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A WEEKLY JOURNAL OF PRACTICAL INFORMATION, ART, SCIENCE, MECHANICS,
CHEMISTRY, AND MANUFACTURES.
Vol. LVI.--no. 9. ]
[NEW SERIES.] ] NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 26, 1887. [$3.00 per Year.
IMPROVED CALORIC ENGINE.
Caloric engines have long been used by the Trinity Board to provide
power for working siren fog signals in connection with their
lighthouses in England. They have generally been in the past of the
horizontal type, but lately a new pattern, which we illustrate from
_Engineering_, has been brought out; and as the entire work of the
motor consists in driving air-compressing pumps, this form of engine
should give very good results. At one end of a beam stands the retort
or furnace with the motor cylinder, and at the other end stand three
pumps. One of these forces air into the furnace, a second supplies the
receiver of the fog signal, while the third, which is smaller than
the second, performs the same office, when it is desired to raise the
pressure to a point too high for the larger pump to accomplish. As fogs
come on very suddenly, and give so little warning that it is often
impossible to get the engine into action before the vision is entirely
obscured, it is customary to keep a store of air in the receiver at
two or three times the usual working pressure, and it is from the
accumulation of this pressure that the smaller pump is provided.
The furnace is a closed receiver, and is fed with coke. Air is pumped
into it at a pressure of about 30 lb. to the square inch, part being
delivered below the fuel and part above. That part which goes below
rises through the incandescent coke, and appears at the surface as
carbonic oxide. Here it meets the upper air supply and burns with a
fierce bright flame, producing very hot gases, which are admitted to
the cylinder and there expand, driving the piston before them. From
experiments made by Mr. C. Ingrey with engines of this kind, it appears
that they consume from 2¼ lb. to 2½ lb. of coke per brake horse power
per hour, and thus provide power very economically.
The engine is regulated by a governor, which varies the proportion of
air admitted above and below the fuel, and thus alters the temperature
of the gases admitted to the cylinder. The distributing valves are of
the conical type, worked by tappets, and the fall is regulated by an
air cushion.
These engines, for there are a pair, have been constructed by the
Pulsometer Engineering Company, Limited, London, for the Northern
Lights Commissioners, and will be erected on a lightship, probably
at the North Carr. Each engine is nominally of six horse power, but
actually gives ten horse power. The motor cylinder is 24 in. in
diameter, the air pump 18 in., and the compressing pumps 9 in. and 5
in. respectively, all with a stroke of 18 in.
[Illustration: IMPROVED BEAM CALORIC ENGINE.]
Naval Architecture During the Last Half Century.
The annual lecture under the auspices of the Greenock Philosophical
Society, to commemorate the birth of James Watt, was delivered in the
Watt Lecture Hall, Greenock, on January 14, by Mr. Robert Duncan,
shipbuilder, Port Glasgow. The title of Mr. Duncan's paper was
"Evolution in Naval Architecture during the Reign of Queen Victoria."
After referring to the early history of marine engineering, and to
the intimate connection of Greenock and the Clyde with its initial
stages, Mr. Duncan went on to say that up to the date of her Majesty's
accession in 1837, no systematic attempt at ocean navigation by steam
had been made. In 1812 steamship building began, but it was not till
1838 that the first Atlantic steam communication began. The Sirius
and the Great Western made the voyage to and from New York at the
same time, in the middle of that year, in fourteen and seventeen days
respectively, under steam all the way. Mr. Duncan then traced rapidly
the evolution of the iron ship, through the various modifications of
design and proportion, and the simultaneous and consequent evolution
of crafts to adapt themselves to the rapidly changing conditions. Mr.
Duncan also described the influence upon the forms of ships of maritime
law and of Lloyd's rules--evolution in size from the short square
boxes of the early periods to the long narrow vessels of to-day; the
Enterprise, for example, the first steamer to make the voyage to India
by the Cape of Good Hope, being only 122 feet long, while now the cargo
carrying steamer is over 400 feet long, and the express passenger ocean
steamer over 500 feet. Mr. Duncan considers it possible that, ere her
Majesty's reign closes, the Flying Scotchman of the sea will reach a
length of 800 feet, and a speed of twenty-five to thirty miles an hour.
The evolution of the man-of-war was next described, an interesting
sketch given of the science of naval architecture, and a bibliography
of the subject.
A Three Cylinder Locomotive.
The Dunmore Iron and Steel Company, at Dunmore, Pa., has a small
locomotive in use switching in its yards which is of a novel pattern.
It is thus described by the superintendent of the works: "This little
engine has three 8 X 12 in. steam cylinders, four 33 in. driving
wheels, two outside connecting and parallel rods, and one inside
connecting rod. No balancing is needed in driving wheels. The engine
has six exhausts to a revolution, and the effect on the fire is good.
It is claimed that by setting the cranks at an angle of 120 degrees
the slip is reduced to a minimum. This engine makes 30 miles an hour
on a 40 ft. grade easily, with a light load, and is considered a good
machine by those who have run her. Its weight is about 12 tons."
Scientific American.
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NEW YORK, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1887.
Contents.
(Illustrated articles are marked with an asterisk.)
