appearing for a shark, as this important part is usually situated far
beneath. In this respect, the anterior aspect of the mouth, there is
resemblance to that of the great rhinodon, the largest living fish,
measuring 70 feet in length. The general appearance of this shark
is, however, extremely different from that of the frilled shark. The
rhinodon is immensely bulky, the head being quite as deep and wide as
any other portion. A very interesting structure, and one little known,
belonging to the latter is a set of whalebone-like fringes along the
gills, arranged comb-like. These frills have much the same functions
of those in the whalebone or right whales. The food of the creature
is mostly of sea jellies and other soft pelagic animals, which are
strained into the throat by means of this adaptation. The great basking
shark has this structure. This shark has been taken off Block Island
measuring, according to authority, nearly seventy feet. It is the
_Cetorhinus_, or bone shark, also so called. Large as these creatures
are, they are harmless, most fortunately, their teeth being very small.
Their food being of gelatinous animal matter, the masticating apparatus
is not required to be of any considerable size or strength. The more
harmful sharks are of moderate dimensions, in which the teeth are very
large. In the largest species of "maneater" shark living, the teeth
are about two inches in length. Some of the great carcharodon-like
fossil sharks have teeth measuring five inches and a half in length.
One in my possession has that measurement. Judging from the size of
the shark, which has a tooth two inches in length, the extinct species
here indicated must have been much over one hundred feet in length.
Such enormous size can more readily be accommodated in the vast ocean
than that of the great land beasts on their appropriate element. I am
indebted to papers on this subject by Mr. Garman, of Cambridge, Mass.,
for material of this account. J. B. H.
IMMEDIATELY after eating, a person weighs more than before it.
COMBINED BENCH AND IRONING BOARD.
The bench is composed of side pieces, legs, end pieces, and a central
cross brace. At one end it is provided with stationary top pieces
having curved inner edges, as shown in the upper view, which are
covered with a thin strip of angle iron extending up flush with the
top and bent to conform with the curved edge. To the upper ends of the
legs are hinged supports adapted to extend upward to form continuations
of the legs, to engage with and hold an ironing board in a horizontal
position. A tongue formed upon the free end of each support enters a
socket box fitted in a recess formed in the board, so that the hinged
lids of the boxes are flush with the bench surface of the board. When
the board is in position to be ironed upon, the hinged lids rest
against the sides of the supports, an opening in the lids receiving
pins projecting from the sides of the supports. The lids are held in
this position by suitably arranged buttons. By this means the ironing
board is securely fixed in its elevated position. The rigidity of each
support is promoted by another button attached to its inner side, and
which enters a slot in the top edge of the side piece. To convert the
ironing board into a bench, the board is lifted up and the supports
closed down within the bench, as shown in the lower view. The wraps
used upon the board are then placed neatly over the supports. The board
itself is then turned over and its narrow end slid under the projection
of the angle iron to a bearing upon the upper edges of the bench
frame. The board now forms a smooth top for the bench. The under side
of the ironing board, when forming a seat, is recessed near each side
of its square end. Each recess is covered by a metal plate having a
diamond-shaped opening to receive the elongated head of a bolt secured
to the inner face of the bench side pieces. The square end of the board
is thus held to the bench, the narrow end being held by the angle irons.
[Illustration: WELLER'S COMBINED BENCH AND IRONING BOARD.]
This invention has been patented by Mr. Daniel H. Weller, of Boyertown,
Pa.
IMPROVED BLIND STOP.
[Illustration: GULICK'S IMPROVED BLIND STOP.]
By means of the simple attachment here shown, the blind may be securely
held in any desired position. Secured to the lower cross bar is a
metal plate, bent at right angles to form flanges, the projecting one
of which is finely corrugated. The plate is held to the bar by screws
passing through the other flange. Across the face of the outer flange
is secured a spring retaining strip, which bears against the corrugated
face and which carries a set screw. To the end of the slat bar is
secured a corrugated strip, which is passed between the flange and its
strip, the corrugated faces resting against each other, as shown in the
right hand view.
This device will hold the slats in any required position, but when the
slat bar is subjected to a positive pull, the strip will slip upon the
face of the flange, against which it will be held by the action of the
spring strip. By means of the set screw, the parts may be so locked
together as to prevent the turning of the slats from the outside.
