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ANNUAL

OF

SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY:

OR,

YEAR-BOOK OF FACTS IN SCIENCE AND ART,

FOR 1852.

EXHIBITING THE

MOST IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES AND IMPROVEMENTS

MECHANICS, USEFUL ARTS, NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, CHEMISTRY,
ASTRONOMY, METEOROLOGY, ZOOLOGY, BOTANY, MINER-
ALOGY, GEOLOGY, GEOGRAPHY, ANTIQUITIES, &c.

TOGETHER WITH

A LIST OF RECENT SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS ; A CLASSIFIED LIST OF

PATENTS ; OBITUARIES OF EMINENT SCIENTIFIC MEN ; NOTES ON

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE DURING THE YEAR 1851, ETC. ETC.

EDITED BY

DAVID A. AYELLS, A.M.

BOSTON:
GOULD AND LINCOLN,

59 WASHINGTON STREET.

1852.

Entered according to Act of Congress, iu the year 1852,

BY GOULD & LINCOLN,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

Stereotyped by
HOBART & ROBBINS;

NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY,
BOSTON.

Q. C. RAND, Printer, 3 Cornhill, Boston.

PREFACE.

THE present number constitutes the third yearly volume of the
Annual of Scientific Discovery. The Editor, in its preparation, has
.selected from the great mass of yearly accumulative matter, such
subjects as to him seem most important and interesting. The
selection and arrangement of the articles have also been made with a
special view of illustrating the progress of natural and physical
science, in all their departments, from year to year, each volume
taking up the history and narration as dropped in the preceding one,
in such a way, that a complete series of the work shall present, as
nearly as possible, a complete scientific history, not only of each
year, but also of the whole time elapsed since the publication of the
first volume.

That the Annual has imperfections, we would neither endeavor to
disguise nor conceal. The progress of invention and discovery, of
improvement and application, is so rapid, unceasing and continuous,
that it would require a volume many times the size of the present
to record, even in a summary manner, all that transpires of scien-
tific interest in the course of a single year. Some topics of impor-
tance, from their abstruse and technical character, have been
necessarily omitted. To a certain extent, also, the researches and
discoveries relating to organic chemistry and mineralogy have been
passed over ; the limits of the present work would not suffice for
their entire publication, and the interest attached to them, although
great, is almost entirely confined to those engaged exclusively in
scientific pursuits. If, also, in rejecting some subjects of impor-
tance, we have, in this age, when falsity and exaggeration in regard
to matters of invention and discovery are so common, inserted some
articles not wholly trustworthy, the Editor would plead, as an ex-

IV PREFACE.

cuse, " non mea culpa sed tempoms" The topics, however, of this
nature often contain valuable suggestions and germs of truth, and,
even when their falsity is unquestioned, display an amount of
ingenuity not always found in real and true inventions. Such mat-
ters belong, of right, to the scientific history of the times, and on
no account ought to be omitted.

The Editor would take this opportunity to say, that he does not
endorse, or consider himself responsible for, any opinions advanced in
the body of the work, unless over his own signature. The selec-
tions have generally been made upon good authority, which, in most
cases, is given in connection with each article. In the volume for
1851, a series of Editorial Notes, on the general progress of science
during the preceding year, was given. The favor with which these
have been received, leads to their continuance. As some objection
has been made to certain remarks by the Editor, included in the
notes for 1851, we would here say, that they are to be considered as
an editorial table, in which the Editor will exercise the right of
freely expressing such sentiments and opinions, relative to scientific
matters, as to him shall seem proper.

Heretofore the Annual of Scientific Discovery has appeared under
the editorial charge of David A. Wells and George Bliss, Jr.
Mr. Bliss having left the country for a temporary residence in
Europe, the work has passed entirely under the charge of the first-
named Editor. While we regret the withdrawal of Mr. Bliss, whose
many and varied attainments have contributed to the success of the
Annual, it will be the aim of the present Editor to sustain and im-
prove, in all respects, the character of the work.

To the friends, not only in this country, but in Europe, China,
and California, who have kindly furnished scientific information, we
return our most sincere thanks.

We present to our readers, in the Annual of Scientific Discovery
for 1852, a portrait of Professor Joseph Henry, President of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1849-50,
and the present Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, at Wash-
ington.

CAMBRIDGE, February, 1852.

NOTES BY THE EDITOR

ON THE

PROGRESS OF SCIENCE IN 1851

THE progress of science during the year just elapsed will, we think, upon
examination, be found to have been no less brilliant in its results, and no
less rapid in its advances, than in any single year which has preceded it.
One fact mxist be apparent to all, and that is, that the number of persons
now engaged in contributing to the advance of every department of natural
and physical science is greater than at any former period. The evidence
of this is to be found in the greatly increased number of patents yearly
granted, in this and other countries, for new and useful inventions ; in the
publication and circulation of scientific books and journals ; in the forma-
tion of new societies for the discussion and publication of particular scientific
subjects ; and in the extension and endowment of educational systems and
institutions, in which instruction in practical science is a principal object.
In Mechanics and Physics the difficulty seems now to be, not so much to
invent and improve, as to find out what new inventions are wanting,
and what old ones admit of improvement. Let but the want be known,
and the attempt will soon be made to supply it. That class of men, whose
minds are fitted for the very highest walks of science, and for the under-
taking of problems and questions apparently irresolvable and unanswer-
able, is greatly on the increase. The researches and discoveries undertaken
and carried out within a recent period, by Arago, Fizeau and Foucault, in
relation to light ; of Faraday, in relation to magnetism ; of Pierce, Mitchel
and Bond, in astronomy ; and of Hofmann, in organic chemistry, are among
the most brilliant, and, at the same time, most difficult of scientific achieve-
ments upon record. Many, in other branches of science, during the past
year, have contributed much to the progress of general improvement ; and,
if their labors have been less fruitful in important discoveries, they embrace
much that is useful. With these allusions to the general course of events,
we proceed to notice the various topics of interest more particularly,

A*

VI NOTES BY THE EDITOR

The American Association for the Advancement of Science held two
meetings during the past year. The first, a semi-annual meeting, was
held at Cincinnati, Ohio, commencing May 5th, and continuing five days.
The attendance at this meeting was as numerous as could have been ex-
pected ; consisting chiefly, however, of members of the Association from the
West. An unusually large number of papers and communications was pre-
sented, most of them relating to geology and paleontology. An exhibition
of fossils, collected in various parts of the West, of the most novel and inter-
esting character, was made by several of the members. Many of the speci-
mens shown belonged to entirely new and undescribed species, and were in
the most perfect state of preservation. This exhibition seemed to indicate
that the Silurian rocks of the Western United States are richer in fossil
remains than any other similar deposits. The greatest hospitality was
exercised towards the Association by the citizens of Cincinnati, and a fund
sufficient to defray the cost of publishing the proceedings was liberally and
generously subscribed. The President of this meeting was Prof. A. D.
Bache, Superintendent of the Coast Survey.

The second and annual meeting of the Association for 1851 was held at
Albany, N. Y., during the week commencing Monday, August 18th, Prof.
Agassiz presiding. The attendance was unusually large, and upwards of
one hundred and twenty papers were presented and read. The depart-
ments of geology, astronomy and physics were most largely represented;
while zoology and chemistry received comparatively little attention. The
Association experienced the most generous treatment from the corporation
and citizens of Albany ; and, at the close of the meeting, it was announced
that the authorities had voted to publish the volume of proceedings at the
expense of the city. By invitation from, the city of Troy, an excursion was
made to that place, where a session was held at the Rensselaer Institute,
after which, the members were invited to a handsome collation.

The officers of the Association for the year 1852 are as follows : Prof.
Pierce, of Cambridge, President ; Prof. James D. Dana, of New Haven,
General Secretary ; Prof. Spencer F. Baird, of Washington, Permanent Sec-
retary ; Dr. Elwyn, of Philadelphia, Treasurer. It was voted to hold the
next annual meeting at Cleveland, Ohio, that city having invited the Asso-
ciation, and generously offered to publish the proceedings. A similar invi-
tation and offer were afterwards received from the city of Brooklyn, N. Y. ,
and general invitations from Providence and Baltimore. It was deemed
inexpedient to appoint a semi-annual session, though one at Washington
was requested.

At this meeting, on recommendation of the standing committee, it was
unanimously voted, that the names of all members who have not paid their
assessments, and who refuse to do so after two notices of three months' inter-
val, shall be stricken from the rolls of the Association. Resolutions, com-

ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. VII

memorative of the death of Samuel George Morton, of Philadelphia, were
also adopted. The number of new members elected at this meeting exceeded
one hundred.

The annual address before the Association was delivered by Prof. A. D.
Bache, the retiring President ; subject, " The Organization, Condition and
Progress of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, with
Remarks on the Direction in which its Greatest Usefulness may be looked
for." In the course of the address, some suggestions were made respecting
the formation of a National Institute, somewhat similar to those offered by
Sir David Brewster, at the British Association, in 1850.* In relation to
this subject, Prof. Bache said as follows : "In this connection I would
throw out for your consideration some reasons which induce me to believe
that an institution of science, supplementary to existing ones, is much
needed in our country, to guide public action in reference to scientific mat-
ters. It is, I believe, a common mistake to associate the idea of academies
and institutes with monarchical institutions. We show in this, as in many
other things, the prejudices of our descent. Republican France has cher-
ished her Institute, seeking rather to extend than to curtail its proportions.
One of the most ardent republicans is its perpetual secretary that set-
ting sun whose effulgence shows that it is merely passing below the horizon
to illumine another sphere !

" Nor does the idea of a necessary connection between centralization and
an institute strike me as a valid one. Suppose an institute, of which the
members belong in turn to each of our widely-scattered States, working at
their places of residence, and reporting their results, meeting only at par-
ticular times and for special purposes, engaged in researches self-directed
or desired by the body, called for by Congress, or by the Executive, who fur-
nish the means for the inquiries. The details of such an organization could
be marked out so as to secure efficiency without centralization, and constant
labor with its appropriate results. The public treasury would be saved
many times the support of such a council, by the sound advice which it
would give in regard to the various projects which are constantly forced
upon their notice, and in regard to which they are now compelled to decide
without the knowledge which alone can insure a wise conclusion. The
men of science who are at the seat of government, either constantly or tem-
porarily, are too much occupied in the special work which belongs to their
official occupations to answer such a purpose ; beside, the additional
responsibility which, if they were called together, they must necessarily
bear, would prove too great a burthen, considering the fervid zeal, and I
might almost say fierceness, with which questions of interest are pursued,
and the very extraordinary means resorted to, to bring about a successful

* See Annual of Scientific Discovery, 1851, Editorial Notes, p. vii.

VIII NOTES BY THE EDITOR

conclusion. If it were admissible that I should go into detail on this sub-
ject, I could prove the economy of a permanent consulting body like this.
This is, however, a lower view than the saving of character, by avoiding
mistakes, and misdirection of public encouragement, and by loss of oppor-
tunity of encouraging that which is really useful. I should subject the
Association to some criticism, if I unfolded this subject specifically, partic-
ularizing the errors here generally alluded to, and abstain, merely remark-
ing that the amount which would have been saved to one department of the
government alone, from the application of the principle of the equality of
action and reaction, would have supported such a council for twenty years,
including the furnishing of means to show experimentally the applications
of the principle to the case in question. Not only in new undertakings
would the advice of such a body be most important, but they would be
appealed to for information in regard to existing ones, and would prove
most serviceable in advising on doubtful points.

" Our country is making such rapid progress in material improvement,
that it is impossible for either the legislative or executive departments of
our government to avoid incidentally, if not directly, being involved in the
decision of such questions. Without specification, it is easy to see that there
are few applications of science which do not bear on the interests of com-
merce and navigation, naval or military concerns, the customs, the light-
houses, the public lands, post-ofiices and post-roads, either directly or
remotely. If all examination is refused, the good is confounded with the
bad, and the government may lose a most important advantage. If a
decision is left to influence, or to imperfect knowledge, the worst conse-
quences follow. Such a body would supply a place not occupied by exist-
ing institutions, and which the American Association, from its temporary
and voluntary character, is not able to supply."

The subject of the formation of a National Academy of Science was also
presented to the American Institute at New York, in its anniversary
address, delivered by Dr. C. T. Jackson. It was here proposed that the
Academy should act as an umpire, and as the adviser of Congress in all
matters pertaining to scientific invention and discovery ; the members to
be nominated by the President, and confirmed by the Senate.

The twenty-first annual meeting of the British Association was held at
Ipswich. England, June 2d, and continued, as usual, for one week. The
attendance was unusually large, and the meeting, in interest, was not infe-
rior to any former one. Many foreigners of distinguished scientific repu-
tation, attracted to England by the Great Industrial Exhibition, were
present at the Association, and contributed to its proceedings. The Presi-
dent, Prof. Airy, the Astronomer Royal, in the annual address, declared
himself opposed to the plan of establishing a National Academy, or Insti-
tute, as recommended at a former meeting. The reasons urged against the

ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. IX

plan do not, however, fully apply to the existing state of things in the
United States.

The next meeting of the Association was appointed to be held at Belfast,
Ireland, in June next The President for the year 1852 is Col. Sabine.

A congress of Swedish, Danish and Norwegian naturalists met at Stock-
holm, on the 14th of July, 1851.

An Academy of Sciences, under the title of the Assembly of Knowledge,
has been formed in Constantinople during the past year. The Academy
will be composed of forty native members, and an indefinite number of cor-
respondents in foreign countries. The statutes declare the object of the new
institution to be, the publication of original scientific works, and the trans-
lation into Turkish of foreign works of importance. The first labor of the
Academy will be the compilation into the Turkish language of an encyclo-
paedia of the sciences.

An American Geographical and Statistical Society was formed in New
York, on the 9th of October, by the adoption of a constitution, and the
election of suitable officers to manage its affairs. The society is constituted
for the collection and diffusion of geographical and statistical information.
By the constitution, the society is to consist of ordinary, corresponding and
honorary members. The initiation fee is fixed at $10, and the annual sub-
scription at $5. Anniversary meetings are to be held on the second Thurs-
day of December in each year, and ordinary meetings on the second Thurs-
day of March, June, September and December. For the present year,
Henry Grinnell, Esq., was elected President ; S. Dewit Bloodgood, Foreign
Secretary ; John Disturnel, Domestic Secretary and Agent.

The Royal Geographical Society of Russia has displayed great energy
and activity during the past year. At the annual meeting, two prizes
were awarded. The first, a medal, to Col. Lemn, for a series of astronom-
ical observations, determining the latitude and longitude of some four
hundred places hi Russia and the neighboring regions in Asia, as far as
Mesched, in Persia. These determinations are of particular value for the
geography of inner Asia. The second prize was bestowed upon M. Woro-
noff, for a historical and statistical survey of the educational establishments
hi the district of St. Petersburg from 1715 to 1828. It is, in fact, a his-
tory of the development of mental culture in that most important part of
the empire. From the annual report presented, we derive the following
information: The society had caused an expedition to be sent to the
Ural, under Col. Hoffman. The triangulation of the country about Mount
Ararat had been completed. A map of Asia Minor had been prepared by
Col. Bolotoff ; a map of the Caspian Sea, and the countries surrounding it,
was nearly completed by Mr. Chanykoff ; the same savant was still at work
on a map of Asia between 35 and 40 north latitude, and 61 and 81 east
longitude ; two astronomers were engaged in that region, making observa-

X NOTES BY THE EDITOR

tions to assist in its completion. Another map of Kokand and Bokhara
was also forthcoming, and the society had employed Messrs. Butakoff and
Chanykoff to prepare a complete atlas of Asia between 33 and 56 north
latitude, and 65 and 100 east longitude. A Russian nobleman had given
12,000 roubles to pay for making and publishing a Russian translation of
Ritter's geography ; but the society had determined not to undertake so
immense a work (15,000 printed pages), and had determined only to take
up those countries which have an immediate interest for Russia, using
along with Ritter a great body of materials to which he had not access.
These countries are Southern Siberia, Northern China, Turan, Korassan,
Afghanistan and Persia. In Ritter's work these occupy 4,500 pages. The
expedition sent out by the society to explore the source of the Nile, had
returned without effecting much of interest. A new expedition was pre-
paring to explore the peninsula of Kamskatka. To aid in this undertaking,
a Russian gentleman has given 20,000 francs per year, during the time
the party may be absent.

The Royal Geographical Society of France have awarded to Lieut. Lynch,
TJ. S. N., two silver medals, for his exploration of the Dead Sea and the
Jordan.

The Paris Society for the Encouragement of National Industry have
awarded a silver medal to Samuel Cornell, of Connecticut, for his invention
of a machine for making lead pipes.

The liberality exercised during the past year by various public authori-
ties and private individuals, towards the cause of science, has been most
generous and encouraging.

Two appropriations of considerable interest have been made by the
British government, namely : 1000 to the Royal Asiatic Society, " tow-
ards defraying the expenses of the publication of the inscriptions in cunei-
form characters copied by Lieut. Colonel Rawlinson," and 500 " towards
the excavations at the Mound of Susa, with a view to the discovery of ancient
monuments known to be deposited there." The sum of 1000 has also
been placed at the disposal of the Royal Society, by government, to be
employed at discretion in assisting private scientific enterprise.

The French government has voted a credit of 33,000 francs, for the pur-
pose of exploring the Temple of Serapis, in the ruins of Memphis, Egypt.
This temple, which has been covered with sand ever since the time of
Strabo, and has since remained almost intact, offers great temptations to
research. This building is a mixture of the Greek and Egyptian styles of
architecture, and the worship to which it was consecrated was a fusion of
the Greek and the Egyptian faith. The very slight soundings in the sand,
which have been hitherto made, have brought to light many curious statues
and bas-reliefs.

The French authorities have also decreed the expenditure of 62,260

ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. XI

francs for "experimental studies" in reference to a destructive malady
of the horned cattle over a large part of France. The sum of 10,000 francs
will be paid to whomsoever shall discover a preventive or cure.

The sum of $40,000 has been bequeathed to the French Academy, by
Dr. Jecker, of Paris, to found an annual prize for researches in organic
chemistry.

A legacy of $50,000 has been left to Dartmouth College, New Hamp-
shire, by Abiel Chandler, of Boston, for the purpose of establishing a
school of instruction in the practical and useful arts of life.

For the purpose of founding a school for instruction in navigation, the
sum of $25,000 has been bequeathed by Daniel West, of Salem, Mass.

A gift of a superior achromatic telescope has been made to the Observa-
tory of Williams College, Mass., by Amos Lawrence, Esq., of Boston.

A prize of five hundred ducats has been ofiered by the Royal Prussian
Academy, at Berlin, for the best work on the nature and mode of action,
and resulting constitution, of hydraulic mortar, including the constitution
of the zeolites generally, but especially of those produced in the solidifica-
tion of mortar. The time allowed is till the 1st of March, 1854.

Four several prizes, amounting in all to $3000, have been ofiered by F.
M. Ray, Esq. , of New York, for various improvements relating to railroad
matters ; the first and largest prize, of $1500, to be given for the invention
which best secures against the danger arising from collisions, and the
breaking of wheels and axles. The premiums are to be open for competi-
tion until the next annual fair of the American Institute, at which time
the decisions will be made by a committee. The inventions are to be such
as can be adopted and put into general use, and the inventors are to retain
their right, in all cases, to secure patents.

A government school of mines was opened in London, on the 7th of
November, under the direction of Sir H. De la Beche, Director General of
the Geological Survey of Great Britain. This institution is connected with
the Museum of Practical Geology, and has for its officers the best talent
in the United Kingdom. Among them are Edward Forbes, Professor of
Natural History ; Dr. Playfair, Professor of Chemistry ; Robert Hunt,
Professor of Mechanical Science ; Mr. Ramsay, Professor of Mining Engi-
neering, and others.

A project is on foot, in the southern and central portions of Illinois, for
the establishment of an industrial university, in which the science of agri-
culture and the principles of mechanism shall be practically taught. The
fund for this purpose, now at the command of the State, has accrued from
the action and foresight of the constitutional convention assembled at Kas-
kaskia, in August, 1818, in accepting certain propositions of Congress in
relation to certain lands for school purposes.

The American Institute, of New York, has issued a circular, proposing the

XII NOTES BY THE EDITOR

establishment of an American school of mines, to be located in New York,
under the auspices of the Institute. Dr. C. T. Jackson, of Boston, is
named as the Director. The plan embraces courses of popular lectures on
geology, mineralogy, mining, metallurgy, and chemistry proper, together
with practical instruction in each of the above named branches of science,
and also in civil engineering and nautical astronomy.

A new university, projected upon an extensive scale, has been established
at Albany, N. Y., Judge Bronson, President. The lectures upon medicine,
law, and various departments of science, have commenced, and are in
progress. The university in plan more nearly represents the European uni-
versities than anything now in this country. It is intended that the pro-
fessors shall be remunerated by the fees which they receive from those who
attend the lectures. By a generous subscription of the people of Albany,
four persons from each senatorial district of New York, and certain other
persons, are allowed, this year, to attend upon the lectures gratuitously.
Among the lecturers connected with this university, are Prof. Mitchel, on
astronomy ; Prof. Norton, scientific agriculture ; Prof. Hall, geology ;
Dr. Henry Goadby, entomology ; Prof. Agassiz, Guyot, and others.

Since the meeting of the American Association at Albany, active meas-
ures have been taken to secure the establishment of an astronomical obser-
vatory in that city. Twenty-five thousand dollars have already been
raised, to which sum Mrs. Dudley contributed thirteen thousand. A valu
able lot of land for the site of the building has also been given, by Mr. Van
Rensselaer. The director of the observatory will be Prof. 0. M. Mitchel,
formerly in charge of the Cincinnati Observatory. The instruments are to
be purchased in Europe, by Prof. Mitchel.

A resolution has been introduced in the Board of Aldermen of New York,
authorizing the appointment of a committee to take immediate measures
for the erection of an astronomical observatory in that city. It is to be
feared, however, that there is too great an indifference among the commer-
cial and mercantile interests of New York, to secure this important object.

An observatory is in the course of construction in Buffalo, N. Y., under
the direction of Dr. Van Duzee. It is to be furnished with a refracting
telescope, of eight inches aperture and ten feet focal distance, together with
all other necessary instruments.

At a meeting of the photographists of New York, July, 1851, an associa-
tion for the promotion of heliographic science was formed, under the name
of the " American Daguerrean Association." M. M. Lawrence was elected
President, and S. D. Humphrey, editor of the Daguerrian Journal, Secre-
tary. The first annual address before this Association was delivered Oct.
31, by S. D. Humphrey, Esq.

Three vacancies in the limited number of the foreign correspondents of
the French Academy have been filled during the past year ; two in the sec-

ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. XIII

tion of astronomy, anil one in the section of botany. The first place in the
astronomical section, made vacant by the death of Schumacher, was filled by
the election of Mr. Hind, of London. To the second place, vacant by the
death of Svanberg, Mr. W. C. Bond, director of the Cambridge Observa-
tory, -was chosen. Among the candidates were Messrs. Adams, Galle, Las-
sel, Struve, and Gasparis. To the section of botany, in the place made
vacant by the death of M. Kunth, M. Blume, professor in Leyden, was
elected. Messrs. Asa Gray and John Torrey, of the United States, \vere
among the candidates in this section.

In the report of the Secretary of the Interior, communicated to Congress
December, 1851, the establishment of an agricultural bureau, in connection
with that department, is strongly recommended. From this report we
make the following extracts : " Agriculture is, unquestionably, the great
interest of our country, whether we have reference to the number of per-
sons employed in it, or the value of their productions. It appears, from
the census cf 1840, that the whole number of persons at that time engaged
in this pursuit was 8,719,951 ; in manufactures, 791,749 ; and in com-
merce, 117,607. More than four-fifths of the entire population were, there-
fore, employed in the cultivation of the soil. At present it is believed that
the proportion is still greater, in consequence of the change in the policy
of the government, which has induced many to become agriculturists who
were formerly engaged in manufactures. Respecting the duties of such a
department, it should be charged with the duty of collecting and dissemi-
nating information in regard to the cultivation of the soil, in all its branches.
It should investigate every proposed improvement in the tillage of the earth,
or in the construction of implements of husbandry. It should collect, from
our own and foreign countries, every variety of seed, fruit, plant and vege-
table, and distribute them, with full and accurate information as to the
soil, climate, and mode of cultivation, best adapted to each. One or more
officers should be connected with it, thoroughly acquainted with the princi-
ples of geology, mineralogy, chemistry and botany, for the purpose of
investigating and reporting upon the character and properties of every
variety of soil, rock, mineral, and vegetable, and their adaptation to useful
purposes. To this bureau should also be entrusted the duty of superin-
tending the taking of each decennial census, and of procuring and classify-
ing from year to year all the statistical information which can be obtained
in respect to the agriculture, manufactures, commerce, tonnage, revenue
expenditures, financial and banking systems, improvements by railways,
canals, and roads, industrial pursuits, and general progress of every State
in the Union, and of the principal nations of the world."

Such a department, conducted by competent persons, and established
under the authority of the general government, would undoubtedly do
much towards promoting a sound and practical system of scientific agri-

XIV NOTES BY THE EDITOR

culture throughout the country. Many of the publications relating to
agricultural science, at present circulating, some, even, of an official char-
acter, are edited by persons ignorant of the principles of chemistry, and
abound in the most extravagant and fallacious statements. It is foreign to
our purpose in this connection to point out the errors in any particular
work ; the task, however, could be easily accomplished. The researches
made during the past year, in regard to the volatility of phosphoric acid in
acid solutions, and the well-known difficulty of quantitatively determining
this body, throw a doubt over the correctness of almost all ordinary soil
analyses in this particular. It is, moreover, the opinion of some of our
most eminent chemists, that very few complete soil analyses have been made
in this country which can present any claims to accuracy or reliability.

A. valuable report on the system of agricultural education, as pursued in
the different countries of Europe, has been made, during the past year, by
President Hitchcock, to the Massachusetts Board of Commissioners on the
establishment of an Agricultural School, and published by the Legislature
of the State. This report, the result of personal examination, embraces
much information never before presented to the American public.

The report of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution exhibits its affairs
in a prosperous condition. By a judicious management, the accrued inter-
est on the amount originally left by Smithson has proved sufficient, not
only to construct the building and defray all other necessary expenses, but
to allow the sum of $'150,000 to be added to the principal, thus consider-
ably increasing the yearly income. The works published under the aus-
pices of the Institution the past year, have been, a " Report on Recent Im-
provements in the Chemical Arts," by Booth and Morfit ; " An Ephemeris
of Neptune, for 1852," by Sears C. Walker, and " Occultations visible in
the United States for 1852," computed by John Downes, Esq. The Insti-
tution has also in press the "Plantse Fremontianse, or Descriptions of
Plants collected in California by Col. Fremont," by Prof. Torrey ; "A
Monograph of the Fresh Water Cottoids of the United States," by Charles
Girard ; "Plants of New Mexico and Texas, collected by Wright," by
Prof. Gray ; " A Catalogue of the Coleoptera of the United States," by
Dr. Melscheimer, and a " Monograph of the Marine Algoe of North Amer-
ica," by Prof. Harvey, of Dublin, Ireland. This last memoir consists of a
description of the marine plants which are found along the eastern and
southern coasts of the United States, and which are worthy of attention, not
only on account of their beauty, variety, and the illustrations they present
of the growth of vegetable forms, but also on account of their economical
value with reference to agriculture and the chemical arts. The work is ac-
companied by many beautiful drawings, executed by Prof. Harvey, and is
gratuitously offered by the author. The preparation of the whole work,
besides the time occupied in collecting the specimens, will occupy more

OX THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. XV

than a year. " This voluntary contribution to knowledge, from a man of
science, may surprise those whose minds are not liberalized by philosophi-
cal pursuits, and who cannot conceive any object in labor unconnected
with pecuniary gain."

The publication of a Grammar and Dictionary of the Dacotah language,
a work in quarto, with special founts of type, and of immense labor, by
the Rev. Mr. Biggs, of the Minnesota mission, had been commenced, under
the direction of the Smithsonian Institution. By a fire, which occurred in
New York in January, the type and an edition of fifteen hundred copies
were destroyed. The greater portion of the manuscript copy was, however,
fortunately in the hands of the author. Thus far, fifteen hundred copies
of each memoir published by the Institution have been printed. The rules
adopted for their distribution are as follows : they are presented to all
learned societies and foreign libraries which send transactions, catalogues,
&c., in exchange. To all colleges in actual operation in this country, pro-
vided they furnish catalogues and meteorological observations in return. To
all States and Territories, in exchange for copies of all documents published
under their authority ; and, lastly, to all public libraries in this country,
not included in either of the foregoing classes, now containing more than
seven thousand volumes ; and to smaller libraries, where a whole State or
large district would be left unsupplied. The minor publications are also
given to many of the most prominent Lyceums and Academies. None of
the works published by the Smithsonian Institution are copyrighted ; they
are, therefore, free to the use of all.

Important additions have recently been made to the Museum of the In-
stitution. A valuable collection of skins, skulls and skeletons of mamma-
lia, together with some rare fossils from the Upper Missouri, have been
obtained through Mr. T. Culbertson. A journey was made by Mr. Cul-
bertson, under the auspices of the Institution, to the country known as the
" Mauvaise Terres," on the Upper Missouri. Here he collected mamma-
lian and reptilian fossils, sufficient to load a cart to its utmost capacity.
These embrace many new and undescribed species, among which are the
Rhinoceros occidentalis and J\"ebraske?isis, the Palceotherium Bardii and
the Jlgrioch&rm antiquus. The journal kept by Mr. Culbertson, since
deceased, while on this expedition, has been published in the annual report
for 1800-51. Nineteen boxes of minerals, illustrative of the geological sur-
vey of the mineral region of Lake Superior, by Dr. C. T. Jackson, have
been given by the Land Office. A valuable cabinet of Natural History,
embracing some thousand specimens, has been deposited in the Museum
by Prof. Baird, and numerous donations have been made by officers of the
army and private individuals.

Five large stone idols, from Central America, have been sent to the Insti-
tution, by Mr. Squier, who also proposes to give, under certain conditions,

XVI NOTES BY THE EDITOR

a valuable collection of relics, illustrative of American antiquities. The
library of the Institution now numbers about ten thousand separate arti-
cles, including a large and rare collection of engravings.

A small appropriation has been made to defray in part the expenses of
explorations relative to the erosions of the surface of the earth, especially
by rivers ; and also for investigations relative to terraces and ancient sea
margins, under the direction of Pres. Hitchcock. A full account of these
investigations will soon be published by the Institution.

The Assistant Secretai-y, Prof. S. F. Baird, has prepared, for the use of
the Institution, a small taxidermist manual, containing directions for col-
lecting, preserving, and transporting specimens of natural history.

Among the official scientific publications of the past year, are the Keports
on the Mineralogy and Geology of the Lake Superior Mining District, by
Messrs. Foster and Whitney ; Patent Office Report, 1850-51, Mechanical
and Agricultural, by Thomas Ewbank ; the Fifth Annual Report of the
Smithsonian Institution ; Reconnoissances of Texas and New Mexico, by
various officers of the army ; Report on Meteorology, by Prof. Espy ; and
the Meteorology of the U. S. Exploring Expedition, by Captain Wilkes.
The remaining unpublished works, pertaining to the scientific departments
of the Exploring Expedition, are in a forward state of preparation. The
volume on Conchology, by Dr. A. A. Gould, of Boston, is in press, and
most of the beautiful folio plates finished. The volume on Ferns, by Mr.
Brackenridge, one of the botanists of the expedition, is ready for the press ;
as is also the folio Atlas of Illustrations.

In this connection we would call attention to two other scientific publica-
tions of great value, issued during the past year, in this country, by private
individuals. The first, a work on the " Terrestrial Air-Breathing Mol-
luscs of the United States and the adjacent Territories of North America,"
described and illustrated by Amos Binney, and edited by Dr. A. A. Gould.
This work is published in two volumes, 352 pp., with plates, under a pro-
vision in the will of the late Mr. Binney, of Boston. Some idea of the value
of this work may be formed from the fact, that near ten thousand dollars
have been expended upon it, and the whole edition, two hundred and ninety
copies, is reserved for distribution. The work is of the highest honor to
the lamented author, both as a contribution to science, and an example of
private munificence seldom equalled. The second work to which we would
call attention, is a Geological Chart, by Prof. James Hall, of Albany. This
chart is not only a full and correct expression of geological facts and prin-
ciples, but contains much original matter relative to fossils. It is partic-
ularly illustrative of American Geology, and, as a means of disseminating
geological knowledge, is a most important contribution to science. A new
edition of the Eucyclopcedia Britannica, in 21 vols. 4to., illustrated by five
hundred engravings on steel, and many thousands on wood, is announced

ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. XVII

by Messrs. Black, of Edinburgh. This edition, constituting the eighth of
this celebrated work, is to be entirely revised and brought up to the times.
From the commencement of this work, in 1771, over six hundred thousand
dollars have been expended upon it ; in the same time, also, thirty-five
thousand copies have been sold.

A second volume of Astronomical Observations has been issued during the
past year, from the National Observatory. The Wind and Current Charts,
planned by Lieut. Maury, the Superintendent of the Observatory, and
prosecuted under his direction, are being extended to the Pacific and Indian
Oceans. Vessels sailing from the Atlantic to the Pacific ports of the United
States, with the instructions afforded by these charts, make the voyage in
forty days less, upon the average, than those sailing without them ; and
there is reason to hope the time may be still further reduced. The Bom-
bay Geographical Society, some time since, contemplated the formation of a
set of wind and current charts, and collected, for this purpose, a vast
amount of information relative to the Indian Ocean. The plan, however,
having been given up, the society generously gave to Lieut. Maury all the
information collected, embracing a large number of log-books, charts, man-
uscripts, &c. Lieut. Maury has, also, in the process of construction, a set
of "whale charts," or charts whereon the places and seasons wherever
whales have been seen are noted down. These charts, while they promise
to be of great service to this branch of American fisheries, seem to show
that the whales possess much more knowledge than we have usually given
them credit for, and know a great deal more about the warm and cold cur-
rents of the ocean waters than we do, or have done.

The expedition, for astronomical observations, to Chili, appears, from
the reports of Lieut. Gillis, to have been actively conducted, and will prob-
ably be brought to a close during the year 1852. It is expected that the
first publication of the American Nautical Almanac, under the superintend-
ence of Lieut. Davis, will be made within the present year.

The Swedish Government have determined to send out a scientific explor-
ing expedition, for a voyage of circumnavigation of the globe. Eminent
scientific men have been appointed to accompany it.

The perseverance and courage of American seamen, engaged in private
enterprises, has been strikingly exemplified during the past year, in the
fact, that the American whale-ship Saratoga, Capt. Harding, while cruising
in the Arctic Sea, in the vicinity of Bhering's Straits, penetrated to a
higher latitude, in this portion of the Arctic Sea, than had previously been
reached. This vessel, Sept, 21, 1851, reached lat. 71 50', a point further
to the north than the British Expedition, under Beechy, in 1826, was
able to make.

The American Grinnell Exploring Expedition, sent out in the spring of
1851, has returned unsuccessful. Traces of Sir John Franklin, in 1815,

XVIII NOTES BY THE EDITOR

were found, and some important geographical discoveries made. A chart,
showing the course and discoveries of the expedition, has been issued by
the hydrographical office, at Washington.

Intelligence from the British Exploring Expedition in Central Africa has
been received up to August, 1851. Mr. Richardson, the head of the
party, died in March last, at Bornou. Drs. Barth and Overweg had,
however, continued on, and, at the latest dates, had succeeded in penetrat-
ing further into the interior than has hitherto been accomplished.

A plan for. the exploration of Central Africa has been submitted to the
Secretary of the Navy, by Lieut. M. C. Watkins, U. S. N., who volunteers
to conduct an expedition. He proposes to ascend the rivers St. Paul,
Niger, and Congo, by means of a small iron steamer, suitably equipped
and furnished.

The mystery hanging over the interior of Africa is rapidly dissipating
before the zeal of the many explorers whose efforts are now devoted to
traversing the centre of that continent, and, before many years have passed,
there is reason to suppose this geographical and ethnographic problem
will be fully solved. The English expeditions from the Cape of Good Hope,
the German missionaries on the eastern coast, with their journeys into the
highlands in the south of Abyssinia, the explorations of the English on the
Gold Coast and up the Niger, those of the French, starting from Senegal
and Algiers, the travels of Knoblecher and others on the upper Nile,
with the journeys of Barth and Overweg, must soon make us acquainted
with the principal facts that have so long been the object of general curi-
osity, if not of exaggerated expectation. Something is also to be anticipated
from the aid of Mohammedan travellers, of whom there are a great number
scattered over the interior of the continent, in search of adventures, or
with a view to trade. One of these has published, in Arabic, two works,
containing his experiences and observations in Darfur and Waday, both
of which have been recently translated into French.

In return for a set of American weights and measures, presented by the
U. S. Government to the French, through the agency of M. Vattemare, a
full set of the French standards has been ordered to be sent to Washington.
It embraces all the articles belonging to, or illustrating, the three unities
of the French metrical system of weights and measures, viz., the metre,
the litre, and the kilogramme ; the series of instruments for weighing and
measuring, which habitually compose, in France, a bureau of verification,
together with the volumes of law pertaining to the whole subject. This
system, embracing a great variety of articles, will form one of the most
valuable collections in the possession of the American Government.

The Paris " Bulletin de la Societe de Geographic " of the past year con-
tains a highly eulogistic article upon the management and results of the
U. S. Coast Survey, and very deservedly compliments the superintendent,

ON THE PROGRESS OP SCIENCE. XIX

Prof. Bache. The Editor, M. Sedillot, after presenting an historical sum-
mary of the survey, says : " The superintendent was called to his eminent
post by a unanimous voice. Distinguished in the esteem of his fellow-citi-
zens by his useful publications, appreciated by the principal academies of
Europe, he has acquired a universal reputation by the services which he is
daily rendering to science, and by the improvements of every kind which
his skill has introduced into the different branches of the coast survey."
After dwelling somewhat on the organization and results of the survey,
he adds : "In speaking of the eminent services rendered by the coast sur-
vey to science and humanity, we make known only a very small part of
the results of this admirable enterprise. Directed in all its branches with
zeal and activity, it cannot fail to add every year to the consideration with
which it is surrounded, not only in the United States, but also in all
countries where science and its application to the arts of life are duly
appreciated. ' '

The magnetic telegraph system is now rapidly extending over the whole
European continent. Already a line is completed from Ostend to Trieste,
a distance of more than two thousand miles. Three lines of telegraph are
also in operation in the interior of Hungary. Preparations are also mak-
ing, by the Turkish Government, to introduce the telegraph into that coun-
try, and a commission to make the necessary arrangements has been
appointed by the Sultan. In Sweden and Norway, an American, by the
name of Robinson, is engaged in the construction of a number of lines of
telegraph ; a privilege having been granted him by the government, to
endure for fifty years. The successful completion of the submarine tele-
graph between England and France has led to the serious consideration
of a submarine telegraph between England and the United States. This
event we regard as by no means improbable, and the prediction has been
hazarded, that, within ten years from 1852, the transactions in Europe and
America, of each day, will be reported and published in both countries on
the succeeding day. We invite the attention of these who may feel scep-
tical in regard to this subject, to an article in the present number of the
Annual of Scientific Discovery, entitled " Thoughts on Telegraphic Commu-
nication twenty years ago."

The London Athenaeum, in speaking of the transatlantic telegraph, says :
" There seems nothing impracticable in such an undertaking. A conviction
has been expressed, by those conversant in these matters, that a single line
of communication between England and the nearest point of America might
be established for a less sum than was paid for making a single mile of the
expensive portion of the Great Western (English) Railway. In this estimate
it is proposed to have only a single wire, covered with gutta percha, similar to
that used in 1851 , to prove the practicability of passing an electric current
across the Straits of Dover. To this would be added the additional protec-

XX NOTES BY TIIE EDITOR

tion of a hempen plat, the hemp having been passed through a chemical
solution to render it indestructible in salt water. Such a line, it is said,
of gutta percha and prepared hemp, -would, although only about three
quarters of an inch in diameter, be of nearly double the strength of the
experimental line laid down between England and France, in a strong sea
and running tide. The proposition is, to extend it from the south-west
coast of Ireland, the nearest point to the American Continent, and where
the bold and rocky shore offers depths that secure its safety from anchors,
to the nearest point on the American coast, a distance considerably less
than two thousand miles. Choosing the months of summer, and an expe-
rienced captain, accustomed to the track, such a line, it is averred, might,
with very simple machiner}'-, be paid out night and day with perfect safety,
at the ordinai-y speed of the steamer. The vast importance of such an
object is not to be weighed against a sum of one hundred thousand pounds,
which, we are assured, would more than accomplish it, if a single wire
only were employed. The successful completion of one line would, of
course, be speedily followed by that of others. This once accomplished,
the extension of the line across the American continent, to the Pacific,
would follow certainly ; and we should have the astounding fact, of a com-
munication from the shores of the Pacific, crossing America and the Atlan-

^o

tic, and touching our shores, in an instant of time."

a
The present extent of the telegi-aphic system in the United States and

Canada is not far from twelve thousand miles. During the past year the
shortest passage ever made between England and the United States, has
been accomplished, by the Baltic, (Collins' Line,) in nine days thirteen
hours and forty minutes. Average time of the American steamers, from
Liverpool to New York, from July 1st, 1851, to Jan. 1st, 1852, eleven days
eight hours ; of the English, do., do., twelve days nine hours. Average
of the American steamers from New York to Liverpool, in the above men-
tioned time, ten days twenty-three hours ; of the English, do., eleven days
eleven hours.

In no department of science is there greater enterprise displayed than
in the department of meteorologj'. Under the direction of the Smithsonian
Institution, stations are now being established in many parts of the country,
each provided with proper instruments, regulated according to one stand-
ard. Under the direction of the Kegents of the University of the State of
New York, a very complete system for meteorological observations has been
extended, by Prof. Guyot, over the whole State. At the meeting of the Amer-
ican Association at Albany, a committee was appointed, and instructed to me-
morialize Congress, the Canadian Government, and the different State Legis-
latures, in regard to the immediate extension of the system now making,
under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution. A letter was also read
at this meeting of the Association from the Hudson's Bay Company, offer-

ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. XXI

ing to cooperate with the Association, in regard to this subject, and to
establish a system of observations, at such of the posts belonging to the
Company as might seem desirable to the Association. By order of the
War Department, a system of meteorological observations is maintained
at all the U. S. military stations, under the supervision of the Surgeon-
General of the army ; and measures are now on foot to provide for a set
of observations by the keepers of all light-houses on the American coast,
under the direction of the Treasury Department. The instruments sup-
plied to many of the stations established by the Smithsonian Institution,
embrace a thermometer, barometer, hygrometer, rain and snow gauge, and
wind vane, all carefully compared, and of uniform construction. At some
stations, hourly observations are maintained, and at all others observations
three times a day. At many of the stations, the observations embrace the
following particulars : The phase of the moon, the barometrical indication,
the height of the thermometer, direction and force of the wind, the plants in
flower, the migratory birds first seen, the state of the psychrometer, the
amount of vapor or humidity, the state of the rain gauge, the state of
cloudiness, with notes on the various kinds of clouds visible.

Active measures, in relation to meteorological science, have recently
been taken by various foreign governments. The government of Great
Britain, having greatly enlarged its system of meteorological observations,
and wishing to extend it still farther, in November last invited the coop-
eration of the United States therein. To this official invitation the Amer-
ican authorities have favorably responded, and have also suggested the
propriety of including the sea as well as the land, and of enlisting in the
meteorological field the voluntary cooperation of the commercial, as well
as the aid of the naval marines, not only of England and the United States,
but of all other maritime nations. Lieut. Maury, on the part of the United
States, and Gen. Sir John Burgoyne, on the part of Great Britain, have
been entrusted with the charge of the work ; and a committee of con-
ference, composed of representatives of several nations, has also been
requested to make arrangements for carrying out this universal system of
observations. The English Government have determined to extend the
system of meteorological observations over the whole of their vast empire,
and, to aid in this movement, the East India Company and the Trinity
Board have agreed to lend their influence and assistance. In addition tc
this, letters Lave recently been sent, by Lord Palmerston and by the Colo
nial Office, to all British Consuls, reguesting their cooperation in the col
lection of data in regard to a theory of storms, a work under the charge of
Col. Reed. By discoveries recently made, particularly at St. Helena, it
has been found that there is a tidal movement of the air, in obedience to
the movements of the moon, answering to the tides of the ocean, and point-

XXII NOTES BY THE EDITOR

ing its apex to that luminary, thus serving to illustrate, iii another aspect,
the sublime simplicity of. nature's laAvs.

The Smithsonian Institution has published, for the use of those who
take part in the system of meteorological observations, a series of minute
directions, prepared by Prof. Guyot. It occupies forty octavo pages, with
wood-cut representations of the instruments, and two lithographic engrav-
ings, to illustrate the different forms of clouds, and to facilitate their nota-
tions in the journals, in accordance with the nomenclature adopted by
meteorologists. A set of tables has also been furnished for correcting the
barometrical observations, on account of variations of temperature. A series
of experiments have also been made, in the laboratory of the Institution,
for the purpose of constructing, from direct observation, a scale of boiling
temperatures, corresponding to different degrees of rarefaction of the air.
With a thermometer, each degree of which occupies one inch in length of
the scale, the variations of the boiling point, corresponding to a slight
change in altitude, are found to be more perceptible than those in the
length of the barometrical column. A valuable collection of returns, rela-
tive to the Aurora, has also been made to the Smithsonian Institution.
These are to be placed in the hands of Capt. Lefroy, of the Toronto Observ-
atory, and incorporated with observations of a similar kind collected in
British North America. An account in full, of the series, will be hereafter
published by the Institution.

The progress of Astronomy, during the past year, has been very great.
The Earl of Rosse has been much engaged in experiments on the best meth-
ods of supporting and using his large mirrors. The construction adopted
some time since is still retained ; namely, a system of levers, distribut-
ing their pressures uniformly over eighty-one points, each pressure being
transmitted through a small ball, which permits to the mirror perfect
freedom of slipping in its own plane, so as to take propqr beai-ing in the
chain or hoop which supports it edgeways. To Lord Rosse's critical eye,
the effect even of this mounting, though greatly superior to that of any
preceding, is not quite perfect. By the aid of his large reflector, some new
instances of spirally-arranged nebulas have been discovered ; some strik-
ing examples of dark holes in bright matter, dark clefts in bright rays,
and the resolution of nebulous matter into stars, have also been made
known.

The determination of the parallax of the star a Centauri is a subject of
great interest. Observations made by Prof. Henderson give to this star a
parallax of 0".9187. The parallax separately deduced by Mr. Mclear, the
Astronomer Royal at the Cape of Good Hope, is // .9128, showing an accord-
ance greater than the most sanguine could have anticipated. It has been
recently announced, that a continuation of the observations at the Cape
fully confirm the results first obtained, namely, that the parallax of a Ceil-

ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. XXIII

tauri exceeds nine tenths of a second, or that its distance from the sun is
about twenty billions of miles. So far as we have the means of judging,
this star is our -nearest neighbor in the sidereal spaces. The attention of
foreign astronomers is still directed to the irregularities in the proper
motions of stars, and the opinion seems to be gaining ground that many
of them are accompanied by non-luminous companions. The most remark-
able astronomical discoveries of the past year have, undoubtedly, been
those of the American astronomers, relative to the nature and constitution
of Saturn's rings ; two new ultra-zodiacal planets, Irene and Eunomia, have
also been added to the solar system, by Messrs. Hind and Gaspasis. An
invention of great value has been made by Prof. Mitchel, of Cincinnati,
for the observing and recording right ascension and N. P. distance ; a new
lunar formula has also been constructed by Mr. Longstreth, of Philadel-
phia, by which an error, hitherto disregarded, is eliminated, and perfect
coincidence with observation is obtained. The valuable astronomical jour-
nal, JJstronomisches Nachrichten, the existence of which was endangered
by the recent death of its editor, Prof. Schumacher, has been continued by
Prof. Hansen and Dr. Petersen.

The valuable mathematical and astronomical library of the late Prof.
Jacobi has been purchased during the last year, at Berlin, for Harvard
University. It consists of about nine hundred volumes, many of them of
great value, and was considered one of the most complete libraries of the
kind in Europe.

The British Surveyors in the North American Provinces have adopted
the longitude of the Observatory in Cambridge as the zero for constructing
their maps and charts, being satisfied that the longitude of that point is
better known than any other on this continent. To facilitate an important
object, mutually advantageous to the United States and Great Britain, in
determining the longitude of various places on the coast, a telegraphic
communication has been established between the Observatory at Cambridge
and Halifax. This communication is now complete, and is effected by a
single battery, through a space of seven hundred and seventy miles, by
the course of the wires, and the transit of a star at either of those places
is distinctly recorded at the other. These operations are in connection
with the U. S. Coast Survey, and they promise valuable results, in afford-
ing a greater security to navigators, on a long line of coast much fre-
quented by American vessels.

Among the other topics of interest, related to astronomy, which have
occurred during the past year, Foucault's experiment, on the rotation of
the plane of simple pendulum's vibration, has excited universal attention.
In regard to this experiment, Prof. Airy, in his address before the British
Association, says, "It is certain that M. Foucault's theory is correct;
but it is also certain that careful adjustments, or measures of defect of

XXIV NOTES BY THE EDITOR.

adjustment, are necessary to justify the deduction of any valid inference.
For want of these, the experiment has sometimes failed."

The measurement of the great Swedish and Russian arc of meridian, from
the North Cape to the Danube, has been nearly completed during the past
year.

In Natural Philosophy, the discoveries of Faraday, relative to the mag-
netic properties of oxygen, and the application of his results to the expla-
nation of all the varied phenomena of terrestrial magnetism, are among
the most important of the present century. It is curious to note, respecting
this great man, that while he was occupied with this most intricate sub-
ject, he was also employing his leisure time in giving juvenile lectures on
the physical forces, at the Royal Institution. The discovery of M. Melsens,
in relation to the production and refining of sugar, from which so much
was anticipated two years since, has proved a failure. Hofmann's re-
searches in organic chemistry, published during the past year, have
thrown a flood of light upon this branch of chemical science, and lead to
the hope that many of the rare and valuable vegetable alkaloids may
hereafter be produced abundantly by artificial means.

Several important movements, favorable to the interests of geological
science, were made in the United States during the year 1851. The Legis-
lature of Pennsylvania, at their last session, appropriated thirty-two thou-
sand dollars for the resumption and completion of the geological survey of
that State, which was suspended some years since, on account of financial
embarrassments. The survey has been again entrusted to Prof. II. D.
Rogers, and during the past summer has been actively prosecuted. Con-
sidering the position and mineral wealth of Pennsylvania, this survey is,
undoubtedly, one of the most important ever carried on in this country.

The Illinois Legislature have passed a law authorizing a geological
and mineralogical survey of that State, and appropriated three thousand
dollars for that object, each year, till the survey be completed.

A bill, authorizing a geological survey of North Carolina, has been
passed by the Legislature of that State, with an appropriation for carrying
the same into effect. Dr. Ebenezer Emmons, of Williams College, formerly
Geologist to the State of New York, has been appointed to the superin-
tendence of the work.

A geological survey of Indiana has been recommended, by the Governor
of that State, to the Legislature.

The limits of the present work forbid a more extended review of the
progress of science during the year 1851. The interest displayed in the
prosecution of every department of science, and the valuable results
attained to, are in the highest degree gratifying and encouraging.

ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS.

THE GREAT INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION OF 1851.

PROMIXEXT among the events which have signalized the progress of
Science and Art in the course of the nineteenth century, has been the
" Great Industrial Exhibition of all Nations," during the year 1851.
The conception of the scheme might have originated in any age ; its re-
alization could have belonged only to our own. The time, the location
selected, the condition of the civilized world, all were propitious to the
undertaking ; and its results have surpassed the expectations of its de-
signers. A friendly confidence among rival States, a feeling of perfect
security, a freedom of commercial intercourse among all nations, facility
and cheapness of transportation, the perfection of inventions, and the
multiplication of practical applications all these conditions, as they
exist now, were requisite for the success of the Exhibition. That its
results have been in the highest degree beneficial, in the diffusion of
intelligence, promotion of good taste, and the cultivation of friendly
intercourse among different people, none can doubt.

