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Title: Scientific American Supplement, No. 315, January 14, 1882
Author: Various
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Scientific American Supplement, No. 315, January 14, 1882" ***
[Illustration]
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 315
NEW YORK, JANUARY 14, 1882.
Scientific American Supplement. Vol. XIII., No. 315.
Scientific American established 1845
Scientific American Supplement, $5 a year.
Scientific American and Supplement, $7 a year.
* * * * *
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
I. ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS.--Watchman's Detecter. 5023
Integrating Apparatus. 5023
A Canal Boat Propelled by Air. 5023
Head Linings of Passenger Cars. 5023
Improved Mortar Mixer. 2 figures. 5023
Practical Notes on Plumbing. By J.P. DAVIES. Figs.
37 to 53. Tinning iron pipes, copper or brass work, bits,
etc.--Spirit brush.--Soldering iron to lead.--Dummies for
pipe bending.--Bends and set-offs.--Bending with water.
--Sand bending.--Bending with balls or bobbins.--Three-ball
or lead driving ball and double ball bending.--Bending with
windlass and brass ball.--Hydraulic or cup leather and ball
bending.--Bending by splitting, or split made bends.
--Pulling up bends.--Set-offs.--Bad bends.--Bad falls in
bends.--Bends made into traps or retarders.--Bends made
with the "snarling dummy." 5024
The Grossenhain Shuttle Driver. 1 figure. 5025
II. ELECTRICITY, MAGNETISM, ETC.--The Electro-Magnetic
Apparatus of Dr. Pacinotti. 8 figures. The Pacinotti
electro-magnetic machine of 1860.--The Elias
electro-motor of 1842. 5015
The Elias Electro-Motor. 5016
Bjerknes's Experiments. 7 figures. 5016
The Arc Electric Light. By LEO DAFT. 5018
Hedges' Electric Lamps. 4 figures. 5019
Electric Railway Apparatus at the Paris Electrical
Exhibition. 17 figures. Lartigue's switch controller,
elevation and sections.--Position of commutators during
the maneuver.--Pedal for sending warning to railway
crossing, with elevation and end and plan views.--Electric
Alarm.--Lartigue's bellows pedal, with plan and
sections.--Brunot's Controller.--Guggemos' correspondence
apparatus.--Annunciator apparatus.--Lartigue's controller
for water tanks.--Vérité controller for water tanks. 5019
The Telephonic Halls of the Electrical Exhibition.
1 figure. 5022
The Action of Cold on the Voltaic Arc. 5022
III. TECHNOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY.--Industrial Art for Women. 5026
Photography upon Canvas. 1 figure. 5026
Detection of Starch Sugar Sirup Mixed with Sugar
House Molasses. 5026
False Vermilion. 5026
The Position of Manganese in Modern Industry.--By
M.V. DESHAEYS. Ferro-manganese.--Cupro-manganese.--
Manganese bronzes.--Metallic manganese.--Manganese
German silver.--Phosphorus bronze. 5027
The Economical Washing of Coal Gas and Smoke.--M.
Chevalet's method. 5027
Determination of Nitrogen in Hair, Wool, Dried Blood,
Flesh Meal, and Leather Scraps. By Dr. C. KRAUCH. 5028
Testing White Beeswax for Ceresine and Paraffine. By
A. PELTZ. 5028
The Prevention of Alcoholic Fermentation by Fungi.
By Prof. E. REICHARD. 5028
New Reaction of Glycerine. 5028
Lycopodine. 5028
Conchinamine. 5028
Chinoline. 5028
Preparation of Coniine. 5028
Strontianite. 5028
IV. MISCELLANEOUS.--Household and Other Recipes.
Christmas plum pudding.--Plum pudding sauce.--
National plum pudding and sauce.--Egg nog.--Egg
flip.--Roast Turkey.--Woodcock and Snipe.--Canvas-back
duck.--Pheasants.--Wild ducks.--Wild fowl
sauce.--Brown fricassee of rabbits.--Orange pudding.
--Venison pastry.--Christmas red round.--Plum
porridge.--Sugared pears.--Table beer.--Mince meat.
--Pumpkin pie.--Brandy punch.--Boeuf a la mode.--
Punch jelly.--Orange salad.--Cranberry jelly.--Plum
cake.--Black cake.--Potatoes. 5029
The Bayeux Tapestry Comet. 5030
Synthetic Experiments on the Artificial Reproduction
of Meteorites. 5030
V. HYGIENE AND MEDICINE.--Parangi; a newly described
disease. 5029
A Castor Oil Substitute. 5029
Lack of Sun Light. 5030
* * * * *
THE ELECTRO-MAGNETIC APPARATUS OF DR. PACINOTTI.
In admiring the recent developments of electric science as evidenced
by the number of important inventions which have during the past few
years been given to the world, especially in those branches of applied
science which deal more particularly with the generation of
electricity and the production of the electric light, there is often
too great a tendency to forget, or, at least, to pass over in
comparative silence the claims which the great pioneer workers and
discoverers undoubtedly have to a large share of the merit of this
scientific development.
It is, of course, obviously impossible in anything approaching a
retrospect of the science of magneto-electric induction or its
application to illumination to pass slightly over the names of
Oersted, of Ampère, of Davy, and of Faraday, but, in other respects,
their work is too often lost sight of in the splendid modern
developments of their discoveries. Again, there is another group of
discoverer-inventors who occupy an intermediate position between the
abstract discoverers above named and the inventors and adapters of
still more recent times. To this group belong the names of Pixii and
Saxton, Holmes and Nollet, Wilde, Varley, Siemens, Wheatstone, and
Pacinotti, who was the first to discover a means of constructing a
machine capable of giving a continuous current always in the same
direction, and which has since proved itself to be the type of nearly
all the direct current electric machines of the present day, and
especially those such as the Gramme and Brush and De Meritens
machines, in which the rotating armature is of annular form; and when
it is considered what a large number of the well known electric
generators are founded upon this discovery, it must be a matter of
general gratification that the recent International Jury of the Paris
Exhibition of Electricity awarded to Dr. Antonio Pacinotti one of
their highest awards.
The original machine designed by Dr. Pacinotti in the year 1860, and
which we illustrate on the present page, formed one of the most
interesting exhibits in the Paris Exhibition, and conferred upon the
Italian Section a very distinctive feature, and we cannot but think
that while all were interested in examining it, there must have been
many who could not help being impressed with the fact that it took
something away from the originality of design in several of the
machines exhibited in various parts of the building.
This very interesting machine was first illustrated and described by
its inventor in the _Nuovo Cimento_ in the year 1864, under the title
"A Description of a Small Electro-Magnetic Machine," and to this
description we are indebted for the information and diagrams contained
in this notice, but the perspective view is taken from the instrument
itself in the Paris Exhibition.
In this very interesting historical communication the author commences
by describing a new form of electro-magnet, consisting of an iron ring
around which is wound (as in the Gramme machine) a single helix of
insulated copper wire completely covering the ring, and the two ends
of the annular helix being soldered together, an annular magnet is
produced, enveloped in an insulated helix forming a closed circuit,
the convolutions of which are all in the same direction. If in such a
system any two points of the coil situated at opposite ends of the
same diameter of the ring be connected respectively with the two poles
of a voltaic battery, the electric current having two courses open to
it, will divide into two portions traversing the coil around each half
of the ring from one point of contact to the other, and the direction
of the current, in each portion will be such as to magnetize the iron
core, so that its magnetic poles will be situated at the points where
the current enters and leaves the helix, and a straight line joining
these points may be looked upon as the magnetic axis of the system.
From this construction it is clear that, by varying the position of
the points of contact of the battery wires and the coil, the position
of the magnetic axis will be changed accordingly, and can be made to
take up any diametrical position with respect to the ring, of which
the two halves (separated by the diameter joining the points of
contact of the battery wires with the coil) may be regarded as made up
of two semicircular horseshoe electro-magnets having their similar
poles joined. To this form of instrument the name "Transversal electro
magnet" (_Eletro calamita transversale_) was given by its inventor, to
whom is undoubtedly due the merit of having been the first to
construct an electro-magnet the position of whose poles could be
varied at will by means of a circular commutator.
[Illustration: PACINOTTI ELECTRO-MAGNETIC MACHINE.--MADE IN 1860.]
By applying the principle to an electro-magnetic engine, Dr. Pacinotti
produced the machine which we illustrate on the present page. The
armature consists of a turned ring of iron, having around its
circumference sixteen teeth of equal size and at equal angular
distance apart, as shown in Fig. 1, forming between them as many
spaces or notches, which are filled up by coiling within them helices
of insulated copper wire, r r r, in a similar manner to that adopted
in winding the Brush armature, and between them are fixed as many
wooden wedges, m m, by which the helices are firmly held in their
place. All the coils are wound round the ring in the same direction,
and the terminating end of each coil is connected to the commencing
end of the next or succeeding helix, and the junctions so made are
attached to conducting wires which are gathered together close to the
vertical shaft on which the armature ring is fixed, passing through
holes at equal distances apart in a wooden collar fixed to the same
shaft, and being attached at their lower extremities to the metallic
contact pieces of the commutator, c, shown at the lower part of Fig.
3, which is an elevation of the machine, while Fig. 4 is a plan of the
same apparatus.
The commutator consists of a small boxwood cylinder, carrying around
its cylindrical surface two rows of eight holes, one above the other,
in which are fitted sixteen contact pieces of brass which slightly
project above the surface of the wood, the positions of those in the
upper circle alternating or "breaking joint" with those in the lower,
and each contact piece is in metallic connection with its
corresponding conducting wire, and, therefore, with the junction of
two of the helices on the armature. Against the edge of the commutator
are pressed by means of adjustable levers two small brass contact
rollers, k k, which are respectively connected with the positive and
negative poles of the voltaic battery (either through or independent
of the coils of a fixed electro-magnet, to which we shall presently
refer), and the magnetic axis of the ring will lie in the same plane
as the line joining the points of contact of the battery and rotating
helix, this axis remaining nearly fixed notwithstanding the rotation
of the iron ring in which the magnetism is induced.
In the apparatus figured in Figs. 3 and 4, the armature rotates
between the two vertical limbs, A B, of a fixed electro-magnet
furnished with extended pole pieces, A A, B B (Fig. 4), each of which
embraces about six of the armature coils. The fixed electro-magnet is
constructed of two vertical iron cylindrical bars, A and B, united at
their lower extremities by a horizontal iron bar, F F, the one being
rigidly and permanently attached to it, while the other is fastened to
it by a screw, G, passing through a slot so that the distance of the
pole pieces from one another and from the armature ring is capable of
adjustment.
The connections of the machine, which are shown in Fig. 3, are made as
follows: The positive current, entering by the attachment screw, h,
passes by a wire to the right hand commutator screw, l, to the
right-hand roller, k, through the commutator to the ring, around
which it traverses to the left-hand roller, k¹, and screw, l¹, to
the magnet coil, A, and thence through the coil of the magnet, B, to
the terminal screw, h, on the right hand of the figure. This method
of coupling up is of very great historical interest, for it is the
first instance on record of the magnet coils and armature of a machine
being included in one circuit, giving to it the principle of
construction of a dynamo-electric machine, and antedating in
publication, by two years, the interesting machines of Siemens,
Wheatstone, and Varley, and preceding them in construction by a still
longer period.
With this apparatus Dr. Pacinotti made the following interesting
experiments with the object of determining the amount of mechanical
work produced by the machine (when worked as an electro-magnetic
engine), and the corresponding consumption of the elements of the
battery: Attached to the spindle of the machine was a small pulley, Q
Q (Fig. 3), for the purpose of driving, by means of a cord, another
pulley on a horizontal spindle carrying a drum on which was wound a
cord carrying a weight, and on the same spindle was also a brake and
brake-wheel, the lever of which was loaded so as just to prevent the
weight setting into motion the whole system, consisting of the two
machines, when no current was flowing. In this condition, when the
machine was set in motion by connecting the battery, the mechanical
work expended in overcoming the friction of the brake was equal to
that required to raise the weight; and, in order to obtain the total
work done, all that was necessary was to multiply the weight lifted by
the distance through which it was raised. The consumption of the
battery was estimated at the same time by interposing in the circuit a
sulphate of copper voltameter, of which the copper plate was weighed
before and after the experiment. The following are some of the results
obtained by Dr. Pacinotti in experimenting after the manner just
described. With the current from a battery of four small Bunsen
elements, the machine raised a weight of 3.2812 kilos to a height of
8.66 m. (allowing for friction), so that the mechanical work was
represented by 28.45 m. During the experiment the positive plate of
the voltameter lost in weight 0.224 gramme, the negative gaining 0.235
gramme, giving an average of chemical work performed in the voltameter
of 0.229 gramme, and multiplying this figure by the ratio between the
equivalent of zinc to that of copper, and by the number of the
elements of the battery, the weight of zinc consumed in the battery
was computed at 0.951 gramme, so that to produce one kilogrammeter of
mechanical work 33 milligrammes of zinc would be consumed in the
battery. In another experiment, made with five elements, the
consumption of zinc was found to be 36 milligrammes for every
kilogrammeter of mechanical work performed. In recording these
experiments, Dr. Pacinotti points out that although these results do
not show any special advantage in his machine over those of other
construction, still they are very encouraging, when it is considered
that the apparatus with which the experiments were made were full of
defects of workmanship, the commutator, being eccentric to the axis,
causing the contacts between it and the rollers to be very imperfect
and unequal.
In his communication to the _Nuovo Cimento_, Dr. Pacinotti states that
the reasons which induced him to construct the apparatus on the
principle which we have just described, were: (1) That according to
this system the electric current is continuously traversing the coils
of the armature, and the machine is kept in motion not by a series of
intermittent impulses succeeding one another with greater or less
rapidity, but by a constantly acting force producing a more uniform
effect. (2) The annular form of the revolving armature contributes
(together with the preceding method of continuous magnetization) to
give regularity to its motion and at the same time reduces the loss of
motive power, through mechanical shocks and friction, to a minimum.
(3) In the annular system no attempt is made suddenly to magnetize and
demagnetize the iron core of the rotating armature, as such changes of
magnetization would be retarded by the setting up of extra currents,
and also by the permanent residual magnetism which cannot be entirely
eliminated from the iron; and with this annular construction such
charges are not required, all that is necessary being that each
portion of the iron of the ring should pass, in its rotation, through
the various degrees of magnetization in succession, being subjected
thereby to the influence of the electro-dynamic forces by which its
motion is produced. (4) The polar extension pieces of the fixed
electro-magnet, by embracing a sufficiently large number of the iron
projecting pieces on the armature ring, continue to exercise an
influence upon them almost up to the point at which their
magnetization ceases when passing the neutral axis. (5) By the method
of construction adopted, sparks, while being increased in number, are
diminished in intensity, there being no powerful extra currents
produced at the breaking of the circuit, and Dr. Pacinotti points out
that when the machine is in rotation a continuous current is induced
in the circuit which is opposed to that of the battery; and this leads
to what, looked at by the light of the present state of electric
science, is by far the most interesting part of Dr. Pacinotti's paper,
published, as it was, more than seventeen years ago.
In the part to which we refer, Dr. Pacinotti states that it occurred
to him that the value of the apparatus would be greatly increased if
it could be altered from an electro-magnetic to a magneto-electric
machine, so as to produce a continuous current. Thus, if the
electro-magnet, A B (Figs. 3 and 4), be replaced by a permanent
magnet, and the annular armature were made to revolve, the apparatus
would become a magneto-electric generator, which would produce a
continuous induced current always in the same direction, and in
analyzing the action of such a machine Dr. Pacinotti observes that, as
the position of the magnetic field is fixed, and the iron armature
with its coils rotates within it, the action may be regarded as the
same as if the iron ring were made up of two fixed semicircular
horseshoe magnets with their similar poles joined, and the coils were
loose upon it and were caused to rotate over it, and this mode of
expressing the phenomenon was exactly what we adopted when describing
the Gramme machine, without having at that time seen what Dr.
Pacinotti had written fifteen years before.
In explanation of the physical phenomena involved in the induction of
the electric currents in the armature when the machine is in action as
a generator, Dr. Pacinotti makes the following remarks: Let us trace
the action of one of the coils in the various positions that it can
assume in one complete revolution; starting from the position marked
N, Fig. 2, and moving toward S, an electric current will be developed
in it in one direction while moving through the portion of the circle,
N a, and after passing the point, a, and while passing through the
arc, a S, the induced current will be in the opposite direction,
which direction will be maintained until the point, b, is reached,
after which the currents will be in the same direction as between N
and a; and as all the coils are connected together, all the currents
in a given direction will unite and give the combined current a
direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2, and in order to collect
it (so as to transmit it into the external circuit), the most eminent
position for the collectors will be at points on the commutator at
opposite ends of a diameter which is perpendicular to the magnetic
axis of the magnetic field. With reference to Fig. 2, we imagine
either that the two arrows to the right of the figure are incorrectly
placed by the engraver, or that Dr. Pacinotti intended this diagram to
express the direction of the current throughout the whole circuit, as
if it started from a, and after traversing the external circuit
entered again at b, thus completing the whole cycle made up of the
external and internal circuits.
Dr. Pacinotti calls attention to the fact that the direction of the
current generated by the machine is reversed by a reversal of the
direction of rotation, as well as by a shifting of the position of the
collectors from one side to the other of their neutral point, and
concludes his most interesting communication by describing experiments
made with it in order to convert it into a magneto-electric machine.
"I brought," he says, "near to the coiled armature the opposite poles
of two permanent magnets, and I also excited by the current from a
battery the fixed electro-magnets (see Figs. 3 and 4), and by
mechanical means I rotated the annular armature on its axis. By both
methods I obtained an induced electric current, which was continuous
and always in the same direction, and which, as was indicated by a
galvanometer, proved to be of considerable intensity, although it had
traversed the sulphate of copper voltameter which was included in the
circuit."
Dr. Pacinotti goes on to show that there would be an obvious advantage
in constructing electric generating machines upon this principle, for
by such a system electric currents can be produced which are
continuous and in one direction without the necessity of the
inconvenient and more or less inefficient mechanical arrangements for
commutating the currents and sorting them, so as to collect and
combine those in one direction, separating them from those which are
in the opposite; and he also points our the reversibility of the
apparatus, showing that as an electro-magnetic engine it is capable of
converting a current of electricity into mechanical motion capable of
performing work, while as a magneto-electric machine it is made to
transform mechanical energy into an electric current, which in other
apparatus, forming part of its external circuit, is capable of
performing electric, chemical, or mechanical work.
