interesting and highly practical experiments at Portsmouth. The
ship’s armour is four and a half inches in thickness, and this armour
was backed up in various places—for the purpose of experiment—with
india-rubber and asbestos, in order to see how far these materials
might be relied upon as automatic leak-stoppers. A little fleet of
gunboats now fired upon the vessel at short range, sending shot after
shot completely through the armour, and penetrating the india-rubber
backing, which measured an inch and a half in thickness. The armour
when protected with an outer jacket of india-rubber fared no better.
Much the same results were obtained when the shots were directed to
that part of the hull of the vessel which had been provided with a
backing of asbestos. The water poured so freely through the shot-holes,
that they had to be plugged, to obviate the risk of the vessel sinking.
In the sequel, it was unanimously agreed that both india-rubber and
asbestos are quite valueless as additions to armour-plating.
Mr Mallet, of the University of Virginia, describes a most unusual
phenomenon which occurred in the laboratory of that institution last
winter, in the shape of explosive ice. The ice in question formed in
the glass vessel of a gasogene—the familiar apparatus for charging
water with carbonic acid gas. The expansion of the ice burst the
vessel, after which the ice itself exploded repeatedly, and threw off
fragments with a crackling sound. The effect is attributed to the
pressure of the gas contained in the ice, which in the case of water
would appear as simple effervescence.
Steel sleepers for railways, in lieu of the rough wooden ones formerly
employed, are now coming into greatly extended use, and there are
few railways where they are not being tried either experimentally or
adopted permanently. In the underground workings of collieries, the
maintenance of wooden sleepers forms an important item of expense,
and there is every hope that steel sleepers will take their place. Mr
Colquhoun, the general manager of the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company,
has invented a form of steel sleeper for this particular purpose. Its
sides are corrugated, and it has two projecting fangs at each end,
which clutch the ground upon which it is laid. The complete weight of
the sleeper and its fittings is only sixteen and a half pounds. It has
been on trial in some of the South Wales collieries, and has given
every satisfaction.
The _Lancet_ lately called attention to a singular tradition bearing
upon infant mortality, which is widely circulated and believed in.
An inquest was held upon a child five weeks old which had been found
in bed suffocated beside her mother. Death was attributed to a cat
getting on the bed and sucking the breath of the child. There seemed
to be no evidence against the cat; indeed, the animal did not appear
upon the scene. The _Lancet_ points out that death was no doubt due to
overlaying by the parent, and that ‘breath-sucking’ is probably a myth,
or it would ere now have been proved by observation.
An American inventor, Mr A. Hardt, has patented an arrangement for
using very small slack coal as fuel for boiler-firing. The apparatus
consists of two fireclay retorts—very much after the pattern of the
retorts used in gas factories—which are placed immediately above the
ordinary firebox. Each retort has a slide in the bottom, which can
be withdrawn so as to empty it of its contents. In addition to this,
each has a tube of fireclay reaching from the back part of the retort
into the fire beneath. The action of the apparatus is as follows:
The retorts are charged with slack, which by the heat of the fire is
gradually coked, while the gas evolved from it is carried to the fire
beneath. When all the gas has been driven off, the sliding bottom of
the retort is withdrawn, and the coke falls into the furnace, to form
fresh fuel. Two retorts are employed, so that one can always remain at
work while the other is being recharged.
Mr F. Siemens has invented a new method of repairing furnace-linings
while at a white-heat, which will be found very useful in steel and
glass furnaces where high temperatures are necessarily employed.
Under such temperatures, the sides of furnaces become softened, and
quartz powder or sand projected against the soft places will readily
adhere. Mr Siemens’ apparatus for compassing this end consists of a
small wagon, upon which are mounted a fan and a movable pipe like
a fire-hose, which can be made to direct a blast in any required
direction. The nozzle attached to the pipe is introduced into the
furnace-doors, and the sand is blown against the particular part of the
furnace-lining which may require reparation.