The Exhibition has existed and passed away, but it will remain in
history as an exposition and true exponent of the progress and degree
of development to which the civilized world had attained, in all
branches of science and art, at the close of the first half of the nine-
teenth century.

In the following pages we propose to present a succinct and intelli-
gible account of the origin, plan, and construction of the Crystal Palace,
with the general history and details of the Exhibition.

First Building Proposed. The Exhibition having been fully deter-
mined upon, and a site for the necessary building chosen, the Commit-
tee advertised for plans for a suitable edifice. In accordance with their
wishes, 245 designs from different architects were submitted, none of
which, however, were entirely satisfactory. A design was then com-
posed by the Committee themselves, founded upon the most approved

1

2 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

plans submitted. The building thus proposed was to have been 2200
feet long, 450 feet wide, with a huge dome, larger than that of St.
Peter's at Rome. The roof and dome were to have been of iron, and
not less than fifteen million of bricks were to have been used in the
construction of the walls. This design, although at one time fully de-
termined upon, was most violently opposed, both on account of the
injury it would do the location, and the almost necessary permanence
of such a huge brick and mortar edifice. To such an extent did the
objections to the composite design of the Building Committee prevail,
that the practicability of the Exhibition itself was jeopardized, when,
fortunately, a new design was submitted.

Faction's Improvements in Horticultural Buildings. Among the
practical men to whom the first design appeared objectionable, was Mr.
Paxton, the celebrated horticulturist of the Duke of Devonshire's
princely seat of Chatsworth. Mr. Paxton had already effected many
improvements in horticultural buildings, by discarding, as much as pos-
sible, all ponderous and opaque materials in their construction. He
pared away all clumsy sash-bars, whose broad shadows robbed plants
of the sun's light and heat during the best parts of the day ; he abol-
ished dirty and leaking overlaps, by using large panes, and inserting
them in wooden grooves, rendered water-tight by a sparing use of
putty. Again, in plain lean-to or shed roofs, the morning and evening
sun presents its direct rays at a low angle, and consequently very ob-
liquely to the glass. At those periods, most of the rays of light and
heat are obstructed by the position of the glass and heavy rafters ; it
therefore became evident that, by placing the glass more at right
angles to the morning and evening rays of the sun, would be removed
the obstructions to rays of light entering the house at an early and late
hour of the day. This led to the adoption of " the ridge and furrow "
principle for glass roofs, which so places the glass that the rays of light
in mornings and evenings enter the house without obstruction, and

^D cj

present themselves more perpendicular to the glass when they are the
least powerful ; whereas at mid-day, when they are most powerful, they
present themselves more obliquely to the glass. Upon this principle
Mr. Paxton constructed a pine-house in 1833, as an experiment, which
continues in successful use to this day. It next became a question of
importance how far an extensive structure might be covered in with
flat ridge and furrow roofs, that is, the ridge-and-valley rafters placed
on a level, instead of at an inclination. Several buildings, embracing
more or less of this design, were accordingly constructed by Mr. Pax-
ton, but it was not until 1848 that the plan was fully carried out in the
erection of a conservatory for the reception of the gigantic water-lily
of South America, the Victoria Regia. This building was 60 feet in
length by 46 in breadth, and, although a diminutive structure when
compared with the Exhibition building, yet the principles upon which
it was constructed are the same, and may be carried out to an un-
limited extent. The lily house, however, was so built as to retain as
much heat and moisture as possible, and yet to afford a strong and
bright light at all seasons ; whilst, on the contrary, the Industrial
Building, being intended to accommodate a daily assemblage of many

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 3

thousands of individuals, and a vast number of natural and mechanical
productions, many of which would be destroyed by moisture and heat,
is constructed so as fully to answer that end. A sort of twofold econ-
omy characterizes the entire building : the walls and foundations are,
at the same time, drains and ventilators ; the roofs, besides being the
most extensive of known skylights, are light-and-heat adjusters ; the
sash-bars not only hold the glass together, but are self-supporting ; and
the rafters form perfect drains for both sides of the glass, for draining
off internal as well as external moisture ; whilst the tops of the girders
are conduits also ; and the floors are dust-traps and aid in ventilation.

Paxton' s Plan for the Exhibition Building. The peculiar structure
of the leaves of the gigantic water-lily suggested, in some measure, to
Mr. Paxton, the principle on which the Exhibition building was after-
wards constructed. In a lecture delivered to the Society of Arts upon
the details of his design for the Great Exhibition building, he exhibited
a specimen of the leaf, five feet in diameter, of only five days' growth ;
and to prove that not only the house for the flower, but the flower it-
self, has a striking relation to the Palace of Glass, Mr. Paxton re-
marked : " The under side of the leaf presents a beautiful example of
natural engineering in the cantilevers, which radiate from the centre,
where they are nearly two inches deep, with large bottom flanges, and
very thin middle ribs, between each pair of which are cross-girders,
to keep the ribs from buckling ; their depth gradually decreasing
towards the circumference of the leaf, where they also ramify." Upon
this " natural engineering," Mr. Paxton assured us that he first devised
the self-supporting principle, which he has applied in the roof of the
Great Building.

The Lily-house was scarcely completed, when the clamorous objec-
tions raised to the brick-and-mortar design of the Building Committee
first led Mr. Paxton to consider the practicability of applying his novel
plan to the construction of a vast Exhibition House ; but the circum-
stance of the Building Committee having invited tenders for the con-
struction of their design was supposed to shut out fresh competitors.
The fact proved otherwise. Leave was granted to Mr. Paxton to bring
in his plan, which he undertook to complete in nine days. This was on
the 14th of June ; other business intervened, and it was not until the
18th of June that Mr. Paxton, while presiding at a railroad meeting, first
sketched the outline of the proposed building on a sheet of blotting
paper. The plans and specifications were, however, completed by the
28th of June, and submitted. After some delay, and various objections,
the committee abandoned their own design, and contracted with Messrs.
Fox and Henderson to construct Mr. Paxton's building for the sum of
79,800. To this design was added a transept, crossing nearly at its
centre, so as to avoid the removal of the largest and loftiest trees
within the area. The contractors bound themselves, for a certain sum
of money, and in the course of some four months, to cover eighteen
acres of ground with a building upwards of a third of a mile long, (1848
feet,) and some 408 feet broad. In order to do this, the glass-workers
promised to supply, in the required time, nine hundred thousand square
feet of glass (weighing more than 400 tons,) in separate panes, and

4 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

these the largest that were ever made of sheet glass, each being 49
inches long. The iron-master passed his word, in like manner, to cast
in due time three thousand three hundred iron columns, varying from
fourteen and a half feet to twenty feet in length ; thirty miles of gut-
tering tube to join the individual columns together, under the ground ;
two thousand three hundred cast-iron girders ; besides eleven hundred
and twenty-eight bearers for supporting galleries. The carpenter un-
dertook to get ready, within the specified period, two hundred and two
miles of sash-bar ; flooring for an area of thirty-three millions of cubic
feet ; besides enormous quantities of wooden walling, louvre-work, and
partition.

Dctails.of the Building. The celerity and rapidity of the movements
were much facilitated by Mr. Paxton's original details of measurement.
Thus everything in the Building is a dividend or multiple of twenty-four.
The internal columns are placed twenty-four feet apart, while the ex-
ternal ones have no more than eight feet (a third of twenty-four) of
separation ; while the distance between each of the transept columns is
three times twenty-four, or seventy-two feet. This is also the width
of the middle aisle of the building ; the side galleries are forty-eight
feet wide, and the galleries and corridors twenty-four. Twenty-four
feet is also the distance between each of the traverse gutters under the
roof; hence, the intervening bars, which are at once rafters and gut-
ters, are, necessarily, twenty-four feet long. The vertical supporters
throughout the building are" hollow cast-iron columns, eight inches in
diameter ; those on the ground floor being 18 feet high, and those between
the galleries and roof 16 feet. These columns have not the ordinary
circular form, but each length has four flat faces, standing in relief from
its surface, at intervals of 90 degrees. This plan is not only artistically
pleasing, but the several flat bands present surfaces best adapted for
the connection of the girders which support the roof and galleries. The
columns are hollow, and their thickness varies, according to the weight
they support, from f of an inch to Ij inch.^ The girders employed
were of cast-iron and wrought-iron. The cast-iron girders are employed
to span the spaces between the columns, and support the galleries.
They are three feet deep, and are cast open, with four struts or stand-
ards interposed between their upper and lower flanges, which divide
the rectangular space into three open frames, each of which is inter-
sected by diagonal trusses. The introduction of wrought-iron into the
construction of the roof was necessary in spanning the side aisles of 48
feet, and the nave of 72 feet, for which purpose its greater strength
rendered it preferable.

Construction of the Building. One of the peculiarities of the build-
ing was, in its being its own scaffolding, or very nearly so. As fast as
the columns were raised, they were joined with the girders by connect-
ing pieces, or lengths of columns equal to the depth of the girders,
which are furnished with the projections requisite for securing them
firmly in their places. These connecting pieces terminate in castings
adapted to receive the girders, and consisting of perforated flanges, cor-
responding with those cast in the ends of the columns ; and, these
being paired, a bolt was passed through them, and made fast by a nut

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 5

and screw. The second tier of columns \vas then fixed in precisely the
same manner on the connecting pieces ; and thus were securely joined
the girders throughout the building. The peculiar action of the con-
necting pieces, however, should be further explained. The projections,
or " snugs," upon their upper and lower portions, act not only as
brackets, but likewise hooks ; those on the lower ends bending upwards,
and those on the upper ends downwards, so as between them to grasp
the end struts or standards of the girder. To retain the girder in a
vertical position, and prevent any lateral movement, its bottom and face
have a tenon, which drops into a mortice-hole in the projection of the
connecting piece ; while the top end face of the girder, over which the
upper connecting piece hook extends, is grooved to correspond with the
projection, and the two surfaces are keyed together by a piece of iron.
This system of attaching the girders to the projections of the connect-
ing pieces has proved very successful. The principle of the ridge and
valley roof, as applied by Mr. Paxton to horticultural buildings, was
well adapted from its extreme lightness to buildings of great extent,
the whole roof of the exhibition building weighing only upon an aver-
age 3^ Ibs. per superficial foot. This was the result of the subdivision
of surface in the light frame-work and rafters. From a roof of such
light construction it became important to convey away the rain-water
as soon as possible ; for it is estimated that were a quantity of water,
one-eighth of an inch in depth, suffered to remain upon the roof, an
additional pressure of 275 tons, for the time being, would be the con-
sequence. This is prevented by means of cambered or curved beams
of wood, which divide the roof into spaces of eight feet each, and are the
gutters into which the water runs from off the glass roofs, which slope
into them on either side. These cambered gutters run longitudinally,
and their entire length is no less than 34 miles. These lines of gutter
were made in 24-feet lengths, each cambered upwards, so that the
water in the gutter has only to run down one-half its extent, and thus
off the roof at one end of the furrow, where it discharges itself through
a casting into a second and larger gutter lying transversely to the first,
and resting upon the roof girders. The fall of the smaller gutter on
either side is 2^ inches in 12 feet, or 1 inch in 4 feet 9 inches ; so
that the water is at once drained into the larger gutter, and thus con-
veyed to the hollow columns before it can accumulate at any one point
throughout the building. Xot only is the roof drained externally in the
manner described, but small channels are provided in the longitudinal
gutters to carry off the condensed vapor from the interior surface of the
roof.

The glazing of this vast roof was executed in the following manner.
The sash-1 jars, having been painted, were received upon the roof, where
both then* grooves were filled with putty, as was also the rabbet in the
ridge, and the sill in the furrow ; the side edges of the pane were then
inserted in the bar grooves, and the glass thus framed at the sides was
laid in its place, prised up by the workmen into the ridge, and fastened
at the lower end by a nail driven into a drilled hole in the bar ; but
the larger sash-bars were fastened into the ridge by dowels. As the
glazing required to be executed in a very short time, " glazing- wagons ' !

1*

6 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

were used for expedition, each of which accommodated two glaziers,
and travelled on wheels in the gutters, as in railway trams, and spanned
a width, or one ridge and two sloping sides, of the roof. The workmen
sat at the end of the platform, which they moved backward by a winch,
as they inserted a pane of glass before them ; and thus they travelled
throughout the nave roof, their supplies of sash-bars, glass, putty, &c.,
being", from time to time, hoisted through an opening in the stage of
the wagon. In bad weather, the workmen were protected by a sort of
tilt of canvas upon hoops. By aid of these wagons, eighty men, in six
days, put in upwards of 18,000 panes, or 62, GOO feet superficial, of glass.
The greatest number of frames inserted by a man in one day was 108 ,
being 367 feet 6 inches of glazing.

The thickness of the glass was important, but the width was equally
so. Thus, if a piece of glass of a certain thickness and width be broken
by hailstones, reduce the width, and it will bear then- force. Now, the
panes used in the building are 49 inches long, and 10 in width. If,
instead of 10-inch width, it had been 15, the glass, it is calculated,
would have been broken in the first hail-storm.

In order to facilitate the great amount of labor that would be re-
quired in making the sash-bars, a machine was invented by Mr. Paxton,
which accomplished the work with great rapidity. Its peculiar working
feature was, that the bar was presented to the saws below the centre
of motion, instead of above it, (as is usual,) and to the sides of the saw
which were ascending from the table, instead of those which were de-
scending ; this arrangement being necessary to suit the direction of the
teeth to the grain of the wood. It was essential that the machine re-
volve 1200 in a minute, to finish the work in a proper manner.

The gutters employed in this building, from then* designer, have been
termed the " Paxton gutters." It has also been termed a three-way
gutter, from its having in its upper surface a semi-circular groove, to re-
ceive the water from the external glass roof, which springs from it
on both sides ; and from its having also, on each of the two vertical
sides, lower down, an oblique groove to receive the condensed vapors
from the inner surface of the glass ; the ends of these gutters being
connected by oblique cuts with the box-gutters. The Paxton gutter is
of the bell-shape inverted, from that form expanding upwards, and
therefore being less liable than any other to become obstructed. The
gutter is cut in lengths of 24 feet, which would bend or " sag," were
they not trussed by rods of iron fixed beneath the gutter, secured to its
two ends by cast-iron shoes, and pressed up by cast-iron standards at
eight feet intervals, with a rise of 2A inches in the entire length ; thus
trussed, the gutter will support 1 tons weight. Similar gutters were
employed by Mr. Paxton in the Chatsworth Conservatory in 1837 ; they
were then made by hand, but machinery has since been employed in
their construction.

The details of the transept correspond with the other parts of the
building, so far as columns, girders and galleries are concerned. At
the level of the flat roof the main difference commences by the spring-
ing of the lofty and semi-circular roof, the two end faces of which are
handsomely distinguished by their radiating frame- work. The transept

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 7

consists of a main avenue, 408 feet long by 72 feet wide, and two
aisles, each 408 feet long by 24 feet wide. The larger of these areas
is spanned by the semi-cylindrical roof, formed of semi-circular ribs,
the ends of which are inserted in the hollow columns ; these ribs are
strengthened by stout timbers, placed between the ribs, and at right
angles to them, and which act as purlins, and great intermediate sash-
bars. " Upon this simple and effective system," observes Mr. Saunders,
" sixteen light and strong ribs have been made to span a width greater
by one foot than the nave of Westminster Abbey, including its side aisles,
and that at an elevation greater by six feet."

In order to provide for a ventilation of the building, the whole of the
basement part, to the height of four feet, was made of louvre boarding;
and at the top of each tier of galleries a similar provision of three feet
was provided. By a simple arrangement of machinery, the whole of this
louvre boarding can be opened and closed instantaneously, with the
greatest facility. To modify the intensity of the light, and at the same
time to aid in keeping the building cool, the inner side of the roof was
painted sky-blue, and the outer covered with canvas attached to the
ridges throughout the flat roof. This latter arrangement also dimin-
ishes the chances of leakage from imperfect jointing or broken glass.
The method of flooring to the building was after a plan adopted by Mr.
Paxton in the construction of horticultural edifices, viz., trellised wooden
boarding, with spaces between each board, through which all dust, on
sweeping, falls into the vacuity below.

The arrangement of galleries, which form an essential part of the
building, is as follows : There are four main galleries running the whole
length of the building two on the north and two on the south side of
the great central aisle, the whole being connected by two cross galleries,
one at either end of the building ; besides twenty intermediate trans-
verse gangways, or crossings. The collective length of the galleries,
restricted to the second tier, is 9456 feet, or more than one mile and
three quarters, and the width 24 feet ; so that the whole area, or surface
of gallery-flooring, is equal to 210,240 superficial feet, or nearly five acres.
The exposed sides of the galleries are protected by an ornamental iron
railing.

Decorations of the Building. The decorations of the building were
carried out under the direction of Mr. Owen Jones, on a somewhat
novel and ingenious plan. By the system of coloring adopted, every
line in the building was marked distinctly, thus tending to increase the
appearance of its height, its length, and its bulk. Externally the main
lines are a delicate blue upon a white and stone-colored ground. In
the interior, the principal portions of the roof, of a delicate blue tint,
harmonize most brilliantly with the light of the sky, beaming through
the crystal roof. The transept is artistically splendid ; the under side
of each of the twenty-four ribs corresponds in color with that decorating
the square fillets of the columns supporting the ribs, viz., light blue ;
the part of the under side corresponding to the circular surface of the
column is in deep chrome yellow ; upon each side of this color is a
stripe of white, dividing it from the blue; upon the smaller ribs, the
" returns " are colored red, the edges chrome, and the sides blue ; the

8 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

diagonal tie-rods are painted bright yellow, -with gilt centres ; the sash-
bars white, and the cross-bracings blue. The wood panelling, and
louvre boarding, with which the lower story is filled in, is colored in
imitation of dark oak. The whole effect of the mingling of these various
colors is gay and elegant, without the least approach to tawdriness.
Flags of different countries are placed upon standards, which rise from
the outer edge of the roof of the nave, and thus greatly relieve the mo-
notony occasioned by its long, flat surface.

General Internal Appearance. The general internal appearance of
the building may be thus described, supposing the entrance to be from
the main portion of the structure. " Through a vestibule the visitor is
admitted into the transept, with its semi-cylindrical roof, springing at
68 feet from the ground, the diameter of the vaulting being 72 feet.
Its length from south to north is 408 feet, on each side of which is an
aisle 24 feet wide. About midway from the transept, extends eastward
and westward a nave, upwards of 900 feet in each direction ; the entire
length of the building being 1848 feet. The nave is 64 feet high, and
72 feet wide, and is flanked with aisles 24 feet wide, above which, at
the height of 24 feet, are carried galleries extending round the whole
of the nave and transept. Beyond each of these first aisles is an ave-
nue, 48 feet wide ; and, next, a second aisle of corresponding width, and
in like manner covered throughout with galleries on the same level as
those over the first aisles. The several lines of galleries communicate
with each other by bridges, which cross the 48 feet avenues, and, at
the same time, divide them into courts, each of which has a very unique
effect, more especially when viewed from the galleries. The avenues
and second aisles are roofed over at the height of 48 feet from the
ground ; the rest of the building is but one story, 24 feet high to the
roof. From the ground floor of the whole building, access to the several
galleries is obtained by ten double staircases."

Completion and Opening of the Building. The first column of the
exhibition building was set up on the 26th of September, 1850. On
the 1st of February, 1851, it was delivered over to the committee for the
reception of goods, although not entirely completed in many minor
details ; and on the 1st of May, the Exhibition Avas inaugurated with
appropriate ceremonies. The work, from the commencement to its
completion, was under the sole supervision of Mr. Fox. In order to
show how severely this has taxed his energies, we quote the following
extract from an address made by this gentleman at a dinner given him
at the completion of the work. After giving a statement of the prog-
ress of the undertaking, Mr. Fox said : " Before completing our tender,
and with a view to a more precise appreciation of the magnitude of a
building covering 18 acres 1848 feet long, 408 feet wide, and 64 feet
high, irrespective of the arched roof of the transept I walked out one
evening into Portland Place, and there setting off the 1848 feet upon
the pavement, found it the same length within a few yards ; and then,
considering that the building would be three times the width of that
fine street, and the nave as high as the houses on either side, I had pre-
sented to my mind a pretty good idea of what we were about to under-
take. Having satisfied myself on these necessary points, I set to work

MECHANICS AND USEFUL AETS. 9

and made every important drawing of the building, as it now stands,
with my own hand. These occupied me about eighteen hours each day
for seven weeks, and as they went from my hand, Mr. Henderson im-
mediately prepared the iron-work and other materials required in the
construction of the building. On the 26th of September we were ena-
bled to fix the first column in its place. And from this time I took the
general management of the buildings under my charge, and spent all
my time upon the works feeling that, unless the same person who had
made the drawings was always present to assign to each part as it arrived
upon the ground, its proper position in the structure, it would be im-
possible to finish the building in time to insure the opening on the 1st
of May ; and I am confident that if any other course had been taken,
or if, as is usual in the construction of large buildings, the drawings had
been prepared by an architect, and the works executed by a contractor,
instead of, as in the present case, these separate functions being com-
bined by my making the drawings and then superintending the execu-
tion of the work, a building of such vast dimensions could not have been
completed within a period considered by experienced persons as alto-
gether inadequate for the purpose."

Continuance and Close of the Exhibition. The arrangement for the
exhibition of articles was effected by the division of the building into
courts, or areas, of 24 feet square, included between four columns, which
were appropriated to the different countries contributing productions,
or to particular classes of materials. Any attempt at description of the
various wonderful and curious objects exhibited, would be impossible in
the space allotted to the present work. Many, which were of unusual
novelty, or which displayed remarkable ingenuity, we have described
elsewhere under appropriate heads. An examination, however, of the
catalogue of articles exhibited, will show, that comparatively few inven-
tions or discoveries, originating and belonging to the history of the prog-
ress of science in the years 1850 and 1851, were brought forward or illus-
trated at the Great Exhibition. Many of the most striking objects dis-
played were of a class which might have been produced equally well
centuries ago, as at the present time ; for example, the statuary, wood
carving, ornamental work in gold and silver, etc. Other articles were
the result of patient industry only, or of processes which, although not
old, are yet generally familiar. All these illustrate the general prog-
ress of the race up to the present epoch, but have little pertaining to
the history of advancement during the past year.

The exhibition, which opened on the 1st of May, continued until the
llth of October, when the final closing took place, accompanied with
the awards of the jurors, and the distribution of medals. The number
of prize medals awarded was 2918 ; the number of council medals, 170 ;
of others, honorable mention was made. The prize medals were awarded
for the attainment of a certain standard of excellence ; utility, beauty,
&c., being taken into consideration. The council medals were given
for such articles as might be expected, from their originality and inge-
nuity, to exercise a more important influence upon industry than could
be produced by mere excellence in manufacture. The whole number
of exhibitors was 17,000.

10

ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

The following are the awards made to exhibitors from the United

States.

CLASS I.

Mining, Metallurgy and Mineral Prod-
ucts.

Prize Medals. Adirondac Manufacturing
Company, New York, steel and iron ; Mor-
ris, Jones & Co., plate iron ; New Jersey
Exploring and Mining Company, zinc ores,
iron (Franklinite) ores, smelting process ;
Trenton Iron Company, iron of fine quality,
ores, &c.

Honorable Mention. Adirondac Manu-
facturing Company, New York, cast iron,
&c. ; Morrell, Stuart & Co., sheet iron ; Mor-
ris, Jones & Co., boiler plate iron.

CLASS II.
Chemical and Pharmaceutical Processes.

Prize Medal. Power & Weightman,
Chemicals.

Honorable Mention. Wetherell & Broth-
er, various salts.

CLASS HI.
Substances used as Food.

Council Medal. Gail Borden, Texas, for
meat biscuit.

Prize Medals. W. Barnes, maple sugar ;
T. Bell, soft wheat from Genesee ; L. Dean,
maple sugar ; Dill and Mulchahey, cavendish
tobacco ; C. Duffield, ham ; J. H. Grant,
cavendish tobacco ; Hecker & Brother, Gen-
esee flour , E. T. Herriot, Carolina rice ; B.
B. Kirtland, a collection of maize, thirty-five
varieties ; New York State Agricultural So-
ciety, collection of wheats ; llaymond &
Schuyler, flour, (thirds) ; P. Robinson, cav-
endish tobacco 5 Schooley & Hough, ham,
Cincinnati.

Honorable Mention. John Bridge, oil
cake ; George Dominick, lard ; Hecker &
Brother, farina ; W. Hotchkiss, wheat ;
James Lee & Co., oil cake ; Mookler &
Chiles, cavendish tobacco 5 Oswego Starch
Factory, fecula of maize ; Oyler & Anderson^
cavendish tobacco ; James Thomas, caven-
dish tobacco , Thomas & Co., cavendish to-
bacco ; M. White, Muscovado sugar.

CLASS IV.

Vegetable or Animal Substances used for
Manufactures, fyc.

Prize Medals. S. Bond, cotton ; Cockerill,
wool ; W. Colegate & Co., starch ; J. II.
Ewing, wool ; W. Hampton, cotton ; George
Hicks, tillandsia usnoides ; G. L. Holmes,
cotton 5 H. G. & L. B. Hotchkiss, oil of pep-
permint ; J. R. Jones, cotton ; J. V. Jones,
cotton 5 A. M. Kimber & Co., wool ; W. W.
Macleod, cotton ; The State of Maryland, col-
lection of produce ; J. B. Merriwether, cot
ton ; Perkins & Brown, wool ; J. Pope, cot

ton ; W. Seabrook, cotton ; Rev. C. Thomp-
son, woods , J. Nailor, cotton ; Oswego
Starch Factory, starch.

Honorable Mention. E. R. Dix, flax,
hemp, and guano ; G. Dominick, lard oil ; T.
Emory, lard oil; E. Feuchtwanger, bleached
shellac ; F. Frank, lurd oil 5 L. Goddard,
whalebone ; Holbrook & Stanley, lard oil ; F.
0. Ketteridge, corn-husk fibre ; R. J. Pell,
woods ; Truesdale, Jacobs & Co., cotton.

CLASS V.

Machines, including Carriages and Nava.
Mechanism.

Prize Medals. C. Childs, a slide-top
buggy or phaeton, enamelled leather apron
of very superior quality, the whole well got
up and neatly finished ; G. W. Watson, a
sporting wagon, very neatly finished in all
respects.

CLASS TI.
Manufacturing Machines and Tools.

Council Medal. D. Dick, various engi-
neers' tools and presses.

Prize Medals. Blodgett & Lerow, sewing
machine ; T. K. Earl & Co., card clothing ;
W. Hayden, drawing regulator for cotton ;
Lowell Machine Shop, self-acting lathe and a
power loom ; C. Starr, book-binding machine;
J. P. Woodbury, wood planing, tonguing
and grooving machine.

CLASS VII.

Civil Engineering, Architectural and
Building Contrivances.

Prize Medal. R yder's patent iron bridge -,
Iron Bridge Manufactory, N. Y.

CLASS VIII.

Naval Architecture, Military Engineer-
ing, fyc.

Prize Medals. National Institution of
Washington, models of ships of war and
large merchant vessels ; J. R. St. John,
nautical compass, purporting to show the
presence of any disturbing forces upon the
needle, and also to show the amount of the
deflection resulting from these causes.

Honorable Mention. Samuel Colt, re-
volving rifles and pistols ; W. R. Palmer,
target rifle ; Robbins & Lawrence, military
rifles.

CLASS IX.
Agricultural Machines and Implements.

Council Medal. C. II. McCormick, reap-
ing machine.

Prize Medal. Prouty & Mears, plough.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS.

11

CLASS X.

Philosophical and Surgical Instruments
and the like.

Council Medal. William Bond & Son,
for the invention of a new mode of observing
astronomical phenomena, &c.

Prize Medals. A. D. Bache, balance ;
M. B. Brady, daguerreotypes ; W. A. Burt,
solar compass, surveying instruments ; J.
Ericsson, sea lead, pyrometer, &c. ; M. M.
Lawrence, daguerreotype ; John R. St. John,
detector compass ; J. A. Whipple, daguer-
reotype of the moon ; B. F. Palmer, artificial
leg.

Honorable Mention. J. E. Mayall, pho-
tographs.

CLASS X. (A.)
Musical Instruments.

Prize Medals. J. Checkering for a square
pianoforte, and the jury think highly of his
grand pianoforte ; C. H. Eisenbrant, for clar-
ionets and flutes ; G. Gemunder, for a
Joseph Guarnerius violin, (chiefly,) and for
three other violins, and a viola ; C. Meyer,
for two pianofortes ; N. Nunns & Clark, for a
7-octave square pianoforte.

Honorable Mention. Gilbert & Co., for
a pianoforte, with ^Eolian attachment ; C.
Goodyear, for the successful application of a
new material (India rubber) for the manufac-
ture of a flute ; G. Hews, for a square piano-
forte ; J. Pirrson, for a patent square piano-
forte.

Money Award. S. S. "Wood, for the ex-
pense incurred in constructing his piano
violin, 50.

CLASS XI.
Cotton.

Prize Medals. Amoskeag Manufacturing
Co., an assortment of drillings, tickings,
sheetings, and cotton flannel. Willimantic
Duck Manufacturing Co., cotton sailcloth.

CLASS XH.
Woollens and Worsted.

Prize Medal. Gilbert & Stevens, (Mass.,)
flannels exhibited by Johnson, Lowell &
Co.

Honorable Mention. B. T. & D. Holden,
blankets.

CLASS xni.
Silk and Velvet.

No medals awarded for contributions from
the United States in this department.

CLASS XIV.

Manufactures from Flax and Hemp.
No medals awarded to the United States.

CLASS XV.

Mixed Fabrics, including Shatvls, but ex-
clusive of Woollen Goods.

Prize Medal. Lawrence, Stone & Co.,
Tartans made from native wool.

CLASS XVI.
Leather, Skins, Fur and Hair.

Prize Medals. B. Baker, light harness of
superior workmanship ; H. M. Crawford,
calf-skins tanned in oak bark ; Hickey &
Tull, two portmanteaus ; Lacey & Phillips, a
case of harness ; Wisdom, Russell & Whit-
man, specimens of curled hair for furniture.

Honorable Mention. H. Adams, a porta-
ble saddle.

CLASS XVII.
Paper, Printing and Book-binding.

Prize Medals. J. K. Kenrick, superior
ruling of account books ; S. G. Howe, a sys-
tem of characters, slightly angular in form,
without capitals, for the blind.

Honorable Mention. Bradley, Band &
Co., book cloth binding and block gilding ;
H. Gassett, superior ruling of account books;
J. & W. McAdams, ruled account books and
circular ruling ; Sibell & Mott, specimens of
account books ; C. Starr, binding works for
the blind, with thickened margins to prevent
the embossing from being pressed out ; E.
Walker & Co., a Bible elaborately bound and
ornamented, with a recess for a family regis-
ter inside the cover.

CLASS XVin.

Fabrics shown as Specimens of Printing
or Dyeing.

No medals awarded to the United States.

CLASS XIX.
Carpets, Lace and Embroidery.

Prize Medal. Albro & Hoyt, floor cloths.
Honorable Mention. A. & A. Lawrence,
carpets.

CLASS XX.
Articles of Clothing.

Prize Medals. "W. H. Aldington, shoes
for mining purposes ; Mrs. W. Haight, shirt.

CLASS XXI.
Cutlery and Edge Tools.

Prize Medals. Brown & Wells, tools ;
North Wayne Scythe Company, scythes ; D.
Simmons & Co., edge tools.

CLASS XXII.

Iron and General Hardware.
Prize Medals. Adams & Co., bank locks ;

12

ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

G. A. Arrowsmith, permutation locks ; Chil-
son, Richardson & Co., hot-air furnace ; Cor-
nelius & Co., chandeliers ; S. C. Herring,
salamander safe ; C. Howland, bell tele-
graph ; T. B. Lawrence, perforated zinc, &c. ;
McGregor & Lee, bank lock.

CLASS XXIII.

Working in precious Metals, Jewellery
and the like.

No medals awarded to the United States.

CLASS XXIV.
Glass.

Prize Medal. Brooklyn Flint Glass Com-
pany, flint glass.

CLASS XXV.

China, Porcelain, Earthenware.
No medals awarded to the United States.

CLASS XXVI.

Decoration Furniture, Upholstery and the
like.

No medals awarded to the United States.

CLASS XXVH.

Mineral Manufactures.

No medals awarded to the United States.

CLASS XXVIII.

Manufactures from Animal or Vegetable
Substances not included in other sec-
tions.

Council Medal. C. Goodyear, India rub-
ber.

Prize Medals. J. Fenn, comb ; Haywartl
Rubber Co., India-rubber shoes ; G. Loring,
water pails ; S. C. Moulton, India-rubber
goods ; Pratt, Julius & Co., ivory veneer.

CLASS XXIX.
Miscellaneous Manufactures.

Prize Medals. Xavier Bazin, fancy soaps ;
J. Hauel, soaps ; M. J. Loudcrback, pre-
served peaches ; J. R. St. John, soap ; Tay-
lor & Co., toilet soap.

CLASS XXX.
Sculpture.

Prize Medal. Hiram Powers, Greek
Slave.

In looking back over the career of this vast enterprise, so happily
originated and carried out, the consideration which most strongly im-
presses itself upon the mind is its unprecedented popularity. As an
illustration of this, it is stated, that in the month of May, 734,782
visits were paid to the building ; in June, 1,133,116 ; in July, 1,314,-
176 ; in August, 1,023,435 ; in September, 1,155,240 ; and in the first
11 days of October, 841,107. These figures give a total of 6,201,856,
as the sum of visits to the Exhibition. The greatest number of persons
ascertained to have been in the building at any one tune was on the
7th of October, wlien 93,224 were present. On the same day the num-
ber of visitors reached its maximum, and was 109,915. The total
amount of expenditure, from the commencement of the Exhibition to its
close, including the cost of the building, was 170,743. The receipts
of the Exhibition, from subscriptions at the commencement and from
fees of entrance, were 469,115 ; leaving a large balance in the hands
of the Commissioners.

Curiosities of the Great Industrial Exhibition. In the Spanish De-
partment was exhibited an octagonal centre table, with a movable top,
made of rich, ivory-like, white wood, into which were inlaid designs of
extraordinary beauty, composed of small quadricules of colored woods.
These are so minute that it is necessary to examine the work through
a powerful magnifying glass before one can have any idea of the won-
derful delicacy of this monument of human ingenuity and patience. In
the wreaths, scrolls, and other ornaments which cover the top and the
shaft, there are three millions of these tiny cubes ; the arms of England
alone, which occupy a space only of three inches by two, containing

MECHANICS AXD USEFUL ARTS. 13

fifty-three thousand ! No words can do justice to the richness of these
des'igns, in which leaves, flowers, and the most graceful arabesques are
combined with admirable taste ; while, in point of execution, this un-
paralleled mosaic surpasses all the inlayings that have ever been pro-
duced.

In the Russian Department, shawls of great value were exhibited ; on
one, in particular, the duty alone, to be paid in case the shawl was not
returned to Russia, was 488. A fur robe was also exhibited, made
from the skins of 1700 black foxes, only one piece of pure black, of
small size, being taken from each skin. Its estimated value was sixteen
thousand dollars. Two jasper vases, three feet six inches high, the
property of the Emperor, were valued at 2000 apiece. The work-
manship upon them, which was of the most exquisite character, alone
cost 700. A huge candelabrum, representing an event in Russian his-
tory, was sent from Moscow, and contained 2 cwt. of silver.

Of grotesque objects, a collection of stuffed animals, (frogs, dogs and
cats,) contributed by M. Ploucquet, of Stuttgard, was most ludicrous.
A frog, for instance, was represented shaving his companion, another
is walking with an umbrella ; while a party of cats, life size, are rep-
resented as drinking tea, while another cat plays upon the piano.

Specimens of the celebrated Toledo swords were exhibited from
Spain. The remarkable elasticity of one, perfectly straight when
drawn, was tested by a circular scabbard, which actually rolls up the
blade as it receives it.

In the Zollverein Department was exhibited a set of Chessmen and
Board in the Renaissance style, the squares of the board alternately
tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl. The framework of the stand is silver
and gold, inlaid with rubies ; each corner, the bust of an angel, the
wings in silver and blue ; the sides are ornamented with silver swans,
and festoons of gold and rubies. The chessmen are in gold and silver :
the principal figures are costume portraits of Emperors of Germany and
Kings of France their retinue, knights, and castles mounted on ele-
phants, and men-at-arms for the pawns. Rubies are profusely intro-
duced upon the dresses of the principal personages and the pedestals.

A substitute for paper hanging and paper staining was shown in
Clark's " Seamless Flock Decoration," made from the woollen flocks ob-
tained in the cloth-finishing process ; and, being manufactured on the
walls of the apartment, may be extended over any given space without
seam, jointing, or repetition, such as are unavoidable in paper staining.

A Berlin Wool Carpet, executed by 150 ladies of Great Britain, and
designed for presentation to the Queen. The dimensions of this carpet
are thirty feet in length, and twenty in breadth. The pattern, origi-
nally designed and painted by the artists, was subdivided into detached
squares, which were worked by different ladies ; and, on their com-
pletion, the squares were reunited, so as to complete the design. In
the pattern, which consists partly of geometrical, and partly of floral
forms, heraldic emblems are also introduced. The initials of the
executants are ornamentally arranged, so as to form the external bor-
der. The whole design is connected by wreaths or bands of leaves and

2

14 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

foliage, the centre group representing the store from whence they
have been distributed.

From China, was sent a set of Early Cups and Saucers, with the
gilding laid on by a process unknown to English manufacturers in
solid gold plates ; of these plates, each cup contains no less than 961,
and of these 200 are ornamented with imitation rubies. Each cup is
also enriched with 269 solid silver plates, of which 34 bear small emer-
alds. The saucers are still more highly enriched, each being inlaid
with 1035 plates of pure gold, and of these 415 bear imitation rubies.
They have also 432 solid silver plates inserted in each, in 56 of which
are emeralds. This unique set belonged to a mandarin of the highest
rank, and is the first specimen of the kind ever imported.

Among the novelties in philosophical apparatus, was a gigantic
Barometer, the tube and scale reaching from the floor of the gallery
nearly to the top of the building, and the rise and fall of the indicating
fluid being marked by feet instead of by tenths of inches. The column
of mercury supported by the pressure of the atmosphere communicates
with a perpendicular tube of smaller bore, which contains a colored
fluid much lighter than the mercury. When a diminution of atmos-
pheric pressure occurs, the mercury in the large tube descends, and by
its fall forces up the colored fluid in the smaller tube ; the fall of the
one being indicated in a magnified ratio by the rise in the other.

One exhibitor, who has great faith in a new name, sent a saucepan
with a false bottom, upon which potatoes being placed, covered up, and
set upon the fire, steam is generated, and thus the potatoes are cooked
in the water they contain a contrivance called the Anhydrohcpse-
terion.

An unique piece of workmanship was to be seen in a miniature gun,
perfect in all its parts and highly finished, its length being 4 inches,
and weight ^ of a pound. The stock was of maple, and the barrel
twisted. The lock, which was percussion, is composed of 15 separate
pieces, some of them so small as to be almost imperceptible without
the aid of a glass.

A glass fountain, of great size and beauty, constructed by Mr. Osier,
was placed in the centre of the Crystal Palace. "This structure
stands in a basin of concrete 24 feet in diameter, and rises to the
height of 27 feet, composed entirely of pure flint glass, cut into the
most elaborate forms. The columns of glass are raised in tiers, the
main tier supporting a basin from which jets of water can be made
to project, in addition to the main jet at the top. As the structure
rises it tapers upward in good proportion, the whole being firm and
compact in appearance, and presenting almost a solidity of aspect
unusual with glass structures. A central shaft, with a slightly ' lipped'
orifice, finishes the whole, and from this the water issues in a
broad, well-spread jet, forming in its descent a lily-like flower before
separating into spray, which in the sun-light glitters and sparkles in
harmony with the fountain itself. This fountain contains upwards of
4 tons of glass, and the principal basin is upward of 8 feet in
diameter."

In no one department of industry at the Exhibition was there a

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 15

greater display of ingenuity than in the various contrivances for the
indication and regulation of time. The following is a mere enumera-
tion of some of the more curious products there exhibited : A clock
moved by the equilibrium of water and air, very ingeniously con-
structed. A clock in a case, which occupied thirty-four years in
completing it, with astronomical, chronological, and other movements,
wind organ, &c. A geographical clock, showing the difference of mean
tune in all the capitals of Europe. A clock showing the days of the
month, the months of the year, the motions of the sun and moon, and
the state of the tide at some of the principal sea-ports of Great Britain,
Ireland, France, America, Spain, Portugal, Holland and Germany, and
going for twelve months. A skeleton striking clock, going 400 days,
and showing dead seconds by means of a chronometer. A patent tell-
tale clock, for the purpose of detecting delinquent servants, and calcu-
lated for the express purpose of " regulating " domestics. A clock
called the " Perpetual Motion Clock," having no weights or chain, and
most curiously made.

A number of curious watches were also exhibited, one of which
goes a year, another showed the time to a sixth of a second, and a third
(a second watch) was made of ivory, with gold screws and steel
moving powers. It works in ten rubies, and weighed (glass and vaso
included) only half an ounce. There were some of the finest speci-
mens of miniature watches exhibited that probably have ever been
made. These tiny time-keepers were set on card cases, the frames of
eye glasses, broaches, rings, &c. Some of them were scarcely the
size of the gold dollar, although somewhat thicker. The top of a gold
penholder richly set on rubies contained a time-piece with three dials,
each one-fourth of an inch in diameter, running a week without wind-
ing up, and showing the months, days, weeks, hours and minutes.

JEWELLERY AND PRECIOUS STONES AT THE GREAT EXHIBITION.

ONE of the most striking features of the Great Exhibition was the
display of a considerable number of gems of rare quality and great
value. First in order was the Koh-i-noor, formerly the property of
Runjeet Singh, now belonging to the British Crown. Its shape is an
irregular oval, 1 inches in length by 1 inch across, weighing nearly
280 carats. Two smaller diamonds were placed on either side, one
weighing 34 carats, and the other 19 carats. The value of this
diamond is estimated at 662,000, but the conventional value of dia-
monds is one of the popular errors of the day ; thus the celebrated
Napuck diamond, estimated by the East India Company to be worth
30,000, realized, when sold in London in 1837, only 7,500. In the
Indian collection was exhibited a smaller diamond, the Der-i-noor,
which, although insignificant in value compared with the Koh-i-noor,
is much more brilliant and effective, from the large surface it exposes.
This diamond is set as an armlet, with ten smaller stones around it :
together with it were shown a necklace, of 224 large pearls, and a
shorter one of 104 smaller pearls ; a necklace of four large rubies, a
pair of emerald armlets, a carved emerald and diamond turban orna-

16 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ment, an emerald and diamond bridle and martingale ; a gold mounted
saddle, set with diamonds, emeralds, and rubies ; a brocaded robe, dec-
orated with pearls ; and an emerald girdle, the stones of immense size,
and mostly of very fine quality.

Among Messrs. Hunt and RoskelPs brilliants was a Diamond Bou-
quet, in seven sprigs, containing nearly 6000 diamonds, the largest
weighing ten carats and the smallest the thousandth part of a carat.
Another fine specimen was a Ruby and Diamond Bouquet, valued at
15,000.

The third diamond in point of size and value exhibited, is the prop-
erty of Mr. Hope, and weighs 172 carats. It has a delicate, bluish
tinge, like the sapphire ; is cut in small facets in the shape of a medal-
lion, surrounded by twenty large diamonds of the purest water, and
from its size and color is said to be unique. Its value among lapidaries
is estimated at about 30,000 ; but it is understood that Mr. Hope
obtained it for thirteen thousand guineas, the diamond-merchant, in
whose possession it was, being in want of money, and finding some
difficulty in meeting with a customer for so valuable a gem. Mr. Hope
also exhibited the largest known pearl, together with a number of
other valuable and curious stones ; opals of great size ; a sapphire
once the property of Philippe Egalite, and to which a literary interest
attaches in connection with the name of Madame de Genlis ; a splendid
aquamarine which formed the hilt to the favorite weapon of Murat ; a
cat's-eye taken from the King of Kandy, a jacinth ring once the prop-
erty of Gregory VIII., and a very interesting collection of pearls,
placed in the oyster shells in which they were found.

The fourth great gem of the Exhibition was a gigantic crystal of
emerald, the property of the Duke of Devonshire, partially cut. A col-
lection of jewels of great value w r as contributed by the Emperor of Rus-
sia. Its chief ornament was a casket of ebony, ornamented on its sides
and lid with precious stones, executed in relief, and representing, with
marvellous fidelity, a variety of fruits. An immense cluster of grapes
is typified by amethysts, bunches of cherries by cornelians, and leaves
by jasper beautifully shaded. In the Russian department, also, was a
pair of folding doors, of malachite, 13 feet high, panelled and orna-
mented with gilt bronze, valued at 6000. The manufacture of these
articles is in itself a work of art, the surface being made up of some
30,000 variously-shaped little pieces, carefully selected to produce
various patterns. The doors are of wood, covered with copper, the
malachite veneer being about a quarter of an inch thick.

A Jewelled Hawk, the property of the Duke of Devonshire, was
exhibited : it contains a gold drinkiug-cup ; the wings and body of the
bird are chiefly covered with rubies, turquoises, emeralds, and other
precious stones. The bird stands about a foot high, and cost its noble
owner 600 guineas.

The jewels of the Queen of Spain, exhibited by Lemonnier, in the
French collection, were very attractive. In the centre was a bouquet
of large diamonds, on elastic sprigs ; the buds were enormous pearls,
and the green foliage were emeralds. Above were a tiara of sapphires,
surrounded by diamonds, and festoons of diamonds and pearls. There

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 17

were also a circlet of diamonds ; necklaces and bracelets and stomach-
ers studded with brilliants ; and a brooch and pendant, the central orna-
ments of which were two enormous rubies. Near these gems was a
display of jewels, prepared for the Emperor of Hayti, of great beauty ;
and models of the crown, sceptre, state-swords, &c.

AMERICAN vs. ENGLISH LOCKS.

ONE of the most interesting incidents connected with the Great Exhi-
bition, was the so-called " Lock Controversy," carried on between Mr.
Hobbs, agent of Day & Newell's parautoptic bank locks, and Messrs.
Chubb and Braniah, manufacturers of the most celebrated English locks.
As a test of the comparative merits of the English and American locks,
Mr. Hobbs proposed to Messrs. Chubb and Braniah, that an opportunity
should be afforded him to try his skill in an attempt to pick or open
their respective locks, which were considered and represented to be
perfectly secure against the skill of all burglars ; Mr. Hobbs, on his
part, agreeing to afford to any person ample time and opportunity to
open Day & Xewell's locks, by any means, without resorting to violence.
A trial was, therefore, made, in the presence of a committee, first upon
a lock recently placed by Messrs. Chubb on the door of the vaults of the
State-Paper office . The lock having been examined, and found to be fairly
locked, Mr. Hobbs produced from his waistcoat pocket two or three small
and simple-looking tools, and proceeded to work. Within twenty-five
minutes from the time of commencing, the bolt of the lock flew back, and
the door was opened. It was then suggested by one of the gentlemen
present, that Mr. Hobbs should turn the bolt back again, and lock the
door ; it being a " detecter " lock, it was considered that he would be
unable to accomplish this feat. In less than ten minutes, however, the
door was again locked. No injury whatever was done to the interior
of the lock, and no traces were to be seen of its having been picked.

Mr. Hobbs was then challenged by Messrs. Bramah to experimentalize
on what have been styled their impregnable locks, and was promised a
forfeit of 200 if he should succeed in opening it. In order that the
trial might be fairly made, commissioners were appointed to decide upon
it, and thirty clear days were granted by Messrs. Bramah to Mr. Hobbs
for his operation. Mr. Hobbs went to work, but, in a few days, sus-
pended his operations, alleging the weakness of his instruments. As
soon as others had been prepared, he desired to continue his attempt ;
but to this Messrs. Braniah objected. The commissioners, however,
interfered ; and Mr. Hobbs resumed his labors, and shortly picked and
opened the lock.

No attempt, however, was made to pick the lock of Messrs. Day &
Newell, although a reward of one hundred guineas was offered to the
person who should succeed in picking it.

At a meeting of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, of Great
Britain, a paper was read by Mr. Hodge, a well known engineer, upon
locks and their construction ; in which he fully demonstrated that

Messrs. Day & Ne well's lock was the only one which could not be

i j J J

picked.

2*

18 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Mr. Hodge stated, that the principle on which all modern locks are
constructed can be traced back nearly four thousand years. The three
best locks manufactured in England, during the last thirty years, are
those of Barron, Braniah and Chubb, and the principle of each is based
on the principle of the old Egyptian lock ; the difference between each
being only in the mechanical arrangement of parts to produce the same
effect. Locks, similar to those of Mr. Chubb, were formerly manufac-
tured by Mr. Andrews, of Perth Amboy, N. J. These locks Mr.
Newell succeeded in picking, and, in doing this, learned the means by
which he could pick his own lock, as it was made in 1841. Mr. Newell
also showed by this that his own lock, and all others based on the tum-
bler principle, were insecure against burglars. One of Mr. Newell's
locks, affixed to a safe, containing $500, the reward of the one opening
it, was picked in the Merchants' Exchange, N. Y., by an engineer
named Petis, and the money obtained. This led to the invention of
the parautoptic lock, which is undoubtedly the most perfect ever con-
structed. This lock, through movable wards in the key, is susceptible
of 419,000,000 changes.

SAFE FOR THE KOH-I-NOOR DIAMOND.

THE great Koh-i-noor diamond, during the London Exhibition, was
contained in a safe, curiously constructed by Mr. Chubb, for its protec-
tion.

It consists, first, of an octagon table, G feet 6 inches in diameter, by
3 feet 4 inches high, the top and sides being made of half-inch wrought
iron plates, all secured together by being rebated and with angle iron.
In the interior is a fire-proof safe, 12 inches square, and 2 feet ( J inches
deep, the wrought plates being one inch thick. In the centre of the
safe is a platform, 9 inches square, on which the velvet cushion, jewels,
and setting are fixed. A hole is cut out of the table to allow the plat-
form to descend into the safe. In order to secure the diamonds at
night, a small door, 3 inches square, in one of the panels of the table,
is unlocked, and, by turning a winch, the platform gradually sinks into
the safe, and a sliding iron door is drawn over the opening at the top.
The cage is secured to the table by i pieces at the bottom ring, drop-
ping into corresponding holes, and these are locked by two separate
detective locks. The keys of these locks are held by the crown officers,
and without them, access to the jewels cannot be had. The key of the
small door allows the platform to be raised or lowered only, but does not
give access to the jewels. The weight of the whole is 30 cwt., and it
is bolted to the floor.

ERICSSON'S PATENT CALORIC ENGINE.

THIS is a scheme which Mr. Ericsson tried some years since, but
which, at the time, was not successful. Since then, his attention has
been directed to the removal of difficulties ; and in this he has so far
succeeded, that the engine has been patented, both in this country and
in England. A moment's reflection will show that there is a possibility

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 19

of effecting an immense saving in the present method of employing coal
as a generator of power. In our most economical expansive engines,
we recover nothing of that which we employ. The heat required to
convert the water into steam is delivered by the air-pump, diluted, so
to speak, with so much cold water ; and the problem is, to concentrate
that heat, and render it again available for generating steam. Whether
that problem can be ever solved while water is used as a medium, it is
impossible to predict. The gases appear to offer a better chance of
success ; and, accordingly, Mr. Ericsson employs the expansive force of
heated air in his engine, instead of steam. "The invention/' says
Mr. Ericsson's specification, " consists in producing motive power by the
application of caloric to atmospheric air, or other permanent gases, or
fluids susceptible of considerable expansion by the increase of tempera-
ture. The mode of applying the caloric being such, that, after having
caused the expansion or dilatation which produces the motive power,
the caloric is transferred to certain metallic substances, and again re-
transferred from these substances to the acting medium at certain inter-
vals, or at each successive stroke of the motive engine ; the principal
supply of caloric being thereby rendered independent of combustion or
consumption of fuel. Accordingly, whilst in the steam engine the
caloric is constantly wasted by being passed off into the condenser, or
by being carried off into the atmosphere, in the improved engine the
caloric is employed over and over again, enabling me to dispense with
the employment of combustibles, excepting for the purposes of restoring
the heat lost by the expansion of the acting medium, and that lost by
radiation ; also for the purpose of making good the small deficiency
unavoidable in the transfer of the caloric."

