Messrs. Oliver & Co. (Limited), of Chesterfield, England, which we
take from _Engineering_. The chief features in this machine are that
it is fitted with Mr. John Casson's patent feed gear and apparatus for
steadying the saws. This feeding arrangement has now been in use some
years, and has been fitted to a very large number of circular saw
benches. This being the case, and the arrangement being very clearly
shown by our engraving, it will be unnecessary for us to describe it
in detail here.
The saw-steadying apparatus, with which the saw bench we illustrate
is fitted, is a novel arrangement, recently patented by Mr. Casson; in
the present case it is applied to two saws.
The steadying arrangement consists of accurately fitted sliding jaws
mounted on the arms of a forked support, so that they can be moved and
adjusted only by fine threaded screws, the jaws having their surfaces
next the saws, accurately parallel with the plane of the collar of the
saw spindle; these jaws, A, are fixed when the adjusting screws are at
rest, and they are faced with strips of greenheart or other suitable
timber, secured by countersunk screw bolts, these faces forming a
perfectly true guide for the saw blades.
For a single saw the guides just described would suffice; but for two
or more saws the outside guides must be supplemented by others between
the saw blades.
It will be noticed that the support, F, carrying the guiding jaws, has
a square stem sliding through the head of a suitable standard, and it
can be readily fixed at any desired height by means of the set screw.
[Illustration: BENCH WITH SAW-STEADYING APPARATUS.]
The arrangement we have been describing is well carried out, and there
can be no doubt that it will do good service, and enable thin saws
to be efficiently used with a heavy feed. We have received very
satisfactory reports of its performance.
* * * * *
A BAIT FOR INVENTORS.
I will give $200 for a machine that will bale hay in the field. Rake
and press combined would be preferable, but would not object to
its taking the hay in the windrow. The machine must be expeditious,
executing as fast as a mower is able to cut. Must have sufficient
power to make a bale suitable for commercial uses; shape of the bale
immaterial; a round one preferred. Must be of light draught; one team
is generally all that is available for any machine on the farm. These,
with the other qualifications demanded of every machine, simplicity,
durability, easy to manage, etc. If such an invention could be
produced it would make a revolution in the hay field almost equal to
that which the mower has made.
What an awkward, ungainly spectacle a man presents, struggling at one
end of a six foot pole, with a ten pound lock of hay at the other end,
endeavoring with all his might and main to elevate it 12 or 15 feet on
top of a load! It is an insult to human intelligence. A load of loose
hay is an uncertain quantity. You are never sure of getting it into
the barn. Top heavy, one sided, too wide or too high for the doors;
and even with the best of luck, a good percentage has drizzled in the
wake of the wagon over the lot to the barn. A 100 or 200 lb. bale,
with an inclined plane, or a pulley on side or aft of a good strong
rack, and all this barbarism has succumbed to civilization.
At the barn comes a worse servitude. (I don't mean the horse fork;
that is a grand lift to civilization. I hope to modify it shortly to
throw bales.) There a man struggles with sheer desperation to press
by his own avoirdupois 20 tons of hay into a place that won't hold 10.
Tramp, tramp, tramp, leg-weary, panting like an overheated dog, every
fiber of his clothing saturated with perspiration, a subject worthy
of a better immortality than the Greek slave. O Edison! don't fritter
away your genius on sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. Elevate the
laborer. Liberate our overworked people. Make us a chariot to press
our hay.--_Edmund Adams, North Manlius, N. Y., to the New York
Tribune._
* * * * *
A SILVER MILL IN THE CLOUDS.