Architecture, naval, during last half century 127
Armament, British, at Victoria* 131
Army, peace, of the United States 129
Aurora borealis* 135
Beam caloric engine* 127
Bench and ironing board, combined* 131
Birds, incendiary 133
Birds, phosphorescent 133
Birds, winter, our* 133
Blind stop, improved* 131
Books and publications, new 138
Boots or shoes, crimping, device for* 131
Brush and comb cleaner* 132
Business and personal 138
Charcoal as fossil 133
Chevreul's black* 137
Cocaine habit, the 128
Correspondence 133
Craze, Yankee, the latest 136
Defense of New York within thirty days' time 132
Dredger, marine, improved* 134
Earthquake, Charleston 133
Electroplating with platinum 132
Emery wheels for gumming saws* 130
Engine, caloric, improved* 127
Eruption in the Tonga group 133
Exhibition, American, London 137
Fish, meat, etc., canned 133
Guns, steel, are they superior? 128
Hats, ladies', protector for* 132
Hydraulic dredging at Washington 134
Injector, Penberthy* 132
Inventions, agricultural 138
Inventions, engineering 138
Inventions, index of 139
Inventions, miscellaneous 138
Life insurance company, a solid 129
Locomotive, three-cylinder 127
Measuring rack, wood, adjustable* 131
Medicine, preventive 129
Nervous patient, treatment, length of 136
Northern lights, the* 135
Notes and queries 138
Patent law, amendment of the, new 128
Patent, steel wire brush 136
Petroleum in Egypt 137
Plasterer's hawk* 131
Pyrofuxin--a new tanning substance from coal 128
Saw gummer, emery vulcanite* 130
Shark, frilled, the* 130
Snails, strength of 137
Sodium, producing, new method of, Castner's 129
Steel rail capacity of the United States 132
Stump puller, improved* 132
Sugar process, new 134
Sun, duration of 134
Thermoscopic balance* 134
Torpedo boat armed with pneumatic dynamite guns* 137
Torpedo, effect of, on an ironclad* 136
Torpedo experiments at Portsmouth* 136
TABLE OF CONTENTS OF SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT
No. 582.
For the Week Ending February 26, 1887.
Price 10 cents. For sale by all newsdealers.
PAGE
I. AERONAUTICS.--War Balloons.--The establishment of balloon
corps in the armies of different countries; the French,
English, Italian, and Russian establishments.--1
illustration 9288
II. ASTRONOMY.--Astronomical Telescopes; their object glasses
and reflectors.--By G.D. HISCOX.--The dialyte telescope;
practical details of the mechanical operations of
construction, such as lens grinding and shaping; washing
flour of emery, tests for correction.--23 illustrations 9296
Fleurials' Gyroscope Collimator.--An ingenious application of
the gyroscope to fixing the horizon line in sextant
observations; an instrument crowned by the French
Academy.--2 illustrations 9291
III. BIOLOGY.--An Epidemic of _Micrococcus prodigiosus_.--By M.
GRIMBERT.--Interesting case of bacterial poisoning, with
details of the detection of the bacteria 9301
The Morphological Conditions of Heredity.--An exposition of
Professor A. Weissman's theory of the "perpetuity of germ
plasma;" a theory opposed to the doctrine of evolution 9295
The Third Eye of Reptiles.--The last conclusions on the pineal
gland in reptiles; curious development in anatomy, the
possible organ of a sixth sense.--1 illustration 9300
IV. CHEMISTRY.--Nitrogenous Principles of Vegetable
Mould.--Note of the conclusions of MM. Berthelot and Andre 9302
The Lactocrite.--A new method of ascertaining the amount of
fat in milk.--By H. Faber.--An apparatus for analyzing milk
employing centrifugal force.--Results obtained.--1
illustration 9292
V. ELECTRICITY.--Electric Welding.--The new art in metallurgy
described by Prof. ELIHU THOMSON; full details of the
process, apparatus, and current required.--2 illustrations 9293
The Electric Waltzers.--An ingenious electric toy.--1
illustration 9293
VI. ENGINEERING.--Sustaining Walls. Arched sustaining walls
and arched buttresses; elaborate study of French
practice.--11 illustrations 9288
VII. METEOROLOGY.--Popular Errors in Meteorology. Popular
fallacies; the habits of animals, the Rocky Mountain locust;
the equinoctial storm 9299
VIII. MISCELLANEOUS.--Beethoven's Portrait. An authentic
portrait of the great musician.--1 illustration 9301
Dwarfs and Giants.--Relative sizes of men; the Austrian giant,
Francis Winckelmeler, 8½ feet high.--1 illustration 9302
The Sinaloa Colony.--The Topolobampo settlement; its origin,
progress, principles and prospects 9301
IX. NAVAL ENGINEERING.--Torpedo Boat Catchers. A review of
recent constructions of fast light armored vessels for
combating torpedo boats 9290
X. ORDNANCE.--The Use of Machine Guns in the Field in Combination
with Infantry.--Abstract of a recent paper on this subject by
Major A. D. ANDERSON, R.H.A.--The advantages and uses of the
weapon discussed.--Advocacy of their introduction 9288
XI. PHOTOGRAPHY.--Orthochromatic Photography. By J. B. B.
WELLINGTON.--Formulæ and practical directions for
orthochromatic work.--The use of silver carbonate and
erythrosin together 9293
XII. PHYSICS.--A New Gas Thermo-Regulator.--A simple and
efficient apparatus for regulating heat in air baths,
etc.--1 illustration 9292
A New Thermometer.--The principle of the Bourdon safety
gauge applied to thermometry.--Fermis' new thermometer.--1
illustration 9291
Phosphorescence of Alumina.--By EDMOND BECQUEREL.--The
effects of impurities on phosphorescence discussed 9294
Separation of Nickel by the Magnet.--By THOMAS T. P.