The principal novelty of the invention appears to consist in the
employment of a condenser, which, when saturated with heat, is used
as a regenerator, or boiler, until it is sufficiently cool to act again as a
condenser. It is proposed to have two of these condensers, to be used
alternately. The arrangements consist of two cylinders, of unequal
dimensions, placed one over the other, the smallest uppermost, the pistons
of which are connected by a rod working through stuffing-boxes, one end
of which is attached to a crank, in the usual manner. The patentee
terms the upper the supply cylinder, the lower the working cylinder. The
lower one has a concave bottom, forming the roof of one of the furnaces ;
and the piston has a chamber bolted to it with corresponding concavity,
tilled with fire-clay and ashes, as a non-conducting material, to prevent,
as much as possible, the heat from reaching the upper part of the
cylinder. There is another cylindrical vessel, called the receiver, and
a* fourth, called the heater, which latter has also a concave bottom,
and a furnace beneath. Two vessels of cubical form are filled to their
utmost capacity, excepting small spaces at top and bottom, with discs
of wire net, or" straight wires closely packed, or other small metallic
substances or minerals, such as asbestos, so arranged as to have minute
channels running up and down ; these are called the regenerators.
These vessels are all connected by suitable arrangements of slide valves
and an exhaust chamber ; and the following is said to be the modus
operandi : Fuel having been placed in the fire-places under the work-

20 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ing cylinder and heater, slovr combustion is kept up, until the heaters
and lower parts of the regenerators are at a temperature of about 500
Fah. By means of a hand-pump, atmospheric air is then forced into the
receiver, until there is an internal pressure of 8 or 10 pounds to the
inch. A communication is then opened with the working cylinder,
the piston rises, and the air in the upper cylinder is forced into the
receiver ; other valves then open, so that the air passes through the
wire regenerators, and has its temperature augmented. Before the piston
arrives at the top of the up stroke, the valve which first opened will be
closed, and another opened, causing the down stroke, when the air
passes through the cooled regenerator and escapes, deprived nearly of
all its caloric. The air next passing takes up the caloric so deposited ;
and thus a continuous reciprocating motion is kept up. The specifica-
tion goes on to say, that, after a certain number of strokes, the temper-
ature of the regenerators will change the cooler one gradually
gaining an increase of temperature, while the hottest gradually gets
cooler ; and, therefore, the position of the slide valves is reversed at
about every fifty strokes by a self-acting arrangement, which can be
regulated as desired.

It is proper to observe that the small cylinder only receives and trans-
mits the differential force of the piston of the large cylinder, viz., the
excess of its acting force over the reacting force of the piston of the
small cylinder. This differential force imparted to said piston rod may
be communicated to machinery by any of the ordinary means. It is
particularly worthy of notice, that the relative diameter of the supply
and working, or larger and smaller cylinder, will depend on the expan-
sibility of the acting medium employed ; thus, in using atmospheric air,
or other permanent gases, the difference of the area of the pistons may
be nearly as two to one ; while, in using fluids, such as oils, which
dilate but slightly, the difference of area should not much exceed one
tenth.

An engine of the above description was exhibited by Captain Erics-
son, at the Great London Exhibition, and has since, we understand,
been working in New York.

HOT-AIR ENGINE.

A PAPER has been recently read before the Institution of Civil En-
gineers, London, respecting a hot-air engine invented by Sir G. Cay-
ley. After entering briefly into the theoretical considerations of the
expansion of aeriform bodies, and detailing the attempts made by Capt.
Ericsson for employing hot air, instead of steam, as a prime mover, the
author proceeded to state, that Sir G. Cayley applied the products of
combustion from close furnaces so that they should act at once upon a
piston, in a cylinder, similar in every respect to that of a single acting
steam engine. The engine consisted of a generator of heat, a working
cylinder, and an air-pump or blower the air-pump being half the size
of the cylinder, and blowing air into and through a fire perfectly in-
closed within the generator. The doors of the furnace were made per-
fectly air-tight as soon as the fire was well got up ; the first impulse
being given to the engine by throwing a few jets of water upon the

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 21

fire, which caused the air-pump to work immediately, and continued so
for hours, the fire being replenished by stopping off the blast from the
furnace, and opening the upper bonnet. After the air had passed
through the fire, the gaseous products of combustion, generally at a
temperature of 600 Fahrenheit, passed laterally through a chamber,
used for separating them from any ashes or cinders, into the working
cylinder before alluded to. The difficulty attending this description or
engine was the liability of the working parts to be deranged by the
great sensible heat destroying the valves, pistons, and cylinders, and
carbonizing the lubricating oil.

DOUBLE PISTON "ENGINE.

MR. TT. VIRDIX, of Maryland, has recently devised some improvements
in the steam engine, which relate to the employment within the same
cylinder of two pistons, entirely independent of each other, and whose
piston rods pass through opposite ends of the cylinder. One piston rod
connects, directly through a connecting rod, to a crank on the main
shaft, and the other piston rod is furnished with a cross head, which is
connected, by two long connecting rods, to two cranks on the main
shaft, whose position on the shaft is diametrically opposite to that of
the first-named crank. The cylinder is furnished with steam and ex-
haust ports at each end and the middle, and steam is admitted alter-
nately between the two pistons and the cylinder ends, and both pistons
through their connecting rods act simultaneously on the cranks and
revolve the main shaft. Scientific American.

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE STEAM ENGINE.

Two new improvements in the steam engine were exhibited for the
first time at the Fair of the American Institute, N. Y., in October.
The first was a pair of oscillating engines, coupled at right angles to
one shaft, the invention of Messrs. Morris and Wylie, of New York.
These oscillating engines have no valve rods, the steam box is station-
ary, and the cylinder, as it vibrates, cuts off and exhausts itself, thus
performing the office of a slide valve ; another arrangement about
it is a plan, by a common slide valve, to exhaust the steam into the ex-
haust passages, and vice versa, and to set on and stop the engine, thus
making it the best adapted oscillating engine for steamboats yet in-
vented. The second improvement was a rotary engine, invented by
Mr. Barrows, of New York. This engine is built to work the steam ex-
pansively, by fixed head plates, having eccentric grooves in their inside
faces, which guide friction rollers on the end of the blade or piston bars,
so as to depress them in slots, and guide the pistons out and in, to allow
the steam to expand in four separate chambers on the periphery of an
inside revolving drum. This engine has been in successful operation
during the past season, in a small steamboat, and is decidedly one of
the most perfect and effective rotary engines ever constructed. Scien-
tific American.

22 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

INTRODUCTION OP OSCILLATING ENGINES INTO LARGE AMERICAN

MARINE STEAMERS.

DURING the past year two of the largest American sea-steamers have
been fitted for the iirst time with oscillating, instead of beam engines.
Oscillating engines have been used in large vessels of the British and
French navy, for some time, with good success; but engines of this
character have not hitherto been applied to large vessels in this country.
The Golden Gate and Illinois, California steamers, have, during the
past summer, been supplied with this form of engine. The advantages
of an oscillating over a beam engine are said to be these : less weight
of machinery, per horse-power, than in the beam or side-lever engine ;
they have fewer working parts, are less expensive in repairs, consume
less lubricating material : they are subject to less strain, nearly all of
which is direct, and not transverse and diagonal as in the beam, and
their pressure on the gudgeons, when in operation, half less, requiring
consequently less strength and weight in the bed plates, and in the
timbers that sustain them, and they, together with their boilers, occupy
but fiive eighths of the space of a beam engine of the same power.
These advantages when segregated may not be much to each item, but
they, in the aggregate, are very considerable and important. The dif-
ference in the weight of the engine and in the space occupied by them
are, however, two very important items, especially in ocean steamers.
The former, in an engine of seven hundred nominal horse-power, is not
less than one hundred and fifty tons, one hundred of which is in mov-
able parts of the machinery, and the latter, as we have before stated,
is but five eighths of that required by the beam engines.

In the engines of the Illinois, the air-cylinders are located between
the steam cylinders, directly over the condenser, and are worked by
piston rods connecting with the main shaft by a crank at its centre.
This centre-piece of the main shaft is wrought out of the heaviest piece
of iron ever forged in this country, and cost over seven thousand dol-
lars. Its journals are twenty-one inches in diameter. It was forged in
an entire block, and the crank cut out of the solid mass. The other
journals of the shaft are 19^ inches in diameter ; the crank pins are
12 inches, and the piston rods of the steam cylinders 12^ inches in di-
ameter. The cylinders are eighty-five inches in diameter, with nine
feet length of stroke. The diameter of the side wheels is thirty-three
and a half feet, length of float ten and a half, and depth two and a
half feet. In the trial trip of the Illinois, with twelve pounds of steam
to the inch, eighteen revolutions were accomplished, and a speed of
eighteen and a half miles to the hour obtained, running with the tide,
the velocity of which was about three and a half miles per hour, so
that the vessel moved through the water at the rate of about fifteen
miles an hour.

STEAM POWER USED AT A DISTANCE.

AN engine has been recently set to work at the Aucland colliery, ar-
ranged on a somewhat curious plan. The boiler is placed upon the
surface and the steam pipes are taken down the shaft, a depth of eighty
fathoms, and then down an inclined plane about 1,050 yards, making

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 23

the total distance from the boilers to the engine upwards of 1,200
yards, and the perpendicular depth about 882 feet. The engine can
lift and force about 300 gallons per minute up the inclined plane, length
as stated above, the perpendicular height 342 feet. London Builder.

GREGORIE'S PATENT EQUALIZER, OR POWER REGULATOR.

To give the benefit of a heavy fly-wheel to a steam engine, without
its incmnbrance and loss, is the object and nature of this invention. It
consists of a small piston working within a close cylinder situated at
one side of the large or engine cylinder, and receiving two strokes for
one of the engine, either way, through the motion of a bell-crank
attached to and operated from the beam ; the said small piston, through
a branch connecting it with the main steam-pipe, being constantly
exposed to the steam from the boiler on its one face, and, through a
further branch, to the vacuum of the condenser on its other (or to
the external atmosphere if the engine be of the non-condensing kind).
The small piston, thus connected and operating, will serve to act as a
drag at the early part of the engine stroke when the steam is strongest,
and afterwards to form an auxiliary, to the same amount of effect, at
the closing portion of the stroke, when the steam, by expansion, has
become weaker, thereby equalizing, or sufficiently so, the propelling
power of the engine throughout its entire stroke.

The device is equally applicable to all engines, whether high or low
pressure, and may be used with great advantage in every case where
fuel is either costly or cumbrous ; it can be worked from the main or
counter shaft, and so at a trifling cost be attached to any engine.
Farmer and Mechanic.

IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOILERS.

APPLICATION for a patent has been made by Mr. Charles Allen, of
Warren, Perm., for three speckled improvements in the construction
and arrangement of steam boilers. One is a mode of preventing
explosions by securing either the head or end of the boiler by springs
which will bear a certain pressure, but when the pressure exceeds this,
the end will be thrust out, and prevent the boiler from bursting to
pieces.

The second improvement, applicable to revolving boilers, is applying
a cylinder of wire gauze in the interior of the boiler for the purpose of
gathering up the water on the surface, when the boiler is rotating.

The third improvement is the placing of an alarm valve on the boiler,
to be opened once during every revolution by the striking of a station-
ary bar or other object placed in a convenient position, to call the atten-
tion of the engineer to the boiler. Scientific American.

APPLICATION OF STEAM POWER ON CANALS.

FOR many years scientific men have devoted much attention to the
application of steam power to the towing of boats on canals. Towing
by horses has been found not only exceedingly expensive, but too slow
and uncertain for the wants of the present age, and hence many plans
have been suggested and experiments tried, in the hope of finding some

24 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

means whereby the great motive power might be safely applied to the
propelling of boats heavily loaded through the narrow channels of a
canal without producing such a commotion in the water as to seriously
injure the banks, or endanger the safety of the works. A boat built
after a plan patented by G. Parker, of Massachusetts, has been used to
some extent during the past summer, on the Delaware, Chesapeake,
and Raritan. canals, with good prospects of success in remedying the
evils above adverted to. It is a small boat, of about 100 tons burden,
with two engines, rated at 15 horse-power each. It differs from an
ordinary steam-boat in the peculiar shape of the wheel-buckets, and in
the addition of a float back of the wheel, which is in the centre of the
boat. The wheels are bent so as to form the segment of a circle, and
they enter and leave the water without creating the great motion
caused by the ordinary paddles. Should, however, the power required
cause any swell, the waters are smoothed down and pacified by the float
that follows the wheel. This float can be raised or lowered as circum-
stances may require. The average speed of the boat, when towing, is
represented to be four miles an hour, and the cost one half that of
horse-power.

WATER AND STEAM PRESSURE GAUGE.

MR. WILLIAM C. GRIMES, of Philadelphia, has recently invented an
instrument, which is intended to indicate continually the height of the
water, and pressure of the steam in a boiler, at any required place, at
whatever distance from the boiler. It consists of two metallic tubes,
which are inserted, the one into the steam space, the other into the
lower part of the water space of the boiler, and extend from the boiler
to the place at which the indications are required to be made, where
the ends of the tubes are brought side by side, and connected together
by a bent glass tube, one end of which enters each of the metallic tubes.
In the simplest form, (which is described for the purpose of explaining
more clearly the theory of the apparatus,) the tube connected with the
steam space (which may be called the upper tube) enters the boiler at
the water line, and runs for some distance horizontally, or a little inclined
downwards, when it again bends downwards for some inches, and then
runs in any convenient direction to the glass tube. The object of this
arrangement is to allow the steam to condense in this part of the tube,
and to keep the water which fills it always at the proper water-level of
the boiler. Each of the tubes is provided with a stop-cock near the
boiler, and on each of them, immediately below the glass tube, there
is a small hole, (called by Mr. Grimes the air-hole,) which may be
closed by a screw. In order to put the apparatus in working order,
the boiler is filled to above the water line, the stop-cocks of the tubes
being closed, and a small pressure of steam raised ; the stop-cocks of
the upper tube being then opened a little, the water will enter the tube,
and, expelling the air before it through the air-hole, will finally begin
to run through this hole ; the stop-cock of the upper tube is then closed,
and the plug of the air-hole screwed in. The lower tube is then filled
with water in a similar manner. The apparatus then contains water
in the metallic tubes, and air in the glass tube, or gauge. If now the

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 25

stop-cocks on the tubes be opened, and the pressure of the steam
increased, the air in the gauge \vill be compressed proportionally, and
the water will rise to an equal height in each branch of the tube ; in
this way the gauge may be graduated by direct experiment. But the
fall of the water level in the boiler will cause the level to fall also in
that branch of the gauge which communicates with the lower tube,
(that is, the tube opening near the bottom of the water space of the
boiler,) and this will cause the water to rise hi the opposite branch of
the gauge, hi consequence of the necessity of the column of air retain-
ing its bulk. While, therefore, the pressure of steam in the boiler is
indicated by the mean height of the columns in the gauge, the fall of
the water below its adjusted level will be indicated by the difference of
the height of these two columns, provided the level of the water in the
boiler end of the upper tube be maintained constant.

In practice, this construction is modified by the introduction of another
vertical tube, connecting the end of the upper and lower tubes near the
boiler. The upper tube is then inserted into the steam space of the
boiler, and it leaves the connecting tube at the proper water level,
when it runs as before described ; in this way there will be left but a
small portion of the upper tube to be filled by the condensed steam.
The lower tube is also provided with a blow-off cock between the boiler
and the stop-cock before described to prevent this tube from being
choked by sediment. The level of the water in the gauge is indicated
by a floating glass tube, colored and graduated in the inside, and closed
in the leg communicating with the upper tube, while a glass ball floats
on the surface in the other leg. The difference in the levels of the
water columns is then indicated by the position of this ball on the grad-
uated scale of the glass tube in the other leg.

NASMYTH'S ABSOLUTE SAFETY VALVE.

THE chief feature which distinguishes this improved safety valve from
all others hitherto proposed, consists in the peculiar and simple manner
in which the motion of the water in the boiler is employed as an agent
by which the valve is prevented from ever getting set fast in its seat.
The swaying to and fro sort of motion, which, at all times, accompanies
the ebullition of water in boilers, is made to act upon a sheet-iron
appendage, attached to a weight, which weight is connected directly
with a brass valve ; and as the rod which connects this sheet-iron
appendage and weight to the valve is inflexible, it will be easily seen
how any slight pendulous motion given to it is directly transferred to
the valve ; and as that portion of the valve which rests hi the seat is
spherical, the valve not only admits of, but receives, a continual slight
motion in its seat, in all directions, as the result of the universal pendu-
lous motion of the appended weight, as acted upon by the incessant
swaying motion of the water during ebullition.

IMPROVED LOCOMOTIVE.

AT the Great Exhibition, a locomotive was exhibited by Messrs-
Hawthorn, for which they claimed a capability of running, with safety,

o

26 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

at a speed of 80 miles an hour, with a large express train. The cylin-
ders are 16 inches diameter, and 22 inches stroke ; the driving wheels
6 feet in diameter, and the bearing wheels 39 inches ; the heating sur-
face of the firebox is 98 square feet ; the boiler is traversed by 158
brass tubes, giving a heating surface of 865 square feet. The principal
improvements claimed by Messrs. Hawthorn for this locomotive are the
following : Instead of the six ordinary springs on each axle, the engine
is fitted with double compensating beams and four springs acting simul-
taneously on all the journals, so that the weight assigned to the respect-
ive axles is not affected by any irregularities or imperfections on the
line of railway, but is uniformly maintained throughout, securing thereby
a constant weight upon the driving wheels, and consequently a constant
amount of adhesion. By this direct, simultaneous connexion between
the axles, great stability is given to the engine ; greater safety, particu-
larly at high speed ; and a smoother and easier motion. The engine
has outside framing, with outside bearings to all the axles, the cylinders
being placed inside ; it is supported on six wheels, the driving wheels
being in the centre. The second advantage claimed, is the application
of expansive link motion and slide valves, which admit of the boiler
being brought down nearly as low as in engines with straight axles ;
and, by the introduction of the slide valves, the pressure on the valves,
and consequently the friction, is considerably diminished. An arrange-
ment is likewise introduced into the engine of the patent steam-pipe of
Messrs. Hawthorn, which removes the domes and other projections on
the top of the boiler. The steam-pipe is fixed into the tube plate of the
smoke-box by a ferule like an ordinary tube, and extends nearly the
entire length of the boiler. Being carried under the top, it is perforated
with a series of small apertures or slits along its entire length, and it is
arranged so as to receive the steam directly above the place at which it
is generated, instead of compelling it to rush from all parts of the boiler
to one or two orifices. By this arrangement, the steam is conducted to
the cylinder, nearly, if not altogether, free from priming.

NOVA MOTIVE.

AT the Polytechnic Institution is a new mode of propulsion now
being demonstrated, which, under this title, consists of a series of car-
riages travelling along with their own motor, in the form of a tube, which
is flexible and air-tight. This tube has a series of side valves, entirely
under the care of a guard, who, by levers, has a perfect control over his
train. The application is very ingenious, and is the invention of a
mechanic. Along the whole line of railway is laid a pipe of any given
diameter, in connection with which a series of pistons are fixed between
the rails intended to receive the tube above mentioned in its passage.
In these pistons are atmospheric valves opening into the fixed pipe,
which is always kept exhausted, so that, when the train passes over
the pistons, the side valves in the tube are opened by means of inclined
planes communicating with other levers, which levers are raised up on
the train passing. The atmosphere existing in the tube consequently
rushes from the tube to supply the vacuum, and the train is impelled
by external atmospheric pressure. London Illustrated Neivs.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 27

IMPROVEMENT IN LOCOMOTIVES.

TUE English engineers are directing attention to the superiority of
Crampton's system of building locomotives by suspending on the extrem-
ities of the frame. Mr. Crampton places the driving wheels at the
end of the engine, instead of the centre, and these wheels carrying about
one half of the whole weight of the engine on them, it is clear that one
half will be on the driving wheels ; and, by assuming four wheels at
the other end to take the other half, the machine, in fact, is suspended
on the extremities ; but, in the ordinary machine, the driving wheels
being in the centre, with half the weight on them, the other half is
necessarily equally distributed on the fore and hind wheels, having the
effect of a balance beam action one of the greatest causes of oscilla-
tion. To accomplish the same result, the superintending engineers of
the Great Western and Northern railways, England, have adopted the
plan of applying compensating springs, which have the effect, to a cer-
tain extent, of placing the weight of the engine on the extreme ends.
Scientific American.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILWAY AXLES.

Ax important improvement, to prevent the heating of railway axles
and the bearing parts of machinery, has recently been effected by Mr.
George Little, of England. His plan is to bore several longitudinal
apertures, for about 15 inches, up each end of the axle, letting the
same terminate by several tubes let into the axle under the body of the
carriage, so arranged that the centrifugal force will impel a powerful
current of cold air through the apertures, thereby keeping the journals
and bearings of the axles from heating. To prevent grit, &c., getting
into the grease-box, a circular plate is screwed on the end of the axle.
This principle is also applicable to the shafts of stationary and marine
engines, and, in fact, to all kinds of shafts used in machinery. Min-

ing Journal.

RAILROAD CHECK-SIGNAL.

THE following is a description of a check-signal, invented by Mr.
Richard Rollings, of Boston, designed for use when from any cause a
signal is needed to inform the engineer that the train must be stopped.
A cross-bar made of wood or iron, equal in length to the gauge of the
road, is laid across the track, between the rails, and is there secured in
place. In the centre of the cross-bar a stout plug or pin is fixed, pro-
jecting upward eight or ten inches. Beneath the engine a roller is
hung transversely, through the centre of which an iron tongue is
fastened, of sufficient length to strike the plug when the engine passes
over it. On the upper side of the engine, over the roller, is a spring
fastened to the engine frame, consisting of a trigger, a set of wheels
acting on a principle similar to that of a clock, and a hammer and bell.
The trigger has two arms one extending downward, and connecting
with the roller, the other extending upward, and communicating with
the wheels. The spring is set by winding up, and is held in place by
the trigger. Then, when the engine passes over a cross-bar, the tongue

28 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

strikes the plug and is thrown back, causing the trigger to release its
hold of the wheels, which, rapidly revolving, cause repeated strokes of
the hammer to be given the bell. This, of course, is notice in all cases
to stop the train. Instead of the wheels and bell, the trigger may com-
municate with a steam-cock, and the alarm thus be given by means of a
whistle. The model is made to show the operation in either case. It
is intended for every train to be supplied with one or more cross-bars, so
that if any accident happen, not in the vicinity of a station, whereby
the track is obstructed, and cannot be cleared in season for the passage
of the next train, a cross-bar may be laid upon the track, on either side
of the accident, at sufficient distance therefrom to notify such approach-
ing train of the danger. So at every station, and in the vicinity of
drawbridges, it is intended that cross-bars should be kept, to be used as
occasion may require.

RAILROADS WITHOUT RAILS.

IN the French Department of the Great Exhibition, a curious system
of locomotion was represented, which is, however, only the modification
of a plan exhibited in London many years since. It is a railroad with-
out rails. In the English invention there were pairs of wheels fixed on
the road at stated distances, which were to be kept in motion by sta-
tionary engines ; the power being communicated by a band passing
from the engine, and connected with a great number of wheels. The
rails were fixed to the bottom of the carnages, and were made long
enough to have always a bearing on two of the wheels at least. When
the system of the wheels was put in action, the carriages were pro-
pelled by the bearing which the rails beneath had on the peripheries.
One of the advantages of this plan was, that single carriages instead of
trains could be started, and at very short intervals, without danger of
collision. In the French modification of the invention, the principal
difference consists in the means of giving motion to the wheels. Instead
of connecting the series with one long endless driving band, there are
numerous short endless chains connected with the axles of only two
pairs of wheels, so that the motion of one pulls the chain that propels
the next. The model road exhibited was on a steep incline, for the
purpose of showing that this method of propulsion is applicable to the
ascent of hills.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD CARS.

AN unproved ventilating apparatus has been recently attached to rail-
road cars, built by Messrs. Bradley & Rice, of Worcester, Mass. The
windows are so constructed that they are made to act the part of ven-
tilators, by having two leaves ; the front one is set to stand out, with its
inner end forming the apex of a cone, the outside being the base. The
ah' impinges on this window, as it is set angularly to the side of the
car, and it therefore forms a partial vacuum at its outer edge. This
draws the air from the inside and thoroughly ventilates the car, allow-
ing nothing to come in from the outside. The other leaf of the window

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 29

is set behind the first leaf to sustain the current of air from the inside,
to perpetuate the partial vacuum. There are ventilator cones in the
roof, which prevent sparks from entering, but allow a fresh supply of
air to enter the car continually. Scientific American.

SELF-ADJUSTING RAILROAD SWITCH.

MR. AMOS HODGE, of North Adarns, Mass., has recently invented a
self-adjusting switch, which is highly recommended. The manner of
accomplishing so important a result is very simple, and requires but
very little addition to the switches now in use. The sliding section of
the track is moved by springs, and is kept in its place by a spring bolt.
When the train approaches the main track from any side track, the
first car or engine passes over an inclined plane, on the section preced-
ing the slide, which pushes forward a connecting bar, on the end of
which is a cam, which moves the slide to that track, and by a simple
attachment keeps it there until the last car leaves the slide, when it re-
turns to the main track. Mr. H. has also designed that by placing a
wheel or bearing on each side of a locomotive, the engineer can run
to any side track he chooses, by depressing the wheel (or bearing) on
the side he wishes to turn out. One single feature in the invention is
worth remembering it never will run a train off the track from being
placed wrong. North Adams Transcript.

RAILROAD IMPROVEMENT.

THE American Railroad Journal furnishes the following description
of an improvement of Mr. J. S. French, whereby a locomotive was en-
abled to ascend and descend a grade of 200 feet to the mile. The ends
of the sills are cut off square with the string-pieces ; the rail, six inches
wide and three fourths of an inch thick, is placed upon the string-
pieces, and extends outwards two and a half inches, thus affording an
under surface against which a pair of rollers [the simple principle of the
whole invention] are pressed. These rollers or wheels are suspended
from the engine, a little in advance of the driving wheels, and are
pressed against the extended rail by a lever, by the regulation of
which any amount of adhesion may be obtained. This mechanical ad-
hesion has the advantage of being graduated to circumstances ; for on
running on a level but little adhesion is required, and on reaching any
inclined surface, it is put on in a quantity requisite for ascending, and
no more. Thus are avoided the effects of weight in a great measure ;
whereas, on the ordinary principle, much dead weight is put on, only
to be made use of at certain points, and destroy ing the road on every
passage over it.

In an experiment made at Richmond, Va., an engine, constructed
on the above principle, weighing three and a half tons, drew a passen-
ger car, with 100 passengers, up a grade of 200 feet to the mile, at the
rate of ten miles per hour.

PROGRESS OF RAILWAYS IN THE UNITED STATES.

A CORRESPONDENT of the American Railway Times furnishes a state-
3*

30

ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ment of the progress of railwa}'S in the United States, from 1830 to
1851, which, with a correction or two, we here subjoin :

Years.

1830
1831

1832
1833
1834
1835
1836
1837

Miles. Years.

13

1838

19

1839

176

1840

305

1841

456

1842

542

1843

839

1844

,155

Miles. Years.

1,389

1845

1,986

1846

2,226

1847

2,505

1848

2,688

1849

2,965

1850

3,474

1851

Miles.

. 3,518
. 3,885
. 4,369
. 4,574
. 5,583
. 6,783
.11,471

The Baltimore and Ohio Railway was opened a distance of thirteen
miles December 28, 1829 ; the South Carolina Railway, a distance of
six miles, November 1, 1830; the Lake Ponchartrain, April 16; the
Carnden and Amboy, a distance of seven miles, July 1st ; and the
Mohawk and Hudson, throughout, September 24th, 1831.

It is difficult to prepare a table, which, when published, will give the
precise number of miles of railways in operation, as every day adds to
the number, and swells the grand total of miles completed or in operation.

NAVIGATION AND SHIP-BUILDING IN THE UNITED STATES.

THE following statistics of the foreign and inland commerce of the
United States, are derived from the report of the Secretary of the
Treasury, for 1850. In 1815 the tonnage of foreign shipping was
854,254 tons; of inland navigation tonnage, 513,813 tons. In 1850
the foreign tonnage had arisen to 1,585,711 tons, and the inland ton-
nage to 1,949,743. In 1815 the foreign tonnage exceeded the inland
60 per cent. Now the inland exceeds the foreign 25 per cent ! The
" registered tonnage " has increased 700,000 tons ; but the " enrolled
and licensed " tonnage has increased 1,400,000 tons. The whole in-
crease from 1820 to 1850, (a period of thirty years,) is 175 per cent.
Now the growth of population in that period is 130 per cent., proving
the growth of commerce and navigation to be faster than that of the
people. Among the most obvious causes of this fact is the introduc-
tion of steam navigation on the western rivers. The steam tonnage on
all the western rivers exceeds 300,000 tons ; but this had no existence
in 1815, the period of comparison in the above table.

THE "WAVE" PRINCIPLE OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

THE term " wave principle," often used, is little understood, except
by those Avho have studied naval architecture as a science, although
all the fastest ships, whether propelled by sails or steam, have adopted
the principle. According to the old principle, it was considered that
vessels should be built with the water line nearly straight, the run of
the vessel a fine line, and that there never should be a hollow line,
except a little in the run of the ship, and that there should on no
account be any hollow line in the bow, but that the water lines should
be either straight, or rather convex. Some years ago, at the request of
the British Association for the Promotion of Science, Mr. Scott Russell

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 31

and the late Dr. Robinson, of Edinburgh, undertook a series of experi-
ments, with the view of ascertaining the form which would enable a
vessel to move most quickly through the water. These experiments
lasted for years, and established a set of facts which were reduced into
new rules, the majority of which were decidedly the reverse of the old
rules in ship-building. They began by upsetting the old rule that the
length of a vessel should be four tunes its breadth, as they found that
the greater the speed required, the greater should be the length, and
that the vessel should be built merely of the breadth necessary to stow
the requisite cargo. The second great improvement was, that the
greatest width of the water line, instead of being before the middle,
should be qbqft the middle of the vessel in fact, two fifths from the
stern and three fifths from the bow. The next great improvement was,
substituting for broad, bluff, or cod's-head bow, hollow water lines,
called wave-lines, from their particular form ; and, also, instead of the
old fine run abaft and cutting it away, you might, with advantage,
have a fuller line abaft, provided it was fine under the water. By
these improvements the form of the old vessel was nearly reversed. All
the fast steamboats, accomplishing from 16 to 17 miles an hour, are
built on this principle. English Journal.

FAN PADDLE-WHEEL.

MR. LEE STEPHENS, of England, contributed to the Great Exhibition
a model of a new, and, it is thought, effective system of surface propul-
sion for steamers, which has been denominated the " fan paddle-
wheel." It consists of a series of blades, or segments, connected
together from their common centre (the boss which attaches them to
the shaft) to their common periphery, in such a manner as to constitute
a complete rotatory fan. Each blade is an isosceles triangle, every two
blades forming at their outer extremities two sides of an equilateral
triangle, occupying the full width of the paddle-box, the united action
of the whole being necessarily continuous, although the blades, alter-
nately, compress or divide the water right and left, yet entering and
leaving it so obliquely as to avoid unpropulsive disturbance, or any lift-
ing of back-water ; of course, the propulsive effect is precisely the
same forward or backward. Without a diagram we cannot more par-
ticularly explain the invention, but we venture to believe that none of
our readers can fail to comprehend its ingenious simplicity, when they
keep in mind the fact that the constructive principle may be cor-
rectly defined as that of a rotatory fan. It is applicable to ail surface
propelled steamers, of whatever size ; and its advantages are
simplicity, strength, and economy of construction, even compared
with the common paddle-wheel ; avoidance of vibration by continuity,
and of back-water by peculiarity of action ; decreased retarda-
tion when deeply immersed ; and increased speed with the same
amount of power, consequent upon the saving in that power by conti-
nuity of action, and by the entrance and egress of each segment of the
fan obliquely, instead of horizontally. In action each segment assim-
ilates to the motion of a fish's fin, or to that of a scull or oar, and the

32 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

entire action very closely approximates to that of a screw applied to
surface propulsion. The invention is highly recommended by compe-
tent authorities, the increased velocity derivable from its use being esti-
mated at from one sixth to one eighth. London Mining Journal.

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND STEAMERS.

THE following extract from the last report of the Secretary of the
Navy furnishes a striking illustration of the rapid advances recently
made in this country in the construction of ships and steam-vessels :

" In everything pertaining to the building, armament and equip-
ment of vessels of war, the scrutinizing and active mind of the present
age has not been idle. Merchant vessels of large draught have recently
been built and rigged in our country, which have sailed, by the force
of the winds alone, one thousand statute miles in three days, and with
an approach to the like rate of speed in long voyages. Improvements
and discoveries in ordnance and gunnery have been introduced, by
means of which, in the opinion of well-informed officers, a ship of infe-
rior rating say of 32 guns may be so built and rigged and armed
as to prove more than a match for the stoutest line-of-battle-ship of
the old construction and armament. How far the power of steam may
be added to increase the superiority of the modern vessel in speed,
destructiveness, and other points of a man-of-war, is also a fruitful
theme of speculation and experiment. In illustration of one of the
improvements in war steamers, it is represented to the department that
the boilers of the Mississippi, planned fifteen years since, and with tho
best intelligence of the day, may be reduced nearly one half in their
dimensions and weight ; and, at the same time, made to double the
power of the vessel, with about the same expenditure of fuel as at
present."

SCREW vs. PADDLE

AN interesting experiment took place recently, at Copenhagen,
between two steam-vessels of equal size, 800 tons and 260 horse-power.
Each vessel's engines were made by Maudsley, of London. The Hol-
gerdenser (paddle), carrying two 60 pounders and six 24's, and the
Thor (screw), carrying fourteen 32's, were lashed stern to stern, when
the Thor towed the paddle at the rate of 2f ths knots per hour
through the water, in spite of her full power applied to her paddles.
Boing disconnected, they were then tried against a strong breeze,
when the screw again had the advantage over the paddle ; but when
they were put before the wind (no sails set) the paddle had the advan-
tage of the screw to the same extent. Both vessels were of similar
model, the paddle being a little longer, narrower, and sharper than
the other. Both had their armaments, as above, and a full comple-
ment of coals on board ; the paddle drawing 12 feet 3 inches aft, and
12 feet forward ; the screw, 15 feet 6 inches aft, and 14 feet forward.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 33

NOVEL RUDDER OF A SHIP.

THE ship Warren, bound from Glasgow to New York, having encoun-
tered severe weather, lost her rudder on the outward voyage, and
there being no timber o board of sufficient size to construct a new one,
and none of the requisite machinery to connect it, even if made, to the
tiller, a most ingenious device was hit upon by Captain Law ton, which
was successfully carried out by the crew, by which means the ship, with
a valuable cargo and 150 passengers, was safely steered to her port of
destination. The Warren drew about 16 feet of water, and a sufficient
number of ropes being fastened so as to form a sort of hempen plank,
very similar to a close door mat on a gigantic scale, the whole was
bound together with transverse pieces of wood, thoroughly lashed
throughout, and secured with iron rods at the edges. For the hinge,
a series of chains were substituted, and two more with blocks and con-
necting ropes, running under the quarter, and fastened to the windlass,
gave the steersman almost as complete control as the ordinary wheel.
This truly ingenious piece of mechanism has elicited the warmest
expressions of admiration from many nautical veterans.

METALLIC RUDDER.

THE rudder of the United States steamer San Jacinto, recently con-
structed at the Brooklyn Navy- Yard, is something of a mechanical
curiosity. It is about 24 feet in length, composed of a centre wrought-
iron spindle weighing 2,249 Ibs., turned and finished ; upon this spindle
is cast, for nearly the entire length, a composition casting of copper and
tin, of 1,940 Ibs.; to this casing flanges project nearly the entire
length of the spindle, to which are riveted the copperplates which form
the rudder. The object of the casing is to prevent rust on the iron.
The whole weighs about 6,350 Ibs., and was manufactured at the
Washington Navy- Yard.

THE DUPLEX RUDDER AND SCREW-PROPELLER.

AN T invention, entitled as above, has recently been patented by
Captain Carpenter, of England. It consists of two rudders and two
screw-propellers, fitted in new positions for improved steering and
propelling. From the midship section of the vessel to the stem, no
alteration is introduced into the form of the huh 1 ; but abaft this point
they commence. First, the keel, with the dead-wood, stern-post and
rudder, are removed, and the flooring above receives a suitable form
for strength. Two additional keels lie in a line parallel with the
former keel, but placed at a distance of two or more feet, according to
the size of the vessel, on either side of it, terminating at the midship
section in the fore-part, and in a line with the former stern-post in the
after-part. Framework is carried down to these keels, leaving a free
channel for the water to run between them in the direction of the mid-
ship keel. A stern-post is placed at the end of the additional keels,
and upon each of which hangs a rudder. A screw-propeller works in
an orifice in each framework, on the common arrangement. One of
the propellers is a little more aft than the other, to allow full play to

34 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

both, and yet economize space in the mid-channel. The appearance
of the vessel in the water is not altered in the side view, neither is it
much changed in the stern view. The consequence of this new
arrangement is, that the rudders and propellers are acting with
double effect in each case. The rudders are receiving an increased
power, because the impact of the water upon them, takes place at an
angle which is constrained by the situation of the keels, and which is
the most favorable that can be had. The two propellers, also, revolv-
ing as they are in water confined in a limited space, are working to
considerable advantage. The effect actually produced is, that, when
required, a vessel can be turned about in nearly half the space that a
single rudder can turn it, and the two propellers will give a proportion-
ate increase of speed.

The advantages gained by the new construction of the vessel are
also considerable. There will be more strength, more bearings in the
run, more breadth for cabin room. The rolling and pitching will be
reduced very considerably. The vessel wih 1 not make lee-way as
formerly ; the vibration, or tremulous motion, will be lessened. The
safety of the vessel will be very much increased, because the duplex
rudder will have the effect of instantaneously changing the direction,
should she be running into some unexpected danger ; also, if one rud-
der should be damaged, the other can be used to steer with. The
propellers also can be used separately when required.

STATIC PRESSURE ENGINE.

CONSIDERABLE discussion has taken place in several New York jour-
nals, relative to a supposed new motive power, devised or invented by
Messrs. Sawyer and Gwynne, of that city, and which is denominated
the " Static Pressure Engine." In the scheme set forth, the compres-
sion of atmospheric air is proposed to be made effective by the intro-
duction of centrifugal force as an auxiliary agent or power, the initial
moving force, or atmospheric pressure, and the auxiliary force both
acting on non-elastic fluid or water, which is used as the medium of
motion.

The machine consists of a covered cylindrical basin, 26 inches in
diameter and two inches deep, to which is attached a vertical tube
four inches in diameter, and of any required length. A spiral groove
runs the whole length of the tube, and this, together with the basin,
is supposed to be filled with quicksilver. The whole is to be rapidly
revolved about a vertical axis, when the centrifugal force of the mer-
cury in the basin drives the mercury out through a valve on the edge
of the basin, and leaves a vacuum behind. The mercury, as it escapes
from the basin, falls into a reservoir communicating with the bottom
of the spiral groove, through which it is forced by the pressure of the
atmosphere with such velocity that the reaction of the sides of the
groove causes the tube and the attached basin to revolve with great
momentum, evolving new centrifugal force by which the vacuum is
perpetuated. Mr. Sawyer supposes that the centrifugal force of the
revolving mercury is sufficient to maintain its OAvn revolution unini-

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 35

paired, and leave a large surplus capable of being applied to any useful
purpose.

In Cincinnati, a Mr. Solomon has constructed an engine, for the
employment of carbonic acid as a motive power, which is said to work
successfully.

THE LARGEST SHIP IN THE WORLD.

THE Oriental Steam Navigation Company, England, are now con-
structing an iron steam-ship, of the following dimensions and power :
viz., length between the perpendiculars, 325 feet, breadth of beam, 43
feet ; depth, 32 feet. She will measure about 3060 tons, and will be
propelled by four engines of the collective working power of 1200
horses ; will have feathering paddle-wheels, and a guaranteed average
speed of 14 knots, equal to sixteen statute miles per hour. Some idea
may be formed of the size of this gigantic vessel, when it is compared
with that of some of the existing steam-ships most celebrated for their
large size. She will be 51 feet longer than the Great Britain, 60 feet
longer than the largest of the Cunard mail-steamers, the Asia and
Africa ; and 150 feet longer, and 500 tons larger, than a ship of the
line of 120 guns. She is to run between Southampton, England, and
Alexandria, Egypt, a distance of 3100 miles. It is estimated that she
will make the passage in nine days.

GIGANTIC RAILROAD BRIDGE IN GERMANY.

ONE of the most gigantic and colossal bridges ever constructed, was
recently opened for travel on the railroad between Leipsic and Nurem-
burg, Germany. In the construction of this road it was found neces-
sary to carry the track directly across a deep valley, near the town of
Hoff. As it would have required a mountain of dirt to form an
embankment, only a bridge was found practicable. One thousand dol-
lars were offered to architects and engineers, as a premium for the best
plan. As none of the plans sent in were found practicable, the com-
mittee made up one from them, and divided the premium among the
competitors. One engineer proposed to build the bridge in such a way
that it would afford comfortable dwellings for 6,000 people. The foun-
dation of the bridge was laid in May, 1846. It is built principally of
brick, sandstone being used in the foundations. There is a succession
of arches one above the other, having the appearance of colonnades when
viewed from a distance. The bridge is 2050 feet in length, and in the
centre nearly 300 feet high. At the centre, only two arches, of nearly
150 feet in height, spring one above the other while upon the sides
there are four smaller arches. Part of the time, 2000 men were
employed upon it, and the work has continued five years, costing over
$3,000,000.

GREAT BRIDGE AND VIADUCT OVER THE WYE.

A GIGANTIC bridge and viaduct is now in the process of construction
over the river Wye, in Wales, which bids fair to rival in fame the

36 ANNUAL OP SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Britannia, or Menai bridge. The whole will be made of wrought iron, and
will combine the principles of the suspension with those of the tubular
bridges. Including the viaduct, the bridge is 623 feet in length ; the
span or suspended part being 290 feet. There are two separate road-
ways, each being perfectly independent of the other, and their height
is 70 feet over the river Wye at high water mark, so that vessels can
pass under. The roadways of the bridge are formed of iron, put together
in plates, and in form they are similar to the tubes forming the Conway
and Britannia tubular bridges ; but, instead of being roofed in with
cellular divisions of iron, there is for each roadway, and suspended above
it, and at some distance, a strong cylinder of iron. It is suspended on
piers, and from the extremities of this cylinder a looped chain runs
under pins placed on each side of the roadway, in order to brace and
support it. Likewise strong iron braces pass from the cylinder to each
side of the tube, and from the top of each of these side supports to the
bottom of the other, chains are placed for additional strength. On one
side, the roadways rest on six upright iron cylinders, which have been
filled with concrete, and driven firmly on a foundation of rock. The
roadways on this side are continued in the form of a viaduct for about
three hundred feet more, resting upon these upright cylinders filled
with concrete, and firmly imbedded. On the other side, the roadways
rest upon solid rock. London Times.

THE WHEELING SUSPENSION BRIDGE.

EX-CHANCELLOR WALWORTH, who was appointed by the U. S. Supreme
Court a Commissioner to take testimony in the Wheeling Bridge case,
on the issue whether the bridge did or did not obstruct the navigation
of the river, has recently made a report on the subject, from which,
with the account published by Mr. Elliot, the engineer, it appears that
the length of the bridge, from centre to centre of the supporting towers
at each end is 1,010 feet, and the height of the flooring at its greatest
elevation, is 97 feet above the low water surface of the river. The
highest freshet ever known on the river at this point was in 1832, when
it rose 44 feet above its lowest level. There is, therefore, sufficient
height to permit a steamboat, with a pipe fifty feet above the water, to
pass under the bridge at the top of the flood of 1832. The testimony
taken by the commissioner, however, shows an increase in the height
of the chimneys of steamboats to 84 feet in some instances. The pas-
sage-way of the suspension bridge is 62 feet above the water zero on
Wheeling bar ; the highest chimneys would, therefore, strike when the
water was above 8 feet. It appears, from observations made at Wheel-
ing, that the Ohio is in good navigable order more than two thirds of
the year, and that it is the extreme of high and low water only five
days in the year. It being evident that the chimneys must be lowered
or the bridge elevated, and as the speed of steamboats is a great public
convenience, Mr. Wai worth pronounces in favor of the latter course.
The bridge must, therefore, be elevated "twenty-eight feet above the
highest point of the present bridge, and sixty feet above the elevation of
the bridge at the water abutment, on the eastern side." The estimated
cost of this elevation is $208,000.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 37

MACHINE FOR BLOOMING IRON.

AT a late meeting of the Birmingham Institution of Mechanical
Engineers, a paper was read, " On a new machine for blooming iron,"
accompanied by a model, illustrating the invention. The working
portion of the machine consists of three eccentric, cuspidated, semilunar-
shaped cams, working simultaneously, and all kept rotating in one
direction by wheels and pinions, firmly connected together in a strong
frame, and set in motion by a steam engine. The convex sides of these
semi-cylindrical cams are deeply grooved and serrated, and their pecu-
liar form is such, that, on dropping a bloom of iron into the concavity
of the upper cam, as it presents itself, it is immediately drawn into the
vortex, or centre of motion, of the three cams, at the instant when that
opening is the largest. As they rotate, the convexities, in consequence
of the eccentricity of the centres, approach nearer and nearer the
ridges and rough surfaces squeezing, rolling, and kneading the iron in
all directions, like squeezing a sponge in the hand. The cinders and
impurities are thus ejected, and fall out beneath the machine ; and the
cams, in the latter part of their rotation, having closed the space be-
tween them to the smallest dimensions in the revolution, the bloom
is elongated and ejected in the form of an iron cylinder. The paper
stated that the machine was the invention of Mr. Jeremiah Brown,
and that its use was calculated to form a new era in the iron trade.
For the production of superior iron, it had hitherto been considered that
the hammer was indispensable ; but for all purposes of efficiency, rapid-
ity of action, and economy, this machine, it was assumed, would come
into general use. From its strength and simplicity, it would not cost in
repairs 20 a year ; while a hammer involved expenses of ten times
that amount, and the cost of replacing a broken hammer was well-
known in the iron trade to be a serious item. It turned out a finished
bloom, entirely free from cinder, in twelve seconds, the engine working
moderately ; while under the hammer it could not be completed under
eighty seconds. Thus, by the machine, the cylindrical bloom, when
ejected, was still at welding heat, and could be at once passed through
the rolls, while, from the hammer, it had again to pass through the
furnace.

In the discussion which followed the reading of the paper, Mr.
Beazley, the author of the paper, stated that, from some comparative
experiments he had made, as to the strength of the same iron finished
by hammer and by the machine, he considered the quality about equal ;
on different sized bars, in some cases, they were a trifle in favor of the
hammer, and in others of the machine ; but he considered the economy
highly important. In labor there was a saving of Is. 3d. per ton ; in
tools of Is. per ton ; and the saving in time was equally worthy of con-
sideration. That a more perfect ejection of the cinder was effected by
the machine than by the hammer, was clear from the fact that the
same quantity of iron weighed less after passing the former than from
the operation of the latter ; and Mr. Beazley said that he had taken
two blooms direct from the machine successively, and passed them
together through the rolls ; and the result was a perfectly welded joint.

4

38 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Mr. Adams core testimony to the efficiency of the machine ; but he had
seen a bloom passed through the rolls from it, and noticed that a con-
siderable quantity of cinder still oozed from the ends. He thought,
after leaving the machine, the iron might be subjected to a few blows
of the hammer with advantage, and thus aim at the production of a
highly superior article, rather than at the saving of Is. a ton. Mr.
Beazley thought the hammer would be superfluous, as the rolls effected
what the machine had left undone. Mr. Cowper had often seen the
machine in operation, and had not noticed the cinder in the iron at the
rolls, as represented by Mr. Adams. Mr. Williams said, if iron was
imperfectly puddled, the hammer would knock it to pieces and show
the defect ; but he feared the machine would roll the iron up, whether
good or bad. From the rolling action, the cinder would be lapped
up in the iron. He considered the cost of the machine and repairs
would be an important consideration. Mr. Beazley assured Mr. Wil-
liams he was in error ; it had been repeatedly proved that if the iron
was imperfectly puddled, the machine instantly tore it in fragments ;
that, as to complexity, it was as simple as the ordinary rolls, and no
more likely to get out of repair. It had worked four months with only
one trifling accident, which arose from faulty construction at first.
London Mechanics' 1 Magazine.

MALLEABLE IRON.

THE manufacture of this article, which was introduced only a few
years since, is already extending over various parts of the country.
The process of manufacture, which is not generally understood, is thus
explained in the New York Farmer and Mechanic.

To make iron malleable, the common pig, reduced to a state of fusion,
is submitted to a melting heat for many successive hours, by which it
is refined. From this refining furnace, the iron is poured into moulds,
and thus given various forms, according to the wishes of those who use
it, just as common pig is fashioned by moulds. When taken from the
sand, each piece is carefully examined, and, if found perfect in form, it
is, with other articles, submitted to the annealing furnace, where, for
six or eight days and as many nights, the iron is kept in a state of red
heat. The time during which the annealing process is continued,
varies, according to the quality and size of the articles desired. If the
articles to be annealed are large, or are desired of an extra quality, the
time of annealing is prolonged to nine or ten days ; but, if the articles
are small, and the quality is not a matter of much importance, they are
taken from the annealing furnace in a shorter time. Such is the process
of making malleable iron, which is fast coining to be used instead of
wrought iron, in the manufacture of many utensils. For making iron
garden rakes, for culinary utensils, for patent wrenches, and especially
for the manufacture of pistols and guns, malleable iron is used for pur-
poses for which wrought iron was formerly used. Malleable iron, by a
process of refining and annealing, has become tough, and thus answers
the ends, in many cases, of wrought iron.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 39

SHEET-IRON PIPES.

SHEET-IROX pipes, of a new manufacture, have lately been introduced
into England from France, where they have been in use for several
years. They are made of sheet-iron, which is bent to the required
form, and then strongly riveted together, after which they are coated
with an alloy of tin, and the longitudinal joints are soldered, so as to
render them both air-tight and water-proof. In order to give them
more stiffness, they are next coated on the outside with asphalte cement,
and if they are intended to be used as water-pipes, the inside is also
coated with bitumen, which resists like glass the action of acids and
alkalies. They are so elastic, that they will bear a considerable deflec-
tion without injuring the pipes, or causing any leakage at the joints.
The vertical joints screw together in the same manner as cast-iron gas
pipes. These pipes have been used for water, for gas, and for drain-
ing, and are found to be more economical than cast-iron, besides being
less liable to leak, and, for water-pipes, they are more healthy than the
common ones. Railroad Journal.

ILLUSTRATION OF THE TENACITY OF IRON.

THE Birmingham Journal (England) says : A singular illustration
of the tenacity and ductility of iron has been produced at an iron
establishment in this city. It is in the form of a book, the leaves
of which are of iron, rolled so fine that they are no thicker than apiece
of paper. The book is neatly bound in red morocco, and contains forty-
four of these iron leaves the whole being only the fifteenth of an inch
thick. This curious book was rolled in the ordinary sheet-iron rolls.

CAST-IRON BUILDINGS.