The tricycle is being gradually applied to so many different purposes,
that it can no longer be regarded as a means merely of healthy
exercise. Traders use it largely for the delivery of small parcels;
postmen in country districts depend upon it as a useful steed; the
military genius of the Germans is turning it to account for the
battlefield; and in many ways its value is receiving increased
recognition. Its last application is in the form of an auxiliary to
the fire brigade. The tricycle in question embodies the following
parts: It contains a hosereel, with a quantity of hose specially
constructed to wind up into a very small compass; a light double-pump
fire-engine, capable of throwing twenty-five gallons of water per
minute; a collapsible cistern to hold water; and a simple fire-escape
with descending ropes and bag. Two men can run the tricycle at full
speed, and the pedal action can afterwards be applied to pumping. The
apparatus has been introduced by Mr Glenister, chief of the volunteer
fire brigade of Hastings, in conjunction with Mr J. C. Merryweather of
London.
The French scientific journal _La Nature_ describes and illustrates a
machine for making a product which is coming into favour in various
different employments under the name of wood-wool. As its name
implies, this material is simply wood cut into such fine shavings that
it answers many of the purposes to which wool is commonly applied.
Although it was at first intended merely as a packing material, it was
soon found that it had a much more extended field of usefulness. It
is being employed for stuffing mattresses, as bedding for cattle, for
the filtration of liquids, &c. It is elastic like horsehair, and is
beautifully clean in use. The wood used by preference is Riga fir; and
the machine will produce, without any necessity for skilled labour,
more than fifteen hundred pounds of ‘wool’ per day of ten hours.
A cart-wheel without axle, axle-boxes, grease-boxes, and journals,
seems to be something akin to an impossibility; but such a thing has
been produced and exhibited at the Palace of Industry, Paris, by M.
Suc. Its principle is this: Suppose that we have two grooved rails,
and that we place one on the ground with its groove uppermost. In this
groove we then place a number of steel balls, and above them we place
the other rail with its groove downwards. Thus placed, the two grooves
are facing one another, while the balls are embraced by both, so that
if we push the upper rail, it will slide over the lower one, owing to
the simple rotation of the balls. Imagine the two rails to be bent into
a circle, with the balls still between them, and we have the principle
of M. Suc’s axleless wheel. The inner part is fixed to the wagon; and
the outer part, consisting merely of a grooved rim, works round it with
the balls between. The thing seems to be wonderfully ingenious; but we
doubt whether it would work so well as the old-fashioned form of wheel.
A dusty road would try its powers to the utmost.
A somewhat elaborate plan for keeping railway foot-warmers hot has been
devised by M. Tommasi, a French electrician. He proposes that after the
foot-warmers have been charged with their hot solution of acetate of
soda—as is commonly done on the French railways, and on some few lines
in Britain—the heat should be kept up by electricity. The current to
maintain this heat would be obtained from a dynamo driven off an axle
of the carriage-wheels, and would be carried to all the foot-warmers
throughout the train. We should think that it would be a far easier
and less expensive plan to utilise some of the waste heat from the
locomotive, which might be applied to the carriages by means of pipes.
Has this plan ever been tried?
The cultivation of tobacco in Kent is an experiment which many
agriculturists are observing with keen interest. So far, the experiment
has been a success, and this in spite of very unfavourable weather, and
the presence of unusual quantities of destructive pests in the shape of
insects. We are told that earwigs have done a great amount of damage
to the plants, for they have been chewing tobacco ever since the leaves
came to maturity. According to the opinion of experts, Kent is the most
suitable place in this country for the culture of tobacco. Not only is
the soil suited to the growth of the plant, but the same oast houses
which are used for drying the hops, and whose conical tops form such a
noteworthy feature of the Kentish landscape, can be readily adapted to
drying the tobacco leaves. It is thought, indeed, that hops and tobacco
might be grown on the same land, and form a combined industry which
would pay well.
