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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPL. NO. 299
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPL. NO. 299 VARIOUS SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 299
NEW YORK SEPTEMBER 24 1881
Scientific American Supplement. Vol. XII No. 299.
Scientific American established 1845
Scientific American Supplement $5 a year.
Scientific American and Supplement $7 a year.
[Illustration]
* * * * *
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
I. ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS.--On the Progress and development
of the Marine Engine.--Marine engines.--The marine
boiler.--Steel boilers.--Corrosion of boilers.--How the marine
engine may be improved.--Consumption of fuel.--Evaporative
efficiency of marine locomotive boilers.--Screw propellers
Steam Ferry Boats of the Port of Marseilles.--2 figures.--
Transverse and longitudinal sections
Opening of a New English Dock. 1 figure
Improved Grain Elevator. 1 figure
Improved Dredger. 1 figure.--Single bucket dipper dredger
Railway Alarm Whistle
Furnace for the Manufacture of Sulphide of Carbon. 1 figure
Brouardel's Dry Inscribing Manometer. 1 figure.--Gas indication
of manometer
Centrifugal Apparatus for Casting Metals. 4 figures.--Centrifugal
metal moulding apparatus
Apparatus for the Manufacture of Wood Pulp. 2 figures.--Dresel's
wood pulp apparatus
Recent Progress of Industrial Science.--Presidential address
Convention of Mechanical Engineers
The Hoboken Drainage Problem
II. TECHNOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY--On some Recent Improvements
in Lead Processes. By NORMAN C. COOKSON
Apparatus Used in Berlin for the Preparation of Gelatine Plates.--
I. Mixing apparatus.--II. Digestive apparatus.--III. Triturating
apparatus--IV. Washing apparatus--3 figures
How To Make Emulsions In Hot Weather. By A. L. HENDERSON
The Distillation and Rectification of Alcohols by the Rational
Use of Low Temperatures. By RAOUL PICTET.--1 figure.--Pictet's
apparatus for the rectification of alcohol by cold
The Removal of Noxious Vapors from Roasting Furnace Gases
New Gas Exhauster. 1 figure
Advance in the Price of Glycerine
Analysis of Oils or Mixtures of Oils Used for Lubricating Purposes
Nitrate of Amyl
III. ELECTRICITY ETC.--The Electric Light in Earnock Colliery
Lightning and Telephone Wires
Conditions of Flames Under the Influence of Electricity
The Electric Stop-Motion in the Cotton Mill
Electrolytic Determinations and Separations. By ALEX and M.
A. VON REIS.--Determination of cobalt.--Nickel--Iron.--Zinc.--
Manganese.--Bismuth.--Lead.--Copper.--Cadmium.--Tin.--Antimony.--
Arsenic.--Separation of iron from manganese.--Iron from Aluminum
IV. MEDICINE SURGERY ETC.--Treatment of Acute Rheumatism.
By ALFRED M. STILLE M.D.
Method in Madness
Simple Methods to Staunch Accidental Hemorrhage. By EDWARD
BORCK M.D.--Bleeding from upper arm.--From arteries in the
upper third of the arm.--From the thigh.--From the foot
Hot Water Compresses in Tetanus and Trismus
V. AGRICULTURE ETC.--The Cultivation of Pyrethrum and Manufacture
of Powder
Trials of String Sheaf Binders at Derby England
The Culture of Strawberries.--Garden culture.--Field culture
Some Hardy Flowers for Midsummer
The Time Consuming Match
VI. ARCHITECTURE ART ETC.--Suggestions in Decorative Art.
1 figure.--Silver ewer by Odiot Paris
Artists' Homes. No. l4.--Bent's Brook Holmwood Surrey Eng.--
6 figures.--Perspective elevations and plans
VII. OBITUARY.--Achille Delesse eminent as geologist and mineralogist
* * * * *
ACHILLE DELESSE.
The death of this distinguished man must be recorded. An interesting
_resume_ of his labors by M. Daubree has appeared from which we take
the following facts. After a training in his native town at the Lyceum
of Metz which furnished so many scholars to the Polytechnic school
Delesse was admitted at the age of twenty to this school. In 1839 he
left to enter the Corps des Mines. From the beginning of his career the
student engineer applied himself with ardor to the sciences to which
he was to devote his entire existence. The journeys which he undertook
then and continued later in France Germany Poland England and
Ireland helped to confirm and develop the bent of his mind. He soon
arrived at important scientific results and was rewarded in 1845 by
having conferred to him by the university the course of mineralogy and
geology in the Faculty at Besancon where Delesse at the same time
fulfilled the duties of engineer of mines. Five years later he returned
to Paris where he continued his university duties at first as deputy
of the course of geology at the Sorbonne then as master of the
conferences at the Superior Normal School. Besides this he continued
his profession of engineer of mines as inspector of the roads of Paris.