THE applicability of cast-iron to the construction of buildings was first
discovered in this country by Mr. Bogardus, of New York, who, after
trying, without success, to interest capitalists here in the matter, went
to England, where he was equally unsuccessful. In that country
uTought-vcon had been used for building ; but, although the advantages
of cast-iron were obvious, it was thought that Mr. Bogardus had over-
estimated the strength of the material. He returned to the United
States, and eventually succeeded in obtaining the necessary capital to
carry out his plan ; and is now doing a very large and increasing busi-
ness in Xew York. The discovery of gold in California was literally the
circumstance which crowned the invention of Mr. Bogardus with its
present success. The sudden demand for large houses there, the want
of ordinary building materials, and the high prices of labor, forced the
people of that State, and those from the Atlantic States, speculating in
California property, to look favorably on the plan for the substitution
of cast-iron for brick and wood in house-building. New York merchants
first sent such houses thither, which, being put up in a day for each,
month required for the erection of an English wrought-iron building,
and answering better in many other respects, caused so many orders to

40 ANNUAL OP SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

be returned for similar houses, that the inventor was soon compelled to
increase his force so as to make his factory one of the leading industrial
establishments of New York. A cast-iron building from this establish-
ment has been put up in Baltimore, for the office of the Baltimore Sun,
which ranges for 150 feet on two streets, and is five stories in height.
During the past year, a tower of cast-iron has been erected in New
York, to sustain a fire-bell, weighing 20,000 pounds. This tower is
ninety feet in height and twenty feet in diameter. Some three years
since, when the first iron building was erected in New York, consent
was very reluctantly given by the authorities to its construction, on the
ground of danger to firemen from bursting in case of fire.

TUBULAR WROUGHT-IRON MASTS AND SPARS.

Tins invention, by Capt. C. F. Brown, of Warren, R. I., consists in
the employment of masts, yards, and other spars of wrought-iron tubes
fitting within one another in a manner similar to the joints of telescopes,
the larger tubes forming the larger part or parts where the greatest
strength is required, and the innermost or smaller tubes forming the
ends, the whole number being secured together by a screwed rod or
rods, made secure to the larger outside tube or tubes, and passing
through nuts in the inner ones. The several tubes can be set in any
position by setting-screws, so that the length of each mast, or spar,
may be varied at pleasure. The upper masts are to be made in the
same way as the lower ones, and to fit into them, and be secured by
other screw-rods secured to the upper joints of the masts immediately
below them. The gradual diminution of the size of the tubes gives the
necessary taper to both the mast and yard, and each may be formed of
any number of joints necessary for the purpose intended. The masts
and spars, when stowed away, can be screwed into one another, or the
screw-rods may be taken out, and the tubes slipped into one another,
thus enabling them to be stowed away in very little space. Any spars
may be made in the same way. Scientific American.

WROUGHT-IRON TUBULAR CRANES.

THE same principle adopted in the formation of the Britannia Tubular
Bridge, has been applied by Mr. Fairbairn, to the construction of a
crane for lifting heavy goods. This crane is entirely composed of
wrought-iron plates, firmly riveted together, and so arranged that the
upper side is particularly well adapted to resist tension, and the under,
or concave side, embodying the cellular construction, to resist com-
pression. The form is correctly that of the prolonged vertebrae of the
bird, from which the machine takes its name. It is truly the neck of
a crane, tapering from the point of the jib, where it is two feet by 18
inches wide, to the level of the ground, where it is five feet by three
feet six inches. From this point it again tapers perpendicularly to a
depth of 18 feet, under the surface, forming a cone, the bottom of
^vvhich terminates in a cast-iron shoe, which forms the toe on which the
crane revolves. The lower or concave side, which is calculated to resist
compression, consists of plates forming three cells, and varying in thick-

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 41

ness in the ratio of the strain ; and, on the other hand, the convex or top
side, which has to bear the pull, or tension due to the suspended weight,
is formed of long plates, connected together by the system of chain riv-
eting, which Mr. Fairbairn first applied in the great tubular bridges
of Wales. The sides of the crane are of uniform thickness throughout,
the joints being covered with T iron, and externally with strips four and
a half inches wide. This arrangement of materials constitutes the ele-
ments of strength in the crane. From the closest calculations made,
it appears it would require a weight of 63 tons to break the crane.
With 20 tons, the permanent set or deflection of the jib was 3. 33 in.,
and after remaining suspended 16 hours, the further deflection was,
0.64 in. The advantages peculiar to this construction of crane are its
great security, and the facility with which bulky and heavy bodies can
be raised to the very top of the jib without the least risk of failure.
London Mining Journal.

CHINESE METHOD OF REPAIRING BROKEN CAST-IRON VESSELS.

IT is well known that the Chinese are accustomed to repair cracked
or broken cast-iron vessels by means of a solder of melted iron. An
explanation of this process, as performed by the Chinese tinkers, is fur-
nished by Mr. Balestier, U. S. Consul at Singapore, in the following
letter to Thomas Ewbank, Commissioner of Patents :

" MACAO, Feb. 6, 1850.

" Sir, According to your desire, T have carefully observed the Chinese
method of reuniting or joining together cracked or severed cast-iron
vessels, so as to make them useful as ever after an accident. Speci-
mens of utensils so mended have been forwarded to the Patent Office.
Among them is a cast-iron pan, measuring twelve inches in diameter
by four inches deep. A crack of three inches was made in it in the
first place, and, in the second, a piece was entirely broken off, giving
rise to two distinct operations.

" The operator commenced by breaking the edges of the fractures
slightly with a hammer, so as to enlarge the fissures, after which the
fractured parts were placed and held in their natural positions by means
of wooden braces. The pan being ready, crucibles made of clay, were
laid in charcoal, and ignited in a small portable sheet-iron furnace, with
bellows working horizontally. As soon as the pieces of cast-iron, with
which the crucibles were charged, were fused, it was poured on a layer
of partly charred husk of rough rice, or paddy, which was previously
spread on a thickly doubled cloth, the object of which is to prevent the
sudden cooling and hardening of the liquid metal. Whilst in this liquid
state it was quickly conveyed with the right hand to the fractured part
under the vessel, and forced up with a jerk into the enlarged fissure,
whilst, with the left hand, a paper rubber was passed over the obtrud-
ing liquid, inside of the vessel, making a strong, substantial and neat
operation. You will thus remark that the art of the Chinese for re-
uniting cracked or severed cast-iron vessels, of all sizes, consists in
cementing them with cast-iron, whilst in the liquid state.

4*

42 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

The weight of the vessel sent by Mr. Balestier, is three and a quarter
pounds. Except at the centre, where a part, two inches over, is left
thick and flat for a base or foot to rest on, the thickness does not ex-
ceed, and in fact scarcely reaches, one tenth of an inch. The handles
are cast on, but appear to have been first formed and inserted into the
mould. This does not seem to have been of sand, as the inner and
outer surfaces are smoother, and of a different appearance, from iron
cast in that material. Of the metal used for repairing this pot, Mr.
Balestier has forwarded a lump that was not melted. It is part of an
old kettle, and differs but little, if any, from our pot metal. The cruci-
ble, not much larger than a thimble, is made apparently of the same
material as our common sand crucibles ; except the shape, it could not
l)e distinguished from one of them. The amount of one fusion seems
not to cover more than half an inch of the crack, and hence, in the piece
inserted, no less than nine distinct applications of the melted metal
are seen resembling in the inside so many ragged wafers touching
each other, while on the outside, where the metallic plaster was ap-
plied, there are the same number of rude protuberances. Dr. Gale,
one of the examiners of the Patent Office, has made a chemical exami-
nation of a portion of the basin, and finds it a very pure white cast-iron,
containing scarcely any foreign matter, except a little carbon and silex,
ingredients always present in cast-iron. Patent Office Report, 1850-51.

IRON PAVEMENTS.

THE use of iron plates, as a pavement for streets, has been introduced,
during the past year, in some parts of the city of Glasgow, Scotland,
with great success. The pavement consists of plates about three quar-
ters of an inch thick, three feet long, and eighteen inches broad. The
upper surface is grooved, so as to resemble in some measure the inter-
stices between paving-stones, only that the grooves are not in contin-
uous straight lines, but a sort of zig-gag, so as to prevent most effectu-
ally horses' feet from slipping. The plates are rabbeted on the edges,
the one resting on and supporting the other throughout the whole
series. The joints are so close that none of the material forming the
bed or substratum can ooze upwards, as is the case with ordinary pave-
ment, and which causes not only the irregularities of the surface, but
most of the dust and mud which disfigure the streets and annoy pas-
sengers. The plates are laid upon a bed of sand, with some lime inter-
mixed, but not sufficient to give it the coherence of concrete. The
surface being levelled, the plates are laid on it with great facility and
rapidly, and being pressed down with a wooden hammer until a solid
uniform bearing is attained, the operation is complete. As com-
pared with the best stone causewaying, there is much less noise, jolting,
and materially diminished friction or resistance ; while the footing for
the horses is fully more secure than on the best granite paving. At
the present price of iron, the iron pavement would cost from 7s. 6d. to
8s. 6d., according to thickness, per square yard ; whilst granite paving
costs in Glasgow from 8s. to 9s., and in London from 12s. to 14s. 6d.
the yard. The cost of laying and preparation will be certainly not

MECHANICS AXD USEFUL ARTS. 43

more, if not less, for the iron than for the stone paving, and the proba-
ble increased endurance, apart from its other tested advantages, will,
we should think, throw the preponderance of economy vastly into the
iron scale. Glasgow Journal.

ON THE LAMINATION OF IRON.

WE derive the following remarks, in reference to the lamination of
iron, especially when used for railroad bars, from an article by H. L.
Damsel, Esq., in the Journal of the Franklin Institute for August :

Various attempts have been made to remedy the tendency of best
iron to laminate. An ingenious apparatus has been patented in this
country, and also in England, for twisting the rail bar, while it is in the
course "of manufacturing. By means of powerful machinery, the bar
is twisted while in its rough .state, until the fibres of metal encircle
the rail, instead of lying in a direction parallel with its axis. But it
is found that the twisting of the bar alone is insufficient to retard the
laminating process, while the fibrous character of the metal still exists.

An English manufacturer has patented a process for manufacturing
what appears to be a near approach to an anti-laminating rail. His
plan is to construct the upper or Avearing part of the rail from puddled
charcoal iron in the un wrought state, and the lower part from the iron
ordinarily used in manufacturing rails. This arrangement materially
reduces the formation of fibre ; yet the high price at which these rails
have been sold in England, has hitherto limited their employment to a
few isolated experiments on some of the leading railroads hi Great
Britain.

To discover means whereby wrought rails might be rolled from com-
mon metal, and yet be free from the laminated structure attendant on
its employment, experimental trials were made with rails rolled from
variously constructed piles, built up of common puddled iron, with and
without the admixture of superior qualities. This was done with the
view of ascertaining if the present system of piling could not be advan-
tageously altered for one which, with little or no additional expense in
the manufacturing over that now incurred, would result in the produc-
tion of a perfectly non-laminating rail. The object aimed at, therefore,
was one which, if attained, would be of incalculable benefit to railroad
companies. The plan usually adopted is to arrange the bars, whether
these are of milled or puddled iron, side by side, and one on the other,
till a pile is built of the required dimensions. By thus arranging them,
the grain or fibre of all the bars runs in the same direction longitu-
dinally. This parallelism is maintained in the subsequent process of
rolling, when the pile is distended from its original length of about three
feet, into a finished rail of from 24 to 20 feet long, but is reduced laterally
and vertically from seven inches wide and nine inches high, equal to 63
sectional inches, to a bar, averaging, perhaps, six square inches. The
fibres of the metal are thus distended longitudinally to nine times their
original length, and, to meet this elongation, they are compressed into
one ninth of their original sectional area. The fibrous character of
the metal continues and is multiplied at each successive rolling, until.

44 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

as is not unfrequentlj the ease at iron works, it is no longer available
for manufacturing purposes.

The remedy which Mr. Damsel proposed for this prevailing tendency
to laminate, consequent on the disposition of the plates or bars in par-
allel layers, was to withdraw a few of the long bars, which ran the
whole length of the pile, and replace them with a number of short ones,
which were to be laid crosswise to the others, and whose length would
consequently be equal to the breadth of the pile. The first piles con-
structed on this plan were wholly composed of puddled iron disposed in
parallel layers, with the exception of the two upper layers, which were
of the best metal. The top layer of best metal was of the usual length,
and was placed along the pile in the usual manner ; but the one under
it, resting on the puddling bars, was composed of short pieces laid across
the pile, with their fibres at right angles with that of the others.
Apparently, this simple alteration in the disposition of the bars of
metal composing the un wrought pile, could not affect the structural
arrangement of the manufactured bar, but in reality it occasioned a
most important change. The rails rolled from these piles were placed
on cast-iron blocks, standing three feet apart, and broken by blows from
a heavy ram falling freely between fixed guides. The appearance pre-
sented by the fractured ends was very different from anything pre-
viously observed in rails. For a depth of full half an inch from the
surface, the fractured metal presented the crystalline appearance of fine
white cast-iron, while the remainder of the rail exhibited the usual
coarse fibrous character commonly observed in rail-iron. Yet, although
the contrast between the two metals was striking in the extreme, the
line of junction was not discernible, and the union of the two qualities
appeared to have been effected in the most solid manner.

The alteration thus eflected in the structure of the metal, by the sin-
gle layer laid across the pile, led to further experiments on piles with
two cross-laid layers, having a thickness of long bars between them ;
and in subsequent experiments the number was increased, till every
alternate layer was thus disposed. The effect of a second cross layer
of best iron was to double the depth of the fine crystalline metal , but
when this second layer Avas of puddled iron, the metal, when broken,
appeared to be formed of large crystals, not unlike coarse white pig
iron. The metal in the bars rolled from piles built up with layers laid
alternately along and across the pile, could scarcely be distinguished in
its appearances from cast metal, so great had been the change which
the altered mode of piling had effected in the structural arrangement
of the iron. By placing a cross layer of short bars at the head and
foot of the pile, the rail, when broken, exhibited the crystalline structure
at the top and bottom, with a centre mass of fibrous metal, and on
placing cross layers in the middle of the pile only, the rail was found
fibrous at both top and bottom, but crystalline in the middle. It is
possible, therefore, to produce rails with non-fibrous metal in any de-
sired proportion, and occupying any desired position.

The experiments on the conversion of fibrous into crystalline iron at
pleasure, by merely altering the sj'steni of the piling, satisfactorily
demonstrated that by disposing a moiety of the bars across, instead of

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 46

along the pile, as was heretofore the universal practice, a rail perfectly
void of lamina could be manufactured from highly fibrous metal. The
additional expense from using the short cross-bars over that incurred
in the usual way, amounted to about ten cents per ton on the rails
experimented upon ; but in the event of the plan being generally
adopted, as it is presumed it will be, there being no patent right to
contend with, the additional expense from the extra labor in shearing
will probably not exceed three or four cents per ton. These experiments
developed the fact that the existence of fibre is caused by the rolling
being in one continuous direction ; and, therefore, fibre may be produced
in any required direction ; or, if it is desired to have iron free from
lamina and equally strong in every direction, it is only necessary to
roll the bars alternately at right angles with the former axis. Apart
from the great advantage of a non-laminating metal, the rails prepared
under this plan of cross-piling display qualities which render them pecu-
liarly valuable for railway purposes. When tested by a heavy weight
falling freely on them from a height of fourteen feet, the indentation
occasioned by the impact was very much less than that on rails man-
ufactured in the usual way ; and, tested by supporting them, at the
ends, and suspending a weight of two tons for a few minutes on their
centre, the permanent deflection was also found greatly in favor of the
cross-piling. The mechanical action of the rolls in neutralizing the
previous structure appears to have condensed the particles of metal,
and to have violently expelled the cinder and other extraneous matter
with which it was combined. The increased rigidity appears also to
have resulted from the increased density of the metal in the upper por-
tion of the bar, offering a greater resisting medium to compression.

This neutralizing the tendency of bar-iron to resolve into the fibrous
structure, is partially understood in the manufacture of boiler, plate and
sheet iron. The plan followed in these instances consists in alternately
presenting the end and side of the plate to the action of the rolls,
whereby the expansion of the metal is equal in each direction ; but this
procedure, though well adapted to neutralize the formation of fibre,
when the object operated on is a plain iron plate, is inapplicable in the
case of rails, by reason of their angular section and great length cir-
cumstances which render it essentially necessary that their movements
be in the same plane.

The beneficial application of the principle of cross-piling is not limited
to the manufacture of non-laminating rails ; it may be advantageously
extended to various descriptions of wrought-iron for engineering and
building purposes, where a partial or total absence of lamina is desired.

RYDER'S PATENT FORGING- MACHINE.

VARIOUS attempts have been made to supersede the costly hand labor
of the smith by machinery, but generally without success ; a result
which, we believe, may be attributed in a great measure to the pro-
jectors attempting too much. In practice, it will not do to feed iron
in at one end of a machine, and bring it out finished at the other. For
many kinds of engine-work it is now cheaper to leave the forging rough,

46 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

and take off the superfluous metal with a slotting or planing machine,
than to allow a smith to spend his time in attempting to work exactly
to drawing. In textile machinery, however, there is an immense
quantity of work to be done, of a slight character and uniform dimen-
sions. To suit this kind of work, a forging machine has been invented by
Mr. W. Ryder, of Boltou. Eng., and was exhibited at the Great London
Exhibition. The machine consists of a strong cast-iron frame, carrying
a driving shaft. On this shaft are forged eccentrics, which give motion
to swage-holders situated above it. These swage-holders are guided
vertically by the frame, while the motion required by the eccentric is
allowed for by pieces, the toes of which work in the hollow on the top
of the swage-holder. Each swage-holder is provided with a spiral
spring, which bears on a key fixed in the frame, and raises the swage
after the eccentric has depressed it. A slot is cut in the swage-holder
to allow it to slide on the key. Machines of this class are always
liable to breakage from a bar of too large a size being put between the
swages. This can only be remedied by allowing some elasticity, which
in this case is ingeniously effected by inserting a piece of cork in the
lower swage-holder, which can be compressed by a screw to any degree
of hardness. By another screw, also, the lower swage can be lowered
bodily, whenever it is required to vary the size of work to be executed.
One of the tools forms a pair of shears to finish the work to a proper
length, and by moving a handle which acts upon an eccentric, the
lower tool can be raised to meet the upper one. This arrangement is
necessary, as, from the rapid motion of the tool, which makes GOO to
700 blows per minute, it would be impossible to introduce the work
without bruising it. A series of rests are placed opposite to each pair
of tools, which can be adjusted both in height and horizontal distance ;
the table carrying the rests can also be moved along the frame to
facilitate the adjustment. In using the machine, the swages are
adjusted So that, by placing the rod of iron successively between them,
it is drawn down to the size required, whilst the length of each part is
accurately ^determined by placing the end of the rod in the rest. The
machine cannot, therefore, turn out the work too small, whilst, at the
same time, it is so near the finished size, that very little has to be taken
off in the lathe. As an example of its economy over hand labor, it is
stated that a man with the machine will make 17 dozen spindles per
day, 15 inches long, and tapering from | to inch, at a rate, piece-
work, of 5d. per dozen, whilst by hand he could only turn out six
dozen, for which he Avould be paid lOd. per dozen. In some kinds of
work the economy is still greater. All kinds of files may, it is stated,
be forged by this machine at one third the cost of hand labor. Lon-
don Artisan.

ON THE STRENGTH OF IKON EMPLOYED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRON

VESSELS.

MR. "W. FAIRBAIRN, at the British Association, presented the results
of some experiments made by him, witli a view of obtaining same
knowledge of the strength of the iron generally used for the construe-

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 47

tion of boilers, pipes, &c. In order to acquire satisfactory data, a
variety of plates, manufactured from the best quality of iron, of differ-
ent localities, were submitted to direct experiment ; first, by tearing
them asunder in the direction of the fibre ; second, across it. The
mean tensile strength per square inch, in tons, was found to be 22.16,
in the direction of the fibre ; 22.29 across the fibre. From this it will
be observed, that there is no difference in the strength of iron plates,
whether torn in the direction of the fibre or against it, and this uni-
formity of strength probably arises from the superior manner in which
that article is now manufactured. The experiments would, however,
be imperfect as regards construction, if they had not been extended to
the process of riveting ; and on this point our information has been of
the most meagre description. Until of late years, many of our numer-
ous constructions have been conducted under the impression that the
riveted point was not only strong, but absolutely stronger than the plate
itself; whereas, more than one third of the strength is lost by that pro-
cess. To prove the fallacy of these views, it was ascertained by exper-
iment, that the strength of iron plates, as compared with their rivet-
ed joints, was not only weakened to the extent of the quantity of
metal punched out to receive the rivets, but that in the following
ratios, viz., as 1000 to TOO in the double riveted joint, and 1000 to
560 in the single riveted joint. From the above facts, practical for-
mula have been deduced to show that the maximum resistance of single
riveted plates does not exceed 27,000 Ibs. to the square inch ; and
taking into account the crossing of the joints, and other circumstances
peculiar to sound construction, 34,000 Ibs., or 15 tons to the square
inch, has been found to be the maximum strength of riveted plates,
such as those used for boilers and similar constructions. In conclusion,
attention was directed to several important improvements in connec-
tion with the construction of steam-boilers, by the introduction of gus-
sets to strengthen the flat ends and retain them in shape. After
noticing that all boilers should be of the cylindrical form, Mr. Fair-

i/

bairn observed, that where flat ends are used, they should be com-
posed of plates one half thicker than those which form the circumfer-
ence. The flues, if two in number, to be made of the same thickness
as the exterior shell, and the flat ends to be carefully stayed with gus-
sets of triangular plates and angle-iron, connecting them with the
circumference and the ends. The use of gussets is earnestly recom-
mended, as being infinitely superior to, and more certain in their action
than stay-rods. They should be placed in lines diverging from the
centre of the boiler, and made as long as the position of the flues and
other circumstances will admit. They are of great value in retain-
ing the ends in shape, and may safely be relied on as imparting an
equality of strength toevery part of the structure.

COMPARATIVE STRENGTH OF PLAIN AND CORRUGATED METAL.

SOME experiments have been recently made in Philadelphia, to test
the comparative strength of plain and corrugated metal. Two pieces of
copper, of equal surface and thickness, were formed into arches of about

48 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

15 inches in length ; the one had a flat surface, and the other two corru-
gated arches. The arch with the flat surface gave way under a weight
of a few pounds, while the corrugated arch withstood the weight of two
men, who violently surged upon it, without making the least impres-
sion. In another experiment, made upon a larger scale, and under
equal conditions, the plain arch gave way with 3,126 Ibs. of pig iron
upon its crown, while the corrugated arch bore the weight of 16,094
Ibs. of the same metal for 48 hours, without the least perceptible
deflection. This was afterwards increased to 27,000 Ibs., which also
remained for 48 hours, without the least deflection perceptible to the
eye.

IRON-WORKS AMONG THE HOTTENTOTS IN 1849.

THE Bakatlas work a great deal in iron. The ore is smelted in cru-
cibles, a great deal of the metal being wasted, and only the best and
purest preserved. They use a sort of double bellows, consisting of two
bags of skin, by which the air is forced through the long tapering
tubes of the two horns of the oryx. The person using the bellows
squats between the two bags. Their hammer and anvil consist of two
stones. They, nevertheless, contrive to turn very neat workmanship
out of their hands, such as spears, battle-axes, assagais, knives, sewing-
needles, &c. Cumming's South Africa.

WROUGHT-IRON RAILROAD CARS.

THE Railroad Journal states that a company has been recently
formed for the purpose of manufacturing wrought-iron railroad cars.
The sides, roof and bottom of the car are made of wrought boiler and
Russia Iron thus presenting what may truly be termed a Safety Car.
No broken axle, bar, tie or rail can pierce the floor, and, in case of a
collision, the frame may become dented, but cannot break up into dan-
gerous splinters. These cars are not only rendered more durable than
the ordinary wooden car now in use, but they are a lighter article,
lower in price, and are perfectly fire and weather proof. They may be
rendered highly ornamental also.

METALLIC CASKS.

MR. R. CLARE, of Liverpool, has, within the year, patented a plan
for the manufacture of metallic casks. The invention consists in
making casks from staves made of sheet metal, the object being to
render them conveniently portable when not required for use. The
staves are formed with the requisite bulge and taper to produce a cask
of the desired form, and are provided with flanges at the edges for
securing them to each other, which may be d8ne by bolts and nuts,
or any other convenient method. The hoops may be made of wood or
of iron, being provided in the latter case with a screw to tighten them.
The heads of the casks may be formed of wood or metal, and retained
in their places between knees of angle iron. When the casks are
employed for containing fluids, it is recommended to introduce a slip
of India rubber between the abutting flanges of the staves.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 49

THE STEEL MANUFACTURES OF SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND.

THE London Patent Journal furnishes the following statistics relative
to the steel manufacture of Sheffield :

Judging from the state of trade, the production of steel in Sheffield,
in 1850, could not have been less than 23,000, probably 25,000 tons,
though the average produce of the last five years would probably not
exceed 17,500 to 19,000 tons. WQ have no means of ascertaining
the quantity of steel used in the home manufactures, but, judging from
the annexed statement of the exports of steel, \ve feel convinced
that we are not far short of the mark hi the above calculation. The
following table shows the progress of the steel trade, at quinquennial
periods, during the last thirty years ; the second column showing the
quantity exported, and the third column the export to the United
States, which is our principal market.

Years. Tons. Tons.

1820, 326 ... .85

1825, .... 533 .. 130

1830, .... 832 397

1835, .... 2,810 .... 1,886

1840, .... 2,583 . . . 1,202

1844, .... 5,121 .... 2,376

1849, .... 8,085 .... 5,216

The quantity exported in 1850 was 10,587 tons, of the declared
value of 393,659.

COMPARATIVE ELASTICITY OF WROUGHT AND CAST IRON".

THE mean ultimate resistance of wrought-iron to a force of compres-
sion, as useful in practice, is 12 tons per square inch, while the crush-
ing weight of cast-iron is 49 tons per square inch ; but for a considerable
range under equal weights, the cast-iron is twice as elastic or compresses
twice as much as the wrought-iron. A remarkable illustration of the
effect of intense strain on cast-iron was witnessed by the author at the
works of Messrs. Easton & Amos. The subject of the experiment was a
cast-iron cylinder, 10| inches thick, and 14 inches high, the external
diameter being 18 inches. It was requisite for a specific purpose to
reduce the internal diameter to 3 inches, and this \vas effected by the
insertion of a smaller cast-iron cylinder into the centre of the large one ;
and to insure some initial strain, the large cylinder was expanded by
heating it, and the internal cylinder, being first turned too large, was
thus powerfully compressed. The inner cylinder was partly filled with
pewter, and, a steel piston being fitted to the bore, a pressure of 972
tons was put on the steel piston. The steel was upset by the pressure,
and the internal diameter of the small cylinder was increased by full
three sixteenths of an inch ; that is, the diameter became 3-f-ths of an
inch. A new piston was accordingly adapted to these dimensions ; and
in this state the cylinder continues to be used and to resist the pres-
sure. The external layer of the inner cylinder was thus permanently
extended 8-Vrths of its length. In fact, it can only be regarded as loose
packing, giving no additional strength to the cylinder. Under these

5

50

ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

high pressures, when confined mechanically, cast-iron, as well as other
metals, appears, like liquids, to exert an equal pressure in every direc-
tion in which its motion is opposed. Clark's Britannia and Conway
Tubular Bridges.

A NEW METHOD OF OBTAINING ELABORATE METALLIC CASTINGS.

A NEW method of obtaining elaborate and delicate castings has been
devised by Mr. Dircks, of London. The most intricate and curious cast-
ings we are acquainted with are those obtained in moulds, from
nature's own works, by imbedding a leaf, plant, &c., in a semi-fluid
medium, which, when hardened, can be dried and raised to a tempera-
ture sufficient to burn the enclosed object to ashes. But, if it were
desired to produce, by this method, a casting, as a wreath, bouquet,
group of animals, &c., the artist would find himself unable, or else be
obliged to make as many separat&jaaouMg a&4jiere were involved parts
hi the object to be cast. To^^^thhdtSffi^y^Alr. Dircks employs
a laver of wax on a sheet/oc^elass : the wax isGnisteived in the man-

* -L *^O^^^ -*C7^ x

ner desired, and a plaster (rast mafteorithe top orj&et engraved wax.

On slightly warming thfemass, theplaster and wak Ikave its surface

together, presenting a penecl^Q3pfoj|ni a]$J${jance. ] The plaster is

now to be heated grad

like snow into the eart?

plaster, quite sharp, p

appearance, even where

ness. In this way any figure ma;

X sinks into it
now engraved
waxed or oily
an inch in thick-
in sheet wax, and after-

wards cast in plaster. A metallic casting is then made in the usual
manner from the plaster. In order to economize wax, a mixture of
stearine, Burgundy pitch, and resin, may be substituted. In this way
metallic castings may be obtained, which hi delicacy exceed any before
produced. An electrotype may, if desired, be taken from the plaster,
instead of a castin. ^London Athenaum.

INCRUSTATION IN BOILERS.

DR. BABBIXGTON, of London, has taken out a patent for preventing
incrustation by voltaic agency. For iron boilers he recommends a
plate of zinc, 16 oz. the square foot, to be attached to one of its edges
by solder to the ulterior of the boiler ; and both sides of the plates
being left exposed to the action of the iron and water, voltaic agency
thus excited is said to have the desired effect. For large boilers, two,
three, or more plates may be used, as necessary.

IMPROVED METHOD OF DRIVING A TILT-HAMMER.

A NEW invention for the driving of tilt-hammers has recently been
introduced into the United States Armory at Springfield, which will be
of great importance to every large forging establishment in the country.
The old method of driving a tilt-hammer is by a water-wheel to each
hammer, or to every two hammers. The necessity of compelling this
arises from the fact that if the hammer were driven by a belt, from a

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 51

regular moving power, the speed of the hammer could not be increased
or decreased suddenly at will. The new invention consists of a loose
driving belt so loose that when it is not tightened by bearing against
it the driving drum has no action upon it. A pulley is attached to a
compound lever half way between the drum and the pulley where the
power is applied to the hammer, and, by acting upon the lever, the
pulley presses upon the belt, until it is so far tightened as to drive the
hammer at the utmost speed of the drum. When a smaller speed is
required, the lever is partially released, allowing the belt to slip ; and
in this manner, by increasing or diminishing the tension of the belt,
any required speed is attained. The result of this simple and beauti-
ful invention is that a thousand tilt-hammers, if necessary, may be
driven by one water-wheel, or by a steam-engine. Springfield Repub-
lican.

IMPROVED SPIKE MACHINE.

MR. MARK Isox, of Georgia, has patented an improved method for
making spikes and nails by machinery. The invention is different from
the roller spike machines and the vertical reciprocating cutting nail
machines. There is a horizontal table, nearly the form, of the segment
of a circle, having a hollow space within it, in which works a revolving
cam on a shaft concentric to the table. The iron plate to be made into
spikes is fed in along the upper surface of the table, and is cut off in
strips, of suitable size, across the edge of an opening in the top of the
table, by a vibrating shear-arm working above, and these are pointed
afterwards between the said shear-arm and the table. The cam spoken
of has an intermittent motion, and is made to carry the spike Avithin
the hollow space of the table, and allow it to stop under a holding die
which receives it, when a heading tool conies down and completes the
operation.

MACHINERY FOR COOPERAGE.

THE London Times furnishes the following description of a new method
of constructing casks and barrels, recently put in operation in that city.
The staves of the cask are first cut with straight sides, the circular saw
being placed at a right angle with the oak plank. The stave is then
placed horizontally and bent into a curve by a powerful machine, and
brought into contact with a circular saw on each side of it, placed at an
angle. This process gives the proper shape to the stave, the sides being
gradually tapered at the ends, and being made to bulge in the middle.
The jointing and backing machine, the new invention, is also used for
this purpose, and is more rapid in its execution than the angular saws ;
it in fact works with the most marvellous rapidity and precision. The
staves and one end of the cask are then placed in a machine formed
of iron rods, called a trussing machine ; each rod acts upon a separate
stave, and the whole of the staves being equally compressed into a cir-
cle, the hoops are placed around them and the cask is complete. The
neatness and finish of the work is equal to what a good cabinet-maker
can produce, every part being true and accurate. The calculation is

52 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

that fifteen workmen, with the use of this machinery, can make 150
casks a day ; whereas the same number of persons, using only manual
labor, could scarcely produce a seventh part of that number. The im-
portance of the invention, and the application of steam-power to it,
may be imagined from the fact that the great brewing firms of the
metropolis afone expend many thousand pounds annually in cooperage,
and the expenditure of the navy is still greater, and that the demand
of the vintages of the Continent is so great that a great deal of wine is
lost from the difficulty of furnishing vessels to hold it.

NEW ROOFING.

A PATENT has been recently granted, in England, to Mr. Cowper, for
improvements in coverings for buildings, by means of tiles, or plates of
sheet-iron rendered applicable for that purpose by coating it with an
enamel or composition capable of enduring and protecting the metal
from the weather. Tiles, according to this manufacture, may be of any
suitable form, with a view to render them more or less ornamental,
combined with utility. The body of the tile, which is of thin sheet-
iron, is cut or stamped of the proper shape. It also has a raised head
formed round the edge, to prevent the water running off the tile, with
the exception of the lower end, where it drips on to the next. Two
holes are also punched for fixing the tiles to the wood-work. The upper
or narrow end of the tile is bent at right angles, which is introduced
in an opening between supporting laths or strips of wood. The hook,
or right-angled portion, sustains the tile, while two nails, introduced at
the holes, steady and keep it in its place. In lieu of the nails before
referred to, to fix the tiles, the patentee sometimes rivets a hook so as
to project on the under side of the tile ; the stein of the hook is riveted
through a hole in the metal plate before it is enamelled, which, when
so coated, is impervious to water, and obviates the necessity of an India
rubber washer under the head of the nail, which is required when fas-
tened by nails through the holes. The coating of these tiles is applied
in two separate compounds, the one as the body, and the other as a
glaze for the surface of the composition. The coating for the body con-
sists of sand or silica. The glaze, or second coating, is applied in the
shape of a fine powder, which is dusted on the wet coating until the
entire surface is covered. The powder, adhering to the moist coating,
causes it to set in some measure, when the tile is deposited in a drying-
room, previous to baking or firing. The tiles may be rendered orna-
mental by the application of coloring matters, according to any design
or pattern, which are burnt in, and thereby rendered indelible, as well
understood in porcelain manufactures. London Mining Journal.

ON TILE APPLICATION OF CHILLED CAST-IRON TO THE PIVOTS OF ASTRO-
NOMICAL INSTRUMENTS.

THE following paper was read before the British Association, by Mr.
May :

" It has long been known that if a mould for casting iron in be

-MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 53

made of iron, or partly of iron and partly of sand, that portion of the
casting which has run against the iron becomes what is technically
termed '.chilled,' and is indicated by a white crystalline structure to
a depth depending upon various conditions of temperature of the mould
and the metal run into it, as well as of the chemical composition of the
iron. The practical utility of chill-casting depends on the fact that
the part thus rendered crystalline is of extreme hardness, nearly equal
to that of hardened steel, whilst the remainder of the casting may be
as soft as iron cast in the ordinary sand mould. The rationale of the
effect thus produced is not well understood. Cast-iron is a compound
of iron with variable proportions of carbon, and these proportions have
not, as I believe, been yet reduced to anything like atomic order ; some
statements give as much as 15 per cent, of carbon in very soft pig-iron,
and such iron exhibits very little or no tendency to chilling. Practical
experience is at present the only guide to the production of the desired
effect ; in some cases a very thin hard stratum is desired, in others a
considerable depth ; and this stratum may be varied from an almost im-
perceptible white line to half or three quarters of an inch hi depth ;
this latter being required in the larger rolls for making the finest thin
sheet-iron. Chemically speaking, cast-iron and steel are of the same
composition, viz., iron with a proportion of carbon ; the proportion of
the latter in cast-iron being infinitely greater than in steel. Here I
would point out a remarkable difference between chilled cast-iron and
steel. If the latter is heated red-hot, and plunged into cold water, it
becomes extremely hard ; if, in this state, it be again heated, it re-
sumes its original softness ; but if chilled iron be so treated, it still re-
tains its hardness. Whether this is caused by mere mechanical arrange-
ment or by the chemical combination of the atoms, whether there be
a metallic base of carbon in one case and not in the other, or by what-
ever these differences are caused, is far too little understood. The
whole subject is one deserving the close attention of those whose pur-
suits enable them to study chemical analysis. Indeed, when we reflect
on the fact, that, without the peculiar properties of iron and carbon,
civilization could not have been carried on, it does appear strange that
the master minds of the age have not acquired more knowledge of the
relative action and combination of these two substances. It would be
foreign to our present object to enter upon the mode of manufacturing
steel ; but I may state the fact that it is extremely difficult to procure
any masses that are of uniform density, whilst chill cast-iron is easily
produced with large homogeneous surfaces : and this brings me to the
main subject proposed for your attention, viz., the apph'cation of it to
pivots of astronomical instruments. About four years since, the Astron-
omer Royal applied to ray partners and self respecting the construction
of the mechanical parts of a new meridional instrument, the size of
which so greatly exceeded anything of the same kind, that it became a
serious question of what material the pivots should be made ; it was
requisite that it should be both hard to resist wear as much as possible,
and homogeneous to insure that whatever wear took place should be
uniform. The extensive use we make of chill cast-iron suggested that
if the pivots were so cast with the body of the axis in sand moulds, and

d*

54 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

all run together, an instrument might be produced combining all the
requisite qualifications. This has been successfully accomplished, and
the great transit-circle or meridian instrument is now at work in the
Royal Observatory, to the satisfaction of the Astronomer Royal, on
whose designs the whole has been constructed."

A full-sized model of the telescope was in the room, by which it was
shown that the pivots are six inches in diameter, and the axis about six
feet in length. The object-glass is eight inches aperture, and about 11
feet focal length ; and, after a rigid examination of the form of the pivots,
the Astronomer Royal has concluded that no correction for the shape
of the pivots is required.

JENNING'S PATENT RIFLE.

THIS rifle is by far the most terrible implement of modern war-
fare yet invented. It is designed, principally, to be an almost end-
less repeater, and also to avoid the difficulty of capping or priming at
each load. In appearance the rifle is of the ordinary size, without en-
cumbrance of any kind. Its weight is no greater than the ordinary
weight of a common gun, and it only differs from the latter externally
in having an iron breech with a wooden stock, which breech is hand-
somely finished and engraved. By a simple contrivance within this
stock, the breech-pin is withdrawn as the gun is cocked. A cartridge
(of which we shall speak) is placed in this opening, and, on pulling the
trigger, the pin closes the barrel tight, a strong block of steel falls be-
hind it, and the gun primes itself and is discharged at one motion.
There is nothing complicated in the machinery, but, on the contrary,
it is so simple that it can hardly by any accident get out of order, and,
in case of such accident, any worker in iron can repair the break. By
this contrivance a rifle is made capable of being loaded at the breech as
often as it is fired off, and as rapidly as a man's hand can move to throw
in the cartridges. This is at the rate of twelve shots per minute for a
person not acquainted with the gun ; a velocity sufficient to make one
man fully equal to a dozen armed with ordinary rifles.

Another variety of the same gun is now completed, and nearly per-
fected by the patentees, which differs not at all from this in external
appearance, except that, in place of a ramrod, is a tube of the same
size, capable of containing thirty cartridges, which, by a very simple
contrivance, are so arranged that they are placed in the barrel one by
one, and fired successively without any interruption. The moment that
the thirtieth ball is fired, this gun may be used as the first one, loaded
at the breech, and be fired at the rate of fifteen in a minute. But the
chief strength of this formidable weapon rests on the cartridge which
is used. This cartridge, which is also patented, is simply a loaded ball.
A bullet, elongated on one side to a hollow cylinder of about an inch
in length, is filled with powder, and, at the end, covered with a thin
piece of cork, through the centre of which is a small hole, to admit fire
from the priming. As each ball goes out of the barrel, the cork cap
remains in the barrel, and is carried out in front of the next ball, sweep-
ing thoroughly all the dirt with it. The gun may thus be discharged

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 55

from sixty to seventy times in good weather without needing a swab.
The barrel may be detached at a single blow of a hammer or stone, and
a swab run through it in a moment at anytime, the operation of clean-
ing occupying no longer than the ordinary loading of a common gun.
The priming of the rifle is in small pills, of which one hundred are
placed in a box, from which the gun supplies itself without fail. These
rifles are now extensively manufactured at Windsor, Vt. ; and, from
their long range, will, it is said, completely destroy the efficacy of
light artillery. *"

MAYNARD'S SELF-PRIMING RIFLES.

IN this rifle, the invention of Dr. Maynard, of Washington, D. C., no
caps are used ; but the priming consists of a patent preparation of per-
cussion paper, made into a coiled ribbon, placed inside a small box adjoin-
ing the vent or nipple. This strip of priming paper passes over the top
of the nipple, and, by means of a notch in the hammer, a small portii >n
of the paper is cut off each tune the hammer descends. When the
hammer strikes the prepared paper, it being percussive, the powder is
ignited, and the gun discharged. The question may now be asked,
" How is the paper fed over the nipple for a new priming, after having
been cut off by the hammer ? ' This is done by a small flat steel spring,
secured on the periphery of the ring of the hammer joint. When the
hammer is drawn back, the flat spring is moved forward, pushing the
priming slip over the orifice of the nipple for the next discharge. When
the hammer falls down on the nipple, the spring is drawn back for a
new feed of the paper : this would draw back some of the paper, were
it not for another small stationary spring, which holds the paper so as
to allow it to be fed only up and along the metal incline to cover the
nipple.

This invention has been examined by an army commission, and the
right of use purchased for the United States.

IMPROVEMENT IN GUN BARRELS.

A NEW method of manufacturing twisted gun and pistol barrels has
been introduced in England, which is thus described: An iron or
steel rod, or a mixture of both, of sufficient length and thickness to form
a gun or pistol barrel, is wound into a compact coil, and then placed in
an anvil having a semi-circular groove, where it is submitted to the
action of the tilt-hammer. The coil is then submitted to a welding
heat in an air furnace, then hammered and rolled, a stream of water
being used hi both cases to wash away the scale.

The tilt-hammer has a groove on its face, corresponding with the
anvil, to act upon the coil, before the welding.

ANTIQUITY OF REPEATING FIRE-ARMS.

Ix the museum of the United Service Club, London, there is a pistol,
supposed to be two hundred years old, which, with the exception of the

56 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

lock, is constructed upon principles similar to the pistols known as
Colt's Kevolvers. The following is the description of this weapon, as
given in the catalogue of the institution: "1160. A Snaphaunce
self-loading petronel, probably of the time of Charles I. The contriv-
ance consists of a revolving cylinder, containing seven chambers, with
touch-holes ; the action of lifting the cock causes the cylinder to revolve,
and a fresh chamber is brought into connection with the barrel. Six
of the seven chambers are always exposed to view, and the charges are
put in without the aid of a ramrod.''

COLOSSAL INDIAN GUN.

A VERY curious and colossal piece of Indian ordnance has been lately
discovered in the bed of the Bhagretti river, in Bengal. Unlike any
cannon of the present day, this piece consists of two separate portions
the huge cylinder that forms the barrel, and the smaller piece, or
breeching, which alone was loaded, and, when required for' use, was
lashed on with ropes or chains to the hinder part of the large cylinder,
and fired. The holloAV cylinder (for it is open at both ends) is of
wrought-iron, and of very coarse workmanship, being constructed of
iron hoops, embracing longitudinal bars, but, by rust and age, all
appearing to be one and the same uneven mass. The cannon has been
vastly strengthened by eleven powerful and massive rings, that encircle
the cylinder at the distance of ten inches apart. An attempt has been
made to ornament the face of the vent and last muzzle ring ; the former
by a rude Vandyke edging to the vent, the latter by a row of round,
bead-like excrescences. Between the muzzle and the last vent-ring are
a quantity of bronze or copper longitudinal small bars let into the iron
of the gun, probably for side sights, perhaps for ornament.

As no attempt ever appears to have been made to bore the gun, the
cylinder is anything but smooth, the bars rising and falling in some
places a full perpendicular half inch. How a cannon ball would behave
passing over or out of such a bore, it is hoped experience never informed
the maker, as nothing but the most disastrous consequences could
possibly result from firing such a dangerous machine. Many large guns
exist in India, that have, at different periods, been cast by kings and
princes, but have never been fired ; the present gun may be one of the
many. The whole length of the hollow cylinder is 12 feet 2 inches ;
bore, 18.| inches ; length of detached breeching, 4 feet 3 inches. No
interest is attached to the gun, but it is believed by some to have been
manufactured and intended to be used against the Mahrattas, who, in
days gone by, after having traversed nearly the whole of India, were in
the habit of making descents upon the city of Moorshedubad.

SCIENCE OF GUNNERY.

Lv the new edition of Sir Howard Douglass' work on Naval Gunnery,
he attributes the success of the Americans at sea, during the last war,
not to better firing, but to superior guns. He says : " When we came
into collision with the Americans, our equals in seamanship and cour-

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 57

age, and, tit the period alluded to, our superiors, perhaps, in gunnery,
and certainly in ships, we speedily discovered that headlong, uncalcu-
latiug courage was not alone sufficient to insure success. In the action
between the United States and Macedonian, Decatur, conscious of the
superiority of his long 24 pounders over the 12 pounders of the Mace-
donian, pelted the enemy at a long-shot distance for an hour ; and the
British court-martial on 'Capt. Carden found that the Macedonian was
very materially damaged before close action commenced."

Sir Howard Douglass regards with distrust the introduction into British
ships, to the extent to which, in some instances, it has been carried, of
Paixhan and other French shell guns, as yet untried in actual combat
in broadside batteries. This description of guns he considers not well
adapted for action, either at great distances or at close quarters, and is
of opinion that ships chiefly so armed will stand little chance against a
distant cannonade of solid shot guns, owing to the superiority of the
latter in respect to power of range, accuracy in distant firing, and pene-
trating force. Scientific American.

MACHINE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PERCUSSION CAPS.

A MOST ingenious machine for the manufacture of percussion caps
has recently been invented by Mr. George Wright, of Washington. It
occupies a comparatively small space of about three by four feet, and is
supplied with copper in sheets, fourteen by forty-eight inches ; the ful-
minating powder being deposited in a small hopper for distribution in
the caps as they are formed. The machine, being supplied with the
material, it is put in operation by steam power, and the sheet of copper
is fed from right to left and left to right, alternately, rolling in at the

cj tj *- ' Cj

proper interval. The star or blank, for the cap, being cut, it is quickly
transferred to the forming die, where it is pressed into the required
form. The cap is then lifted from the die by means of a punch
beneath, and lodged in the periphery of the charging plate ; it is then
carried around by the plate, passing under the hopper containing the
powder, where, receiving its proper charge, (half a grain.) it passes on
under 'the charging punch, where the powder is firmly pressed in the
bottom of the cap. The cap is then thrown from the plate, falling into
a drawer beneath, prepared to receive them. It then continues its
operation of cutting, forming, charging and pressing, in rapid succes-
sion, until the whole sheet, as if by magic, is transformed into caps in
a finished state, ready for use. One man or boy, only, is required to
superintend its operation, producing 5,000 caps an hour, or 50,000 per
day. Scientific American.

MANUFACTURE OF MUSKETS AT THE NATIONAL ARMORY, SPRINGFIELD, MS.

derive from the Springfield Republican the following facts relative
to the manufacture of muskets in the Armory at that place, for the
year ending June, 1851 :

The total expenditures of the Armory for the fiscal year, ending
June 80th, 1851, were $271,308.33. Of this sum, $179;216.29 were
paid out for labor alone. To show the extent and variety of the stock

58 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

and materials used, we give the items consumed last year : Refined
iron, 446,628 pounds ; cast-iron, 41,298 ditto ; inferior iron, 3,977 ditto ;
wire iron, 1,079 ditto ; cast-steel, 63,146 ditto; shear-steel, 651 ditto ;
nails, 2,326 ditto ; wood screws, 163 gross ; sand paper, 326 quires ; sul-
phuric acid, 2,823 pounds ; boards and plank, 145,013 feet ; timber,
32,204 ditto ; bricks, 20,000 ; leather, 1788 pounds ; sperm and whale
oil, 2380 gallons ; assorted files, 8613 ; grindstones, 52,634 pounds ;
charcoal, 46,598 bushels ; anthracite coal, 2,438,924 pounds ; pit coal,
53,700 ditto ; fire-stone, 4,480 ditto ; furnace clay, 134 bushels ; and
wood, 200 (2 feet) cords.

The result of the operations of last year is as follows :

Percussion muskets, complete, ..... 21,000

Percussion musketoons, complete, ..... 2,000

Muskets altered from flint to percussion, .... 57,272

Extra cones for issue with muskets, .... 119,757

Compound screw-drivers, for issue with ditto, . . . 90,908

Percussion hammers, (for other posts,) .... 41,682

Arm-chests and packing-cases, ..... 295

Col. Pvipley, the commanding officer at the Armory, received an order
to alter the flint lock muskets to percussion, if practicable, at a cost not
exceeding $1 per musket. This work was commenced in July, 1849,
and the whole number, 113,406, were completed by February, 1851, at
a cost of 50 cents each. At the close of the year there were on hand
a grand total of two hundred and fifteen thousand nine hundred and
fifty muskets. The manufacture of a single musket is effected by four
hundred different operations, and the majority of the men employed
engage in only one of the operations. A larger number of muskets
were manufactured last year, than any year previous ; and a calcula-
tion, based upon the number turned out, shows that, throughout the
year of 318 working days, of ten hours each, a musket was completed
every eight minutes and fifty-six seconds. The various parts of the
musket pass, during their manufacture, through the hands of inspectors,
who, with their gauges, determine the exact dimensions of every piece,
and reject every one that is not exactly what is required. Thus, a hun-
dred thousand muskets might be taken to pieces, and thrown promis-
cuously into a pile, and the whole taken up and put together again
without the mis-fit of a single component to its appropriate place.
Thus, too, when the arms are in use, there is never need of sending
them to the Armory for repairs.

The smallest piece value of a component of a musket is one mill ; the
highest $3.50.

The following is the weight of a musket, in detail and total, expressed
in pounds and hundredths of a pound :

Weight of barrel, . . . ... 4.25

Weight of locks and side-screws, ..... 0.85

Weight of bayonet, . . . . . . . 0.68

Weight of musket without bayonet, .... 9.14

Weight of musket, complete, ..... 9.82

This weight is less than that of the old flint inusket.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. , 59

The exact cost of a single musket, of the number manufactured last
year, cannot be stated, the inventory being uncompleted ; but the cost
in the year 1850 was $9.03. The cost for the last year will be less.
In ten years, the cost of manufacture, per musket, has been reduced
nearly one half, it being in 1841, $17.44.

The process of manufacturing the musket-barrel is one of the most
important and difficult in the whole range of the Armory operations,
and one which is guarded with multiplied tests, at every step of its
progress, from the bar to the finished tube. The bar, which is of the
best Salisbury and Ancram iron, is first cut into lengths, weighing
10| pounds each. These are rolled into shapes, and then the edges
rolled up, lapped upon each other, and welded. They are then in-
spected, and the imperfect ones rejected. As they pass along through
turning, boring, and grinding, they are subjected to inspection at each
step, and the workmen are held responsible for the full value of any
barrel they may spoil, at the stage in which it is spoiled, and the
amount is deducted from his earnings ; and we say here, that the same
course is adopted in regard to every component of the musket. The
barrel having been reduced to the dimensions required for proof, (by
powder,) which dimensions are three hundredths of an inch greater
in the exterior diameter of the barrel, and three hundredths of an inch
less in the diameter of the bore, than the finished barrel, leaving an
ounce and a half to be worked from each barrel in finishing, it is then
subjected to the powder test. Fifty-five barrels are usually loaded and
discharged at the same time, in a building made for the purpose.
Each barrel is discharged twice, the first consisting of one eighth of a
pound of powder, one ball and two wads, each wad occupying three-
fourths of an inch of the bore, and each ball one fifteenth of a pound.
The second charge consists of one twenty-second of a pound of powder,
one ball and two wads, and each charge is well rammed. The barrels
are laid on a cast-iron, grooved bed, and the balls are discharged into
a bank of clay, which is occasionally washed for the lead it contains.
The inspection of the barrels is so rigid before they come to the proof,
that very few of them burst. After proof they are again inspected as
before, to see that there are no flaws, or cracks, or defects of any kind
that will not disappear in the finishing. The number of condemned
barrels, in the last year's operations, was, for defective workmanship,
451, and for defective material, 5,323.

