrument at Parsonstown would follow it so far, that from 20,000 to 25,000
years would be spent in the transmission of its light to the earth. But in the
cases of clusters of stars, and of nebulz exhibiting a mere speck of misty
luminosity, from the combined light perhaps of hundreds of thousands of suns,
the penetration into space, compared with the results of ordinary vision, must
be enormous; so that it would not be difficult to show the probability that a

884 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

million of years, in flight of light, would be requisite, in regard to the most
distant, to trace the enormous interval.

But after all, what is all this, vast as the attainment may seem, in the ex-
ploration of the extent of the works of the Almighty? For in this attempt
to look into space, as the great reflector enables us, we see but a mere speck—
for SPACE IS INFINITE. Could we take, therefore, not the tardy wings of the
morning, with the speed of the mere spread of day, nor flee as with the leaden
wings of light, whick would require years to reach the nearest star, but, like
unhampered thought, could we speed to the furthest visible nebula at a bound,
there, donhtiess, we should have a continuance of revelations; and if bound
after bound were taken, and new spheres of space for ten thousand repeti-
tions explored, should we not probably find each additional sphere of telescopic
vision garnished with suns and nebulous configurations, rich and marvelous as
ourown? If these views serve to enlarge our conception of creative won-
ders, and of the glory and power of the Great Architect of the heavens,
should they not deeply impress us in respect to the Divine condescension in
regarding so graciously this little, inferior world of ours! Animated with the
spirit of the Psalmist, we shall each one surely be disposed appropriately to
join in his emphatic saying: ‘‘ When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy
fingers, the moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that
Thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that Thou visitest him ?”

ON THE ASTEROID PLANETS.

At the Providence Meeting of the American Association Professor Alex-
ander, of Princeton, presented a paper on the character of the original asteroid
planet. By a skillful use of evidence he has arrived at almost a certainty
that in the space between Mars and Jupiter once revolved a planet a little
more than 2°8 times as far from the sun as our earga. The equatorial diameter
was about 70,000 miles, but the polar diameter only 8 miles! It was nota
globe but a wafer, nay, a disk of a thickness of only 1-9,000 of its diameter.
Its time of revolution was 3°698 days, say 3 days, 15 hours, 45 minutes. The
inclination of its orbit to the ecliptic was about 4°. It met a fate that might
have been anticipated from so thin a body wheeling so furiously, for its motion
onits axis was 1-16th of its velocity in its orbit, say 2,477 miles per hour.
It burst as grindstones and fly-wheels sometimes do. We have found 37
fragments of it and call them Asteroids. When it burst some parts were
moving 2,477 miles per hour faster than the center did, and some as much
slower; that is, some parts moved 4,954 miles per hour faster than the others.
These described a much larger orbit than the planet did, and the place where
it burst was their perihelion. Others described a smaller orbit, because they
left that point with a diminished velocity—it was their aphelion. Some flew
above the orbit of the planet and had their ascending node. Others flew
below and it was their descending node. They seemed to go almost in pairs.
Two went very far out of the plane of the orbit so that they pass the limits of
the zodiac, and it is found that the ascending node of 18 correspond nearly
with the descending node of 17. So nearly even were they distributed. And

ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 885

- thin as was the planet, it had not cooled so much at the time of the explosion
but that some of the fragments could assume a spherical form. The follow-
ing method of comparing the evidences was followed:

The planet’s place was first to be found. Three or four independent pro-
cesses were used for this and they agreed surprisingly. He interpolated it as
a lost term in a geometric series, from Mars to Saturn, for the first approxi-
mation. He compared it with Saturn and Jupiter, and with Mars and Jupiter.
He found where a planet would be dropped off in the successive cooling and
contracting of the solar system. And he compared its orbit for size and eclip-
ticity with those of the asteroids. Some of them gave solutions very far from
the average rejecting these; the others coincided with previous deductions
and with each other surprisingly. Its day he found by Kirkwood’s analogy.
Its equatorial diameter was the result of two calculgtions, one of which would
inevitably give a result too large and the other too small in all cases when the
planet did not explode at its equinox, when it would be exact. These num-
bers were 78,425 and 68,656 miles. A just comparison gave 70,470.

It is curious to see how the history of this planet verifies the theory of La
Place, that a heavenly body must be either nearly a sphere or a disk, and
that the latter must be unstable. And this reminded Professor Alexander
again to allude to the earth’s ring—the zodiacal light. He had long been
convinced that the moon could not be the only satellite thrown off by our
planet in taking on its present form, but knew not where to look for the rest.
A more careful calculation of the data furnished by the Reverend Mr. Jones,
had given him for the diameter of the ring 17,000 miles, and a time of about
half a day for rotation. And curiously enough half a day was the time that
had been assigned by a previous calculation for the revolution of an aerolite
around the earth.

EXTREME TEMPERATURE IN AUSTRALIA,

Mr. E. Merriam furnishes to the New York Times the following facts respect-
ing the extreme heat recently observed in Australia. He says, “at the place
of observation in the southern hemisphere, lat. 37° 48’ south, lon. 144° 57’
east, on the banks of the river Geelong, the maximum temperature thus far
observed, was 120°, and minimum 24°—difference, 96°. On the 26th of Oc-
tober, 1854, the temperature rose to 115° at 3 P.M.; 4 P.M, 110°; 5 Pa,
80°, or a fallof 30° in 60 minutes, and next meat at five o ielode 40°, or
a change of 75° in 14 hours.

“My correspondent in a letter dated Monday, J anuray 29, 1855, says:
‘Yesterday was said to be a hotter day than the celebrated Black Phat
which occurred many years ago with a northern sirocco, and a hundred miles
of brush on fire. People were driven to the water like cattle to preserve
life—for the thermometer was at 118° nearly all day in the shade and out of
the wind. In the wind it was at least 150°.’”

This extreme of natural heat is the greatest we believe, with one or two
exceptions, which has ever been before recorded. On the west coast of Af-
rica the thermometer has been observed to stand at 108° Fahrenheit in the

17

3886 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

shade. Buckhard in Egypt and Humboldt in South America observed it at
117° Fahrenheit, and in 1819 it rose at Bagdad to 120° Fahrenheit in the
shade.—Lditor. ”

NEW THEORY OF THE WINDS.

At the meeting of the American Association, Providence, Captain Wilkes
said he could not persuade himself that the theory of the winds, as at present
accepted, is at all satisfactory. The theories seem to have resulted from the
phenomena of the trade winds. He proceeded to show in what they are
defective, and laid down the following axioms as the basis of a true explana-
tion of the phenomena of the winds:

1. That the atmosphere, when of equal temperature and dryness, will re-
main at rest.

2. That if the atmosphere is disturbed by any change of temperature, the
denser and colder portion seeks the warmer, from every direction, to restore
the equilibrium.

3. That heated air, unless confined and forced, never tends toward a denser
and cooler area; but when free it always rises or falls to the area, where its
gravity and temperature will restore the equilibrium.

4. That currents of air may pass in opposite directions, without mixing,
provided they lie according to their specific gravities, but they can never pass
through or across each other without commingling.

5. That currents of air are influenced and disturbed by electricity.

Great stress has been laid, in the theory of the winds, on the rotary motion
of the earth, in producing the direction as well as the apparent velocity of the
trade winds. Captain Wilkes is not ready to admit that this can have any
influence on any surface winds—in fact, the prevalence of westerly winds at
the same time that we have easterly within the tropics moving in opposite di-
rections, though parallel, demonstrates that the rotary motion of the earth can
not haye any such influence upon currents of air as is attributed to it.

MEDICAL METEOROLOGY AND ATMOSPHERIC OZONE.

An interesting communication on the above subject has recently been pre-
sented to the Meteorological Society of England by Dr. Moffat.