The first original researches of the young _savant_ concern pure
mineralogy; he studied a certain number of species of which the
chemical nature was yet uncertain or altogether unknown and his name
was appended to one of the species which he defined. He studied
also and with success the interesting modifications called
pseudomorphism--the mode of association of minerals as well as their
magnetic properties. The attributes of a practical mineralogist aided
him greatly in the culture of a branch of geology to which Delesse has
rendered eminent services in the recognition of rocks of igneous origin
and of others allied to them. He studied in the field as well as by
investigations in the laboratory for fifteen years with an intelligent
and indefatigable perseverance and aided by the results of hundreds of
analyses eruptive masses of the most varied kind the knowledge derived
from which threw light upon the principles of science from granites
and syenites to melaphyres and basalts. After thirty years of study
and progress other _savants_ without differing from him progressed
further in the intimate knowledge of rocks; but the historian of
science will not forget that Delesse was the precursor of this order
of research. His studies of metamorphism will long do him honor. The
mineralogical modifications which the eruptive rocks have undergone in
the mass are the permanent witnesses which attracted all his attention.
The chemical comparison of the metamorphic with the normal rock pointed
out distinctly the nature of the substances acquired or lost. One of the
principal results of these analyses has been to lessen the importance
attributed until then to heat alone and to show in more than one case
the intervention of thermal sources and of other emanations from below
to which the eruptive rocks have simply opened up tracks.
It is not only upon subjects relating to the history of rocks that
Delesse has touched. Witness his work on the infiltration of water as
well as his volume relating to the materials of construction published
on the occasion of the Exhibition of 1855. The nature of the deposits
which operate continually at the bottom of the sea offers points of
interest which well repay the labor of the geologist. He finds there
indeed a precious field to be compared with stratified deposits; for
in spite of the enormous depth to which they form a part of continents
they are of analogous origin. Delesse laboriously studied the products
of the innumerable soundings taken in most of the seas. He arranged the
results in a work which has become classical with the beautiful atlas of
submarine drawings which accompany it. Though he never slackened in his
own especial work he made much of the work of others. The "Revue des
Progres de la Geologie" with which he enriched the "Annales des Mines"
for twenty years would have been sufficient to engross the time of a
less active scientific man and one less ready to grasp the opening of a
discovery. This indefatigable theorist never neglected the applications
of science: the nature and the changes of the layers which form the
under earth; the course and the depth of the subterraneous sheets of
water; the mineralogical composition of the earth's vegetation were
represented by him on several charts and plans drawn out in proper form.
His maps which follow the route of many of the great French lines of
railway explain the kind of soil upon which they are laid and are of
daily use. In the pursuit of his numerous scientific works Delesse
never failed in discharging his duties in the Corps des Mines. Having
in 1864 quitted the service of the Government of Paris which he had
occupied for eighteen years he was made professor of agriculture of
drainage and irrigation at the School of Mines where he established
instruction in these before being called to found the course of geology
at the Agricultural Institution. Promoted to be Inspector-General of
Mines in 1878 and charged with the division of the south east of
France he preserved to the end of his life these new duties for which
to the regret of the School of Mines he gave up his excellent lessons
there. During the year of 1870 Delesse fulfilled his duties as a
citizen as engineer in preparation of cartridges in the department.
His nomination to the Academy of Sciences which took place on the 6th
of January 1879 satisfied the ambition of his life. He was for two
years President of the Central Commission of the Geographical Society;
he was also President of the Geological Society. He was not long to
enjoy the noble position acquired by his intelligence and his work.
He suffered from a serious malady which however did not weaken his
intellect and he continued from his bed of suffering to prepare the
reports for the Council-General of Mines and that which recently he
addressed to the Academy on the occasion of his election. The greatness
and the rectitude of mind of Delesse his astounding power of work his
profound knowledge of science his sympathetic sweetness which were
associated with sterling modesty and loyalty of character made him
esteemed and cherished throughout his whole career. He died on the 24th
of March.--_The Engineer._
* * * * *
[Illustration: SUGGESTIONS IN DECOTATIVE ART.--SILVER EWER BY ODIOT
PARIS.
(From The Workshop)]
* * * * *
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT AT EARNOCK COLLIERY.
