SCIENCE AND DOMESTIC ECONOMY.
All branches of applied science are capable of giving us important
hints and rendering us great service in all the conditions of our daily
life, and as we have at various times throughout this volume mentioned
useful domestic inventions applicable for use by means of water, air,
etc., we may describe some more particularly relating to the inside of
the house, and the science of domestic economy.
[Illustration: Fig. 885.—Double window.]
Sometimes during the winter we may feel it very difficult, if not
impossible, to keep the room warm. This we can do, however, by means of
double windows.
Why is it that the double window as used in Russia keeps out the cold
so well? Is it because the room is defended against frost by two
windows instead of there being only one to resist it?—Not entirely.
Such an explanation is not sufficient. If one be protected against the
exterior cold, it is, thanks to the mass of air which is imprisoned,
between the two windows. Extraordinary as it may appear, the air is a
very bad conductor of heat, and forms the best insulator that one can
find. The heat of the apartment is then perfectly retained by means of
the air between the double windows.
In the same way the double window is not less useful during the summer,
for it prevents the entrance of the heated air into the house. The
double window may therefore be compared to the bournous of the Arab and
the cloak of the Spaniard, which preserves from heat as well as guards
against cold.
The double windows also perform another service. The glasses form a
hot-house. The sun heats the air which is enclosed, and thus between
the panes ferns and even vines will flourish. The windows are very easy
to make, and in the event of any reader desiring to construct one or
more, we give the dimensions. (_See_ fig. 885.)
T T, is the exterior frame of the window. The two panes are mounted
on a frame of wood, and are represented by A A´ and B B´ The sashes
are represented apart, P and P´ are the shutters of sheet iron, which,
if the walls be not so thick as represented, can be replaced by a
spring-blind, which descends between the windows.
SEWING MACHINE WORKED BY A DOG.
Animals have been employed for all time to draw carriages and the
plough, etc. But these animal “motors” are usually employed under
defective conditions, and therefore without full profit. The inert
mass of the animals remains quite unutilized, his force only is
employed, and there are many objections on the score of humanity, as
well as from a mechanical standpoint, and great muscular tension with
suffering may be inflicted upon an animal which is continually mounting
a wheel or such contrivance for raising water. There was in the Paris
Exhibition a threshing machine put in motion by a horse walking upon
a pair of rollers which constituted an “endless” way, and we will now
briefly describe a machine which utilizes animal force and weight. It
is the invention of M. Richard of Paris, who has made many mechanical
apparatus for industrial purposes.
[Illustration: Fig. 886.—Sewing machine worked by a dog.]
The principle of the invention (fig. 886) consists in the animal
utilizing all the force resulting from his dead-weight. A small box
contains the dog very easily. In the illustration we see the dog at
rest, and in that case he maintains his centre of gravity and exercises
no force upon the wheel. But when the box is inclined, the mere weight
of the animal is sufficient merely to turn the wheel in the direction
of the arrows. The dog, finding himself sliding away, naturally
endeavours to move forward, and the rotation of the wheel is continued;
the best results are obtained when the body is placed entirely upon the
descending line, and this result is owing only to the weight of the
animal.
There is a resting-place, just above and outside the “endless” way
traversed by the dog. A basin with water is also provided for the
animal.
M. Robert was let to this discovery in the following way:—He employs a
large number of sewing-machine hands, and finding that the working of
the machines had an injurious effect upon the health of the workers,
he determined to substitute, in part, other labour for that of female
hands. He then thought out his “quadrupedal motors,” which are worked
by intelligent dogs. There is very little trouble or expense connected
with the working, so a great saving is effected, as the dogs cost
little, and are cheaply fed. The result is that M. Robert has four
heavy machines occasionally at work, which are kept in motion by dogs
at a very small expense.
A CLOCK-LAMP.
[Illustration: Fig. 887.—A clock-lamp.]
The illustration (fig. 887) represents an ingenious arrangement, which,
by means of combustion of oil in a lamp, indicates the hour of the
night. The design explains itself. Two vertical tubes are fixed above
the reservoir of oil. The left tube contains oil, and is marked with
the hours; the right tube burns the oil as a lamp.
The apparatus is so constructed by the inventor, M. H. Behn, that a
certain quantity of oil is consumed exactly in one hour between two
graduations of the hour-tube. A reflector placed beside the lamp
enables one to see the time by night very plainly.
AN “ALARUM” LAMP.
[Illustration: Fig. 888.—An “alarum” lamp.]
The apparatus represented below (fig. 888) is an ordinary “alarum”
lamp. It is surmounted by a petroleum lamp, which carries a burner
that remains lighted all night, and which serves as a night-light.
The “alarum” carries an index, represented by the dotted lines in the
illustration, and the hands are fixed (with the index) to the hour you
wish to rise in the morning. The index is fitted with an arrangement
which lets loose a vertical bar represented on the right of the figure.