BRUCE-WARREN.--The effect of copper on nickel in modifying
its susceptibility to magnetic attraction.--Practical
deductions as to nickel crucibles and gauze 9294
The Capillarity and Density of Liquids.--A simple experiment
in physics without apparatus.--1 illustration 9294
XIII. SANITATION AND HYGIENE.--A Floating Hospital.--A new
structure recently erected at Newcastle-on-Tyne.--2
illustrations 9295
XIV. TECHNOLOGY.--Employment of Acetic or Formic Acid in
Bleaching.--Ingenious use of a small quantity of organic
acids to decompose indefinite amounts of bleaching
powder.--The invention of Dr. Lunge, of Zurich 9290
Sulphurous Acid in the Chemical Industries.--Its use in
the phosphate and tartaric acid industries 9294
Tea Withering Apparatus.--A portable blowing apparatus for
drying tea.--Use of chloride of calcium to absorb moisture
therein.--1 illustration 9291
NEW AMENDMENT OF THE DESIGN PATENT LAW.
An amendment of the patent law relating to design patents has lately
passed both houses of Congress and received the approval of the
President. The object of the amendment is to correct a defect in the
law, which prevented the patentee from collecting damages in cases of
infringement.
Under the old law, the Supreme Court held that in the case, for
example, of a carpet manufacturer who complained of an infringement
of his design or pattern of carpet, the complainant must clearly
prove what portion of the damage, or what portion of the profit made
by the infringer, was due to the use of the patented design. It was
practically impossible to make this showing. Hence the infringer could
imitate the patented design without liability, and the law was a
nullity.
Under the provisions of the new law, the infringer is obliged to
pay the sum of $250 in any event; and if his profits are more than
that sum, he is compelled, in addition, to pay all excess of profits
above $250 to the patentee. It is believed that the penalty of $250,
irrespective of profits, will put a stop to the wholesale system of
infringement heretofore carried on by unscrupulous persons.
The following is the text of the new law:
An act to amend the law relating to patents, trade marks, and copyright.
_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled_, That hereafter, during the
term of letters patent for a design, it shall be unlawful for any
person other than the owner of said letters patent, without the license
of such owner, to apply the design secured by such letters patent, or
any colorable imitation thereof, to any article of manufacture for
the purpose of sale, or to sell or expose for sale any article of
manufacture to which such design or colorable imitation shall, without
the license of the owner, have been applied, knowing that the same
has been so applied. Any person violating the provisions, or either
of them, of this section shall be liable in the amount of two hundred
and fifty dollars; and in case the total profit made by him from the
manufacture or sale, as aforesaid, of the article or articles to which
the design, or colorable imitation thereof, has been applied, exceeds
the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, he shall be further liable
for the excess of such profit over and above the sum of two hundred and
fifty dollars; and the full amount of such liability may be recovered
by the owner of the letters patent, to his own use, in any circuit
court of the United States having jurisdiction of the parties, either
by action at law or upon a bill in equity for an injunction to restrain
such infringement.
SEC. 2. That nothing in this act contained shall prevent,
lessen, impeach, or avoid any remedy at law or in equity which any
owner of letters patent for a design, aggrieved by the infringement
of the same, might have had if this act had not been passed; but such
owner shall not twice recover the profit made from the infringement.
Approved, February 4, 1887.
ARE STEEL GUNS REALLY SUPERIOR?
Admiral Porter said recently that there was little hope of building
fast war ships as long as the Bureau of Steam Engineering designed the
engines, for that, such was the influence of interested persons, it
was not free to choose the best devices. Whoever is familiar with the
workings of the Ordnance Bureau will admit that this, too, is similarly
controlled. Long ago it pronounced in favor of steel guns, and like
a judge who records his decision and then asks to hear the evidence,
this bureau has been listening unmoved to the most convincing testimony
regarding the relative efficiency of cast iron guns.
The importance of this question of steel _vs_. cast iron guns will be
appreciated when it is explained that it would take at least five years
after the passage of an appropriation before the first steel gun could
be turned out, while only a twelvemonth would be required to establish
a cast iron gun plant.
It has never been the custom among American mechanicians to blindly
follow the lead of others, but rather to work untrammeled by
traditions; to carefully note what has already been done, and to strike
out anew in whatever direction gives the most promise. Experienced gun
makers and artillerists have recently admitted that the steel rifle
has not fulfilled the promises made for it. The Krupp guns, of which
we hear so much, have never yet been subjected to such high pressures
as have been applied to cast iron guns, and experience has shown it
would not be safe to put them through such tests. Indeed, the cast-iron
smooth bore guns which have been converted into rifles by the insertion
of wrought iron rifled cylinders have been fired under a pressure fully
three times as great as it has been thought advisable to subject steel
guns of the same caliber to. An authority says: "Cast iron guns have
often been fired hundreds of rounds under pressure of nearly seventeen
tons to the square inch of bore, yet there has never been a failure,
nor a sign of one. The United States has now a 12½ in. cast iron rifle
constructed on the same plan as the 8 in. converted rifle. This gun was
made ten years ago, as an experiment. It has been fired with charges as
high as two hundred pounds of hexagonal or quick powder (as compared
with powder now considered suitable), and is still serviceable. The
United States has another experimental 12 in. rifle, entirely of cast
iron. It has been fired more than a hundred rounds with high power
charges (265 pounds powder, 800 pound shot), and is still serviceable."
