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[Illustration]
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
A WEEKLY JOURNAL OF PRACTICAL INFORMATION, ART, SCIENCE, MECHANICS,
CHEMISTRY, AND MANUFACTURES.
NEW YORK, JANUARY 1, 1870.
Vol. XXII.--No. 1. [NEW SERIES.]
$3 per Annum [IN ADVANCE.]
* * * * *
Contents: (Illustrated articles are marked with an asterisk.)
*Engines of the Spanish Gunboats
The Torpedo Problem
Sugar Making in Louisiana
Sticking, or Court Plaster
*An Improved Hoisting Pulley Wanted
*Ferdinand De Lesseps--Chief Promoter of the Suez Canal
*An Ingenious Vent Peg
*A New English Patent Pulley Block
Plants in Sleeping Booms
*Improved Treadle Motion
*Improved Method of Catching Curculios
Remains of a Megatherium in Ohio
Artificial Ivory
American and English Kailway Practice Contrasted
Boiler Covering
Attachment of Saws to Swing Frames
Patent Decision
Inventions Patented in England by Americans
*Russ Improved Wood Molding Machine
A Lost Civilisation
*Girards "Palier Glissant"
A Happv New Year
The Suez Canal not yet a Failure
Tubular Boilers and Boiler Explosions
Professor Fiske's Lecture at Harvard
The Brighter Side
The American Institute Prizes Awarded to Steam Engines
A Protest against the Canadian Patent Law
American Railway Management
Scientific Lecture before the American Institute
The Battle Fields of Sceence
How French Bank Notes are Made
What the Newspapers Say
Chinese Method of Preserving Eggs
Steam Boiler Explosion
Editorial Summary
The Steven Breech Loading Rifle
* A Novel Improved Hand Vise
The Mound Builders of Colorado
*The Woven-Wire Mattress
Flouring Mill Hazards
Fire-Proof Building
The Decline of American Shipping
Aerial Navigation-A Suggestion
Putty Floors of Jewelers Shops and otherwise
Western Demand for Agricultural Implements
Economical Steam Engine
Friction and Percussion
Oiling a Preservative of Brownstone
Interesting Correspondence from China
Commumcation Between Deaf and Blind Mutes
Cheap Cotton Press Wanted
A Singular Freak of a Magnet
Preservation of Iron
The Bananas and Plantains of the Tropics
Putting Up Stoves
The Magic Lantern
The Largest well in the World--Capacity 1,000,000 gallons
of water per Day
Paper for Building
*Improved Muzzle-Pivoting Gun
Stock Feeding by Clock Work
Milk and What Comes of It
*Improved Hay Elevator
*Improvement in Lamp Wicks
Great Transformation
Answers to Correspondents
Recent American and Foreign Patents
New Books and Publications
List of Patents
* * * * *
Engines of the Spanish Gunboats.
In our description of these boats in No. 25, Vol. XXI., special mention
was made of the compactness of the engines.
It has frequently been urged as an objection against the twin screw
system that the double set of engines, four steam cylinders with
duplicates of all the working parts called for on this system, render
the whole too complicated and heavy for small vessels, preventing, at
the same time, the application of surface condensation. In the engines
of the Spanish gunboats, of which we annex an illustration from
_Engineering_, the designer, Captain Ericsson, has overcome these
objections by introducing a surface condenser, which, while it performs
the function of condensing the steam to be returned to the boiler in the
form of fresh water, serves as the principal support of the engines,
dispensing entirely with the usual framework. Besides this expedient,
each pair of cylinders have their slide frames for guiding the movements
of the piston rods cast in one piece. Altogether the combination, is
such that the total weight and space occupied by these novel twin screw
engines do not exceed the ordinary single screw engines of equal
power. Several improvements connected with the working gear have been
introduced.
[Illustration: ENGINES OF THE TWIN SCREW SPANISH GUNBOATS]
The outer bearings of the propeller shafts, always difficult to regulate
and keep in order on the twin screw system, are selfadjusting and
accommodate themselves to every change of the direction of the shafts.
This is effected by their being spherical externally, and resting in
corresponding cavities in the stern braces or hangers. The spring
bearings for supporting the middle of the shafts are also arranged on a
similar self-adjusting principle.
The thrust bearing is of peculiar construction, the arrangement being
such that the bearing surfaces remain in perfect contact however much
the shaft may be out of line. The reversing gear likewise is quite
peculiar, insuring complete control over the movement of the two
propellers under all circumstances. It is claimed that these engines are
the lightest and most compact yet constructed for twin screw vessels.
* * * * *
The Torpedo Boat Problem.
The _Army and Navy Journal_ thinks the problem of a torpedo boat
capable of firing rapidly and with certainty, has at length reached a
satisfactory solution. It says:
"A boat has been completed which is proved by experiment to be faultless
in machinery and arrangement. On the 2d of December, Secretary Robeson,
Vice-Admiral Porter, and Commodore Case, Chief of the Bureau of
Ordnance, went to the Navy Yard at Washington, to witness the experiment
with this new engine of destruction. After examining the workings of the
machinery, and the manner of firing, one of the destructives was put in
the frame and the party proceeded to the shore to witness the result. A
torpedo of only thirty-six pounds was first run out with rapidity and
fired; but the result showed that this small amount of powder, even,
would have been sufficient to destroy any ship, by lifting her out of
the water and breaking her back, even if her bottom was not knocked out
altogether. Mud and water were thrown up together, and the concussion
was felt far up in the Navy Yard, the ground being shaken by the shock
of the powder against the bed of the river. The concussion felt on board
the torpedo-boat was not more than that caused by a wave striking a
vessel at sea.