All these statements are matters of everyday familiarity at the
present day, but it must be remembered that they are records of
experiments made twenty years ago, and as such they entitle their
author to a very distinguished place among the pioneers of electric
science, and it is somewhat remarkable that they did not lead him
straight to the discovery of the "action and reaction" principle of
dynamo-electric magnetic induction to which he approached so closely,
and it is also a curious fact that so suggestive and remarkable a
paper should have been written and published as far back as 1864, and
that it should not have produced sooner than it did a revolution in
electric science.--_Engineering._
* * * * *
THE ELIAS ELECTROMOTOR.
We lately published a short description of a very interesting
apparatus which may be considered in some sense as a prototype of the
Gramme machine, although it has very considerable, indeed radical
differences, and which, moreover, was constructed for a different
purpose, the Elias machine being, in fact, an electromotor, while the
Gramme machine is, it is almost unnecessary to say, an electric
generator. This apparent resemblance makes it, however, necessary to
describe the Elias machine, and to explain the difference between it
and the Gramme. Its very early date (1842), moreover, gives it an
exceptional interest. The figures on the previous page convey an exact
idea of the model that was exhibited at the Paris Electrical
Exhibition, and which was contributed by the Ecole Polytechnique of
Delft in the Dutch Section. This model is almost identical with that
illustrated and described in a pamphlet accompanying the exhibit. The
perspective illustrations show the machine very clearly, and the
section explains the construction still further. The apparatus
consists of an exterior ring made of iron, about 14 in. in diameter
and 1.5 in wide. It is divided into six equal sections by six small
blocks which project from the inner face of the ring, and which act as
so many magnetic poles. On each of the sections between the blocks is
rolled a coil, of one thickness only, of copper wire about 0.04 in. in
diameter, inclosed in an insulating casing of gutta percha, giving to
the conductor thus protected a total thickness of 0.20 in.; this wire
is coiled, as shown in the illustration. It forms twenty-nine turns in
each section, and the direction of winding changes at each passage in
front of a pole piece. The ends of the wire coinciding with the
horizontal diameter of the ring are stripped of the gutta percha, and
are connected to copper wires which are twisted together and around
two copper rods, which are placed vertically, their lower ends
entering two small cavities made in the base of the apparatus. The
circuit is thus continuous with two ends at opposite points of the
same diameter. The ring is about 1.1 in. thick, and is fixed, as
shown, to two wooden columns, B B, by two blocks of copper, a.
[Illustration: THE ELIAS ELECTROMOTOR.--MADE IN 1842.]
It will be seen from the mode of coiling the wire on this ring, that
if a battery be connected by means of the copper rods, the current
will create six consecutive poles on the various projecting blocks.
The inner ring, E, is about 11 in. in outside diameter, and is also
provided with a series of six projecting pieces which pass before
those on the exterior ring with very little clearance. Between these
projections the space between the inner face of the outer, and the
outer face of the inner ring, is 0.40 in. The latter is movable, and
is supported by three wooden arms, F, fixed to a boss, G, which is
traversed by a spindle supported in bearings by the columns, A and C.
A coil is rolled around the ring in exactly the same way as that on
the outer ring, the wire being of the same size, and the insulation of
the same thickness. The ends of the wire are also bared at points of
the diameter opposite each other, and the coil connected in pairs so
as to form a continuous circuit. At the two points of junction they
are connected with a hexagonal commutator placed on the central
spindle, one end corresponding to the sides 1, 3, and 5, and the other
to the sides 2, 4, and 6. Two copper rods, J, fixed on the base to two
plates of copper furnished with binding screws, are widened and
flattened at their upper ends to rest against opposite parallel sides
of the hexagon. It will be seen that if the battery is put in circuit
by means of the binding screws, the current in the interior ring will
determine six consecutive poles, the names of which will change as the
commutator plates come into contact successively with the sides of the
hexagon. Consequently, if at first the pole-pieces opposite each other
are magnetized with the same polarity, a repulsion between them will
be set up which will set the inner ring in motion, and the effect will
be increased on account of the attraction of the next pole of the
outer ring. At the moment when the pole piece thus attracted comes
into the field of the pole of opposite polarity, the action of the
commutator will change its magnetization, while that of the pole-piece
on the fixed ring always remains the same; the same phenomenon of
repulsion will be produced, and the inner ring will continue its
movement in the same direction, and so on. To the attractive and
repulsive action of the magnetic poles has to be added the reciprocal
action of the coils around the two rings, the action of which is
similar. From this brief explanation the differences between the Elias
machine and the Gramme will be understood. The Dutch physicist did not
contemplate the production of a current; he utilized two distinct
sources of electricity to set the inner ring in motion, and did not
imagine that it was possible, by suppressing one of the inducing
currents and putting the ring in rapid rotation, to obtain a
continuous current. Moreover, if ever this apparent resemblance had
been real, the merit of the Gramme invention would not have been
affected by it. It has happened very many times that inventors living
in different countries, and strangers to one another, have been
inspired with the same idea, and have followed it by similar methods,
either simultaneously or at different periods, without the application
having led to the same results. It does not suffice even for the seed
to be the same; it must have fallen in good ground, and be cultivated
with care; here it scarcely germinates, there it produces a vigorous
plant and abundant fruit.--_Engineering._
* * * * *
BJERKNES'S EXPERIMENTS.
As a general thing, too much trust should not be placed in words. In
the first place, it frequently happens that their sense is not well
defined, or that they are not understood exactly in the same way by
everybody, and this leads to sad misunderstandings. But even in case
they are precise, and are received everywhere under a single
acceptation, there still remains one danger, and that is that of
passing from the word to the idea, and of being led to believe that,
because there is a word, there is a real thing designated by this
word.
Let us take, for example, the word _electricity_. If we understand by
this term the common law which embraces a certain category of
phenomena, it expresses a clear and useful idea; but as for its
existence, it is not permitted to believe _a priori_ that there is a
distinct agent called electricity which is the efficient cause of the
phenomena. We ought never, says the old rule of philosophy, to admit
entities without an absolute necessity. The march of science has
always consisted in gradually eliminating these provisory conceptions
and in reducing the number of causes. This fact is visible without
going back to the ages of ignorance, when every new phenomenon brought
with it the conception of a special being which caused it and directed
it. In later ages they had _spirits_ in which there was everything:
volatile liquids, gases, and theoretical conceptions, such as
phlogiston. At the end of the last century, and at the beginning of
our own, ideas being more rational, the notion of the "fluid" had been
admitted, a mysterious and still vague enough category (but yet an
already somewhat definite one) in which were ranged the unknown and
ungraspable causes of caloric, luminous, electric, etc., phenomena.
Gradually, the "fluid" has vanished, and we are left (or rather, we
were a short time ago) at the notion of forces--a precise and
mathematically graspable notion, but yet an essentially mysterious
one. We see this conception gradually disappearing to leave finally
only the elementary ideas of matter and motion--ideas, perhaps, which
are not much clearer philosophically than the others, particularly
that of matter taken _per se_, but which, at least, are necessary,
since all the others supposed them.
Among those notions that study and time are reducing to other and
simpler ones, that of electricity should be admitted; for it presents
itself more and more as one of the peculiar cases of the general
motion of matter. It will be to the eternal honor of Fresnel for
having introduced into science and mathematically constituted the
theory of undulations (already proposed before him, however), thus
giving the first example of the notion of motion substituted for that
of force. Since the principle of the conservation of energy has taken
the eminent place in science that it now occupies, and we have seen a
continual transformation of one series of phenomena into another, the
mind is at once directed to the aspect of a new fact toward an
explanation of this kind. Still, it is certain that these hypotheses
are difficult of justification; for those motions that are at present
named molecular, and that we cannot help presuming to be at the base
of all actions, are _per se_ ungraspable and can only be demonstrated
by the coincidence of a large number of results. There is, however,
another means of rendering them probable, and that is by employing
analogy. If, by vibrations which are directly ascertainable, we can
reproduce the effects of electricity, there will be good reason for
admitting that the latter is nothing else than a system of vibration
differing only, perhaps, in special qualities, such as dimensions,
direction, rapidity, etc.
Such is the result that is attained by the very curious experiments
that are due to Mr. Bjerknes. These constitute an _ensemble_ of very
striking results, which are perfectly concordant and exhibit very
close analogies with electrical effects, as we shall presently see.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
They are based on the presence of bodies set in vibration in a liquid.
The vibrations produced by Mr. Bjerknes are of two kinds--pulsations
and oscillations. The former of these are obtained by the aid of small
drums with flexible ends, as shown to the left in Fig. 1. A small pump
chamber or cylinder is, by means of a tube, put in communication with
one of these closed drums in which the rapid motion of a piston
alternately sucks in and expels the air. The two flexible ends are
successively thrust outward and attracted toward the center. In an
apparatus of this kind the two ends repulse and attract the liquid at
the same time. Their motions are of the same phase; if it were desired
that one should repulse while the other was attracting, it would be
necessary to place two drums back to back, separated by a stiff
partition, and put them in connection with two distinct pump chambers
whose movements were so arranged that one should be forcing in while
the other was exhausting. A system of this nature is shown to the
right in Fig. 1.
The vibrations are obtained by the aid of small metal spheres fixed in
tubular supports by movable levers to which are communicated the
motions of compression and dilatation of the air in the pump chamber.
They oscillate in a plane whose direction may be varied according to
the arrangement of the sphere, as seen in the two apparatus of this
kind shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 2 will give an idea of the general
arrangement. The two pistons of the air-pumps are connected to cranks
that may be fixed in such a way as to regulate the phases as may be
desired, either in coincidence or opposition. The entire affair is put
in motion by a wheel and cord permitting of rapid vibrations being
obtained. The air is let into the apparatus by rubber tubing without
interfering with their motions.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
We may now enter into the details of the experiments:
The first is represented in Fig. 2. In a basin of water there is
placed a small frame carrying a drum fixed on an axle and capable of
revolving. It also communicates with one of the air cylinders. The
operator holds in his hand a second drum which communicates with the
other cylinder. The pistons are adjusted in such a way that they shall
move parallel with each other; then the ends of the drums inflate and
collapse at the same time; the _motions are of the same phase_; but if
the drums are brought near each other a very marked attraction occurs,
the revolving drum follows the other. If the cranks are so adjusted
that the pistons move in an opposite direction, the _phases are
discordant_--there is a repulsion, and the movable drum moves away
from the other. The effect, then, is analogous to that of two magnets,
with about this difference, that here it is the like phases that
attract and the different phases that repel each other, while in
magnets like poles repel and unlike poles attract each other.
It is necessary to remark that it is indifferent which face of the
drum is presented, since both possess the same phase. The drum
behaves, then, like an insulated pole of a magnet, or, better, like a
magnet having in its middle a succeeding point. In order to have two
poles a double drum must be employed. The experiment then becomes more
complicated; for it is necessary to have two pump chambers with
opposite phases for this drum alone, and one or two others for the
revolving drum. The effects, as we shall see, are more easily shown
with the vibrating spheres.
This form has the advantage that the vibrating body exhibits the two
phases at the same time; relatively to the liquid, one of its ends
advances while the other recedes. Thus with a vibrating sphere
presented to the movable drum, there may be obtained repulsion or
attraction, according as the side which is approached is concordant or
discordant with the end of the drum that it faces.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
With the arrangement shown in Fig. 3 there may be performed an
interesting series of experiments. The two spheres supported by the
frame are set in simultaneous vibration, and the frame, moreover, is
free to revolve about its axis. The effect is analogous to that which
would be produced by two short magnets carried by the same revolving
support; on presenting the vibrating sphere to the extremities the
whole affair is attracted or repulsed, according to its phase and
according to the point at which it is presented; on replacing the
transverse support by a single sphere (as indicated in the figure by a
dotted line) we obtain the analogue of a short magnet carried on a
pivot like a small compass needle. This sphere follows the pole of a
vibrating sphere which is presented to it, as the pole of a magnet
would do, with this difference always, that in the magnet, like poles
repel, while in oscillating bodies like phases attract.
In all the preceding experiments the bodies brought in presence were
both in motion and the phenomena were analogous to those of permanent
magnetism. We may also reproduce those which result from magnetism by
induction. For this purpose we employ small balls of different
materials suspended from floats, as shown in Fig. 4 (a, b, c).
Let us, for example, take the body, b, which is a small metal
sphere, and present to it either a drum which is caused to pulsate, on
an oscillating sphere, and it will be attracted, thus representing the
action of a magnet upon a bit of soft iron. A curious experiment may
serve to indicate the transition between this new series and the
preceding. If we present to each other two drums of opposite phases,
but so arranged that one of them vibrates faster than the other, we
shall find, on carefully bringing them together, that the repulsion
which manifested itself at first is changing to attraction. On
approaching each other the drum having the quicker motion finally has
upon the other, the same action as if the latter were immovable; and
the effect is analogous to that which takes place between a strong and
weak magnet presented by their like poles.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.]
By continuing these experiments we arrive at a very important point.
Instead of the body, b (Fig. 4), let us take c. As the figure
shows, this is a sphere lighter than water, kept in the liquid by a
weight. If we present to it the vibrating body, it will be repelled,
and we shall obtain the results known by the name of diamagnetism.
This curious experiment renders evident the influence of media. As
well known, Faraday attributed such effects to the action of the air;
and he thought that magnetic motions always resulted from a difference
between the attraction exerted by the magnet upon the body under
experiment, and the attraction exerted by the air. If the body is more
sensitive than the air, there is direct magnetism, but if it is less
so, there is diamagnetism. Water between the bodies, in the Bjerknes
experiments, plays the same role; it is this which, by its vibration,
transmits the motions and determines the phases in the suspended body.
If the body is heavier than water its motion is less than that of the
liquid, and, consequently, relatively to the vibrating body, it is of
like phase; and if it is lighter, the contrary takes place, and the
phases are in discordance. These effects may be very well verified by
the aid of the little apparatus shown in Fig. 5, and which carries two
bars, one of them lighter and the other heavier than water. On
presenting to them the vibrating body, one presents its extremity and
takes an axial direction, while the other arranges itself crosswise
and takes the equatorial direction. These experiments may be varied in
different ways that it is scarcely necessary to dwell upon in this
place, as they may be seen at the Electrical Exhibition.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.]
Very curious effects are also obtained with the arrangement shown in
Fig. 6. Between the two drums there is introduced a body sustained by
a float such as represented at a, Fig. 4. Various results may, then,
be obtained according to the combinations adopted. Let us suppose that
the phases are alike, and that the interposed body is heavier than
water; in this case it is repelled as far as the circumference of the
drums, at which point it stops. If the phases are different, the
influenced body behaves in the opposite manner and stops at the
center. If the body is lighter than water the effects are naturally
changed. Placed between two like phases, it is attracted within a
certain radius and repelled when it is placed further off; if the
phases are unlike, it is always repelled. We may easily assure
ourselves that these effects are analogous to those which are produced
on bodies placed between the poles of wide and powerful magnets. It
is useless to repeat that the analogies are always inverse.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.]
Mr. Bjerknes has carried the examination of these phenomena still
further in studying experimentally the actions that occur in the
depths of the liquid; and for this purpose he has made use of the
arrangement shown in Fig. 7. By the side of the vibrating body there
is placed a light body mounted on a very flexible spring. This assumes
the motion of that portion of the fluid in which it is immersed, and,
by the aid of a small pencil, its direction is inscribed upon a plate
located above it. By placing this registering apparatus in different
directions the entire liquid may be explored. We find by this means
figures that are perfectly identical with magnetic phantoms. All the
circumstances connected with these can be reproduced, the vibrating
sphere giving the phantom of a magnet with its two poles. We may even
exhibit the mutual action of two magnets. The figures show with
remarkable distinctness--much more distinct, perhaps, than those that
are obtained by true magnets.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.]
However, it must not be thought that these so interesting facts are
the result of groping in the dark and the outcome of some fortunate
experiment; for they have, on the contrary, been foreseen and
predetermined. Mr. Bjerknes is especially a mathematician, and it was
a study, through calculation, of the vibratory motion of a body or
system of bodies in a medium that led him to the results that he
afterwards materialized.
After the production, by Mr. Lejeune, of his solutions, Mr. Bjerknes
in 1865 entered upon a complete study of the subject, and recognized
the fact that the result of such motions was the production of regular
mechanical actions. He calculated the directions of these, and, along
about 1875, perceived the possibility of reproducing the effects of
permanent magnetism. More recently, in 1879, he saw that magnetism by
derivation might likewise be explained by those hypotheses, and
figured by actions of this kind. It was not till then that he
performed the experiments, and submitted a body to the results of
calculation.
The same process has led him to the conclusion that the action of
currents might be represented in the same manner; only, instead of
bodies in vibration, it would require bodies in alternating rotation.
The effects are much more difficult to ascertain, since it is
necessary to employ viscid liquids.
Meanwhile, the experiments have been performed. Up to the present time
attractions and repulsions have not been shown, and I do not know
whether Mr. Bjerknes has obtained them. But, by the process pointed
out, the lines of action (electric phantoms, if I may so express
myself) have been traced, and they are very curious. By supposing the
current perpendicular to the plate, and in the presence of the pole of
a magnet, the influences produced around it are very well seen, and
the figures are very striking, especially in the case of two currents.
Mr. Bjerknes does not appear as yet to have obtained from these
experiments all that he expects from them. And yet, such as they are,
they have already led him to important conclusions. Thus, calculation,
confirmed by application, has led him to renounce the formula proposed
by Ampère and to adopt that of Regnard as modified by Clausius. Is he
right? This is what more prolonged experimentation will allow to be
seen.
These researches, however, are beset with difficulties of a special
nature, and the use of viscid liquids is a subject for discussion. Mr.
Bjerknes desired to employ them for reproducing the effects that he
had obtained from water, but he found that the lines of force were no
longer the same, and that the phenomena were modified. It is
necessary, then, to hold as much as possible to liquids that are
perfect. The experimenter is at present endeavoring to use these
liquids by employing cylinders having a fluted surface; but it is
clear that this, too, is not without its difficulties.
This series of experiments offers a rare example of the verification
of algebraic calculation by direct demonstration. In general, we may
employ geometry, which gives a graphic representation of calculation
and furnishes a valuable control. Sometimes we have practical
application, which is a very important verification in some respects,
but only approximate in others. But it is rare that we employ, as Mr.
Bjerknes has done, a material, direct, and immediate translation,
which, while it brings the results into singular prominence, permits
of comparing them with known facts and of generalizing the views upon
which they are based.