The largest and most complete silver mill ever constructed, says the
San Francisco Stock Report, has recently been built by Messrs. Rankin,
Brayton & Co., of the Pacific Iron Works of that city, for the Cerro
de Pasco Mining Company, of Peru, and shipped for Callao, the port of
destination. This enormous mill consists of 80 stamps, 900 lbs, each,
44 live foot amalgamating pans, 22 nine foot settlers, and all the
accessories of a first-class modern mill. It is to be erected upon the
above named mines, which are situated in the heart of the Andes,
some 150 miles east of the city of Lima, at an elevation of more than
14,000 feet. To admit of mule transportation a portion of the way up
this tremendous ascent, the mill had to be made in sections, no piece
weighing more than 500 lbs. Some idea of the magnitude of this work
may be inferred from the fact that the mill, as thus constructed,
consisted of more than 17,000 pieces, and weighed upward of 600 tons.
This enormous amount of machinery was constructed by the above firm
and put on board a ship 50 days from date of contract.
The Cerro de Pasco mines have been the richest and most famous in the
world's history. They have been worked by the old arastra process for
the past 200 years, and have produced, according to the most authentic
records, more than $500,000,000. With such improved machinery the
product of these mines will undoubtedly attract the attention of the
world, and so reflect great credit upon the capacity, ingenuity, and
skill of our mechanical establishments.
* * * * *
POULTICES.
The common practice in making poultices of mixing the linseed meal
with hot water, and applying them directly to the skin, is quite
wrong, because, if we do not wish to burn the patient, we must wait
until a great portion of the heat has been lost. The proper method
is to take a flannel bag (the size of the poultice required), to fill
this with the linseed poultice as hot as it can possibly be made, and
to put between this and the skin a second piece of flannel, so that
there shall be at least two thicknesses of flannel between the skin
and the poultice itself. Above the poultice should be placed more
flannel, or a piece of cotton wool, to prevent it from getting cold.
By this method we are able to apply the linseed meal boiling hot,
without burning the patient, and the heat, gradually diffusing through
the flannel, affords a grateful sense of relief which cannot be
obtained by other means. There are few ways in which such marked
relief is given to abdominal pain as by the application of a poultice
in this manner.--_Dr. T. Lauder Brunton, in Brain._
* * * * *
NEW MECHANICAL INVENTIONS.
Mr. Joseph Adams, of Washington, D. C., has patented an improved Gas
Regulator, designed either to cut off the gas entirely or to let on
a larger amount of gas than its automatic action would ordinarily
permit, or to allow the regulator to operate with an automatic action,
as usual.
Mr. Jean A. Hitter, Jr., of St. Martinsville, La., has patented an
improved Type Writer, of simple and compact construction, that may be
readily used for printing on paper and for other purposes, being
small enough to be carried conveniently in the pocket, if desired, and
readily operated with little practice.
Messrs. Edwin N. Boynton, Geo. M. Coburn, and Thos. F. Carver, of
Worcester, Mass., have patented an improved Hand Drilling Machine, by
which a fast or slow motion can be readily obtained, at the will
of the operator, the slower motion being especially advantageous in
drilling large holes, as more power is obtained, and the holes are
drilled with greater ease.
Mr. Reuben R. James, of Rising Sun, Ind., has devised an improved
Adding Machine of simple and comparatively inexpensive construction.
The chief feature of the machine is a series of toothed revolving
counting wheels, which are inscribed on their peripheries with the
nine digits and cipher, and mounted loosely on a common axis, and each
having four lateral inclines or cams, which cause, at the proper time,
a weighted pawl lever to engage the next counting wheel on the left,
so as to carry ten when the numbers added on the wheel on the right
exceed ten. The adding is effected by successively drawing down to a
stop on the finger board the teeth of the counting wheels which are
opposite the numbers to be added, and the numerical result will be
seen on the wheels in a series of slots or apertures in the case of
the machine.
Mr. Jacob Croft, of Scipio, Utah Ter., has devised an improved Turbine
Water Wheel, which is constructed to prevent back pressure by the
water against the casing as it escapes from the buckets. Sand and
other substances in the water are prevented from entering around the
shaft and cutting or wearing it.
