Some amusing instances are related of the efficiency of "the Application
of Heated Currents to Manufacturing and other Purposes," once patented
by Davison and Symington. Thus, a violin had been in the owner's
possession for upwards of sixteen years, how old it was when he first
had it is not known. Upon being exposed to this process, it lost in
eight hours no less than five-sixths (nearly five and two-thirds) per
cent. of its weight. This there is every reason to believe was owing to
the blocks glued inside, for the purpose of holding the more slender
parts together. Instrument makers would do well to see that all parts,
however mean their position in the instrument, are properly seasoned, or
divested of moisture; for surely water cannot improve sound.
A violin-maker of high reputation, having an order to make an instrument
for one of the first violinists of the day, was requested to have the
wood seasoned by the new process; only three days were allowed for the
experiment, in which the wood was seasoned and sent home. The two
heaviest pieces were reduced in weight 2-1/2lbs., which is equal to two
pints of water.
It is ascertained that, by this means of drying, the effect of age has
been given to the instrument made from the above wood; and it became
_first fiddle_ in the orchestra of Her Majesty's Theatre. The wood had
been in the possession of its owners for eight years; and it was sent
from Switzerland, in the first instance, as dry wood.[6]
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Footnote 6:
In proof of the economy of Messrs. Davison and Symington's invention
applied to the manufacture and cleansing of brewers' casks, it is
stated that through its adoption at Truman's brewery, Spitalfields, a
saving of 300 tons of coals was effected annually.
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