M. l’Hoste, the French aëronaut who recently crossed the Channel by
means of a balloon, made use of a piece of apparatus which seems
to represent some advance in the art of aërial travelling. This
contrivance was dragged in the water of the Channel from a rope
attached to the balloon. By this means the aërostat was kept at a
certain height above the water. But it served a further purpose than
this. By its means water was drawn up into the car and utilised as
ballast. Formerly, ballast once thrown out of the car could not be
recovered; but by this invention it can be picked up when the balloon
is travelling over water. We may note that Mr Green, one of the most
celebrated balloonists, made use of an inverted cone, attached to a
rope, when travelling over water. This cone acted as an anchor to the
balloon, keeping it a certain height above the water, and at the same
time allowing it to drift along.
A Report was lately read at the French Academy of Medicine referring
to an operation which was successfully conducted by the help of a
magnet. A patient who was by profession a sword-swallower at fairs,
had, while at a restaurant, amused some companions by hiding a steel
fork in his throat. By an accident, the fork reached to a lower point
than the experimenter had reckoned for, and a surgical operation
became imperative. By means of a strong magnet, the fork was moved to
a position, where a simple incision soon relieved the sufferer of this
unwelcome intruder.
The divers employed on the wreck of the ill-fated _Oregon_ have almost
finished their labours. Six men have been at work upon the wreck, each
man remaining under water for from half an hour to one hour at a time.
The cargo of the vessel chiefly consisted of bales of cotton; and the
divers were furnished with hooks, like workmen employed in the same
business on dry land, with which they could grasp and handle the bales.
These were attached to steam pulleys, and hauled on board the wrecking
vessel. To get at the mail-room, the side of the submerged vessel had
to be blown in with dynamite, but much of the mail-matter was spoilt
by the water before this was done. The divers report that the vessel
is fast breaking up; her bow has fallen over into the sand, and she is
broken in two between the mainmast and the foremast, although some of
her spars are still visible above water.
Dr H. J. Fox announces in the _St Louis Medical Journal_ that creosote
is almost a certain cure for erysipelas, for he has treated some
hundreds of cases with only one fatal result. The affected parts are
kept constantly covered with cloths soaked in a solution of creosote
in water—six to twenty drops of creosote to one ounce of water; or a
poultice may be formed by stirring ground elm into the solution so as
to make a paste.
At the Birmingham Art Gallery, a new method of illuminating the
pictures is being tried. In the centre of the room is a suspended ring
of ninety-six Swan incandescent lamps, each of twenty candle-power.
Within this ring is a series of silvered glass reflectors bent to such
a curve as will insure the pictures being well illuminated without any
reflection from their surfaces. The arrangement has been devised by
Messrs Chamberlain and Hookham.
A Report has recently been published by Mr Verbeck, who was deputed to
inquire into the origin and character of the terrible volcanic outburst
at Krakatoa, in the Straits of Sunda, two years ago. He calculates
that the amount of matter ejected from the volcano was equal to a
mass measuring at least ten cubic miles, and that the velocity with
which this matter was thrown into the atmosphere was greater than the
projecting power of the biggest of big guns. He considers that the
ejected matter must have reached a height of thirty miles; that is,
about six times the height of the highest mountain in the world. The
explosions were heard over a fourteenth part of the earth’s surface;
and an atmospheric wave travelled from the scene of disturbance, and
spread itself over the surface of the globe in thirty-six hours.
We are glad to see that a Society for the Protection of Birds has been
instituted in New York. It seems to be akin to the Plumage League
recently incorporated in our own country, while its aims are more
comprehensive. Its chief object is to protect birds not used for food
from destruction for mercantile purposes, and it will also endeavour
to secure and publish information relative to the present enormous
destruction of birds for the purposes of dress, decoration, and general
adaptation to fancy articles. It will also point out in its teachings
the bad results which must in time accrue to agriculture from the
wanton destruction of birds which prey upon insect life. The robbing of
birds’ nests and the destruction of eggs will also be discouraged by
the Society.