Since the discovery of ozone, in April, 1848, the subject has engaged the
author’s constant attention; from tables formed from the observations of four
years, from 1850 to 1853, he seeks to establish a connection between atmos-
pheric ozone and the meteorological conditions of the atmosphere, together
with the prevalence of disease and mortality. The chief conclusions at which
Dr. Moffat arrives are: Ist. That ozone periods always commence with de-
creasing readings of the barometer and increase of temperature, and terminate
with increasing readings of the barometer and decrease of temperature. 2d.
That as ozone periods commence very frequently with the wind in the south-
east, and terminate in the north-west, those points adjacent to the south-east
he calls their points of commencement, and those adjacent to the north-west,

— a Oe eee ee ee

3234S eee

ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 8387

those of their termination. 3d. That ozone and cirri always accompany each
other, and would appear to be peculiar to the south or equinoctial current.
The author therefore designates the south points of the compass as those of
ozone and cirri, and the north or polar points those of no ozone and no cirri.
4th. That snow and thunderstorms take place generally in the south-east
points, and during calms; while hail and aurore are peculiar to the north-
west points. 5th. That the maximum of disease occurs with the wind in the
south points, and the maximum of mortality when in the north points. 6th.
That some diseases are peculiar to certain directions of the wind. th. That
apoplexy, epilepsy, paralysis, and sudden deaths are very common during hail
and snow showers, and when the wind is in the points at which these phe-
nomena generally occur—viz., the north-west and south-east. 8th. That
ozone is in greater quantity on the coast than in inland districts. The author
concludes by stating that owing to the action of light, and the influence of
atmospheric currents in producing decomposition of the iodide of potassium,
it is necessary, in order to secure uniformity of results, to place the test pa-
pers in darkness, and to keep them protected from atmospheric currents.

SATURN AND URANUS.

The following summary of the results of the labors of the distinguished
astronomer, Mr. Lassell, at Malta, have been transmitted to the Royal Astro-
nomical Society of England.

He says, ‘‘ Excepting the transparency of the obscure ring of Saturn, per-
haps my discoveries abroad were rather negative than positive. I ascertained,
at least to my own conviction, that no other satellite exists about Neptune
large enough to give hope of discovery without considerable improvement of
our telescopes. Also, that while I was enabled most fully to confirm my
discovery of the previous year, of two new and more interior satellites of
Uranus, I arrived at an equally strong conviction that these two, together
with the first two satellites simultaneously discovered by Sir W. Herschel in
1787, constitute the whole of the planet’s retinue hitherto discovered. In
the nebula of Orion I have, I believe, seen some minute stars in the neighbor-
hood of the trapezium which are new. On the other hand, some of Mr
Bond's stars I have not been able to make out. A comparison of Sir John
Herschel’s, Mr. Bond’s, and my own drawings of this wonderful object must,
I think, suggest the idea of change in the nebula, or variability of the stars,
or otherwise, a less uniformity of delineation of the same thing than might
have been hoped for.”

NOTE ON THE EXTENT OF OUR KNOWLEDGE RESPECTING THE
MOON’S SURFACE. ,

Taking advantage of the special attention paid at present to certain astro-
nomical disquisitions, the author called attention to a particular point connected
with the moon, which was first stated by the author of “‘ The Plurality of
Worlds,” and then made by him to prove that the moon must be uninhabited,

388 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

and thence to lead to the conclusion that all the other planets were uninhab-
ited also. The point was, that ‘observations having been made on the moon
abundantly sufficient to detect the change caused by the growth of such
cities as Manchester and Birmingham, no such changes having been perceived,
the theory of non-habitation may be indulged in.” But after having indicated
the sort of appearance that those collections of human habitations would
make when transferred to the moon, Professor Smyth proceeded to show that
the registered and published observations of the moon are by no means suf-
ficiently accurate to be used to test question: and that they do show changes,
and often to a far greater amount than the mere building of a lunar Manches-
ter would occasion, but such changes bear the impress of error of observation.
More powerfully still was this brought out, on comparing even the best of
the published documents with some manuscript drawings of the Mare Crisium
in the moon, recently made at the Edinburgh Observatory, and the author
hoped that this statement of the imperfection of existing maps would lead to
observers generally applying themselves to improve this important and inter-
esting field of astronomy.—Professor C. Piazai Smyth.

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PATENTS.

PATENTS, DESIGNS, REISSUES, AND ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS
GRANTED BY THE PATENT OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES
DURING THE YEAR 1854.

Patents 5 - : ‘ = - - Z o. LSie
Designs - 5 = . : - “ : 71
Reissues : ~ , ‘ ° . “ = - 46
Additional Improvements . : : ‘ e : - ii

_—_——-

Total . d : ; ; ; . 1,999

The above is the greatest number of patents, etc., ever issued in one year from the
Office. -

Mr. J. $8. Brown, of Washington, has recently published a catalogue of all the patents
granted by the United States Government up to the commencement of the year 1855.
From this we learn that the whole number of patents granted for Grain and Grass
Harvesters has been one hundred and eleven ; for Plows, three hundred and seventy-two;
for Straw- Cutters, one hundred and fifty-three ; for Smut machines, one hundred and
forty; for Winnowing machines, one hundred and sixty-three, and for Thrashing ma-
chines, three hundred and seventy-eight. The highest numbers in classes belong to the
agricultural department, with the exception of Stoves, on which the enormous number
of six hundred and eighty-two patents have been issued, and four hundred and seventy-
eight for designs, making a total of one thousand one hundred and sixty patents on
Stoves.

On Air Engines, not one of which is in use, no less than twenty-one patents have been
granted. No less than one hundred and forty-eight patents have been granted on Steam
Boilers; and yet, for all this, there are but few engineers who do not entertain the opin-
ion that many improvements have yet to be made on them. The manufacture of India-
rubber goods is but of recent date, and yet no less than forty-two patents have been ob-
tained on such manufactures. Sewing machines are of still more recent date, the first
patent having been obtained in 1846, only nine years since; and yet no less than sixty
patents have been granted on such machines. This affords evidence of their popularity
and usefulness. The number of Water-wheel patents is somewhat high, being three
hundred and twenty-seven, but that of Washing machines comes nearly up to it, being no
less than three hundred and nine.

OBITUARY

OF PERSONS EMINENT IN SCIENCE. 1855.

K. F. Bachmann, a German mineralogist, Professor in the University of Jena.
Martin Barry, M.D., an English physiologist.

Sir Henry de la Beche, the well known English geologist.

Dr. T. Romeyn Beck, of Albany, N. Y.

890 OBITUARY.

Edward Bourne, an eminent English engineer and naval architect.

M. Braconnet, an eminent French chemist, the discoverer of xyloidine, pyrogallic
acid, etc., etc.

Major T. S. Brown, the constructing engineer of the New York and Erie Railroad, and
chief engineer of the Moscow and St. Petersburg Railroad, Russia.

W. H. Brown, an eminent American ship-builder, constructor of the Atlantic, Pacific,
and other steamers.

Professor Busch, director of the Observatory at Kénigsberg.

Col. John C. Champion, an English naturalist, killed at the siege of Sebastopol.

M. Charpentier, an eminent Swiss geologist and naturalist.

Professor Cowper, Professor of Materia Medica, University of Edinburg.

Andrew Crosse, an enthusiastic amateur of science, well known for his electrical ex-
periments, and asserted creation of insect life by galvano-electricity.

Ernst Dieffenbach, the well known geological Professor at Giessen, Germany.

Louis Weston Dillyne, an English naturalist.

George Louis Duvernoy, Professor of Comparative Anatomy, Jardin des Plantes, Paris.

Horace Eaton, Professor of Chemistry, Middlebury College, Vermont, and formerly
Governor of that State.

John Graem Ellery, an American geologist and mining engineer.

Charles Frederick Gauss, the eminent German astronomer and mathematician.

8. B. Greenough, an English geologist.

Dr. John Gorrie, of Florida, a well known American inventor.

J. H. Gould, an English naturalist, died in India.

James F. W. Johnson, the distinguished English agriculturist and scientific writer.

Abbot Lawrence, founder of the Lawrence Scientific School, Cambridge, Mass.

Henry Lawson, an-English astronomer and patron of science.

Leonard Maelzel, the inventor of the automaton chess-player, and other curious me-
chanical arrangements.

M. Magendie, the eminent French physiologist and naturalist.

M. De Mayer, a Russian naturalist and traveler.

Sandy McCallum, a celebrated collector of fossils in Scotland.

Robert Mills, of Washington, D. C., architect of the Washington Monument, and various
national structures.

Dr. Molkenboer, a Dutch naturalist of Leyden, Holland.

Count Ouwaroff, formerly President of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Russia.

Sir Edward Parry, the distinguished Arctic navigator.

Professor Petrina, of the University of Prague.

Philip Pusey, President of the Royal (English) Agricultural Society, and a most eminent
agriculturist.

Dr. Ratkhe, Professor of Natural History, University of Christiana, Norway.

Ernst Reinholdt, Professor of Philosophy, Jena, Prussia.