Hypotheses as to the nature of electricity being as yet only tolerably
well established, we should neglect nothing that may contribute to
give them a solid basis. Assuming that electricity _is_ a vibratory
motion (and probably there is no doubt about it), yet the fact is not
so well established with regard to it as it is to that of light. Every
proof that comes to support this idea is welcome, and especially so
when it is not derived from a kind of accident, but is furnished by a
calculated and mathematical combination. Viewed from this double
standpoint, the experiments of Mr. Bjerknes are very remarkable, and,
I may add, they are very curious to behold, and I recommend all
visitors to the Exhibition to examine them.--_Frank Geraldy, in La
Lumiere Electrique._
* * * * *
THE ARC ELECTRIC LIGHT.[1]
[Footnote 1: A recent address before the New York Electric Light
Association.]
BY LEO DAFT.
I shall experience one difficulty in addressing you this evening,
which is, that although I do not wish to take up your time with purely
elementary matter, I wish to make the subject clear to those who may
not be familiar with its earlier struggles.
If we begin at the beginning we have to go back to the time when
Faraday made the discovery that light could be produced by the
separation of two carbon rods conducting a current of considerable
tension. That is the historical point when electric lighting first
loomed up as a giant possibility of the near future. This occurred
about the year 1846. In some experiments he found that although the
circuit could not be interrupted by any considerable interval when
metallic terminals were used without breaking the current, when carbon
was substituted the interval could be largely increased, and a light
of dazzling brilliancy appeared between the points.
This remarkable effect appears to be produced by the rarefaction of
the air, due to the great heat evolved by the combustion of the
carbon, and also to the passage of incandescent particles of carbon
from pole to pole, thus reducing the resistance, otherwise too great
for the current tension.
That was the beginning of electric lighting; and perhaps it will be
well to bridge the long and comparatively uninteresting interval which
elapsed between this discovery and the equally important one which
alone gave it commercial value--I refer to the production of suitable
currents by mechanical means. That is to say, the substitution of
energy obtained from coal in the form of steam power reduced the cost
to a fraction of what it necessarily was when the galvanic elements
were used. Here is the point; the cost of zinc today is something over
fifty times that of coal, while its energy as a vitalizing agent is
only about five times greater, leaving a very large margin in favor of
the "black diamonds." This is not the only advantage, for the
resulting impulse in the case of mechanical production is much more
uniform in action, and therefore better suited to the end in view,
while the amount of adjustment and attention required is beyond
comparison in favor of the latter means.
The machines adopted were of the magneto variety, and many ingenious
machines of this class were operated with more or less success, being,
however, quickly abandoned upon the introduction of the
dynamo-machine, which gave currents of much greater electromotive
force from the same amount of material, the advantage being chiefly
due to the large increase of magnetic intensity in the field magnets.
At this period lights of enormous power were produced with ease and by
the use of costly lamps. With complicated mechanism a new era in
artificial illumination seemed close at hand, but a grave difficulty
stood in the way--namely, the proper distribution or subdivision of
the light. It was quickly found that the electric difficulty of
subdividing the light, added to the great cost of the lamps then made,
was an apparently insurmountable obstacle to its general adoption, and
the electric light was gradually taking its place as a brilliant
scientific toy, when the world was startled by the introduction of the
Jablochkoff candle, which may fairly claim to have given a greater
impetus to the new light than any previous invention, a stimulus
without which it is even probable that electric lighting might have
slumbered for another decade.
The Jablochkoff candle embodies a very beautiful philosophical
principle, and though its promises have not been fulfilled in general
practice, we must not forget that we owe it much for arousing
scientific men from a dangerous lethargy.
Up to this time the light had always been produced by approximation of
carbon rods with their axes in the same plane; but the Jablochkoff
candle consisted of like rods arranged parallel to each other and
about one-eighth of an inch apart, the intervening space being filled
with plaster of Paris, and the interval at the top bridged by a
conducting medium. The object of the plaster, which is a fairly good
insulating material at ordinary temperatures, is to prevent the
passage of the current except at the top, where the conducting
material just referred to assisted the formation of the arc at that
point, and the resulting intense heat maintained the plaster in a
moderately conducting state until the whole carbon was consumed. Here,
then, was literally an electric "candle," which could be operated
without the costly and unsteady lamps, and fortunately its birthplace
was Paris--then the center of philosophical research; from that period
the future of electric lighting was assured.
When we reflect that owing to the greater disruptive energy of the
positive terminal, the carbon so connected to an ordinary dynamo
machine is consumed very much faster than the negative--sometimes in
the ratio of 3 to 1--it will be clear that some other means of
consuming the Jablochkoff candle had to be used, since the arc would
cease to exist in a very short time by reason of the unequal
consumption of the carbons, and the subsequent increase of the
intervening space beyond the limit of the current tension.
This difficulty M. Gramme overcame with characteristic ingenuity by
adding to the ordinary system a "distributer" capable of delivering
plus and minus currents alternately, thus equalizing the consumption,
besides being able to supply a large number of candles on the multiple
circuit system, each circuit supporting four or five lamps. Thus it
will be seen that a result was attained which at least gave such men
as Siemens, Gramme, and their peers, if such there be, confidence in
the future and a courage which quickly placed the new science safely
beyond the limits of the laboratory. I will not occupy your time by
stating the apparent reasons why the Jablochkoff candle has not fully
sustained its brilliant promise--it will, perhaps, be sufficient to
state that it is now superseded practically, though it must always
occupy an honorable place in scientific annals.
Let us now for a few moments consider what the electric light really
accomplished at about this period, I mean from an economical
standpoint. It appears from some data furnished by an engineer
commissioned by the French Government that the machines were then
capable of maintaining a light equal to from 220 to 450 candles,
measured by comparison with the Carcel burner, per horse power
absorbed--a very good showing considering the youth of the discovery,
but presenting rather a gloomy aspect when we consider that according
to Joule's mechanical equivalent of heat, which is 772 foot pounds, or
the power required to raise one pound of water one degree--and for
lack of anything better, we are obliged to accept that at this
moment--the whole force contained in one pound of coal would maintain
a light equal to 13,000 candles for one hour! That is the ultimate
force, and what we are now able to accomplish is but a small fraction
of this amount.
Unfortunately we are but common mortals, and cannot, like Mr. Keely,
lightly throw off the trammels of natural law; we must, therefore,
endeavor to close this gap by patient study and experiment.
The limited time at my disposal, and a keen consideration for your
feelings, will not permit me to follow the long series of struggles
between mind and matter immediately following Jablochkoff's brilliant
invention; suffice it to say, that the few years just passed have
yielded beyond comparison the most marvelous results in the scientific
history of the world, and it will be superfluous to remind you that a
great part of this has undoubtedly been due to the researches made in
an effort to reduce electric lighting to a commercial basis. To say
that this has been fully accomplished is but to repeat a well known
fact; and in proof of this I quote a high scientific authority by
stating that a result so high as 4,000 candles evolved for 40,000
foot-pounds absorbed has recently been obtained--an efficiency six or
seven times greater than the record of six years ago. In accepting
this statement we must not lose sight of the extreme probability that
such effects were evolved under conditions rarely if ever found in
common practice. Of course, I now refer to the arc system. The volume
of light so generated is incomparably greater than by any other known
method, though in subdivision the limit is sooner reached.
Mr. Hawkesworth--Let me ask you a question, please. Supposing that it
required a one-horse power to produce an arc light of, say, 2,000
candles, would it be possible to produce ten arc lights of 200 candles
each?
Mr. Daft--No, sir; I will tell you why. It would, if no other element
than the simple resistance of the arcs opposed the passage of a
current; then a machine that would produce an inch arc in one light,
if placed on a circuit of sixteen lamps would give to each an arc
one-sixteenth of an inch long naturally; but another difficulty here
presents itself in the shape of a resisting impulse of considerable
electromotive force in the opposite direction, apparently caused by
the intense polarity of the two terminals. The resistance of the arc
itself varies much according to the volume of current used being
usually small with a large quantity of current, and greater with a
current of tension; but this opposing element is always found, and
appears to be the only real obstacle in the way of infinite
subdivision.
Almost every objection which human ingenuity could suggest has been
urged against lighting by electricity, but fortunately electricians
have been able in most cases either to meet the difficulty or prove it
groundless.
In this connection I am led to speak of the common idea that electric
light is injurious to the eyes, first, because of its unsteady
character, and secondly, by reason of the great excess of the more
refrangible rays. Both objections undoubtedly hold good where the
alleged causes exist; but we can now show you a light which is
certainly as steady as the ordinary gaslight--indeed more steady in an
apartment where even feeble currents of air circulate; and I am sure
you will readily acknowledge that the latter objection is disposed of
when I assure you that our light presents the only example with which
I am acquainted of an exact artificial reproduction of the solar
light, as shown by decomposition. The two spectra, placed side by
side, show in the most conclusive manner the identity in composition
of our light with that of the sun.
The remarkable coolness of the electric light, as compared with its
volume by gas, is also due in a great measure to the conspicuous
absence of that large excess of less refrangible, or heat-radiating
principle, which distinguishes almost equally all other modes of
artificial illumination. After the foregoing statement it may seem a
paradox to claim that the electric arc develops the greatest heat with
which we have yet had to deal, but this is so; and the heat has an
intensity quite beyond the reach of accurate measurement by any
instrument now known--it has been variously estimated anywhere between
5,000° and 50,000° F. It is sufficient for our present purpose to know
that the most refractory substances quickly disappear when brought
under its influence--even the imperial diamond must succumb in a short
time. In order to reconcile this fact with its coolness as an
illuminating agent, we have to take into consideration the extreme
smallness of the point from which the light radiates in the electric
arc. A light having the power of many thousand candles will expose but
a fraction of the surface for heat radiation which is shown by one
gas-jet, and, as I have endeavored to explain, these rays contain very
much less of the heating principle than those from gas or other
artificial light.
The purity of electric light has another important aspect, which can
scarcely be overestimated--namely, the facility with which all the
most delicate shades of color can be distinguished. I understand from
persons better skilled than myself in such matters that this can be
done almost as readily by electric as by day light, and I have little
doubt that the slight difference in this respect will entirely
disappear when people become somewhat more familiar with the different
conditions--the effect of such shades viewed by electric light being
more like that with comparatively feeble direct sunlight than the
subdued daylight usually prevailing in stores and warehouses.
Again, it has frequently been urged that persons working by electric
light have thus induced inflammation of the eyes. No doubt this is so
with light containing the highly refrangible rays in excess; but it is
difficult to see how such an effect can occur with light composed as
is the light with which the eyes are constructed to operate in perfect
harmony.
As you are aware, there are other methods of obtaining light by
electric energy, and in order to make a fair comparison of one which
has lately attracted a great deal of attention and capital, I will
relate to you the result of observations made during a recent visit to
the office of an eminent electrician. The light was that known as
incandescent--a filament of carbon raised to a light-emitting heat in
vacuo. The exclusion of the air is necessary to prevent the otherwise
rapid destruction of the carbon by combination with oxygen. At the
time of my visit there were 62 lamps in circuit. According to their
statement each lamp was of 16-candle power--I accept their statement
as correct; this will give us an aggregate of 992 candles. The
generator was vitalized by an engine rated by the attendants in charge
at 6-horse power. I found that it was a 5×7 cylinder, working with
very little expansion 430 revolutions per minute, with 90 pounds of
live steam, in a boiler not 15 feet from the engine. I have every
reason to believe that the steam was delivered at the cylinder with an
almost inappreciable loss on 90 pounds. Under those conditions I think
it is perfectly fair to assume (you have the data, so that you can
calculate it afterwards) that 750,000 foot pounds were consumed in
producing those 60 lights, aggregating 992 candles. In the kind of
engine they had, 750,000 foot pounds requires a consumption of about
100 pounds of coal per hour. It was an ordinary high speed engine.
That 750,000 foot pounds, I assume, required 100 pounds of coal. That
is the only weak point in my data; I do not know that to be true; but
I never saw an engine of that form yet capable of delivering 1-horse
power with less consumption than four to five pounds of coal per horse
power per hour. I want to be as fair as I can in the matter. I wish to
compare this, as they have taken particular pains to compare it, with
gas, at the present cost of gas.
The hundred pounds of coal will produce 400 feet of gas; 400 feet of
gas will evolve the effect of 1,500 candles. So you see the position
we are in. In consuming that coal directly by destructive distillation
you can produce 1,500 candles light; by converting it into power, and
then again into light by incandescence, you produce 992! Expressing
this in other words, we may say that in producing the light from coal
by the incandescent system you lose one-third of the power as compared
with gas, by actually converting the coal into gas, and delivering it
in the ordinary manner. Those are facts. It has been suggested to me
that I am too liberal in my estimate of coal consumed--that those
engines consume more than four or five pounds per horse power per
hour; but I prefer to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Mr. Rothschild--If I understood you correctly, this electric light
costs more than gas?
Mr. Daft--_Must_ do by this system. You cannot do better, so far as
our philosophy goes. But this whole system of illumination, as now
practiced is a financial fallacy.
Mr. Rothschild--That is what Professor Sawyer says.
Mr. Daft--The same amount of energy converted into light by our arc
system will produce 30,000 candles. We are perfectly willing to
demonstrate that at any time. I am free to admit that the minute
subdivision obtained by the Edisonian, Swan, or Fox system--they do
not differ materially--is a great desideratum; but this cannot bridge
the financial gulf.
Mr. Lendrum--Now please state what we have accomplished.
Mr. Daft--Certainly; and in so doing I prefer to give our results as
actually occurring in everyday work; and in this connection let me
remind you that in no branch of physics are the purely experimental
effects so well calculated to deceive, if not fairly conditioned. As
we have seen, it is claimed on excellent authority that the equivalent
of 4,000 candles appeared in an arc by expending 40,000 foot pounds of
energy at the generator, but with everyday conditions it is at present
idle to expect such efficiency. Commercially we can give by our own
system 3,000 candles for 40,000 foot pounds absorbed; this may be done
for an indefinite length of time and leave nothing to be desired on
the score of steadiness. Unfortunately there is no unit of photometric
measurement generally recognized in this country, each electrician
having so far adopted one to suit his own convenience; but in making
the foregoing statement I wish it to be understood that our efficiency
would appear still greater if measured by some of the methods now
employed. For our own satisfaction we have endeavored to be at least
approximately accurate, at the same time wishing to avoid the
affectation of extreme precision, such, for example, as adding twenty
or thirty candles to measurements of so many thousands, and we are
satisfied that the most critical expert tests will prove our claim to
be within the mark. The limit of subdivision is only reached when the
difficulty of further increasing the electromotive force of the
machines, involving great care in insulation and a host of other
troubles arising, so to speak, at very high pressure, is balanced by
the objections to working in multiple arc; this appears to occur now
at something below 40 lights, but will in all probability be greatly
extended within a short time. The machines are so constructed that the
local currents, usually productive of dangerous heating, are turned to
useful account, so that the point where radiation exceeds production
is soon reached, and provided the machines are not speeded beyond the
proper limit, they may be run continuously without the slightest
indication of lost vitality. I need scarcely remind you that this is a
most important feature, and by no means a common one.
The lamps used in our system I believe to be the simplest known form
of regulator; indeed it seems scarcely possible that anything less
complicated could perform the necessary work; as a matter of fact we
may confidently assert that it cannot be made less liable to
derangement. It has frequently been placed on circuit by persons
totally inexperienced in such matters, and still has yielded results
which we are quite willing to quote at any time.
I will not now trespass on your patience further than will enable me
to state that experiments now in hand indicate conclusively that
domestic electric lighting of the immediate future will be
accomplished in a manner more beautiful and wondrous than was ever
shadowed in an Arabian Night's dream. I hesitate somewhat to make
these vague allusions, since so many wild promises, for which I am not
responsible, remain unfulfilled, but the time is surely near at hand
when a single touch will illuminate our homes with a light which will
combine all the elements of beauty, steadiness, softness, and absolute
safety, to a degree as yet undreamed of. I do not ask you to accept
this without question, but only to remember that within the last
decade wires have been taught to convey not only articulate sounds,
but the individual voices you know amidst a thousand, and even light
and heat have each been made the medium of communicating our thoughts
to distant places!
Not the least remarkable phenomenon in this connection is the
intellectual condition of the people who have welcomed these marvelous
achievements and allowed them to enter into their everyday life, thus
removing the greatest barriers of the past and paving the way for that
philosophical millennium inevitably awaiting those who may be
fortunate enough to survive the next decade.
* * * * *
SUCCESS OF THE ELEVATED RAILWAYS, NEW YORK.
The travel over the elevated steam street railways of New York city
for month of October, 1881, was the heaviest yet recorded, aggregating
7,121,961 passengers, as against 5,881,474, for the corresponding
month of 1880, an increase of 1,240,487, representing just about the
entire population of the city.
* * * * *
HEDGES' ELECTRIC LAMPS.
We illustrate a very curious and interesting form of electric
regulator which is exhibited in the Paris Exhibition of Electricity by
Mr. Killingworth Hedges, whose name will be known to our readers as
the author of a little book on the electric light. Mr. Hedges' lamp
belongs to the same category of electric regulators as the lamp of M.
Rapieff, and to one form of M. Reynier's lamp, that is to say, the
position of the ends of the carbons, and therefore of the arc, is
determined not by clockwork or similar controlling mechanism, but by
the locus of the geometrical intersection of the axes of the carbon
rods, the positions of which axes being determined by simple
mechanical means.
[Illustration: Figs. 1 and 2 HEDGES' ELECTRICAL LAMP AT THE PARIS
ELECTRICAL EXHIBITION.]
Referring to Fig. 1, A and B are two troughs rectangular in cross
section attached to the supports in such positions that their axes are
inclined to one another so as to form the letter V, as shown in the
figure. Within these troughs slide freely the two carbon pencils,
which are of circular cross section, meeting, when no current is
passing, at the lower point, E. The carbon-holder, B, to the right of
the figure, is rigidly attached to the framing of the lamp, but the
trough, A, which carries the negative carbon, is attached to the
framing by a pivot shown in the figure, and on this pivot the carbon
holder can rock, its motion being controlled by the position of the
armature of an electro-magnet, M, the coils of which are included in
the circuit of the apparatus. By this means, the moment the current is
established through the lamp, the armature is attracted, and the
points of the two carbons are separated, thus forming the arc. The
positive carbon, B, is held from sliding and dropping through the
trough by the gentle pressure against it of the smaller carbon rod,
C¹, which also slides in a trough or tube fixed in such a position
that the point of contact between the two rods is sufficiently near
the arc for the smaller rod to be slowly consumed as the other is
burnt away; the latter in that way is permitted to slide gradually
down the trough as long as the lamp is in action. The negative
carbon-holder, A, is provided with a little adjustable platinum stop,
E, which by pressing against the side of the conical end of the
negative carbon, holds the latter in its place and prevents it sliding
down the trough except under the influence of the slow combustion of
the cone during the process of producing the arc. The position of the
stop with respect to the conical end is determined by a small
adjusting screw shown in the figure. This arrangement of stop is
identical in principle with that adopted by Messrs. Siemens Brothers
in their "abutment pole" lamp, and is found to work very well in
practice on the negative electrodes, but is inapplicable on the
positive carbons on account of the higher temperature of the latter,
which is liable to destroy the metallic stop by fusion, and it is for
this reason that the positive carbon in Mr. Hedges' lamp is controlled
by the method we have already described. For alternating currents,
however, the abutment stop may be used on both electrodes.