Curiously enough, the experiments with these guns ceased at the very
time when there was the most reason for continuing them, to wit, while
they were giving evidence of their ability to stand a long series
of continuous rounds. The mode of testing a high pressure gun, upon
which all authorities agree, is to fire it, round after round, until
it bursts or shows weakness. There is authority for the statement
that there is not a 12 inch steel gun in Europe which has been fired
two hundred rounds, and yet, just as soon as these cast iron guns
gave promise of withstanding successfully such a test, a peremptory
order came from the Ordnance Bureau to cease firing and stop further
experiment.
The failure of steel guns in Europe is frequent, though there is good
reason for the belief that we only hear of a tithe of them, the balance
being kept secret. Only the other day a big steel gun exploded at
the muzzle, on the French trial grounds, and news comes that both in
the war ships Collingwood and Ajax a number of steel guns have been
condemned.
Because of these facts it is not at all surprising that the majority
in the House of Representatives, though willing to appropriate money
for guns, are averse to having the outlay controlled by the Ordnance
Bureau, which is wedded to the steel gun theory and others not much
better sustained.
THE COCAINE HABIT.
A number of cases of confirmed cocaine habit have recently been
reported. While some of them lack confirmation, it is certain that
several physical and mental wrecks have been caused by the excessive
use of this alkaloid. The South American Indians, long famous as coca
eaters, seem as a rule not to succumb to its effects. They use the
dried leaf, which they chew, previously introducing a small amount of
alkali, to set the cocaine free. In civilized countries the alkaloid
as a chloride is usually employed, and is administered by hypodermic
injection.
The practice of using it habitually in excess is hitherto reported as
almost confined to physicians. Its effects upon its victims are very
sad. The brain becomes permanently or for a period affected, a species
of lunacy being produced. Just as in the case of opium eaters, the
moral nature is undermined. One doctor was reported, so recently as to
be within the memory of our readers, as having turned on the gas in
a drug store where the alkaloid was refused him, with the design of
asphyxiating the clerk, in which attempt he nearly succeeded. Another
doctor, within a space of some sixteen months, has gone insane from the
cocaine habit and has been removed to an asylum, leaving his wife also
ill from the effects of the same drug, with which he had experimented
on her.
If the cases continue to multiply, there may be room for questioning
the utility to man of the discovery of this anæsthetic. It is doubtful
if all the services in local anæsthesia rendered by it can compensate
for the ill it has already done.
Pyrofuxin--a New Tanning Substance from Coal.
A new extract of coal is being introduced in Germany for industrial
purposes, especially for tanning leather and disinfection generally, to
which the name "pyrofuxin" is given by the discoverer, Professor Paulus
Reinsch, of Erlangen, Bavaria. Unlike the generality of such compounds,
this new material is not a derivative of coal tar, or of any of the
distillates of coal, but is obtained directly from coal itself. Pit or
bituminous coal contains most of it, and is prepared for treatment by
being broken into nuts. The crude pyrofuxin is extracted by repeated
boilings in a solution of caustic soda. The pyrofuxin enters into
solution, and is allowed to stand for a time. It is then poured off,
and a carbonic acid gas is passed through it. The resultant liquor has
a specific gravity of 1.025 to 1.030, and holds from 10 to 15 grammes
of pyrofuxin to the liter. In its purified form the compound is a fine,
non-triturable substance, without taste or smell, non-poisonous, and
in appearance like catechu. Some Russian coals contain 18 per cent
of pyrofuxin. After the extraction of this material the coal remains
combustible. It is described as being one of the most powerful and
effective antiseptics known to science. On this account it is expected
to be most valuable for tanning, as being twenty-eight times quicker in
action than bark, and producing a better result at decreased cost.
It will be soon enough to give credence to this alleged leather tanning
agent when specimens of good leather are produced.
Weight and Power of Modern Guns.--Table of Armstrong Guns.