This invention has been patented by Mrs. Lizzie T. Gulick, of
Corsicana, Texas.
The British Armament at Victoria.
Some mistake appears to have been made in the recent announcement that
the British Government are sending out a number of eighty ton guns
for the coast defense of Esquimault and Victoria. Twelve sixty-four
pounders have been sent out from England, not for the armaments of the
forts, but to be placed on board the British ships of war belonging to
the Pacific squadron or to go into the naval reserves. Some time ago
the British Minister of War made application to the Canadian Pacific
Railway to know if they could transport one or more eighty ton guns
over their road. An estimate of the cost was given, with the model of
a car composed of three trucks, which it was proposed to use if the
shipment was made. Since then nothing has been heard of the eighty ton
guns. The officer in command of the British Columbia district does not
speak very creditably of the condition of the armament at that point.
The artillery armament is described as old, the carriages and limbers
are reported rotten and are falling to pieces, while the guns are
without sights. The batteries at Victoria and Esquimault, the officers
say, are in a discreditable condition.--_N. Y. Evening Post_.
A SIMPLE DEVICE FOR CRIMPING BOOTS OR SHOES.
[Illustration: LA FOLLETTE'S BOOT CRIMPER.]
The crimper herewith illustrated has a yoke-shaped stationary portion,
the jaws of which are formed with transverse corrugations. The top
of this yoke has a longitudinal slot, in which are pivoted the upper
reduced ends of movable inner jaws, whose operative faces have
transverse corrugations, arranged to always meet and fit within the
corresponding corrugations of the outer jaws. These inner jaws are
normally held open by a spring. The operating or crimping screw slides
freely through the slot in the yoke, extending between the inner jaws,
and on its lower portion fits a wedge-shaped clamping block, which is
drawn up between the inner jaws by turning the operating screw. The
outer end of this screw being placed in an aperture in the heel of the
last, or in other suitable position relative to a form over which the
leather is to be crimped, and the edges of the leather placed between
the jaws, the leather may be strained about its forming block as
desired by simply rotating the screw.
This invention has been patented by Mr. Elery B. La Follette, of
Flemington, West Va.
PLASTERER'S HAWK.
The object of this invention, which has been patented by Mr. Geo.
W. Jaques, of Burton, O., is to provide a plasterer's hawk in which
the board on which the mortar is received, and which is subjected to
expansion and contraction due to alternate moistening and drying, may
be rendered light and rigid and, at the same time, be free to expand
and contract without warping or cracking. In the center of the board
is secured a bolt, upon which is received a handle having a nut in its
outer end fitting the end of the bolt. A circular concave plate is
placed on the bolt, between the handle and board, with its concave side
toward the board. Between the plate and board is held an elastic rubber
washer, which is compressed by screwing the handle down.
The plate has a plane edge, which is secured to the board by screws,
and in the edge are four notches for receiving the ends of wire frames
that extend a short distance under the plate, by which they are clamped
to the board. Each frame consists of a wire, bent to the shape shown
in the upper view in the engraving. Through the end loops are passed
screws, projecting from the board, and the center of each frame is
secured to the board by a clip, the clips and bolt being arranged in a
line parallel with the grain of the wood. The frames support the edges
of the board, and the loops permit of the lateral movement of their
screws and the portions of the board by which they are carried. This
hawk weighs, even when thoroughly soaked, only one pound and a half,
the old style weighing from three to five pounds.
[Illustration: JAQUES' PLASTERER'S HAWK.]
ADJUSTABLE WOOD MEASURING RACK.