[Illustration: Figs. 3 and 4.]
In order to maintain a good electrical contact between the fixed
conducting portions of the lamp and the sliding carbons, Mr. Hedges
fits to each carbon-holder a little contact piece, F F, hinged to its
respective trough at its upper end, and carrying at its lower or free
end a somewhat heavy little block of brass grooved out to fit the
cylindrical side of the carbon, against which it presses with an even
pressure. This arrangement offers another advantage, namely, that the
length of that portion of the carbon rods which is conveying the
current is always the same notwithstanding the shortening of their
total length by combustion; the resistance of the carbon electrodes
is, therefore, maintained constant, and, for the reason that the
contact piece presses against the rods very near their lower ends,
that resistance is reduced to a minimum. In this way very long
carbons, such, for instance, as will burn for ten or sixteen hours,
can be used without introducing any increase of resistance into the
circuit. The length of the arc can be determined by the adjustment of
the screw, G, by which the amount of movement of the armature is
limited.
Fig. 2 represents a modified form of Mr. Hedges' lamp designed for
installation when it is desirable to burn a number of lamps in series.
In this arrangement the carbons are separated by the attractive
influence of a solenoid upon an iron plunger, to which is attached (by
a non-magnetic connection) the armature of an electro-magnet, the
coils (which are of fine wire) forming a shunt circuit between the two
terminals of the lamp, and so disposed with respect to the armature as
to influence it in an opposite direction to that of the solenoid. When
the circuit of the lamp is completed with the electric generator the
carbons are drawn apart by the action of the solenoid on the plunger,
and the distance to which they are separated is determined by the
difference of attractive force exercised upon the armature by the
solenoid and the magnet; but as the latter forms a short circuit to
that of the arc, it follows that should the resistance of the arc
circuit increase either through the arc becoming too long or through
imperfection in the carbons or contacts, a greater percentage of
current will flow through the magnet coils, and the arc will be
shortened, thereby reducing its resistance and regulating it to the
strength of the current. In other words, the distance between the
carbons, that is to say, the length of the arc, is determined by the
position of the armature of the electro-magnet between its magnets and
the solenoid, which position is in its turn determined by the
difference between the strength of current passing through the coil of
the solenoid and that of the magnet.
Mr. Killingworth Hedges exhibits also a third form of his lamp, in
most respects similar to the lamp figured in Fig. 1, but in which the
ends of the two carbons rest against the side of a small cylinder of
fireclay or other refractory material, which is mounted on a
horizontal axis and can be rotated thereon by a worm and worm-wheel
actuated by an endless cord passing over a grooved pulley. In the lamp
one of the carbon-holders is rigidly fixed to the framing of the
apparatus, and the other is mounted on a point so as to enable the
length of the arc playing over the clay cylinder to be regulated by
the action of an electro-magnet attracting an armature in opposition
to the tension of an adjustable spring.
In the same exhibit will be found specimens of Mr. Hedges' two-way
switches, which have been designed to reduce the tendency to sparking
and consequent destruction which so often accompanies the action of
switches of the ordinary form. The essential characteristic of this
switch, which we illustrate in elevation in Fig. 3 and in plan in Fig.
4, lies first in the circular form of contact-piece shown in Fig. 4,
and next in the fact that the space between the two fixed
contact-pieces is filled up with a block composed of compressed
asbestos, the surface of which is flush with the upper surfaces of the
two contact-pieces. The circular contact-piece attached to the switch
lever can be turned round so as to present a fresh surface when that
which has been in use shows indications of being worn, and a good firm
contact with the fixed contact-pieces is insured by the presence of a
spiral spring shown in the upper figure, and which, owing to an error
in engraving, appears more like a screw than a spring. In order to
prevent bad connection through dust or other impurities collecting
within the joint, the electrical connection between the fulcrum of the
switch lever and the circular contact-piece is made through the bent
spring shown edgeways in Fig. 3.--_Engineering._
* * * * *
RAILWAY APPARATUS AT THE PARIS ELECTRICAL EXHIBITION.
[Illustration: Fig. 1.--Lartigue's Switch Controller Fig.
2--Transverse Section Fig. 3--Longitudinal Section Fig. 4.--Position
of the Commutators during the Manuever Fig. 5.--Pedal for Sending
Warning to Railway Crossing--Elevation. Fig. 7.--End View.
Fig. 8.--Electric Alarm. Fig. 12.--Guggemos's Correspondence
Apparatus--External View. Fig. 13.--Interior of the Same. Fig.
14.--Annunciator Apparatus. Fig. 15.--Controller for Water Tanks
(Lartigue System).
RAILWAY APPARATUS AT THE PARIS ELECTRICAL EXHIBITION.]
[Illustration: Fig. 6.--Pedal for Sending Warning to Railway
Crossing--Plan View. Fig. 9.--Lartigue's Bellows Pedal--Longitundinal
Section Fig. 10.--General Plan.
Fig. 16.--Controller for Water Tanks (Vérité System). RAILWAY
APPARATUS AT THE PARIS ELECTRICAL EXHIBITION.]
_Lartigue's Switch Controller._--The object of this apparatus is to
warn the switch tender in case the switch does not entirely respond to
the movement of the maneuvering lever.
The apparatus, which is represented in the accompanying Figs. 1, 2, 3,
and 4, consists of the following parts:
(1.) A mercurial commutator, O, which is fixed on a lever, B,
connected with a piece, A, which is applied against the external
surface of the web of the main rails, opposite the extremity of the
switch plates;
(2.) A bar, C, which traverses the web of the rail and projects on the
opposite side, and which carries a nut, D, against which the switch
plate abuts;
(3.) An electrical alarm and a pile, located near the switch lever.
As long as one of the two plates of the switch is applied against the
rail, one of the two commutators is inclined and no current passes. A
space of one millimeter is sufficient to bring the commutator to a
horizontal position and to cause the electric alarm to ring
continuously. If the apparatus gets out of order, it is known at once;
for if the alarm does not work during the maneuver of the switch, the
tender will be warned that the electric communications are
interrupted, and that he must consequently at once make known the
position of his switch until the necessary repairs have been made.
_Pedals for Transmitting Signals to Crossings._--On railways having a
double track and doing a large amount of business it becomes very
necessary to announce to the flagmen at railway crossings the approach
of trains, so as to give them time to stop all crossing of the tracks.
On railway lines provided with electro-semaphores there may be used
for this purpose those small apparatus that have been styled semaphore
repeaters.
Mr. Lartigue has invented two automatic apparatus, by means of which
the train itself signals its approach.
1. The first of these, which is generally placed at about 6,000 feet
from the point to be covered, consists (Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8) of a
very light pedal fixed to the inside of the rail, and acting upon a
mercurial commutator. A spring, R, carried upon the arm, a, of a
lever, A, projects slightly above the level of the rail, while the
other arm, b, carries a commutator.
The spring, R, on being depressed tilts the box containing the
mercury, closes the circuit, and causes an alarm, S, located at the
crossing, to immediately ring. In this alarm (Fig. 8) a piece, P, is
disconnected by the passage of the current into the electro-magnet, E,
which attracts the armature, a, and, a permanent current being set
up, the apparatus operates like an ordinary alarm, until the piece, P,
is placed by hand in its first position again.
2. The second apparatus, exhibited by the Railway Company of the
North, and also the invention of Mr. Lartigue, bears the name of the
"Bellows Pedal." It consists (Figs. 9 and 10) of a pedal, properly so
called, P, placed along the rail, one of its extremities forming a
lever and the other being provided with a counterpoise, C. When a
train passes over the pedal, the arm, B, fixed to its axle, on falling
closes the circuit of an ordinary electrical alarm, and at the same
time the bellows, S, becomes rapidly filled with air, and, after the
passage of the train, is emptied again very slowly under the action of
the counterpoise. The contact is thus kept up for some few minutes.
This apparatus works very satisfactorily, but is cumbersome and
relatively high-priced.
_The Brunot Controller as a Controller of the Passage of Trains._--The
Brunot Controller, which has been employed for several years on the
Railway of the North, is designed to control the regularity of the
running of trains, and to make automatically a contradictory
verification of the figures on the slips carried by the conductors. In
Fig. 11 we give a longitudinal section of the apparatus. It consists
of a wooden case containing a clockwork movement, H, upon the axle of
which is mounted a cardboard disk, C, divided into hours and minutes,
and regulated like a watch, that is to say, making one complete
revolution in twelve hours. The metallic pencil, c, which is capable
of displacing itself on the cardboard in a horizontal direction
opposite a groove on the other side of the disk, traces, when pressure
is brought to bear on it, a spiral curve. The transverse travel of
the pencil is effected in ninety-six hours. The displacement of the
pencil is brought about by means of a cam. Under the influence of the
jarring of the train in motion, a weight, P, suspended from a flexible
strip, l, strikes against the pencil, c, which traces a series of
points. During stoppages there is, of course, an interruption in the
tracing of the curve.
[Illustration: Fig. 11.--Brunot's Controller. RAILWAY APPARATUS AT THE
PARIS ELECTRICAL EXHIBITION.]
Up to this point no electricity is involved--the apparatus is simply a
controller of regularity. Mr. Brunot has conceived the idea of
utilizing his apparatus for controlling the passage of trains at
certain determined points on the line; for example, at the top of
heavy grades. For this purpose it has only been necessary to add to
the apparatus that we have just described an electro-magnet, E,
connected electrically with a fixed contact located on the line. When
the current passes, that is to say, at the moment the circuit is
closed by the passage of a train, the armature, A, is attracted, and
the pencil marks a point on the cardboard disk. This modification of
the apparatus has not as yet been practically applied.
_Electrical Corresponding Apparatus._--The object of these apparatus
is to quickly transmit to a distance a certain number of phrases that
have been prepared in advance. The Company of the North employs two
kinds of correspondence apparatus--the Guggemos and the annunciator
apparatus.
1. _The Guggemos Apparatus._--This apparatus serves at once as a
manipulator and receiver, and consists of an inner movement surmounted
by a dial, over the face of which moves an index hand. Around the
circumference of the dial there is arranged a series of circular
cases, C, containing the messages to be received, and similar
triangular cases, containing the messages to be forwarded, radiating
from the center of the dial. Between each of these there is a button,
b.
Fig. 13 represents the interior of an apparatus for twenty messages.
It consists of a key-board, M, an electro-magnet, B, a clock-work
movement, Q, an escapement, s, and an interrupter, F G.
When one of the buttons, b, is pressed, one of the levers of the
key-board arrangement touches the disk, M, which is insulated from the
other portions of the key-board, and the current then passes from the
terminal C to M, and there bifurcating, one portion of it goes to the
bobbins of the apparatus and thence to the earth, while the other goes
to actuate the correspondence apparatus. The index-hands of the two
apparatus thereupon begin their movement simultaneously, and only stop
when the pressure is removed from the button and the current is
consequently interrupted. H is a ratchet-wheel, which, like the
key-board, is insulated from the rest of the apparatus. The button, K,
located over each of the dials, serves to bring the index-needles back
to their position under the cross shown in Fig. 12. The key, X, serves
for winding up the clock-work movement.
_The Annunciator Apparatus._--This apparatus, which performs the same
role as the one just described, is simply an ingenious modification of
the annunciator used in hotels, etc.
It consists of a wooden case, containing as many buttons as there are
phrases to be exchanged. Over each button, b, there is a circular
aperture, behind which drops the disk containing the phrase. Between
the buttons and the apertures are rectangular plates, P, in which are
inscribed the answers given by pressing on the button of the receiving
tablet--a pressure which, at the same time, removes the corresponding
disk from the aperture. Two disks located at the upper part carry
these inscriptions: "Error, I repeat;" "Wait." The tablets on
exhibition have eight disks, and can thus be used for exchanging six
different phrases. In the interior, opposite each aperture, there is a
Hughes magnet, between the arms of which there oscillates a vertical
soft-iron rod, carrying a disk. The maneuver "is simple." By pressing
upon a button there is sent into the bobbins of the magnet
corresponding to this button a current which causes the disk to appear
before one of the apertures, while at the same time an alarm begins to
ring. The same maneuver performed by the agent at the receiving-post
has the effect of causing the disk to disappear. The two contact
springs in communication at each aperture with the alarm and the line
are connected by a strip of ebonite, M, against the center of which
presses the button.
_Electrical Controllers for Water-Tanks._--The object of these
apparatus is to warn the person in charge of a water-tank that the
latter is full, and that he must stop the engine-pump; or, that the
tank is empty, and that he must at once proceed to fill it. The
Company of the North has on exhibition two such apparatus--one of them
Lartigue's, and the other Vérité's.
1. _The Lartigue Controller_ (Fig. 15).--This apparatus consists of a
long lever, A, which carries at one of its extremities a funnel, E,
having a very narrow orifice and which is placed under the overflow
pipe of the tank. The lever is kept normally in a horizontal position
by a counterpoise; but, as soon as the overflow runs into the funnel,
the weight of the water tilts the lever, and the mercurial commutator,
F, closes the circuit of a pile, which actuates an alarm-bell located
near the pump and engine. The two stops, a and _a'_, limit the play
of the lever.
2. _The Vérité Controller_ (Fig. 16).--This apparatus consists of a
float, F, provided with a catch, C, calculated in such a way as to act
only when the float has reached a certain definite height. At that
moment it lifts the extremity of the weighted lever, E, which in
falling back acts upon the extremity, a, of another lever, N,
pivoted at the point, O. The piece, P, which is normally in contact
with the magnet, A, being suddenly detached by this movement of the
lever, N, the induced current which is then produced causes the
display, near the pump, of a disk, Q, upon which is inscribed the word
"Full." This is a signal to stop pumping.
* * * * *
THE TELEPHONIC HALLS OF THE ELECTRICAL EXHIBITION.
Telephonic communication between the Opera and the Exhibition of
Electricity is obtained by means of twenty conducting wires, which are
divided between two halls hung with carpets to deaden external noises.
We represent in the accompanying engraving one of these halls, and the
one which is lighted by the Lane-Fox system of lamps. As may be seen,
there are affixed against the hangings, all around the room, long
mahogany boards, to which are fastened about twenty small tablets
provided with hooks, from which are suspended the telephones. The
latter are connected with the underground conductors by extensible
wires which project from the wooden wainscot of which we have just
spoken, so that it is very easy for the auditors to put the telephones
to their ears.
[Illustration: ONE OF THE TELEPHONIC HALLS AT THE ELECTRICAL
EXHIBITION.]
As the telephones are connected in series of eight with the same
couple of microphone transmitters, and as each of these transmitting
couples occupies a different position on the stage, it results that
the effects are not the same at different points of each hall. Those
telephones, for example, which correspond with the foot-lights of the
theater are more affected by the sounds of the large instnuments of
the orchestra than those which occupy the middle of the foot-lights;
but, as an offset to this, the latter are affected by the voice of the
prompter. In order to equalize the effects as much as possible, Mr.
Ader has arranged it so that the two transmitters of each series shall
be placed under conditions that are diametrically opposite. Thus, the
transmitter at the end of the foot-lights, on the left side,
corresponds with the transmitter of the series to the right, nearest
to the middle of the stage; and the arrangement is the same, but in an
inverse direction, for the transmitter at the end of the foot-lights
to the right. But the series which produces the best effects is, as
may be readily comprehended, that which corresponds with the
transmitters occupying the middle of the right and left rows. These
considerations easily explain the different opinions expressed by
certain auditors in relation to the predominant sounds that they have
heard, and why it is that some of them who have listened in different
parts of the same hall have not had the same impressions. Naturally,
the fault has beeen laid to the telephones; but, although these may
vary in quality, it is more particularly to the arrangement of the
transmitters on the stage that are to be attributed the differences
that are noted.
As the Opera does not give representations every day, Mr. Ader has had
the idea of occupying the attention of the public on Tuesday,
Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday with the telephonic effects of
flourishes of trumpets, which imitate pretty well the effects of
French horns. These experiments have taken place in the hall in which
is installed the little theater, and we must really say that in the
effects produced French horns count for nothing.--_La Lumiere
Electrique._
* * * * *
THE ACTION OF COLD ON THE VOLT
When the voltaic arc plays between two metallic rheophores, of copper
for instance, each formed of a U-tube traversed by a rapid current of
cold water, and placed horizontally opposite each other, the following
facts are observed: The luminous power of the arc is considerably
weakened; it is reduced to a mere luminous point even when a current
of 50 to 75 Bunsen elements of the large pattern is employed. The arc
is very unstable and the least breath is sufficient to extinguish it.
If a leaf of paper is placed above the arc at the distance of 0.004 to
0.005 meter a black point is produced in a few moments, which spreads
and becomes a perforation, but the paper does not ignite. The arc
consists of a luminous globule, moving between the two rheophores up
and down and back again. The form of this globule, as well as its
extreme mobility, causes it to resemble a drop of water in a
spheroidal state. If we approach to the voltaic arc the south pole of
a magnet the arc is attracted to such a degree that it leaves the
rheophores and is extinguished. The same facts are observed in an
intense form on presenting the north pole of a magnet to the arc. The
quantity of ozone seems greater than when the arc is not refrigerated.
It is to be noted that notwithstanding the refrigeration of the
rheophores the flame of the arc is slightly green, proving that a
portion of the copper is burning. It becomes a question whether the
arc would be produced on taking as rheophores two tubes of platinum in
which is caused to circulate, e.g., alcohol cooled to -30°.--_D.
Tommasi._
* * * * *
WATCHMAN'S DETECTER.
We herewith illustrate an exceedingly simple form of detecter, to show
if the night watchmen perform their visits regularly and punctually.