An improvement in Sweeping Machines has been patented by Mr. Isaac
A. Chomel, of Brooklyn, N. Y. This invention relates to apparatus for
sweeping up and collecting dirt, dust, and other refuse from floors,
carpets, streets, and other places. The dust box is to be rolled over
the floor and the brush revolved by a winch. The speed of the brush is
independent of the motion of the machine along the floor.
Mr. D. A. Ferris, of Tioga Center, N. Y., has patented an improved
Implement for Forcing Flooring Planks together when laying floors. It
is simple, convenient, and powerful.
* * * * *
EFFECT OF QUININE ON THE HEARING.
It is a well known fact to medical men that there exists a great
prejudice among a large number of people against taking quinine, the
idea being very prevalent that a prolonged use of it not only affects
the hearing, but (to use the common expression) that it "gets into
the bones." As regards the former belief, Dr. Roosa, of New York,
has recently been collecting and examining the evidence as far as
possible, and has come to the conclusion that in some cases there
really is a permanent nervous affection of the ear produced which
justifies the opinion held by the laity. Hitherto physicians have
generally disbelieved this, and ascribed the notion to prejudice.
* * * * *
THE MICROPHONE AS A THIEF CATCHER.
The microphone as a thief catcher has proved very useful to an English
resident in India, who found his store of oil rapidly and mysteriously
diminishing. He fixed a microphone to the oil cans, carried the wire
up to his bedroom, and, after the house had been closed for the night,
sat up to await the result. Very shortly he heard the clinking of
bottles, followed by the gurgling sound of liquid being poured out,
and running downstairs he caught his bearer in the act of filling
small bottles with oil for easy conveyance from the premises.
* * * * *
THE TALLEST TREE IN THE WORLD.
The tallest accurately measured _Sequoia_ standing in the Calaveras
Grove, near Stockton, California, measures 325 feet, and there is
no positive evidence that any trees of this genus ever exceeded that
height. Of late years, explorations in Gippsland, Victoria, have
brought to light some marvelous specimens of _Eucalyptus_, and the
State Surveyor of Forests measured a fallen tree on the banks of the
Watts River, and found it to be 435 feet from the roots to the top of
the trunk. The crest of this tree was broken off, but the trunk at the
fracture was 9 feet in circumference, and the height of the tree when
growing was estimated to have been more than 500 feet. This tree,
however, was dead, though there is no doubt that it was far loftier
than the tallest Sequoia. Near Fernshaw, in the Dandenong district,
Victoria, there has recently been discovered a specimen of the "Almond
Leaf Gum" (_Eucalyptus amygdalesia_), measuring 380 feet from the
ground to the first branch, and 450 feet to the topmost wing. This
tree would overtop the tallest living _Sequoia_ by 125 feet. Its girth
is 80 feet, which is less than that of many Sequoias, but as far as
height is concerned it must be considered the tallest living tree in
the world.
* * * * *
THE ARGONAUT, OR PAPER NAUTILUS.
[Illustration: ARGONAUT, OR PAPER NAUTILUS.]
This mollusk received the first title in allusion to the pretty fable
which was formerly narrated of its sailing powers, and the latter
title is given on account of the extreme thinness and fragility of the
shell. It is remarkable that the shell of the argonaut is, during the
life of its owner, elastic and yielding, almost as if it were made of
thin horn.
The two arms of the argonaut are greatly dilated at their extremities;
and it was formerly asserted, and generally believed, that the
creature was accustomed to employ these arms as sails, raising them
high above the shell, and allowing itself to be driven over the
surface by the breeze, while it directed its course by the remaining
arms, which were suffered to hang over the edge of the shell into the
water and acted like so many oars. In consequence of this belief the
creature was named the argonaut, in allusion to the old classical
fable of the ship Argo and her golden freight.