By means of this device wood may be measured by the cord or fractional
parts of a cord, as occasion may require. The sill frame consists of
two longitudinally ranging timbers connected by cross bars. Near one
end of the timbers are fixed uprights, braced to each other and to
the timbers. To the inner faces of the sills are screwed a series of
headed pins, the first one being exactly one foot from the inner face
of the end posts, and the others being spaced one foot apart. Two
posts, braced together by rods, are adapted to stand on the sills, and
to the inside face of each post is attached, by coach screws, a metal
plate provided with a hook at its lower end, adapted to engage with
the shank of one of the headed screw pins of the sills. Attached to
each post is a brace with two arms, and formed at its lower end with a
notch to engage the pins on the sills. The metal plates and braces are
slotted for the passage of the screws, so that the movable frame may be
quickly and easily set perfectly plumb, whichever opposite pair of the
sill pins may be engaged by the hooked plates. The posts are exactly
four feet high, and one is marked by cross lines one foot apart. It is
apparent that, to measure a cord, the frame is moved to the eighth set
of pins and the wood is piled to the tops of the posts. To measure half
a cord, the hooks are engaged with the fourth pins. By adjusting the
hooks to the first pair of pins, and filling the wood in between the
end posts up to the first cross line on the post, a single foot of wood
can be measured, or up to the second line for two feet, and so on. Thus
a cord or any fractional part can be readily measured. To disengage the
frame, it is only necessary to tilt it forward toward the fixed posts,
when it may be shifted to any point along the sill frame.
[Illustration: BROUGHTON'S ADJUSTABLE WOOD MEASURING RACK.]
This invention has been patented by Mr. Horace L. Broughton, whose
address is P. O. box 320, Marblehead, Mass.
Steel Rail Capacity of the United States.
Name. Capacity
in Tons.
Springfield Iron Company 12,000
Indianapolis Rolling Mill Company 75,000
Joliet Steel Company 200,000
Lackawanna Coal and Iron Company 216,000
Troy Steel and Iron Company 120,000
Montour Iron and Steel Company 90,000
California Mills 50,000
Lochiel Iron and Steel Works 65,000
Cleveland Rolling Mill Company 200,000
Roane Iron Company 50,000
Union Steel Works, Chicago 168,000
Colorado Coal and Iron Company 125,000
Cambria Works 100,000
Western Steel Company 132,000
South Chicago Plant 250,000
Bay View Plant 50,000
North Chicago Plant 200,000
Carnegie, Phipps & Co. 125,000
Union Iron Mills, Pittsburg 50,000
Edgar Thomson Plant 450,000
Cranston Steel Company 175,000
Pennsylvania Steel Company 300,000
Bethlehem Iron Company 250,000
Worcester Steel Works 50,000
---------
Total apparent rail capacity 3,671,000
PENBERTHY INJECTOR.
At last a mechanical combination and device has been produced, and a
man's labor and study crowned with success, in the production, for the
convenience of engineers, of a simple and compact device known as the
Penberthy injector or boiler feeder.
Its mechanical construction is very simple, but perfect. All its parts
are movable and convenient of access (not being screwed in), its
working so complete that an inexperienced person can operate it with
success and perfectness. Its adaptability to all classes of boilers,
such as stationary, portable, traction, marine, and locomotive, and
its working on each, makes it very desirable, and recommends it to all
classes of engineers. The automatic working of this injector is of very
great advantage, as by this mechanical construction it works under all
conditions of shakes, jars, and concussions. In case of a break, or
the suction is to be removed and then returned, it picks up or begins
working without any aid, assistance, or attention from the engineer,
thereby relieving of much care and annoyance. Its convenience of access
is of very great consideration and importance, owing to the advantage
of cleaning and examining its interior parts.
The working parts of this injector are stationary in their work,
thereby causing comparatively no wear in its mechanical parts. The
inventor seems to have combined common sense with mechanical science,
by leaving out all complications, and combining in the injector every
convenience of operating, getting at, and putting it on the boiler.
The body is of a single cylinder or barrel, with two jets inside,
"steam and combining," and governed by an automatic swinging overflow.
The injector is operated by the opening or closing of the globe
valves. It is connected to the boiler and pipes with uniform and
interchangeable square centered unions, and can be put on or taken
off very quickly without any annoyance or injury, and the only tool
required being an ordinary wrench.
Another great point gained in this injector is its great range of
working capacity. It will lift water twenty-five feet perpendicular,
or take it a hydraulic pressure and force it into the boiler at a
temperature of from 140° to 180° Fah. It will work under a steam
pressure of from 20 to 140 lb. It will also lift and force water
at a very warm temperature (say 120° Fah.) in tank or well, and
under all circumstances and at all points it works automatically.