In the case, C, is a clockwork apparatus driving the axle, S, at the
end of which is a worm which gears into the wheel of the drum, D. The
rotation of D, thus obtained unrolls a strip of paper from the other
drum, D. This paper passes over the poles of as many electro-magnets
as there are points to be visited, and underneath the armatures of
these electro-magnets. Each armature has a sharp point fixed on its
under side, and when a current passing through the coils causes the
attraction of the armature, this point perforates the paper. The
places to be visited are connected electrically with the binding
screws shown, and the watchman has merely to press a button to make
the electric circuit complete. It has been found in practice that
plain paper answers every purpose, as the clock giving an almost
uniform motion enables the reader, after having seen the perforated
slips once or twice, to determine fairly well the time which elapses
between each pressure of the button.--_The Engineer._
[Illustration: WATCHMAN'S DETECTER]
* * * * *
INTEGRATING APPARATUS.
At a recent meeting of the London Physical Society, Mr. C. Vernon Boys
read a paper on "Integrating Apparatus." After referring to his
original "cart" machine for integrating, described at a former meeting
of the society, he showed how he had been led to construct the new
machine exhibited, in which a cylinder is caused to reciprocate
longitudinally in contact with a disk, and give the integral by its
rotation. Integrators were of three kinds: (1) radius machines; (2)
cosine machines; (3) tangent machines. Sliding friction and inertia
render the first two kinds unsuitable where there are delicate forces
or rapid variation in the function to be integrated. Tangent machines
depend on pure rolling, and the inertia and friction are
inappreciable. They are, therefore, more practical than the other
sort. It is to this class that Mr. Boys' machines belong. The author
then described a theoretical tangent integrator depending on the
mutual rolling of two smoke rings, and showed how the steering of a
bicycle or wheelbarrow could be applied to integrate directly with a
cylinder either the quotient or product of two functions. If the
tangent wheel is turned through a right angle at starting, the machine
will integrate reciprocals, or it can be made to integrate functions
by an inverse process. If instead of a cylinder some other surface of
evolution is employed as an integrating surface, then special
integrations can be effected. He showed a polar planimeter in which
the integrating surface is a sphere. A special use of these
integrators is for finding the total work done by a fluid pressure
reciprocating engine. The difference of pressure on the two sides of
the piston determines the tangent of the inclination of the tangent
wheel which runs on the integrating cylinder; while the motion of the
latter is made to keep time with that of the piston. In this case the
number of evolutions of the cylinder measures the total amount of work
done by the engine. The disk cylinder integrator may also be applied
to find the total amount of work transmitted by shafting or belting
from one part of a factory to another. An electric current meter may
be made by giving inclination to the disk, which is for this purpose
made exceedingly small and delicate, by means of a heavy magnetic
needle deflected by the current. This, like Edison's, is a direction
meter; but a meter in which no regard is paid to the direction of the
current can be made by help of an iron armature of such a shape that
the force with which it is attracted to fill the space between the
poles of an electro-magnet is inversely as its displacement. Then by
resisting this motion by a spring or pendulum the movement is
proportional to the current, and a tangent wheel actuated by this
movement causes the reciprocating cylinder on which it runs to
integrate the current strength. Mr. Boys exhibited two such electric
energy meters, that is, machines which integrate the product of the
current strength by the difference of potential between two points
with respect to time. In these the main current is made to pass
through a pair of concentric solenoids, and in the annular space
between these is hung a solenoid, the upper half of which is wound in
the opposite direction to the lower half. By the use of what Mr. Boys
calls "induction traps" of iron, the magnetic force is confined to a
small portion of the suspended solenoid, and by this means the force
is independent of the position. The solenoid is hung to one end of a
beam, and its motion is resisted by a pendulum weight, by which the
energy meters may be regulated like clocks to give standard measure.
The beam carries the tangent wheels, and the rotation of the cylinder
gives the energy expanded in foot-pounds or other measures. The use of
an equal number of turns in opposite directions on the movable
solenoid causes the instrument to be uninfluenced by external magnetic
forces. Mr. Boys showed on the screen an image of an electric arc, and
by its side was a spot of light, whose position indicated the energy,
and showed every flicker of the light and fluctuation of current in
the arc. He showed on the screen that if the poles are brought too
near the energy expended is less, though the current is stronger, and
that if the poles are too far apart, though the electromotive force is
greater the energy is less; so that the apparatus may be made to find
the distance at which the greatest energy, and so the greatest heat
and light, may be produced.
At the conclusion of the paper, Prof. W.G. Adams and Prof. G.C. Foster
could not refrain from expressing their high admiration of the
ingenious and able manner in which Mr. Boys had developed the subject.
* * * * *
A CANAL BOAT PROPELLED BY AIR.
A novelty in canal boats lies in Charles River, near the foot of
Chestnut street, which is calculated to attract considerable
attention. It is called a pneumatic canal boat and was built at
Wiscasset, Me., as devised by the owner, Mr. R.H. Tucker, of Boston,
who claims to hold patents for its design in England and the United
States. The specimen shown on Charles River, which is designed to be
used on canals without injuring the banks, is a simple structure,
measuring sixty-two feet long and twenty wide. It is three feet in
depth and draws seventeen inches of water. It is driven entirely by
air, Root's blower No. 4 being used, the latter operated by an
eight-horse-power engine. The air is forced down a central shaft to
the bottom, where it is deflected, and, being confined between keels,
passes backward and upward, escaping at the stern through an orifice
nineteen feet wide, so as to form a sort of air wedge between the boat
and the surface of the water. The force with which the air strikes the
water is what propels it. The boat has a speed of four miles an hour,
but requires a thirty-five-horsepower engine to develop its full
capabilities. The patentee claims a great advantage in doing away with
the heavy machinery of screws and side-wheels, and believes that the
contrivance gives full results, in proportion to the power employed.
It is also contrived for backing and steering by air propulsion.
Owing to the slight disturbance which it causes to the water, it is
thought to be very well adapted for work on canals without injury to
the sides.--_Boston Journal._
* * * * *
HEAD LININGS OF PASSENGER CARS.
The veneer ceilings are considered as much superior to cloth as cloth
was to the roof-ceiling. They are remarkably chaste, and so solid and
substantial that but little decoration is necessary to produce a
pleasing effect. The agreeable contrast between the natural grain of
the wood and the deeper shade of the bands and mouldings is all that
is necessary to harmonize with the other parts of the interiors of
certain classes of cars--smoking and dining cars, for example. But in
the case of parlor and dining-room cars, the decorations of these
ceilings should be in keeping with the style of the cars, by giving
such a character to the lines, curves, and colors, as will be
suggestive of cheerfulness and life. While these head linings are
deserving of the highest commendation as an important improvement upon
previous ones, they are still open to some objections. One barrier to
their general adoption is their increased cost. It is true that
superior quality implies higher prices, but when the prices exceed so
much those of cloth linings, it is difficult to induce road managers
to increase expenses by introducing the new linings, when the great
object is to reduce expenses. Another objection to wood linings is
their liability to injury from heat and moisture, a liability which
results from the way in which they are put together. A heated roof or
a leak swells the veneering, and in many cases takes it off in strips.
To obviate these objections, I have, during the past eighteen months,
been experimenting with some materials that would be less affected by
these causes, and at the same time make a handsome ceiling. About a
year ago I fitted up one car in this way, and it has proved a success.
The material used is heavy tar-board pressed into the form of the roof
and strengthened by burlaps. It is then grained and decorated in the
usual manner, and when finished has the same appearance as the
veneers, will wear as well, and can be finished at much less
cost.--_D.D. Robertson._
* * * * *
IMPROVED MORTAR MIXER.
The engravings herewith illustrate a new form of mixing or pugging
machine for making mortar or any other similar material. It has been
designed by Mr. R.R. Gubbins, more especially for mixing emery with
agglutinating material for making emery wheels; and a machine is at
work on this material in the manufactory of the Standard Emery Wheel
Company, Greek Street, Soho. The machine is shown in perspective in
Fig. 1 with the side door of the mixing box let down as it is when the
box is being emptied; and in Fig. 2 it is shown in transverse section.
The principle of the machine is the employment of disks fixed at an
angle of about 45 deg. on shafts revolving in a mixing box, to which a
slow reciprocating movement of short range is given.
[Illustration: FIGS. 1 and 2--IMPROVED MORTAR MIXING
MACHINE.]
In our illustrations, C is a knife-edge rail, upon which run grooved
wheels supporting the pugging box. To the axle of one grooved wheel a
connecting rod from crank arm, F is attached to effect the to-and-fro
motion of the mixing box, B. G is the door of the box, B, hinged at H,
and secured by hinged pins carrying fly nuts. A cover and hopper and
also a trap may be supplied to the box, B, for continuously feeding
and discharging the material operated upon. L, L, are the pugging
blades or discs on shafts, M. The shafts, M, pass through a slot in
the box, B, and the packing of these shafts is effected by the face
plate sliding and bearing against the face on the standard of the
machine. P is a guide piece on the standard, against which bears and
slides the piece, Q, bolted on to box, B, to support and guide the
box, B, in its movement. The forked ends of a yoke engage with the
collars, S, on the shafts, M, this yoke being set by a screw so that
the shafts may be easily removed. The machine is driven from the
pulleys and shaft, T, through gearing, T2 and T3, and by the Ewart's
chain on the wheel and pinion, V and U.--_The Engineer._
* * * * *
[Continued from SUPPLEMENT, No. 311, page 4960.]
PRACTICAL NOTES ON PLUMBING.[1]
[Footnote 1: From the London _Building News_.]
BY P.J. DAVIES, H.M.A.S.P., ETC.
TINNING IRON PIPES, COPPER OR BRASS-WORK, BITS, ETC.
Previously, I described the method of tinning the bit, etc., with
resin; but before this work on joints can be considered complete, I
find it necessary to speak of tinning the ends of iron pipes, etc.,
which have within the last fifty years been much used in conjunction
with leaden pipes. This is done as follows: Take some spirits of salts
(otherwise known as hydrochloric acid, muriatic acid, hydrogen
chloride, HCl), in a gallipot, and put as much sheet-zinc in it as the
spirit will dissolve; you have then obtained chloride of zinc (ZnCl).
A little care is required when making this, as the acid is decomposed
and is spread about by the discharged hydrogen, and will rust anything
made of iron or steel, such as tools, etc. It also readily absorbs
ammoniacal gas, so that, in fact, sal ammoniac may also be dissolved
in it, or sal ammoniac dissolved in water will answer the purpose of
the chloride of zinc.
Having the killed spirits, as it is sometimes called, ready, file the
end of your iron or bit and plunge this part into the spirits, then
touch your dipped end with some fine solder, and dip it again and
again into the spirits until you have a good tinned face upon your
iron, etc.; next you require a spirit-brush.
SPIRIT-BRUSH.
You can make this by cutting a few bristles out of a broom or brush,
push them into a short piece of compo tube, say 1/4 in., and hammer up
the end to hold the bristles; next cut the ends of the bristles to
about 3/8 in. long, and the brush is ready for use.
SOLDERING IRON TO LEAD.
Suppose you want to make a joint round a lead and iron pipe. First
file the end of your iron pipe as far up as you would shave it if it
were lead, and be sure to file it quite bright and free from grease;
heat your soldering-iron; then, with your spirit-brush, paint the
prepared end of your iron, and with your bit, rub over the pipe plenty
of solder, until the pipe is properly tinned, not forgetting to use
plenty of spirits; this done, you can put your joint together, and
wipe in the usual manner. Caution.--Do not put too much heat on your
iron pipe, either when tinning or making the joint, or the solder will
not take or stand.
DUMMIES FOR PIPE-BENDING.
[Illustration: FIGS. 38. and 38B.]
Figs. 38 and 38B. This tool I had better describe before
proceeding to the method of bending. To make it take a piece of, say,
½ in. iron pipe, 3 ft. long, or the length required, bent a little at
one end, as shown at A B in Fig. 38 and Fig. 38B. Tin the end
about 2 in. up, make a hole with a small plumbing-iron in some sand,
and place the tinned end of the iron pipe, B, into this hole; fill the
hole up with good hot lead, and the dummy, after it has been rasped up
a little, is ready for use. It will be found handy to have three or
four different lengths, and bent to different angles, to suit your
work. A straight one (Fig. 38B.) made to screw into an iron
socket or length of gas-pipe, will be found very handy for getting
dents out of long lengths of soil-pipe.
BENDS AND SET-OFFS.
Before you begin bending solid pressed pipes always put the thickest
part of your pipe _at the back_. Lead, in a good plumber's hands, may
be twisted into every conceivable shape; but, as in all other trades,
there is a right and a wrong way of doing everything, and there are
many different methods, each having a right and wrong way, which I
shall describe. I shall be pleased if my readers will adopt the style
most suitable for their particular kind of work; of course I shall say
which is the best for the class of work required.
For small pipes, such as from ½ in. to 1 in. "_stout_ pipe," you may
pull them round without trouble or danger; but for larger sizes, say,
from 1¼ in. to 2 in., some little care is necessary, even in stout
pipes.
Fig. 37 illustrates a badly made bend, and also shows how it comes
together at the throat, X, and back, E; L is the enlarged section of X
E, looking at the pipe endways. The cause of this contraction is
pulling the bend too quickly, and too much at a time, without dressing
in the sides at B B as follows: After you have pulled the pipe round
until it just begins to flatten, take a soft dresser, or a piece of
soft wood, and a hammer, and turn the pipe on its side as at Fig. 37;
then strike the bulged part of the pipe from X B toward E, until it
appears round like section K. Now pull your pipe round again as
before, and keep working it until finished. If you find that it
becomes smaller at the bend, take a long bolt and work the throat part
out until you have it as required.
[Illustration: FIG. 37.]
BENDING WITH WATER (LIGHT PIPES).
Fig. 39. This style of bending is much in use abroad, but not much
practiced in London, though a splendid method of work.
[Illustration: FIG. 39.]
It is a well known fact that, practically speaking, for such work,
water is incompressible, but may be turned and twisted about to any
shape, provided it is inclosed in a solid case--Fig. 39 is that case.
The end, A, is stopped, and the stopcock, B, soldered into the other
end. Now fill up this pipe quite full with warm water and shut the
cock, take the end, A, and pull round the pipe, at the same time
dressing the molecules of lead from the throat, C, toward D E, which
will flow if properly worked.
You can hammer away as much as you please, but be quick about it, so
that the water does not cool down, thereby contracting; in fact, you
should open the cock now and then, and recharge it to make sure of
this.
SAND BENDING.
This is a very old method of bending lead pipes, and answers every
purpose for long, easy bends. Proceed in this way: The length of the
pipe to be 5 ft., fill and well ram this pipe solid with sand 2 ft.
up, then have ready a metal-pot of very hot sand to fill the pipe one
foot up, next fill the pipe up with more cold sand, ramming it as
firmly as possible, stop the end and work it round as you did the
water bend, but do not strike it too hard in one place, or you will
find it give way and require to be dummied out again, or if you cannot
get the dent out with the dummy send a ball through (see "Bending with
Balls").
BENDING WITH BALLS OR BOBBINS.
This style of work is much practiced on small pipes, such as 2 in. to
3 in., especially by London plumbers. Method: Suppose your pipe to be
2 in., then you require your ball or bobbin about 1/16 in. less than
the pipe, so that it will run through the pipe freely. Now pull the
pipe round until it just begins to flatten, as at Fig. 37, put the
ball into the pipe, and with some short pieces of wood (say, 2 in.
long by 1½ in. diameter) force the ball through the dented part of the
pipe, or you may use several different-sized balls, as at A B C, Fig.
40, and ram them through the pipe with a short mandrel, as at D M. You
will require to proceed very carefully about this ramming, or
otherwise you will most likely drive the bobbins through the back at L
K J. You must also watch the throat part, G H I, to keep it from
kinking or buckling-up; dress this part from the throat toward the
back, in order to get rid of the surplus in the throat.
[Illustration: FIG. 40.]
THREE-BALL OR LEAD DRIVING BALL AND DOUBLE-BALL BENDING.
Fig. 41 shows a method of bending with three balls, one of lead being
used as a driver attached to a piece of twine. This is a country
method, and very good, because the two balls are kept constantly to
the work. First, put the two balls just where you require the bend,
then pull the pipe slightly round; take the leaden ball and drop it
on the ball, B, then turn the pipe the other end up and drop it on A,
and do so until your bend is the required shape. You must be careful
not to let your leaden ball touch the back of the pipe. Some use a
piece of smaller leaden pipe run full of lead for the ball, C, and I
do not think it at all a bad method, as you can get a much greater
weight for giving the desired blow to your _boxwood_ balls.
[Illustration: FIG. 41.]
BENDING WITH WINDLASS AND BRASS BALL.
This is an excellent method of bending small pipes. Fig. 42 will
almost describe itself. A is a brass or gun metal ball having a copper
or wire rope running through it, and pulled through the flattened part
of the pipe as shown. It will be quite as well to tack the bend down
to the bench, as at B, when pulling the ball through; well dress the
lead from front to back to thicken the back. I have seen some plumbers
put an extra thickness of lead on the back before beginning to bend.
Notice: nearly all solid pressed pipes are thicker on one side than
the other (as before remarked), always place the thickest part at the
back.
[Illustration: FIG. 42.]
HYDRAULIC OR CUP-LEATHER AND BALL BENDING.
Fig 43. This is my own method of pipe-bending, and is very useful when
properly handled with plenty of force, but requires great care and
practice. You must have a union sweated on the end, A, Fig. 43, and
the ball, B, to fit the pipe. The cup-leather, E, should have a plate
fixed on the front to press the ball forward. Pull up the pipe as you
please, and pump the ball through; it will take all the dents out, and
that too very quickly.
[Illustration: FIG. 43.]
BENDING BY SPLITTING OR SPLIT-MADE BENDS.
This method of bending is much practiced in the provinces, and, for
anything I know to the contrary, is one of the best methods in use, as
by it you are likely to get a good substance of metal on the back of
the bend whether the plumber be a good or a bad workman. Proceed as
follows: Cut the pipe down the center to suit the length of your bend,
as shown at A B, Fig. 44. It will be quite as well if you first set
out this bend on the bench, then you may measure round the back, as
from C to L, to obtain the distance of the cut, which should always be
three or four inches longer than the bend. You may also in this way
obtain the correct length for the throat, G H I; here you will see
that you have a quantity of lead to spare, i.e., from A to E, all of
which has to be got rid of in uncut bends--some plumbers shift from
front to back, but how many? Not one in twenty. After you have cut the
pipe, open the throat part, bend out the sides, and pull this part
round a little at a time, then with a dummy, Fig. 38, work the
internal part of the throat outward to as nearly the shape as you can.