--------+----------+---------+-------------------+--------------------+
| | | Total | |
Gun. | Caliber. | Weight. | Length of | Length of Bore. |
| | | Gun. | |
| | | | |
--------+----------+---------+-----------+-------+-----------+--------+
in. | in. | tons. | calibers. | in. | calibers. | in. |
4.724 | 4.724 | 2.5 | 24 | 112.7 | 22 | 104.0 |
4.724 | 4.724 | 2.2 | 35 | 165.3 | 33 | 156.6 |
6.0 | 6.0 | 4.0 | 28 | 166.4 | 26 | 156.2 |
6.0 | 6.0 | 4.5 | 32 | 192.0 | 30 | 180.0 |
6.0 | 6.0 | 5.5 | 37 | 222.0 | 35 | 210.0 |
7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 28 | 196.0 | 26 | 182.0 |
7.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 32 | 224.0 | 30 | 210.0 |
7.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 | 37 | 259.0 | 35 | 245.0 |
8.0 | 8.0 | 11.5 | 28 | 222.5 | 26 | 208.0 |
8.0 | 8.0 | 12.5 | 32 | 256.0 | 30 | 240.0 |
8.0 | 8.0 | 14.0 | 37 | 296.0 | 35 | 280.0 |
9.2 | 9.2 | 19.0 | 28 | 257.6 | 26 | 238.7 |
9.2 | 9.2 | 21.5 | 32 | 287.3 | 30 | 267.8 |
9.2 | 9.2 | 24.0 | 37 | 340.4 | 35 | 322.0 |
10.0 | 10.0 | 25.0 | 28 | 274.0 | 26 | 254.5 |
10.0 | 10.0 | 27.0 | 32 | 320.0 | 30 | 300.0 |
10.0 | 10.0 | 30.0 | 37 | 370.0 | 35 | 350.0 |
12.0 | 12.0 | 43.0 | 28 | 331.0 | 26 | 307.5 |
12.0 | 12.0 | 46.0 | 32 | 384.0 | 30 | 360.0 |
12.0 | 12.0 | 51.0 | 37 | 444.0 | 35 | 420.0 |
16.25 | 16.25 | 93.0 | 28 | 455.0 | 26 | 422.5 |
16.25 | 16.25 | 110.0 | 32 | 520.0 | 30 | 487.5 |
16.25 | 16.25 | 127.0 | 37 | 601.3 | 35 | 568.75 |
17.0 | 17.0 | 100.0 | 28 | 468.0 | 26 | 442.0 |
17.0 | 17.0 | 116.0 | 32 | 544.0 | 30 | 510.0 |
17.0 | 17.0 | 137.0 | 37 | 629.0 | 35 | 595.0 |
--------+----------+---------+-----------+-------+-----------+--------+
-------------------+------------+---------+---------+--------------+--------------+
Weight. | | | | | Thickness of |
| | | Energy | Energy | Wrought Iron |
-------+-----------+ Muzzle | Total | per Ton | per Inch |Plate the Shot|
| | Velocity. | Energy. | Weight | of Shot's | is Capable of|
Charge.|Projectile.| | | of Gun. |Circumference.| Perforating. |
-------+-----------+------------+---------+---------+--------------+--------------+
lb. | lb. |ft. per sec.|ft. tons.|ft. tons.| ft. tons. | in. |
12 | 40 | 1,680 | 783 | 522.0 | 53.1 | 7.0 |
16 | 40 | 2,078 | 1,198 | 532.4 | 81.3 | 9.1 |
42 | 80 | 2,060 | 2,354 | 588.5 | 125.7 | 11.6 |
45 | 100 | 1,940 | 2,610 | 580.0 | 139.4 | 12.2 |
60 | 100 | 2,146 | 3,193 | 580.5 | 170.5 | 13.5 |
60 | 120 | 2,050 | 3,497 | 466.3 | 160.2 | 13.0 |
75 | 145 | 2,020 | 4,075 | 479.4 | 186.6 | 14.1 |
80 | 145 | 2,140 | 4,604 | 511.5 | 210.9 | 14.9 |
120 | 180 | 2,177 | 5,915 | 514.3 | 236.9 | 15.8 |
120 | 200 | 2,157 | 6,452 | 537.6 | 258.4 | 16.5 |
130 | 210 | 2,236 | 7,280 | 520.0 | 291.5 | 17.5 |
175 | 320 | 2,060 | 9,412 | 495.3 | 327.5 | 18.5 |
200 | 380 | 2,035 | 10,923 | 508.0 | 380.1 | 20.0 |
230 | 380 | 2,375 | 14,800 | 616.6 | 515.0 | 23.2 |
200 | 450 | 1,910 | 11,383 | 455.3 | 364.2 | 19.5 |
270 | 470 | 2,185 | 15,560 | 576.3 | 497.9 | 22.8 |
270 | 500 | 2,213 | 16,979 | 566.0 | 543.3 | 23.8 |
330 | 700 | 2,087 | 21,141 | 491.6 | 563.1 | 24.2 |
400 | 800 | 2,117 | 24,861 | 540.4 | 662.2 | 26.2 |
450 | 850 | 2,205 | 28,665 | 562.0 | 763.6 | 28.1 |
850 | 1,800 | 2,106 | 55,377 | 595.4 | 1,088.7 | 33.5 |
900 | 1,800 | 2,216 | 61,200 | 556.4 | 1,203.2 | 35.2 |
900 | 1,800 | 2,295 | 65,745 | 517.6 | 1,292.6 | 36.5 |
827 | 2,000 | 1,932 | 51,790 | 517.9 | 973.1 | 31.7 |
1,000 | 2,000 | 2,190 | 66,512 | 573.3 | 1,249.7 | 35.8 |
1,000 | 2,000 | 2,255 | 70,520 | 514.7 | 1,325.0 | 37.0 |
-------+-----------+------------+---------+---------+--------------+--------------+
Castner's New Method for Producing Sodium.