Among the papyri which have recently been brought to Vienna from El
Fayoum was one which, according to those who have deciphered it,
mentioned the existence of a city in Lower Egypt which seems to have
completely vanished. The document in question is a papyrus four feet
long by one foot wide. It contains a marriage contract between one
Theon and his bride Maria, with the signature of witnesses and a
notary. All these people are described as belonging to the city of
Justianopolis. No mention of this place can be found among any lists
of places which exist. The papyrus is supposed to date from the sixth
century.
The dispute as to the permanence or non-permanence of water-colour
drawings has received a fresh contribution from the pen of Mr E. A.
Goodall, whose father engraved a certain drawing of Turner’s which is
now in the national collection. It had been pointed out, as a proof of
the fugitive nature of the pigments which the great painter employed,
that many details which appear in the engraving in question are not
now visible in the original drawing. Mr Goodall, however, says that
these details never were visible in the painting, it being the custom
of Turner, when proofs were submitted to him for approval, to touch up
those proofs and to introduce new effects—clouds, figures, &c., which
were not in the original work.
Mr W. A. Gibbs, whose name in connection with hay-drying apparatus
will be remembered, has lately turned his attention to a machine for
‘withering’ tea after the leaves have been curled and twisted in the
rolling-mill. This is brought about by submitting the damp leaves to
a current of dry air, which speedily desiccates the mass. The machine
consists of a revolving fan in an iron casing mounted on a pair of
wheels, with a small coke-fire in a box in front of it. There is a
hand-wheel to drive the fan, and handles attached to the casing, so
that the contrivance can readily be moved from place to place. There
is an inlet and outlet for the air, the latter passing over the fire.
In front of the inlet there is a cage, in which are placed lumps of
chloride of calcium, a salt which has the property of absorbing all
moisture within its reach, and which when saturated can easily be
restored to its former state by heating. It can thus be used over and
over again, so that first cost is the only expense. By this apparatus a
dry air can be delivered without the employment of any excessive heat,
and such conditions give the best results in the desiccation of tea.
Mr Gibbs has also devised a machine for the rapid drying of fibrous
materials, which will doubtless be found valuable in many branches of
trade and manufacture.
A TALE OF TWO KNAVERIES.
IN FOUR CHAPTERS.—CONCLUSION.
Uncle Franklin drew towards his end. It soon became evident that that
grim churchyard experiment which he had suggested would in his case
be entirely unnecessary. As he sank lower and lower, and the cruel,
icy grasp clutched his labouring heart more often and more fiercely,
Lucy found herself almost a fixture at his side. He could hardly bear
her absence, however short; and when the fits of palpitation were upon
him, he seemed to hold on to life by her hand alone. He would talk
to her when he was able—talk of business, nothing but business and
money, always money, until the gold seemed to jingle in her brain as
though it were the inside of a till. It was very trying and wearing;
but tenderness of heart and compassion for this unloved and desolate
old money-worshipper, whose idol had failed him at his need, this
spoiler whom a hand more ruthless than his own was spoiling, kept her
staunch to her post. She thought little of her expectations, and that
only for her husband’s sake; in the presence of this aimless, endless
money-babble from the lips of a suffering and dying man, the idea of
her possible and probable inheritance had grown almost distasteful to
her; and Uncle Franklin had not as yet broached the subject of his
will.
There came, however, a day when, with the last words he ever spoke, he
for the first time broke his silence in this respect. The doctor had
paid his daily visit, and had gone away with that shake of the head and
significant look which tells that human skill has done its utmost. The
patient was lying in a half-doze, and Lucy was sitting by the bedside,
when he suddenly opened his eyes and fixed them full upon her. ‘It’s
nearly over, my girl,’ he said. ‘You have done your duty by me, and I
thank you. You’ll find I have kept my promise. When the time comes,
send to my solicitor, Blackford of Southampton Buildings—he’ll know
what to do.’ He closed his eyes after speaking these words, and seemed
to sleep again. That night he died, quietly and without a struggle. It
was in the third week after the making of the second will.
Those were days of anxious reflection for Mr Blackford. Business was
more than commonly ‘slack’ with him, so that he was able to give his
undivided attention to his little scheme. Even Willoughby had failed
to renew his visits, a circumstance which almost escaped the lawyer’s
notice, so preoccupied was he with things of greater moment.