Go carefully to work, and do not attempt to work up the sides, A D B,
until your throat is nearly to the proper shape, after which you may
do so with a small boxwood dresser or bossing-stick (It is not
necessary to explain minutely what a bosser or dressing-stick is, as
they can be bought at almost any lead-merchants--the dresser is shown
at E, Fig. 1; the bossing-stick is somewhat similar, the only
difference being that it has a rounded face instead of flat.) Keep the
dummy up against the sides when truing it. If you have proceeded
properly with this throat part, you will not require to work up the
sides or edges, as in working the throat back the sides will come up
by themselves. Next take the back, pull it round a little at a time,
the dummy being held inside, with your dresser work the two edges and
sides slowly round, and the back will follow. Never strike the back
from the underside with the dummy. After you have made a dozen or two
you will be able to make them as fast as you please, but do not hurry
them at first, as the greater part of this work is only to be learned
by patient application, perseverance, and practice.
[Illustration: FIG. 44.]
After you have made the bend it will require to be soldered, but
before you can do this you must have the joint quite perfect and the
edges true one with the other. A good bender will not require to touch
his edges at all, but a novice will have to rasp and trim them up so
that they come together. Having your edges true, soil them, take a
gauge-hook, which may be described as a shave-hook with a gauge
attached, and shave it about 1/8 in. each side; now solder it to look
like the solder A, Fig. 45, which is done as follows: With some fine
solder tack the joint at A D B, Fig. 44, put on some resin, and with a
well-heated copper-bit drop some solder roughly on the point from B to
A, then draw the bit over it again to float the solder, being
especially careful not to let the joint open when coming off at A.
Some plumbers think fit to begin here, but that is a matter of no
importance. Do not forget that if your joint is not properly prepared,
that is to say, true and even, it is sure to be a failure, and will
have a "higgledy-piggledy" appearance. Some difference of opinion
exists as to the best method of making these joints: one workman will
make a good joint by drawing it while, on the other hand, another one
will do it equally well by wiping it. Drawing will be fully explained
in a part on pipe making. It may, however, be here mentioned that it
is a method of making the joint by floating the solder along the joint
with the ladle and plumbing-iron.
[Illustration: FIG. 45.]
It is not uncommon for plumbers to make their bends with only one
joint on the back.
PULLING UP BENDS.
In London, it is the favorite plan to make bends without cutting them.
Fig. 46. It is done by taking a length of pipe, and, just where you
require the bend, lay it (_with the seam at the side_) upon a pillow,
made by tightly filling a sack with sand, wood shavings, or sawdust;
have some shavings ready to hand and a good lath, also a short length
of mandrel about 3 ft. long and about ½ in. smaller than the pipe, and
a dummy as shown at A B, Fig. 56. Now, all being ready, put a few
burning shavings into the throat of the bend, just to get heat enough
to make it fizz, which you can judge by spitting on it. When this heat
is acquired withdraw the fire, and let the laborer quickly place the
end of the mandrel into the pipe, and pull the pipe up while you place
a sack or anything else convenient across the throat of the bend, then
pull the pipe up a little, just sufficient to dent it across the
throat. Now, with a _hot_ dummy, dummy out the dent, until it is round
like the other part of the pipe. Keep at this until your bend is made,
occasionally turning the pipe or its side and giving it a sharp blow
on the side with the soft or hornbeam dresser; this is when the sides
run out as in Fig. 37. Never strike the back part of the bend from
inside with the dummy, but work the lead from the throat to the back
with a view to thickening the back.
[Illustration: FIG. 46.]
SET-OFFS.
A set-off is nothing more than a double bend, as shown at Fig. 47, and
made in much the same manner. D is the long end of the pipe. Always
make this bend first and pull it up quite square, as it will be found
to go a little back when pulling up the other bend; if you can make
the two together so much the better, as you can then work the stuff
from the throat of one bend into the back of the other. The different
shaped dummies are also here shown: F a round-nosed dummy, G a double
bent dummy, H a single bent, I straight, J hand-dummy, ABN a long bent
dummy shown at Fig. 38.
[Illustration: FIG. 47.]
BAD BENDS.
These can always be detected by examining them in their backs, as at
Fig. 48; take a small dresser and tap the pipe a few times round ABD
to test for the thickness. Strike it hard enough to just dent it; next
strike the back part of the pipe, E, _with the same force_, and if it
dents much more it is not an equally-made bend. I have seen some of
these much-praised London-made bends that could be easily squeezed
together by the pressure of the thumb and finger. N.B.--Care must be
taken not to reduce or enlarge the size of the bore at the bend.
[Illustration: FIG. 48.]
BAD FALLS IN BENDS.
The fall given in bending lead pipes should be considered of quite as
much importance as making the bends of equal thickness especially for
pipes, as shown in Fig. 49. In this Fig. you have a drawing of a bad
bend. From A to B there is no fall whatever, as also from B to C; such
bending is frequently done and fixed in and about London, which is
not only more work for the plumber, but next to useless for
soil-pipes. Fig. 50 shows how this bend should be made with a good
fall from A to J, also from M to N; the method of making these bends
requires no further explanation. R, P, and K are the turnpins for
opening the ends, the method of which will be explained in a future
paragraph on "Preparing for Fixing."
[Illustration: FIG. 49.]
[Illustration: FIG. 50.]
BENDS MADE INTO TRAPS OR RETARDERS.
It will sometimes be found requisite to retard the flow of water when
running through soil or other pipes, or to direct it to another
course, or even to form a trap in the length of pipe. This has been
done in many ways, but Figs. 51 and 52 represent the method that I,
after mature consideration, think most preferable. There is nothing
new about this style of bending, as it has been long in vogue with
provincial plumbers, but more especially in Kent. For many years it
has had a run as a sink and slop closet-trap. Mr. Baldwin Latham, in
his "Sanitary Engineering," says it was introduced and has been used
for the Surrey and Kent sewers from about 1848.
[Illustration: FIG. 51.]
[Illustration: FIG. 52.]
I have also noticed many of these traps in the Sanitary Exhibition at
South Kensington, made by Graham and Fleming, plumbers, who deserve a
medal for their perseverance and skill, not only for the excellence of
their bends, but also for some other branches of the trade, such as
joint-wiping, etc., which is unquestionably the best work sent into
this Exhibition--in fact, quite equal to that which was shown at the
Exhibition of 1862. I shall treat further of these bends in an article
on Fixing, in a future part.
BENDS MADE WITH THE "SNARLING DUMMY."
This is an American method of making lead bends. Fig. 53 shows a dummy
made upon a bent steel rod, fixed into the bench. The method of
working it is by first pulling up the bend, and to get out the dents,
strike the rod of the snarling dummy, as shown at A, and the reaction
gives a blow within the bend, throwing out the bend to any shape
required. This method of working the dummy is also taken advantage of
in working up embossed vases, etc.
[Illustration: FIG. 53.]
_(To be continued)_
* * * * *
THE GROSSENHAIN SHUTTLE-DRIVER.
The manufacture of fabrics having woofs of different colors requires
the use of several shuttles and boxes containing the different colors
at the extremity of the driver's travel, in which these boxes are
adjusted alternately either by a rectilinear motion, or by a rotary
one when the boxes are arranged upon a cylinder. The controlling
mechanism of the shuttles by means of draught and tie machines
constitutes, at present, the most perfect apparatus of this nature,
because they allow of a choice of any shuttles whatever.
[Illustration: THE GROSSENHAIN SHUTTLE-DRIVER.]
The apparatus constructed by the Grossenhainer Webstuhl und Maschinen
Fabrik, of Grossenhain, and represented in the accompanying cut, is
new as regards its general arrangement, although in its details it
more or less resembles the analogous machines of Schönherr, Crompton,
and Hartmann. The lifting of the shuttles is effected by two sectors,
a1, a2, arranged on the two sides of the loom, and the rotary
motion of which acts upon the box, c, by means of the lever, b,
the box being caused to descend again by the spring, d. Parallel
with the breast beam there is mounted an axle, e, and upon one of
the extremities of this is fixed the sector, a1, while the other
extremity carries two fixed disks, f1, f2, two loose disks,
f3, f4, and the sector, a2, which is connected with the
latter. The disks are kept in position by a brake, g. The pawls,
h1 and h2, are supported on a lever, i, on a level with the
disks, and are connected with the cam, l, by the spring, k. This
cam revolves with the axle of the loom and thrusts the pawls against
the disk. A draught and tie machine controls the action of the pawls
on the disks in such a way that, by the revolution of the sectors,
a1 and a2, the shuttle-boxes, I., II., III., are brought at the
desired moment in the way of the driver. The pawls, h, are connected
by wires with the bent levers, m, of the draught machine, which
carry also the pawls, n. The upper position of the pawls, h, is
limited by the direct resting of the levers, m, on the tappet, o,
and the lower position by the resting of the pawls, n. The plates,
p, held by the pattern, M, are set in motion horizontally by means
of the eccentric, q, the crank, r, and the bent lever, s. The
raised plates abut against the corresponding levers, m, and thus
bring about the descent of the pawls, h, which are suspended from
these levers. This position is maintained by the resting of the
pawls, n, upon the tappet, o, until the lowering of the
corresponding plate has set the pawl, n, free. The lever, m, then
gives way to the action of the spring, t, and the pawl, h, rises
again. The rotation of the cylinder which supports the design, M, is
effected by the motion of the bent lever, s.
* * * * *
INDUSTRIAL ART FOR WOMEN--CARPET DESIGNING.
A meeting of ladies was held in this city recently to consider the
possibilities of industrial art in furnishing occupation for women.
Mrs. Florence E. Cory, Principal of the Woman's Institute of Technical
Design, which was recently established in this city, advanced the
proposition that whatever could be done by man in decorative art could
be done as well by women, and she made an earnest plea to her own sex
to fit themselves by proper training to engage in remunerative
industrial work. Mrs. Cory enjoys the distinction of being the first
woman who ever attempted to make designs for carpets in this country.
She said that four years ago, when she came to this city, there was no
school at which was taught any kind of design as applied to industrial
purposes, except at Cooper Union, where design was taught
theoretically but not practically. During the past year or two,
however, in many branches of industrial design women have been
pressing to the front, and last year eighteen ladies were graduated
from the Boston Institute of Technology. Most of these ladies are now
working as designers for various manufacturers, eight are in print
factories, designing for chintz and calico, two have become designers
for oil-cloths, one is designing for a carpet company, and one for a
china factory. Carpet designing, said Mrs. Cory, is especially fitted
for women's work. It opens a wide field to them that is light,
pleasant, and remunerative. The demand for good carpet designs far
exceeds the supply, and American manufactures are sending to Europe,
particularly England and France, for hundreds of thousands of dollars'
worth of designs yearly. If the same quality of designs could be made
in this country the manufacturers would gladly patronize home talent.
One carpet firm alone pays $100,000 a year for its designing
department, and of this sum several thousands of dollars go to foreign
markets. More technical knowledge is required for carpet designing
than for any other industrial design. It is necessary to have a fair
knowledge of the looms, runnings of color, and manner of weaving.
Hitherto this knowledge has been very difficult, if not impossible,
for women to obtain. But now there are a few places where competent
instruction in this branch of industrial art is given.
There are several kinds of work connected with this business that may
be done at home by those who wish, and at very fair prices. The price
of copying an ingrain design is from $3 to $6 per sheet. The price for
an original design of the same size is from $10 to $20. For Brussels
or tapestry sketches, which may be made at home, provided they are as
good as the average sketch, the artists receive from $15 to $30. For
moquettes, Axminsters, and the higher grades of carpets some artists
are paid as high as $200. The average price, however, is from $25 to
$100. These designs may all be made at home, carried to the
manufacturer, submitted to his judgment, and if approved, will be
purchased. After the purchase, if the manufacturer desires the artist
to put the design upon the lines and the artist chooses to do so, the
work may still be done at home, and the pay will range from $20 to $75
extra for each design so finished. The average length of time for
making a design is, for ingrains, two per week; Brussels sketch, three
per week; Brussels on the lines, one in two weeks; moquettes and
Axminsters, one in two or three weeks, depending of course upon the
elaborateness and size of the pattern. When the work is done at the
designing-rooms, and the artist is required to give his or her time
from 9 o'clock in the morning until 5 in the afternoon, the salaries
run about as follows: For a good original ingrain designer, from
$2,000 to $3,000 per year. A good Brussels and tapestry designer from
$1,500 to $6,000 per year. Copyists and shaders, from $3 to $10 per
week.
Mrs. R.A. Morse advocated the establishment of schools of industrial
art, in which there would be special departments so that young girls
might be trained to follow some practical calling. Mrs. Dr. French
said that unskilled labor and incompetent workmen were the bane and
disgrace of this country, and she thought that the field of industrial
art was very inviting to women. She disparaged the custom of
decorating chinaware and little fancy articles, and said that if the
time thus wasted by women was applied to the study of practical
designing those who persevered in the latter branch of industrial art
might earn liberal wages. Miss Requa, of the Public School Department,
explained that elementary lessons in drawing were taught in the public
schools. Mme. Roch, who is thoroughly familiar with industrial and
high art in both this country and in Europe, said that if the American
people would apply themselves more carefully to the study of designing
they could easily produce as good work as came from abroad. The
beauties to be seen in American nature alone surpassed anything that
she had ever witnessed in the old countries.
* * * * *
PHOTOGRAPHY UPON CANVAS.
One of the most extensive establishments for the purpose is that of
Messrs. Winter, in Vienna. They say to photographers in general: If
you will send us a portrait, either negative or positive, we will
produce you an enlargement on canvas worked up in monochrome. The
success of their undertaking lies in the circumstance that they do not
produce colored work--or, at any rate, it is exceptional on their part
to do so--but devote their efforts to the production of an artistic
portrait in brown or sepia. In this way they can make full use of the
dark brown photograph itself; there is less necessity for tampering
with the enlarged image, and natural blemishes in the model itself
maybe softened and modified, without interfering much with the true
lines of face and features. The monotone enlargements of Messrs.
Winter, again, exquisitely as most of them are finished, do not appear
to provoke the opposition of the painter; they do not cross his path,
and hence he is more willing to do them justice. Many a would-be
purchaser has been frightened out of his intention to buy an
enlargement by the scornful utterance of an artist friend about
"painted photographs," and in these days of cheap club portraits there
is certainly much risk of good work falling into disrepute. But a
well-finished portrait in monotone disarms the painter, and he is
willing to concede that the picture has merit.
"We cannot use English canvas, or 'shirting,' as you call it," said
one of our hosts; "it seems to contain so much fatty matter." The
German material, on the other hand, would appear to be fit for
photography as soon as it had been thoroughly worked in hot water and
rinsed. Here, in this apartment, paved with red brick, we see several
pieces of canvas drying. It is a large room, very clean, here and
there a washing trough, and in one corner two or three large
horizontal baths. The appearance is that of a wash-house, except that
all the assistants are men, and not washerwomen; there is plenty of
water everywhere, and the floor is well drained to allow of its
running off. We are to be favored with a sight of the whole process,
and this is the first operation.
Into one of the horizontal baths, measuring about 5 by 4 feet, is put
the salting solution. It is a bath that can be rocked, or inclined in
any direction, for its center rests upon a ball-and-socket joint. It
is of _papier mâché_, the inside covered with white enamel. Formerly,
only bromine salts were employed, but now the following formula is
adopted:
Bromide of potassium................... 3 parts.
Iodide of potassium.................... 1 part.
Bromide of cadmium..................... 1 "
Water................................ 240 parts.
Four assistants are required in the operation, and the same number
when it comes to sensitizing and developing, all of which processes
are commenced in the same way. The bath is tilted so that the liquid
collects at one end, and near this end two assistants hold across the
bath a stout glass rod; then the canvas is dipped into the liquid, and
drawn out by two other assistants over the glass rod. In this way the
canvas is thoroughly saturated, and, at the same time, drained of
superfluous liquid.
The canvas is hung up to dry; but as sometime must elapse before this
particular piece will be ready for sensitizing, we proceed with
another canvas which is fit and proper for that process. The room, we
should have mentioned, is provided with windows of yellow glass; but
as there is plenty of light nevertheless, the fact hardly strikes one
on entering. The sensitizing, with a solution of nitrate of silver, is
conducted with a glass rod in the same way as before, the solution
being thus compounded:
Nitrate of silver........................ 4 parts.
Citric acid.............................. 1 part.
Water.................................. 140 parts.
Again the canvas is dried, and then comes its exposure.
This is done in a room adjoining. We lift a curtain and enter a space
that reminds one of the underground regions of a theater. There are
curtained partitions and wooden structures on every hand; dark murky
corners combined with brilliant illumination. Messrs. Winter use the
electric light for enlarging, a lamp of Siemens' driven by a six-horse
power engine. The lamp is outside the enlarging room, and three large
lenses, or condensers, on three sides of the light, permit the making
of three enlargements at one end at the same time. (See Fig.)
[Illustration]
The condenser collects the rays, and these shine into a camera
arrangement in which the small negative is contained. The enlarged
image is then projected, magic lantern fashion, upon the screen, to
which is fastened the sensitized canvas. The screen in question is
upon a tramway--there are three tramways and three screens in all, as
shown in our sketch--and for this reason it is easy to advance and
retire the canvas, for the purpose of properly focusing it.
Even with the electric light now employed, it is necessary to expose a
considerable time to secure a vigorous impression. From ten minutes to
half an hour is the usual period, determined by the assistant, whose
experienced eye is the only guide. We should estimate the distance of
the cameras from the enlarging apparatus to be about fourteen or
fifteen feet in the instance we saw, and when the canvas was taken
down, a distinct outline of the image was visible on its surface.
By the way, we ought to mention that the canvas is in a decidedly limp
state during these operations. It has just sufficient stiffness to
keep smooth on the screen, and that is all; the treatment it has
received appears to have imparted no increase of substance to it.
Again it is brought into the red-brick washing apartment, and again
treated in one of the white enameled baths as before. This time it is
the developer that is contained in the bath, and the small limp
tablecloth--for that is what it looks like--after being drawn over the
glass rod, is put back into the bath, and the developing solution
rocked to and fro over it. The whiteness of the bath lining assists
one in forming a judgment of the image as it now gradually develops
and grows stronger. Here is the formula of the developer:
Pyrogallic acid......................... 10 parts.
Citric acid............................. 45 "
Water...................................410 "
The developer--which, it will be noted, is very acid--is warmed before
it is used, say to a temperature of 30° to 40° C.; nevertheless, the
development does not proceed very quickly. As we watched, exactly
eight minutes elapsed before Mr. Winter cried out sharply, "That will
do." Immediately one of the assistants seizes the wet canvas, crumples
it up without more ado, as if it were dirty linen, and takes it off to
a wooden washing trough, where it is kneaded and washed in true
washerwoman fashion. Water in plenty is sluiced over it, and after
more vigorous manipulation still, it is passed from trough to trough
until deemed sufficiently free from soluble salts to tone. The
toning--done in the ordinary way with gold--removes any unpleasant
redness the picture possesses, and then follows the fixing operation
in hyposulphite. As canvas is more permeable than paper, these two
last processes are quickly got through.