"Several torpedoes were fired from the vessel, the explosion of
which the party witnessed on board, as they desired to ascertain for
themselves the effect of the shock. The result seemed satisfactory,
as no change whatever is contemplated in the machinery, which is very
simple, and 'works to a charm.' The torpedo vessel is the _Nina_, a very
strong iron boat of three hundred and fifty tuns burden, capable of
crossing the ocean, and having a speed of seventeen knots an hour. She
is not impervious to heavy shot, but can be made so, and is capable of
resisting any ordinary projectile that could be brought to bear on her
from the decks of a ship of war. Her decks will be made torpedo and
shot-proof, and several arrangements will be applied, now that it is
known that the torpedo system is a success. Such a vessel as the _Nina_,
attacking an enemy's squadron on our coast some dark night, or entering
an enemy's port, could destroy half the vessels in the harbor, and
easily escape as few vessels could overtake her. Such a vessel could,
for instance, enter the harbor of Havana, and destroy every vessel of
war in the port, under cover of darkness. A squadron supplied with such
boats to be used to attack, after the fight began, and the ships were
enveloped in smoke, would have a most decided advantage against an enemy
not thus armed for torpedo warfare. It is reported that our torpedo navy
will consist of twenty vessels, none of which will have a less speed
than twelve knots, and the fastest of them will go seventeen knots."
* * * * *
SUGAR MAKING IN LOUISIANA.
The New Orleans _Times_ contains, in a late number, an account of the
manufacture of sugar as conducted on the Poychas estate, from which we
extract portions containing the essential particulars of cane sugar
making as conducted in the southern portions of the United States.
"Reaching the Cane shed, the crop, dumped into piles, is received by a
crowd of feeders, who place it (eight or ten stalks at a time) on the
cane carrier. This is an elevator, on an endless band of wood and iron,
which carries them to the second story, where the stalks drop between
the rollers. An immense iron tank below, called a juice box, receives
the liquid portion, and another elevator bears the bruised and broken
fragments to the opposite side of the building, where they are dropped
into the bagasse burner.
"This invention, at its introduction, caused more scientific inquiry
and dispute, probably, than any other of the age, and settled beyond
question the possibility of combustion, without the use of atmospheric
air. The process consists in dropping the wet, spongy mass into a fire
of wood or coal, and closing the furnace doors. The steam arising from
the drying matter passes to a chamber in the rear, where, by the intense
heat, it is decomposed. Oxygen and hydrogen (both strong combustibles)
unite with the carbon, reaching there in the form of smoke, and a white
heat is the result.
"Cane juice, as it escapes from the mill, could scarcely be considered
inviting to either palate or vision. The sweet, slimy mass of fluid,
covered with foam, and filled with sticks, has more the appearance of
the water in a brewer's vat than anything which now suggests itself. A
small furnace, containing a quantity of burning sulphur, sends through a
tube a volume of its stifling fumes, and these, caught by jets of steam,
thoroughly impregnate the contents of the juice box. Having received its
first lesson in cleanliness, the liquid now rises through a tube to the
series of clarifiers on the second floor. They are heated by a chain of
steam pipes running along the bottom, and being filled, the juice slowly
simmers Much of the foreign substance rises in a scum to the surface
and is skimmed off by the sugar maker. It is further purified by the
addition of Thomaston or what is called sugar lime. At one half a peck
is considered sufficient for seven hundred and fifty gallons of juice,
but much depends upon the quantity of saccharine matter it contains.
Another set of pipes now permit the liquor to run into the evaporators,
in the boiling room below. These are also heated by circles of steam
pipes, and the liquid is first gently simmered, to enable any additional
foreign substance to rise to the surface and be skimmed off.
"After that the steam is turned on fully, and the juice boils until
it reaches the solidity of twenty-five degrees, as measured by the
saccharometer. This point attained, more pipes conduct it to a series
of square iron tanks called filterers. Each is provided with a false
bottom, covered with thick woolen blankets, and through these the juice
slowly drips into an immense iron vessel called a sirup tank.
"The process of cleaning has now been completed, and the sirup is pumped
into the covered vessel previously alluded to, called the vacuum pan.
"This is also heated by layers of steam pipes, and here the liquor boils
until the process of crystallization is completed. This end achieved,
another conductor permits the substance to slowly descend to a large
square iron tank, called a strike-pan. The process of emptying the
vacuum pan is technically called a "strike." We now find a reddish brown
substance, having somewhat the appearance of soft mortar.
"Men are at hand with square wooden boxes, and while the sugar is still
warm, it is placed in rotary cylinders, protected on the inside by wire
guards, called centrifugals.