Joseph Remy, the French fisherman who first introduced the artificial propagation
of fish. :

W. D. Saull, an English geologist.

Simeon L. Spofford, an American railroad engineer and inventor.

Dr. Edward Stolle, a distinguished German technologist.

F. Strange, an eminent English ornithologist, murdered by the natives of Australia.

Dr. William Terrel, an eminent American agriculturist and patron of science.

Thomas Weaver, an English geologist.

William Wing, Secretary of the English Entomological Society.

LIST OF BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, ETC,,

ON MATTERS PERTAINING TO SCIENCE, PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED
STATES DURING THE YEAR 1855.

Annals of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College, Vol. I. Part I1., 1852-53, pp.
316.

Bache, A. D. Report of the Coast Survey for 1854.

Bache, A. D. Tide Tables for the principal sea-ports of the United States. Paiphlet.

Buchman, Reverend John. An examination of the Natural Provinces of the Animal
Song oe their relations to the different types of Mankind. James & Co., Charles-
ton, 5. C.

Baird, 8. F. Report on the Fishes of the New Jersey Coast. Smithsonian publication.

Bartlett, Professor W. H. E. Elements of Natural Philosophy. A.S. Barnes & Co., N.Y.

Beckwith, Lieutenant. Report on the projected Pacific Rail-road Route, near the 38th and
839th parallels of latitude. Pub. Doc.

Bell, John. Mineral and Thermal Springs of the United States and Canada. 12mo.
Parry & M‘Millan, Philadelphia.

Blake, William P. Report on the geological features of Williamson’s Pacifie Rail-road
Survey. Pub. Doc.

Breed and Steiner, Doctors. Wills’s Outlines of Chemical Analysis. Re-edited. Munroe
& Co., Boston.

Burt, W. A. The Solar Compass.

Chapman, Dr. L. L. Principia, or Nature’s first principles. Campbell & Co., Philadelphia.

Cole, George, and Vernam, J.S. The Contractor’s Book of Drawings of tools and ma-
chines used in constructing canals, rail-roads, and other works. Folio. O. G. Steele
& Co., Buffalo, N. Y.

Dana, James D. Report on Crustacea—the Atlas. This volume forms one of the series
of the Reports of the United States Exploring Expedition, and contains 96 plates in
folio, with figures and details of nearly 700 species, from drawings by the author. G.
P. Putnam & Co., 321 Broadway, N. Y.

Dana, Samuel L. Muck Manual. New and enlarged edition. Saxton & Co., N. Y.

Darby, Professor John. Botany of the Southern States. Intwo parts. Part I. Structural
and Physiological Botany and Vegetable Products. Part Il. Description of Southern
Plants, arranged on the natural system. Preceded by a Linnwan and a Dichotomous
Analysis. A. S. Barnes & Co., New York.

Davies, Charles, LL.D., and N. G. Peck, A.M. Mathematical Dictionary and Cyclopedia
of Mathematical Science. A. S. Barnes & Co., New York.

De Gobineau. The Moral and Intellectual Diversity of Races. From the French of De
Gobineau. By H. Hotz. With an Appendix, containing a summary of the latest
scientific facts bearing upon the question of Unity or Plurality of Species, by J. C.
Nott, M.D. 8vo. ‘Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia.

De Vere, M.S. Stray Leaves from the Book of Nature. G. P. Putnam & Co., New York.

Ellet, Charles, jr. Coast and Harbor Defenses.

Emmons, Ebenezer, M.D. American Geology, with illustrations of characteristic Ameri-
can Fossils. Atlas and Geological Map. 1 vol. pp. 445. Sprague & Co., Albany, N. Y.

Ewbank, Thomas, The World a Workshop, or the Physical Relations of Man to the
Earth. pp. 198. Appleton & Co., New York.

Fitch, Asa, M.D. First Report on the Noxious, Beneficial, and other Insects, of the State
of New York.

Flint, C. L. Second Annual Report of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture.

Gillis, Lieutenant J. M. United States Naval Astronomical Expedition to the Southern
Hemisphere, during the years 1849, 1850, 1851, 1852. 2 vols. Lippincott & Co., Phil.

Carers Lae L. E. Manual of the Instruments used in Engineering and Surveying

LOYAING, wis ;

Hardwick, T. F. Manual of Photographic Chemistry. American edition. Be-edited by

8. D. Humphrey, New York.

392 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Lapham, J. H. A Geological Map of Milwaukie, Wisconsin.

Lea, Isaac, LL.D. Fossil Foot-marks of tue Red Sandstone of Pottsville, Penn. Folio.

Lebman’s Physiological Chemistry. Edited, with illustrations, by Professor R. E. Rogers,
University of Pennsylvania. Blanchard & Lea, Philadelphia.

Liebig, Justus. The Relations of Chemistry to Agriculture, and the Agricultural Experi-
ments of J. B. Lawes. Translated by S. W. Johnson, Albany, New York. Luther
Tucker & Co. Price 25 cents.

Locke, John, Dr. An Address on Agricultural Chemistry. Warren County (Ohio) Ag-
ricultural Society.

Loomis, Elias. An Introduction to Practical Astronomy. Harpers, New York.

Maury, Lieutenant M. F. Physical Geography of the Sea. Svo. Harpers, New York.

Missouri, Geological Survey of. First and Second Annual Report, by G. C. Swallow, State
Geologist.

New Ji ersey, First Annual Report of the Geological Survey of.

Parke, Lieutenant John C., U. 8. A. Report on the projected Pacific Rail-road Route on
the 82d parallel. Pub. Doc.

Parrish, Edward. An Introduction to Practical Pharmacy. Syo. pp. 550. Blanchard
& Lea, Philadelphia.

Perceval, Dr. J. 8S. Report on the Iron Ore of Dodge and Washington Counties, Wiscon-
sin.

Perry, J. R. Stair-Building. A. H. Ranney. New York.

Photography, Theoretical and Practical. Heath & Brother, New York.

Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 8th meeting.
Washington, D. C.

Proceedings of the National Institute. Washington, D.C. Vol. I. No 1. New series.

Ranking’s Half-yearly Abstract of the Medical Sciences. Svo. pp. 810. Lindsay &
Blakiston, Philadelphia.

Report of the Commissioner of Patents for 1854, Mechanical and Agricultural.

Report on the various projected Rail-road Routes to the Pacific. Captain Humphrey and
Lieutenant Warren. Pub. Doc.

Report, Sixty-cighth Annual, of the Regents of the State of New York.

Smith, Professor J. Laurence. Report on the Minerals and Mineral Waters of Chili.

Stevens, J. J. Report on the projected Route for the Pacific Rail-road near the 47th and
49th parallels. Pub. Doe.

Trask, Dr. John. Report on the Geology of the Coast Mountains of California. Pamphlet.
Sacramento, California.

ssi Ae Daniel. The relations of Science to the Useful Arts. Pamphlet. Munroe &

10., Boston.

Tnomey and Holmes. Fossils of South Carolina. John Russell, Charleston, 8. C.

Vergnes, Professor. Electro-chemistry considered in its application to Medicine. Phair
& Co., New York.

Wailes, Professor B. C. L. Report on the Agriculture and Geology of Mississippi.

Waring, George E. Elements of Agriculture: a Book for Young Farmers. Appleton &
Co., New York.

Wells, David A. Annual of Scientific Discovery for 1855. Gould & Lincoln, Boston; G.
P. Putnam & Co., New York.

Wells, David A. Familiar Science, or the explanation of the Principles of Natural and
Physical Science, and their applications to the employments and pursuits of common
life. pp. 550. Childs & Peterson, Philadelphia; G. P. Putnam & Co., New York.

Wells, David A. The Year Book of Agriculture, or Annual of Agricultural Progress, for
1855-56. pp. 400. Childs & Peterson, 124 Arch Street, Philadelphia; G. P, Putnam
& Co., New York.

Wetherill, C. M., Dr. Adipocere and its Formation. Philadelphia.

Wetherill, Dr. C. M. Chemical Examination of the Bakers’ Bread of Philadelphia.

Wharton, Francis, and Moreton Stille, M.D. A Treatise on Medical Jurisprudence. Hay
& Brother, Philadelphia.

Whippler, Lieutenant. Report on the explorations for the Pacific Rail-road on the 35th
parallel. Pub. Doc.

Williams, Professor W. G. Address on the Physical Sciences, and their relations to each
other and the Arts and Professions. Tuscumbia, Ala.