The final washing of the canvas is very thorough. Again it is treated
with all the vigor with which a good laundry-maid attacks dirty linen,
the canvas, in the end, being consigned to a regular washing-machine,
in which it is systematically worked for some time.
When the canvas picture at last is finished, it presents a very rough
appearance, by reason of the tiny fibers that stand erect all over the
surface. To lay these, and also to improve the surface generally, the
canvas is waxed, the fabric is stretched, and a semi-fluid mass rubbed
into it, heat being used in the process, which not only gives
brilliancy, but seems also to impart transparency to the shadows of
the picture. The result is a pleasant finish, without vulgar glare or
glaze, the high lights remaining beautifully pure and white.
Of course, the price of these canvas enlargements varies with the
amount of artistic work subsequently put upon them; but the usual
charge made by Messrs. Winter for a well-finished life-size portrait,
three quarter length, is sixty florins, or about £5 sterling as the
exchange now stands. Besides working for photographers, Messrs. Winter
are reproducing a large number of classic paintings and cartoons by
photography on canvas in this way (some of them almost absolutely
untouched), and these, as may be supposed, are finding a very large
sale among dealers. Such copies must necessarily be of considerable
value to artists and collectors, and altogether it would seem that
Messrs. Winter have hit upon a novel undertaking, which bids fair to
make them a handsome return for the outlay (large as it undoubtedly
has been) made upon their Vienna establishment.--_Photo. News._
* * * * *
DETECTION OF STARCH SUGAR SIRUP MIXED WITH SUGAR-HOUSE
MOLASSES.[1]
[Footnote 1: A Paper read before the American Chemical Society,
September 2, 1881.]
BY P. CASAMAJOR.
In previous communications I have given processes for detecting the
adulteration of cane-sugar by starch-sugar. The adulteration of
sugar-house sirups by starch glucose is still more extensively
practiced than that of sugar, and a great portion of sirups sold by
retailers in this market is adulterated with starch glucose. This form
of adulteration may be very easily detected by the use of strong
methylic alcohol, in which the alcoholometer of Tralles or of Gay
Lussac will indicate about 93½°.
A straight sugar-house sirup when mixed with three times its volume of
this strong methylic alcohol will dissolve by stirring, giving a very
slight turbidity, which remains suspended; while sirups containing the
usual admixture of starch sugar give a very turbid liquid, which
separates, when left at rest, into two layers, the lower being a thick
viscous deposit containing the glucose sirup.
Considerable quantities are sold of a thin sirup, of about 32° Baumé,
in which the proportion of sugar to the impurities is greater than in
common sugar-house molasses. When a sirup of this kind is stirred with
three times its volume of methylic alcohol, a marked turbidity and
deposition will take place, which consists of pure sugar. The crystals
are hard and gritty. They adhere to the sides of the glass, and are
deposited on the bottom. There is no resemblance between this
precipitate and that due to starch sugar sirup.
It may not be useless to mention that if a straight sugar-house sirup
of about 40° B. density is stirred with three times its volume of
_ethylic_ alcohol of about 93½° the sirup will not dissolve. Hence
ethylic alcohol of this strength is not suitable for distinguishing a
sirup mixed with starch glucose from a _straight_ sugar-house sirup.
The presence of starch glucose in sugar-house molasses may be easily
detected by the optical saccharometer when the sirup has the usual
density of about 40° B., and when starch sugar has been added in the
usual quantities.
For making the test the usual weight should be taken (16.35 grammes
for Duboscq's saccharometer, and 26.048 grammes for Ventzke's
instrument). The direct test should show a percentage of sugar not
higher than the number of Baumé degrees indicating the density, and it
may be from 2 to 3 per cent. lower. To understand this, we must refer
to the composition of cane-sugar molasses of 40° B.:
Sugar.......................................37.5
Insoluble impurities........................37.5
Water.......................................25
If the direct test should indicate 55 per cent. of sugar, and if the
molasses were straight, the composition would be--
Sugar...........................................55
Soluble impurities..............................20
Water...........................................25
Now, a product of this composition would not be a clear sirup at 40°
B., but a mixture of sirup and crystals. Therefore, if the product is
a clear sirup at 40° B., and it tests 55 per cent., it cannot be
_straight_.
The presence of starch glucose in sugar-house molasses may also be
detected by the copper test. The possibility of applying this test, as
well as those already indicated, rests on the fact that starch glucose
is always added in very large quantities for the purposes of
adulteration. A very small addition could not be satisfactorily
detected.
The detection by the copper test rests on the observation that very
nearly one-half of the soluble impurities in sugar-house molasses
consists of glucose in the shape of inverted sugar. We have seen above
that for a molasses of 40° B. the soluble impurities amount to about
37½ per cent. We may, then, lay down the rule: that the percentage of
glucose shown by the copper test cannot, in a straight sugar-house
molasses, be much greater than one-half of the number expressing the
density in Baumé degrees. The reason is obvious from what has been
said of the test by the optical saccharometer.
* * * * *
FALSE VERMILION.--A curious case has been noticed in Germany,
where a small cargo of vermilion was purchased, and, upon being
analyzed, turned out to be red oxide of lead colored by eosine. This
is an entirely novel sophistication. The eosine was separated from the
oxide of lead by digesting the product for twenty-four hours in very
strong alcohol. A much shorter time is sufficient to color the spirit
enough to enable an expert chemist to detect the presence of this
splendid organic coloring matter. Another kind of "vermilion" consists
entirely of peroxide of iron, prepared especially to imitate the
brilliant and costly sulphide of mercury, which it does very well, and
is largely used in England, France, and America.
* * * * *
THE POSITION OF MANGANESE IN MODERN INDUSTRY.
BY M.V. DESHAYES.
No body among the metals and the metalloids (silicium, titanium,
tungsten, chromium, phosphorus, etc.) has occupied a more prominent
position in modern metallurgy than _manganese_, and it is chiefly due
to its great affinity for oxygen. When this substance was discovered,
more than a century ago (1774), by the celebrated Swedish chemist and
mineralogist, Gahn, by treating the black oxide of manganese in the
crucible, no one would have thought that the new element, so delicate
by itself, without any direct industrial use, would become, in the
middle of the nineteenth century, one of the most powerful and
necessary instruments for the success of the Bessemer process, as well
for its deoxidizing properties as for the qualities which it imparts
to steel, increasing its resistance, its durability, and its
elasticity, as has been shown elsewhere.
Without entering into a complete history (for it is beyond the task
which we have here assumed),[1] it will not be without interest to
recall how, when manganese was first obtained in a pure state, that it
was supposed that it would remain simply an object of curiosity in the
laboratory; but when its presence was proved in spiegeleisen and when
it came to be considered an essential ingredient in the best German
and English works for cutlery steel (where it is thrown into the
crucible as the peroxide), then we find that its qualities become
better and better appreciated; and it is surprising that no
technologist ever devoted his attention to the production of manganese
alloys.
[Footnote 1: See _Engineering_, May 27, 1881]
It was not till after the investigations of Dr. Percy, Tamm, Prieger,
and Bessemer, who employed crucibles for the production of these
alloys, that Hendersen received the idea of utilizing it in the
Siemens furnace. So important a compound could not remain unemployed.
The works at Terre Noire produced, by the Martin furnace, for a number
of years, ferro-manganese of 70 to 80 per cent. Shortly afterward,
when competition in the market was established, the works at Carniola
and at Carinthia, some English factories, and more especially the
works at Saint-Louis, near Marseilles, of Terre Noire, of Montluçon,
etc., successfully adopted the manufacture of _ferro-manganese with
the blast furnace_, which is without doubt the method best adapted for
the reduction of metallic oxides, as well in consideration of the
reactions as from an economical point of view. Before very long it was
possible to produce, by the blast furnace, alloys of 40, 60, 80, and
even 86 per cent., in using the hot air apparatus of Siemens, Cowper,
and Witwell, with the employment of good coke, and principally by
calculating the charges for the fusion in such a manner as to obtain
an extra basic and refractory slag.
Following in the same path, the Phoenix Co., of Ruhrort, sent, in
1880, to the Metallurgical Exposition of Dusseldorf, samples of
ferro-manganese obtained in a blast furnace, with an extra basic slag
in which the silica was almost entirely replaced by alumina. The works
of L'Esperance, at Oberhausen, exhibited similar products, quite pure
as to sulphur and phosphorus, and they had a double interest at the
exhibition, in consideration of the agitation over the Thomas and
Gilchrist process (see the discussions which were raised at the
meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute). This process unfortunately
requires for its prompt success the use of a very large quantity of
spiegel or of ferro-manganese, in order to sufficiently carburize and
deoxidize the burnt iron, which is the final product of the blowing.
The production of ferro-manganese by the blast furnace depends upon
the following conditions.
1. A high temperature.
2. On a proper mixture of the iron ores and the manganese.
3. On the production of slag rich in bases.
These different conditions may be obtained with but slight variations
at the different works, but the condition of a high temperature is one
of the most important considerations, not only for the alloys of
manganese, but equally as well for the alloys of iron, manganese,
silicium, those of chromium, of tungsten, etc. It is also necessary to
study the effects produced either in the crucible or in the blast
furnace, and to examine the ores which for a long while have been
regarded as not reducible.
The works of Terre Noire especially made at the same time, in the
blast furnace, ferro-silicon with manganese, alloys which are daily
becoming more important for the manufacture of steels tempered soft
and half soft without blowing.
These alloys, rich in silicon, present the peculiarity of being poor
in carbon, the amount of this latter element varying with the
proportions of manganese. In addition to the alloys used in the iron
and steel industry, we shall proceed to relate the recent progress
obtained in the metallurgy of other materials (especially copper) by
the use of _cupro-manganese_:
+---+---------+-------+---------+---------+------+------------------------------
| | Mn. | C. | Si. | S. | P. |
| |per cent.| | | | |
+---+---------+-------+---------+---------+------+
| A | 18 to 20| 2 to 3| 10 to 12| Traces | |Extra Quality for soft metals.
| B | 15 to 18| 3.00 | 10 to 8 | scarcely|About |} Medium Quality
| C | 15 to 10| 3.25 | 8 to 6 | percep- |0.100.|}
| D | 5 to 10| 3.50 | 4 to 6 | tible. | |Ordinary for hard metals.
+---+---------+-------+---------+---------+------+------------------------------
The first alloys of manganese and copper were made in 1848, by Von
Gersdorff; soon after Prof. Schrötter of Vienna made compounds
containing 18 or 20 per cent. of manganese by reducing in a crucible
the oxides of copper and manganese mixed with wood charcoal and
exposing to a high heat.
These alloys were quite ductile, very hard, very tenacious, and
capable of receiving a beautiful polish; their color varies from white
to rose color, according to the respective proportions of the two
bodies; they are particularly interesting on account of the results
which were obtained by adding them to certain metallic fusions.
It is well known that in the fining of copper by oxidation there is
left in the fined metal the suboxide of copper, which must then be
removed by the refining process, using carbon to reduce the copper to
its metallic state. M. Manhès, taking advantage of the greater
affinity of manganese for oxygen, found that if this last element was
introduced into the bath of copper during the operation of refining,
the copper suboxide would be reduced and the copper obtained in its
metallic condition. For this purpose during these last years real
cupro-manganese has been prepared, occupying the same position to
copper as the spiegel or the ferro-manganese does toward the
manufacture of steel. M. Manhès used these same alloys for the fusion
of bronze and brass, and recommended the following proportions:
3 to 4 kilog. of cupro-manganese for 100 kilog. of bronze.
0.250 to 1 do. do. do. brass.
0.150 to 1.2 do. do. do. copper.
In every case the alloy is introduced at the moment of pouring, as is
the case in the Bessemer or Martin process, taking care to cover the
fusion with charcoal in order to prevent the contact with air,
together with the use of some kind of a flux to aid in the
scorification of the manganese.
According to M. Manhès a slight proportion of manganese added to
bronze appears to increase its resistance and its ductility, as is
shown in the following table, provided, however, that these different
alloys have been subjected to the same operations from a physical
point of view; that is, pouring, rolling, etc.
--------------------------+-----+-----+------+----------+------------+
| | | | Weight | |
| Cu. | Sn. | Mn. | of | Elongation |
| | | | fracture | |
--------------------------+-----+-----+------+----------+------------+
Ordinary Bronze | 90 | 10 | | 20 kil. | 4.00 |
Bronze with Manganese, A, | 90 | 10 | 0.5 | 24 " | 15.00 |
Do. do. B, | 90 | 10 | 1.0 | 26 " | 20.00 |
--------------------------+-----+-----+------+----------+------------+
The White Brass Co., of London, exhibited at Paris, in 1878, manganese
bronzes of four grades of durability, destined for different uses and
corresponding to about 20 to 25 kilos of the limit of elasticity, and
36 to 37 kilos of resistance to fracture; the number 0 is equivalent
after rolling to a resistance to fracture of 46.5 kilos, and 20 to 25
per cent. of elongation.
Such results show beyond contradiction the great interest there is in
economically producing alloys of copper, manganese, tin, zinc, etc. In
addition, they may be added to metallic fusions, for deoxidizing and
also to communicate to the commercial alloys (such as bronze, brass,
etc.) the greatest degree of resistance and tenacity.
While many investigators have tried to form alloys of copper and
manganese by combining them in the metallic state (that is to say, by
the simultaneous reduction of their oxides), the Hensler Bros., of
Dillenburg, have found it best to first prepare the _metallic
manganese_ and then to alloy it in proper proportions with other
metals. Their method consisted of reducing the pure pyrolusite in
large plumbago crucibles, in the presence of carbon and an extra basic
flux; the operation was carried on in a strong coke fire, and at the
end of about six hours the _crude manganese_ is poured out, having the
following composition:
Manganese 90 to 92
Carbon 6 to 6.5
Iron 0.5 to 1.5
Silicon 0.5 to 1.2
By refining, the manganese can be brought up to 94 to 95 per cent. of
purity. It is from this casting of pure manganese that is obtained the
substance used as a base for the alloys. This metal is white,
crystalline, when exposed to the damp air slowly oxidizes, and readily
combines with copper to form the _cupro-manganese_ of the variety
having the composition--
Copper 70
Manganese 30
Cast in ingots or in pigs it becomes an article of commerce which may
be introduced in previously determined proportions into bronze, gun
metal, bell metal, brass, etc. It may also be used, as we have already
mentioned, for the refining of copper according to Manhès's process.
Tests made from this standpoint at the works of Mansfield have shown
that the addition of 0.45 per cent. of cupro-manganese is sufficient
to give tenacity to the copper, which, thus treated, will not contain
more than 0.005 to 0.022 of oxygen, the excess passing off with the
manganese into the scorias.
On the other hand, the addition of cupro-manganese is recommended,
when it is desirable to cast thin pieces of the metal, such as tubes,
caldrons, kitchen utensils, which formerly could only be obtained by
beating and stamping.
The tenacity obtained for tubes of only three centimeters in diameter
and 1.75 millimeters in thickness is such that they are able to
withstand a pressure of 1,100 pounds to the square inch.
The _manganese bronze_, which we have previously referred to, and
which is used by the White Brass Company of London, is an alloy of
copper, with from one to ten per cent. of manganese; the highest
qualities of resistance, ductility, tenacity, and durability are
obtained with one to four per cent. of manganese, while with twelve
per cent. the metal becomes too weak for industrial uses.
+-----------+---------+-----------+-------------+------------+
| Manganese | | | Weight of | |
| bronze. | Copper.| Manganese.| fracture in | Elongation.|
| | | | kilos per | |
| | | | square mm. | |
+-----------+---------+-----------+-------------+------------+
| A | 96.00 | 4.00 | 19.00 | 14.60 |
| B | 95.00 | 5.00 | 20.62 | 10.00 |
| C | 94.00 | 6.00 | 20.80 | 14.60 |
| D | 90.00 | 10.00 | 16.56 | 5.00 |
+-----------+---------+-----------+-------------+------------+
The preceding table gives some of the experimental results obtained
with the testing machine at Friedrich-Wilhelmshütte on the crude cast
ingots; the resistance is increased, as with copper, by rolling or
hammering.
The _manganese German silver_ consists of
Copper................ 70.00
Manganese............. 15.00
Zinc.................. 15.00
But as this alloy often breaks in rolling, the preference is given to
the following proportions:
Copper................ 80.00
Manganese............. 15.00
Zinc.................. 5.00
This results in a white, ductile metal, which is easily worked and
susceptible of receiving a beautiful polish, like the alloys of
nickel, which it may in time completely replace.
The _bronzes of manganese, tin, and zinc_ were perhaps the first upon
which important investigations were made; they were obtained by adding
to an alloy of copper, zinc, and tin (ordinary bronze) a definite
quantity of the cupro-manganese of the type indicated above (Cu 70, Mn
30). By this means the resistance is increased fully nine per cent.,
probably in the same way as the copper, that is, by the deoxidizing
effect of the manganese, as both the copper and the tin are always
more or less oxidized in ordinary bronzes.
Manganese combines with tin just the same as it does with copper, and
the proportion which is recommended as giving the highest resistances
is three to six per cent. of cupro-manganese.
However, notwithstanding the use of cupro-manganese, the tin, as in
ordinary bronzes, has a tendency to liquate in those portions of the
mould which are the hottest, and which become solid the last,
especially in the case of moulds having a great width.
From a series of experiments made at Isabelle Hütte, it has been found
that the metal which has the greatest resisting qualities was obtained
from
Copper......................85.00
Manganese................... 6.00
Zinc........................ 5.00
5 per cent. of cupro-manganese = manganese 1.00 remaining in the
metal.
The best method of procedure is first to melt the copper in a
crucible, and then to add the tin and the zinc; finally the
cupro-manganese is added just at the moment of pouring, as in the
Manhès process; then the reaction on the oxides is very effective,
there is a boiling with scintillation similar to the action produced
in the Bessemer and Martin process when ferro-manganese is added to
the bath of steel.
The following are some of the results obtained from thirteen alloys
obtained in this manner. These samples were taken direct from the
casting and were tested with the machine at Friedrich-Wilhelms-hütte,
and with the one at the shops of the Rhine Railroad. Their resistance
was considerably increased, as with the other alloys, by rolling or
hammering.