What course should he now adopt? How should he best use his advantage?
Nobody save himself knew of the hiding-place, or even of the existence
of the later will, unless the testator should have altered his mind.
Somehow or other, he must manage to substitute the earlier will for the
later. But how? There appeared to be but one way in which to do what
must be done; it was a way which demanded courage, self-possession, and
unflinching nerve; for a moment’s faltering or bungling would in all
probability bring about a shameful and disastrous failure. That way Mr
Blackford determined to take; and so waited as patiently as he might
for the news of Mr Franklin’s death and the expected summons to the
house.
Both came together; the latter in a form which he did not expect, and
which discomposed him a good deal—in the form, namely, of an invitation
to the funeral. Lucy said in her letter that Mr Franklin had stated
that his solicitor would know how to act with reference to his affairs;
and that both she and her husband felt that it would be more seemly to
defer any such action until the dead man had been laid in his grave.
But on reflection, Mr Blackford was less dissatisfied than at first
with this arrangement. It was a delicate and difficult operation which
he had to perform; possibly it might be carried out with greater ease
in the confusion and excitement of a crowd, than under the undistracted
scrutiny of only two pairs of eyes. All that he had to do was to
slightly amend his plan of action to suit the altered circumstances.
He replied to the letter with graceful condolence, asking that, in
pursuance of the testator’s wishes as communicated to himself, all the
family might be summoned to hear the will read after the funeral.
This was done accordingly; and when the company had returned from the
ceremony, Mr Blackford found himself in the presence of a tolerably
numerous and not too good-tempered assemblage, in Tom Wedlake’s
dining-room. By this general invitation, vanished hopes had been
revived, almost forgotten jealousies and suspicions had blossomed anew;
and in every face, repressed truculence and ready defiance were thinly
varnished over with the expression proper to the occasion. The general
hostility brought itself to a focus upon Tom and Lucy, who were treated
by all but the latter’s own parents with severely guarded affection.
The solicitor rose from his chair and addressed the expectant relatives
with decorous gravity. He had carefully weighed and rehearsed every
word which was to be spoken, for he had to pass through an ordeal which
would test his coolness and readiness to the utmost. It was necessary
in the first place to clear his way—to make sure that there was no
unsuspected information in the possession of any present which might
upset all his calculations in a moment.
‘It is now my duty,’ said he, ‘to read the will of the late Mr
Franklin. But may I first ask, whether any one here happens to be aware
of the intentions of the deceased with regard to the disposition of his
property?’
There was no reply. All eyes were turned significantly and
mistrustfully upon Tom and Lucy; but neither felt inclined to speak the
word which should let loose upon them the pent-up storm.
‘Mr and Mrs Wedlake,’ said the solicitor—and a preparatory tremor of
indignation ran through the listening group—‘were, as we know, in
closer communication of late with their uncle than any other members of
his family; perhaps they would be able to tell us something?’
Tom answered by a shake of the head, which might signify either refusal
or unwillingness. But there was an air of composure about him and his
wife which was in marked contrast with the flushed expectancy generally
prevalent, and which was calculated to give rise to exasperating
auguries.
Mr Blackford proceeded: ‘I regret this very much, for it renders my
task all the more difficult and unpleasant. But that I cannot help.
It is by no fault or interposition of my own that things are—as they
will presently appear. Neither is it for me to question the testator’s
wisdom or his right to do as he pleased with his own. I can only say
that I used all my powers of persuasion to divert Mr Franklin from
his purpose, but unavailingly; therefore, I could only act as I was
instructed.’
Curiosity was excited by these words to the highest pitch; it was
evident that they portended some disaster, and an angry buzz began to
make itself heard.
‘The first thing to be done,’ continued the solicitor, ‘is to produce
Mr Franklin’s will. It is in his bedroom; and, with the permission of
Mr and Mrs Wedlake, I will now go and fetch it.’