"Placed on a horizontal, they revolve with a velocity which frequently
reaches 1200 a minute. The damp, dingy looking pile instantly spreads, a
broad circle of yellow is first visible on the inner rim of the machine,
and this slowly whitening finally becomes a shining ring of snowy sugar.
To effect this result requires the aid of nine steam boilers, three
steam engines, a vacuum pan, three large evaporators, five clarifiers,
five filters, an immense sirup tank, the juice box, mill, bagasse
furnace, and fifteen coolers.
"With the engineers, sugar makers, firemen, and laborers, thirty-eight
persons are constantly on duty in this sugar-house.
"Doubling this number, to give each the necessary rest, swells the
gathering to seventy-six souls, who, during the grinding season, find
employment at the sugar-house alone. This of course does not include the
laborers employed in gathering and bringing in the crop, and the
great number occupied in odd jobs and the extensive repairs which are
constantly going on."
* * * * *
Sticking, or Court Plaster.
This plaster is well known from its general use and its healing
properties. It is merely a kind of varnished silk, and its manufacture
is very easy.
Bruise a sufficient quantity of isinglass, and let it soak in a little
warm water for four-and-twenty hours; expose it to heat over the fire
till the greater part of the water is dissipated, and supply its place
by proof spirits of wine, which will combine with the isinglass.
Strain the whole through a piece of open linen, taking care that the
consistence of the mixture shall be such that, when cool, it may form a
trembling jelly.
Extend the piece of black silk, of which you propose making your
plaster, on a wooden frame, and fix it in that position by means of
tacks or pack-thread. Then apply the isinglass (after it has been
rendered liquid by a gentle heat) to the silk with a brush of fine hair
(badgers' is the best). As soon as this first coating is dried, which
will not be long, apply a second; and afterwards, if you wish the
article to be very superior, a third. When the whole is dry, cover it
with two or three coatings of the balsam of Peru.
This is the genuine court plaster. It is pliable, and never breaks,
which is far from being the case with many of the spurious articles
which are sold under that name. Indeed, this commodity is very
frequently adulterated. A kind of plaster, with a very thick and brittle
covering, is often sold for it. The manufacturers of this, instead of
isinglass, use common glue, which is much cheaper; and cover the whole
with spirit varnish, instead of balsam of Peru. This plaster cracks, and
has none of the balsamic smell by which the genuine court plaster is
distinguished. Another method of detecting the adulteration is to
moisten it with your tongue _on the side opposite to that which is
varnished_; and, if the plaster be genuine, it will adhere exceedingly
well. The adulterated plaster is too hard for this; it will not stick,
unless you moisten it on the varnished side.--_The Painter, Gilder, and
Varnisher's Companion_.
* * * * *
AN IMPROVED HOISTING PULLEY WANTED.
A gentleman of this city has sent us the accompanying diagram of an
improved hoisting pulley, for which he say she would be willing to pay
any reasonable price provided he knew where to obtain it--the wheel, not
the price. It is a pulley within a pulley, the friction of the outer one
upon the inner one--the latter being held by a ratchet and pawl-acting
as a brake in lowering weights, while both would turn together in
elevating weights. The idea is rather an ingenious one, but we are
confident our inventors can attain a like object by simpler means.
[Illustration]
* * * * *
THE VACUUM METHOD OF MAKING ICE.--An ice and cold producing machine has
been invented by Herr Franz Windhausen, Brunswick. The action of the
machine is based on the principle of producing cold by the expansion of
atmospheric air, which is accomplished by means of mechanical power. The
machines require no chemicals, nothing being used in them but water and
atmospheric air. They may be wrought by steam, water, or wind, and they
produce from 100 to 1,000 lbs. of ice per hour, according to size, at a
cost of from 2d. to 5d. per 100 lbs., this difference resulting from the
varying prices of fuel and the mode of working chosen. One of their uses
is to cool rooms, cellars, theaters, hospitals, compartments of ships,
etc.--_Builder_.
* * * * *
FERDINAND DE LESSEPS--CHIEF PROMOTER OF THE SUEZ CANAL.
[From the Phrenological Journal.]
The scheme of re-opening the canal of the Pharaohs between the
Mediterranean and Red seas, and thus connecting by a short cut across
the Isthmus of Suez the commerce of Europe and Asia, though long
entertained by the first Napoleon, may fairly be claimed for M. de
Lesseps. His attention was doubtless first drawn to it by reading the
memorable report of M. la Pére, who was employed by Bonaparte to make
a survey in 1798. The credit of designing and executing the great work
belongs alike to him. With the general plan, progress, and purpose of
the Canal, the American reader has, during the past few months, been
made tolerably familiar.
He is the son of Jean Baptiste Barthelemi, Baron de Lesseps, who was
born at Cette, a French port on the Mediterranean, in 1765. Jean
Baptiste was for five years French Vice-Consul at St. Petersburg. In
1785 he accompanied La Perouse on a voyage to Kamtchatka, whence he
brought by land the papers containing a description of the expedition.
In 1788 he was Consul at Kronstadt and St. Petersburg. From St.
Petersburg he was called, in 1812, by the Emperor Napoleon, to Moscow,
as _intendant_. From the latter city, in 1814, he proceeded to Lisbon,
and was stationed there as Consul until 1823. He died at Paris, May 6,
1834.