On the afternoon of August 9 Earnock Colliery near Hamilton belonging
to Mr. John Watson of Earnock was the scene of an interesting
ceremonial which may well be said to mark a new era in mining annals.
In proceeding to win the rich mineral wealth of his estate Mr. Watson
determined that in respect of fittings machinery and general
appointments it should be a model and he has been highly successful
in giving practical effect to his aims. Among other things he early
resolved to if at all practicable substitute the electric light for
the ordinary mode of illuminating the workings and after investigating
the various systems he decided on giving that of Mr. Swan a trial.
Accordingly since April last Messrs. D. & E. Graham electrical
engineers Glasgow have been engaged fitting up the Swan incandescent
lamp with modifications to adapt it for safe use in the mine and on
Tuesday the inauguration of the new light took place in presence of a
large company of leading gentlemen from Glasgow Hamilton and the West.
Arrived at the colliery about half-past one o'clock the visitors were
received by Mr. Watson and after a brief space spent in inspecting
the three magnificent winding and fan engines the Guibal fan and the
framework for screening the coal they were conducted by Mr. James
Gilchrist manager down into the workings in the ell seam at a depth
of 118 fathoms. Here at the pit bottom in the roads and at the face
twenty-one Swan lamps were burning giving forth a brilliant steady
flame the luminosity of which while sufficient to supply the desired
light had none of the disagreeable intensity associated with most
systems of electric lighting. Besides the pear-shaped Swan lamp in
which the glowing or incandescence is carried on _in vacuo_ there is an
outer lantern the invention of Mr. David Graham consisting of a strong
glass globe air-tight protected with steel guards. Each lamp was also
connected with two different forms of Graham's patent safety air tight
contacts and switches for cutting off and letting on the current the
effect of which it is believed would be to render the lamps quite
safe even in the presence of explosive gas. At first the intention
was to employ the fan-engine to drive the dynamo-electric machine or
generator but this was departed from and an engine of 12 horse-power
was erected in the workshops on the surface for the purpose. From the
generator the electric cables two in number are conducted along the
roof of the workshops over ordinary telegraph poles to the pit-head at
No. 2 shaft and thence down into the workings. From the ridge of the
workshops to the pithead a distance of several hundred yards the
cables consist of ordinary copper wire three-eighths of an inch in
diameter; inside the workshop and below ground to allow of their safe
handling they are composed of insulated wires while on the way down
the shaft they are inclosed in a galvanized tube. Near the bottom of the
shaft branches are taken off to supply light to the principal roadways
and to the haulage engine-room the main cables being carried into one
of the sections of the mine a distance of half-a-mile. After a careful
inspection of the lamps at the pit bottom the party were photographed
in three groups with the aid of the electric light by Mr. Annan of
Glasgow who may well be credited with the distinction of being the
first to exercise his skill in the bowels of the earth. They were
then led to the haulage engine-room and into the workings where they
witnessed the effects of the light. At the latter point while of
course the visitors were at a safe distance a shot was fired bringing
down a large mass of coal. Having spent fully an hour below ground the
party returned to the surface.--_Colliery Guardian_.
* * * * *
LIGHTNING AND TELEPHONE WIRES.
M. Bede of Brussels has an article in _L'Ingenieur-Conseil_ on the
above subject. He considers that a system of such wires forms the best
and most complete security against lightning with which a town can be
provided because they protect not only the buildings in which they
terminate but also those over which they pass. At each end they
communicate with the earth and thus carry off safely any surplus
of electricity with which they may become charged. It is however
important that they should be provided with lightning conductors of
their own to carry off such surplus directly from the transmission wire
to the earth wire without allowing it to pass through the fine wires of
the induction coils which it might fuse.
Such lightning conductors usually consist of a toothed plate attached to
one wire close to another plate not toothed attached to the other wire.
The copper even of such a conductor has been melted by the powerful
current which it has carried away. In telephonic central offices M.
Bede has seen all the signals of one row of telephone wires fall at the
same moment proving that an electric discharge had fallen upon the
wires and been by them conveyed to earth.
This fact shows that wires even without points are capable of
attracting the atmospheric electricity; but it must be remembered that
there are two points at every join in the wire. M. Bede insists strongly
upon the uselessness of terminating lightning conductors in wells
or even larger pieces of water. The experiments of MM. Becquerel
and Pouillet proved that the resistance of water to the passage of
electricity is one thousand million times greater than that of iron;
consequently if the current conveyed by a wire one square mm. thick
were to be carried off by water without increased resistance a surface
of contact between the wire and the water of not less than 1000 square
meters must be established.