This new method, heretofore mentioned by us, is now being successfully
worked in London, and is thus described in _Engineering_:
Up to the present this novel method of manufacture has been kept rather
secret, but now, owing to the success achieved by a plant erected and
worked on a commercial scale, we are enabled, through the courtesy
of Mr. H. Y. Castner, to lay before our readers an outline sketch of
the method of operation which is followed, and which we have seen
carried out with success at his works, 65 Belvidere Road, Lambeth. Few
persons outside of the chemical profession are aware of the commercial
existence of the metal sodium or of its uses, and even among those
following that profession but little is known, except that it is
used in the manufacture of aluminum, and is very expensive. Much has
lately been published in various scientific journals throughout the
world upon the subject of alleged new processes, whereby that highly
interesting metal--aluminum--might be cheaply produced without sodium,
and thus be made to take in the commercial world a place to which its
varied valuable properties entitle it. So far nothing has resulted from
these numerous so-called discoveries, and at the present time the only
process in use whereby aluminum can be produced is that devised by and
due to Deville's ingenuity.[1] This process has been called the sodium
process, apparently to distinguish it from others, but seeing that it
is the only process which has ever proved practical, it is somewhat of
a mystery why it needed to be so distinguished.
[1] The Cowles electric smelting process, heretofore described by us,
has only produced aluminum alloys as yet, and it is doubtful whether it
can be made to do more than this.
The late Dr. Walter Weldon, in a paper read before the Society of
Chemical Industry a few years ago, clearly resolved the great question
of cheaply producing aluminum, and showed by argument that this end
was only to be gained in either of the two following directions,
namely, first, by the production of cheap sodium and the employment of
Deville's process, and second, by the discovery of a substitute for
sodium, which has hitherto given to aluminum its excessive cost in
production. After twenty-five years of research by some of the best
scientists of the present age, no substance has been found that will
replace sodium, and although every known substance has, at various
times, been proposed, none has been successful. So discouraging has
been the research, that those familiar with the subject have almost
abandoned hope of ever seeing aluminum cheaply manufactured by chemical
processes, believing also that Weldon's first proposition was an
impossibility.
It is not the purpose of this article to enter into a lengthy
discussion of Mr. Castner' process of producing sodium, as Mr. James
Mactear, F.C.S., is about to prepare a scientific paper on the subject,
to be read on March 7 before the Society of Chemical Industry. We
shall content ourselves by presenting to our readers a short practical
description of the process and its results.
Before doing so it will, however, be advantageous to give a short
account of the method by which sodium has hitherto been separated from
its compounds, in order that a clearer conception of the features in
which the new process differs from the old one may be obtained. At
high temperatures carbon has the property of separating sodium from
its oxygen compounds, carbon uniting with the oxygen to form carbonic
oxide, the sodium being thereby liberated. In the usual process this
reaction is brought about by mixing carbonate of soda, lime, and carbon
in small wrought iron cylinders, and exposing them to an intense heat,
when a part of the sodium comes off as vapor. The lime is added to
prevent fusion, for were the mass to melt, the carbon would float on
the top, and could no longer attack the soda. The new process differs
from the old principally in working with a fused mass of soda compound,
this operation having been rendered feasible by the most ingenious
device of weighting every particle of carbon with iron, so that the
two chemicals--soda and carbon--are kept in perfect admixture, and
are continually presenting fresh surfaces to each other as the liquid
circulates in the crucible under the action of the heat. By this simple
but beautiful plan of weighting the carbon, it is rendered possible to
employ a soda compound which is decomposed at a much lower temperature
than that hitherto used, and to carry on the process in large and
durable vessels, instead of in small cylinders, which have a very short
life. Having thus given a short account of the chemical process, we
will describe the commercial method of manufacture.
The operations are carried on in large cast steel crucibles, and
the charges consist of caustic soda and a finely ground artificial
compound of carbon and iron, which is the reducing agent. This compound
is made by coking a mixture of fine iron and pitch. The crucibles
containing these materials are first heated in a small furnace at
a low temperature, the object being to expel the hydrogen from the
caustic alkali and bring about quiet fusion. The crucibles are then
removed from this furnace, by means of a little truck, and placed upon
a movable platform, which is operated by hydraulic power. They are
then by this means raised into the large furnace, where the crucible
covers are fixed stationary. The edges of the crucible and cover coming
together form a tight joint, and from this cover projects a small tube
to the outside of the furnace into a narrow rectangular box, known as
the condenser. The reduction of the sodium commences soon after the
crucible containing the charge is in its place, the vapors and gases
passing from the fused mixture through the exit pipe from the cover
into the condenser, where the metallic vapors are condensed to metal,
while the uncondensed gases escape by a small outlet tube. After the
charge is exhausted, the crucible is lowered, and one containing a
fresh charge raised in its place; in this manner the process might
almost be called continuous.
The actual temperature used in this process to bring about reduction,
as measured by experts, has been found to be 850° Cent. By the older
method the temperature necessary is about 1,400° Cent. This is
practically the great point of economy in this process, as the high
price of sodium has hitherto been owing to the excessive heat used in
the older process and the consequent destruction of the wrought iron
vessels. Sodium at present costs about four shillings per pound to
produce, while the materials necessary for this quantity, were nothing
wasted, would hardly cost four pence. The difference between these two
figures represents the wear and tear to the furnace, the destruction
of the wrought iron cylinders, the loss and waste of materials, the
excessive labor and care necessary to employ in manufacturing, and
fuel. Approximately, the cost of these items in producing one pound of
sodium by the older process is as follows:
Two shillings is due to the destruction of wrought iron, etc.
One shilling is due to the loss and waste of materials, of which three
times the theoretical quantity must be employed.
Eightpence is due to the labor.
Fourpence is due to the fuel.