Ferdinand, the subject of this sketch, was born at Versailles in 1805,
and is consequently in his sixty-fourth year, though his appearance is
that of a man little past the meridian of life. Early in life he evinced
peculiar aptitude for the diplomatic career in which he has since
distinguished himself--a career as varied and romantic as it is
brilliant. In 1825 he was appointed _attaché_ to the French Consulate at
Lisbon. Two years later found him engaged in the Commercial Department
of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. During the latter part of 1828
he was _attaché_ to the Consul-General at Tunis; and in 1831 he was
dispatched by his Government as Consul to Alexandria. Hard work and
rapid promotion for _le jeune diplomat!_ But the most eventful period of
his long and wonderfully active career lay yet before him.
Seven years subsequent to his appointment at Alexandria, and
consequently when he was in his thirty-fifth year, he was sent as
Consul to Rotterdam. From Rotterdam he proceeded to Malaga in 1839, to
negotiate in behalf of French commerce with the Spanish Government. In
the latter part of the same year he was transferred to the Consulate
at Barcelona, where during the two subsequent years he was especially
active, and signally distinguished himself against the reign of
Espartero. In 1844 we again find him in Alexandria, whither he was sent
to take the place of Lavalette. But the time for the development of his
great project had not yet come. He did not long remain in the Egyptian
capital. Returning to his former position in Barcelona he was witness
to some of the scenes of the revolution of February. In 1848 he was
appointed French Minister at the court of Madrid. Remaining in the
Spanish capital about a year, he returned to Paris immediately after the
revolution of '48, and in May of the following year was dispatched as
Envoy of the French Republic to the Republican Government of Mazzini at
Rome, where he took a leading part in the abortive negotiations which
preceded the restoration of the Pope by a French army.
[Illustration]
In 1854 he received a commission from the _Sociéte d'études du Canal de
Suez_ at Paris to negotiate with Säid Pacha for the construction of the
canal projected in 1816. Accordingly, toward the close of that year, we
again find him on the Isthmus, preparing for his great work. This time
he came to conquer. His mission was crowned with success, and the
necessary concession made in November of that year. A palace and a
retinue of servants were assigned to his use, and he was treated, as
a guest of the Viceroy, with the utmost respect. Great opposition
followed, especially from England; and it was not till January, 1856,
that the second and fuller concession was granted by Säid Pacha, and a
_Compagnie International_ fully organized.
In 1858 M. Lesseps succeeded in raising two hundred millions of francs
in France, and in 1859 he proceeded to Egypt and planted the Egyptian
flag in the harbor of the ancient Pelusium, the great sea-port of Egypt
thirty centuries ago, where Port Säid now stands. He laid, at the same
time, the foundation of a lighthouse, and proudly proclaimed the
work commenced. Fresh difficulties--chiefly of a political
nature--interposed, but the indefatigable Lesseps never despaired. In
1859 he had the satisfaction of seeing his company and work placed upon
a firm footing, though the final decision of the French Emperor was not
given till July, 1864. From that time to the present hour the Canal has
steadily progressed toward completion.
The personal appearance of M. de Lesseps is very striking. Though long
past middle age, he has a fresh and even youthful appearance. Both face
and figure are well preserved; his slightly curling gray hair sets off
in pleasing contrast his bronzed yet clear complexion, his bright eye,
and genial smile. He is somewhat over the medium stature, possessed of
a compact and well-knit frame, carries his head erect, and moves about
with a buoyancy and animation perfectly marvelous in one of his years
and experience. His address is that of the well-bred, well-educated
French gentleman that he is. His manner is winning, his voice clear and
under most excellent control, as all those who have listened to his
admirable lectures on the Canal at the late Paris Exposition cannot
fail to remember. What is perhaps most remarkable in a man so bred and
constituted, is that with great gentleness of speech and suavity of
manner he combines a strength of will and fixity of purpose worthy of
Napoleon or Caesar himself. Beneath that calm exterior lay a power which
needed but the stimulus of a great idea to develop.
Though beset by difficulties, laughed at, and maligned, he has never for
a moment swerved from his purpose or relaxed his efforts to accomplish
it. Neither the sneers of Stevenson and his associate engineers, the
heavy broadside of the "Thunderer," or the squibs of _Punch_, ever made
any visible impression on the purpose or action of Lesseps.--"My purpose
from the commencement was to have confidence," said he.
How bravely he has maintained his principle and redeemed his pledge let
the ceremonies which marked the completion and inauguration of his great
work tell--when sea sent greeting to sea; and let the keels of richly
laden argosies from Cathay and from Ind, which plow the waters of the
Canal, declare.
* * * * *
AN INGENIOUS VENT PEG.
The engraving illustrates an English invention of value in that it
provides a means of giving vent to casks from which liquids are to
be drawn, at the same time excluding the air when the drawing is
discontinued, and thus preventing deterioration in the liquid by undue
exposure to air.
[Illustration]
The principle on which it operates is that of admitting just so much air
as may be required to fill the vacant space produced by the withdrawal
of the liquor from time to time, and affording this air no egress, thus
hermetically sealing the barrel. This is effected by means of a valve
opening inward, at the upper portion of the peg, so long as the density
of the exterior air is in excess of that within. This action takes place
at the very instant of the flow of the liquid, and ceases with it; for
at that instant all further supply is shut off, there being no further
pressure.