Williamson, Lieutenant. Reconnoissance and Survey in California in connection with the
projected Pacific Rail-road. Pub. Doe.

Youmans, Edward L. Chemical Atlas; or, the Chemistry of Familiar Objects. Imp.
4to, pp. 106. D. Appleton & Co., New York. ’

LN OE x

PAGE

Acari in Mica, 300

Acid, carbonic, physiological and thera-
peutic effects of,

Acids, gallic and tannic, action of, 252

Adams's prize problem, 3879
Africa, explorations in Central, 864
“ ~ geology of Central, 285

“ western coast, new animals from, 356
14

African Exploration Society,
Agricultural Chemistry, new investiga-

tions in, 271

“: Implements at the Paris

Exhibition, 135 |

Air, resistance of, to projectiles, 192
Albany Observatory (Dudley), 16
Alcohol, action of, upon the stomach, 270

= artificial production of, from
bicarbureted hydrogen, 268
Algeria, its products, 136
Alloys for journal-boxes, 210
“ new metallic, 269

“ of iron, potassium, and aluminum,
not subject to oxydation, 211

Aluminates and silicates, artificial pro-
duction of, 222
Aluminum, the metal, 215
Amalgamators, improvements in, 90
Amazon, Upper, birds of, 362
Ambrotype, process for producing, 181
American Association for 1858, 3

“ Continent, North, physical
changes in the character of, 284

= extreme Northern, Geology of, 280

Ammonia and Boracic acid, 231

- “ Nitric acid in rain water, 271

& formation of, in iron smelting, 206
Anatomical specimens, new method of

preserving, B02

Anchor, storm, 33

Andes, Barometric anomalies about, 198

Animal and vegetable kingdoms, distine-
tions between, 842
Animals, marine, destruction of,by slight

changes of temperature, 353

= new, from Western Africa, 356

Antimony of California, 832
Aquarium, observations on the presery-

ation of marine animals in, 353

Arabian Desert, conversion into a lake, 293
Arctic region, coal from, 826
“- “new map of, 13
seas, discoveries in,
Armories, U. §., Improvements in the
fabrication of arms, 91

ac

PAGE
Arms, improvements in, at U.S. Armories, 91
Arnotr, Dr. NEIL, on the economy of

fuel, 69
Art and utility in France, 137
Artillery and projectiles, 99

ae vents, improved, 9T
Assyrian discoveries, 369
Astronomical observations in India, 1%

as progress,prospect offuture, 11

Atlantic submarine telegraph, sugges-
tions concerning, 1

Auger, improved, Hoagland’s, 118
Aurora Borealis, Sir John Ross’s explan-
ation of,
Australia, fossil bones in alluyium of, 293
Axle, Green’s patent sleeve, 78
“boxes, glass and iron, 78
BABBAGE on mechanical notation, 195
Bank-note paper, experiments with, 84
Bank-notes, manufacture of, 85
Barometric anomalies, 198
Basalt, action of air and water on, 230
Basin stop-cocks, improved, 120
Battery, Stringfellow’s pocket electric, 139

BEAUMONT'S type-distributing machine, 109

BsavREGARD’s discoveries in photogra-
phy.

Bucqueret on the separation of ores of
silver, lead, and copper,

BELL, Dz., on the so-called spiritual phe-

nomena, 154
Bench-hook, improved, 115
Benzole, economic applications of, 252
Binocular vision of surfaces of different

colors, 172
Bird, new gigantic fossil, 322
Birds, roosting of, 353
Biakk, WILLIAM P., 286-8
Bleaching wax, tallow, ete., 245
Blinds, improvements in adjusting, 116
Blood, fountain of, in Honduras, 352

‘** globules, photographic impres-
sions of, 180

Boats, canal, mode of freeing from water, 129

Bodies, chemical equivalents of certain, 205

Boilers and furnaces, Champion’s im-
proved,

“Fairbairn on the strength of, 85
Bomb-lances for whaling, 92
Book, curious scientific, 13
Books, machine for trimming, 130

Boracic acid and ammonia, production
of, by volcanic action,

394

PAGE
Boring machine, improved, 115

Bottles, machine for uncorking and de-

canting, 31
BoyvELw’s steam-carriage, 63
Brake, hydrostatic railway, 59

“« — Miller’s steam-car, 5T
“new rail-road, 58

Brass formed by galvanic agency,

Brick-machine, improved,

Britain, Great, production and consump-
tion of metals in, 806

British Association for 1855, 6

Bromine, separation of, from iodine, 230

Building materials, Professor Henry on
the strength of,

Bullet-mold, improved,

Carte, M. his visit to Timbuctoo,
Calcium, metallic, preparation of,
vf, properties of,
Calico printing, improved cylinders for,
California, minerals of the gold region,
Calomel, preparation of, f
Camera lucida, substitute for,
Cannon, aiming with,
6 improved,
4 testing of,
Car-coupling, improved,
“seat, Bailey’ S adjustable,
“ springs, Adams’s improved,
* ventilator, Foote’s,
Cars, rail-road, device for replacing on
track, 61
Carbonic acid, medicinal effects of, 253
‘ production of, in the soil, 273
dieince. three-wheeled, 78
Carriages, improvements in,
Carving machine, Gear's,
Castings, calculation of the weight of,
from pattern, 65
Cements, action of sea-water on, 268
“ and mortars, 265-T

Cells relation of, to consciousness, 840
Chain-cables, pressure-stopper for, 90

CnampPion’s improved boilers and fur-
naces, 38
CuAUVENET’s great circle protractor, 197
Chinese, accuracy of, as observers, 199
Chlorophy llin infusoria, 333
ohl on, 333

Cholera, new earns respecting,
Cities, peculiarities of certain localities, 201
Clock escapement, improved, 128
Cloth, printing on, by the photographic

NLOCeSS, 174
Coal, distillation of, 246
estates, revenue of, 301

“ fields of Pennsy lvania, fossils of, 281
“ from Arctic regions, 826
“ Jegal weight ofa ton, 133

id production and consumption of, in
Great Britain, 80

“ tar, and its products,

“ waste of,

Coal-hole cover, improved, 89
Cobalt, separation from nickel, 225
Coffee, preparation and use of, 255

“ substitutes for, 235

Co'lege of Domestic Economy,
Collodion process of photography, im-

provements in, 178

ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

it:
PAGE

Color blindness, 165
“ in nature and art, 166
Colorado desert, ancient lake in, 288

Combustion, observations on the means
of increasing the quantity of heat from, 188
Comets discovered in 1855, 873

Compass variations, 154
Conductors, lightning, 139
Copper, new process for the determina-
tion of,
“produce of Lake Superior for
1855, 309

Copperplate printing, improvements in, 108
Copying machine, Ames’s, 108
Coral, artificial, 267
Cornish engines, daily duty of 308
Cotton-waste, cleaning and renovating, 236

Daguerreian image, curious fact in rela-

tion to, 86
Daguerreotypes, engraving from, 182
stereoscopic, 173-86

DEDERICK’s improved hay press, 133
Diseases, registration of, 16
Development, theory of progressive, 314
Diamond, remarkable Brazilian, 3802
Dicynodon, a new fossil animal, 822
Dinornis, new species of, 322
Dovetailing-machine, Burleys, 111
Drift, phenomena of, 292
Drill, hydraulic rock, 88
Dust in rail-road cars, prevention of, 62

Earth-boring machinery, improvements ;

in, 23
Earth, determination of its density, 164
“galvanic action in, 152
Earthquake Indicator, 299
waves, 297
Earthquakes, origin of, 295-6
Electric cable, experimental observa-
tions on,
sh communication, Bonelli’s ex-
periments on,
ae current, velocity of, 143

id currents, peristaltic induction
of, in submarine telegraph
wires, 14
et light, stratification of, 141
Electricity, atmospheric, measurement
of, 151
i cise tee of, from telegraph
140
Electro- Tinting 3 with the white, ice

metals, 219
Electrotyping, improvements in, 145
Engine, Ericsson’s, 39

“portable boring, 113

“ serew-propelling, 3
Engraving with the aid of the ei

graphic | process, 178-S2
Entomological specimens, preservation 4

thicsseih s hot-air engine,
Eye, structure of,
Eyes, effect of industrial occupations on, 345

Fabrics, rendering water-proof, 278

Fiber, vegetable improvements in pre-
paring,

Fibers for paper-making, 835

INDEX.