The animal, or "poulp," as it is technically called, is a lovely
creature despite its unattractive form. It is a mass of silver with a
cloud of spots of the most beautiful rose color, and a fine dotting
of the same, which heighten its beauty. A large membrane, which is
the expanded velation of the arms, covers all. It has been definitely
proved that the use of the expanded arms which cover the exterior of
the shell is to build up its delicate texture, and to repair damages,
the substance being secreted by these arms, and by their broad
expansions moulded into shape. The larger figure in the engraving
represents the argonaut while thus within its shell. While crawling
the creature turns itself so as to rest on its head, withdraws its
body as far as possible into its shell, and, using its arms like legs,
creeps slowly but securely along the ground, sometimes affixing its
disks to stones or projecting points of rocks for the purpose of
hauling itself along. When, however, it wishes to attain greater
speed, and to pass through the waters, it makes use of a totally
different principle. Respiration is achieved by the passage of water
over double gills or branchiae; the water, after it has completed its
purpose, being ejected through a moderately long tube, technically
called a siphon. The orifice of the siphon is directed toward the
head of the animal, and it is by means of this simple apparatus that
progression is effected. When the creature desires to dart rapidly
through the water, it gathers its six arms into a straight line, so
as to afford little resistance to the water, keeps its velated arms
stretched tightly over the shell, and then, by violently ejecting
the water from the siphon, drives itself by reaction in the opposite
direction. The uppermost figure shows the argonaut in the act of
swimming.
* * * * *
THE TRAP DOOR SPIDER OF JAMAICA.
This spider digs a burrow in the earth and lines it with a silken web.
The burrow is closed by a trap door, having a hinge that permits it
to be opened and closed with admirable accuracy. The door is circular,
and is made of alternate layers of earth and web, and is hinged to
the lining of the tube that leads to the burrow by a band of the same
silken secretion. The door exactly fits the entrance to the burrow,
and when closed, so precisely corresponds with the surrounding earth
that it can hardly be distinguished, even when its position is known.
It is a strange sight to see the earth open, a little lid raised, some
hairy legs protrude, and gradually the whole form of the spider show
itself.
[Illustration: TRAP DOOR SPIDER.]
The mode in which these spiders procure food seems to be by hunting at
night, and in some cases by catching insects that are entangled in the
threads that the creature spins by the side of its house.
In the day time they are very chary of opening the door of their
domicile, and if the trap be raised from the outside, they run to the
spot, hitch the claws of their fore feet in the silken webbing of the
door, and those of the hind feet in the lining of the burrow, and so
resist with all their might. The strength of the spider is wonderfully
great in proportion to its size.
* * * * *
TO MAKE A HOLE IN GLASS.
_New Remedies_ describes the following easy method of making a hole
in plate glass: Make a circle of clay or cement rather larger than the
intended hole; pour some kerosene into the cell thus made, ignite
it, place the plate upon a moderately hard support, and with a stick
rather smaller than the hole required, and a hammer, strike a rather
smart blow. This will leave a rough-edged hole, which may be smoothed
with a file. Cold water is said to answer even better than a blow.
* * * * *
THE PRESERVATION OF EGGS.
As science advances, the processes proposed for the preservation
of organic substances are being brought to greater and greater
perfection. No subject perhaps in this connection has received
greater attention, and been the subject of more processes, patent and
otherwise, than that of the preservation of eggs. In fact this is a
question of considerable importance, not only from a culinary, but
also from an industrial standpoint--that of the manufacture of albumen
for photographic purposes. In the _Moniteur de la Photographie_ Dr.
Phipson calls attention to a new process, which may be briefly stated
as follows:
On taking the eggs from the nest they are covered over, by means of a
bit of wool, with butter in which has been dissolved 2 or 3 per cent
of salicylic acid. Each egg, after receiving this coat, is placed in
a box filled with very fine and absolutely dry saw dust. If care
be taken that the eggs do not touch each other, and that they be
perfectly covered with the saw dust, they will keep fresh for several
months--perhaps for more than a year. Dr. Phipson states that he has
experimented with this process for two years, with most excellent
results. So much for the preservation of the entire egg; but there
is also a process for the preservation of the albumen of the egg
for photographic uses, due to M. Berg. In this process, the white,
separated from the yolk, is evaporated in zinc pans or porcelain cups,
at a temperature of 45 deg. C. The solidified albumen thus obtained is
pulverized by means of a mill. The yolk, by means of machinery, is
whipped up into a light mass, and then spread out on zinc plates and
evaporated to dryness at a temperature of 80 deg., and finally powdered.