The inventor and manufacturers of the Penberthy injector have great
confidence in its working qualities, and to satisfy engineers of its
merits and perfectness of work, solicit a trial. From observation, a
brilliant future is in store for this little wonder of simplicity and
compactness, which is a model of mechanism in appearance and finish.
[Illustration: PENBERTHY INJECTOR.]
For prices, etc., address Jenkins Bros., 71 John St., New York, 13
So. 4th St. Philadelphia, and 105 Milk St., Boston, agents for this
injector.
PROTECTOR FOR LADIES' HATS.
This simple and readily adjustable protector may be quickly applied
to and removed from a hat or bonnet, without injuring its delicate
trimmings, and may be adjusted to fit large or small hats. The main
portion of the protector, which alone will be used to cover hats of
small or medium size, consists of a piece of some light waterproof
fabric strengthened about the margin with an inside facing. At the
inner face of the body are secured a couple of narrow strips of
suitable fabric (Fig. 2), forming casings for drawing strings. At the
opposite edges of the facing are attached small rings, through either
series of which a drawing string may be passed.
The extension piece (Fig. 1) of the protector consists of an endless
band of waterproof fabric, like that of the body, provided at its
edges with bindings, to which rings for drawing strings are secured.
The protector can readily be adjusted and held upon a small or medium
sized hat by properly manipulating the drawing strings. To adapt the
protector to a large hat, the extension piece is united to the main
piece by a string passed through the inner series of rings on the
facing and through one of the series of rings on the extension piece. A
string is then passed through the other rings of the extension piece,
when the protector can be held to the hat by adjusting the drawing
strings. It is evident that this protector may be applied over a hat
without danger of crushing the most delicate trimmings.
[Illustration: HOPKIRK'S PROTECTOR FOR LADIES' HATS.]
This invention has been patented by Mrs. W. H. Hopkirk, of Agency, Iowa.
IMPROVED STUMP PULLER.
The stump puller shown in the accompanying engraving (page 130) is
exceedingly powerful, as, by a system of compound levers, a pull of
one pound on the operating bar will exert a pull of 384 pounds on the
stump, and if the lifting chain be passed around a single pulley, this
power is doubled. With one of these machines one man has pulled a green
maple stump two feet in diameter from clay soil. The pulling mechanism
is supported by a tripod, to the upper end of which is secured a chain
carrying a bar or plate provided with a bearing in which slides a
notched bar. Meshing with the notches of this bar are the teeth of a
pawl, which is so connected, by levers, with the operating handle that
the downward movement of the latter will raise the pawl and notched bar
and the chain attached to its lower end. A sliding bolt then holds the
notched bar in its raised position, when the handle can be raised to
enable the pawl to engage with the next lower teeth of the bar. Thus,
by a succession of up and down movements of the handle, the notched
bar may be elevated its entire length, or until the stump is pulled
completely out. It will be seen that the sliding bolt permits of the
upward, but prevents the downward, movement of the notched bar when the
pawl is disengaged and slides downward. But, by means of a suitably
arranged hand lever, the pawl may be moved so as to be out of contact
with the bar, and, at the same time, the bolt, which is pressed forward
by a spring, may be moved to disengage it from the notch in the bar,
which may then be adjusted in any desired position. The machine is
built of steel and malleable iron.
This invention has been patented by Messrs. R. R. Tichenor and P.
Walker, of Henning, Minn.
The Defense of New York within Thirty Days' Time.
The idea seems to prevail that the United States is absolutely helpless
against a naval attack from England. I think this idea is entirely
erroneous. There is the pneumatic gun, capable now of throwing 300 lb.
of nitro-glycerine, which amount could easily be increased to 1,000
lb. For the value of one modern ironclad, 150 steamers with such a gun
could be put in service in two weeks by the United States, because
any steamer of 100 feet or over would answer; while the gun, being a
mere tube, subjected to but 1,000 lb. of air per square inch, with
air-compressing machinery, is all so available and quickly built that
a month would put the United States into possession of 500 of them.
If, now, 20 such steamers be told off for each ironclad sent against
us, even if two-thirds were sunk, they would, before being entirely
demolished, succeed in depositing 5 to 10 tons of nitro-glycerine on
the deck of the ironclad, and exploding it.