It is obvious that a wire let down into a well is simply useless. On
the two-fluid theory it offers no effectual way of escape to the
terrestrial electricity; according to the older views it would be
absolutely dangerous by attracting more electricity from the clouds
than it could dispose of. The author advocates connecting lightning
conductors with water or gas pipes which have an immense surface of
contact with the earth.
* * * * *
CONDITION OF FLAMES UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ELECTRICITY.
The experiments of the author have been principally directed to the
alterations in shape and color produced in a flame when under the
influence of positive or negative electricity. The flames were arranged
so as to form one electrode of a frictional machine. When charged with
positive electricity the flame became more blue narrower and pointed
at the top while little or nothing of the result was observed in
negative flames.
A peculiar result is that the end of a negative flame returns to its own
conductor and that according to the intensity of the electricity and
also depending on the width of the burner this turning back of the
flame is either intermittent or constant. Most noticeable are these
results:
When the flame rises from a circular burner or when burning round a
metallic cylinder in the latter case it returns to the metallic surface
according to the intensity of electricity in an arc or angle while the
point of the flame divides into two branches which separately perform
more or less equal movements. If a body connected to the earth by a
conducting wire is held opposite the flame at some distance the flame
will in all cases bend toward it; as the body is brought closer
the flame if negative will be repulsed and if positive will be
attracted at least the upper luminous part of the flame while the
lower dark body of flame is also repulsed.
This phenomenon explains why a positive flame will burn through wire
gauze while a negative flame remains below the gauze. The positive
flame becoming pointed explains the fact that this will drive a small
fan wheel while a negative flame will only just move it.
All these results are most prominently obtained with a pure gas flame a
stearine wax or tallow candle very indifferently with a spirit flame
and least from a Bunsen flame rich in oxygen. They may not only be
obtained with flames electrified direct but also when placed under the
influence of a long "Holtz" machine.
A flame placed between two small disks on the machine bends toward the
negative pole becomes widened and at a certain point of electric
intensity commences to vibrate and oscillate exhibiting a peculiar
stratification. Since these phenomena are also least observed in flames
rich in oxygen it appears to be a general law that carbon and hydrogen
are more strongly attracted by the negative pole while oxygen is
more attracted by the positive pole probably like in all polar
differentially attractions in consequence of a peculiar unipolar
conductivity of the substances.
The return motion of the flame the author explains thus: The point
of the flame loses more electricity by influence than it receives by
conductivity. A paper strip fixed at one end to a large ball shows
similar movements when its free end is pointed and made conductive.
Why principally the negative flame returns may be explained in two
ways--either the point of the flame loses much by radiation or the base
of the flame is a bad conductor. The former explanation would agree with
the experiments made by Wiedemann and Ruhlmann the latter with Erdman's
theory of unipolar conductivity of flames. This theory is still further
supported by the resistance on the negative electrodes noticed by
Hittorf which almost explains Erdman's experiments because if negative
electricity enters a flame with greater difficulty then positive
electricity must leave a flame with difficulty.--_W. Holtz in
Wiedemanris Beiblaetter to Poggendorfs Annalen._
* * * * *
THE ELECTRIC STOP-MOTION IN THE COTTON MILL.
The number of inventions for use as stop-motions in and about the
various machines in the cotton mill has been to a certain extent
something like the search after perpetual motion. Very available and
quite satisfactory stop-motions have for a number of years been employed
wherever the thread or sliver has been twisted so that strength was
given it to resist a slight amount of friction but the main trouble
in the mill has been done after the sliver leaves the railway head and
during its transit in the various processes employed between the railway
head and the spinning frame or mule. Every carder or spinner knows that
where an injury comes to the sliver because the sliver is soft but
partially condensed and very susceptible to injury the injury is
magnified and multiplied in every successive process. Virtually the
field was long since abandoned for an accurate quick-working motion that
should be applicable to any and all the machines and to every sliver or
strand of the machine.
This invention was solved practically about two years since and is
now being employed as applied to drawing frames doublers speeder
intermediate and slubber. It is a very cunning mechanical appliance
too and has found favor to a great extent in England where several
thousand heads of drawing and speeders are already supplied.
This invention was exhibited at the Centennial in 1876 although in a
somewhat crude state. Since that time it has been materially improved
and mechanically is very nearly perfect now. Many attempts have been
made to apply a stop motion which should be quick in its movement and
accurate in its result to carding engines or the card not one of
which until the application of electricity was worth the time spent in
putting it on. With the electric motion however all this is changed
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