This bar is held by a spring, and carries a toothed rack which acts
upon and raises the wick. At the proper time the bar is loosed, and the
lamp-wick is raised, diffusing a strong and sudden light through the
apartment. This illumination, in concert with an alarum-bell, generally
succeeds in awaking the heaviest sleeper.
A GOOD PETROLEUM LAMP.
This lamp (fig. 889) burns gazoline without the least odour or danger
of explosion. It will serve equally well for petroleum or naphtha. The
gazoline used ought to be 660 grammes weight to the _litre_.
[Illustration: Fig. 889.—A good petroleum lamp.]
The central portion of the lamp under consideration has an orifice,
A B, which extends through the upper part, and by which the air is
admitted to the centre of the flame. Two vertical plates divide the
air-current into four portions. The chimney-rest, or gallery, forms
with the glass three concentric envelopes, so arranged in stages that
the air, when it reaches the plates, may be more and more carried under
the flame. The orifices, _a_ _b_, carefully regulated, give access to
the exterior air. Including the central one, there are four currents of
air, of which three strike against the flame. These are very excellent
conditions for obtaining perfect combustion, and, consequently, there
is an entire absence of smell and smoke, while the light is very
powerful.
We may add that any glass will be found suitable to this lamp, and
that, in consequence of the separation of the hot air by the currents
mentioned, all danger of the glasses breaking from over-heating
is avoided. In provincial districts, where lamp-glasses are not
plentiful, this characteristic will be appreciated. The lamp can only
be filled when it is extinguished, and thus the chances of explosion
are practically obviated. A burner of twelve lines will give double the
light of a moderator of the same capacity, and cost only a penny or
less per hour. The light is perfectly still and clear.
A NEW TAP.
This new tap is the invention of M. Guyonnet, a Frenchman. The
illustration (fig. 890) gives a very good idea of its construction,
and it permits the gradual release of the liquid without any of the
sudden rush which ordinary taps, or “bungs,” are apt to do. The plug
is covered with indiarubber, and follows a double curve, which reduces
the force of the liquid, and the indiarubber removes any incrustation
from the bung hole into which it may be fitted, and closes the aperture
effectively without force.
[Illustration: Fig. 890.—A new tap.]
In order to guard against a contingency, which, however, is an unlikely
one, the “envelope” (casing) has been made in two pieces, one of which
can never be displaced; the head only can be moved, and it is easily
detached. The plug adapts itself to the aperture as a button to the
buttonhole, and only costs about three halfpence (15 centimes). Ice has
no effect upon the aperture of the barrel, thanks to the indiarubber
covering of the plug. So, altogether, such a tap will be found useful
and very cheap.
THE TRAPEZE AND SWING.
We may here notice the simple trapeze and swing for children, which can
be easily fitted up in any house between two rooms. The advantages of
gymnastics for the young are incontestable, but practically there are
difficulties in the way, particularly for those living in towns, but a
skilful American has solved the problem in an ingenious way. He has
found means to suspend the trapeze and a swing between the doorposts
of a room without nails or any unsightly wood supports. The trapeze is
simply suspended as represented in the accompanying illustrations.
[Illustration: Fig. 891.—The house swing.]
[Illustration: Fig. 892.—The house trapeze.]
The bar, B (_see_ fig. 892), is of wood, terminating in screws enclosed
in the grooves of the wood, at the extremity of which indiarubber discs
are fixed (C and C´). When the bar is placed between the side posts
of the open door and with the indiarubber in contact with the sides,
the bar, B, is vigorously screwed in the direction of the arrow, and
this motion is transmitted to the indiarubber discs which press against
the door, and the apparatus remains fixed. The trapeze cords, or the
swing ropes, can be fastened to the bar with hooks, as shown in the
illustration, and the solidity and safety of the bar may be tested by
putting heavy weights upon the ropes before venturing upon the swing,
or trapeze. Even violent exercises may be indulged in without any fear
of falling if the bar be firmly screwed against the sides of the door.
SIMPLE TOYS.
The accompanying illustration shows us a circlet of paper, very thin,
fastened upon a frame, with paper wings fixed to the radii. This
“screw” fashioned wings and the circlet can be kept up in the air by
means of a hand screen. The effect will be observable in the rapid
revolution of the little paper wheel, which must be very light and
thin. (_See_ fig. 893.)
[Illustration: Fig. 893.—The paper wheel.]
There are many toys which can be controlled by the use of indiarubber
springs. The bicyclist in the cut (fig. 894) is an instance in point.
He turns around a pivot, and the tension of the spring keeps the
machine in its place.
[Illustration: Fig. 894.—The bicycle toy.]
The swimming-fish (fig. 895) is moved by an indiarubber spring, much as
the drawing-room kite is elevated in the air. The spring of indiarubber
is twisted to make the fish swim, and the caoutchouc is adapted to
a toothed wheel which has a clock-work motion that gives the tail a
motion sideways and round, acting like a propeller, and thus the fish
swims.