Would not the effect of repeated explosions of 1,000 lb. of
nitro-glycerine blow the deck in, dismount the guns and engine, and
shake the armor loose, as the explosions of the Monitors' guns did when
they were in service in the late war--the heads of bolts and other
fastenings of the armor flying off from the concussion.
Then there is the submarine boat, that has already stayed under
water thirty minutes with its crew, and been easily and correctly
guided. What is in the way of using ten such boats to each ironclad,
one of which would unquestionably succeed in placing 1,000 lb. of
nitro-glycerine under the ironclad, the explosion of which would be
heard from? Because the explosion of 90 lb. of gun-cotton did not
materially damage an ironclad, can it be reasoned that 1,000 lb. of
nitro-glycerine, which would have twenty-five times the force of 90 lb.
of gun-cotton, would be equally ineffective? Hardly, I think.
Nets, etc., would not prevent such boats from diving under them, while
they would only impede the speed and maneuvering of the ironclad, and
render her more easily approached.
Blucher, the German cavalry officer, insisted that it was the
impression and belief existing in Germany that Napoleon was invincible,
and the Germans helpless, that alone prevented them from conquering.
When the occasion came when he could demonstrate this, the Germans and
allies easily defeated and dethroned Napoleon.
It is similarly true in this country, for too many believe that the
English ironclad is invincible, and this impression makes cowards of
too many. Give the nitro-glycerine gun and submarine boat a trial, if
occasion arises, and England's ironclads will succumb as easily as
Napoleon when sufficient power of the right kind was brought to bear on
him. The right kind of power to apply to England is nitro-glycerine and
dynamite, which could be ready with guns and boats in a month or less.
One hundred days sufficed to build the first Monitor many years ago,
and much less time will be needed for dynamite guns.
WAYNE.
Electroplating with Platinum.
Platinum has not been much used in electroplating, notwithstanding
its hard, durable, and protective properties. This is, perhaps,
chiefly owing to the practical difficulty of obtaining a good firm
"reguline" deposit. A process for effecting this has, however, been
brought out recently by a Mr. Bright, whose patents have been acquired
by the Bright Platinum Plating Company, and are in actual operation
in London at works established there. Platinum has the advantage of
keeping its color where silver, brass, or copper becomes discolored,
and will, to some extent at least, replace the use of these metals in
electrotyping. It will be highly useful in plating chemists' crucibles
and so on. German silver, for example, plated with platinum can be used
to manipulate strong acids. By the Bright process, platinum can be
deposited on any surface which can be electroplated with other metals.
COMBINED BRUSH AND COMB CLEANER.
The invention herewith illustrated relates to a device for cleaning
brushes and combs. It consists of a handle or body of suitable form,
provided at one end with a brush, and at the opposite end with thin
curved fingers of metal, or equivalent elastic material, adapted to
enter between the teeth of the comb or the bristles of the brush. In
making use of the device the hooks are employed to loosen and remove,
as far as possible, the hairs or other foreign matter, after which the
brush is employed to complete the operation. It is intended to afford
a cheap, simple, and efficient means of cleaning articles in daily
use in every household, and is virtually sure, considering the low
cost at which it can be manufactured, to become a staple article of
merchandise. The invention has been patented by Mr. J. O. Brookbank,
of Driftwood, Cameron County, Pa., to whom all particulars relating to
purchase of rights for the United States and Canada should be addressed.
[Illustration: BROOKBANK'S COMBINED BRUSH AND COMB CLEANER.]
Correspondence.
Coincidence of Charleston Earthquake with a Reported Eruption in the
Tonga Group.
_To the Editor of the Scientific American:_
I would like to call your attention to a reported coincidence,
described in a letter in the London _Times_ of December last. An
interview with captain and crew of a vessel just then arrived at
Sydney, Australia, from Tonga Islands, is given. The captain is
represented assaying that while lying off the islands on the night of
the 31st of August, 1886, he observed a most terrific eruption of a
volcano situated on one of them, accompanied by earthquake shocks, and
the vessel received showers of dust and ashes. The occurrence on the
same night with the Charleston earthquake on this continent is curious,
to say the least. The statement might be acceptable to those of your
readers interested in seismic disturbances.
P. MAX. FOSHAY.
Beaver Falls, Pa., February 2, 1887.