In the polishing shop connected with the Armory, an ingenious con-
trivance has been recently introduced for sparing the lungs and lives
of those who would otherwise live (or die) in a constant atmosphere of
emery dust. A long box runs the length of the room, by the side of
which are stationed the polishing wheels. Tubes with mouths open-
ing upon each wheel proceed from this long box. In the room below
a blower is arranged in such connection with the long box as to ex-
haust the air within it. and, of course, there is a strong current of air
passing from each wheel into its appropriate tube. The consequence
is, that ail the dust of the room is drawn into the box, and delivered
out of doors in a constant cloud.

60 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

NEW WATER METRE.

THE necessity for a perfect self-acting metre for measuring water, in
cities supplied with water-works, has long been felt and acknowledged.
This want has at last been met by an invention of Mr. Samuel Iluse,
of Boston, who has constructed a machine which is not only simple,
but wonderfully efficient. It consists of a hollow cylinder, 10 inches
wide and 16 inches in diameter, inside of which is a flange cylinder,
about six inches in diameter. This inner C} r linder has flanges, on
which are four valves, extending from one end to the other of the
cylinder, and attached to it by hinges. These valves, when folded or
shut into the cylinder, form a little more than half its surface. Upon
one side of the metre the space between the inside of the hollow and
the surface of the flange cylinder is so filled as to occupy something
more than the width of one of the valves. This filling is made to fit so
exactly as to prevent the water from passing. Upon one side of this
filling the water enters the metre, and upon the other side the water
is discharged. The metre is so placed that the valves will, by the
force of gravity, open as they reverse from under the solid filling, and
shut upon the opposite side previous to coming in contact with it.
When thus arranged, the water is let into the cylinder, and comes in.
contact with the open valves ; the inner c} T linder revolves until the water
escapes upon the opposite side ; and, of course, for every revolution of
the interior cylinder, a given quantity of water must pass through the
metre. This is carefully marked by means of a clock which is attached
to the cylinder, and which will indicate the precise quantity of water
which has passed through the machine in any given time.

Upon the application of this machine as a water-measurer in Boston,
it was found that, owing to the great head which the Cochituate has
in most parts of the city, it was well adapted as a motive power, and
that to a most unexpected and extraordinary extent. This new prop-
erty has been turned to advantage by the proprietors of the Boston
Daily Traveller, who now use the metre exclusively for driving one of
Hoe's large cylinder presses. The manner in which this is effected is
as follows : through a two-inch lead pipe, a stream of Cochituate is
introduced into a metre, which only occupies 24 square inches.
The fall of water between the Boston reservoir and this metre is about
a hundred feet. This two-inch stream will discharge 80 gallons of
water each minute, and passing through the metre will give a motive
power equal to what is called three horse-power.

The revolving flange cylinder is connected, externally, with cog-
wheels, a shaft, and pulley ; and from the pulley a belt extends to the
driving-wheel of the printing machine. The flow of water is regulated
by means of a screw-gate near the metre. This machine, where it is
capable of application, has many advantages over the steam engine.
It is less hazardous, requires no attention, and is always in readiness.
It can be used in buildings and neighborhoods where a steam engine
would not be allowed. The water passes into the sewer, and will thus
perform a sanitary mission in scouring out the drains. As a measurer
of water it is also of great value.

MECHANICS AXD USEFUL ARTS. 61

ERICSSON'S WATER METRE.

TIIE following is the specification of a patent granted to Mr. Ericsson
for an improved water metre : " The principle which distinguishes my
invention from all other things before known, in an instrument having
two cylinders provided with pistons, connected with cranks at right
angles, or such other angles as will enable the pistons alternately to
act on the crank shaft to rotate it, consists in connecting the two pis-
tons with their cranks, so that while the shaft is impelled by one
piston the other shall remain at rest at the end of each stroke, until
the shifting of the valves is completed, for the purpose of insuring the
accurate measurement of the fluid passing through and acting as the
motive force. My invention in the above apparatus also consists in
determining the range of motion of the pistons, by means of stops at
each end connected with the cylinders and pistons, instead of doing
this by the cranks ; by reason of which I am enabled to measure the
fluid passing through with the utmost accuracy, a result which could
not be obtained if the motions of the pistons were determined by the
crank, for the least wear of either the crank-pin or the journals of the
shaft, or the boxes in which these work, or the slightest change in the
position of the cylinders relatively to the parts with which the pistons
are connected, occasioned by strain or wear, would of necessity vary the
amount of water discharged at each stroke. My invention in the
before-mentioned apparatus also consists in attaching to the instrument
an outer casing, through which the fluid to be measured passes, and
from which it enters the cylinders, which casing incloses the valve and
valve gear, as also the other moving parts, and the upper ends of the
cylinders, that the various moving parts may work in the fluid, to be
lubricated thereby, whilst at the same time the various joints are pro-
tected by being pressed with a nearly equal pressure on all sides by the
fluid ; and also avoiding the use of packing-boxes for the sliding parts
of the mechanism. What I claim as my invention, is, connecting the
two pistons with the two cranks of a crank-shaft, in manner substan-
tially as described, so that at the end of each stroke of either of the
pistons it shall remain at rest, while the crank-shaft is being impelled
by the other piston, so that the valves shall be shifted whilst the piston
is at rest. I also claim, in an instrument for the purpose herein speci-
fied, determining the range of motion of the pistons by means of stops
connected with the cylinders and the pistons, in combination with the
connection of the pistons with the crank, or cranks, by means of a joint
having sufficient play to permit the pistons alternately to remain at
rest while the crank-shaft continues to rotate. I also claim inclosing
all the moving parts of an instrument in the surrounding casing
through which the water, or other fluid, passes to be measured, con-
structed, and operating in the manner and for the purpose substan-
tially as described."

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR BORING FOR WATER.

MR. JOHX THOMSON, of Philadelphia, has invented an improvement
in machines for boring for water, for which he has taken measures to

6

62 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

secure a patent. The improvements consist in employing a series
of springs, which are placed around and work loosely on the shank or
rod to which the boring tool is secured, and which, by their elastic
action, press against the sides of the hole, and keep the rod of the
borer in a true vertical position ; these springs descend as the boring
chisel descends, and thus the hole of the well is bored with vertical
precision. This is an important consideration when pipes have to be
inserted afterwards in the hole ; but, above all, it allows the boring
action to be carried on without loss of labor by the angular action of
the chisel. The boring-chisel or auger receives a systematic rotating
motion by means of a forked cap placed on the shank of the tool and
worked loosely thereon. Small diagonal chains are attached to the
springs and the cap, a pin attached to the shank catches into one of
the forks of the cap as the shank ascends, and forces the cap upwards ;
the cap (and consequently the shank of the boring-tool) is turned by
the chains assuming their own right line of tension. Scientific
American.

KURD'S CENTRIFUGAL SUGAR MACHINE.

THIS invention, known as Kurd's Centrifugal Sugar Depurating
Machine, is represented to have the same relation in value to the
sugar-maker as the gin has to the cotton-grower, effecting a saving of
time and sugar, as well as improving the quality of the sugar. The
apparatus is propelled by steam, and its method of operating is as fol-
lows : The dark mixture of sugar and syrup, just as it is taken from
the sugar-house coolers, is placed in a cylindrical tub, made of iron,
the bottom of which is tight ; but the sides or circumference is
pierced full of small holes, which are covered over by fine wire-gauze.
The cylinder is so arranged that it can be made to revolve on a sta-
tionary axle with great rapidity, making from one thousand to fifteen
hundred revolutions in a minute. The sugar, as soon as the machine
begins to revolve, gradually leaves the bottom of the cylinder and
attaches itself to the circumference. The motion continues; and if
the wire-gauze were not strong enough, the sugar would break it and
escape. The crystals, however, are retained by the fine net-work of
the wire, but the molasses or syrup is driven by centrifugal force
through the wire, and is projected with great power and rapidity into
an outside case, arranged to retain and collect it. In the course of a
short time, varying from five to ten minutes, the molasses has been
thrown off, and the sugar is drained and fit for shipping, being much
drier than when usually put on board. The syrup is now ready to be
boiled a second time, before the air or heat has had any influence
upon it, and another crop of crystals obtained, which can be subjected
to the action of the machine ; and the syrup coming from this second
operation can be treated a third time, until its strength is exhausted.
Each machine is capable of purging from 8 to 10,000 Ibs. of sugar per
day, and the sugar is ready for market the day after it is boiled. The
actual yield is from 20 to 25 per cent, more sugar from the same
quantity of cane-juice ; it improves the quality from | to 1 cent per

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 63

\

lb. over the present method, and leaves the sugar so thoroughly free
from molasses that no loss is made by drainage in shipping.

APPLICATIONS OF CENTRIFUGAL ACTION TO MANUFACTURING PURPOSES.

IT is well known that a centrifugal machine has been hitherto em-
ployed with much advantage for the drying of textile fabrics and for
clarifying sugar ; but these are not the only purposes to which it is
adapted ; for every day new applications of this apparatus sug-
gest themselves, and important problems are solved by its means.
We now learn that one of the most important operations of brewing
may be wonderfully simplified by the use of a centrifugal apparatus.
It has been hitherto considered extremely difficult to reduce the tem-
perature of beer to the degree of coolness requisite ; it has been neces-
sary to make use of refrigerators for this purpose, and, notwithstanding
all precautions, mistakes not unfrequently happen. It occurred to some
English brewers that this difficult cooling process might be effected by
means of a centrifugal machine. This idea has been put in practice
with complete success. The beer was reduced to the desired tempera-
ture by merely passing it through the machine ; and this was effected
not only with great rapidity, but also with considerable economy.
Some time back, M. Touche, of Paris, endeavored to produce ice by
means of a hydrofugal apparatus. He did not succeed in reducing
water to the freezing point, but he cooled it to a degree far below that
required in brewing beer. It would be superfluous to explain these
results, for every one is acquainted with the effects of a very rapid ven-
tilation, and the centrifugal machines are made to rotate at the rate of
3000 revolutions per minute, and even quicker. We are further informed
that in certain manufactories in Alsace a hydrofugal machine is used
for making starch. When the flour is stirred about in water, the dif-
ferent substances range themselves according to their specific gravities,
unless prevented by some peculiar circumstances. Now, this is pre-
cisely the result obtained by the centrifugal machine ; starch, being
the heaviest substance, separates itself from the others, and is first
precipitated. The centrifugal machine may also be advantageously
applied for classifying grain, seed or ores, according to their respective
densities, whether liquid or solid, provided that they are not of a
cohesive nature, or that whatever cohesiveness they possess may bo
easily removed. In fact, the centrifugal apparatus may be applied to
so many different manufactures, that it may justly be looked upon as
one of the most fortunate and fruitful inventions of modern times.
Moniteur Indus triel.

GWYNNE'S CENTRIFUGAL PUMP.

IN this pump, the discs of the piston are of concave form, the hollow
parts beino; placed immediately opposite to each other. An impeller,
radiating from a boss or hollow axis, is fixed between the two discs,
and mounted on a shaft, which may be placed at any required angle ;
the narrowest part of the impeller is at the outer edge of the piston,

64 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

increasing gradually in -width, until its edge intersects the inner sur-
face of the opening in the suction side of the piston ; from which line
to its extremity at the boss its edges are parallel to each other, and at
right angles to the axis of the shaft. An annular opening is left all
round the circumference of the discs, the area of which is equal to that
of the opening for the admission of water to the piston through a cir-
cular aperture in one of its sides. The piston is enclosed in a case of
circular form, in one side of which is a circular opening, through which
passes the suction-pipe, its end tightly secured by a collar to a corre-
sponding projection in the side of the piston. The discharge-pipe is
placed vertically on one side of the receiver ; and in an opening oppo-
site the suction-pipe is fixed a hollow nut to equalize the lateral pres-
sure on the piston. The main journal of the shaft is attached to the
hollow balancing-nut, passing through a proper stuffing-box and gland,
to render the whole properly water-tight. In cases of fire, a pump on
Mr. Gwynne's plan, Avith a discharge-pipe of nine inches diameter, will
throw 4000 gallons per minute ; and with a piston of 48 inches diam-
eter, (the pump making 400 revolutions per minute,) the water would
be raised from mines to a height of 120 feet.

SYPHON FILTER.

THE Syphon Filter is, perhaps, the most convenient kind for general
purposes, as it may be readily carried about and used by any ordina-
rily available pressure. The shape of the filter is that of an elongated
bell. It is made of white metal ; and, at the top of the well-shaped
vase, there is inserted an inflexible metal tube, furnished with a stop-
cock near the end. The vase is filled with powdered quartz, of
various degrees of fineness, and the mouth of it is closed with a per-
forated cover. When required to be used, the vase is inverted in the
water to be filtered, and the tube is allowed to hang below it. When
the air is withdrawn, the water rises through the powdered quartz,
and fills the tube ; and, by syphonic action, the water is drawn down
by its superior gravity. The lower the tube the greater the pressure,
for the weight of water flowing down operates on the filtering surface
as directly as if the same column of fluid were placed above it. The
amount of pressure is, however, limited to that of the pressure of the
atmosphere ; for were the tube lengthened beyond 30 feet, the column
of water would separate and leave a vacuum. This filter renders the
muddiest water beautifully clear when acting with the pressure of not
more than two feet at the rate of four gallons an hour. Report on the
Great Exhibition.

PNEUMATIC PILE FOUNDATION.

THE Civil Engineor and Architect's Journal, for December, fur-
nishes the following description of a system of foundation extensively
used in Great Britain, but little known or appreciated in this country.
The method in question is known under the name of Potts' Pneumatic
Process, and consists in em ploy ing as piles, hollo w iron cylinders, to the

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 65

head of which a powerful air-pump can be connected. The pile is
placed in the proper position, the air from the interior exhausted, and,
a stream of water, sand, shingle and gravel, rushing up from below,
the pile sinks gradually into the displacement made to any required
depth. It is, therefore, a kind of sub-aquatic excavation, the lower end
of the hollow pile being converted into a kind of scoop worked by the
air-pump on the platform above. In this way, hollow iron piles, three
feet in diameter, have been sunk to the depth of 78 feet, through a
material that would not admit the penetration of a screw, or of a wooden
pile, to a greater depth than 20 feet. After the piles have been sunk
any required distance, they may be exhausted of their contents, and
filled with concrete, which, before the decay of the exterior iron shell,
will form an artificial stone pile of great strength and durability.

In the recent construction of a bridge across the Shannon, for the
Midland Great Western Railway, cylinders ten feet in diameter were
used successfully, in the place of hollow piles, by the method described.
Hitherto the piles employed for Potts' process for sea-beacons and
other structures, have been of very small diameter, so that the pro-
ceedings we have just described are of the greatest importance. A
cylinder of ten feet diameter gives a large bearing, and four such cyl-
inders will carry a large tablier or platform for a pier, and which can
be put down without coffer-dams or other preparatory works, thereby
greatly reducing the expense of submarine foundations. Here neither
cofferdams, caissons, steam engine pump, nor diving-bells are wanted,
only an air-pump of adequate power, which can be easily carried about
and rigged anywhere. It will be obvious that unless sunk from the
inside, (when there would be as much trouble for pumping as by
the pneumatic process, and very much labor and expenditure of time,)
any external application of power would, if it could be employed, exer-
cise a very unfavorable effect upon the material of the cylinder. Indeed,
a force of much less than 13 Ibs. to the square inch would smash a
hollow iron cylinder to pieces. Then, again, it is to be observed, that
ten feet is by no means the limit of the diameter to which the cylin-
ders can be carried, so that it is open to engineers to design works ia
situations and under economical conditions, where hitherto the
resources of art were insufficient to meet the emergency.

NOVEL METHOD FOR SINKING PILES.

THE following is an abstract of a paper recently read before the Brit-
ish Institution of Civil Engineers, by Mr. G. Hughes, C. E., on a novel
method of sinking piles. It was proposed to construct the piers of a
bridge over the Medway, on hollow cylindrical iron piles, seven feet in
diameter, each composed of two, three, or more cylinders, nine feet in
length, bolted together through stout flanges ; the bottom length of
each pile being also bevelled, to facilitate the cutting through the
ground. The bed of the river was originally presumed to consist of
soft clay, sand, and gravel, overlaying the chalk, and, accordingly, the
application of Dr. Potts' pneumatic method for forcing the cylinder piles
into the ground, which had been successfully carried out in similar

6*

66 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

positions, was contemplated ; but, after a few trials, the ground was
found to consist of a compact mass of rag-stone, so that the mere atmos-
pheric action upon the piles, induced by a partial vacuum, would be
ineffective in such a situation. It was, therefore, decided that the pneu-
matic process should be reversed, so as to give each pile the character of a
diving-bell ; for which purpose one of the cylinders, seven feet in diameter,
and nine feet in length, had a wrought-iron bolt securely bolted to it,
through which two cast-iron chambers, D shaped in plan, with a sectional
area of six square feet, appropriately called air-locks, projected two feet
six inches above the top of the cylinder. The top of each air-lock was
provided with a circular opening, two feet in diameter, with a flap work-
ing on a horizontal hinge, and an iron door, with vertical hinges, below
the cover ; each air-luck was also furnished with two sets of cocks, the
one for forming a communication between the cylinders and the cham-
ber, the other between the chamber and the atmosphere. Compressed
air was supplied to the cylinder pile by a double-barreled pump, driven
by a six horse-power steam engine. At first the expelled water was
made to pass into the river, from beneath the lower edge of the pile ;
but when the stratum became so compact as to oppose a high degree
of resistance to the passage of the air, an outlet was formed through
the side of the uppermost cylinder, by the introduction of a pipe, having
the form of a syphon, the long leg of which reached to the bottom of a
pile, and was subject to the pressure of the condensed air on the surface
of the water within, whilst the short leg, leading into the river, had the
effect of relieving the amount of compression, providing a vacuum was
once obtained in the body of the syphon. Such an effect was readily
produced by connecting the summit with the exhaust side of the air-
pumps, by a pipe which could be opened or closed at pleasure. To
insure the downward motion of the pile, and to give it a weight which
should be at all times superior to the upward pressure, two stout trussed
timber beams were laid on the top of the cylinder, in a direction
suitable for bringing the adjacent piles into action as counterbalance
weights, by four chains passing over cast-iron sheaves. Two light
wrought-iron cranes vrere fixed inside the cylinder, the jibs of which
swept over the space between the air-locks and windlasses, inside, for
the purpose of hoisting the loaded buckets and lowering the empty
ones.

The method followed in working the apparatus was found to be so
simple in detail as to be perfectly intelligible to all the workmen
employed. The pumps being set in motion, the flap of one of the air-
locks and the door of the other were closed ; a few strokes compressed
the air within the pile sufficiently to seal the joints, and whilst the
j tumping was in progress, the men passed through the air-locks to their
respective stations. When the water was shallow, the pile descended,
by scarcely sensible degrees, as fast as the excavation by hand permitted ;
but when the water was deep, the excavation was carried down full 14
inches below the edge of the pile, which then descended at once through
the whole space, as soon as the pressure was easxl off.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 67

SUSTAINING POWER OF PILES.

THE following rule for calculating the weight that can be safely
trusted upon a pile, driven for the foundation of a heavy structure, is
communicated to the Journal of the Franklin Institute by Major Sanders,
U. S. Engineer :

A simple empirical rule, derived from an extensive series of experi-
ments in pile-driving, made in establishing the foundation for Fort
Delaware, will, doubtless, prove acceptable to such constructors and
builders as may have to resort to the use of piles, without having an
opportunity of making similar researches. I believe that full confidence
may be placed in the correctness of this rule ; but I am not at present
prepared to offer a statement of the facts and theory upon which it is
founded.

Suppose a pile to be driven until it meets such an uniform resistance
as is indicated by slight and nearly equal penetrations, for several suc-
cessive blows on the ram ; and that this is done with a heavy ram, (its
weight, at least, exceeding that of the pile,) made to fall from such a
height that the force of its blow will not be spent in merely overcoming
the inertia of the pile, but, at the same time, not from so great a height
as to generate a force which would expend itself in crushing the fibres
of the head of the pile. In such a case, it will be found that the pile
will safely bear, without danger of further subsidence, " as many times
the weight of the ram , as the distance which the pile is sunk the last
blow, is contained in the distance which the ram falls in making that
blow, divided by eight." For example, let us take a practical case in
which the rani weighs one ton and falls six feet, and in which the pile
is sunk half an inch by the last blow ; then, as half an inch is contained
144 times in 72 inches, the height the ram falls, if we divide 144 by 8,
the quotient obtained, 18, gives the number of tons which may be
built with perfect safety, in. the form of Avail, upon such a pile.

DESTRUCTION OF THE MINOT ROCK LIGHT-HOUSE.

THIS celebrated pile light-house, erected upon Minot's rock, the outer-
most of the Cohasset rocks, distant 20 miles from Boston, was entirely
destroyed, by a terrific storm, on the 17th of April, 1851. The gale
which swept away the structure was one of the most violent and long-
continued ever known upon the New England coast. The light on the
Minot was last seen from Cohasset on Wednesday night, the 16th. At
1 o'clock, Thursday morning, the 17th, the light-house bell was heard on
shore, one and a half miles distant; and this being the hour of high
water, or, rather, the turn of the tide, when, from the opposition
between the wind and the tide, the former blowing on shore, and
the latter receding from the shore, it is supposed the sea was at its
very highest mark ; and it was at that hour, it is generally believed,
that the light-house was destroyed : at daylight nothing of it was
visible from the shore. The two assistant keepers were lost : the prin-
cipal keeper had left the light-house before the commencement of the
storm, and escaped the fate of his companions.

68 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

The following description of the plan of this light-house was given by
the engineer who constructed it Captain W. H. Swift. The rock
upon which the light stood is bare at low water only ; and the utmost
extent of surface exposed at the very lowest tide is an area of about 30
feet in diameter, but, in general, 25 feet is all that is uncovered ; and,
even of that extent, the sea must be very smooth and the wind off the
land. The nearest point to the shore is distant one and a quarter miles
only ; but, seaward, it is entirely open to the Atlantic, and. of course,
exposed to all its violence in an easterly gale.

The structure was composed of nine piles or shafts, made of the
best description of wrought-iron, from 60 to 63 feet in length, each
pile inserted five feet deep in the solid part of the rock. All of them
were eight inches in diameter at the foot, ten inches in diameter at
a point five feet above the foot (at the surface of the rock) ; the
middle pile was six inches in diameter at top, and the outer piles four
and a half inches. These piles stood in the periphery of a circle of
25 feet, with one in the centre. They were united or connected
at five different points, to wit ; at the rock, where each pile was
secured in its place by means of iron wedges, and a cement of iron
filings. 2d. At a point 20 feet above the rock, by means of 16
wrought-iron horizontal braces, three and a half inches diameter,
radiating from the middle pile to each outer pile, and extending,
also, between each pair of outer piles. 3d. By a similar series of
braces, at a point 40 feet above the rock. 4th. By a like series, at a
point 47 feet above the rock, forming the support of the store-room, or
cellar. 5th. By means of a cast-iron cap, or spider frame, 14 feet in
diameter, and weighing five tons, to which were united and secured all
the pile-heads. This frame formed the base or support of the keeper's
house, eight feet high. Upon this was placed the lantern, of iron and
glass, six feet in height, thus making the entire elevation of the struc-
ture, above the rock, about 70 feet, standing upon a base of 25 feet. In
addition to the horizontal braces, a series of wrought-iron vertical tie-
rods, 32 in number, were introduced between the first and second series
of braces. The object of these ties was to stiffen the piles and prevent
vibration.

From the preceding description it will be seen that there was a series
of braces, 40 feet above the rock. Upon these, the keeper had im-
properly built a sort of deck or platform, for the stowage of heavy arti-
cles. This deck, in addition to the weight placed upon it, was fastened
to the piles and braces, thus offering a large surface for the sea to strike
against. In addition to this, the keeper had attached a five and half
inch hawser to the lantern deck, 63 feet above the rock, and anchored
the other end to a granite block, some fifty fathoms from the base of
the light. The object of this was to provide means for running a box,
or landing-chair, up and down. It is clear that so much surface ex-
posed to the moving sea had the same effect upon the light-house, as
\voukl have been produced by a number of men pulling at a rope at-
tached to the highest part of the structure, with the design of pulling
it down. Since the destruction of the light, it has been ascertained
that the rock to which the hawser was attached, was washed in shore
400 or 500 feet. This r.i(.-k was estimated to weigh seven tons.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 69

two ill-judged arrangements of the keeper had undoubtedly much in-
fluence in contributing to its destruction. The following conclusions,
respecting the manner of the destruction of the light, are thus stated
by Capt. Swift, after a minute inquiry into all the circumstances con-
nected Avith it. " Ten hours before the light fell, the platform, which
the keeper had placed on the second series of braces, 40 feet above the
rock, was washed off and came ashore. This platform was 43 feet
above the line of low water, and 28 feet above high water, spring
tides. Without undertaking to speculate upon the probable shock
which the structure must have received from the effect of the sea upon
a platform fastened to the piles 40 feet above the rock, it is enough to
know that at that time the sea had reached within seven feet of the
body or solid part of the structure. The sea was still increasing (the
effect of the continued gale) ; the nest tide was full about midnight,
and it required but a slight increase in the height of the wave or sea,
after having reached the second tier of braces, to bring it in con-
tact with the main body of the structure. When this took place, it is
plain to perceive that such a sea, acting upon the surface of the build-
ing, at the end of a lever, 50 or GO feet long, must be well nigh irresist-
ible ; and I doubt not that the light-house was thus destroyed. The
conclusions I arrive at, therefore, are these : 1st. That the sea did reach
the main body of the structure. 2d. That the platform placed by the
keeper on the second series of braces, contrary to the design of the
builder of the light-house, contributed to the overthrow. 3d. That the
five and a half inch hawser, attached to the top of the light, and ex-
tending 300 feet north-west, or in a direction directly at right angles
with the direction of the sea, north-east, had a most injurious tendency,
and that it was enough in itself to cause the overthrow of the light-
house, had the sea not reached the body of the structure. It is easy to
perceive that the force of such a sea upon 300 feet of a hempen rope,
of five and a half inches, must have been immense, when the rope was
attached to the weakest part of the building, 60 feet above the rock."
It is the opinion of Capt. Swift, that a stone structure, like the Eddy-
stone, for want of sufficient base, cannot be made to stand upon the
Minot, and that the pile light destroyed was as firmly constructed as
circumstances would admit.

STONE AND IRON CONGLOMERATE FOR LIGHT-HOUSES, ETC.

ONE great item of expense in the erection of light-houses, in exposed
and difficult situations, as the Bell-Rock and Skerry vore edifices, has
been the peculiar form to which it was found necessary to shape the
blocks of stone, in order to make them self-sustaining, and to prevent
lateral motion or lifting. Without going into the details of the various
devices for connecting the blocks, it may be stated that eacli was of a
double dove-tailed form, so as to interlock with those within and out-
side of it in the same course. In order to materially reduce the ex-
pense of such arrangements, the following plan has been proposed by
Mr. George Knight, of Cincinnati :

By filling broken granite into a mould of any desired form, and pour-

70 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ing in molten iron which fills every interstice between and around the
stones a conglomerate block can be formed at an expense of about
two dollars per cubic foot, and of any required shape for interlocking ;
while, by means of cores, it may be furnished with all treenail holes,
recesses for joggles, grooves for wedges, and for any species of band or
attachment that can be devised. The granite not being disintegrated
by the contact of the metal, which latter has a continuous honey-comb
structure, the conglomerate has great power of resisting compression,
andoilso great tensile strength, the two qualities which give it value
in this connection ; its strength being as a cellular block of iron, with
its cavities so filled with granite as to preserve its chambers from being
crushed in. The cost of the conglomerate will vary in different places ;
the refuse of the granite quarry is what is required, and iron of suffi-
ciently good quality for this purpose may be had at low rates. The
proportions of the materials may likewise be varied according to the
purpose to which it is applied. They may be as follows :

Granite . . 150 Ibs. . . occupying \ of a cubic foot.
Iron, ... 150 "... " i " " "

300 " . . . " 1 cubic foot.

Estimating the iron at twenty dollars per ton, and the granite at six
dollars sixty-six cents per ton, the cost of the conglomerate would be
two dollars per cubic foot. There are 13,147 cubic feet of stone in the
Eddystone, and 28,530 cubic feet in the Bell Rock ; the cost per cubic
foot in the former being about six dollars, and in the latter, seven dol-
lars and fifty cents per cubic foot. Appleton's Mechanic's Magazine.

A MACHINE SUBSTITUTE FOR THE RAYS OF THE SUN.

THE London Mining Journal for December 8th contains drawings and
descriptions of a machine, which, for novelty of purpose, has not, we
think, been surpassed. This invention is intended to be a " substi-
tute for the rays of the sun," by burning the stubble, roasting the soil,
and mixing together the ground thus heated with ground not heated.
The inventor, M. Hartrig Von Blucher, proposes to effect this by
means of a cylinder, composed of iron ribs, at the axis of which is sus-
pended a semi-cylinder. The latter serves as a stove to warm the
large cylinder and keep up the heat in it. This cylinder, acting as a
wheel or roller, is to be drawn over the stubble, which, by the heat
communicated, will be consumed, and the ground roasted. For the mix-
ture of the roasted soil with the deeper strata, it is proposed to have
a second cylinder, attached to the same frame, follow the first cylinder.
The ribs of this second cylinder have curved spades attached to them,
in order to dig into and mix the earth. A coal -box, to supply fuel to
the stove, is attached to the top of the digging cylinder, and, by
increasing the weight of the cylinder, the spades work more effect-
ively. The stove referred to, being freely suspended from the axis,
constantly maintains an upright position as the cylinder revolves.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 71

IMPROYED ANTI-FRICTION BOX.

MR. HENRY STANLEY, of New Hampshire, has recently invented, says
the Scientific American, a good improvement in journal-boxes. It
relates to the employment, around a journal or axle, of anti-friction
rollers, which are allowed to roll around the C3 T lindrical interior of the
box. The manner in which said rollers are applied is different from
that in other journal-boxes ; the rollers, in this case, consisting of hol-
low tubes, Avhich fit easily on a series of spindles extending between the
two rings, or plates, which fit within the box and around the shaft,
without touching either. This allows the rollers to keep rolling round
the shaft, and keeps them at a proper distance apart, and at the same
time they take the whole weight of the shaft on their peripheries. In
other roller journal-boxes the rollers are generally fitted with their
spindles into end plates, and they do not revolve round the shaft or
axle, but revolve on their own fixed spindles, and, as they do not touch
the inside of the box, their spindles take all the weight upon them, and
they soon wear untrue, and do more harm than good. In some boxes,
rollers are put in loosely, and sometimes balls have been so put into
journal-boxes : both rollers and balls, thus arranged in journal-boxes,
foul as it is termed one another, and wear unevenly on their
surfaces in a very short time. This improvement is designed to obvi-
ate these difficulties.

NEW BRICK-MACHINE.

A NEW brick-machine, invented and patented by "Woodworth and
Mower, of Boston, is now in successful operation, manufacturing the
brick from dry clay, near that city. The machine is of iron, simple,
compact, and massive, weighing seventeen tons. It works with great
steadiness and precision, and turns out three thousand bricks per hour.
The machine and the clay-pulverizer are operated by a steam-engine
of twenty horse-power. The clay is first dried, then ground, by pass-
ing between heavy rollers, then screened or sifted, and passed into the
machine in a uniform, state, where it is subjected to the immense
power of the machine, and a beautiful, perfect face-brick^ is produced,
almost as smooth and dense as polished marble. The bricks are taken
from the machine and immediately set in the kilns ready for burning,
thereby obviating the necessity of spreading on the yard to dry before
burning, as well as injury or loss from wet weather. By this process,
a superior face-brick can be produced, at less expense, than the coarsest
common brick by the old process. Boston Journal.

SINGER'S SEWING-MACHINE.

A NEW sewing-machine has been invented by Mr. Isaac M. Singer,
of Newark, N. J., which is claimed to have superior merits. The
machine sews not only straight seams, but curves of any kind, angles,
and even ornamental stitching. The work is done at the rate of from
one to two yards per minute. The way in which the stitch is per-
formed is by two threads, one supplied by a shuttle, the other by a

72 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

needle. The shuttle is below the cloth, and the end of the thread
extends up through the cloth and through the eye of the needle, which
is only a quarter of an inch from the point. Now, to form the stitch,
which is just like the lock or link of a chain, the thread in the needle,
after having passed through the cloth, opens, and the shuttle passes
through this loop ; therefore, when the needle is drawn back, and the
shuttle also to the end of its raceway, the two threads are drawn
tight, forming a link drawn on the cloth, and thus link after link of
these threads form the seam. The cloth then moves on the required
distance for another stitch. When a curve or angle is to be made, the
cloth is turned by the hand of the operator precisely as a board is
turned before a saw which is to cut any required figure. The machine
is moved by the foot of the girl tending it, like a spinning-wheel ; or
a large number together may be moved by steam, leaving the girls
nothing to do but thread the needle, put on the cloth and manage the
direction of the seams.

RIVETING-MACHINE.

AMONG the most important recent inventions at the Great Exhibition,
were two riveting-machines, constructed on different principles ; the
first by Mr. Fairbairn, the second by Mr. Garforth. The machine of
Mr. Fairbairn does its work noiselessly, with an increased gain of
work at the rate of twelve to one. The riveting dies are of various
descriptions, adapted to every species of flat or circular work ; even
corners are riveted with the same care as other parts, so that vessels
of any shape may be constructed without recourse to the old process
of hammering. Mr. Garforth's machine is, however, superior to this.
The principle of the two inventions is as follows : In Fairbairn's
machine the riveting is produced by levers acting like a knee-joint ;
when the joint becomes straight it gives a deadly squeeze to the rivet,
and brings the plates together ; here the dies have to be set to suit
the thickness of the two plates which are being riveted. In Garforth ? s
direct-action machine, this adjustment is rendered unnecessary ; it
simply consists of a cylinder with its piston and piston-rod ; when the
steam is admitted at the back of the piston, the piston-rod being
forced forward the end of it comes into contact with the red-hot rivet,
which has been inserted through a hole previously made in the plates ;
the rivet is kept in its place at the back ; and the die fixed to the end
of the piston-rod never stops till the plates are effectually riveted
together. By common riveting three men and one boy can only rivet
twenty three-quarter inch rivets per hour ; with Garforth's machine,
one man and three boys can rivet with perfect ease at the rate of six
per minute, or 300 per hour.

NEW SOUNDING-MACHINE.

A NEW sounding-machine has recently been invented, by Mr. Faye,
of France, which is represented to be of great value and importance.
The apparatus consists of a cylinder of sheet-iron, or copper, with a

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 73

conical top and bottom. This cylinder is filled with a liquid, specific-
ally lighter than water a small orifice near the bottom allowing the
pressure of the water to be exerted on the inside as well as the outside
of the machine. To sink the machine two cannon-balls are attached ;
and when it arrives at the bottom, a stop, projecting below the cannon-
balls, is forced upwards and disconnects them. The machine then
rises to the surface by virtue of the lightness of the liquid contained.
This liquid would, of course, be contracted by the cold at the bottom,
and the space left would be filled by the sea-water. And the orifice is
so arranged, that, when the liquid expands, upon reaching the surface
of the water, to its original bulk, the sea-water so entering shall
remain and a corresponding portion of the liquid be forced out through
the orifice, the volume of the sea- water contained denoting the temper-
ature at the bottom. When this is not deemed sufficiently accurate,
a tube of mercury, similarly arranged, within an orifice near the bot-
tom may be used. A meter, fixed to the machine, denotes the dis-
tance through which it has passed, and, by connecting the apparatus
for setting free the sinking weight with this meter, the machine may
be made to descend to any given depth ; its relative position, when it
rises to the surface, determining the force and direction of the cur-
rent at that depth. To collect a portion of water at the bottom, or
any required depth, a small vessel is attached, upside down, and shuts
when in that position by a valve, which, when the disconnecting
apparatus sets free the weight and brings the vessel to its proper posi-
tion, opens and allows the water to flow in. The thickness of the
metal used is -^th of an inch the diameter of the cylinder is 16
inches, and the height three feet six inches. "With the disconnecting
apparatus it weighs 24 Ibs., and costs about 12. It contains 25 Ibs.
of oil of potatoes, and when filled with that liquid, weighs upwards of
30 Ibs. lighter than the quantity of water it displaces. To sink it, a
couple of cannon-balls, each weighing a quarter of a hundred, would
be sufficient. It is obvious that the only loss, each time, is that of the
sinking weight, which would give an expense, taking cast-iron at
10, of 5s. The time employed in the operation would be less than in
the case of the sounding-lead, namely, 4000 fathoms an hour.

NEW TYPE-COMPOSING AND DISTRIBUTING MACHINE.

IN the Danish department of the Great Exhibition, was exhibited
an ingenious machine for setting and distributing types at the same time
the composing part being supplied with types by the distribution of
those previously used ; and the distributing part of the machine being
placed over the composing part. It rests with its hollow axis on the
projected central axis of the latter, and distributes the types by revok-
ing on that axis, and conducting each type to that place in the lower
part of the machine to which it belongs. Here the types are piled on
and between brass rods, of which there are as many as there are letters,
characters, or signs wanted for printing. These rods are perpendicu-
larly fixed between two plates of metal, in circular order, so that they
form an open cylinder. The distributing part of the machine has a

74 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

similar construction, consisting of vertical rods of the same size, of a
similar number, between similar circular plates. The essential differ-
ence between them is, that the one is fixed, while the other is mova-
ble. All the rods have a longitudinal projection, by means of which
the types, having a corresponding incision, can be fixed, and slide up
and down ; the triangular form of the projection and the incision keep-
ing them in a horizontal position in which they are piled on the rods.
In the composing cylinder, the triangular projection on each rod ceases
at the lower extremity, so that the undermost type upon it can bo
pushed from its place by the action of a spring, which is moved by a
string, in. connection with a scale of keys corresponding to the letter?
or characters. By touching the key, a type is moved forward and falls,
in the same position which it had on the rod, into a funnel ; and on
the inclined plane of this it slides down into a spiral tube, which brings,
of necessity, all the types to a narrow opening connected with the re-
ceiver, in which the line, by type after type, is formed. By a com-
mon pedal, the composed line is continually moved forward, and after-
wards divided to the width of the page. If the compositor finds in the
MS. words requiring peculiar types, he indicates the place by a partic-
ular sign, and they are supplied afterwards. The types must be cast
expressly for the machine, every letter or character having an incision
of a different kind, corresponding with openings in the distributing
plate. The expense of the machine is upwards of 100, and a skilful
compositor, it is stated, can learn to use it in a few days.

IMPROVED PRINTING-PRESS.

A POWER-PRESS, involving some novel principles of construction, has
recently been invented by Mr. Jason Burdick, of Utica, N. Y. Its
principal advantages over any other press in use, are, that it prints both
sides of the sheet at once, and secures a perfect register, and is, there-
fore, well adapted to either book or newspaper work. It will print,
with the utmost ease, from five hundred to six hundred sheets per hour,
which is equivalent to ten or twelve hundred impressions on the ordi-
nary power-press. The press has two beds and two cylinders, one
directly over the other. The sheet is fed in at one end of the machine,
where it is secured by very ingeniously contrived steel clips ; it then
passes under one cylinder, receives an impression on one side, passes
on and up under the upper cylinder, receives an impression on the
other side, and is delivered a foot or so above the place where it was
taken in.

Presses have before been invented to print both sides of a sheet at
once ; but the difficulty encountered was, that the side printed first,
the ink having no time to set and dry, soon inked and smutted the
tympan to such an extent, that it would off-set on the sheet and so
blacken it in a short time as to obliterate the impression. This diffi-
culty is obviated in Burdick's press by a movable absorbing blanket of
cotton fabric between the upper cylinder and the printed side of the
sheet, which, while the second impression is being taken, is pressed
down upon the side already printed, and absorbs, like a blotter, any

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 75

superfluous ink that may attach to that side of the paper. By two dogs
and cog-wheels, with a sort of reel attached for the purpose, this blanket,
before the next sheet conies through, is moved slightly forward, (about
one-sixteenth of an inch,) by reeling it from one roller to another, suf-
ficiently to bring the next impression from the printed side of the sheet
upon a clean spot in the blanket. Two or three yards of cotton cloth
will serve as a blotter in this manner to print an edition of two or three
thousand, when it can be washed and used again ; or, a piece of some
thirty yards can be put on at once, and will last a year or so. There
aro some other distinctive characteristics about the press which are
difficult to describe, though they betoken much ingenuity on the part
of the inventor. N. Y. Farmer and Mechanic.

IMPERIAL PRINTING ESTABLISHMENT AT VIENNA.

THE Imperial Printing Establishment at Vienna contributed an in-
teresting collection of objects of graphic art to the Great Exhibition.
The machinery department of the Imperial Printing-office is supplied
with an engine of twenty horse-power, moving forty-eight printing, and
twenty-four copper-plate presses, and ten glazing-machines. There
are, moreover, thirty-six large and twelve small iron hand-presses,
twelve numbering and embossing machines, and thirty lithographic
presses. A fresh supply of types is constantly supplied by twelve cast-
ing-machines and nine ovens, and 3000 cwt. of type is kept on the
premises. According to a moderate computation, each cwt. contains
about 40,000 types, and the 3000 cwt. we mentioned make a total of
120,000,000 of types of various sizes and characters ; 500,000 sheets, or
1000 reams, of paper per diem are required for the consumption of the
establishment. The report of the Austrian Commissioners states, that
ten years ago but fifty persons were employed in the Imperial Printing-
office. Among the objects sent to the Exhibition, was a collection of
11,000 Steel Punches, including 104 different alphabets, from the hie-
roglyphic, hieratic, and Demotic, down to the Kionsa, Laos, Shyan,
Mandshah, and Formosan. There was a collection of gutta-percha and
galvanized copper matrixes and patrixes of woodcuts, fac-similes of
antique relievos ; and, as a specimen of the typographic strength of the
Imperial Printing-office, there was a copy of The Hall of Languages,
consisting of seventeen sheets in elephant folio, containing the Lord's
Prayer in 608 languages, printed with Roman letters, and in 200 lan-
guages, hi the characters peculiar to each language ; a work of vast
design and exquisite execution. Next was a collection of MS. writing
in the early ages from the sixth century to the days of Guttenburg,
and the invention of the ait of printing. There were, besides, orna-
mental letters of the Middle ages, reproduced from the documents of
the time , fac-similes of curious old woodcuts, chiefly taken from an old
and very rare book, entitled, Kaiser Maximilian's Ehrenpforte. There
wits also a Japanese novel, the first work of this kind ever printed with
movable type ; oil-color prints ; photography on paper, in its various
applications to objects of nature and art ; and a selection of ornamental
tools for book-binding.

76 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

BUTTON'S PATENT CLOCK.

THIS clock, invented by Mr. Hutton, of England, and contributed to
the Great Exhibition, has a new compensation glass pendulum, and a
barometric contrivance, to prevent the error arising from the changes
in the density of the atmosphere. The metallic compensation is effected
ivilhout any friction, by the ascent and descent of two spring levers with
three adjustable weights, and which lengthen or shorten as they rise or
fall. The mode of compensating is regulated by a screw in the top of
the ball, which, in case of heat, is moved towards the centre of motion of
the spring lever, or in the contrary direction in case of cold. The glass
rod is attached to the pendulum-spring, by means of a screw cut on it,
and below, a glass regulating-nut works into a glass screw, cut on the
bottom of the pendulum-rod. The compensating wires being very
small, a simultaneous action is ensured at each change of temperature.
In the barometric contrivance, the ivory piston rests on the mercury,
thus counterpoising the air-vanes, so that \vhen the barometer is low,
it causes them to approach the plane of the pendulum's motion, and
raises them, on the contrary, when the barometer is high ; thus the
mechanical resistance to the pendulum is increased or decreased ac-
cording to the density of the atmosphere.

SELF-ADJUSTING PENDULUM.

A NEW and economical self-adjusting pendulum was shown at the
Great Exhibition. Instead of the ordinary rod, by which the ball is
suspended, being attached to its centre, a bar is secured to the side of
the ball, and a wooden rod fixed thereto ; so that the elongation or
shortening of the rod, by change of temperature, turns the ball on its
axis, and thus preserves accurately the distance between the points of
suspension and oscillation respectively.

CHEAPNESS OF AMERICAN CLOCKS.

To such perfection has the manufacture of clocks been carried in
Connecticut, that time-pieces, warranted to keep good reckoning, are
sold for sixty cents, at wholesale, and one dollar, retail. The works
are all of brass, made by machinery. At the manufactory of Mr. Je-
rome, New Haven, 800 per day of these articles can be produced.
Wooden clocks, but comparatively few years since, sold for from ten to
twelve dollars.

ATMOSPHERIC CHURNS.

DR. PAGE, of the Patent Office, in his report for 1849-50, states that
during that year tAventy-one applications were made for patents on
churns. " Most of these were styled atmospheric churns, and I have
never witnessed such a mania upon any one invention. The first im-
pulse seems to have been given by the grant of a patent for a churn,
in which there were boxes upon opposite sides of a common revolving

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 77

dasher, so situated that as the dasher revolved, the box containing the
cream, with its open mouth downwards, carried down a portion of the
air to the bottom of the churn, and as the mouth of the box inclined
upwards, the air escaped from it through the mass of the cream, while
the box itself filled with the cream, and as it came out and revolved in
the upper part of the churn above the cream, that contained in the
box was thrown out and scattered into spray. Both the descent and
size of the box occasioned a commingling of the air and cream, and
answered the purpose of agitation as well perhaps as any form of dasher.
In these atmospheric churns, the introduction of air plays no chemical
part in the production of butter ; its separation from cream being
merely a mechanical process. And although the atmospheric churns
operate to considerable advantage, yet it is by means of a more thorough
agitation, which is increased greatly by the diffusion of air throughout
the cream. As each portion of air rises through the cream, it forms a
bubble upon the surface before it escapes, and in some atmospheric
churns, where the dasher is constantly submerged, the whole mass of
cream is converted into a complete mass of foau^.

" From the success of such a chum as that above named in producing
butter in a shorter time than other churns, a most enthusiastic specu-
lation was at once commenced upon atmospheric churns, and inventive
powers were racked to modify, mystify and contort a simple principle,
with a view of producing novelties rather than improvements. From
the immense number of churns used throughout the country, great
gains could not fail to follow the monopoly of a new and superior
churn. The golden prospects have tempted many into the field, and
it is quite curious to observe in this instance the natural drift of intel-
lect, bringing the workings of independent minds into one common
channel. A patent was granted for one species of atmospheric churn,
but before this could have been known far beyond the walls of the
Patent Office', two other inventors, each and all from different parts of
the country, had laid claim to the identical improvement. One was
from Ohio," the second from Illinois, and the third from Vermont. ^ An
interference was accordingly declared, and no sooner had the decision
been made in favor of the patentee, than three other inventors were
found pressing their claims to the same invention. It presents an
unprecedented case in the history of the Patent Office of seven persons,
each a bonafide inventor, all claiming the same thing and about the
same time, and all from distant portions of the country. _ This improve-
ment consists simply in boring a hole through the entire length of a
common upright churn dasher, and placing a valve either at the bot-
tom or top of the dasher. This valve opens downwards, and when the
dasher is raised with such rapidity that the cream cannot follow up.
the air rushes down through the valve under the dasher, and upon the
downward stroke the air is pressed out laterally and escapes _ by the
side of the dasher and up through the mass of cream. It requires not
a very quick motion, and but little force to effect this, and the agitation
is most complete. A full-size model was exhibited in the office showing
the operation with clear water only. Upon agitating the dasher, the
water appeared as if in intense ebullition. Another peculiarity belongs

78 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERS.

to this churn worthy of note. In the common churn the dasher has
to be raised out of the cream at each stroke, and plunged doAvn with
some force, and, as this scatters the cream, it is necessary to cover the
churn tightly and allow the dasher to play through a small hole in the
centre of the cover ; but in this atmospheric churn the dasher is kept
always under the surface of the liquid, and consequently there is no
splashing of the cream, and the cover may be left off with safety, and
enable you to watch the operation. A strong recommendation is its
simplicity, and, as one of the inventors stated, he could alter any com-
mon churn dasher to this principle for twenty-five cents.

" Prior to this simple device for introducing air, several complicated
inventions had been patented, and many more made and presented to
the office to effect the same purpose. In truth, this invention at first
was not considered patentable, but after the exhibition of its actual
operation by one of the inventors, a different view was adopted and a
patent ordered to issue. As atmospheric churns were not new, the
ground was taken that the use of any known means of introducing air
was not patentable. Tfce ground of action is correct in itself, but did
not appear applicable in the case after a personal explanation from the
inventor, and an exhibition of the operation and result of his invention.
The patentability of an invention frequently turns upon a nice point,
and inventions the most novel are sometimes the most worthless, while
again others least novel in appearance, bearing the similitude of com-
mon and unpatentable devices, are most valuable and important in
practice. Simplicity is the essence of true invention, and it is often
interesting to see, after a multitude of complicated inventions to attain
a certain end, some discerning or perhaps fortunate inventor demolish
a whole labyrinth of combinations, and arrive at the result by means
so simple as almost to rob invention of its charms ; such means as one
would suppose should have been the first and not the last resort.

" A modification of the last-named churn has been patented, in
which the hole in the dasher at the lower part was large enough to
contain a solid plunger, fitting loosely within the dasher, which acts
the part of a second valve. There have been also several patents
granted for ingenious forms of rotary atmospheric churns. These in-
ventors crowded upon the office so numerously, that they were exam-
ined with the most rigid scrutiny, and, on several occasions, actual
demonstration, by experiment of making butter, was required of the
applicants, to satisfy the office that the inventions claimed justified
their pretensions to be real improvements. In most of these cases, the
results were unfavorable to the inventor ; but, in some, patents were
ordered to issue. On one occasion an experiment was performed
(humorously characterized by a bystander as a ' churn race,') be-
tween a patented and a new churn, in which they both came out alike,
making butter from new milk in two minutes and a half. Such a rapid
separation of the butter, however, is by no means desirable, although
this is the general aim of these improvements. We have it upon the
highest chemical authority, that butter made so rapidly is not likely
to be so good as that which is made slowly.'!

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 79

IMPROVEMENTS IN FELTING.

THE following is the specification of a patent granted to Joseph
Wright, of Lawrence, Mass., Dec., 1851, for an improved method of
felting wool and other fibrous materials : "I claim the felting of wool
or other fibrous materials, upon a woven or netted fabric, substantially
as set forth. I also claim the use of one or more moving platens, having
a reciprocating rectilinear motion in the direction of the length of
the cloth to be made, over one or more stationary platens, in combina-
tion with the endless cloth bands, operated substantially as described,
for carrying forward and regulating the motion of the material, while
under the action of the said platens, substantially as set forth."

In relation to this invention, the Boston Courier, Jan. 19th, states :
We have been for more than a year aware that parties were trying to
perfect a plan by which the cost of felting wool could be reduced to a
point that would make it possible to produce the articles of floor-cloths,
druggets, and the cheaper articles of woollens, at a lower price than the
similar goods can be imported, but have never before seen anything
that would justify the belief of success in the experiment. To many
readers the devotion of a single paragraph to the records of this last
triumph of American genius may seem unnecessary, but the initiated
can well understand why and wherefore we are thus proud of this par-
ticular and specific invention ; for to those it is known that by the
cheap labor of Europe we were completely outdone in the production
of the lower class of woollens, and that though the American woven
goods possessed advantages in wear, the English articles, possessed of
speciousness and cheapness, were invariably chosen in preference.
The present invention does away with this, and obliges the European to
make his articles still more durable and weighty, if he would insure the
sale, for the American FELTS will be both solid and good.