[Illustration: Fig. 895.—The fish.]
It is perhaps as well to say how these fish are managed, because
then children will not break them, when they have been purchased, to
see what is inside. Very young students are very fond of analyses of
this nature, but synthesis, or putting together, is a far superior
occupation in these circumstances to analysis, and to put together more
lawful than to pull asunder.
TREE-FELLING BY STEAM.
The machine constructed a few years ago by Messrs. Ransome, and which
was tried at Roupell Park, near London, seems to combine all the
_desiderata_ in the matter of mechanical tree-felling. Many experiments
have been previously made by people to cut down trees by means of steam
machinery, but none of them included all the conditions necessary for
success. The Ransome Machine cut down four large trees in forty minutes.
[Illustration: Fig. 896.—Ransome’s tree-felling machine.]
The apparatus, as shown in the illustration, is not unlike, in
appearance, the perforating machines employed in boring rocks, in which
the drill is replaced by a saw. The cylinder is small, and works at
high pressure; a piston moves the saw in a guide-frame. The machine is
firmly fixed against the tree, and the support is fastened by a chain.
A rack arrangement provides for the turning of the machine as the saw
continues to cut its way through the trunk of the tree.
The weight is not excessive, and the necessary steam is supplied by a
portable furnace and boiler, which communicates with the saw-motion
by a flexible tube. The saw can cut through a horizontal as well as
through a perpendicular trunk—thus timber can be rapidly cut up.
Another ingenious sawing machine is that invented by Mr. W. W. Giles,
of Chicago, United States, America. This apparatus is about eight
feet long, and one extremity is fixed to the trunk of the tree to be
operated on.
[Illustration: Fig. 897.—Sawing machine.]
The operator sits upon a ledge or saddle at the opposite end, and
putting his feet upon the treadles, pushes them and the saw forward;
this movement is assisted by the weight of the hands on the lever. The
saw, under these circumstances, cuts into the wood with great force,
and when the operator pushes _the lever_ forward he brings the force of
his legs to bear at the same time, and carries the saw back again. So
feet, hands, dead weight with the saw itself, combine at once upon the
tree, and the blade quickly does its work. The saw is three feet long
and is very easily manipulated.
A WAY OF PRESERVING GRAPES.
Remarkable progress has been made of late years in the conservation of
various articles of food, and we may here speak of the preservation of
the grape.
We will first mention M. R. Charmoux’s method, which is called the
“Fresh Grape” system. The portion of the building used for the business
is on the first floor, as nearly as possible in the centre of the
building, so as to be guarded from damp. Two windows are sufficient
for all purposes, one to the north, and one to the south. They may be
merely kept shut on ordinary occasions, but when frost comes they must
be draped and “packed” with nets filled with moss or dried seaweed. The
principal one of the windows is to admit of the cleansing of the room
and for the admission of air in the summer time, when there are not
many grapes left.
[Illustration: Fig. 898.—Grape preserving.]
In winter the apartment may be warmed by hot air, and if this cannot
be managed the ordinary means must be resorted to to keep up the
temperature. The upper clusters of grapes should first be picked, for
shade conduces to longevity of the fruit, and the 20th October is about
the time to commence. A fine day should be chosen; a cloudy day will
suit provided there is no dew or dampness in the air.
The finest bunches are cut first, and care must be taken to separate
them at the end of the stalk, having three “eyes” under the grape and
two above it. The leaves should be at once cut off, and the grapes
put with great caution into boxes or baskets to be taken to the
preserving house, where each stalk is plunged into a phial holding
about 125 grammes of water, into which, two or three days previously, a
teaspoonful of wood charcoal has been put.
[Illustration: Fig. 899.—Hanging the grapes.]
The phials are suspended as shown in the accompanying illustration
(fig. 899), and then certain precautions must be observed: they must
not be disturbed, nor must any draught be admitted, as the temperature
must not descend below 1° to 2° cent. There is no necessity to change
the water in the bottles; very little will evaporate between November
and May, when the process ought to be finished, but the phials must
neither be corked nor concealed.
In the _dry_ process the same house can be used, and stagings are
employed. These frames are furnished with grooved boxes inclined
towards each other, and lined with very dry fern-leaves or straw (fig.
900). Some days after the phials have been filled cut the grapes
successively at the first time, which generally begins about the 6th to
the 12th of November. The grapes are then put in baskets and carefully
carried to the preserving room, where they are ranged in the boxes so
as not to touch. Each box contains about six kilogrammes of grapes.
[Illustration: Fig. 900.—Drying process.]
All the time of the conservation process care must be taken to
eradicate all grapes which change colour or alter in any way. If
dampness be feared have a lighted stove in the room for a time. Grapes
are also preserved _en espalier_, but not so well. Sometimes a mouldy
smell will be perceived in the room; to prevent this ventilators should
be placed in the ceiling, which must, however, never be opened until
the mouldy smell renders such a proceeding absolutely necessary.