PAGE
Fibrous substances, improved machine-
ry for picking,
File-making by machinery,
Fire-arms, Weaver's breach-loading,
Fire-engines, springs for, 76
Fishes, fluorine in the scales of, 231
“ new generic type of, 336
Flax and hemp, cultivation of, in Europe, 338
Flooring, improved, 116

Flowers, photographic impressions of, 175
Fluorine, in the scales of fishes, 231

ee isolation of, 231
Food, and its adulterations, 254

Footprints, fossil, connection of, with
the theory of progressive development, 314

Force, physical, Faraday’s views of, 161
Fossil footprints, Lea’s monograph of, 13
Fossils, interesting, 821
Franklin, Sir John, additional informa-
tion concerning, 21
Frozen wells, 190
Fuel, consumption and economy of, 69
Furnace, smoke consuming, 68
“© — Woodcock’s improved, 75
Furnaces, improvements in, 68
a refuse of smelting, 20T
Furniture, proportion of colors in, 168
Gas from peats, 247
“ purification of, 247
“ regulators, 182
“ sc

Palmer & Woodruft’s

improved, 133
st ce Parkam’s improved, 133
Gate, Thompson’s circular self-acting, 134
Gelatine paper, for coloring light, 261
Geological memoranda, 292
Geology of Central Africa, 285
Gilding, electro, new process of, 221
Glass, new method of engraving on, 117
Globe, superficial changes in the meri-
dional structure of, 300
Glue, manufacture from old leather, 252

Glycerine, manufacture and properties

of,” 236
Goitre, cause of, 274
Gold, arborescent and crystalline, 330-1

“ Rundle’s method of separating, 228
Grain-scale, Bramble’s, automatic, 120
Grate-bars, self-retaining, 68
Gravity, Faraday on, 161
Guatemala, antiquarian discoveries in, 19
Gun, Lancaster, 90
Gun-cotton, 277
Gunpowder explosion, effects of, 193
Gutta-percha, 27, 248

Hair, observations on the structure of, 361
Hats, improvements in the manufacture

of, 127
Hayes, Dr. A. A., 257, 303
Hay-press, Dederick’s improved, 133
Heating apparatus, improvements in, 67
Hood, mount, ascent and measurement

of,
Hooker’s plants of British India and the
Himalayas, 836

Hoops, improved machine for sawing, 113
Horn, softening, QT
Hydraulic limes and cements, 263
Hygrometric regulator, 198

395

PAGE

Hydrogen distillation of coal in, 246

Ichthyosaurus found within the arctic

circle, 314
India, electro telegraph in, 144
India-rubber, artificial, 248

‘ Ms lining for ships, 31
Infernal machines, Russian, 93
Inks, composition and preparation of, 284
Insects, impressions of, in the Triassic

Rocks, 322
Iodine, separation from bromine, 530

Iron, ammonia formed in the smelting of, 206
‘* improvements in puddling, 229

“* native, occurrence of, in Liberia, 303
<f a6 in Canaan, Conn., « 306
“* ore, distribution of, inthe earth, 3803
“ pavements, a
“rails, comparative duration of, 51
“ rail-road car, 63
Ivory carvings, models of, 15
JonES, Rey. G., on zodiacal light, 374
Kane’s, Dr., Arctic expedition, 371
Lac, production of, B5T
Lake, ancient, in the Colorado desert, 288
Lamps, improvements in, 119
Lancaster Gun, what is, 90
Land, modern elevation of, 3800

Lathe for cutting irregular forms, Wait’s, 112
‘* improved metal, 117
Lead, silver, and copper, separation of
the ores of, 224
Leather, improvements in japanning, 130
3 se “ tanning, 250
old, manufacture of glue from, 252
Liberia, native iron in, 303
Life-preservers, Thompson’s improved, 181
Light, influence of, on the germination

66

of seeds, 339
_ zodiacal, 374
Lightning, chain, causes of, 142

“

14 conductors, termination of, 139
Lignites, character of some, 317
Linseed-oil cake, used in the manufac-

ture of soap, 242
Liquors, alcoholic, certain curious mo-

tions of, 202
Lithium, metallic preparation of, 218

Lithographs, obtaining by photography, 180
Lock, door, improved, 126

Locomotive, extraordinary trial of, o4
Longitude between Greenwich and
Paris, 18
Loom, Broadbent's improved, 79
“ Talbot’s ss 80
Looms, improvements in, 79
Labrication, oils for, 241
Magnetism, solar, 160
Mammoth, epoch of, 820
Manganese, detection of, 226
Manure, distributor, broadcast, 122
Maps and designs, enlarging and reduc-
ing, 119
Marble, verd antique, in Vermont, 82T
Mascuer, Mr., on the stereoscope, 178
Masts, improvements in, 33
“ — supporting, 83

596 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.
PAGE PAGE

Marniot, G., engraving from daguerreo- Pavements, cast-iron, 17
types, 182 | Pearls and pearl-making in China, 84T
Matter, absorption of, by the surface of Peat, gas from, 247
bodies, 205 | Pen, Protean Fountain, 119
Mathematical Journal, 12 | Pendulum detachment, Brown’s, 165
Percussion caps, improvements in, 97

Mavry, Lieut., on barometric anomalies, 198
“ Jarge ordnance, 1
iiedieerencan and Red Sea, levels of, 293
submarine telegraph, 149
Metal, Ruggle’s rotary shears for, 118

Metals, alkaline and earthy, electrolytic

preparation of,
“earthy, industrial employment we
2

of,
« electro-chemical extraction of,
from the human organism, 223
“ production of, in Great Britain, 306
« spongy, 226
Meteorite, examination ofa supposed, 326
Meteorites, new, 325
Mica, existence of acari in, 300
Minerals, artificial production of, 829
Minié balls, machines for making, 98

Moon, chronology of the formation of, 289
Moon’s surface, note on the extent ‘of

our knowledge respecting the, 887
Mora tree of West Indies, 833
Morphology, Analytic, 841
Mosquito, sting of, 354
Moths, microscopic illustrations of, 13
Museums of domestic economy, 15
Music, steam applied to, 37
Musical instruments, improvements in, 128
Nebraska, mawvais terres of, 289
Needlewomen, how injure theireyes, 3845
New Jersey, geological survey of, 21
Niagara River, attempts to sound, 281
Nickel, separation of, from cobalt, 225
Nitrogen, absorption of, by plants, 273
Notation, mechanical, 195

Ooguanolite, new mineral, 823
Oil, new, 243
“ preparation from seeds, 242
Oils for lubrication, 241
“ purifying of, 245
Opate, Indian, 358
Ordnance, Cavalli's improvements in, 95
Organ-pipes, wind regulator for, 128
Oxalates in the mineral kingdom, new, 233
Oxy dation, alloys not subject to, 211
Oxygen, magnetic force of, 154
“and nitrogen, relations between, 205
Ozone, influence of, 276
“properties and constitution, 275

“ ~ result of observations on, in Great

Britain,

Paddle-wheels, experiments with, 84
Paper, bank-note, manufacture of, 84

electro-chemical, for telegraphic
purposes, 153
“ from straw, 82
“ gelatine, use of, for coloring light, 261
“ sizing, 248

“plants furnishing fibers suitable
for, 835
Paraguay, discoveries in, 20

Paris Exhibition, American medals, 136
description of, 134

Philological discoveries, interesting, 203
Phosphoric acid in rocks, detection

of, 230, 272
Photographic impressions of flowers, 175
Photographs, colored, 176

duration of, 178

v lunar, 175

sé of Crimean battles, 179
Photogr aphy and wood-engraving, 178

applications inthe arts, 179
to porcelain, 175

‘ printing on cloth by means
of, 7

Piano-forte action, improved, 128
Pianos, Drigg’s improvements in, 128
Pickers for power-looms, 80
Pictures, cheap, how made, 163
Plane-iron, improved, 115
Plane- lever, 111
Planets discovered in 1855, 318
Planing-machine, Barlow’s, 110
: Gray & Wood's, 111

s 2 Morse’s, 111
Plants, absorption of nitrogen by, 273
“« fossil, of the Pennsyly ania coal, 281
Plastic compound, new, 265
Plow-steam, Fisker’s, 64
Plugs, fusible safety, 208
Pory & Verenes, M.M., 228
Polygraph, Ame’s, 108

Porcelain, application of photography to, ao 4

Potato, disease of, origin,

Prizes, scientific, ‘for 1859, pit
Projectile, new war, 95
Projectiles, resistance of air to, 192

Printing, copper- plate, improvements in, 108
Printing-machines, improvements in, 106
Printing-press, Babcock’s polychroma-

i 10

tic,

bd “ — Brown’s color, 106
oe “* Davis's oscillating, 107
Pulleys, loose bearings for, 130
Pulse, machine to record the beatings of, 130
Pulverizing-machine, Chase’s, 76
Pump, Carpenter’s improved, 121
SS eeG rays 122
Quina-trees, cultivation of, in Jaya, 839
Rain-drops, fossil, formation of, 318-9
Rail-road bars, duration of, 51
“ improvements, 53-6
Me New York and Erie, 48
Rail-way sanding apparatus, 62

“« trains, experiments in stop-
ping, 52
Redwood of California, peculiarity of, 334
Refraction, Solar, 165
Register, absentecs’, 129
Reptile, new fossil, 822
tesins, bleaching, 243
Retina, human, 860
Rifle, Graham’s revolving, 96
“exit, 96
Rings of Saturn, 876

kee ee eee Oe ee ee eee LS

INDEX.