* * * * *
THE LARGE TREES OF TEXAS.--The large court-house of Navarro county is
said to have been covered with shingles made from a single cedar tree.
The oaks, pecans, and cedars of that section of the country attain
an immense size. A pecan tree in Navarro county, on the banks of the
Trinity, measured twenty-three feet in circumference. The cedars are
often more than 100 feet high.
* * * * *
ELECTRIC MESSAGES.--Although it may require an hour, or two or three
hours, to transmit a telegraphic message to a distant city, yet it
is the mechanical adjustment by the sender and receiver which really
absorbs this time; the actual transit is practically instantaneous,
and so it would be from here to China, so far as the current itself is
concerned.
* * * * *
A New English Patent Pulley Block.
The following description of a new pulley block, which we take from the
_Ironmonger_, does not give as clear an idea of the invention as could
be desired, but it shows that invention in this field has not yet
exhausted itself:
[Illustration]
"The block is made on the differential principle. The lifting chain is
passed over two sheaves, each of which is geared internally, the one
having one or more teeth in excess of the other. Revolving around these
internal teeth is a pinion, actuated by an eccentric, which is keyed on
to a shaft passing through the center of the block, with a bearing at
each end in the outside frame of the block. At one end of this shaft
is a wheel with an endless hand chain passing over it; this gives the
motion to the eccentric shaft. The teeth of the internal pinion are
broad enough to gear into the teeth of both the sheaves, but as there is
more teeth in one than in the other, they (the teeth) are not exactly
opposite each other, and therefore will not admit the teeth of the
revolving pinion without moving; but the tooth of the pinion, acting as
a wedge, and entering with great power, pushes the one tooth forward and
the other tooth back; and this continually occurring, a continual rotary
motion is given to the sheaves, in opposite directions, with a power
which is proportioned to the number of the teeth, the throw of
eccentric, and the leverage gained by the diameter of the hand wheel.
The lifting chain is passed over the one sheave, then down, and up over
the other, the two ends being attached to a powerful cross bar, to which
is connected the lifting hook. By this means the weight is distributed
over the two sheaves and the two parts of the chain, increasing the
safety and diminishing the friction of the block.
"The blocks are very simple in construction, and are not at all liable
to get out of order; the construction being such that the weight cannot
run down, though the men lifting let go the chain. They hang quite plumb
when in action, and the men are able to stand clear away from under the
load, as the hand-wheel chain can be worked at any angle."
* * * * *
Plants In Sleeping Rooms.
The following from the able pen of Dr. J.C. Draper, in the January
number of the _Galaxy_, will answer some inquiries lately received on
the subject, and is a brief, but clear exposition of the injurious
effects of plants in sleeping apartments:
"Though the air is dependent for the renewal of its oxygen on the action
of the green leaves of plants, it must not be forgotten that it is only
in the presence and under the stimulus of light that these organisms
decompose carbonic acid. All plants, irrespective of their kind or
nature, absorb oxygen and exhale carbonic acid in the dark. The quantity
of noxious gas thus eliminated is, however, exceedingly small when
compared with the oxygen thrown out during the day. When they are
flowering, plants exhale carbonic acid in considerable quantity, and at
the same time evolve heat. In this condition, therefore, they resemble
animals as regards their relation to the air; and a number of plants
placed in a room would, under these circumstances, tend to vitiate the
air.
"While the phanerogamia, or flowering plants, depend on the air almost
entirely for their supply of carbon, and are busy during the day in
restoring to it the oxygen that has been removed by animals, many of the
inferior cryptogamia, as the fungi and parasitic plants, obtain their
nourishment from material that has already been organized. They do not
absorb carbonic acid, but, on the contrary, they act like animals,
absorbing oxygen and exhaling carbonic acid at all times. It is,
therefore, evident that their presence in a room cannot be productive of
good results.
"Aside from the highly deleterious action that plants may exert on the
atmosphere of a sleeping room, by increasing the proportion of carbonic
acid during the night, there is another and more important objection to
be urged against their presence in such apartments. Like animals, they
exhale peculiar volatile organic principles, which in many instances
render the air unfit for the purposes of respiration. Even in the days
of Andronicus this fact was recognized, for he says, in speaking of
Arabia Felix, that 'by reason of myrrh, frankincense, and hot spices
there growing, the air was so obnoxious to their brains, that the
very inhabitants at some times cannot avoid its influence.' What the
influence on the brains of the inhabitants may have been does not at
present interest us: we have only quoted the statement to show that long
ago the emanations from plants were regarded as having an influence on
the condition of the air; and, in view of our present ignorance, it
would be wise to banish them from our sleeping apartments, at least
until we are better informed regarding their true properties."
* * * * *
PATENT OFFICE ILLUSTRATIONS.--We are indebted to Messrs. Jewett &
Chandler, of Buffalo, N.Y., for advance sheets of the illustrations
designed to accompany the Report of the Commissioner of Patents for the
year 1868. We have frequently had occasion to commend the skill and
fidelity of these illustrations. They are most admirably done, and the
value of our Patent Office Reports is much enhanced thereby. In fact
without these illustrations the reports would be of little value.