The powders thus obtained keep for a long time. The white of eggs, so
prepared, is used for the purposes to which albumen is applied in
the industrial arts, while the powdered yolks are used for domestic
purposes.
* * * * *
CHARACTERISTICS OF AMERICAN SHEEP HUSBANDRY.
Dr. Hayes, in his recent address before the National Agricultural
Congress, remarking that a very inadequate idea is given of a nation's
resources by the number of sheep raised--the character of the animals
being of the first consideration--proceeds to show some of the
characteristics of American sheep husbandry. He states that the sheep
of the United States consist, first, of what are called native sheep;
second, descendants from improved English races; third, the Mexican
sheep found in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and California; fourth,
the merino sheep, and crosses of that breed with the three preceding
races. The merinos constitute the principal and characteristic race
of the United States; and this is the most important fact in the
enumeration of our resources for sheep husbandry and the wool
manufacture. England has no merinos, except in her colonies; Russia
has but 12,000,000 merinos; France, but 9,000,000. The merinos and
grades in the United States exceed 25,000,000. Merino wool is for
clothing what wheat is for food; it is the chief material for cloth
at the present day, the coarsest as well as the finest. While the
softest, it is the strongest of all fibers. From its fulling
and spinning qualities, it is the best adhesive for the cheap
fabrics--coarser wool, cotton, or shoddy; the mixture of merino wool
increasing indefinitely the material for cheap clothing. An abundance
of merino wool is the greatest boon the world has received from the
animal kingdom in the last century. It is, in fact, in its extended
culture the product of the last century. A century ago all the merinos
in the world, confined exclusively to Spain, did not number 1,000,000.
1765 marks the epoch of the first exportation of the merinos to
Saxony; 1786, to France; 1833, to Australia; 1802, the introduction
of the first merino sheep to this country; and to Gen. Humphreys, of
Connecticut, and to the introduction to his farm of twenty-one rams
and seventy ewes, may be directly traced the most celebrated breeds
of the American merino; producing individuals actually sold for $5,000
each, others for $2,000 to $3,000, and one for which $10,000 was
refused. The fiber of the merino sheep is not the only excellence of
the animal; when properly bred, this race has a hardiness surpassing
all other high-bred races. The "yolk," provided by nature to assist in
the growth of the wool, abounding in this race more than in any
other, causes the tips of the fleece to be cemented, and to become
impenetrable to rains and snows. A lighter pasture suffices for their
maintenance than would support the mutton races. This race is fitted,
above all others, for the remote pastoral lands and for culture on a
large scale.
Our breeders, in aiming to increase the weight of their fleece, have
developed the length of the staple, and have unconsciously created
a merino combing wool--a wool in special demand through modern
improvements in machinery and changes in the fashion of goods. Mr.
Ferneau, an eminent Belgian wool manufacturer, who has thoroughly
studied our wool resources and manufactures, says that three quarters
of the American wool is "combing wool," and will be ultimately
employed for this purpose. The bulk of American merino wools is of
strong, sound, and healthy staple, having few weak spots in them.
Those from the other States of the West are free from burrs. Those
from California have this defect in a high degree. They are admirably
fitted for blankets, flannels, and fancy cassimeres, and the great
bulk of our card wool manufactures. They are so excellent, as a whole,
that M. Ferneau says they are too valuable to be used for clothing
purposes. They supply nine tenths of all the card or clothing wool
consumed in American mills.
* * * * *
THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE IN MEXICO.