Mr. Castner seems justified in his claim to produce sodium at a
shilling per pound in large quantities. The steel crucibles which have
now been in use some time show but little wear, and indicate indefinite
use in future, thus reducing the first item of cost in the older
process to a fraction. There is hardly any appreciable loss or waste
of materials, and from four pennyworth of caustic soda is ultimately
obtained one pound of sodium. The labor is a very small item of
expense, and the fuel consumed is less than one-third that used in the
older process.
Seventy-five tons of fuel are required by the older method in producing
one ton of sodium. From actual results a like amount of fuel will
produce over three tons of sodium by Mr. Castner's process. The results
from this new process are not obtained by calculations on paper, as
the inventor has shown from actual working that his claims are well
founded. The process is no longer an experimental one, the furnace
now erected having a capacity of 120 pounds of sodium per day, which
is probably more than is produced at any works now in existence. The
production of sodium at one shilling a pound by this process may be
considered an accomplished fact, which ultimately means cheapened
aluminum and a solution of the problem that has so long engaged the
attention of chemists and metallurgists.
Preventive Medicine.
Dr. C. R. Illingworth thus writes in the _Med. Press:_
One of our great aims as physicians is to prevent disease; another is
to cut short its course when developed. Our power in these directions
finds full scope among that class of disorders now generally recognized
as depending upon the reception, growth, and development in the tissues
of micro-organic life in one shape or another. By the continual
suppression of the growth and development of these forms of cell life,
we may, indeed, hope at length to erase the names of the diseases they
cause from the category of those "ills that flesh is heir to." The
diseases I refer to are scarlet fever, diphtheria, measles, whooping
cough, rheumatic fever, chicken-pox, small-pox, syphilis, hydrophobia,
yellow fever, _et hoc genus omne._
The germicide remedy I have found to answer as a specific and
prophylactic in such diseases is the biniodide of mercury given in
solution of potassic iodide. In all cases of scarlatina or measles
occurring in one member of a family, I put the rest upon preventive
medicine. Thus, for children I prescribe as follows: Bichloride of
mercury solution, ℥ iss; iodide of potassium, ʒ j; ammonio-citrate of
iron, ʒ j; sirup, ℥ iss; water to eight ounces. One or two teaspoonfuls
to be given three times a day.
The Peace Army of the United States.
The following figures are believed to be approximately accurate, and
most interesting and instructive they are:
French army, peace footing. 523,283
German army, peace footing. 445,417
United States army of pensioners, peace footing. 400,000
One of the great evils of a huge standing army is the cost of its
support--a constant drain upon the national resources.
It does not seem that in this respect we have so very much the
advantage of France or Germany, loaded down as those nations are with
military burdens.
The great difference is that, while all or nearly all of the French and
German soldiers, supported at the national expense, are available in
case of a national emergency, few or none of ours are.
Is this enormous burden a just debt?
The question is best answered by another question. Is it not fair to
assume that in 1877, twelve years after the end of the civil war, about
all the equitable claims for pensions on account of that war had been
put in and allowed?
Yet since 1877, the number of pensioners on our rolls has almost
doubled; and the annual cost of maintaining them has nearly
trebled.--_N. Y. Sun._
A Solid Life Insurance Company.
The figures of the last annual report of the New York Life Insurance
Company, just issued, present a record of almost unexampled success in
the conduct of the business of that old and strong company for the past
year. Its income for the year was $19,230,408, it paid policy holders
$7,627,230, and it has cash assets amounting to $75,421,453. It goes
without the saying that this great company does its insurance business
on strictly business principles. It recognizes the policy holder's
right to paid-up insurance in case of a discontinuance of payment of
premiums, and its policies are notably free from restrictions as to
occupation, residence, and travel. The company issues a great variety
of policies, thus adapting its contracts to the wants of almost every
one having present means from which a small percentage can be spared
for the benefit of themselves or those dependent upon them at a future
date.
DR. GILES DE LA TOURETTE has recently published a monograph
upon normal locomotion and the variations in the gait caused by
diseases of the nervous system. He found, from a comparison of a large
number of cases, that the average length of pace is, for men, 25
inches; for women, 20 inches. The step with the right foot is somewhat
longer than that with the left. The feet are separated laterally in
walking about 4½ inches in men and about 5 inches in women.
EMERY WHEELS FOR GUMMING SAWS.
In the illustration herewith, the operation of gumming saws with an
emery wheel is vividly represented, the frame affording sufficient
support for the side of the saw where the teeth are being ground, and
the arrangement being a simple one, readily made at any work bench or
machine where a shaft is run upon which an emery wheel can be placed.
The operation itself involves only the simplest mechanical knowledge
and but a rudimentary experience in the handling of tools, yet the
desirability of this method of sharpening saws is largely dependent
upon the kind of emery wheel used and the rate of speed at which it is
run.
[Illustration: EMERY VULCANITE SAW GUMMER.]