* * * * *
Improved Treadle Motion.
It is well known that the ordinary means employed to propel light
machinery by the foot are fatiguing in the extreme and although the best
of these is the rock shaft with foot pieces, employed almost universally
in modern sewing machines, this requires the operator to sit bolt
upright, a position very trying to the back, and one which has been
shown to be productive of weakness and even permanent disease.
The device shown in the engraving employs only the swinging motion of
the leg to generate the required power.
[Illustration: GOODES' IMPROVED TREADLE MOTION.]
A pendulum, A, is pivoted to the underside of the table and carries a
heavy disk, B. To the central pivot of B is attached a foot piece, C.
The bottom of B is slotted, and through the slot passes a stationary
rod, D, which holds the bottom of the disk from vibrating while it
causes the upper part to reciprocate with the swinging of A.
To the upper part of B is pivoted a pitman which actuates the crank as
shown.
In operation the foot is placed upon the foot piece, and a swinging
motion is imparted by it to the pendulum, which is ultimately converted
into rotary motion by the crank as described. The heavy disk, B, gives
steadiness to the motion, and acts in concert with the fly wheel on the
crank shaft for this purpose; but it is not essential that this part of
the device should be a disk; any equivalent may be substituted for the
same purpose.
Patented, through the Scientific American Patent Agency, Oct, 26, 1869,
by E. A. Goodes For further information address Philadelphia Patent and
Novelty Co., 717 Spring Garden street, Philadelphia, Pa.
* * * * *
Improved Method of Catching Curculios.
This is a novel and curious invention, made by Dr. Hull, of Alton, Ill.,
for the purpose of jarring off and catching the curculio from trees
infested by this destructive insect. It is a barrow, with arms and
braces covered with cloth, and having on one side a slot, which admits
the stem of the tree. The curculio catcher, or machine, is run against
the tree three or four times, with sufficient force to impart a jarring
motion to all its parts. The operator then backs far enough to bring the
machine to the center of the space between the rows, turns round, and in
like manner butts the tree in the opposite row. In this way a man may
operate on three hundred trees per hour.
A bag and a broom are carried by the operator by which the insects are
swept from the cloth and consigned to destruction.
[Illustration: CURCULIO CATCHER.]
* * * * *
Remains of a Megatherium in Ohio.
The Columbus _State Journal_, of Dec. 6, says "there is now on
exhibition at the rooms of the State Board of Agriculture, or
headquarters of the Geological Corps, a section of the femur or thigh
bone of an animal of the mastodon species, the fossilized remains of
which were recently discovered in Union county. These remains were found
in a drift formation about three feet below the surface, and are similar
to the remains of the Megatherium found in other parts of the State.
Arrangements were made by Mr. Klippart, of the Geological Corps, to
have the skeleton or the parts thereof removed with proper care. Before
excavations had proceeded far bad weather set in, and work has been
abandoned. The section of the femur, upper part, with socket ball, is
about twenty inches in length, or about half the length of the thigh
bone. This would make the aggregate length of the bones of the leg about
ten feet. The ball is twenty-two inches in circumference, and the bone
lower down, of course, much larger. From the part of the skeleton
secured, it is estimated that the hight of the animal was twelve and a
half feet, and the skeleton entire much larger than the specimen now in
the British Museum. As this particular species, or remains thereof, have
been found only in Ohio, this specimen has been named the _Megatharium
Ohioensis_. The animals lived, it is supposed, in the period immediately
preceding the human period, and were after the elephant type."
Exhuming operations will be resumed in the spring, and if the skeleton
is removed in good shape or a good state of preservation, it will be set
up in the Echo room at the Capitol, where the fossils collected by the
Geological Corps are now being arranged and stored.
* * * * *
Artificial Ivory.
A process for producing artificial ivory has been published in a German
journal. The inventor makes a solution of india-rubber in chloroform and
passes chlorine gas through it. After this, he heats the solution to
drive off any excess of chlorine, and also the solvent, whereupon he has
left behind a pasty mass with which it is only necessary to incorporate
sufficient precipitated carbonate of lime or sulphate of lead, or,
indeed, any other dense white powder, to obtain a material which may be
pressed into molds to form whatever articles may be desired. The details
of this process are obviously incomplete, and the success of it may be
doubted. Only good and well masticated rubber could be employed, and
even then a dilute solution must be made, and any earthy impurities
allowed to deposit. In the next place, we are doubtful of the bleaching
action of chlorine on rubber, and, moreover, chloroform is, under some
circumstances, decomposed by chlorine. Lastly, it is clear that, to
obtain a hard material at all resembling ivory, it would be necessary to
make a "hard cure," for which a considerable proportion of sulphur
would be required. The simple purification of india-rubber by means of
chloroform, would, however, furnish a mass of a very fair color.
* * * * *
An iron car made of cylindrical form is now used on the Bengal Railway,
for the carriage of cotton and other produce. It is much lighter and
safer than the ordinary car. We believe in iron cars.
* * * * *
ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND.--At the rate old subscribers are renewing, and new
ones coming in, there is a prospect that our ambition to increase the
circulation of this paper to one hundred thousand will be gratified.