This new process enables the manufacturer, by a machine no more
cumbersome than a common loom, to take the lower qualities of brown
cotton goods, and felt securely on this basis a firm coating of wool.
This coating can be made pliable, to serve as flannel ; or hard and firm,
to serve as drugget, upon which can be printed any design to suit the
fancy of the consumer. We understand the Bay State and Middlesex
mills will be immediately put upon the production of these goods, and
we hope, at no distant day, to be able to record the export of quite as
many woollens as cottons.

FASHIONS FOR THE DEAD.

A RECENT English work, on the manufactures of Birmingham, contains
the following suggestive remarks in relation to coffin ornaments :

" The manufacture of ornaments for coffins is a very important part
of the trade, and it is curious to find, that even in this last concession
to human vanity, there is a constant demand for new designs. Who is
it that examines and compares the ornaments of one coffin with those of
another? We never heard of the survivors of a deceased person ex-
amining an undertaker's patterns. And yet, a house which consumes
forty tons of cast iron per annum for coffin-handles, stated to the gentle-

8Q ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

man to whose letters we are indebted for this information, ' Our travel-
lers find it useless to show themselves with their pattern-books at an
undertaker's, unless they have something tasteful, new, and uncom-
mon. The orders for Ireland are chiefly for gilt furniture for coffins.
The Scotch, also, are fond of gilt, and so are the people in the west of
England. But the taste of the English is decidedly for black. The
Welsh like a mixture of black and white. Coffin lace is formed of very
light stamped metal, and is made of almost as many patterns as the
ribbons of Coventry. All our designs are registered, as there is a con-
slant piracy going on which it is necessary to check. ,'

WYLD'S MODEL OF THE EARTH.

A BOLD and curious attempt to impart geographical knowledge to
the million was made, during the past year, in London, by Mr. James
Wyld, geographer to the Queen, by the construction of an immense
globe, or model of the earth, executed on the most gigantic scale, and
with the most scrupulous regard, to geographical accuracy. This colos-
sal figure of the earth is modelled on a scale of ten geographical miles
to one degree horizontal, or six inches to a degree, and it is one mile
to an inch vertical, while the diameter is no less than sixty feet. The
circumference of the model is one hundred and eighty-eight feet, and
the extent of surface ten thousand feet. It is made up of some thou-
sands of raised blocks or castings in plaster, from the original models,
of mountain and valley, sea and river, in clay, the fitting of which has
been one of the principal difficulties which the constructor has had to
encounter. Recollecting that only a limited portion of a sphere can
meet the eye at once, it occurred to Mr. Wyld that, by figuring the
earth's surface on the interior instead of the exterior of his globe, the
observer would be enabled to embrace the distribution of land and
water, with the physical features of the globe, at one view ; and in this
he has succeeded ; while, from the great size, the examiner of detail is
hardly aware that he is gazing on a concavity. It was at first intended
that the great globe should form part of the contents of the Exhibition
building, but as the plan developed itself more completely, it was found
impossible to place a model of the intended magnitude therein, and a
site was sought for the erection of a building expressly fitted to receive
it. An appropriate edifice was, therefore, erected on Leicester-square,
in which the model is exhibited. The entrance is under a Grecian
portico into a vestibule, whence the visitor is introduced to a circular
corridor round the exterior of the globe. This corridor is very appro-
priately decorated, and is embellished with maps of different countries ;
but, to obtain a view of the earth, the visitor must pass through the
crust of the globe. An entrance is effected through the Antarctic sea,
which leads him to four tiers of galleries, rising one above the other,
to the top of the building. The great panorama or map of tho world
is here spread out before him, and the effect is extremely striking and
beautiful. The best idea that can be given of the design is, to con-
ceive a gigantic hollow globe, with all the mountains, rivers, elevations,
and depressions in relief, and then to suppose this globe turned inside
out, and the spectator standing in the centre of the interior.

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 81

Upon first entering, this view is limited to the southernmost parts
of Africa and America, magnified, in comparison with the delineations
of ordinary globes, to proportions almost beyond recognition. A^ stair-
case conducts to a zone where the central parts of these vast continents
are seen broadly expanded, and exhibiting the diversities of mountains
and valleys in bold relief, and of deserts and verdant plains, oceans,
lakes and rivers, represented as they might be supposed to appeal-
when seen from a great elevation. At the next ascent the spectator is
placed on the equinoctial line ; a gallery above corresponds in position
with the tropic of Cancer, and a still higher zone places in sight the
whole of Europe, and most of the civilized countries of the globe. ^The
higher the ascent the more interesting and more extended the view ;
and, by the time the spectator has arrived at the highest zone, he
becomes accustomed to the concave form, which, at first, is rather per-
plexing, as the exterior surface of the globe is seen from the interior.
There is no writing on the model ; the land is of as natural a tint as
possible to represent the temperature of the various zones, and the sea
is colored blue. The earth's form, as a whole, is shown; its general
aspect, the relative quantity and positions of its several parts, the
bearing of its hills, the flow of its great waters, and the seats of its
rich dales and barren wastes. The volcanoes are distinguished by their
fiery red tint ; and those mountains within the range of perpetual
snow are vividly represented in the frosty, glittering garments with
which nature clothes herself in these ice-bound regions. The relative
heights of the several mountains are given, and the course of the rivers
may be distinctly traced. The top of the globe is made the north pole,
and the bottom the south, without any regard being paid as to what is
known as the inclination of the ecliptic. The circular corridor, which
surrounds the lower part of the globe, is tastefully hung with maps and
charts of a most valuable description, and the walls and pillars deco-
rated in arabesque painting, being exact copies from some of the orna-
mental work in the Alhambra.

FACTS IN RELATION TO THE TURBINE WHEEL.

THE following is an abstract of a paper presented to the American
Association, Cincinnati, by Mr. J. Chase, of Mass., in relation to the
Turbine wheel :

In computing the experiments which were made at Lowell, it was
found that when the gate was fully open, the quantity of water dis-
charged through the guides was 70 per cent, of the theoretical discharge.
The effect of the wheel during these experiments was 81^ per cent, of
the power expended ; but, when the gate was half open, the effect was
67 per cent, of the power, while the discharge through the guides was
11 per cent, more than the theoretical discharge. But, when the open-
ing of the gate was still further reduced to one fourth of the full opening,
the effect was also reduced to 45 per cent, of the power ; while the dis-
charging velocity was raised to 49 per cent, more than that given by
theory. In the first of these experiments the fall was 12 T 8 <y feet, in
the second ISy 2 ^ feet, and in the third IS^oir feet; and the

82 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

quantity of water used upon the wheel with the full gate was 135 cubic
feet per second.

Prof. Peirce remarked, that if, in the last of these experiments, the
wheels were removed and the water suffered to run through the guides
without obstruction, the head, which would be required to give a veloc-
ity of discharge equal to that actually observed, would be about 37^
feet.

ON THE USE OF AIR TOR THE PURPOSE OF CONVEYING MECHANICAL

POWER.

LT. HUNT, U. S. Engineer, read a paper at the American Association,
with the above title, of which the following is an abstract. He stated
that he was about to bring forward a new system of economy in the
use of a mechanical power which was now entirely lost. He exempli-
fied his meaning by citing the immense power which was lost at Roch-
ester, by the formation of the ground over which the Genesee river
flowed, and which, by his project, might be economically applied to
tubes to condense air, which might then be made to supersede steam,
as it would do away with the use of fuel to keep up the power which
was chiefly used in manufacturing. He stated that Pepin had proposed
the same project, though not as fully or on as large a scale as he thought
it might be applied. For all stationary power this was invaluable,
especially to localities where it was deemed advisable to establish manu-
factures. This principle was illustrated by the experiments made by
the atmospheric railways, in which it was shown that atmospheric
pressure might be applied for great distances. The principle was
established, as far as the railways were concerned, though it was true
the stockholders had to suffer some. It would also enable large central
establishments to be formed, to which, by means of exhaustion or com-
pression pipes, the power necessary for manufactures and machinery
might be conveyed in the same manner as gas or water itself. Thus the
space, attendance, risk and disagreeableness of steam generating would
be saved, while all required power would be purchased from the power
manufacturers, and distributed through air-wains, just as in gas or
water distribution.

GAS COOKING APPARATUS.

A COOKIXG-RAXGE, designed to be used with gas, has been constructed
by Mr. King, chief engineer of the gas works in Liverpool. It is
divided into three compartments, of different sizes, for roasting and
baking, being furnished with a damper to regulate the flow of air
through them. The burners are arranged inside the oven, at the bot-
toms, around the sides, back and front, with a dripping-pan occupying
the centre. The meat is hooked on to a sliding frame or carriage,
which, when pushed in, allows it to be suspended, surrounded by the
gas. On the top of the range arc eight spiral burners, in eight well-
holes, for boiling, stewing, frying, &c., any of which operations may
be performed with the same facility as on a hot plate, or over a char-

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 83

coal fire. The meat roasted by this range, owing to the regularity and
certainty of the operation, is of a more nutritive character than that
cooked by the ordinary process, as more of the juices are retained, as is
ascertained by the comparative small loss of weight after cooking. By
the operation of broiling, twelve chops can be cooked at once, at a cost,
in Liverpool, of not more than two pence per hour for gas. Comfort
and cleanliness to the cook, and economy to the consumer, are among
the qualifications of this useful invention .

PIN MANUFACTURE IN THE UNITED STATES.

THE "American Pin Company," and the "Howe Manufacturing
Company," now manufacture nearly all the pins consumed in the
United States. Since the depression of 1846 to 1848, the business at
the two companies named has been reasonably profitable, having been
rendered so rather by reducing the cost of production and the expense
of selling, than by the small advance in price which has been realized.
Both companies manufacture the wire for making their pins. During
the last year the two companies have used principally Lake Superior
copper for making their wire ; their joint consumption of copper
amounting to about 250 tons per annum. The present weekly pro-
duction of pins by the two companies may be stated at about eight
tons.

In connection with the improvement effected in the manufacture of
pins, by the introduction of self-acting machinery, superseding a pro-
cess which formerly required six or seven different manual operations,
important improvements have been made in the method of sheeting the
pins, or sticking them on paper. This, as previously performed by insert-
ing a few pins at a time by hand, was a tedious process, at which five or
six dozen papers were as many as a good hand could do in a day. By
the improved machinery now in use, one hand will stick from 75 to 125
dozen a day, and do the work better than it was usually done in the
old way. The present price of American solid-headed pins is believed
not to exceed two thirds of the lowest price at which imported pins of
equal weight were ever afforded before the manufacture was introduced,
and, for service, they are undoubtedly better than the article of which
they have taken the place. The American improvements in both the
pin-making and pin-sticking machinery have been for several years in
operation in England and probably in other parts of Europe. Hunt's

Merchant'' s Magazine.

MANUFACTURE OF ICE.

THE London Mechanic's Magazine thus describes Dr. Gorrie's new
process for making ice, and the results obtained from it : "To under-
stand this machine, conceive of two vertical pumps, made precisely
like steam-engines one of which is adapted to condense atmospheric
air, so as to squeeze out of it a portion of its gaseous heat, and the
other is constructed to admit of the expansion of the same air, connected
with the extremities of a beam common to both, and you will form an
idea of all that is indispensable to manufacture ice on this principle.

84 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

It will be obvious to the slightest reflection, that, as the air, in expand-
ing, becomes a powerful absorber of heat, and will greedily take it from
all surrounding bodies, ice might be x made by simply immersing the
cylinder in which the expansion takes place in water. This pro-
cess, however, would be too tardy a one for business purposes ; and the
operation, therefore, is prodigiously accelerated by various adjuncts.
In the first place, in order that the free heat of the condensed ah* may
be extinguished, so as to fit it for its highest degree of refrigerativc
effect, without any loss of time, a pump, connected also with the beam,
but bearing a very diminished proportion in size to the air-pump, is
made to inject a jet of cold water at and during every stroke of the
machine. And so, a similar pump projects its measure of an uncon-
gealable liquid among the expanding air in the other air-pump, so as
to furnish it instantly with the caloric of volume, while the liquid
itself becomes cooled at the same time from the heat it parts with.
This liquid (a strong solution of salts) is withdrawn from a tank or
vessel designed for the accumulation of " cold," into which, after per-
forming its duty in the expanding engine, it is again sent back through
the eduction valves. In this tank the ice is manufactured by simply
immersing water, placed in metallic vessels, in the liquid ; or with the
mechanical addition of occasionally breaking up the adhesions of the ice
to the sides and bottom of the vessels, so as to present a new surface of
water to the action of the external cold. The reservoir of cold, the
expanding engine, the injection pump, and, indeed, every part of the
apparatus employed in generating or preserving cold, are so thoroughly
concealed from sight, and the radiating influence of the external air,
by insulating chambers, that the processes going on within them are
wholly unperceived.

It ought to be mentioned that the condensed air, instead of being
transferred directly to the expanding pump, as the above description
would imply, passes intermediately into a wrought-iron reservoir, large
enough to store a considerable number of cylinder-fulls of air, and thus
any disadvantage from leakage, or the unequal working of the pumps,
is obviated.

With a machine, having pumps of about eight inches in diameter,
and of 1G inches stroke, condensing and expanding air to and from a
tension of three atmospheres, a block of ice, weighing nearly 60 pounds,
was produced, by the labor of two men, in two hours.

NEW AGRICULTURAL MACHINES.

THE Patent Office Report, for 1850-51, contains descriptions of vari-
ous new agricultural machines for which patents have been recently
granted. The following are especially worthy of notice : A corn-
stalk harvester, the frame of which resembles a low three-wheeled truck,
and bearing upon its upper surface, near its middle part, two broad
metallic disks, armed with teeth on their peripheries, which teeth
slightly overlap each other, and are capable of seizing and holding
within their grasp any herbaceous matter, and, as the machine moves
forward, to tear it up by the roots. The meeting of these teeth is near

MECHANICS AXD USEFUL ARTS. 85

the central part of the machine, anterior to which the space is perfectly
clear, so that when the machine is driven over a row of the corn-stalks,
the latter are successively brought against the teeth of the metallic
disks, and drawn out of and deposited upon the ground.

An ingenious machine has also been invented for distributing the
cut grain of a harvester into suitable parcels for bundles, by the weight
of the grain. It is called a grain-Under. It consists of a self-regulat-
ing rotary cylinder, mounted on the rear end or extreme right side of
the machine, and having its axle parallel with the rear end ,of the
machine. This cylinder is supplied with catches and springs, and so
arranged that, when a certain weight of grain is received into one of
its three compartments, it performs a third part of a revolution, and
deposits the amount received for a bundle, while the next compartment
of the cylinder is being charged for a second bundle, and so on.

Two machines, adapted to harvest maize, have been patented. The
first of these contains a thresher to husk and shell the grain. The
harvester consists of a machine in its general arrangement not unlike
a clover-head harvester. But it has a series of pairs of rollers, one pair
between every pair of teeth, to seize the stalks and pull them down-
wards, until the ear is drawn against the tops of the fingers, by which
the ear is severed from the stalk. The ear then rolls down an inclined
plane to the thresher. The principle of the second machine consists in
the construction of the grain reel, made with rows of fingers, projecting
radially, and rotating over or through the standing grain. The stalks
being received between the fingers, the ears are pulled off and deposited
on an inclined endless apron.

A patent has been granted for a machine to cut and assort broom corn.
The design is to cut the broom corn into lengths according to the size
of the stalk, and to assort them into parcels, according to their lengths,
by the machine, so that they may be properly distributed for making
diffe rent-sized brooms. The machine consists of a long table, with an
endless apron running lengthwise, and beside it, and on the same level,
and a little obliquely to its direction, is arranged a pair of rollers run-
ning the whole length of the long table. These rollers lie one upon the
other, and are farthest from the endless apron at the entering end.
This endless apron is a belt of slat work, put in motion by machinery,
and gradually moving forward from the entering or feeding end of the
table, where the broom corn is fed to it by hand, and laid directly across
the apron with the butts all in one direction. When the broom corn has
traversed about one third the length of the table, it is brought under
compressing rollers, while, at the same time that the body of the stalk
is held firm in its place, the butt is brought between two rotary disks
with cutting edges, arranged like two rotary or circular saws, having
their cutting faces edge to edge, yet slightly lapping each other. The
edges of these cutting disks are very thin, and the under one serrated.
As the endless apron travels from the feeding to the discharging end,
it brings successively the butts of all the corn-stalks between the cutters
by which they are severed, and as they still move forward, those stalks
which are the longest, and consequently project farthest, are caught
first between the rollers, and, bv this means, carried from the endless

8

86 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

table, while those which are shorter are taken by that part of the
rollers that is farther along. To avoid distributing the broom corn
throughout the whole length of the assorting rollers, portions of the
loAver roller are turned out, leaving only enough to constitute the axle,
and thus prcA'enting any of the material from being draA\ r n through in
these sections, which divides the assorted material into several series
or parcels, in number equal to that of the sections cut in the lower
roller.

VENTILATION BY CHIMNEYS.

AT the Royal Institution, in a series of lectures on chemistry applied
to domestic purposes, Dr. Faraday introduced various illustrations to
show the importance of the functions of the chimney. " A parlor
fire," he obserA T ed, "will consume, in twelve hours, forty pounds of
coal, the combustion rendering 42,000 gallons of air unfit to support
life. Not only is that amount of deleterious product carried away and
rendered innoxious by the chimney, but five times that quantity of
air is also carried off' by the draught, and ventilation thus effectually
maintained." The force of a draught Avas illustrated by a descending
flue. A colored flame was held near the end of a tube bent like an
inverted syphon. As soon as the tube was heated, the ascent of air
within the longer arm of the tube drew the flame downwards into the
shorter arm Avith considerable force. Since the ascent of smoke up the
chimney depends on the comparative lightness of the column of air
within to an equal column without, the longer the chimney the
stronger will be the draught, if the fire be sufficiently great to heat the
air ; but if the chimney be so long that the air is cooled as it
approaches the top, the draught is diminished. A case of this kind
occurred at a light-house on the Isle of Portland. The chimney which
ventilated the building and lantern Avas carried on the outside, and in
winter time the draught was so much impaired that the AvindoAvs
became dim and the light obscure. An attempt had previously been
made to remedy the defect by lengthening the chimney ; but that, of
course, had made it smoke all the more. The application of a jet of
steam to increase the blast of locomotive engine furnaces Avas illus-
trated. The lo\ver end of a bent glass tube Avas placed in a dish which
contained liquid, the upper end being inserted into a large and hori-
zontal tube. A jet of high-pressure steam directed through the larger
tube caused such a rush of air to supply the place of the air expelled
by the steam, that the colored liquor rose to the top of the tube. The
mechanical force of a jet of high-pressure steam Avas shown by causing
it to sustain an egg, which Avas seen dancing about in the air without
anything apparent to support it.

SUBMARINE EXPLORER.

A SUBMARINE vessel, of someAvhat noA'el construction, has been recently
built in New York, under the direction of a Mr. Alexander, a French-
man. It consists of a large iron shell, somewhat resembling an egg,
both ends, hoAveA r er, being of the same size and form. This shell is

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 87

made of boiler iron plates, united together in the most perfect manner,
and rendered perfectly air and water tight. The after part is occu-
pied as the cabin, and is lighted by means of a number of " bulls'
eyes." The cabin is capable of accommodating eight or ten persons
with ease. The forward compartment is used as an air and water
chamber. The length of the whole machine is 30 feet, diameter 1
feet. The principle upon which it operates is somewhat similar to the
diving-bell, though the manner in which the occupants of the cabin
are supplied with fresh air, and enabled to remain for a long time
under water, is exceedingly ingenious, air-pipes extending to the sur-
face not being employed. The interior is divided into compartments.
The place which the submarine explorers occupy is about two fifths of
the vessel ; in the other part are two large reservoirs, all made of plate-
iron, into which are fitted two pairs of pumps, having different func-
tions, either for air or water. The object of the duplicating pumps is
to guard against those accidents which might render one unserviceable.
Each pump has four cocks to produce alternately the expansion and
compression of the air, and the expulsion or supply of water, in such a
manner that they may throw off or compress a supply of air or water,
at pleasure, to the reservoir spoken, of inside. The whole operation of
this vessel depends upon the displacement of a certain quantity of con-
densed air, and in taking in or throwing off a body of water, more or
less, by working the pumps. Thus, if it is desired to descend from the
surface, the crew, before closing the top man-hole, (man-holes being
placed both at the top and bottom of the machine,) will force into the
air-reservoir the supply of air necessary to balance the weight of the
column of water, proportioned to the depth it is desired to descend ;
the deeper the descent, the more air is condensed in the reservoir ; this
prevents the water from coming in below, according to the laws of
equilibrium of fluids. Having obtained a sufficient supply of air, the
man-hole above is closed, and the submersion of the vessel effected, bv

I/

using pumps to pump water into the water-reservoir. When the vessel
has arrived at the bottom, the lower man-holes are opened, and explora-
tions made at convenience. A valve communicates with the air-reser-
voir and the apartment of the operators. When it is desired to ascend
to the surface, the lower man-holes are closed, and the water, which
was before pumped in, is expelled. The operations of ascending and
descending are thus performed with great rapidity ; but for the pur-
pose of guarding against the possibility of accidents, another plan is
arranged on the outside of the vessel. Upon each side is placed a
strong metallic platform, or shelf, loaded with ballast. These shelves
are connected with a lever in the cabin, and, in case of accident, can
be made to fall, dislodging the ballast and instantly sending the vessel
to the surface. The vessel can thus descend safely to any depth, from
10 to 100 feet, without direct or indirect communication with the
exterior. This is altogether the reverse of the diving-bell, which
receives its air always through a tube from the surface of the water.
It is calculated that from three to seven men can remain in the vessel
for seven hours. It is also proposed to purify the air of the cabin from
the carbonic acid generated in respiration, by forcing it, by means of a

N.

88 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

pump, through caustic potassa. The vessel is propelled by means of a
screw-propeller in the stern, turned by hand by a crank in the cabin.
A rudder is also operated in the cabin, giving those within a perfect
control of the boat. The propeller and rudder lever both pass through
stuffing boxes, which prevent the egress of air from the cabin, or the
ingress of water. The cost of this curious submarine vessel is about
$9,000 dollars. Scientific American, and Farmer and Mechanic.

REMOVAL OF OBSTRUCTIONS IN "HELL GATE," LONG ISLAND SOUND.

THE great terror to navigators through Long Island Sound, known
as " Hell Gate," or " Hurl Gate," as some choose to call it, is situated
opposite Harlem, eight or nine miles from New York Battery. The
East River, or Sound, from the Battery up to Harlem, runs a northerly
course. Here it makes a sudden bend, almost at a right angle, and
runs easterly for a mile or more, when it makes another bend to the
northward. Between these two bends in the Sound lies this celebrated
estuary, realizing to the mariner all the dangers and difficulties of

t/ / <_} CJ

Scylla and Chary Mis, pictured by the ancient poets. The eastern end
of Long Island Sound has a broad opening to the ocean, and as the
tide presses in from the sea, it finds a broad channel most of the way
through the Sound, eight, ten, or a dozen miles wide. When it reaches
this neck, between the two bends mentioned above, it is compressed to
about half a mile in breadth, producing a very rapid, wild current.
And it is here, in the midst of this rushing flood, that several rocks
and reefs rise up from the bed of the river, almost to the surface, and
throw the whole current into the wildest commotion. The most formi-
dable of these, and the most in the way, is Pot Rock, which lies nearly
midway in the channel. To the westward of this, and a little nearer
the northern shore, is the Fiying Pan. Way's Reef lies to the south-
ward of Pot Rock, towards the Long Island shore.

Ever since the settlement of the country the navigation of the Sound
has been obstructed by these terrific barriers, and no hopes were enter-
tained that they would ever be removed. To drill and blast them, es-
pecially Pot Rock, was seen to be utterly impossible ; for no vessel, or
structure whatever, which man could raise, could be stationed upon it
to effect the drilling. At length, however, a few months since, a French
gentleman, by the name of Maillefert, advanced the bold assertion that
he could blow Pot Rock to atoms, without drilling, and clear it out of
the channel to a sufficient depth to render navigation over it safe at all
times of tide. The idea was regarded as absurd, and but little atten-
tion was paid to it. The assertion was repeated, and evidence was
produced that M. Maillefert had already performed a similar feat at
Nassau, New Providence, where he had, without drilling, blasted and
removed nearly a hundred tons of rock eighteen or twenty feet under
water. M. Maillefert offered to undertake the job of removing Pot
Rock, if the means were furnished to carry on the work, stipulating
not to receive a dollar for his own services till the work was fully ac-
complished. Some interest began, to be awakened upon the subject,
and at length Henry Grinnell, Esq., whoso liberality in aid of humane

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 89

and public enterprise is so well and widely known, subscribed five thou-
sand dollars for commencing operations. Assurances of aid were ob-
tained from other quarters as fast as there should be any evidences of
success, and the enthusiastic Frenchman went to work. His mode of
operation is to sink a tin canister of powder down upon the top of the
rock, and there ignite it through a wire by means of a galvanic battery.
This is performed during the few minutes of slack tide at high water,
for the deeper the water over the powder the better. By the expansive
force of the explosion, the large mass of water above and around must
be instantly removed, lifted. But the motion of all matter requires
time. The expansive force is created instantly by the explosion, and
exerts itself instantly in every direction. It will not willingly wait for
the slow rising of the mass of waters high enough to afford it relief. It
therefore makes its way at the same tune downward upon the solid
rock, crushing, crumbling, and grinding it to pieces. All matter, as
far as we know, is porous and compressible, and rocks are more com-
pressible than water. Philosophy should therefore teach us that a
sudden expansive force between a body of water and a body of rock,
while it requires time to remove the water, must necessarily to some
extent crush the surface of the rock, if it is too large or too much con-
fined to be removed in a body. And this has proved to be the fact by
every blast which M. Maillefert has made. At high water, the top of
Pot Rock is now eighteen feet below the surface. After a blast, it is
found to be covered with broken fragments, some of which are grap-
pled and taken up. One piece was taken up weighing two hundred
pounds. The next rushing tide sweeps the top of the rock clean, and
after the next blast it is again covered with fragments.

The eflect of these blasts has been so successful, that little doubt
remains that the obstructions will be removed, and that the navigation,
hitherto dangerous, will be rendered safe and easy.

A correspondent of the National Intelligencer describes the method
of blasting, as follows : " A large float is anchored in the channel about
eighty feet from the rock. Precisely at high water, there being but
three or four minutes' cessation of the current, the large tin canister is
carried from the float and sunk upon the top of the rock. The boat
returns to the float, bringing the end of the wire attached to the can-
ister. Mons. Maillefert attaches the wire to his battery and completes
the circuit. Instantly a report is heard, and the mass of waters over
the rock rise into the air. There seems to be a solid body of water,
perhaps twenty feet in diameter, rising to a height of fifteen or twenty
feet, and then towering up in broken fragments and jets twenty or thirty
feet hio-her."

SUPPLY OF WATER TO BLACKWELI/S ISLAND BY MEANS OF A GUTTA

PERCIIA PIPE.

AMONG the engineering achievements of the past year, the supplying
of Blackwell's Island with water, by means of a gutta percha pipe, is
worthy of notice. In December, 1850, the proper preliminary exam-
ination having been made, it was determined to supply Blackwell's

8*

90 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Island with Croton water to the amount necessary for 5000 inhabi-
tants. The island is situated just below Hell Gate, the upper or north-
ern end of it reaching the southern limit of that far-famed pass. The
water thus divided by the island rushes past it in two deep channels,
with a tide little inferior in power to that of the most dangerous parts
of " the Gate " itself. For the entire length of the island, the centre-
depth of the channel next to the New York shore is from 70 to 75 feet,
with a rock bottom. The range of the ledges of rock is in a line with
the flow of the tide, while, the rift being nearly perpendicular, the wear-
ing away of the rock has caused the bed of the stream to be exceed-
ingly irregular ; the transverse soundings showing profiles singularly
uneven and abrupt in their rise and fall. It was on such a bottom and
in such a tide that the pipe was to be laid. At the point selected the
channel is about 900 feet wide, and the depth of water in the line of
crossing varies from 55 to 75 feet, the bed of the stream falling off
boldly and attaining the former depth within a short distance from either
shore. The difficulty and expense attending the laying a leaden pipe in
such a location induced the trial of gutta percha pipe. By all that
could be yet ascertained in reference to this comparatively new material,
the experiment was warranted, and a contract was accordingly made for
the manufacture of the pipe. A pipe was accordingly manufactured,
of a strength sufficient to sustain a pressure of 180 Ibs. to the square
inch. Owing to the great strength of the tide, the operation of laying
down the pipe was one of considerable difficulty. It could only be done
during the few minutes of comparatively slack water, when a partial
cessation of the current ceases from five to twenty minutes. During
this time the pipe was to be run across the river from shore to shore ;
anchors for sinking and holding it in its bed put on at every joint,
lowering lines attached from the several boats, and the pipe lowered
to its place by movements so graduated that the whole line of it con-
forming to the profile of the bottom should reach its bed at the same
moment. This was considered necessary in order to obviate all risk
of the high projecting points of rock chafing the pipe by the vibrating
action of the tide, in case it should hang suspended between two rocks.
The arrangements and mode of operation were as follows : A line of
12 large boats was stretched across the river and held by stem and
stern anchors. Thirteen other boats were stationed near" the shore,
the men ready to pull to their respective posts as soon as the order was
given. Each of these 25 boats was provided with an anchor to attach
to the pipe, with a strap to hold the pipe during the operation, and a
lowering line. The pipe in one continuous length of 1100 feet was
ready on the shore, and a coil of rope, one end of which was attached
to it, placed in a well-manned and swift boat. As soon as the tide
would permit the crossing, this boat started for the opposite shore,
across the stems of the anchored boats. As the boat struck the oppo-
site shore, the rope she carried was immediately manned by a sufficient
number of men stationed there, and, aided by those who manned it on
the island, the pipe was rapidly drawn across the river. At the
moment the pipe was stretched on the surface, from shore to shore,
straps were passed around it from the boats in line, the anchors

MECHANICS AND USEFUL AKTS. 91

attached, and the pipe lowered to its bed by two separate movements,
the first to bring it in a line of suspension conforming to the bottom
of the river ; the second, to lay it upon every point of its bed at the
same time. From the moment when the first boat started from the
island until the work was finished there elapsed 17 minutes. During
this time, besides the other necessary work, about one hundred anchors
were attached to the pipe. Apparently the work was thoroughly per-
formed, and had it not been for an untoward accident it would have
been. A large vessel, disregarding the signals and sentinels which
had been placed to prevent all craft from taking this channel, bore
directly across the line at the moment when the men were engaged in
attaching the anchors greatly endangering the lives of those in. its
course. The result was some confusion, and the consequent failure of
one of the men to put on all the anchors at his station. This was not
known at the time the tide was now making rapidly, and the order
was given to lower. This was at the end of December, 1850. The
pipe performed its work very well until the beginning of June follow-
ing, when, failing to supply the island with water, it was taken up to
ascertain the cause of failure. It was found that at the point above
mentioned several anchors had been omitted, leaving nearly fifty feet
of the pipe subject to the vibratory action of the tide. The constant
abrasion against the sharp rocks at the bottom, consequent upon this,
had of course chafed the pipe through at one or two points in the space
thus unprotected. Except in these points it was comparatively unin-
jured by abrasion. The rest of the pipe was now subjected to tests,
and found to have undergone no perceptible chemical change whatever.
Being again proved by the hydraulic press, it stood as much pressure
as it did before it was put down. Being convinced, by the winter's
experience, of the durability of the material and the advantages it pre-
sented in a location like this, and being satisfied that by another method
of putting it down all chance of the recurrence of such an accident
as the one above described could be obviated, it was determined to use
this same kind of pipe again. The second line of pipe was furnished
about the 20th of September, and put in its place on the 26th of the
same month. To avoid accidents like the one which had rendered
imperfect the work of last December, the mode of operation now
adopted was different. The pipe being all put together in a continu-
ous length, as before, was attached to a line of large boats, which was
stretched down the stream, and along the shore of BlackwelTs Island,
in the eddy, but in water of sufficient depth to make the proper ar-
rangement's for subsequent operations. These boats were stationed at
such intervals that the slack of the pipe between them, properly gradu-
ated, would conform to the inequalities of the bottom in the line of the
destined position of the pipe, the boats themselves being kept in place
by being made fast to a hawser 1150 feet long, drawn taught between
heavy anchors at the ends of it. The anchors at the upper end were
at the point at which the pipe was intended to connect with the
Island. The anchors to hold the pipe down were now put on
thoroughly, the workmen not being subject to the strength of the tide
or danger from sailing craft. As a further precaution against abrasion,

92 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

both the number and weight of the anchors was increased. Those
now put on were but five feet apart instead of nine feet ; and the weight
of each one was 34 instead of 28 Ibs. The line being thus prepared,
a steam tow-boat, properly fitted with bitts in the stern, was made fast
to the hawser, at a distance from its upper end equivalent to the width
of the river. Just before the slack of the flood-tide, the lower end of the
hawser was cut loose from the anchor which had kept it stretched, the
end taken on board the steamboat and made fast to the bitts, and the
movement across the river commenced. The hawser, notwithstanding
the weight of anchors upon the pipe, was still kept extended by the
power of the steamboat, and the whole line swung round on its centre,
until it stretched across the river to the New York shore; when the steam-
boat was sufficiently near the proper point of that shore, the bite of the
hawser was run ashore by a heaving-line, slipped into a large snatch-
block, (which had been previously attached to the solid rock just above
high- water mark,) the rest of the bite cast loose from the steamboat,
and she getting again under headway, the hawser was drawn taught
through the snatch-block, and every boat was brought up in a perfectly
straight line. From the bows of this line of boats the pipe now
hung immediately over its destined bed. The line which suspended it
to each boat passed over a chopping-block a man stood by with a
hatchet, and when the word was given, a single blow from each man
let the pipe drop to its place. There is but little doubt that it is prop-
erly placed, and but little fear that it will fail. It perhaps may be
as well to mention here, that the first attempt to put down the pipe in
this manner failed. The power of the steamboat was, of necessity,
applied in a direction tangent to the arc which she would describe
while performing her work. The difficulty of doing this, while so
great a weight at her stern was counteracting the power of the rudder,
was found to be much greater than was anticipated, and the ebb-tide
making when the steamboat had reached about half way across the
river, she, together with the entire line of boats, was swept back to
the shore whence she had started. The operations at the slack of the
flood-tide next day were successful, and the time occupied was twenty
minutes.

From this experiment, partly induced by a desire to obtain profes-
sional knowledge of a new material, partly forced by the difficulties of
the locality, such results as have been determined may be considered
satisfactory. Its flexibility and lightness, and the consequent ease and
economy in handling it, certainly proved great advantages in the work
here detailed. Its specific gravity is about 98, and its flexibility suf-
ficient for its close adaptation to a very uneven and irregular bed.
Under the hydraulic press, also, the pipe was found to be slightly elas-
tic, and to this may be attributed the success with which the line bore
the pressure to which it was subjected during the winter. The pres-
sure of the Croton at this point is (in a state of rest) about 45 Ibs. to
the square inch ; but in view of the sudden strain often occasioned by
the too rapid shutting down of a stop-cock, the iron pipes are always
subjected to a test-pressure of 300 Ibs. During the winter, a stop-cock,
on the lower end of the island, was broken from this cause, although it

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 93

had previously borne the test-pressure ; while the gutta percha pipe,
which under the test had not been able to sustain a continued strain
of more than 180 Ibs., bore without rupture the same shock. This is
owing directly to its elasticity ; the shock was but momentary, and
the material yielded sufficiently for its protection. Its toughness and
cohesiveness, when properly worked, proved, under various tests, to
which it was subjected, to be wonderful. Of its great durability
while used in this manner, chemists who have examined the pipe
which has been taken up, speak most favorably and confidently.

The gutta percha pipe used was three inches in diameter the
material being | inch thick, and made in lengths of nine feet. The
ioints were made as follows : the end of one length was pointed off and
partially roughened on its surface with a hot raspq the end of another
piece was made flexible by being heated in hot water, then opened by
the hand sufficiently, and carefully dried. The pointed end being
inserted, and the other closed around it by the pressure of the hand
merely, and being suffered to get cool, the junction became perfect,
and the whole pipe essentially one piece. Appleton's Mechanic's Mag.

EXTINCTION OF FIRES IN COAL MINES.

IN 1849, a successful attempt was made in England to extinguish a
fire which had been raging for considerable time in the Astley coal
mines,* by means of carbonic acid gas. During the past year another
gigantic experiment has been made, by Mr. Gurney, (the gentleman
who operated in the former case,) on a coal mine, long known as the
" Burning waste of Clackmannan." This fire had raged for about 30
years, over an area of 26 acres, in a nine-foot seam of coal. It is sup-
posed to have been set fire to by some persons who had been distilling
illicit whiskey in it. Shortly after its discovery it rapidly extended
itself, and threatened the destruction of the entire coal-field. A sum
of 16,000 was laid out in surrounding the fire with a puddle-wall, to
prevent its extending to other workings. The wall took five years in
building, the workmen being frequently driven back, and obliged to
recommence at a greater distance from the fire. It was, however,
finally completed 19 years ago. In the building of this wall the lives
of nine men and three women were unfortunately lost at various times
by the roof falling down and cutting off their retreat, and the fire over-
whelming them before they could be excavated. One unfortunate girl
was enclosed in this manner, and not burnt, but roasted to death, so
that, to use the expression of those who found her, when they took hold
of her arm to lift her it came off like the wing of a roasted fowl. The
fire having taken place near the crop of the coal, it was surrounded by
running the wall from the crop in a form resembling nearly a semi-
circle towards the dip, and then round again towards the crop, so that
the line of the crop formed the diameter of the circle. Still, however,
the wall required constant attention ; as, if the fire once passed it, it
would be a matter of great difficulty and expense again to surround it.
In consequence, it has cost the owner of the property (the Earl of Mans-

* See Annual of Scientific Discovery for 1850, pp. 191-5-6.

94 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

field) about 200 a year in keeping it up, and in the payment of over-
lookers, there being always a danger of the fire getting, by some acci-
dent, such as a fall of the roof, beyond the wall into the lower wastes,
and burning the extensive coal-field below. Various reports have from
time to time been made by men of great authority in the coal-trade,
all of which have agreed in the utter impossibility of extinguishing
this fire. It will, nevertheless, readily occur that if the fire was thus,
as it were, corked and bottled up to itself, it ought to have gone out
from want of air. This, however, was not the case, for no part of the
fire-mine being deeper than 20 fathoms, and some of it running at no
great distance below the surface, it obtained a sufficient supply of air
thence, as well as through the leakages in the puddle-wall, to maintain a
smouldering, sulky and volcano-like existence sometimes more active,
and sometimes less so, which could be traced by occasional falls of the
surface, the last of which occurred about five months ago, laying bare
the burning waste, and discharging smoke and steam. At the request
of Lord Mansfield, an inspection of the fire was made by Mr. Gurney,
and, notwithstanding the immense extent of the burning waste, he
thought it possible to extinguish the fire ; and, extraordinary as it may
appear, this object has been effectually accomplished by a simple and
inexpensive process.

We are accustomed to judge of great things by small, and, as a pop-
ular illustration, all the world knows practically that putting on an
extinguisher puts out the candle ; but perhaps few have taken the
trouble to consider why it does so. It is simply that the extinguisher
contains a very small quantity of air, of which about one fifth is oxy-
gen, and the rest nitrogen. As soon as this oxygen is consumed,
which, in so small a quantity of air as the extinguisher will hold, is
almost at once, nothing remains to support combustion, and the candle
goes out ; for the extinguisher then contains only the nitrogen of the
air and carbonic acid, the product of the combustion of the candle,
which mixture of nitrogen and carbonic acid is chokedamp. It is, of
course, obvious that if the fire-mine could have been similarly treated
it would have extinguished itself by the product of its own combustion,
as in the above case of the candle, and as is often the case in coal-pits.
The difficulty was that another element would come into the problem,
which was, that supposing the mine to be placed, under an extin-
guisher, (almost an impossibility, considering its size,) and all com-
bustion to have ceased, still the magazine of heat collected during so
many years' burning would continue, and cause the mine to reignite
on the readmission of fresh air. Mr. Gurney 's method of effecting this
object was to force a stream of chokedamp through the mine, by means
of the high-pressure steam-jet, at such a temperature as would, after
putting out the fire, cool down the mine below any degree of heat that
would permit it to reignite on the admission of atmospheric air, and at
such a pressure as to make all the leakages of the waste outwards of
chokedamp, so that every inlet might become an outcast by means of
which the atmosphere was perfectly excluded from all contact with the
fire. The machinery for conducting the experiment consisted of a
high-pressure steam-boiler, about GO feet of inch gas-pipe, and a small

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 95

cone for the high-pressure steam-jet at the end of it, which jet was
placed at the proper striking distance from a cylinder of sheet-iron one
foot in diameter and about nine feet long. The cylinder was the pas-
sage between a coke furnace and the downcast shaft, through which
the air was driven by the force of the steam-jet, and, by a simple con-
trivance, we were able to blow in either the air passed through the fur-
nace, or fresh, at pleasure.

When the preparations were completed, a party descended into the
mine, Mr. Gurney blowing them in fresh air from above, and there
cleared away two old iron doors into the waste, and knocked a hole
through an old puddle-wall, and then, hearing a good deal of rumbling
and rushing, as if the roof were falling, they thought it more prudent
to retreat, as they had effected their object of opening a passage for the
gases into the burning waste. The heat at the bottom of this shaft
was 100 F. at this time. These obstacles having been cleared away
and a free passage obtained, the shaft was covered with iron plates
and clayed over, so as to render it air-tight, and the chokedamp was
turned on. The extinguishing gas was made by passing the atmos-
pheric air through an intense coke fire in a brick furnace, which
deprived it of all its oxygen, or rather the oxygen combined with the
carbon of the coke, and formed carbonic acid, which gas, in mixture
with the nitrogen left, was forced through the furnace, along the iron
cvlinder, down the shaft and into the burning waste ; the quantity of
coke consumed being a sufficiently accurate measure of the air passed.

The remainder of the process is thus described by one of the assistants
of Mr. Gurney : After blowing in about 8,000,000 cubic feet of choke-
damp, (at the rate of about 7,000 cubic feet per minute,) which we
calculated to be about the contents of the waste, (allowance having
been made for falls of the roof,) we found the upcast or high level
shaft or drift was full of it to the mouth, flowed over, and ran along
the ground, extinguishing lights if held near the surface of the earth
at some distance from the spot. We found when we ceased blowing
in gas that after a time the chokedamp receded in the upcast, and that
whenever we blew it into the downcast, it poured out of the upcast in
volumes, being thus a perfect measure of the quantity of chokedamp
in the mine, and giving us a proof that it had passed completely
through it. After keeping the mine full for upwards of three weeks,
it was thought advisable to blow in chokedamp at a lower tempera-
ture than we had been previously doing, which we believed to have
been about the temperature of 250. In order to effect this, Mr. Gur-
ney used a very beautiful contrivance, by which, by the power of the
steam-jet, water was driven into the shaft along with the chokedamp
in the form of the finest spray. This process Mr. Gurney thought very
important, as he considered the difficulty of cooling the immense mag-
azine of heat, after the fire was extinguished, to prevent reignition on
the admission of fresh air, to be the most uncertain part of the whole
experiment. That he could extinguish the fire he had no doubt what-
ever, but to cool down the waste against the existing conditions of non-
conduction and non-radiation, he considered far more difficult. The
water being so minutely divided by the immense force of the jet, was

96 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

held in suspension in the air, and floated on with it through the mine.
A large portion was in actual solution, but far the greater part was
simply mechanically suspended like fine mist, and did not precipitate
or condense. When the temperature was sufficiently reduced, as indi-
cated by the thermometer, so as to leave no fear of re'ignition, fresh air
was blown in by the spray-jet, so as to pass through the mine charged
with vapor, in order to cool it enough to allow of its being entered.
After a time the jet was reversed, and the air drawn through the mine
in a contrary direction, so drawing out the air we had blown in charged
with mist ; and we continued drawing out mist or vapor for several
days, which showed that it had filled every part of the waste and had
remained suspended. The temperature of the air that was drawn out
gradually decreased at the rate of about six degrees a day. After
about one month's operations the downcast shaft was uncovered and
descended, and found to be of a temperature of about 98. A shaft was
then sunk into the middle of the burning waste at a point where the fire
was supposed to have been the most fierce at the commencement of our
operations. The roof was here found to have fallen, so that it was
impossible to enter. The fire, however, was extinct.

CAOUTCHOUC, ITS PROPERTIES AND APPLICATIONS.

THE following is an abstract of a paper, read before the Royal Insti-
tution, London, by Mr. Brockedon, on Caoutchouc, its properties and
applications :

Caoutchouc is a vegetable constituent, the product of several trees.
The most prolific in* the substance are, Siphonia Caoutchouc, Urseola
elastica,, Ficus elastica, c. Of these, the first-named extends over a
vast district in Southern and Central America ; and the caoutchouc
obtained from these districts is best adapted to manufactures. The
Ficus elastica is abundant over 10,000 square miles in Assam, Asia.
The Urseola elastica abounds in the islands of the Indian Archipelago.
It is described as a creeper, of a growth so rapid that, in five years, it
extends 200 feet, and is from 20 to 30 inches in girth. This tree can,
without being injured, yield, by tapping, from 50 to 60 pounds of
caoutchouc in one season. A curious contrast is exhibited in the tardy
growth of the tree from which the gutta percha is obtained. This tree
does not come to its prime in less than from 80 to 120 years. The
produce cannot be obtained but by sacrifice of the tree. It is found in
a concrete state, between the bark and the wood, after the tree has
been cut down ; and it is in this condition that, having been scraped
out, it is sent to our markets. When coagulated by evaporation or
agitation, caoutchouc separates from the aqueous portion of the sap of
the trees which yield it. This solid and fluid cannot afterwards be
reunited, any more than butter is capable of mixing with the milk from
which it is separated. Some specimens of caoutchouc are harder than
gutta percha itself, while others never solidify, but remain in the con-
dition of bird-lime or treacle. The process termed vulcanizing was
discovered in 1843. A sheet of caoutchouc immersed in melted sul-
phur absorbs a portion of it, and, at the same time, it undergoes some

MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 97

important changes in many of its characteristic properties. It is no
longer affected by climatic temperature ; it is neither hardened by cold
nor softened by any heat which would not destroy it. It ceases to be
soluble in the common solvents of caoutchouc, while its elasticity
becomes greatly augmented and permanent. The sarne effect may be
produced by kneading sulphur into caoutchouc, by means of powerful
rollers ; or the common solvents, naphtha and spirits of turpentine, may
be charged with a sufficient amount of sulphur in solution to become a
compound solvent. A vulcanized solid sphere, of two and a half inches
in diameter, when forced between two rollers a quarter of an inch apart,
was found to maintain its form uninjured ; in fact, it is the exclusive
property of vulcanized caoutchouc to be able to retain any form impressed
upon it, and to return to that form on the removal of any disturbing
force which has been brought to bear upon it. Caoutchouc slightly
expands and contracts in different temperatures ; it is also capable of
being condensed under pressure. A tube of two and a quarter inches,
impactly secured, was subjected to a force of 200 tons ; the result was
a compression amounting to one tenth. Great heat appeared to have
been evolved ; and the excessive elasticity of the substance caused a
fly-wheel, weighing five tons, to recoil with an alarming violence. The
evolution of heat from caoutchouc, under condensation, is a property
possessed by it in common with air and the metals ; it differs from the
latter, however, in being able to exhibit cold by reaction. Mr. Brocke-
don stated, that he had raised the temperature of an ounce of water
two degrees in about 15 minutes, by collecting the heat evolved by the
extension of caoutchouc thread ; he refers the heat to the change in
specific gravity. He contends that this heat thus produced is not due
to friction, because the same amount of friction is occasioned in the
contraction as in the extension of the substance, and the result of this
contraction is to reduce the caoutchouc thus acted upon to its original
temperature.

Among the recent applications of the elastic force of caoutchouc,
attention was directed to the application of tubes of vulcanized caout-
chouc as torsion springs to roller blinds, adjusted to the heaviest exter-
nal blinds of houses, or the most delicate carriage-blinds ; and equally
applicable to clocks and various machines as a motive power. To the
raising of weights, (Hodges' patent application,) short lengths of rubber,
termed power-purchases, are successively drawn down from, or lifted
to, a fixed bearing, and attached to any weight which it is required to
raise. When a sufficient number of these power-purchases are fixed
to the weight, their combined elastic force lifts it from the ground.
Thus, ten purchases of the elastic force, of 50 pounds each, raise 500
pounds. Each purchase is six inches long, and contains about one and
a half ounces of vulcanized caoutchouc. These ten purchases, if stretched
to the limit of then- elasticity, not of their cohesive strength, will lift
650 pounds. This power the accumulation of elastic force though
it obeys the common law of mechanical powers, differs enough to be
distinguished as a new mechanical power.

9

98 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

GLASS SHADES.

THE largest glass shade ever produced was lately blown at Birming-
ham by an English workman. It is 62 inches by 26^ inches in diam-
eter, and contains nearly 40 pounds of glass. A secret in blowing
great glass bubbles was lately described in the London Builder. It
consists in simply moistening the mouth with a little water before
blowing. The water is converted, in the interior of the drop, into
steam, which greatly aids the breath in extending the dimensions of
the "bell."

EXPANDING MODEL OF A MAN.

A MECHANICAL curiosity, called the " Expanding Model of a Man,"
was contributed to the Great Exhibition, by Count Daru, an exiled
Pole. The figure represents a man five feet high, in the proportions of
the Apollo Belvedere. From that size the figure can be proportionally
increased to six feet eight inches ; and, as it is intended to measure
the clothing of an army, it is so constructed as to be capable of adjust-
ment in every part to the particular proportions of each individual.
This is obtained by mechanism composed of 875 framing pieces, 48
grooved steel plates, 163 wheels, 202 slides, 476 metal washers, 482
spiral springs, 704 sliding plates, 497 nuts, 8500 fixing and adjusting
screws, with numerous steadying pins ; so that the number of pieces is
upwards of 7000.

IMPEOVED SAFETY LAMP.

THE great objection against the use of Davy's safety lamp was
the insufficient light it afforded to the miners. This has been rem-
edied by M. Eloin, of Belgium, who has constructed a lamp perfectly
safe, and giving a light equal to six Davy lamps. It consists of a lamp
surrounded by a strong short glass cylinder, surmounted by an iron or,
brass one, capped with coarse wire gauze ; the air for supporting com-
bustion being admitted through fine wire gauze at the bottom, and
made to impinge directly upon the flame. This air being only such as
is necessary to support the flame, and the combustion being perfect,
the portion of the cylinder above the flame must always be filled with
the products of combustion, and never with an explosive atmosphere.
The weight of the lamp is by no means objectionable ; it is inexpen-
sive, and the power of perceiving the presence of fire-damp is fully
equal to the original Davy. London Mining Journal.

I UMK

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY.

STAITE'S ELECTRIC LIGHT.

THE Manchester (Eng.) Courier gives an account of an exhibition
of Staite's electric light, in that city, before a committee appointed to
inquire into its adaptation for general illumination. The apparatus
exhibited was constructed with a view of testing the self-sustaining
power of the mechanical arrangement adopted for the continual devel-
opment of the light, the sustaining power of the battery, and the cost
of the whole. At four the light was set in action, it being understood
that it was to burn for five hours and a quarter without interruption,
that being the period at which the committee had expressed themselves
satisfied that it could be continued for any definite length of time.
From four o'clock to six the light continued to burn with increasing
brilliancy, giving successively a light, adjudged equal, the first half
hour, to 200 candles, at five to 300, at half-past five to 400, and so
successively till the electric fluid came into its fullest action at half-
past six, when the light, by the instrument used, developed the im-
mense number of 700 candles, which intensity of light was steadily
kept up till the experiment concluded at a quarter past nine o'clock.
Colored prints were brought from the influence of the direct sunbeam
to that of the ray from the electric light, in which not the slightest
difference of shade of color could be observed. The light of each was
then passed through the prism, which still further established their
identity, as their point of junction could not be ascertained, thus proving
its immense value to the manufacturer and exhibitor of goods.