The vulcanite emery wheels made by the New York Belting and Packing
Company have especial advantages for this kind of work. They are strong
and safe at the highest speed at which it is desirable to run them, the
company recommending that they never be run at a less rate than 6,000
feet per minute circumferential speed, and from that up to 8,000 and
10,000 feet per minute, although the lowest named speed is rather above
the ordinary limit of many other kinds of emery wheels, and attempts to
run other wheels at or beyond this limit have frequently resulted in
serious accidents, from the breaking of the wheels. The higher rate of
speed, which not only cuts faster, but, in the case of the vulcanite
emery wheel, prolongs the life of the wheel, is concededly safe with
the vulcanite wheel. Thus run, it is not likely to wear out of true,
the operator does not have to bear on so hard, and the wheel retains
its shape much better than when run at a slow speed. The nature of the
wear of the working surface in the vulcanite wheel is claimed to be
essentially different from that in wheels where the emery is fixed in
its place by other methods, the rubber affording an elastic foundation
or cushion, from which the particles of emery slightly protrude. This
not only insures more efficient work from the cutting edges of the
emery, as they become changed by use, but allows of more access of air
to the work, thus tending to prevent casehardening of the edges of the
metal being ground.
In addition to wheels with bevel shaped grinding surfaces, as
represented in the engraving, the company also make wheels with round
grinding surfaces, and this kind is always considered best for large
saws.
THE FRILLED SHARK--THE OLDEST LIVING TYPE OF VERTEBRATES.
In technical terms this is a living species of cladodont shark, named
by Mr. Garman _Chlamydoselachus anguineus._
The specimen here figured was found in a miscellaneous collection
of fishes, etc., in alcohol, furnished the Museum of Comparative
Zoology by Professor H. A. Ward, who purchased them in Japan. It
was soon recognized as not only belonging to a new family, but one
closely allied to certain forms supposed to have become extinct in
the Carboniferous time. This discovery displaces _Ceratodus_ from the
position of the oldest living type of the vertebrata.
The term Chlamydoselachus is applied on account of the curious
frill-like mantle that surmounts the first gill cover. The term is made
up of two Greek words implying mantle and shark. Six gill openings,
and certain structure of the brain, remove this form from the present
known sharks. Its affinity to some of the earliest known sharks, those
of the middle Devonian, render it of great interest and importance to
science. The family characters which this form represents, under the
term _Chlamydoselachidæ_, are: Body elongate, with a depressed head.
The eyes are lateral, with no nictitating membrane. The nasal cavity is
separate from that of the mouth. The mouth is situated anteriorly, like
that of some fishes. The teeth have broad, backward extended bases and
slender cusps. The spiracles are present. One dorsal fin, spineless,
is present. There is also an anal fin, and a caudal with no pit at its
root. The first gill cover is free across the isthmus. The intestine
has a spiral valve.
The generic characters are: Six gill openings, opercular flap, first
gill cover, broad. Teeth similar in both jaws; each with three slender,
curved, subconical cusps, separated by a pair of rudimentary denticles
or a broad base. There is no median upper series of teeth in front, but
there is a series below, on the symphysis. The mouth is wide, and has
no labial folds at the angles. The pupil is horizontally elongate; the
fins are broad, the caudal without a notch.
The total length of this shark is nearly five feet. Its greatest width,
across the ventrals, is seven inches. Its resemblance to a snake is
very striking. Its elongated body, long, flattened head, anterior
mouth, and sinister expression of the eyes are quite suggestive of the
ophidians. There are fifty-one rows of teeth, and six teeth in each
row; the whole number at one time in function is 306. The brain is very
small.
The present state of icthyological science recognizes eliminations
that have been made from its main body. Comprehensively, a fish is a
cold-blooded vertebrate, adapted for life in the water, breathing by
means of gills, having the limbs, if present, in the form of fins, the
smaller members being represented by cartilaginous rays connected by
membrane. One or more fins are developed on the median line of the body.
The lancelets, myzonts, myxinoids, hag fishes, lampreys, sharks, and
rays are recognized as differing sufficiently from the true fishes to
entitle them to places of class distinction.
[Illustration: THE FRILLED SHARK--THE OLDEST LIVING TYPE OF
VERTEBRATES.]
The true fishes form one class; the elasmobranchs, sharks, and rays,
another class; the marsipobranchs, myxinoid fishes, hag fishes, and
lampreys, a class; and the lancelets and cirrostomes, a class. It will
be seen, then, that technically there are four classes of fish-like
vertebrates, where but one--fishes--has heretofore been recognized.
The lancelets, as is well known, are the lowest in the scale,
their structure being extremely simple. The skull in this class is
undeveloped, the brain not distinctly differentiated, nor is there any
heart.
The term Leptocardii, which designates this class, means thin heart, in
reference to the simplicity of this portion of the arterial system.
At first sight of the mouth of the frilled shark, which is figured
here, the teeth have a singular and wholly unnatural appearance,
appearing like indented, leaf-like organs; but it is seen that there
are three fangs, serpent-like, on a base, and several rows of them give
the peculiar appearance, arranged as they are consecutively from before
inward.
The Port Jackson sharks, of the family _Heterodontidæ_, have long been
regarded as of great interest to paleontologists, from their being
closely related to some extinct sharks. Under the term Cestracion (now
_Gyropleurodus_), these sharks are known to naturalists. A species, _G.
francisci_, is now found off the coast of California.
_Cestracion phillipi_ is found in the Australian seas. The term
cestracion is from the Greek _kestra_, a weapon. Many of the extinct
species are known by the preservation of this spine, which being of
more durable structure is preserved after all other traces of the
creature have passed away.
[Illustration: TICHENOR & WALKER'S IMPROVED STUMP PULLER. [FOR
DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 132.] ]