PAGE
Rocks, grooving and polishing by the
action of sand, 286
Rocks, improvements in blasting, 88
Rocky Mountains, geology of, 291
Roosting of birds,
Ross, Sir John, on the causes of the
Aurora, 151

Rudder, improved, 81
Saliva, use of, 255
Salmon, ova of, 361
Salt in California, 332
“ manufacture of, in the United

States, 302
Salmon, artificial propagation of, 854
Sand, action of, on hard rocks, 286
Sanding apparatus for railways, 62

Sandstone, red, of the Connecticut Val-
ley, age of 317

new fossils in, 316

Sarcophagus, porphyritic, for the Duke

“ “ “

of Wellington, 106
Sardines in California, 362
Sardinia, elevation of land in, 300
Saturn and Uranus, 387
Saturn's ring, 379

Saws, straining by atmospheric pressure, 114
Science, index to mathematical and
physical, 4

“ progress of, for 1855, 321

Screw fastenings, 130

s propellers, construction of, 33

oa : improvementsin, 31-2

« steamers, side, Bl

Sea, object of salt in, 261

Sea-weed for soap, 245
Seeds, influence of light on the germin-

ation of, 339

Sew ‘ing-machines, improvements in, 101

oe musical, 102

“e << Cow perthwait’ Ss new, 102

“2 4 Harrison’s © 102

. se Robinson's sh 102

“ Singer's =~ 102

er “ Wheeler & Wilson's * 102

Shafts, wood-lined bearings for, 35

Ship-building, novelties in, 30
Ship, new method of repairing, without

docking, 27

Ships and steamers, improvements in, 28

Shuttles, improved, 81
Sicht, physiology of, ms
Silicates and aluminates, production of, 222

Silicium and titanium, 213
Silver, iodo-nitrate of, 235
Sizing paper, 248
Skates, improved, 118
Slate, machine for quarrying, 8ST

“ trimming and cutting, 87
Slag, utilization of, 207
Sleeping in rail-road cars, device for, 61
Smitu, Dr. J. LAWRENCE, 325
Smoke, consumption of, 73

“ nuisance, abolition of, in England,278
Smokeless Furnaces, 68-9
Soap and oils, improvements in prepar-

24

ing, 2-3
ca fish-blubber, 243
“ from sea-weed, 245
“ from linseed oil-cake, 242

Sounding instrument, Grown’s patent, 89

397

PAG
Spiritual phenomena, so-called, Dr. Bell

on, 154
Spring, air, for rail-road cars, 56
Springs conical plate, rail- road car, 56

“« for fire-engines, 76
Stars, number of double, 379

“shooting, observed in 1855, 313

“variable, 318
Steam, application to agricultural pur-

poses, 63

<* “ music, 3T
Steam-ship Ocean Bird, construction of, 29
3 Persia, 28
Steel, curious production of, 152

* improvements in the manufacture
of, 65

“ manufacture of, 228
Stomach, action of alcohol on, 270
Stone, marbleizing the surface of, 129
Stones, artificial, 263
Stove, ‘Dr. Arnott’s improved, 70
Straw, paper from, 82
Subjects for investigation and premium, 23
Sugar refining, improvements in, 78
Sun, constitution of, 160
Superior, Lake, district, mineral wealth

of, 309
Surveying instrument, new, 197
Switch, Dick’s self-acting, 59
Tailor’s measures, new form of, 131
Tallow, improvements in bleaching, 245
Tanning, Enos’s improved process, 251

ee Wattles’s ‘“ 250
Tar-coal, its products, 238
Telegraphic commutator, 146
Telegraph, electric, in India, 144

Farmer’s improyve-
ments in,
s “ Mediterranean sub-
marine 149

& “ wires, discharge of
electricity from, 140

o ss “ induction of

electric currents in, 147
Telescope, Lord Rosse’s, revelations of, 380
a photographie, 173
Temperature, effect of slight changes on
marine animals,

Thermo-electric currents, 143
Thermometers, degrees and zero of, 189
Thompson’s, circular self-acting gate, 134
Tide-guages and electric registers, 159
Titanium, metallic, 213
Torpedo, anatomy of, 301
Tree, fossil, found within-the Arctic cir-

cle, 310
Trees, novel machinery for felling, 115
Tree-nails, machine for making, 86
Truck, safety rail-road, 62
Tunnel between England and France, 26
Tuyre, for smith’s hearths, improved, 67

Type, improvements in the manufac-

ture of, 229

“ setting by machinery, 110

“ machine for distributing, 109
Typographer, Jones's, 107
Tyres, steel, 66

Vegetable and animal kingdoms, distine-
tions between,

598

ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

PAGE PAGE
Ventilator, Foot’s, 61 | Willow, basket, machine for peeling, 116
Vessels, India-rubber lining for, 81 | Windlasses, improvements in the con-
“use of zinc in construction of, 209 struction of, 127
Vesuvius, eruption of, in 1855, 293 | Windows, arrangement for washing, 129
Vices, improvements in, 125 | Window-sash, new mode of hanging, 116
Vision, binocular, 171 | Wire, implement for cutting, 118
Woman, bear, the, 358
Wagon, Wilson’s improved, 78 | Wood, black stain for, 277
War inventions, recent improvements ‘“¢ kindling, machine for preparing, 114
hse “« machines for working, 110
Washburn’s furnace, 68 “ process for ornamenting, 129
Water, decomposition of, by atmospheric “* sawing-machine, improved, 114
electricity, 150 | Woodpecker, curious habit of a Califor-
Water-pipes, new construction of, 131 nian, 862
Waters, curious chemical changes ob- Woods, ornamental, from Algeria, 136
served in certain, 257-8 | Wrench, self-adjusting screw, 125
Waves caused by earthquakes, 297 | Wrenches, improvements in, 12d
Wax, improvements in bleaching, 246
Weaving, improvements in, 79 | Zine, new process for engraving on, 187
Weights and measures, 89| *% roofs, qT
Wells, frozen, of Owego, New York, 190] ‘ use of, in construction of vessels, 209
Whaling, bomb lances for, 92 | Zodiacal light, 314

Wheel-barrow, Wilson’s improved, 123

——— Se

~~ Se oe ee

A Ieee OO ao a Oe ea ee

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THESAURUS OF ENGLISH WORDS AND PHRASES.

So Classified and Arranged as to Facilitate the Expression of Ideas, and Assist
in Literary Composition. By Perer Marx Roger, late Secretary of the Royal
Society, and author of the “‘ Bridgewater Treatise,” etc. Revised and En.
larged ; with a List or ForrrgN Worps AnD Expressions most frequently
occurring in works of general Literature, Defined in English, by Barnas

- Spars, D.D., Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, assisted by
several Literary Gentlemen. 12mo, cloth. $1.50.

#G> A work of great merit, admirably adapted as a text-book for schools ana colleges, and of
high importance to every American scholar. Among the numerous commendations received
from the press, in all directions, the publishers would call attention to the following:

We are glad to see the Thesaurus of English Words republished in this country. It is a most
valuable work, giving the results of many years’ labor, in an attempt to classify and arrange the
words of the English tongue, so as to facilitate the practice of composition. The purpose of an
ordinary dictionary is to explain the meaning of words, while the object of this Thesaurus is to
collate all the words by which any given idea may be expressed. — Putnam's Monthly.