* * * * *
AMERICAN AND ENGLISH RAILWAY PRACTICE CONTRASTED.
A paper on "American Locomotives and Rolling Stock," read before the
Institution of Civil Engineers, in England, with an abstract on the
discussion thereon, has been forwarded to us by the publishers, William
Clowes and Sons, Stamford street and Charing Cross, London.
We have seldom met with a pamphlet of greater interest and value. The
whole subject of American as contrasted with English railroad practice
is reviewed, and the differences which exist, with the necessities for
such differences ably discussed. Mr. Colburn shows these differences
to be external rather than fundamental, and traces many of the
peculiarities of American construction to the "initiative of English
engineers." The cause for the adoption and retention of these
peculiarities he attributes to "the necessities of a new country and the
comparative scarcity of capital," and thinks that but for these causes"
American railways and their rolling stock would have doubtless been
constructed, as in other countries, upon English models, and worked, in
most respects, upon English principles of management.
He reviews the origin and introduction of American features of railway
practice, and points out as the distinguishing feature of American
locomotives and rolling stock the bogie, or swiveling truck. "Keeping
in mind the distinguishing merits of the bogie, the other differences
between English and American locomotives are differences more of costume
and of toilet than of vital principles of construction."
The author attributes the origin of the greater subdivision of rolling
weight and consequent coupling of wheels on American roads to the
comparatively weak and imperfect permanent way, estimating the maximum
weight per wheel as being for many years four English tuns, while three
tuns he considers, as more than the average for each coupled wheel of
American locomotives.
To follow the author through the whole of his able paper, and the
discussion which it elicited, would occupy more of our space than we
can spare for the purpose. We will, however, give in the author's own
language, an account of an experiment conducted by him in 1855 on the
Erie Railroad.
"In the autumn of 1855, the author, at the request of Mr. (now
General) M'Callum, the manager of the Erie Railroad, took charge of an
experimental train, which he ran over the whole length of the line and
back, a total distance of nearly 900 miles. The same engine was employed
throughout the run, occupying in all nearly three weeks, making an
average for each week day of about 50 miles. The line is divided into
four divisions, varying considerably in respect of gradients, and the
utmost load the engine could draw was taken in both directions over each
division. The maximum inclinations were 1 in 88. The results of the
experiments were so voluminous, that it will be sufficient to detail
the particulars of what may be termed crucial tests of adhesion and
resistance to traction.
"The engine had four coupled wheels and a bogie, the total weight in
working trim being 29½ tuns, of which 17-7/8 tuns rested on the coupled
wheels available for adhesion. The coupled wheels were 5 feet in
diameter; the outside cylinders were 17 inches in diameter, and the
stroke 24 inches. The safety valves were set to blow off at 130 lbs.,
and the steam, as observed by a Bourdon gage, was seldom allowed to
exceed that limit. No indicator diagrams were taken, nor was any measure
taken of the wood burnt, all that could be consumed by the engine, in
maintaining the requisite steam, being supplied. The tender, loaded,
weighed 181 tuns. The train drawn consisted of eight-wheel wagons fully
loaded with deals. The average weight of each wagon was 5 tuns 8 cwt. 3
qrs., and of each wagon with its load 15 tuns 5 cwt. 3 qrs. nearly. The
wagons had cast-iron chilled wheels, each 2 feet 6 inches in diameter,
with inside journals 3 7/8 inches in diameter, and 8 inches long. All
the wagons had been put in complete order, and the journals, fitted with
oil-tight boxes, were kept well oiled. The gage of the line was 6 feet.
The weather was most favorable, clear and dry, with the exception of a
single day of heavy rain.
"Upon about one hundred miles of the line, forming a portion of the
Susquehanna division, a train of one hundred wagons, weighing, with
engine and tender, 1,572 tuns was taken. The train was a few feet more
than half a mile in length.