PAGE'S ELECTRO-MAGNETIC LOCOMOTIVE.

Ax experiment of applying electro-magnetism as a locomotive power,
was made by Prof. Page, during the past season, on the Baltimore and
Washington Railroad. The apparatus used was that perfected by
the gentleman making the experiment. The progress of the locomo-
tive, when it started, was so slow that a boy was enabled to keep pace
with it for several hundred feet. But the speed was soon increased,
and Bladensburg, a distance of about five miles and a quarter, was
reached in thirty-nine minutes. When within two miles of that place,
the power of the battery being fully up, the locomotive began to run,

100 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

on nearly a level plane, at the rate of nineteen miles an hour, or seven
miles faster than the greatest speed heretofore attained. This velocity
was continued for a mile, when one of the cells cracked entirely open,
which caused the acids to intermix, and, as a consequence, the pro-
pelling power was partially weakened. Two of the other cells subse-
quently met with a similar disaster. The cells were made of light
earthenware, for the purpose of the experiment merely, without refer-
ence to durability. This part of the apparatus can therefore easily be
guarded against mishap. The great point established was, that a loco-
motive on the principle of Professor Page can be made to travel nine-
teen miles an hour.

The locomotive of the above experiment weighs ten and a half tons,
and has five-feet drivers, with two-feet stroke. In appearance it does
not differ much from a passenger car.

PAGE'S MAGNETIC ENGINE.

THE following is a mechanical description of the magnetic engine,
constructed and exhibited by Prof. Page, the principle of which was
explained in the Annual of Scientific Discovery, 1851, pp. 104-8.

Prof. Page's engine differs from all others hitherto constructed, both
in principle, in arrangement, and in action. He found, in the com-
mencement of his experiments, that the magnet required time to re-
ceive the magnetism of the coil, and that it also required time, when
the circuit was broken, for the magnet to part with its induced mag-
netism ; the induced magnetism, or secondary current of the magnet,
acted also in the very opposite direction to the one required. To remedy
this he came to the conclusion that it was necessary to make the cur-
rent of the magnet (the secondary current) act always in the same
direction with the object to be moved ; at the same time it was
necessary that the magnet should always be magnetic. This was for the
purpose of gaining in the element of time, as the magnet could not at
once be deprived of its counter-force. He therefore adopted the prin-
ciple of hollow electro-magnetic coils.

The principle, therefore, by which this engine is operated, is electro-
magnetic attraction, by the intermittent charging of a series of hollow
magnets acting continuously on a piston magnet moving inside of them,
in the direct line of motion, whether that line of motion be horizontal,
vertical or circular [rotary.] These hollow magnets are formed of coils of
copper wire, covered with a non-conducting substance ; about 1500 yards
of wire being comprised in each coil. The several coils, when arranged
on a frame, form a cylinder made up of sections. The several sections
are all connected by a metallic connection, but are so arranged and joined
to the cut-off, or slide, that but three magnets (hollow coils) are charged
at once, and one coil is being continually cut off behind, and the current
continually thrown on to the coil before in the direction in which the
piston is moving. The peculiar feature of the engine, then, is to be
found in a continual electro-magnetic draught in the secondary current
direction of the iron magnet, or piston. AYhen the coils are charged,
this piston moves in their centres, touching nothing. To the end of

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 101

this piston is attached a double crank, which gives motion to a shaft,
on which is a fly-wheel. Attached to one side of the piston is an arm,
which works the cut-off. The battery wires are screwed to two rods
of copper, one running along one side the whole length of the coils,
the other close to the coils on a narrow platform on the engine frame.
Small blocks of copper, connected with the hollow coils by wires, form
the connecting points in the circuit, and perform a similar office to the
ports of a steam-engine. Attached to a slide, moved by the arm con-
nected with the piston, are two thin strips of copper, separated a short
distance at the middle part. Each strip has two metal spring plates,
always in contract with the copper blocks. Of these plates, two only
are in connection with the battery at once. As the plates, by the
motion of the arm, move backwards and forwards, the circuit is formed
alternately, from coil to coil, cutting off the current behind and throw-
ing it ahead. The stroke of the engine is reversed by throwing the
current from one half the coils to the other half. This is done by two
dogs, or projections, fixed on the side of the frame, which strike against
a charger fixed on a centre-pin. When this charger strikes one pro-
jection, it brings one set of slides, or plates, to form the circuit ; and
when' it strikes upon the other projection, it turns upon its pin and
comes in contact with the strip of copper attached to the other slides ;
there is therefore three of the coils always charged at once. When-
ever a full stroke has been made, the charger at once diverts the cur-
rent from one half the coils to the other, acting upon the opposite end
of the piston ; the three coils near the middle, being first charged, and
so on, one after another, as the piston moves along. A stroke of any
length can thus be given to the engine, a matter never before accom-
plished. Scientific American.

ELECTRO-MAGNETIC TRACTION ON RAILWAYS.

TIIE idea of increasing the adhesiveness of the wheels of locomo-
tives, without increasing their weight, has, for a number of years past,
occupied the attention of mechanicians. To effect this, a plan has
been presented to the French Academy, by Mr. Nickles, to convert the
wheel of the locomotive into a magnet, and make it stick to the iron
rail by a like adhesion. This he does by placing a galvanic battery
under the body of the engine. A wire coming from the poles of this
battery is then coiled horizontally round the lower part of the wheel,
close to the rail, but in such a way that the wheel turns round freely
within it, fresh portions of its circumference coming continually into
relation with the coil. The part of the wheel in immediate contact
with the rail is thus made magnetic, and therefore has a strong adhe-
sion for the surface along which it moves, and the amount of the
adhesion may be increased or diminished at any time, by merely aug-
menting or reducing, the intensity of the galvanic current that circu-
lates through the surrounding coil. By means of a handle the
electricity may be turned on or off, and an effectual brake be thus
brought into activity, that can make the iron rail smooth or adhesive
according to the requirements of the instant, and this without in any

9*

102 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

way interfering with the free rotation of the wheels, as the friction
brakes of necessity do. The lower portion of the wheel, for the time
being, is in exactly the same condition as a bar of soft iron placed
within a coil of wire circulating electricity. But as it rises up out of
the coil during the rotation of the wheel, it grows less and less mag-
netic, the descending portions of the opposite side of the circumference
acquiring increased magnetic power in like degree.

Experiments, made with a large locomotive, give the following re-
sults : " The rapidity of rotation, however great it may be, does not
at all effect the process of magnetizing the wheels. This is conceiv-
able, when we reflect upon the rapidity of the propagation of electricity,
and upon the instantaneousness of the magnetizing action.

" Upon a horizontal plane of iron, dry and perfectly polished, the
force required to make an electro-magnet slide is, clearly, to the force
required to remove it vertically from the plane, as the force required
to make a mass of unmagnetized iron slide to' the weight of that
mass.

" But this is not the case upon inclined planes. While the co-
efficient of the force required to make the mass of iron slide, diminishes
till it becomes nothing, the magnetic adhesiveness remains invariable.
This is conceivable, since the resultant of the actions produced by a
magnet upon a plane of iron is perpendicular to that plane, while the
mass of iron, which only acts by its own weight, exercises its action
in the direction of the weight.

" Thus, upon inclined railways, one portion of the surcharge in-
tended to produce adhesion is not only inefficient for this purpose, but
it even operates unfavorably, in that, by the influence of weight, it tends
to cause the train to descend ; while, on the contrary, magnetic adhe-
siveness is always the same, whatever be the degree of inclination.
Atmospheric perturbations, fogs, &c., which so considerably impair
adhesion produced by weight, do not sensibly affect magnetic adhesion,
which remains the same whether the rails be wet or dry. Finally, a
locomotive with magnetized wheels does not require a greater force of
traction than one of which the wheels are in the normal state."

THOUGHTS ON TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS TWENTY YEARS AGO.

IN 1833, Hon. John Pickering, since deceased, by request of the
Boston Marine Society, delivered a lecture on the subject of " Tele-
graphic Language," tracing the art from the first communications
made by torches at the siege of Troy, until the date of the address.
In conclusion, he makes the following curious reflections and sug-
gestions, which all must acknowledge to border very closely upon the
prophetic :

" But the application of the art to other subjects will naturally fol-
low the progress of those rapid improvements which are believed to be
characteristics of the present age. If, for instance, we take the case
of commercial affairs in general, we know what a change has taken
place in the transmission of intelligence, relating to business, within
a few years past ; and it would seem, too, as if every new impulse in

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 103

business rendered it necessary to add new energy to our means of
communication. Is it too much to suppose that the demands of
business may, before a long time, lead to the establishment of tele-
graphic communications* between our principal cities 1 Twelve years
ago it was stated in the French papers that three thousand messages
could be conveyed in one day from Paris to any extremity of France,
and that answers could be received to them. Even since I have been
preparing to meet you at this time, the question has been agitated as
to the practicability of a telegraphic line for purposes of business
between the great seat of our northern manufactures and this city.
And why may we not look forward to the time when there shall be
such a communication between this city and New York, Philadelphia,
and Washington ? I dare not presume to predict such an event for
some time to come ; and yet when we daily witness the extraordinary
resources of this growing country when we observe the wonderful
results of an active and intelligent population incessantly occupied in
developing their powers and resources and stimulated, by the cir-
cumstances in which they are placed, to greater and more intense
exertion than the same number of people have probably ever been
when we see, too, that all ordinary calculations, founded upon the
precedents of other nations, fall short of what is here actually accom-
plished when we witness all this, we cannot believe that it is being
too sanguine to expect the application of the telegraph to a vastly
greater extent than we have yet seen. Will it be said that the de-
mands of business will never be such as to warrant the adoption of it,
for instance, between this city and New York ? For want of practical
knowledge, I dare not affirm that this will very soon be the case ; and
yet if there are now essential advantages to business in obtaining
intelligence from New York in two days, or less, or at the rate of eight
or ten miles an hour, any man can perceive that there may be a pro-
portionate benefit, when we can transmit the same information for
that distance, by telegraph, at the rate of four miles in a minute, or
in the space of a single hour from New York to Boston. Let us take
as an example, by way of illustrating this view of the subject, the case
of the great question now agitated at Washington, and in which the
welfare of the country is so essentially involved. Might it not_ prove
to be of vital importance to thousands of our men of business, in this
quarter of the Union, whether friendly or adverse to the tariff, to be
able to know the decision of the government at Washington, in two
hours and a quarter after that decision was made ? Why do we
annually see such extraordinary efforts made to transmit the message
of the chief magistrate, and other state papers and public acts of gov-
ernment, through all parts of the country ? When, therefore, we find
by actual experience that this rapid mode of communication is deemed
necessary to the wants of an active community, who will venture to set
bounds to its application? We can, in imagination, suppose it to be
extended on our coast from one end of the continent to the other ; and

r Mr. Pickering here refers to the old form of telegraph by which intelligence is commu-
nicated from station to station by means of signals.

104 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

if any people shall ever carry it from our Atlantic shores across the
continent to the coast of the Pacific Ocean, I feel the strongest convic-
tion that it will be accomplished by our countrymen ; when we may
obtain intelligence from China in as short a time as it now reaches us
from Europe."

ON THE CONDUCTION OF ELECTRICITY THROUGH WATER.

MR. BAKEWELL, at the British Association, stated the results of some
experiments on the conduction of electricity by water, made with a
view to prove that an electric current may be transmitted for a con-
siderable distance through unprotected wires immersed in water. A
thin copper wire, (No. 20,) 320 feet long, was stretched across a pond,
and two copper plates, ten inches square, to which wires were soldered,
were immersed to serve as conducting plates for the return current.
A Smee's battery of two pairs of plates was used ; and when the con-
nexion was made with a galvanometer on the opposite bank, a steady
deflexion of 30 was maintained, and a strong blue mark was produced
by a steel electrode on paper moistened with a solution of prussiate^of
potass in diluted muriatic acid. In this experiment the conducting
plates were placed close to the wire and on opposite sides of it, so that
the return current passed diagonally across the exposed wire. The
water in this case appeared to act as a conductor and as a non-con-
ductor at the same time, in proportion to the surfaces exposed to its
influence. In the next experiment the wire was doubled, and a cur-
rent of electricity from the same battery was transmitted through the
wires, both being immersed in the water. In this case the deflexion
of the needle was more powerful, and it continued steady at 45.

SPEED OF THE MAGNETIC CURRENT.

A LONG experience of the Coast Survey, with some different lines of
telegraph, establishes the fact, that the velocity of the galvanic current
is about fifteen thousand four hundred miles per second. The time of
transit between Boston and Bangpr was recently measured, and the
result was, that the time occupied in the transmission was one hundred
and sixtieth of a second, and that the velocity of the galvanic ^ current was
at the rate of sixteen thousand miles per second, which is about six
hundred miles per second more than the average of other experiments.

SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH BETWEEN ENGLAND AND FRANCE.

THE project of constructing a submarine telegraph between England
and France, across the Strait of Dover, unsuccessfully attempted in
1850, has been again undertaken during the past year ; and, aided by
experience, has been fully accomplished. The line or cable at present in
use is much more substantial than that formerly employed ; and was
constructed in the following manner : Four copper wires, known as
the 16 wire gauge, each encased in a covering of gutta percha, of a
quarter of an inch in diameter, constituted the first layer. These

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 105

several lines are twisted and plaited about each other, in spiral convo-
lutions, in the manner of an ordinary cable or rope. The next super-
incumbent coil to this consisted of hempen yarn, previously saturated
in a reservoir of prepared pitch and tallow, and, in its turn, is tightly
twisted and compressed, impernieably and by steam-power, over the
gutta percha, with its enclosed copper wires. This is overlaid again
with a series of hempen yarns, five or six in number, and about an
inch in diameter, saturated in the pitch and tallow, with a view of
what the workmen call "Avorming" the gutta percha. The gutta
percha thus protects the wire, and the hempen yarn in addition acts as
a cernentitious material to the gutta percha, which, ultimately, has
thrown over it a coat of galvanized wire. This completes the first pro-
cess, and the manufacture of the rope in the spiral form is for the
purpose of giving flexibility. The second process consists in hauling
off the cable, so far completed, and passing it on to another wire-rope
machine, where the cord is completely covered over with ten galvanized
iron wires, each wire being about the thickness of a lead-pencil, and
known as " No. 1 galvanized wire gauge." This galvanized iron sheath-
ing is to protect and preserve the interior layers from the action of the
sea, and the weight is considered to be sufficient to sink the cable ex neces-
sitate gravilatis. The appearance of the cable, thus completely encased
in a shining coat of galvanized iron, and divested of tar and dirt, is
quite lustrous and silvery. The entire weight of the cable thus
completed was about 200 tons. The actual submersion of the great cable
took place on the 25th of October. The huge coils were arranged on
board her majesty's ship Blazer, towed by the steamship Fearless. One
end of the cable being secured to the beach, on the South Foreland
coast, the Fearless then steamed ahead having made fast her towing
tackle to the hull of the Blazer at the rate of two miles an hour out
to sea, the men on board the latter vessel paying out continuously the
cable over her stern, from whence, by the action of its own weight, it
sank into the submarine sand and valley. The track between South
Foreland and Sandgate the corresponding point on the French coast,
and which was selected as presenting, from soundings and surveys,
the fewest obstacles and probable disturbances was marked out by
pilot buoys as the best site for the submerging of the wire that could
be adopted by those having the best knowledge of naval and marine
dynamics. The depth of the sea line at starting point was from 20 to
30 feet, and its maximum depth 180 feet, or 30 fathoms. At inter-
vals during the progress, fusees were fired, and messages sent along the
wires, in order to test the perfectness of the connection and insulation.
The distance from coast to coast was 21 miles, and the length of wire
provided for, 24 miles ; yet, notwithstanding the surplus wire, the line
was found, on nearing the French coast, to be wanting in length for a
distance of more than a mile. This mishap of the cable running short
arose from the fact that, while the Blazer was being towed by the
Fearless at only two miles an hour, the cable, at certain intervals, was
run out at the rate of four and five miles an horn-, which necessarily
caused it, from want of regularity in the delivery motion, to take the

106 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

sea bottom in a series of loops or " kinks ; " thus accounting for each
mile of cable not covering its allotted mile of sea. TJie vessels were,
therefore, compelled to remain anchored at the end of the submerged
wire until the deficit could be manufactured and forwarded. This was,
however, soon effected, and the connection between the two coasts
rendered firm and complete. The connections with the inland tele-
graphs of England and France were soon afterwards made ; and the line
is now in practical working order, messages having been transmitted
and returned from London to Paris in less than three minutes.

The whole cost of the cable was about 15,000, and it is confidently
hoped that it will remain permanent and unaffected by the agitation
of the sea. A patent to obviate that difficulty has been secured in
England, by Mr. Dick, of Ayr. His process is to enclose the wire, pre-
viously encased in gutta percha, in a cast-iron envelope. This envelope
is made of perforated balls and perforated cylinders, threaded on the
cable in succession ; first a ball, next a cylinder, another ball, another
cylinder, and so on. Of course, the ends of these cylinders are so formed
as to fit the balls exactly, and the structure is a succession of knee-
joints, or rather a shark's back-bone. This arrangement claims to
produce an effective protection of the rope, with flexibility and cheap-
ness.

The success of the telegraph between England and France has, to
some extent, revived the project of a trans-atlantic one between Europe
and the United States. The London Morning Post, in discussing the
subject, says that the only difficulty of the undertaking is to provide
the requisite funds. Making an estimate for a wire rope, one inch in
diameter, covered as usual, the cost would be 50 per mile, and the
nearest points of Europe and America being 2,000 miles apart, the
whole expense would not exceed $2,500,000. The importance of such
a work is not to be estimated by thousands of millions.

APPLICATION OF THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH TO A NEW SYSTEM OF FIRE

ALARMS.

THE following is an account of the application of the electric tele-
graph to a new system of fire-alarms, first devised by Dr. William F.
Channing, of Boston, and recently carried out by the municipal
authorities of that city, under his direction. The application of the
telegraph to fire-alarms was first published by Dr. Channing in the
Boston Daily Advertiser, of June 3, 1845. In 1847-8, an attempt was
made to realize it in Boston ; but the experiments by the city were not
carried to the extent of erecting wires. In the month of March, 1851,
he presented a detailed plan to the city government of Boston, which
was adopted in June ; and an appropriation of $10,000 was made to
carry it into effect. An essential feature of the system is the employ-
ment of electricity, first, to signalize the existence of a fire to the cen-
tral office, and, second, by means of electro-magnetism, to produce
mechanical effects at the churches or other buildings containing alarm-
bells, so as to give a public alarm. Two separate circuits are employed

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 107

for these two functions ; one, the signal circuit, and the other the
alarm circuit. Comparing the municipal telegraph to the nervous
system of man, these circuits correspond respectively to the sensitive
and motor nerves. A single agent at the centre controls the whole
system, receiving the indication of a fire by the signal circuit, and
throws the current of the battery on the alarm circuit at will. In the
course of the signal circuit are forty signal stations, consisting of locked
cast-iron boxes, placed on the outside of buildings, and in charge of
suitable persons. In case of fire, one of these is opened, and a crank
within it turned a few times. The axis of this crank carries a circuit
wheel, which communicates to the central office the number of the
district and station striking them upon a bell, and also recording
them permanently on a Morse register. The agent of the office imme-
diately depresses the appropriate key of the district keyboard connected
with the alarm circuit. The keyboard has a key for every district
signal which is to be struck on the bells. When the key is held down,
a circuit cylinder revolves beneath it, completing the circuit at the
precise intervals requisite to strike the signal of the district with suit-
able intermissions. This action of the current liberates each time the
detent of a powerful striking machine at each belfry or alarm station in
the circuit, so that a single blow is struck synchronously upon each
bell. The Boston nineteen alarm-bells are thus telegraphically con-
nected. The machines are carried by weights, varying from 800 to
2000 pounds. The detents of these machines are liberated by a falling
arm, which is set off' by the attractive force of an electro-magnet. This
beautiful device, by which an immense saving of electro-magnetic
power is obtained, is due to Mr. M. T. Farmer, the constructor of the
system, to whom, also, many of the adaptations and details of arrange-
ment in the system are to be ascribed. In the central office is an
alarni-bell register, which shows the number of blows struck upon the
bells. There is also a testing-clock, which tests each circuit automat-
ically once an hour ; all the batteries employed in the system are also
at the central office. In each signal box there is a little electro-mag-
net and armature, whose click enables police or other communications
to be transmitted from the central office to the signal stations, while a
signal key in the box allows return communications to be made. At
each signal and alarm station, sixty in all, discharges of atmospheric
electricity are provided with a ground connection. This affords inci-
dental protection to the city from lightning. The circuits comprise
forty-nine miles of No. 8 and 10 wire of Swedish iron. To prevent irreg-
ularities, the ground is not used as part of the circuit. Between each
station there are always two wires following widely different routes.
If one is accidentally broken it occasions no interruption of the circuit.
The buildings, for the support of the wires, are carefully selected.

The signal and alarm circuits in Boston are, for various reasons of
economy and security, increased in number to three of each class.
These are the North, South and South Boston Circuits. By an
arrangement of the District key-board, the current from the battery is
thrown momentarily in rapid succession on each of the three alarm

108 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERT.

circuits for each stroke of the bell. A great economy of battery power
is thus obtained. In the place of the bells and striking machines, the
alarm circuit may be applied to setting off one or more air-whistles, at
such intervals as to give and repeat the district signal. The wires
may be insulated in a metallic tube and buried under the streets,
instead of the mode of suspension above the buildings. The system
proposed is a step in municipal organization, in advance of any here-
tofore attempted. It is an indication of a higher social development.
The municipal telegraph, in this and other applications, is to constitute
the nervous system of organized societies. A fire telegraph (probably
only for signalizing, not for mechanical agency, in connection with the
bells) is stated to be in operation in Berlin. A private signalizing
telegraph also connects the alarm-bell towers in New York. But these
are very distinct from the thorough organization which Dr. Channing
has proposed, and from the development of the motor functions of the
telegraph, described in the preceding pages. Editor.

ELECTRO-MAGNETIC CLOCKS AT BERLIN.

As there exist already at Berlin electro-telegraphic wires for signal-
izing fires, the same apparatus will also be used for the clocks. There
will be established several leading clocks in the different parts of the
town, which, being connected with the wires, wall indicate the time on
simple dials. The cost of such a clock and wires will be twenty-eight
thalers ; the subsequent yearly expense only four thalers. Such appa-
ratus can be applied at any private house, and an additional advantage
would be, that all these watches would keep an uniform and exact
time.

EFFECT OF FUNNELS OF STEAMERS UPON THE COMPASS.

THE following is a communication from Captain Johnson, E. N., to
Col. Sabine, containing the results of experiments made for the pur-
pose of determining the effect of the telescopic funnels of steamships
upon the compass :

" I wish you to bring under notice the following results which I
obtained with reference to the effect of hollow iron cylinders upon the
compass, when placed inside each other ; the object being to ascertain
whether the whole difference of deviation, under the two conditions of
these telescopic funnels, was due to the difference of their elevation and
depression only, or whether a portion of the said differences was attrib-
utable to the induced magnetism of the separate parts of the funnel,
when lowered, acting upon each other. As it would have required
more time than could be afforded to hoist the parts of those huge fun-
nels in and out of the ship, while the requisite succession of observa-
tions were made, I procured three hollow iron cylinders of smaller
dimensions, their several diameters being such as to admit of one cyl-
inder being placed inside of another, and leaving a space of about one
eighth of an inch between their surfaces. Having placed a standard
compass on one of the pedestals in the observatory, and ascertained the
magnetic meridian for the moment by the collimator, the largest or
external iron cylinder (No. 1) was brought in and placed to the east-

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 109

ward of the compass, the principal mass of the cylinder being below
the level of the needle and card, and its upper end being 2 inches
above that level. By this means a deflection or deviation of 10 10'
was produced, the north end of the needle being drawn that amount
to the eastward of the correct magnetic north. Cylinder No. 2 was
next placed inside of No. 1, when the deviation was increased to 12
15'. Cylinder Xo. 3 was then placed inside of No. 2, and the devia-
tion was again increased to 14 15', the north end of the needle being
drawn to the eastward in each case. Hansteen's Magnetic Intensity
instrument was then placed with the centre of its needle (as nearly as
t could adjust it) in a similar position to that which the course of the
compass had occupied, and the following results were obtained :

Time of 100 vibrations, starting from an arc of 18
Previous to the cylinders being brought into the observatory, 6' 57"

No. 1 cylinder in place, & 51"

No. 2 cylinder in place inside of No. 1, . . . & 47"
No. 3 cylinder in place inside of No. 2, . . . .6' 45"

" The intensity instrument being removed, a dipping needle was
then employed, and the following are the results of observations :

Dip.

Previous to the cylinders being brought into the observatory, 68 37'
No. 1 cylinder placed to the south of the instrument, . 70 10'
No. 2 cylinder in place inside of No. 1, . . . 70 27'
No. 3 cylinder in place inside of No. 2, . . . . 70 37'

" The conclusion to be deduced from all these observations appears
to be, that to the deduced magnetism of the surfaces of the cylinders
acting upon each other is due a portion of the deviation ; and reason-
ing by analogy, a similar deduction is applicable to the telescopic fun-
nels of steamships."

INSULATOR FOR WIRES OF THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.

A PATENT has been obtained by Mr. John M. Batchelder, of Boston,
for an improved insulator for wires of the electric telegraph. It con-
sists of a cast-iron cap, which is lined throughout with glass by the
operation of blowing. The shank, or holder, is then introduced with a
hot mass of glass, by which it is firmly fixed in its place in the centre
of the cap. The distance from the shank to the lower edge of the cap
is about four inches, measured upon the surface of the glass. When
the shank is inserted, the end is prevented from coming in contact with
the metallic cap by the glass lining ; thus insuring perfect insulation
at this point. The wires are attached to the top of the insulator, or at
the side, as may be preferred. The reentering angle at the lower part
of the cap protects the glass within from missiles, and is calculated, in
a storm of wind and rain, to direct the rain downward, and thus pre-
serve the insulation. The patent also includes a lining of porcelain,
which is applied to the inner surface of the cap, in the same manner
as in culinary utensils. This insulator is used for the wires of the
Municipal Telegraph, recently introduced in Boston. Editor.

110 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

GALVANIC SURGERY.

ONE of those extraordinary applications of science to the benefit of
mankind, with which, in this age of progress, we are becoming so
familiar, has recently been made in the substitution of the galvanic
battery for the knife of the operating surgeon. It has been long
knoAvn that if a galvanic current of great power is conducted through
a very small wire, the latter becomes heated to whiteness, and if
formed of any of the ordinary metals, is rapidly destroyed ; but if
made of platinum, remains unaltered ; and that a galvanic battery may
be so arranged, that the current can at any moment be transmitted
along such a wire, or as suddenly arrested. It sometimes unfortu-
nately happens that in various parts of the body deep-seated abscesses
occur, having several openings, and these are unable to be healed until
laid open, and it may so occur that a vast collection of veins in such a
part renders the use of the knife excessively dangerous. In the olden
time, a surgeon would have employed a red-hot knife ; but such a practice
has been in modern times entirely relinquished, as cruel and barbar-
ous, the vast amount of heat given out destroying the adjacent parts ;
if, however, a very fine wire is first placed in the required position, and
then connected with the galvanic battery, it instantly becomes heated
to whiteness, and may be readily caused to cut in the proper direc-
tion, almost without causing any pain, as the parts in immediate con-
tact with the heated wire are instantly deprived of life and sensation ;
and, from its small size, the heated body is unable to throw off enough
heat to injure adjacent parts ; and, furthermore, a cut by the heated
wire possesses a great advantage over one made by a knife, inasmuch
as it is not attended with any loss of blood. Of course this mode of
operating is not calculated to supersede the use of the surgeon's knife,
except in certain cases ; but in all probability it may become a very
valuable auxiliary in the practice of surgery. The mere idea of a
red or white hot substance in immediate contact with the human body,
is, at first, exceedingly painful ; but when we recall to our readers' recol-
lection the experiments of M. Boutigny and others, with red-hot
bodies,* they will at once perceive that the contact of a body heated to
whiteness is not necessarily, if applied under proper circumstances,
attended with pain. Another new application of this novel remedial
agent is to effect the destruction of the nerves in decayed teeth ; and
in some cases it is said to have been used with great success for this
purpose.

ATMOSPHERIC MAGNETISM.

THE following is an abstract of a lecture on atmospheric magnetism,
read by Prof. Faraday, before the Royal Institute, April, 1851. It
contains results supplemental to those announced in the Bakerian Lec-
ture, of Nov. 28th, 1850, on the magnetism of oxygen and other gases. f

* See Annual of Scientific Discovery, 1850, and 1851.
t See Annual of Scientific Discovery, 1851, pp. 133-4.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. Ill

" On a former occasion it was shown that oxygen gas was magnetic,
being attracted towards the poles of a magnet ; and that, like other
magnetic bodies, it lost and gained in power as its temperature was
raised and lowered, and that the change occurred within the range of
natural temperatures. These properties it carries into the atmosphere,
and the object of this lecture was to show how far they might be ap-
plied to explain certain of the observed variations of the terrestrial mag-
netic force. The earth is a great magnet ; its power, according to
Gauss, being equal to that which would be conferred if every cubic
yard of it contained six one-pound magnets ; the sum of the force is
therefore equal tO f 8,464,000,000,000,000,000,000 such magnets. The
disposition of this magnetic force is not regular, nor are there any
points on the surface which can properly be called poles ; still the re-
gions of polarity are in high north and south latitudes, and these are
connected by lines of magnetic force (being the lines of direction) which,
generally speaking, rise out of the earth in one (magnetic) hemisphere,
and, passing in varied directions over the equatorial regions, into the
other hemisphere, then enter into the earth to complete the known
circuit of power. A free needle shows the presence and direction of these
lines. In London they issue from the earth at an angle of about 69
with the horizon (being the dip or inclination) ; and the plane in which
they rise forms an angle of 23 AY., nearly with true north, giving
what is called west declination. "Where the dip is small, as at the
magnetic equator, these lines scarcely rise out of the earth, and pass
but a little way above the surface ; but where it is large, as in northern
or southern latitudes, they rise up at a greater angle, and pass into the
distant realms of space, from whence they return again to the earth
in the opposite magnetic hemisphere ; thus investing the whole globe
with a system of forces like that about an ordinary magnet, which
wherever it passes through the atmosphere is subject to the changing
action of its magnetic oxygen. There is every reason to believe that
these lines are held in the earth, out of which they arise, and by which
they are produced, just as the lines which originate in a magnet are
held by it, though not in the same degree ; and that any disturbance
from above, affecting them, will cause a greater change in their place and
direction in the atmosphere and space above, than in the earth beneath.

" The system of lines of magnetic force, around a magnet or the earth,
is related by a lateral tension of lines of static electrical force ; both
the one and the other being easily made manifest by experiment. The
disturbance of the tension in one part is accompanied instantly by dis-
turbance of the tension in every other part ; for as the sum of the ex-
ternal powers of a system, unaltered at its origin, is definite and
cannot be changed, so any alteration, either of intensity or direction
amongst the lines offeree at one place, must be accompanied by a cor-
responding change at every other. So, if a mass of soft iron on the
east side of a magnet causes a concentration of the lines of force from
the magnet on that side, a corresponding expansion or opening out of
the lines on the west side must be, and is, at the same time, produced ; or
if the sun, on rising in the east, renders all the oxygen of the air on
that side of the globe less magnetic and less able therefore to favor the

112 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

transition of the lines of terrestrial force there, a greater number of
them will be determined through the western region ; and even though
the lines of force may be doubted by some as having a separate exist-
ence such as that above assumed, still no error as to the effects on
magnetic needles would in that case be introduced, for they by experi-
ment would be and are the same.

" The power of a magnetic body, as iron or oxygen, to favor the trans-
mission of lines of force through it more than other bodies not mag-
netic, may be expressed by the term conduction. Different bodies, as
iron, nickel, oxygen, conduct in various degrees ; and not only that, but
the same body, as iron or oxygen, conducts in different degrees at dif-
ferent temperatures. When space, traversed by uniform lines of mag-
netic force, is occupied by an uniform body, as air, the disposition of
the lines is not altered ; but if a better conducting substance than the
air is introduced, so as to occupy part of the space, the lines are con-
centrated in it ; or if a worse conducting substance is introduced, the
lines arc opened out. In both cases the lines of force are inflected,
and a small magnetic needle, standing in them at the inflected part,
would have its direction changed accordingly. Now this, by the
hypothesis, is assumed to take place in the atmosphere. Supposing it
all at mean temperature, the lines of force would have the direction
determined by the arrangement of the power within the earth. Then
the sun's presence in the east would make all the atmosphere in that
region a worse conductor, and as the sun came up to and passed over
the meridian and away to the west, the atmosphere under his influence
would bring up changes in that direction ; it would therefore mani-
festly set a needle in a given latitude in opposite directions as it passed
by ; and as evidently set two needles in north and south latitudes in
opposite directions at the same moment of time. As the night came
on, and a temperature lower than the mean came up from the east and
passed over, the lines of force would be inflected, and a reverse varia-
tion of the needle to that which occurred before would now take place.
That natural effects of variation must be produced, consequent upon the
magnetic nature of oxygen and its daily variations of temperature, is
manifest ; but whether they cause the observed variations, or are com-
petent to do so, is a question that can only be decided after a very
careful inquiry. Observations are now made on the surface of the
earth with extreme care in many places, and these are collated, and
the average or mean result, as to direction and intensity of the earth's
force, ascertained for every hour and season ; and also many remarka-
ble anomalous and extra results evolved. A theory of the causes of
any or all of these variations may be examined, first by the direction
which the varying needle does or ought to assume, and then by the
amount of the variation. The hypothesis noAV brought forward has
been compared with the mean daily variation for all the months in the
year, at north and south stations, as Toronto and Hobarton, and at
many others near to and far from the equator, and agrees in direction
with the results observed far beyond what the author anticipated.
Thus the paths described by the upper ends of free needles in the north
and south hemispheres, should be closed curves, with the motion in

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 113

opposite and certain directions, and so they are ; the curves described
by needles in north or south latitudes should be larger in summer
and smaller in winter, and so they are ; a night or cold action should
grow up in the winter months, and such is the case ; the northern
hemisphere ought to have a certain predominance over the southern,
because of its superior temperature, and that is so ; the disposition of
land and water ought to have an influence, and there is one in the
right direction ; so that in the first statement and examination of the
hypothesis it appears to be remarkably supported by the facts. The
next step will be to ascertain what is the amount of change in the con-
ducting power of the air for givj^ changes of temperature, and then
to apply that in the endeavor wo ascertain whether the amount of
change to be expected is (as well as the direction) accordant with that
which really occurs." Jameson's Journal, July, 1851.

MAGNETISM OF OXYGEN.

PLUCKER has given the result of a comparison of the magnetism of
oxygen with that of iron. A glass globe was filled with oxygen of the
same tension as the surrounding air. The amount of attraction exerted
by an electro-magnet upon this globe was then determined by means
of a very delicate balance. The globe was then emptied and filled
with a solution of chloride of iron, and the magnetic attraction again
determined in the same manner. The attraction upon the oxygen was
found to be to that on the solution of 8.0678 : 1. To determine the
attraction exerted, under the same circumstances, upon soft iron, a
< glass vessel was filled with a paste, made by grinding pure metallic
iron in powder, (reduced from the oxide by hydrogen,) with a mixture
of fresh lard and wax. The amount of attraction upon this glass vessel
when empty was first measured, then the attraction upon the same
vessel when filled with the solution of chloride of iron, and, finally, the
attraction upon the glass when filled with the paste of iron. The
amount of attraction upon the glass vessel when empty was subtracted
from the amount upon the vessel when filled with the solution and with
the paste. In this manner, the magnetism of the solution was found
to be to that of the iron as 1 : 230.49 ; the diamagnetic action upon the
lard and wax was found to be so slight that it could be entirely neglected.
By combining the two numerical results obtained above, Plucker found
the specific magnetism of oxygen to be to that of iron as 1 : 285.7. If
we refer the specific magnetism of the two substances to equivalents
instead of to equal Aveights, we find for the equivalent of iron a degree
of magnetism 81.8 as great as that for an equivalent of oxygen. By
the same method, Plucker found for the magnetism of sesquioxide of
iron the number 891, that of iron being taken as 1.000.000. Pogg.
Ann. 33, 105.

ON THE MAGNETIC RELATION OF GASES.

PLUCKER, has studied the magnetic and diamagnetic relations of
various gaseous bodies, in different states of pressure. The apparatus

10*

114 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

employed consisted of a delicate balance, the beam of which was of
glass, and which gave a perceptible deflection of 0.0001 milligramme.
The gases examined were enclosed in spheres furnished with stop-cocks
and attached to one of the arms of the, balance ; these were capable of
resisting an internal pressure of about two atmospheres. The sphere
of glass, containing the gas, was placed over the two half armatures of
a powerful electro-magnet, and then the attraction or repulsion meas-
ured by means of weights placed in the opposite scale-pan. The
trifling'amount of magnetism in the glass was exactly compensated by
the magnetism of the surrounding air. The following were the prin-
cipal results obtained :

1. The specific magnetism of oxygen, compared with that of iron, as
unity, was found to be 0.003500. 2. Oxygen loses its sensible mag-
netism in almost all gases where it enters into chemical combination.
Deutoxyd of nitrogen, NO 2 , is an exception to this rule, its mag-
netism being two fifths of that of oxygen. 3. If we introduce oxygen,
little by little, into a sphere containing NO 2 , the magnetism dimin-
ishes, till the proportion of the two gases is sufficient to form hypo-
nitric acid NO 4 , when the magnetic action becomes insensible. On
adding more oxygen, the magnetism reappears. 4. Hypo-nitric acid
NO 4 , when condensed into a liquid, is diamagnetic. 5. The magnetism
of oxygen, deutoxyd of nitrogen, and magnetic mixtures is propor-
tioned to the density of the gas. G. A magnetic gas, mechanically
mixed with any other indifferent gas, preserves its magnetism, what-
ever be the density of the mixture, only in the neighborhood of the
poles there appears to be, to a certain extent, a separation of the
gases, which must slightly augment the attraction of the entire mass.
7. A magnetic gas, which has been for some moments attracted by an
electro-magnet, is very readily repelled, if the polarity of the magnet
be changed. Hence, it appears that gases possess a very distinct
coercive force. Comptes Rendus, 33, 301.

ON THE PROBABLE 11ELATION BETWEEN MAGNETISM AND THE CIRCULA-
TION OF THE ATMOSPHERE.

LIEUT. MAURY, in a recent supplement to the Washington Astronom-
ical Observations, brings forward some arguments to show a probable
connection between the magnetism of atmospheric oxygen, and the cir-
culation of the atmosphere. Before the discovery of Faraday, that the
oxygen which composes one fifth of the atmosphere was magnetic, Lieut.
Maury, in the construction of his " Wind and Current Charts," had
conceived the existence of some agent, whose office, in the grand system
of atmospherical circulation, was neither understood nor recognized.
He found that the agencies of heat and the rotation of the earth would
not furnish a complete and satisfactory explanation of the distribution
of moisture and the circulation of the atmosphere over the earth's sur-
face. A new agent was required, and this, there is reason to suppose,
exists in the magnetic properties of oxygen. The facts adduced by Lieut.
Maury in support of this new view are as follows : From the zone of
calms, near the tropic of Cancer, which extends entirely across the

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 115

seas, there is an efflux of air both to the north and the south. From
the south side of this zone the air flows in a never-ceasing breeze, called
the north-east trade winds, towards the equator. On the north side the
prevailing Avinds come from it also ; but they go towards the north-
east. They are the well known south-westerly winds which prevail along
the route from this to England. Both these winds are surface breezes.
From the equatorial calms there is a perpetual upper current to the
tropical calms, equal in volume to the trade winds. One peculiarity
of the trade winds is, that the south-west breezes give out a great
deal of moisture, proceeding from a calm belt to cooler regions, in a
course where precipitation is the natural result. The north-east trade
winds, on the other hand, proceeding from the same belt of calms, are
dry at the very outset. It might be supposed that the upper current,
which flowed from the calms at the equator, descended at the cahn
belt at the tropics, and then returned on the surface as a trade wind,
then ascended at the equator, returning as an upper current, thus keep-
ing up a continual ring of breezes. Lieut. Maury says, he knew of no
agent in nature that would prevent the winds taking this circuit ; but,
on the other hand, he knew of circumstances which rendered it prob-
able that such in general is not the course of atmospheric circulation.
But there are also south-east trade winds ; and Lieut. Maury has come to
the conclusion, that the current which flows to the equator as a surface
north-east trade wind, ascends at the equatorial calms, and passes to
the south as an upper current, while the current which comes as the
south-east trade winds ascended and passed to the cahn zone of Cancer.
The reasons for this conclusion are, that the evaporating surface of the
south is the greatest, but all the great rivers are in the northern hemi-
sphere, and at those seasons of the year, when the sun is evaporating
most at the south, the greatest quantity of rain is falling in the north-
ern hemisphere. Without taking this view of the subject, Lieut. Maury
" could find no part of the ocean of the northern hemisphere from which
the sources of the great rivers, Mississippi, St. Lawrence, and others,
could be supplied. It appeared to me," he says, " that the extra trop-
ical regions of the northern hemisphere stood in the relation of a con-
denser to a grand steam-machine, the boiler of which was in the region
of the south-east trade winds," and the north-west trade winds to the
tropic of Capricorn on the other side of the equator, perform the samo
office to the regions beyond that tropic, which the south-east winds
perform for our northern regions. Meteorological observations, made in
various parts of the south-western states, show, in confirmation of these
views, that the south-west winds are generally the rain-bearing winds ;
but a further, and almost conclusive proof is found in the fact that
Ehrenburg has detected in the blood rains of the South of Europe,
infusoria from South America. It is, therefore, probable that the trade-
winds of the southern hemisphere, after arriving at the belt of equa-
torial calms, ascend and continue in their course towards the calms of
Cancer as an upper current from the south-west, and after passing this
zone of calms, they are felt on the surface as the prevailing south-west
winds of the extra-tropical parts of our hemisphere ; and that for the
most part they bring their moisture with them from the trade wind

116 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

regions of the opposite hemisphere. Continuing on towards the north
pole from the south-west, they enter the arctic regions, on a spiral
curve, continually lessening the gyrations, until, whirling about in a
contrary direction to the hands of a watch, this air ascends and com-
mences its return as an upper current, to the belt of calms at the
tropic of Cancer.

Lieut. Maury attributes to magnetism that influence or power " which

f aides the ah* from the south through the calms of Capricorn, of the
quator, and of Cancer, and conducts it into the north," and back
again. This he compares to a spiral coil, and the continuous circuit
of a magnetic current passing around both poles and winding across
our globe. The attractive and repulsive influence is attributed to the
nature of oxy.gen, which, as its temperature is increasea, diminishes in
para-magnetic force, and which increases as its tempera ture falls.
The whole subject, which is of great interest, is to such an extent
complex, that a partial abstract like the foregoing does not afford a full
illustration of Lieut. Maury 's views or arguments.

ON THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE COLOR OF SUBSTANCES AND THEIR

MAGNETIC PROPERTIES.

MR. RICHARD ADIE, of Liverpool, communicates to the Edinburgh
Philosophical Journal, April, the results of an investigation, under-
taken with a view of ascertaining whether there was any connection
between the color of a body and its magnetic properties. The exper-
imental tests for magnetism, in the various bodies examined, were made
partially by means of the torsion balance, which takes cognizance of
degrees of _ magnetism long before a magnet will show any attraction
when applied in the usual way ; and partially by spreading the pulver-
ized substance over a smooth sheet of paper, when, if the substance
was strongly magnetic on the torsion balance, an ordinary steel mag-
net, moved to and fro close beneath the paper, without touching, will
set some of the particles in motion. The result of Mr. Adie's experi-
ments seems to show that when the forces of aggregation which bind
the particles of a substance together produce transparency, or white-
ness, such a combination has feeble magnetic properties ; and that
when the same forces produce a dark, or dull-colored substance, then
the magnetic power is more developed. This relation between color
and magnetic attractions of bodies must be held to rest only among
those of similar constitution.

Among the numerous illustrations, confirmatory of the theory
brought forward by Mr. Adie, we select the following : The ferro-
cyanide of potassium is a translucent lemon-colored salt, possessed of
no attraction for the magnet ; when heated moderately, it loses water
and assumes an opaque white hue, but is still unattracted by the mag-
net ; when the heating is continued until the color darkens, then the
degree of darkness becomes an index of the magnetic force, until the
color reaches black, when the altered salt has all the characters of an
iron body. If this was a solitary case the change would at once be
set down to the decomposition of cyanogen, and the formation of a
carburet of iron.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 117

There are, however, other striking instances. Silver is a metal pos-
sessed of only feeble torsion balance magnetism ; in its dark-colored
sulphuret and oxide, the attraction is more decided ; the white chloride
is like the pure metal, very feeble in its attraction. Through the
influence of light it passes to the dark oxide, gaining magnetic force
with the change. Should these experiments be confirmed, this well-
known action of light on the chloride of silver will serve as a very
beautiful illustration, for in it the whole question is resolved; the light
effects a change in the color ; the alteration of color is accompanied
with an increase of magnetic attraction.

Copper possesses a degree of magnetism so minute, that it is recog-
nized with the utmost difficulty on the torsion balance, yet it gives the
dark-colored oxide and sulphuret, both of which are strongly magnetic ;
for if well dried particles are spread upon a sheet of paper, some of
their particles are moved in the manner described. Palladium and
manganese exhibit somewhat similar properties. Arsenic, in its pure
state, is magnetic on the torsion balance, but when pulverized is not
disturbed by a magnet. In union with its equivalent of sulphur, the
ruby-red real gas is produced. Sulphur has been shown by Faraday to
be diamagnetic, yet in this union with arsenic a compound is given
that is far more magnetic than the metal, or any other of its products ;
for realgar when bruised and spread out upon paper can be moved
and can be streaked by the magnet. In most of the foregoing cases,
the dark magnetic substance is an oxide formed or set free by heating ;
but with this metal oxygen forms the well known white oxide, diamag-
netic according to Faraday, but which, with the feebler magnetic
force from a small steel magnet, proves slightly magnetic ; however this
may be, the contrast is striking between the feeble magnetism of the
white oxide and the decided magnetism of realgar. Carbon, in the
form of a pure diamond, is feebly attracted ; in the finely divided black
state the attraction increases, and in the coal left after the decom-
position of colorless starch, or sugar, there is a very great increase in
the magnetic attraction. In conclusion, Mr. Adie states, that ah 1 the
heavy metals, in every-day use in the arts, have furnished either
oxides, carburets, sulphurets, or fluorides, which contain particles suf-
ficiently magnetic to move on paper to an ordinary steel magnet passed
to and fro underneath.

In the examination of the corollas of different flowers, it was found
that the white colors were, when fresh, diamagnetic, while the colored
corollas differed much, the diamagnetism of many being apparently
due to their moisture, which, at the same time, tends to make them
transparent. In dyed everlasting flowers, the various colors show very
well the change of magnetic properties, and, being in a dried state, the
results are not subject to that disturbance which the moisture of fresh
flowers occasions ; the pale-yellow is diamagnetic, the dyed chrome-
yellow nearly inert, the verdigris-green feebly magnetic, and the log-
wood-purple strongly magnetic. Solar rays bleach dead vegetable
matter with rapidity, while in living parts of plants their action is fre-
quently to strengthen the color ; two opposite effects, which, accor-
ding to my experiments, should be accompanied by different magnetic

118 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

properties. The bleaching power of the sun's rays is familiar to every
one ; their power in developing fine colors is perhaps best seen on the
sides of peaches, apples, c., which, exposed to a mid-summer sun,
become highly colored. During the last open winter, a wall-flower
plant afforded me the proof of a like effect ; in the dark months there
was a slow succession of one or two flowers. These were of a uniform
pale-yellow hue ; in March, streaks of a darker color appeared on the
flowers, and continued slowly to increase, till, in April, they were va-
riegated brown and yellow, of rich strong colors. On the supposition
that these changes are accompanied by alterations in magnetic proper-
ties, we may hereafter be able to explain Mrs. Somerville's experi-
ments on steel needles exposed to the sun's rays under envelopes of
silk of various colors. The results obtained by this distinguished lady
have been the source of much discussion among men of science ; and
there can be no doubt that the most rigid experiments have failed to
magnetize steel needles in the colored rays of the spectrum. But to
magnetize them under envelopes of dyed silk is quite a different
experiment, and, if I do not much mistake, the effect in this case will
hinge on the chemical change ivrought in the silk and its dye, by the solar
rays. Consequently, to repeat the experiments hereafter, it will be
necessary to attend to the materials used in dyeing. In concluding
this inquiry, I may say, that I view the nature of the connection be-
tween color and magnetism to be, that there are forces which act in
common on the magnetism, and the power of the body in transmitting
or reflecting light. Faraday and Plucker have previously shown the
intimate connection between the crystalline and magnetic force ; while
the tendency of my experiments has been to show that the color, a
property much more strongly attached to a body than its crystalline
force, is likewise connected with the magnetism. When a number of
bodies are grouped together, the connection is seen clearly enough ; but
when single cases only are examined, apparent contradictions are not
unfrequent. This appears to indicate that color and magnetism are
mixed up Avith other qualities derived from the forces of aggregation,
together giving the various properties possessed by the bodies by which
we are on every side surrounded, while the further knowledge for the
unfolding of these may demand the labor of ages to come.

OF THE NATURE AND SOURCE OF THE SUN'S LIGHT AND HEAT.

THAT so brilliant a display is kept up by the combustion or destruc-
tion of something, appears to be generally, if not universally, main-
tained ; but what that matter is, and how supplied, no probable guess
has yet been made. The intensity of the solar light and heat is easily
proved, and that it resides chiefly, if not entirety, at the surface ; and
that surface, on being closely watched, is found to be in a state of
excessive agitation, and experiences periodical disturbances and altera-
tions of a very singular character. AVhen periodical changes are
seen, we may expect secular ones also ; and if the former were of a
regular character, the latter might be necessarily inferred ; but although
no regular law has yet been made out for the sun, the probability of

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 119

their slow variations through long periods of time is great, and is
increased when we turn our attention to those other suns, the stars,
and find some of them increasing and others decreasing or going
through regular periods of varied lengths, and many degrees of grada-
tion in brightness. The same may also be inferred from the geologi-
cal discoveries, of there having been formerly glacial ages in the world,
and again torrid ones, for there is no other cause that we know of
equal to produce the effects observed ; while, if our sun were to have
increased or decreased in the amount of light and heat thrown out, as
much as some stars have done during the last four years, all organic
bodies might have perished on the surface of the earth, before now, from
excess or from lack of heat.

In this connection some theoretical views have recently been pre-
sented to the Royal Astronomical Society, by Mr. James Nasmyth,
from which we make the following extracts :

" A course of observations on the solar spots, and on the remarkable
features which from time to time appear on the sun's surface, which I
have examined with considerable assiduity for several years, had in the
first place led me to entertain the following conclusions, namely, that
whatever be the nature of solar light, its main source appears to result
from an action induced on the exterior surface of the solar sphere, a
conclusion in which, I doubt not, all who have attentively pursued
observations on the structure of the sun's surface will agree. Im-
pressed with the correctness of this conclusion, I was led to consider
whether we might not reasonably consider the true source of the la-
tent light to reside, not in the solar orb, but in space itself; and that
the grand function and duty of the sun was to act as an agent for the
bringing forth into vivid existence its due portion of the illuminating
or luciferous element, which element I suppose to be diffused through-
out the boundless regions of space, and which in that case must be per-
fectly exhaustless. Assuming, therefore, that the sun's light is the
result of some peculiar action, by which it brings forth into visible
existence the element of light, which I conceive to be latent in and dif-
fused throughout space, we have but to imagine the existence of a very
probable condition, namely, the unequal diffusion of this light-yielding
element, to catch a glimpse of a reason why our sun may, in common
with his solar brotherhood, in some portions of his vast stellar orbit,
have passed, and may yet have to pass, through regions of space, in
which this element may either abound or be deficient, and so cause
him to beam forth with increased splendor, or fade in brilliancy, just
in proportion as the richness or poverty of this supposed element may
occur in those regions of space through which our sun, in common
with every stellar orb, has passed, or is destined to pass, in following
up their mighty orbits. Once admit that this light-yielding element
resides in space, and that it is not equally diffused, we may then catch
a glimpse of the cause of the variable and transitory brightness of
stars, and more especially of those which have been known to beam
forth with such extraordinary splendor, and have again so mysteriously
faded away.