This volume offers the student of English composition the results of great labor in the form
of a rich and copious vocabulary. We would commend the work to those who have charge of
academies and high schools, and to all students. — Christian Observer.

This is a novel publication, and is the first and only one of the kind ever issued in which
words and phrases of our language are classified, not according to the sound of their orthog-
raphy, but strictly according to their signification. It will become an invaluable aid in the
communication of our thoughts, whether spoken or written, and hence, as a means of improve-
ment, we can recommend it as a work of rare and excellent qualities. — Scientific American.

A work of great utility. It will give a writer the word he wants, when that word is on the
tip of his tongue, but altogether beyond his reach. — NV. Y. Times.

It is more complete than the English work, which has attained a just celebrity. It is intended
to supply, with respect to the English language, a desideratum hitherto unsupplied in any
language, namely, a collection of the words it contains, and of the idiomatic combinations
peculiar to it, arranged, not in alphabetical order, as they are in a dictionary, but according to
the ideas which they express. The purpose of a dictionary is simply to explain the meaning
of words— the word being given, to find its signification, or the idea it is intended to convey.
The object aimed at here is exactly the converse of this: the idea being given, to find the word
or words by which that idea may be most fitly and aptly expressed. For this purp: se, the words
and phrases of the language are here classed, not according to their sound or their orthography,
but strictly according to their signification. — New York Evening Mirror.

An invaluable companion to persons engaged in literary labors. To persons who are not
familiar with foreign tongues, the catalogue of foreign words and phrases most current in mod»
ern literature, which the American editor has appended, will be very useful. — Presbyterian.

Tt casts the whole English language into groups of words and terms, arranged in such a mans
ner that the student of English composition, when embarrassed by the poverty of his vocabu-
lary, may supply himself immediately, on consulting it, with the precise term for which he has
occasion. — New York Evening Post.

« This is a work not merely of extraordinary, but of peculiar value. We would gladly praise it,
iif anything could add to the consideration held out by the title-page. No one who speaks or
writes for the public need be urged to study Roget’s Thesaurus. — Star of the West.

Every writer and speaker ought to possess himself at once of this manual. It is far from
being a mere dull, dead string of synonymes, but it is enlivened and vivified by the classifying
and crystallizing power of genuine philosophy. We have put it on our table as a permanent
fixture, as near our left hand as the Bible is to our right. — Congregationulist.

This book is one of the most valuable we ever examined. It supplies a want long acknowl-
edged by the best writers, and supplies it completely. — Portland Advertiser.

One of the most efficient aids to composition that research, industry and scholarship, have
ever produced. Its object is to supply the writer or speaker with the most felicitous terms
for expressing an idea that may be vaguely floating on his mind; and, indeed, through the
peculiar manner of arrangement, ideas themselves may be expanded or modified by reference to
Mr. Roget’s elucidations. — Albion, N. Y. (@)

. ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

NOTICES OF THE PRESS.

“Nothing which has transpired in the scientific world during the past year, seems te
fave escaped the attention of the industrious editors. We do not hesitate to pronouns
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rate size, *ll tne leading discoveries and inventions which have distinguished the past
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fur wirinest wishes for its eminent success.”—Christian Times.

« A niost acceptable volume.”’— Transcript.

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« We have in our possession the ledger of progress for 1849, exhibiting to us in @ ¢om
gensed “orm, the operations of the world in some of the highest business transactions. Te
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vublican.

“To the artist, the artisan, the man of letters, it is indispensable, and the general reader

will find in its pages much valuable material which he may look for elsewhere in vain.”
- B ston Herald,

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aweful knowledge.”—Zion’s Herald.

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tional ‘ntelligencer.

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tion contained within its pages is very large.”— Evening Gazette.

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« A most valuable, complete, and comprehensive summary of the existing facts of sci
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hefore hand with them.”—Puritan Recorder.

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resent year. A greater amount of useful and valuable information cannot be obtained
from any book of the same size within our knowledge.”— Washington Union.

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has appeared for a long time.”—Providence Journal.

“This isa neat volume and a useful one. Such a book has long been wanted in Am6r-
tea. Itshculd receive a wide-spread patronage.”—Scientific American, New York.

“Tt meets a want long felt, both among men of science and the people. No one wk6
feels any interest in the intellectual progress of the age, no mechanic or artisan, WRG &¢
aS to excel in his vocation, can afford to be without it. A very copious and accu: stp

dex gives one all needed aid in his inquiries.”— Phil. Christian Chronicle.

“ One of the most useful books of the day. Every page of it contains some useful in
formation, and there will be no waste of time in its study.”—.Vor-folk Democrat.

“Tt is precisely such a work as will be hailed with pleasure by the multitude of intelli
it readers who desire to have, at the close of each year, a properly digested record ef
ts prozress in useful knowledge. The project of the editors is an excellent one, and de
yerves and will command success.”—NVorth American, Philadelphia.

“ Truly a most valuable volume.”—Charleston (S. C.) Courier.

“There are few works of the season whose appearance we have noticed with more sin-
cere satisfaction than this admirable manual. The exceeding interest of the subjects to
which it is devoted, as well as the remarkably thorough, patient and judicious manner to
which they are handled by its skilfil editors, entitle it to a warm reception by all tbe
frianda of solid and useful learning.’? ~New Yark Tribune.

-_ eee eee

THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE;

OR,

THE AN NLU AT,

or

AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY

FOR 1855.
BY DAVID AsWELES, A.M

EDITOR OF THE “ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY,” ETC.

This work, by general acknowledgment the most splendid and perfect
agricultural book ever published in this country, exhibits the reported pro-
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during the year 1855. It embraces all the recent improvements in Mechanical
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ture, &c., &c.;—all new and important facts in Agricultural Chemistry,
Agricultural Geology, Agricultural Botany, Meteorology, Horticulture, and
Agricultural Zoology, together with Tables of Facts, Patents, and complete
Statistics of the Agricultural Products of the United States for the year 1855.
+ The Year Book of Agriculture is splendidly illustrated with Steel, Colored
Lithographic and Wood Engravings of the best character, exhibiting new
inventions, plants, vegetables, fibres, &c., &c.. No. American Agriculturist,
Amateur Gardener, Mechanic, or Inventor, who has a regard for his own
interest, can afford to be without this work.

The following unsolicited opinions have been given in regard to it:

«‘ A mere cursory examination convinces me that it will prove to be one of
the valuable volumes extant on American agriculture.”—Hon. Marshall P.
Wilder, President United States Agricultural Society.

“T know of no work which supplies the same amount of useful practical
agricultural information.” —Dr. A. A. Hayes, State Chemist of Massachusetts.

“‘T find myself looking at it every leisure moment.” —Hon. David Landreth,
President Philadelphia Agricultural Society.

“Such a book has long been wanted, and the task is now ably per-
formed.”—Prof. Mapes, Working Farmer.

“The agricultural community will welcome this book as a valuable
auxiliary.” —Southern Farmer, Petersburg, Va.

“This work should be in the hands of every farmer and horticulturist.
The information it will impart will be worth to any ordinary farmer five
times the sum the book will cost.””—Boston Transcript. ?

The price of the Year Book of Agriculture is $1.50, on the receipt of
which sum it will be forwarded by mail free of postage.

G. P. PUTNAM & CO., 321 Broadway, N. Y.
CHILDS & PETERSON, 124 Arch St., Philadelphia

ALSO,

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.

A View of the Productive Forces of Modern Society, and the Results of Labor,
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“ Annual of Scientific Discovery.”? 12mo, cloth, $1.25. In press.

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A TREATISE ON THE COMPARATIVE ANATOMY OF THE
Animal Kingdom. By Profs. C. TH. VON SIEBOLD and H. STANNIvs. Translated
from the German, with Notes, Additions, &c., By WALDO J. BURNETT, M. D., Boston.
Two volumes, octavo, cloth.

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THE POETRY OF SCIENCE; or, the Physical Phenomena of Nature.
By ROBERT Hunt, Author of “ Panthea,”’ ‘* Researches of Light,”’ &c. 12mo, cloth, 1,25,

We are heartily glad to see this interesting work republished in America. It isa book that is a
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THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SPECIES: its Typical Forms
and Primeval Distribution. By CHARLES HAMILTON SMITH. With an Introduction,
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This work exhibits great research, as well as an evident taste and talent, on the part of the author,
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The volume before us is one of the best of the publishers’ series of publications, replete with rare
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LAKE SUPERIOR: its Physical Character, Vegetation, and Animals,
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from other eminent Scientific Gentlemen. With a Narrative of the Expedition, and
Illustrations. By J.E.CaBoT. One volume, octavo, elegantly illustrated. Cloth, 3,50.