"At one point it was stopped where the line commenced an ascent of 24
feet in four miles, averaging 1 in 880 up for the whole distance. There
were also long and easy curves upon this portion. The train was taken up
and purposely stopped on the second mile, to be sure of starting again
with no aid from momentum. The average speed was 5 miles an hour, and
neither was the pressure of steam increased nor sand used except in
starting from the stops purposely made. The engine, even were its full
boiler pressure of 130 lbs. maintained as effective pressure upon the
pistons throughout the whole length of their stroke, could not have
exerted a tractive force greater than (17 x 17 x 130 lbs. x 2 ft.)/ 5
ft = 15,028 lbs.; nor is it at all probable that the effective cylinder
pressure could have approached this limit by from 10 lbs. to 15 lbs. per
square inch. Supposing, however, for the sake of a reductio ad absurdum,
that the full boiler pressure had been maintained upon the pistons for
the whole length of their strokes, the adhesion of the coupled driving
wheels, not deducting the internal resistances of the engine, would have
been 15028/40050 3/8 of the weight upon them. In any case there was
a resistance of 4,011 lbs. due to gravity, and if even 120 lbs. mean
effective cylinder pressure be assumed, corresponding to a total
tractive force of 13,872 lbs., the quotient representing the rolling and
other resistances, exclusive of gravity, would be but 6.27 lbs. per tun
of the entire train; a resistance including all the internal resistances
of the engine, the resistance of the curves, easy although they were,
and the loss in accelerating and retarding the train in starting and
stopping. This estimate of resistance would correspond, at the observed
speed of 5 miles an hour (upwards of ¾ of an hour having been consumed
on the 4 miles), to 185 indicated H.P., which, with the driving wheels,
making but 28 revolutions per minute, would be the utmost that an engine
with but 1,038 square feet of heating surface could be expected to
exert. This was the highest result observed during the three weeks'
trial, but one or two others are worthy of mention. On the Delaware
division of the same line, the train, of 1,572 tuns' weight, was run
over 5 consecutive miles of absolutely level line, at a mean rate of
9.23 miles an hour, and during the same day, over 5 other consecutive
miles of level at a mean rate of 9.7 miles per hour. On both levels
there were 14½ chain curves of good length, and the speed, from 9 to 12
miles an hour, at which the train entered the respective levels, was not
quite regularly maintained throughout the half hour expended in running
over them. But if even 7 lbs. per tun of the total weight be taken as
the resistance at these speeds, the tractive force will be 11,004 lbs.,
which is more than one fourth the adhesion weight of 40,050 lbs. On
the next day, the same engine drew 30 wagons weighing 466½ tuns, or,
including engine and tender, 514 tuns nearly, up a gradient of 1 in
117½, three miles long, at a mean speed of 10¼ miles an hour. The
resistance due to gravity was 9,814 lbs., and supposing the other
resistance to traction to amount to no more than 7 lbs. per tun, the
total resistance would be 13,412 lbs., corresponding to a mean effective
cylinder pressure of 117 lbs. per square inch, and to a co-efficient of
adhesion of almost exactly one third.
"It is needless to repeat instances of much the same kind, as occurring
during the experiment referred to. The author is bound to say that they
were, no doubt, influenced by the favorable circumstances of weather,
and something is to be allowed also for the great length of train drawn,
very long trains having a less tractive resistance per tun on a level
than short ones, and something, possibly more than is commonly supposed,
may have been due to the use of oil-tight axle boxes, the saponaceous
compound known as 'railway grease' being nowhere in use on railways in
the States. It could not possibly be used, except in a congealed form,
in the severe American winters; and Messrs. Guebhard and Dieudonné's
experiments (_vide_ "De la résistance des trains et de la puissance des
machines." 8vo. Paris, 1868, p. 36) made in 1867, on the Eastern Railway
of France, showed a very considerable diminution in the resistance of
oil-boxed rolling stock as compared with that fitted with grease boxes.
But, weighed upon the other hand, are the facts, first, that the line
was of 6-feet gage, and, _pro tanto_, so much the worse for traction;
secondly, that the wheels were comparatively small, and the inside
journals of comparatively large diameter, the ratio of the former to the
latter being as 7¾ to 1, instead of 12 to 1 as on English lines. It is
difficult to believe that the length and steadiness of the double bogie
goods wagons, scarcely liable as they are to lateral vibrations, had not
something to do with the result, which is in some respects unique in the
history of railway traction. The result, although not absolutely showing
the real resistance to traction, nor the real adhesion of the engine,
presents this alternative; namely, that the resistance must have been
unusually small, or the adhesion unusually large."
In the discussion which followed some doubts were expressed as to the
accuracy of Mr. Colburn's conclusions, drawn from the experiments
described; but it was conceded by some who took part in the discussion
that some of the features of our practice might be advantageously copied
in England. For the most part, however, the opinion prevailed that the
features of our system, which are here regarded as almost indispensable,
could not be introduced into English practice with advantage.
* * * * *
BOILER COVERING.
BY C.M. O'HARA, C.E.
At the regular weekly meeting of the Polytechnic Association of the
American Institute, held on Thursday evening, the 25th ult., the subject
of boiler clothing was discussed at some length, but without any
decisive conclusion being arrived at respecting the most serviceable and
economical material for that purpose. It appeared from the testimony
adduced, that though there is a variety of substances in use, even those
which are practically acknowledged as being the most efficient are
far from coming up to the required standard of utility, and are
characterized by defects which are at once forced upon us by a little
close examination. Felt is an admirable non-conductor of heat, but owing
to its combustible nature it is quite unreliable when subject to the
heat of a high pressure of steam. A large fragment of this material
which had been taken off the boiler of a North River steamboat was
exhibited at the meeting, scorched and charred as if it had been exposed
to the direct action of fire. For these reasons felt covering is,
generally speaking, confined to boilers in which a comparatively low
pressure of steam is maintained. But even under the most favorable
circumstances of actual wear its durability is limited to a short
period.
Powdered charcoal possesses the elements of efficiency as a
non-conductor in an eminent degree; but its susceptibility of taking
fire militates strongly against its adoption as a boiler covering.
Besides the materials above mentioned, there are some which come under
the denomination of cements; but the use of such is somewhat at variance
with what a dull world would call "facts." Employing them as a clothing
for a vessel in which it is necessary to retain heat is certainly the
wrong way of doing a light thing, if the evidence of distinguished
experimenters be worth anything.