Finally, in reference to such a state of change having come over

a

120 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

our sun, as indicated by the existence of a glacial period, which is now
placed beyond doubt by geological research, it appears to rne no very
wild stretch of analogy to suppose that in such former periods of the
earth's history our sun may have passed through portions of his stellar
orbit in which the light-yielding element was deficient, and in which
case his brilliancy would have suffered the while, and an arctic cli-
mate in consequence spread from the poles towards the equator, and
leave the record of such a condition in glacial handwriting on the
walls of our mountain ravines, of which there is such abundant and
unquestionable evidence, as before said ; it is the existence of such
facts as we have in stars of transitory brightness, and the above-named
evidence of an arctic climate existing in what are now genial climates,
that require some adequate cause to be looked for.

" This view of the source of light, as respects the existence of the
luciferous element throughout space, accords with the Mosaic account
of creation, in so far as that light is described as having been created
in the first instance before the sun was called forth."

ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF COLORS.

M. CHEVREUIL, the directeur des Gobelins, has presented to the French
Academy a plan for a universal chromatic scale, and a methodical
classification of all imaginable colors. Mayer, a professor at Gottingen,
calculated that the different combinations of primitive colors produced
819 different tints ; but M. Chevreuil goes much further, and estab-
lishes not less than 14,424, all very distinct and easily recognized
all, of course, proceeding from the three primitive simple colors of the
solar spectrum, red, yellow and blue. His nomenclature is somewhat
different from that generally received ; viz., he calls full colors (couleurs
f ranches) the simple or binary colors of the solar spectrum ; abated, or
less colors, (rabatues,) these same colors tinged with black ; relieved col-
ors, (relevees,) the same colors mixed or tinged with white ; tones,
(tons,) the different gradations of a color modified by different propor-
tions of black or white ; gamut, the ensemble of the tones of the same
color ; nuances, the mixture of a full color with another. He con-
structs his chromatic scale in this manner : he places in a circle, at
60 distance each from the other, the six colors, red, orange, yellow,
green, blue and violet ; then between each of them, and at equal
distances, the intermediate nuances, red-orange, orange-yellow, yel-
low-green, green-blue, blue-violet, violet-red ; then he fills the inter-
vals between each fundamental color and its nuance by five progressive
nuances, which suffices to give to the eye an ensemble of perfectly con-
tinued tints. There would then be a series of seventy-two primitive
colors, which serve as a base for the classification of all others ; this is
the chromatic circle of the author, presenting an ensemble of comparable
types of simple and nuancee colors samples which M. Lebois, of the
Gobelins, has succeeded in fixing completely upon wool, and M. Salve-
tal, of the manufactory at Sevres, upon porcelain. These types or
samples being unalterable and methodically distributed, they can
always be clearly designated and found when wanted. M. Chevreuil

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 121

has completed this classification, by adding to his horizontal chromatic
circle a series of vertical circles, containing all the intermediate
nuances. By this, every color, simple or binary, gives twenty tones ;
the seventy-two colors of the chromatic table above indicated, give,
multiplied by twenty, ...... 1440 tones.

Each simple, or binary color, giving, besides, nine gam-
uts, each of which has twenty tones, we have . . 12,960 "
Add the differences [degradations'] from black to white,

which give twenty-one tones, . . . . . 21 "

We have a total of tones, ..... 14,421
By the aid of this table any one can designate in future any and all
colors imaginable, whether applicable to printing, painting, or any
other object ; in chemistry, the colors of all substances, precipitates,
&c., can be defined with a precision which until now has been impossi-
ble ; and in natural history the colors of living animals, their changes
at different periods of their life, and the colors of their different varie-
ties, can be ascertained with the last precision. For example, M.
Chevreuil states that in the violet there are twenty-eight colors, and in
the dahlia forty-two.

POLARIZATION OF THE CHEMICAL RAYS EXISTING IN SOLAR LIGHT.

IT is well known that physicists have found in the solar spectrum,
produced by means of a good prism, three orders of relations, which
are in part superposed, the calorific, the colorific or luminous, and the
chemical. The rays of the two first orders are susceptible of polariza-
tion, and consequently of extinction. The chemical rays, however, have
not until quite recently been examined in this respect. Professor E.
Wartman, of Geneva, Switzerland, has, during the past year, shown
that, like the rays of heat and light, the chemical ray is susceptible
of polarization and of complete extinguishment. The conditions under
which the experiment was effected were similar to those ordinarily
made use of in polarization, an exquisitely sensitive daguerreotype

being the test.

ARAGO ON POLARIZED LIGHT.

A PAPER was recently read before the French Academy, by M. Arago,
relative to his further researches on light.* The following is an ab-
stract : " Up to the present time no means have been furnished of
measuring the quantities of polarized light contained in a ray reflected
by a surface which does not completely polarize the light. M. Arago,
by employing a pile of glass plates, placed so as to incline suitably on
the track of a reflected ray, so as to obtain neutral light, has found that
at an equal number of degrees above and below the angle of maximum
polarization, the proportion of polarized light contained in a ray was
the same ; a fact which has enabled him to determine the angle of the
maximum polarization of certain metals, such, for instance, as steel and

* See Annual of Scientific Discovery, 1851, pp. 137, 139, 140.

122 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

mercury, and thence to deduce, by the well known law of Brewster,
the index of the refraction of these substances, which he found to be
two for steel and four for mercury. This method does not give the
quantity of polarized light, but the relative proportion between that
quantity and the total light. To modify the process so as to render it
suitable for that purpose, it is essential to commence by the gradua-
tion of the pile of glass plates, in order to ascertain for a given inci-
dence what was the quantity of polarized light which the glass plates
neutralized. By causing a completely polarized ray to fall on a plate
of rock-crystal, perpendicular to its axis, in such a manner that the
principal section of the crystal coincides with the primitive plane of
polarization, we have, on turning the plate, two images, varying in
intensity according to the law of the square of the cosine, but which,
from the thinness of the plate, entirely superpose on each other. These
two images are polarized in two perpendicular planes, and form neutral
light, by their superposition, as long as the quantity of light is equal
in the two ; but if this quantity happens to vary in either one of the
images, the other, having all its light neutralized, will leave a certain
residue of polarized light, which the pile of glass plates will entirely
obliterate. The green color observed in light, when it is obliged to
traverse a greater thickness of glass than ten plates, has prevented M.
Arago, up to the present time, from extending the limits of the table
for representing the quantities of polarized light ; but they hope, that
by using very transparent glass, having oxide of zinc for its basis,
which they are at present occupied in preparing, that they shall be
able to extend the table considerably. This process of polarimetry will
allow of our measuring the quantity of light reflected and refracted at
great angles, which the usual phometetric method was always found,
by M. Arago, incapable of effecting.

ON THE HYPOTHESES RELATING TO THE LUMINOUS .ffiTHER, AND AN EX-
PERIMENT DEMONSTRATING THAT THE MOTION OP BODIES ALTERS THE
TELOCITY WITH WHICH LIGHT PROPAGATES ITSELF IN THEIR INTERIOR.

THE following important communication was read to the French
Academy, by M. Fizeau :

Many hypotheses have been proposed to account for the phenomena
of aberration in accordance with the undulatory theory ; but from the
want of any definite ideas as to the properties of the luminous asther,
and its relations to ponderable matter, none of them can be considered
as strictly proved. These various hypotheses may be reduced to three
principal ones. They refer to the state in which the asther existing in
transparent bodies may be considered to be.

1st. This aether is either adherent, and as it were attached to the
molecules of bodies, and, consequently, participates in the motions to
which the bodies may be subjected ; 2cl. The asther is free and inde-
pendent, and is not influenced by the motions of bodies ; 3d. Only a
portion of the aather is free, the other portion being attached to the
molecules of bodies, and participating in their motion. This latter

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 123

hypothesis was proposed by Fresnel, and constructed for the purpose of
equally satisfying the phenomena of aberration, and an experiment of
Arago, by which it has been proved that the motion of the earth has
no influence upon the refraction which the light of the stars suffers in
a prism.

We may determine the value which in each of these hypotheses it is
necessary to attribute to the velocity of light in bodies, when the bodies
are supposed to be in motion. If the jether is supposed to be wholly
carried with the body in motion, the velocity of light ought to be in-
creased by the whole velocity of the body, the ray being supposed to have
the same direction as the motion. If the aether is not supposed to be
free and independent, the velocity of light oiight not to be changed at
all. Lastly, if only one part of the asther is carried along, the velocity
of light would be increased, but only by a fraction of the velocity of the
body, and not, as in the first hypothesis, by the whole velocity. Although
the Velocity of light is enormous comparatively to such as we are able
to impart to bodies, we are at the present time in possession of means
of observation, of such extreme delicacy, that it seems possible to de-
termine, by direct experiment, what is the real influence of the motion
of bodies upon the velocity of light. We are indebted to M. Arago
for a method, based upon the phenomena of interference, which is capa-
ble of indicating the most minute variations in the index of refraction
of bodies. It is by adopting the same principle, and joining the double
tube of M. Arago to the conjugate telescopes, which were employed
for determining the absolute velocity of light, that I have been able to
study directly, in two mediums, the effects of the motion of a body upon
the light which traverses it.*

I will now endeavor to describe what was the course of the light in

the experiment. From the focus of a cylindrical lens, the solar rays

penetrated almost immediately into the first telescope by a lateral open-

ino- very near to its focus. A transparent mirror, the plane of which

made an angle of 45 with the axis of the telescope, reflected the rays

in the direction of the object-glass. On leaving the object-glass, the

rays, having become parallel among themselves, encountered a double

chink, each opening of which corresponded to the mouth of one of the

tubes. A very narrow bundle of rays thus penetrated into each tube,

and traversed its entire length. The two bundles, always parallel to

each other, reached the object-glass of the second telescope, were then

refracted, and by the effect of the refraction reunited again at its focus.

They there encountered the reflecting plane of a mirror, perpendicular

to the axis of the telescope, and underwent a reflection back again

towards the object-glass ; but, by the effects of this reflection, the rays

had changed their route in such a way, that that which was to the

right before was to the left after reflection, and vice versa. After having

again passed the object-glass, and been thus rendered parallel to each

other, they penetrated a second time into the tubes ; but as they were

inverted, those which had passed though one tube in going, passed

through the other on returning. After their second transit through

* See Annual of Scientific Discovery, 1850, pp. 145-6 ; 1851, 137-8.

124 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

the tubes, the two bundles again passed the double chinks, reentered
the first telescope, and lastly intersected at its focus in passing across
the transparent mirror. There they formed the fringes of interference,
which were observed by a glass carrying a graduated scale at its focus.
It was necessary that the fringes should be very large, in order to be
able to measure the small fractions of the width of a fringe. I have
found that that result is obtained, and a great intensity of light main-
tained, by placing before one of the chinks a thick mirror, which is
inclined in such a way as to see the two chinks, by the effect of refrac-
tion, as if they were nearer to each other than they really are. It is
in this way possible to give various dimensions to the width of the
fringes, and to choose that which is most convenient for observation.
The double transit of the light was for the purpose of augmenting the
distance traversed in the medium in motion, and further to compensate
entirely any accidental difference of temperature or pressure between
the two tubes, which would be mingled with the displacement which
the motion alone would have produced, and thus have rendered the
observation of it uncertain.

^ It is, in fact, easy to see that, in this arrangement, all the points
situated in the path of one ray are equally in the path of the other ;
so that any alteration of the density, in any point whatever, of the
transit, acts in the same manner upon the two rays, and cannot conse-
quently have any influence upon the position of the fringes. The com-
pensation may be satisfactorily shown to be complete, by placing a
thick mirror before one of the two chinks, or as well by filling only one
of the tubes with water, the other being full of air. Neither of these
two experiments gives rise to the least alteration in the position of the
fringes. With regard to the motion, it is seen, on the contrary, that
the two rays are subject to opposite influences. If it is supposed that
in the tube situated to the right the water runs towards the observer,
that of the two rays which comes from the right will have traversed
the tube in the direction of the motion, while the ray coming from,
the left will have passed in a direction contrary to that of the motion.
By making the water move in the two tubes at the same time, and in
contrary directions in each, it will be seen that the effect should be
doubled. This double current having been produced, the direction
may be again reversed simultaneously in the two tubes, and the effect
would again be double.

All the movements of the water were produced in a very simple
manner, each tube being connected by two conduits, situated near
their extremities^ with two reservoirs of glass, in which a pressure is
alternately exercised by means of compressed, air. By means of this
pressure the water passes from one reservoir to the other by traversing
the tube, the two extremities of which are closed by the mirrors. The
interior diameter of the tubes was five millimetres, their length one
metre and four tenths. The tubes were of glass. The pressure under
which the flowing of the water took place might have exceeded two
atmospheres. The velocity was calculated by dividing the volume of
water running in one second^ by the area of the section of the tube.
Great care was taken to obviate the effects of the accidental motions

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 125

which the pressure or shock of the water might produce. Therefore,
the two tubes, and the reservoirs in which the motion of the water
was made, were sustained by supports independent of the apparatus,
and especially of the two lunettes ; it was, therefore, only the two tubes
which could suffer any accidental movement ; but both theory and
practice have proved that the motion or flexions of the tubes alone
were without influence upon the position of the fringes. The follow-
ing are the results obtained.

When the water is set in motion the fringes are displaced, and,
according as the water moves in one direction or the other, the dis-
placement takes place towards the right or the left. The fringes are dis-
placed towards the right when the water is running from the observer,
in the tube situated to his right, and towards the observer in the
tube situated to his left. The fringes are displaced towards the left
when the direction of the current in each tube takes place in a direc-
tion opposed to that which has just been described. With a velocity
of water ecjual to two metres per second, the displacement is already
very sensible ; with a velocity of four to seven metres it is perfectly
measurable.

After having demonstrated the existence of the phenomenon, I
endeavored to determine its numerical value with all the exactitude
which it was possible to obtain. By" calling that the simple displace-
ment which was produced when the water, at rest in the commence-
ment, was set in motion, and that the double displacement which was
produced when the motion was changed to a contrary direction, it was
found that the average deduced from nineteen observations sufficiently
concurring, was 0.23 for the simple displacement, which gives 0.4G for
the double displacement, the width of a fringe to be taken as unity.
The velocity of the water was 7.00 metres per second.

The results were afterwards compared with those which have been
deduced by calculation from the different hypotheses relative to the
tether. According to the supposition that the gather is entirely free
and independent of the motion of bodies, the displacement ought to be
null.

According to the hypothesis which considers the Eether united to
the molecules of matter in such a way as to participate in its motions,
calculation gives for the double displacement the value 0.92. Experi-
ment gave a number only half as great, or 0.46.

According to the hypothesis by which the aether is partially carried
along, the hypothesis of Fresnel, calculation gives 0.40, that is to say,
a number very near to that which was found by experiment ; and the
difference between the two values would very probably be still less, if
it had been possible to introduce into the calculation of the velocity of
the water, a correction which had to be neglected from the want of
sufficiently precise data, and which refers to the unequal velocity of
the different threads of fluid. By estimating the value of that correc-
tion in the most.probable manner, it is seen that it tends" to augment
a little the theoretical value, and approach the value of the observed
result.

An experiment similar to that which I have just described, had been

126 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC- DISCOVERY.

made previously with air in motion, and I have demonstrated that the
motion of the air does not produce any sensible displacement in the
motion of the fringes. In the circumstances in which that experiment
was made, and with a velocity of 25 metres a second, which was that
of the motion of the air, it is found that according to the hypothesis
by which the aether is considered to be carried along with the bodies,
the double displacement ought to be 0.82. According to the hypothe-
sis of Fresnal, the same displacement ought to be only 0.000465, that
is to say, entirely imperceptible. Thus the apparent immobility of the
fringe in the experiment made with air in motion is completely in
accordance with the theory of Fresnel. It was after having demon-
strated this negative fact, and while seeking for an explanation
by the different hypotheses relating to the tether in such a way as to
satisfy at the same time the phenomena of aberration and the experi-
ment of M. Arago, that it appeared to me to be necessary to admit
with Fresnel that the motion of a body occasions an alteration in the
velocity of light, and that this alteration of velocity is greater or less
for different mediums, according to the energy with which those
mediums refract light, so that it is considerable in bodies which are
strongly refractive, and very feeble in those which refract but little,
as the air. It follows from this, that if the fringes are not dis-
placed when light traverses ah* in motion, there should, on the con-
trary, be a sensible displacement if made with water, the index of
refraction of which is very much greater than that of air. The suc-
cess of the experiment seems to me to render the adoption of Fresnel's
hypothesis necessary, or at least the law which he found for the
expression of the alteration of the velocity of light by the effect of mo-
tion of a body ; for, although that law being found true may be a very
strong proof in favor of the hypothesis of Avhich it is only a conse-
quence, perhaps the conception of Fresnel may appear so extraordi-
nary, and in some respects so difficult to admit, that other proofs and a
profound examination on the part of geometricians will still be neces-
sary before adopting it as an expression of the real facts of the case.
Comptes Rendus, Sept. 1851.

HELIOCHROMY, OR DAGUERREOTYPES IN COLORS.

FROM the time of the discovery of the Daguerreotype, unceasing ef-
forts have been made by scientific men to produce photographic pic-
tures in which the various natural colors of objects might be faithfully
represented. M. Becquerel, in experiments made in 1849-50,* suc-
ceeded so far, as to be able to transfer to a metallic plate the colors
of the prismatic spectrum in great brilliancy. These colors, however,
could not be rendered permanent, and soon disappeared. During the
past y^ear, however, the problem has been solved by M. Niepce, a dis-
tinguished French photographer, and nephew of the celebrated Niepce,
who, in connection with Daguerrc, discovered the Daguerreotype. The
process by which this has been effected, has received the name of Helio-
chromy, or sun-painting, and although still imperfect, is of the highest

T i J I__1_J_M^^^^

*Sce Annual of Scientific Discovery, for 1851, p. 150.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 127

scientific interest. In order to a more full understanding of the subject,
we copy, from the London Art Journal, the memoir presented to the
French Academy, by M. Niepce, prefaced by some introductory remarks
by Robert Hunt', well known for his photographic researches.

For the perfect understanding of the results obtained, it is necessary
that the chromatic conditions of a decomposed sunbeam should be
clearly appreciated and the relation of the colored image to the chemical
effects obtained distinctly understood. A pencil of light is passed
through a prism, and \ve obtain an elongated image consisting of a
beautifully colored set of bands. There are three primaries, red, yellow
and blue, which by intercombination give rise to other tints, so that
altogether we are acquainted with nine colored rays crimson, red,
orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet and lavender. The colors
of natural objects are produced by the decomposition of the rays of
light, this be'ing effected by some peculiar surface action. Now, if we
expose a piece of photographic paper, or a daguerreotype plate, to the
action of this spectrum, or to the radiations from colored surfaces, we
shall find that the chemical effect has no relation to the intensity of
light belonging to the colored ray. For example, supposing the colored
image of the nine rays to fall upon a sensitive tablet, the result is of
the following curious character : One of the red rays protects the paper
from all change, the other usually makes a red impression ; the orange
and yellow rays have no chemical action, though these have the most
illuminating power. The chemical action commences in the green
ray, rapidly increases in energy in the blue, and exerts its maximum
power over the space covered by the indigo, violet, and lavender, still
continuing with much energy over a space beyond the lavender in
which no light can be detected. It was upon the consideration of these
peculiarities, clearly proving that ordinarily there was a remarkable
want of agreement "between the actinic power of the sunbeam and the
chromatic phenomena depending upon it, that M. Biot wrote the fol-
lowing passage :

" Substances of the same tint may present, in the quantity or the
nature of the radiations which they reflect, as many diversities, or
diversities of the same order, as substances of a different tint ; inversely,
they may be similar in their property of reflecting chemical radiations
when they are dissimilar to the eye ; so that the difference of tint
which they present to the eye may entirely disappear in the chemical
picture. These are difficulties inherent in the formation of photo-
graphic pictures, and they show, I think, evidently, the illusion of the
experimenters who hope to reconcile, not only the intensity but the
tints of the chemical impressions, produced by radiation, with the
colors of the objects from which these rays emanate."

These are the natural suggestions of tne mind when merely consid-
ering the ordinary phenomena of the chemical action of the solar
spectrum. But color is the result of a peculiar condition of the surface,
and if the different rays produce a dissimilar molecular or chemical
change, there is no reason why the result should not be the production
of chromatic impressions. The yellow rays produce a small amount
of chemical action, but that may result in such a molecular arrange-

128 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

ment as will determine the reflection of yellow light, and so of the other
rays. In fact, in 1840, Sir John Herschcl published an account of
some experiments in which the production of color was very evident ;
and on paper prepared with a brown vegetable juice, he obtained an
impression of the spectrum, colored from end to end, the color of each
ray being impressed in the natural order. To Becquerel, is, however,
certainly due. the discovery of the mode of preparing a metallic plate
in such a manner as to produce a tablet susceptible of chromatic im-
pressions. This was effected about two years since ; his process con-
sisting essentially in the formation of chloride of silver, or probably
of a sub-chloride, upon a metal plate. In the camera-obscura, highly
colored images were copied, and the copies gave colors of a natural
character. In this way, however, only large masses of color, as the
colors of a geographical map, were copied, and impressions of the spec-
trum obtained.

The memoir of M. Nicpce, before the French Academy, is entitled,
" The relation existing between the colors of certain colored flames,
with the Heliographic images colored by light."

When a plate of silver is plunged into a solution of sulphate of cop-
per and chloride of sodium at the same time that it is rendered electro-
positive by means of the voltaic battery, the chloride formed becomes
susceptible of coloration, when, having been withdrawn from the bath,
it receives the influence of light. This was the discovery of Becquerel.
M. Niepce had been led to think that a relation existed between the
color communicated by a body to a flame, and the color developed upon
a plate of silver, which should have been chloridated with the body
which colors this flame. The bath in which the plate of silver was
plunged, was formed of water saturated with chlorine, to which was
added a chloride possessing the property of coloring flame.

It is well known that strontian gives a purple color to flames in gen-
eral, and to that of alcohol in particular. If we prepare a plate of silver
and pass it into water saturated with chlorine, to which is added some
chloride of strontian, and when thus prepared we place upon it a colored
design, of red and other colors, and then expose it to the sunshine, after
six or seven minutes we shall perceive that the colors of the image are
reproduced upon the plate, but the reds much more decidedly than the
others. When we would produce successfully the other rays of the
solar spectrum, we operate in the same manner we have indicated for
the red ray, employing for the orange the chloride of calcium, or that
of uranium for the yellow, or hypochlorite of soda, or the chloride of
sodium and potassium. If we plunge a plate of silver in the chlorine
liquid, or if we expose the plate to the vapor, we obtain all the colors
by the light, but the yellow only with any degree of veracity. Very
fine yellows have been obtained with a bath composed of water slightly
acidulated with hydrochloric acid with a salt of copper. The green
rays are obtained with boracicacid, or the chloride of nickel ; also with
all the salts of copper. The blue rays are obtained with the double
chloride of copper and ammonia. Indigo rays are obtained with the
same. The violet rays arc- obtained with the chloride of strontia and
the sulpnate of copper.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 129

All the substances which give colored flames, give also colored images
by the light. If we take any of the substances which do not give color
to the flame, we do not obtain colored images by the light ; we pro-
duce upon the plate a negative image, composed merely of black and
white, as in the ordinary photographs. Those substances which give
white flames, as the chlorides of antimony, lead and zinc, yield no color
by luminous action. All the colors of the picture have been produced
by preparing a bath composed of the deuto-chloride of copper ; this
salt thrown into burning alcohol produces a variegated flame, accord-
ing to the intensity of the fire ; and it is nearly the same with all the
salts of copper mixed with chlorine. If we put a salt of copper in
chlorine liquid, we obtain a very sensitive surface by a single immer-
sion ; but the result of this mixture is seldom good. I prefer taking the
deuto-chloride of copper, to which I add three or four pounds of water ;
this bath gives good results. A mixture of equal parts of chloride of
copper and chloride of iron, with three or four parts of water, is, how-
ever, the best. The chloride of iron has, like that of copper, the prop-
erty of being impressed on the plate of silver, and of producing many
colors ; but they are infinitely more feeble, and the yellow always pre-
dominates ; this agrees with the yellow color produced in flame by
chloride of iron. If we form a bath, composed of all the substances
which separately give a dominant color, we obtain very lively colors ;
but the great difficulty is the mixing in proper proportions, for it
happens, nearly always, that some colors are found excluded by others.
By care, however, we ought to arrive at the reproduction of all the
colors. There exist many difficulties, more indeed than in any of the
ordinary processes of photography. We cannot always depend upon
obtaining the same results with the same materials, owing principally
to the difficulty of preserving the solution at a uniform strength.
Liquid chlorine is necessary ; the application of dry chlorine will not
produce the same result. The action of heat upon these prepared
plates is, in some respects, analogous to the effects of light. By warm-
ing a plate over a spirit-lamp, we produce successfully the following
tints : brown red, a cerise red, scarlet, and red having a whitish tint.
Numerous experiments have been made by M. Niepce to produce the
colors upon the salts of silver and copper spread on paper, but hitherto
without success ; a metallic plate of silver the plated copper answers
must be employed. Iodine and bromine, and their salts, have been
tried, but they will not produce a surface capable of developing colors.
Chlorine, in the state of chlorates or chlorides, is the only substance
which possesses the property of being colored by light, when chemi-
cally combined with metallic silver.

The mode of operating recommended is, to form a bath with one
fourth by weight of the chloride, and three fourths of water. When
the muriatic acid is used with a salt of copper, we must add one tenth
of water. When the bath is composed of several substances, it is
essential to filter the solution carefully, so as to obtain very transparent
solutions, and it must be preserved in a well-stoppered bottle. The
quantity necessary to prepare two or more plates should always be
taken, because the bath is weakened considerably at each operation ;

130 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

it can, however, be rendered active by the addition of a few drops of
muriatic acid. The purer the silver employed, the more perfect is tho
impression, and the more intense the colors.

The plate being very highly polished, which is best effected by
Tripoli powder and ammonia, is connected with the battery, and then
plunged into the bath, and kept there for some minutes ; it is then
taken from the bath, washed in a large quantity of water, and dried
over a spirit-lamp. The surface thus produced is a dull neutral tint,
often almost black, and, upon exposing it to the light, the colors are
produced by removing the blackness ; the surface is, in fact, eaten out in
colors. The sensibility of the plate appears to be increased by the
action of heat, and when brought by the spirit-lamp to the cerise red
color, it is in its most sensitive state. At present, however, the plate
cannot be rendered very sensitive, two or three hours being required to
produce a decided effect in the camera-obscura. It is, however,
already found that the fluoride of sodium will very much accelerate the
operation.

The fixation of the colored image is, however, still a point of con-
siderable difficulty, and, although a certain degree of permanence has
been recovered, the colors fade out by exposure and eventually pass away.
A kind of lacquer appears to have been applied to the plates we have
seen, and ordinary diffused light does not seem to produce much change
upon them.

Such is an outline of the researches of M. Niepce, as communicated
by him to the Academy of Sciences. He is still zealously occupied in
the inquiry, and will soon, we trust, be enabled to communicate some
yet more important results. The problem is, however, solved ; we can
produce pictures by the agency of the solar beam in natural colors ;
that principle which gives to the exterior creation the charm of color,
will so regulate the chemical agency of the actinic power with which
it is associated, that, on properly prepared surfaces, the images are
painted in their native hues.

The following description of the pictures executed by M. Niepce, and
exhibited in England, is from the London Athengeuui : " The three
heliochromes now in London are copies of colored engravings, repre-
senting, the one a female dancer, the others male figures in fancy cos-
tumes ; every color of the original being most faithfully impressed on
the prepared silver tablet. The female figure has a red silk dress, with
purple trimming and white lace. The flesh tints, the red, the purple,
and the white, are well preserved in the cop}'-. One of the male figures
is remarkable for the delicacy of its delineation: here blue, red,
white and pink are perfectly impressed. The third picture is injured
in some parts, but is, from the number of colors which it contains, tho
most remarkable of all. Red, blue, yellow, green, and white are dis-
tinctly marked ; and the intensity of the yellow is very striking."

The Hillotype. Much has been said, during the past year, respecting
a discovery claimed by Rev. Mr. Hill, of Greene county, N. Y., of pro-
ducing daguerreotypes with the natural colors of the object represented.
The statements made by Mr. Hill and friends, not being confirmed by
anything tangible, the New York Daguerrian Association appointed a

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 181

committee to visit him and investigate the alleged discovery. They
report, " that not only has Mr. Hill deluded many professors in the
daguerrian art, but that he has deluded himself thoroughly and com-
pletely that the origin of the discovery was a delusion that the
assumed progress and improvement of it was a delusion and that the
only thought respecting it, in Avhich there is no delusion, is for every
one to abandon any possible faith in Mr. Hill's abilities to produce
natural colors in daguerreotypes of which the whole history has been
aa unmitigated delusion."

IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHY.

Enamel for Daguerreotypes. A plan has been invented and per-
fected by Mr. Beard, of London, for coating the surface of the daguer-
reotype with a kind of transparent enamel, which effectually excludes
the air, renders a glass unnecessary, and permits, moreover, the applica-
tion of color more effectually than by any mode previously attempted.

Photography on Glass. A new process has been discovered by M.
Martens, of Paris, by which photographic negatives may be taken on
glass, and afterwards transferred to paper on an increased scale, by
means of a lens. The value of this process is enhanced by the capac-
ity to enlarge, by the application of a magnifying power, the dimen-
sions of the image produced on the negative plate. In this way,
without creating to the traveller the embarrassment of extra luggage,
he may make his negatives on as small a scale as may be convenient,
reserving to himself the choice of producing, at a future time, pos-
itives of such dimensions as he may desire. For topography and for
the transcription of the peculiarities and minute details of architecture
and costume, this discovery will prove of great value.

A writer in the London Athenaeum, speaking of the pictures pro-
duced by this process, says, " There are in the impressions resulting
from this process a clearness and a sharpness of definition in the archi-
tectural subjects such as we have never before seen. In a view of the
portico of the Madaleine, as seen from the Rue Royale, the details of
the tympanum, the frieze, the capitals, the bases, the shafts, the in-
scriptions, and the bas-reliefs, seen through a magnifying glass at our
side, are extraordinary. The rendering of the bas-relief in the pedi-
ment is most perfect. Two views of the Salle de la Convention are
marvellous to the naked eye : through the lens they reveal details which
will provoke the admiration of the architect. The artist may throw
down his brush in despair. No human eye or hand could trace
from the objects themselves, within any moderate degree of accuracy,
such details."

Instantaneous Photographic Images. Mr. Fox Talbot, well known
for his discoveries in photography, writes to the Royal Society, June,
as follows : " Having recently met with a photographic process of
great sensibility, I was desirous of trying whether it were possible to
obtain a truly instantaneous representation of an object in motion.
The experiment was conducted in the following manner : A printed
paper was fixed upon a circular disc, which was then made to revolve

132 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

on its axis as rapidly as possible. When it had attained its greatest
velocity, an electric battery was discharged in front of the disc, light-
ing it up with a momentary flash. A camera, containing a very sensi-
tive plate of glass, had been placed in a suitable position, and on
opening this after the discharge, an image was found of a portion of
the words printed on the paper. They were perfectly well-defined and
wholly unaffected by the motion of the disc.

" The mode of preparing the plates was as follows : 1. Take the most
liquid portion of the white of an egg, rejecting the rest. Mix it with
an equal quantity of water. Spread it very evenly upon a plate of
glass, and dry it at the fire. A strong heat may be used without
injuring the plate. The film of dried albumen ought to be uniform and
nearly invisible. 2. To an aqueous solution of nitrate of silver add a
considerable quantity of alcohol, so that an ounce of the mixture may
contain three grains of the nitrate. I have tried various proportions,
from one to six grains, but perhaps three grains answer best. More
experiments are here required, since the results are much influenced
by this part of the process. 3. Dip the plate into this solution, and
then let it dry spontaneously. Faint prismatic colors will then be
seen upon the plate. It is important to remark, that the nitrate of
silver appears to form a true chemical combination with the albumen,
rendering it much harder, and insoluble in liquids which dissolved it
previously. 4. Wash with distilled water to remove any superfluous
portions of the nitrate of silver. Then give the plate a second coating
of albumen similar to the first ; but, in drying it, avoid heating it too
much, which would cause a commencement of decomposition of the
silver. 5. To an aqueous solution of prot-iodide of iron add first an
equal volume of acetic acid, and then ten volumes of alcohol. Allow
the mixture to repose two or three days. At the end of that time it
will have changed color, and the odor of acetic acid, as well as that of
alcohol, will have disappeared, and the liquid will have acquired a
peculiar but agreeable vinous odor. It is in this state that I prefer to
employ it. 6. Into the iodide thus prepared and modified the plate is
dipped for a few seconds. All these operations may be performed by
moderate daylight, avoiding, however, the direct solar rays. 7. A solu-
tion is made of nitrate of silver, containing about 70 grains to one
ounce of water. To three parts of this add two of acetic acid. Then,
if the prepared plate is rapidly dipped once or twice into this solution,
it acquires a very great degree of sensibility, and it ought then to be
placed in the camera without much delay. 8. The plate is withdrawn
from the camera, and, in order to bring out the image, it is dipped into
a solution of protosulphate of iron, containing one part of the saturated
solution diluted with two or three parts of w r ater. The image appears
very rapidly. 9. Having washed the plate with water, it is now
placed in a solution of hyposulphite of soda ; which, in about a minute,
causes the image to brighten up exceedingly, by removing a kind of
veil Avhich previously covered it. 10. The plate is then washed with
distilled water, and the process is terminated. In order, however, to
guard against future accidents, it is well to give the picture another
coating of albumen or of varnish.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 133

" These operations may appear long in the description, but they are
rapidly enough executed after a little practice."

To the images obtained by this new process, Mr. Talbot has applied
the term amphi types, because they appear either positive or negative,
according to the circumstances of 'light under which they are viewed.
Thus, if held against a bright light, or against a sheet of white paper,
they appear negative, and the reverse when held against a black sur-
face and seen in oblique reflected light.

New Process for copying from Engravings. A new process for
copying engravings has been discovered by M. Niepce, of France. It
consists in submitting the engraving to the vapor of iodine (at a tem-
perature of 15 or 20 C.) for about two minutes ; a longer time is
necessary, if the temperature be less elevated ; ten grammes of iodine
to be used per square of four inches. The paper intended to receive
the impression is to be covered with a coat of paste, taking care pre-
viously to have it moistened with water containing one part of pure
sulphuric acid. The proofs, after being pressed with a linen cloth,
present a design of admirable purity. Those impressions taken on
paste will, however, in drying, become vaporous ; but, if taken on
paper, prepared with one or two layers of starch, the design will not
only be clear, but will preserve much better. What is most extraor-
dinary is that many impressions may be taken from the same print
without submitting it to a new preparation, the last proofs being
always the clearest. Designs of various colors may thus be obtained,
according as the paste is more or less boiled, or according to the quan-
tity of acid used. Proofs may also be taken on different metals, by
observing the following precautions. In submitting the engraving to
the vapor of iodine, care should be taken to have it perfectly dry, in
order that the white portions of it may become impregnated. In this
case it should be exposed but a few minutes to the vapor. Let it be
afterwards applied, without wetting it, to a plate of silver, and then
placed under a press ; at the end of five or six minutes there will be a
most faithful reproduction of the original. By afterwards exposing the
plate to the vapor of mercury, a proof similar to that of a daguerreo-
type is obtained.

MM. CLEXISSOX and TERREIL have presented to the French Academy
a method of obtaining daguerreotype impressions on metallic surfaces, free
from the usual mirror-like appearances, which destroy, to a considerable
extent, the artistical effect. The process consists in submitting the
impression, after washing in the hypo-sulphate of soda solution, to the
action of very weak aqua regia, which transforms the amalgam, pro-
ducing the white parts of the impression, into chlorides of silver and
mercury unalterable to the action of the light, and which produces on
the dark parts a chloride of silver, susceptible of alteration under the
influence of light. After this operation the harmony of tints is pre-
served, and the image fixed, as if by chloride of gold.

Gutla Percha in Photography. Mr. Fry. of England, has _ greatly
improved the process of- obtaining pictures on glass, by the addition of
gutta percha to collodion gun-cotton dissolved in ether. This is
employed with the ordinary materials for the processes on glass, the

12

134 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

picture being developed by pyro-gallic acid. The extraordinary sen-
sibility of this preparation may be inferred from the fact, that a posi-
tive copy, from a glass negative, has been obtained in five seconds by
gas-light. The film formed on glass is far more adherent than the ordi-
nary collodion or albumen.

Hyalotype. A new process of taking photographs upon glass has
been invented by Messrs. Langenheim, of Philadelphia. The most
interesting application of this discovery is stated to be the formation
of pictures upon magic-lantern slides, taken from nature by the camera
obscura, without the aid of pencil or brush. These pictures are pre-
pared by the action of light alone ; and the smallest details are deline-
ated on the glass with astonishing fidelity. When these slides are
magnified in the magic lantern, they give a perfect representation of
nature, and are perfectly free from all those defects and inaccuracies
existing in the old slides, which can never be avoided in painting upon
so small a scale.

IMPROVEMENTS IN CAMERAS FOR DAGUERREOTYPES.

M. EVRARD, of Paris, in experimenting on the proper form of the
camera, as used for taking daguerreotypes, has ascertained, contrary to
what has been the opinion heretofore on the subject, that the black
coating inside of all the cameras now used, to prevent the reflection of
light, lessens the photogenic action on the prepared plate or paper.
He has, therefore, lined the sides of his camera with white paper, and
given the interior of his tube a white coat, at the extremities of which
are the two object-glasses. With the above alterations in his instru-
ment, he has experimented on the silver plate, albumenized glass, and
on paper, and he states that the image forms in one half the time
required in the blackened camera ; that it is formed by light insuf-
ficient to give an image in the usual camera ; that the action is more
uniform the light parts not disappearing before the shaded parts are
fully impressed and there is far less resistance to photogenic action
in red, yellow, and green colors.

Sir David Brewster, in noticing in a late publication this discovery
of Evrard, remarks : k ' It is not easy to explain the results obtained
by M. Evrard ; the effect of internal light on the negative must be to
darken the whole of the negative paper, and, consequently, to accele-
rate the production of all the lines which constitute the picture ; but
if the light acts equally upon the dark lines when they are darkening,
as it does upon the light parts, the depth of color of the black lines
cannot be increased, because the depth of the ground on which they
are drawn is equally increased. The internal light must, therefore,
darken the dark parts of the negative more than the light parts. It is
obvious that the internal light scattered over the negative cannot be
uniform. It would, therefore, be better to keep the camera black, as
hitherto, and to admit light through one or more apertures, so as to
illuminate equally the surface of the negative. This might be done
either through ground glass or paper, or by reflection from any white

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 135

surface. It would be curious to try lights of different colors, and to
see if the process could not be accelerated by exposing the negative
paper to a certain quantity of light, either after it has received a faint
picture, or before it is placed in the camera. If M. Evrard's results
are correct, there must be some new principle called into play by the
supplementary light assisting the natural light from the object."
Daguerrean Journal.

DAGUERREOTYPES OF THE SUN AND MOON.

DURIXG the past season, Mr. J. A. Whipple, of Boston, aided by
Mr. Bond, of the Cambridge Observatory, has succeeded in taking sev-
eral large and beautiful daguerreotype likenesses of the moon, as seen
by a high power, under the great equatorial of the Observatory. We
have rarely seen anything in the range of the daguerreotype art of so
great beauty, delicacy, and perfectness, as the pictures referred to.
The inequalities and striking peculiarities of the moon's surface are
brought out with such distinctness, that the various mountain ranges,
highlands, and isolated peaks are at once recognized. Crater-formed
depressions in some of the mountains may be also seen. The views
represent the moon at quarter and half-quarter, and are from three to
four inches in length. Mr. Whipple, with the aid of Mr. Bond, suc-
ceeded in daguerreotyping the solar eclipse of July, in its various
stages ; and also the sun's disk, with the various spots which appeared
upon its surface in the spring of 1851. Several of these daguerreo-
types were exhibited at the American and British Associations, and
also at the Great Industrial Exhibition, where a medal was awarded
to Mr. Whipple. Editor.

NEW ELLIPTIC ANALYZER.

A NEW instrument, constructed for the purpose of investigating ex-
perimentally the nature of elliptically polarized light, that is to say,
the elements of the ellipse described, has been invented by Professor
Stokes, of England. In its exhibition before the British Association,
Prof. Stokes said, that, in its construction, he had aimed at being, in
all important points, independent of the instrument-maker, assuming
nothing but the accuracy of the graduation. The construction was as
follows : A brass rim, or thick annulus, is fixed on a stand, so as to
have its plane vertical. A brass circle, graduated to degrees, turns
round within the annulus, and the angle through which it is turned is
read by verniers engraved on the face of the annulus. The brass circle
is pierced at its centre, and carries on the side turned towards the inci-
dent light a plate of selenite, of such a thickness as to produce a differ-
ence of retardation in the oppositely polarized pencils, amounting to
about a quarter of an undulation for rays of mean refrangibility. The
brass circle carries a projecting collar on the side next the eye, and,
round this collar there turns a movable collar carrying verniers, and
destined to receive a Nicol's prism. The observation consists in extin-
guishing the light by a combination of the two movements. The

13.6 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

retarding plate converts the elliptically polarized light, which has to be
examined, into plane polarized ; and this plane polarized light is extin-
guished by the Nicol's prism. There are two distinct positions of the
retarding plate and the Nicol's prism in which this takes place. In
each of these principal positions the retarding plate and the Nicol's
prism maybe reversed (/. e., turned through 180), and the means of
the readings in these four subsidiary positions may be taken for greater
accuracy. The readings of the fixed and movable verniers in each of
the two principal positions are four quantities given by observation ,
which determine four unknown quantities ; namely, 1. The index error
of the fixed verniers, or which comes to the same, the azimuth of the
major axis of the ellipse described by the particles of rether, measured
from a plane fixed in the graduated circle. 2. The ratio of the axis of
the ellipse. 3. The index error of the movable verniers. 4. The re-
tardation due to the retarding plate. The unknown are determined
from the known quantities, by certain simple formulae given by the
author. The author stated that he had made a good many observa-
tions with this instrument for the sake of testing its performance, and
that he had found it very satisfactory. Inasmuch as light is not homo-
geneous, the illumination never vanishes, but only passes through a
minimum, and in passing through the minimum the tint changes rap-
idly. This change of tint is at first somewhat perplexing ; but, after
a little practice, the observer is able to know it mainly by intensity,
taking notice of the tint as an additional check against errors of obser-
vation. The accuracy of the observations is a little increased by the
use of rather -pale-colored glasses. To give an idea of the degree of
accuracy of which the instrument is susceptible, suppose the ratio of
the axes of the ellipse described to be about three to one. In this case
the author found that the mean error of single observations amounted
to about a quarter or the fifth part of a degree in the determination of
the azimuth, three or four thousandths in the determination of the
ratio of the minor to the major axis, and about the thousandth part of
an undulation in the determination of the retardation. On account
of the accuracy with which the retardation is determined, and the
largeness of the chromatic variations to which it is subject, the instru-
ment may be considered as determining not only the elements of the
ellipse described, but also the refrangibility of the light employed, or
its length of wave, which corresponds to the refrangibility. The author
stated, that the error of the thousandth part of an undulation, to which
the determination of the retardation was subject, corresponded to an
error of only the twentieth or thirtieth part of the interval between the
fixed lines D and E of Fraunhofer.

ON THE APPARENT MOTION OF CERTAIN COLORED FIGURES.

PROF. LOOMIS, at the American Association, Albany, presented a
communication, relating to the apparent motions of certain colored fig-
ures, a phenomenon generally known under the name of the " dancing
mice." The phenomenon to be explained is this: When a green
figure or stripe is worked on a red ground, and the card gently agitated,

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 137

a shade of lighter green appears to spread over the whole figure, and
overlap the surrounding red ground. A red stripe upon a green ground,
when agitated, appears of a lighter red on each margin, alternately
\vith a deep-red wave, oscillating back and forth at each motion of the
card. It has been suggested that the pile of the worsted, in^ which
these figures are generally wrought, was essentially connected with the
phenomena. This Prof. Loom is had found not to be the case. He
had experimented with cotton, silk, leather, and paper ; and in all had
succeeded in producing an effect similar to that with the worsted.
AYith the colors of natural objects, he had found that the red of certain
flowers, combined with certain green leaves, exhibited the effect in
question very handsomely. The scarlet flower of the verbena, or

feranium, combined with green leaves of lettuce, succeeds beautifully,
'hese experiments appeared to him sufficiently varied to prove that the
effect in question is entirely independent of the material employed.
Color alone appears to be the essential circumstance. A particular
shade of color is required, and also a certain intensity. A brilliant
red, combined with a complementary color, will always produce the
required effect. A lustre or gloss upon the surface interferes some-
what with the effect, but does not entirely destroy it. Such a result
might have been anticipated, because the existence of gloss implies
that foreign light, (which, of course, is not homogeneous,) is reflected
from the sin-face in question, and mingles with the light emitted from
the body under experiment. Of course the color of the body is changed,
or rendered less brilliant by this mixture. The conclusion arrived at
was, that the wave-like motion which passes over a small red figure,
upon a green ground, when gently agitated, is an effect of brilliant com-
plementary colors, and has no connection with the nature of the mate-
rial with which the color is associated.

These phenomena are believed to involve the following principles :
1. The continuance of impressions on the retina. An impression made
on the retina lasts for an appreciable interval. "When a bright colored
figure is agitated before the eye, it makes an impression upon a portion
of the retina larger than that covered by the figure at rest. Thus a green
figure upon a red ground, being agitated, appears to overlap the sur-
rounding red ground. 2. There is a partial and transient combination
of the complementary colors. While the impression of the central
color remains upon the retina, the same portion of the retina, in con-
sequence of the motion of the card, receives a new impression of the
surrounding complementary color ; in other words, two colors, which
are complementary to each other, are impressed successively upon the
same part of the retina ; the new impression being made while the
effect of the old one remains. These two colors partially combine to
produce not white light but a much brighter shade of the primi-
tive color. This explains the experiment with the green figure on a red
ground ; and it explains the brighter shade on the margin of the red
figure upon a green ground. But the red stripe upon the green ground
exhibits the remarkable peculiarity of a deep red wave oscillating from
one side to the other of the strip at each motion of the card. In order
to analyze this phenomenon, I tried the following experiment:

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138 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

X"

When I used a broad red stripe between two green ones, the change of
color was confined to the borders of the red, extending to a breadth of
about a quarter of an inch, a bright stripe appearing on the upper side
of the red when the figure was depressed, and on the lower side when
the figure was elevated. No change of appearance could be observed
in the intermediate red. Hence, when the red stripe is only a half
inch in breadth, there is the appearance of a red wave transferred from
one edge to the opposite, at each motion of the card. If the red
stripe does not exceed a quarter of an inch in breadth, the effect is
much impaired, and if the stripe be reduced to less than one tenth of
an inch, the wave-like appearance ceases entirely, and the red stripe
appears constantly of a very pale red.

The following, then, is my opinion of the origin of this deep red
wave : The red color appears to excite the retina more powerfully than
the green, and its impression is more durable. When, therefore, I
place a red stripe upon a green ground, and agitate it, the effect of the
green ground is confined to a narrow margin of the red stripe, not gener-
ally exceeding a quarter of an inch in breadth. Consequently, if the
red stripe is broad, say two or three inches, no peculiar effect is pro-
duced upon the central part ; but a band of pale red, about a quarter
of an inch in extent, is seen on the two opposite margins alternately.
If the breadth of the red stripe does not exceed the tenth of an inch, its
light is constantly blended with that of the surrounding green ; that is,
it appears constantly of a light shade, and there is no appearance of
a dark wave passing over it. When the breadth of the stripe is about
half an inch, the red and green colors are made to combine on the
opposite margins alternately ; the dark and the light bands succeed
each other on the same part of the stripe, and the appearance is that
of a wave-like motion. Thus, the two well known principles, first,
of the continuance of impressions on the retina, and, second, that
complementary colors combine to produce white light, appear to explain
the essential circumstances of the phenomena in question.

TELOCITY OF LIGHT.

ON the subject of the velocity of light, and the probability that it
requires a certain time for its propagation, we find the earliest view
expressed by Francis Bacon, in the second book of the Novum Or-
ganuni. He speaks of the time required by a ray of light to traverse
the immensity of space, and throws out the question whether the stars
still exist which we now see sparkle. One is astonished at finding so
happy a conjecture in a work whose celebrated author was so far
below some of his contemporaries in mathematical, astronomical and
physical knowledge. The velocity of the reflected solar light was
measured by Komer, November, 1675, by comparison of the times of
occultation of Jupiter's satellites, and the velocity of the direct light
of the fixed stars by Bradlcy's great discovery of the aberration of
light, made in the autumn of 1727. In very recent times a third
method of measurement has been proposed by Arago, by the phenome-
non of the light of a variable star ; for example, Algol in Perseus. We

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 139

have to add to these astronomical methods a terrestrial measurement,
which has recently been executed with great ingenuity and success by
M. Fizeau, in the neighborhood of Paris.* It recalls to recollection
an attempt of Galileo's -with two lanterns, which did not lead to any
result. From Romer's first observations of Jupiter's satellites, Hor-
rebow and Du Hamel estimated the time occupied in the passage of
light from the sun to the earth, at their mean distance apart, at 14' 7";
Cassini at 14' 10" ; Newton, which is very striking, much nearer to
the truth, at T 30". Delambre, by taking into account, among the
observations of his time, only those of the first satellite, found 8' 13". 2.
Encke has very justly remarked how important it would be, with the
certainty of obtaining the more accordant results which the present
perfection of telescopes would afford, to undertake a series of occulta-
tions of Jupiter's satellites, for the express purpose of deducing the
velocity of light. From Bradley 's observations of aberration, recently
discovered by Rigaud, of Oxford, there follows, according to the inves-
tigation of Dr. Busch, of Konigsberg, for the passage of light from
the sun to the earth 8' 12".64 ; for the velocity of the light of the stars
167,976 geographical miles in a second ; but from the more recent
aberration observations of Struve, made for eighteen months with the
large transit instrument at Pulkowa, it appears that the first of these
numbers must be considerably increased. The result of Struve's great
investigation is 8' 17", which gives for the velocity of light 166,196
geographical miles in a second ; the probable error of this velocity
scarcely amounts to eight geographical miles.

M. Fizeau has succeeded in executing a terrestrial measurement of
the velocity of light, by means of an ingeniously devised apparatus, in
which the artificial star, like the light of oxygen and hydrogen, is
returned to the point from whence it came by a mirror placed at the
distance of 8633 metres (28,324 English feet) ; a disc furnished with
720 teeth, which made 12.6 revolutions in a second, alternately stopped
the ray of light and allowed it to pass freely between the teeth of the
limb. From the indications of a counter, it was inferred that the arti-
ficial light traversed 17,266 metres (56,648 English feet), or twice the
distance between the stations, in one eighteen thousandth of a second
of time ; whence there results a velocity of 167,528 geographical
miles in a second. This result comes nearest to that of Delambre,
derived from Jupiter's satellites, which is 167,976 geographical miles.
Direct observations, and ingenious considerations on the absence of
any alteration of color during the change of light of variable stars,