The illustrations, seventeen in number, are in the finest style of the art, by Sonrel; embracing
lake and landscape scenery, fishes,and other objects of natural history, with an outline map of Lake
Superior.

This work is one of the most valuable scientific works that has appeared in this country. Embody-
ing the researches of our best scientific men relating to a hitherto comparatively unknewp region,
it will be found to contain a great amount of scientific information. B

HUGH MILLER’S WORKS.

MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS
OF ENGLAND AND ITS PEOPLE..

By Huen Miter, author of “ Old Red Sandstone,” “ Footprints of the
Creator,” etc., with a fine likeness of the author. 12mo, cloth, 1,00.

Let not the careless reader imagine, from the title of this book, that it is a common book of travels,
on the contrary, it is a very remarkable one, both in design, spirit, and execution. The facts recorded,
and the views advanced in this book, are so fresh, vivid, and natural, that we cannct but commend it
as a treasure, both of information and entertainment. It will greatly enhance the author’s reputation
in this country as it already has m England. — Willis’s Liome Journal.

This is a noble book, worthy of the author of the Footprints of the Crestor and the Old Red Sand-'
stone, because it is seasoned with the same power of vivid description, the same minuteness of obser-
vation, and soundness of criticism, and the same genial ‘picty. We have read it with deep interest,
and with ardent admiration of the author’s temper and genius. It isalmost impossible to lay the book
down, even ‘to attend to more pressing matters. It is, without compliment or hyperbole, a most de-

lighifui volume. — VV. Y. Commercial.

It abounds with graphic sketches of scenery and character, is full of genius, eloquence, and observa-
tion, and is well calculated to arrest the attention of the thoughtful and inquiring. — Phil. Inquirer.

This is a most amusing and instructive book, by a master hand. — Democratic Review.

The author of this work proved himself,in the Footprints of the Creator, one of the most original
thinkers and powerful writers of the age. In the volume before us he adds new laurels to his reputa-
tion. Whoever wishes to understand the character of the present race of Englishmen, as contradistin-
guished from past generations ; to comprehend the workings of political, social, and religious agitation
in the minds, not of the nobility or gentry, but of the people, will discover that, in this volume, he has
found a treasure. — Peterson's Magazine.

His eyes were open to see, and his ears to hear, every thing; and, as the result of what he saw and
heard in “merrie” England, he has made one of the most spirited and attractive volumes of travels
and observations that we have met with these many days. — Traveller.

It is with the feeling with which one grasps the hand of an old friend that we greet to our home and
heart the author of the Old Red Sandstone and Footprints of the Creator. Hugh Miller is one of the
most agreeable. entertaining, and instructive writers of the age; and, having been so delighted with
him before, we open the First Impressions, and enter upon its perusal with a keen intellectual appe-
tite. We know of no work in England so full of adaptedness to the age as this. It opens up clearly to
view the condition of its various classes, sheds new light into its social, moral, and religious history,
not forgetting its geological peculiarities, and draws conclusions of great value. — Alvany Spectator.

We commend the volume to our readers as one of more than ordinary value and interest, from the
pen of a writer who thinks for himself, and looks at mankind and at nature through his own spec-
tacles. — Transcript.

The author, one of the most remarkable men of the age, arranged for this Journey into England,
expecting to “lodge in humble cottages, and wear a humble dress, and set what was to be seen by
humble men only,— society without its mask.” Such an observer might be expected to bring to view
s thousand things unknown, or partially known before; and abundantly does he fulfil this expecta-
tion. Itis one of the most absorbing books of the time. — Portland Ch. Mirror.

~—

NEW WORK.
MY SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS ;
Oy LHE STORY, OF MY EDU CATION:

By Huecu Mitier author of “ Footprints of the Creator,” “ Old Red
Sandstone,” ‘ First Impressions of England.” etc. 12mo, cloth

This is a personal narrative of a deeply interesting and instructive character, concerning one of the
most remarkable men of the age. No one who purchases this book will have occasion to regret it, our
word for it! U

VANUABLE (WORK:

CYCLOPADIA OF ANECDOTES OF LITERATURE AND THE
FINE ARTS. Containing a copious and choice selection of Anecdotes of the various
forms of Literature, of the Arts, of Architecture, Engravings, Music, Poetry, Painting,
and Sculpture, and of the most celebrated Literary Characters and Artists of different
Countries and Ages, &c. By KAZLITT ARVINE, A. M., Author of “‘ Cyclopedia of Moral
and Religious Anecdotes.”? With numerous illustrations. 725 pages octavo, cloth, 3,00.

This is unquestionably the choicest collection of anecdotes ever published. It contains three thou-
sand and forty Anecdotes, many of them articles of interest, containing reading matter equal to halfa
flozen pages of a common 12mo. volume; and such is the wonderful variety,that it will be found am
almost inexhaustible fund of interest for every class of readers. The elaborate classification and in-
dexes must commend it, especially to public speakers, to the various classes of literary and scientifie
men, to artists, mechanics, and others, as 1 DICTIONARY, for reference, in relation to facts on the num-
berless subjects and characters introduced. There are also more than one hundred and fifty fine
dllustrations.

We know of no work which in the same space comprises so much valuable information in a form
s0 entertaining, and so well adapted to make an indelible impression upon the mind. Itmust become
a standard work,and be ranked among the few books which are indispensable to every complete
library. — WV. Y. Chronicle.

Here is a perfect repository cf the most choice and approved specimens of this species of informa-
tion, selected with the greatest care from all sources, ancientand modern. The work is replete with
such entertainment as is adapted to all grades of readers, the most or least intellectual. — Methodist
Quarterly Magazine.

One of the most complete things of the kind ever given to the public. There is scarcely a paragraph
in the whole book which will not interest some one deeply ; for, while men of letters, argument, and
art cannot afford to do without its immense fund of sound maxims, pungent wit, apt illustrations, and
brilliant examples, the merchant, mechanic and laborer will find it one of the choicest companions of
the hours of relaxation. ‘“* Whatever be the mood of one’s mind, and however limited the time for
reading, in the almost endless variety and great brevity of the articles he can find something to suit
his feelings, which he can begin and end at once. It may also be made the very life of the social circle,
containing pleasant reading for all ages, at all times and seasons. — Luffalo Conunercial Advertiser.

A well spring of entertainment, to be drawn from at any moment, comprising the choicest anecdotes
of distinguished men, from the remotest period to the present time. — Bangor W hig.

A magnificent collection of anecdotes touching literature and the fine arts. — Albany Spectator.

This work, which is the most extensive and comprehensive collection of anecdotes ever published,
cannot fail to become highly popular. — Salem Gazette.

A publication of which there is little danger of speaking in too flattering terms ; a perfect Thesaurus
of rare and curious information, carefully selected and methodically arranged. A jewel of a book to
lic on one’s table, to snatch up in those brief moments of leisure that could not be very profitably
turned to account by recourse to any connected work in any department of literature. — Zroy Budget.

No family ought to be without it, for it is at once cheap, valuable, and very interesting ; containing
matter compiled from all kinds of books, from all quarters of the globe, from all ages of the world, and
in relation to every corporeal matter at all worthy of being remarked or remembered. No work has
been issued from the press for a number of years for which there was such a manifest want, and we
are certain it only needs to be known to mect with an immense sale. — New Jersey Union.

A well-pointed anecdote is often useful to illustrate an argument,and a memory well stored with per-
a e 4 . 7 r .
sonal incidents enables the possessor to entertain lively and agreeable conversation. — V. Y, Com.

A rich treasury of thought, and wit, and learning, illustrating the characteristics and peculiarities oz
many of the most distinguished names in the history of literature and the arts, — Phil. Chris. Obs.

The range of topies is very wide, relating to nature, religion, science, and art; furnishing apposite
illustrations for the preacher, the orator, the Sabbath school teacher, and the instructors of our com-
mon schools, academies, and colleges. It must prove a valuable work for the fireside, as well as for
the library, as it is calculated to please and edify all classes. — Zanesville Ch. Register.

This is one of the most entertaining works for desultory reading we: have seen, and will no doubt
have a very extensive circulation. -As a most entertaining table book, we hardly know of any thing
at once so instructive and amusing. — V. Y. Ch. Intelligencer. G

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