-------+------+------+-----+---------+---------+----------+--------+-------+
| | | | | | | Weight | |
| | | | | |Limit of | of | Elong-|
|Nature| | | | |elasticity|fracture| ation,|
| of | | | | Cupro- |in kilos |in kilos| per- |
Numbers|mould.|Copper| Tin.| Zinc. |manganese|per mm. | per mm.|centage|
-------+------+------+-----+---------+---------+----------+--------+-------+
1 | Sand | 85.00| 6.00| 5.00 | | 11.30 | 16.00 | -- |
2 | -- | 85.00| 6.00| 5.00 | 4.00 | 13.00 | 16.10 | 2.00 |
3 | Cast.| 87.00| 8.70| 4.30 | 4.00 | -- | 19.40 | -- |
4 | -- | 85.00| 6.90| 5.00 | 6.00 | -- | 18.80 | 6.00 |
5 | -- | 85.00| 6.00| 5.00 | 6.00 | -- | 19.75 | 7.00 |
6 | -- | 85.00| 6.00| 5.00 | 10.00 | -- | 17.15 | 4.00 |
7 | Sand | 87.00| 5.20| 4.33 | 3.47 | -- | 19.70 | 8.70 |
8 | -- | 87.00| 5.20| 4.33 | 3.47 | -- | 19.70 | 8.90 |
9 | -- | 85.00| 6.00| 5.00 | 3.00 | 16.80 | 22.00 | -- |
10 | -- | 74.00|10.00| 5.00 | 3.30 | 13.80 | 18.70 | -- |
| | | |(7.66 Pb)| | | | |
11 | -- | 78.70| 8.00| ( 8 Pb) | 3.30 | 13.80 | 20.70 | -- |
12 | -- | 82.00| 9.80| 4.90 | 3.30 | 14.75 | 19.75 | -- |
13 | -- | 86.20|16.50| -- | 3.30 | 14.30 | 24.70 | -- |
-------+------+------+-----+---------+---------+----------+--------+-------+
The results of the tests of ductility which are here given, with
reference to the _cupro-manganese_, _manganese bronze_, the _alloys_
with _zinc_ and _tin_, are taken from M.C. Hensler's very valuable
communication to the Berlin Society for the Advancement of the
Industrial Arts.
These various alloys, as well as the _phosphorus bronze_, of which we
make no mention here, are at present very largely used in the
manufacture of technical machines, as well as for supports, valves,
stuffing-boxes, screws, bolts, etc., which require the properties of
resistance and durability. They vastly surpass in these qualities the
brass and like compounds which have been used hitherto for these
purposes.--_Bull. Soc. Chim., Paris_, xxxvi. p. 184.
* * * * *
THE ECONOMICAL WASHING OF COAL GAS AND SMOKE.
In a recent number of the _Journal des Usines à Gaz_ appears a note by
M. Chevalet, on the chemical and physical purification of gas, which
was one of the papers submitted to the Société Technique de
l'Industrie du Gaz en France at the last ordinary meeting. This
communication is noticeable, apart from the author's conclusions, for
the fact that the processes described were not designed originally for
use in gas manufacture, but were first used to purify, or rather to
remove the ammonia which is to be found in all factory chimneys, and
especially in certain manufactories of bone-black, and in spirit
distilleries. It is because of the success which attended M.
Chevalet's treatment of factory smoke that he turned his attention to
coal gas. The communication in which M. Chevalet's method is described
deals first with chimney gases, in order to show the difficulties of
the first class of work done by the author's process. Like coal gas,
chimney gases contain in suspension solid particles, such as soot and
ashes. Before washing these gases in a bath of sulphuric acid, in
order to retain the ammonia, there were two problems to be solved. It
was first of all necessary to cool the gases down to a point which
should not exceed the boiling-point of the acid employed in washing;
and then to remove the solid particles which would otherwise foul the
acid. In carrying out this mechanical purification it was impossible,
for two reasons, to make use of apparatus of the kind used in gas
works; the first obstacle was the presence of solid particles carried
forward by the gaseous currents, and the other difficulty was the
volume of gas to be dealt with. In the example to which the author's
attention was directed he had to purify 600 cubic meters of chimney
gas per minute, or 36,000 cubic meters per hour, while the gas
escaped from the flues at a temperature of from 400° to 500° C. (752°
to 932° Fahr.), and a large quantity of cinders had frequently to be
removed from the main chimney flues. After many trials a simple
appliance was constructed which successfully cooled the gases and
freed them from ashes. This consisted of a vertical screen, with bars
three mm. apart, set in water. This screen divided the gases into thin
sheets before traversing the water, and by thus washing and
evaporating the water the gases were cooled, and threw down the soot
and ashes, and these impurities fell to the bottom of the water bath.
The gases after this process are divested of the greater part of any
tarry impurities which they may have possessed, and are ready for the
final purification, in which ammonia is extracted. This is effected by
means of a series of shallow trays, covered with water or weak acid,
and pierced with a number of fine holes, through which the gas is made
to bubble. The washing apparatus is therefore strangely similar in
principle to that designed by Mr G. Livesey. M. Chevalet states that
this double process is applicable to gas works as well as to the
purification of smoke, with the difference that for the latter purpose
the washing trays are filled with acid for the retention of ammonia,
while in the former application gas liquor or water is used. The
arrangement is said to be a practical success.--_Journal of Gas
Lighting._
* * * * *
DETERMINATION OF NITROGEN IN HAIR, WOOL, DRIED BLOOD, FLESH MEAL,
AND LEATHER SCRAPS.
BY DR. C. KRAUCH.
Differences obtained in the estimation of nitrogen in the above
substances are frequently the source of much annoyance. The cause of
these discrepancies is chiefly due to the lack of uniformity in the
material, and from its not being in a sufficiently fine state during
the combustion. The hair which is found in commerce for the
manufacture of fertilizers, is generally mixed with sand and dust.
Wool dust often contains old buttons, pieces of wood, shoe pegs, and
all sorts of things. The flesh fertilizers are composed of light
particles of flesh mixed with the heavier bone dust.
Even after taking all possible precautions to finely comminute these
substances by mechanical means, still only imperfect results are
obtained, for the impurities, that is to say, the sand, can never be
so intimately mixed with the lighter particles that a sample of 0.5 to
0.8 gramme, such as is used in the determination of nitrogen, will
correspond to the correct average contents. In substances such as
dried blood, pulverization is very tedious. A very good method of
overcoming these difficulties, and of obtaining from the most mixed
substances a perfectly homogeneous mass, is that recommended by
Grandeau[1] of decomposing with sulphuric acid--a method which as yet
does not seem to be generally known. From a large quantity of the
substance to be examined, the coarse stones, etc., are removed by
picking or sifting, and the prepared substance, or in cases where the
impurities cannot be separated, the original substance, is treated
with sulphuric acid; after it is decomposed, the acid is neutralized
with calcium carbonate, and the nitrogen is determined in this mass.
[Footnote 1: _Handbook d. Agrict. Chem. Analyst._, p. 18.]
In order to operate rapidly, it is best to use as little sulphuric
acid as possible. If too much sulphuric acid is used, necessarily a
large amount of calcium carbonate is essential to get it into proper
condition for pulverizing. Under such circumstances the percentage of
nitrogen becomes very low, and a slight error will become
correspondingly high.
20 c.c. of concentrated sulphuric acid and 10 c.c. are sufficient for
30 to 40 grammes of material. After the substance and liquid have been
thoroughly stirred in a porcelain dish, they are warmed on a water
bath and continually stirred until the mass forms a homogeneous
liquid. The sirupy liquid thus obtained is then mixed with 80 to 100
grammes of pulverized calcium carbonate (calcspar), dried for fifteen
minutes at 40 to 60° C., and after standing for one to two hours the
dish and its contents are weighed. From the total weight the weight of
the dish is subtracted, which gives the weight of the calcium sulphate
and the calcium carbonate, and the known weight of the wool dust, etc.
This material is then intimately ground, and 2 to 3 grammes of it are
taken for the determination of the nitrogen, which is then calculated
for the original substance.
Although the given quantities of water and sulphuric acid hardly
appear sufficient for such a large quantity of hair or wool, still in
the course of a few minutes to a quarter of an hour, after continual
stirring, there is obtained a liquid which, after the addition of the
calcium carbonate, is readily converted into a pulverized mass.
Frequently a smaller quantity of sulphuric acid will suffice,
especially if the material is moist. The chief merit of this process
is that in a short time a large quantity of material, having a uniform
character, is obtained. Its use is, therefore, recommended for general
employment.
When the coarser stones, etc., are weighed, and the purified portion
decomposed, absolutely correct results are obtained, and in this way
the awkward discrepancies from different analysts may be
avoided.--_Chemiker Zeitung_, v. 7, p. 703.
* * * * *
TESTING WHITE BEESWAX FOR CERESINE AND PARAFFINS.
BY A. PELTZ.
The method which is here recommended originated with Dr. M. Buchner,
and consists in preparing a concentrated solution of alcoholic caustic
potash--one part caustic potash to three of 90 per cent. alcohol--and
then boiling one to two grammes of the suspected wax in a small flask
with the above solution. The liquid is poured into a glass cylinder to
prevent solidification of the contents, and it is then placed for
about one half hour in boiling water. With pure wax the solution
remains clear white; when ceresine and paraffine are present, they
will float on the surface of the alkali solution as an oily layer, and
on cooling they will appear lighter in color than the saponified mass,
and thus they may be quantitatively estimated. The author likewise
gives a superficial method for the determination of the purity of
beeswax. It depends on the formation of wax crystals when the fused
wax solidifies. These crystals form on the surface on cooling, and are
still visible after solidification when examining the surface from the
side. The test succeeds best when the liquid wax is poured into a
shallow tin mould After cooling another peculiar property of the wax
becomes apparent. While the beeswax fills a smaller volume, that is,
separates from the sides of the mould, the Japanese wax, without
separating from the sides, becomes covered with cracks on cooling
which have a depth corresponding to the thickness of the wax.--_Neuste
Erfindungen und Erfahrungen_, viii., p. 430.
* * * * *
THE PREVENTION OF ALCOHOLIC FERMENTATION BY FUNGI.
BY PROF. E. REICHARD.
The manager of a well directed brewery, which was built according to
the latest improvements and provided with ice-cooling arrangements,
found that the alcoholic fermentation of lager beer did not advance
with proper regularity. The beer did not clarify well, it remained
turbid and had a tendency to assume a disagreeable odor and taste.
Microscopic examination of the yeast, however, showed the same to be
bottom yeast. After some time its action apparently diminished, or
rather, the fermentation, which began well, ceased, and at the same
time a white foam formed in the center of the vat. The manager
observing this, again submitted it to microscopic examination. The
instrument revealed a number of much smaller forms of fungi, similar
to those of young yeast, and some which were excessively large, a
variety never found in bottom yeast. Fully appreciating the
microscopic examination, and aware of the danger which the spread of
the fungi could cause, the manager resorted to all known means to
retard its pernicious influence. Fresh yeast was employed, and the
fermenting vats throughly cleaned, both inside and out, but the
phenomena reappeared, showing that the transmission took place through
the air. A microscopic examination of a gelatinous coating on the wall
of the fermenting room further explained the matter. Beginning at the
door of the ice cellar, the walls were covered with a gelatinous mass,
which, even when placed beneath the microscope, showed no definite
organic structure; however it contained numerous threads of fungi.
Notwithstanding the precautions which were taken for cleanliness,
these germs traveled from the ceiling through the air into the
fermenting liquid and there produced a change, which would ultimately
have caused the destruction of all the beer.
For a third time and by altogether different means, it was
demonstrated that the air was the bearer of these germs. The whole
atmosphere was infected, and a simple change of air was by no manner
of means sufficient, as has already been shown. In addition, these
observations throw considerable light on the means by which contagious
diseases are spread, for often a room, a house, or the entire
neighborhood appears to be infected. It must also be remembered how,
in times of plague, large fires were resorted as to a method of
purifying the air.
With the infinite distribution of germs, and as they are always
present in all places where any organic portions of vegetable or
animal matter are undergoing decomposition, it becomes, under certain
circumstances, exceedingly difficult, and at times even impossible, to
trace the direct effect of these minute germs. The organism is exposed
to the destructive action of the most minute creation; several changes
in this case give to them the direct effect of the acting germs. The
investigation of the chemist does not extend beyond the chemical
changes; nevertheless these phenomena are directly explained by the
microscope, without which, in the present case, the discovery of the
cause would have remained unknown.--_Arch. der Pharm._, 214, 158.
* * * * *
NEW REACTION OF GLYCERINE.
If two drops of phenic acid are diluted with three thousand to five
thousand parts of water, a distinct blue color is produced by one drop
of solution of perchloride of iron.
The addition of six or eight drops of glycerine entirely removes the
color, and if any glycerine was present in the liquid the reaction
does not take place at all. By this test the presence of 1 per cent.
of glycerine can be detected. It may be applied to the analysis of
wines, beers, etc., but when there is much sugar, extractive or
coloring matter, the test can only be applied after evaporating,
dissolving the residue in alcohol and ether, evaporating again, and
then redissolving in water. Alkaline solutions must be first
acidulated.--_Pharm. Zeit. für Russ._
* * * * *
LYCOPODINE.
While the phanerogams or flowering plants annually contribute to the
list of newly discovered alkaloids, with the exception of muscarine
and amanitine, no alkaloid has as yet been definitely recognized among
the cryptogams.
Karl Bödeker, of Göttingen, has opened the road in this direction, and
gives in a paper sent to Liebig's _Annalen der Chemie_, August 15,
1881, the following account of an alkaloid, which, from the name of
the plant in which it occurs, he calls lycopodine.
The plant yielding the alkaloid, _Lycopodium complanatum_, belongs to
the group of angiospermous cryptogams. It is distributed throughout
the whole of north and middle Europe, and contains the largest
proportion of aluminum of any known plant. Its bitter taste led the
author to suspect an alkaloid in it.
To prepare the alkaloid the dried plant is chopped up and twice
exhausted with boiling alcohol of 90 per cent. The residue is squeezed
out while hot, and the extract, after being allowed to settle awhile,
is decanted off, and evaporated to a viscid consistency over a water
bath. This is then repeatedly kneaded up with fresh quantities of
lukewarm water until the washings cease to taste bitter, and to give a
reddish brown coloration when treated with a strong aqueous solution
of iodine. The several washings are collected and precipitated with
basic lead acetate, the precipitate filtered off, and the lead in the
filtrate removed by sulphureted hydrogen. The filtrate from the lead
sulphide is evaporated down over a water bath, then made strongly
alkaline with a solution of caustic soda, and repeatedly shaken up
with fresh quantities of ether so long as the washings taste bitter
and give a precipitate with iodine water. After distilling off the
ether, the residue is treated with strong hydrochloric acid, the
neutral or slightly acid solution filtered off from resinous
particles, slowly evaporated to crystallization, and the crystals
purified by repeated recrystallization. To prepare the pure base a
very concentrated solution of this pure hydrochlorate is treated with
an excess of a very concentrated solution of caustic soda, and pieces
of caustic potash are added, whereupon the free alkaloid separates out
at first as a colorless resinous stringy mass, which, however, upon
standing, turns crystalline, forming monoclinic crystals similar to
tartaric acid or glycocol. The crystals are rapidly washed with water,
and dried between soft blotting paper.
Thus prepared, lycopodine has a composition which may be represented
by the formula C_{32}H_{52}N_{2}O_{3}. It melts at 114° to 115° C.
without loss of weight. It is tolerable soluble in water and in ether,
and very soluble indeed in alcohol, chloroform, benzol, or amyl
alcohol. Lycopodine has a very pure bitter taste.
The author has formed several salts of the base, all of a crystalline
nature, and containing water of crystallization.
The hydrochlorate gives up a part of its water of crystallization at
the ordinary temperature under a desiccator over sulphuric acid, and
the whole of it upon heating.--_Chemist and Druggist._
* * * * *
CONCHINAMINE.
Some years ago, O. Hesse, when preparing chinamine from the renewed
bark of _Cinchona succirubra_, found in the mother liquid a new
alkaloid, which he then briefly designated as conchinamine. He has
lately given his attention to the separation and preparation of this
alkaloid, and gives in Liebig's _Annalen der Chemie_, August 31, 1881,
the following description of it:
_Preparation._--The alcoholic mother lye from chinamine is evaporated
down and protractedly exhausted with boiling ligroine, whereby
conchinamine and a small quantity of certain amorphous bases are
dissolved out. Upon cooling the greater part of the amorphous bases
precipitates out. The ligroine solution is then first treated with
dilute acetic acid, and then with a dilute solution of caustic soda,
whereupon a large quantity of a resinous precipitate is formed. This
is kneaded up with lukewarm water to remove adherent soda, and then
dissolved in hot alcohol. The alcoholic solution is saturated with
nitric acid, which has been previously diluted with half its volume of
water, and the whole set aside for a few days to crystallize. The
crystals of conchinamine nitrate are purified by recrystallization
from boiling water. On dissolving these pure crystals of the nitrate
in hot alcohol of 60 per cent., and adding ammonia, absolute pure
conchinamine separates out on cooling.
_Composition._--Conchinamine may be represented by the formula
C_{19}H_{24}N_{2}O_{2}, without water of crystallization.
_Properties._--Conchinamine is easily soluble in hot alcohol of 60 per
cent., and in ether and ligroine, from which solutions it crystallizes
in quadrilateral shining prisms. It is extremely soluble in
chloroform, but almost insoluble in water. It melts at 121° C.,
forming crystalline stars on cooling.
_Salts._--The salts of conchinamine, like the base itself, have much
in common with chinamine, but are, as a rule, more easily
crystallizable. They are prepared by neutralizing an alcoholic
solution of the base with the acid in question.--_Chemist and
Druggist._
* * * * *
CHINOLINE.
The valuable properties of which chinoline has been found to be
possessed have led to its admission as a therapeutic agent, and the
discoverer of these properties, Jul. Donath, of Baja, in Hungary, in a
paper sent to the _Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft_,
September 12, 1881, gives the following further details as to this
interesting substance.
_Antiseptic Properties._--Chinoline appears to be an excellent
antiseptic. The author found that 100 grammes of a Bucholze's solution
for the propagation of bacteria, charged with 0.20 g. of chinoline
hydrochlorate, had remained perfectly clear and free from bacteria
after standing forty-six days exposed to the air, while a similar
solution, placed under the same conditions, without chinoline, had
turned muddy and contained bacteria after only twelve days' standing.
_Antizymotic Properties._--Chinoline, even in the proportion of 5 per
cent., does not prevent alcoholic fermentation, while in as small a
quantity as 0.20 per cent. it does not prevent lactic acid
fermentation.
_Physiological Effects._--The author gave a healthy man during several
days various doses of chinoline tartrate, which in no way affected the
individual operated on, nor was any trace of chinoline found in his
urine. The author, therefore, considers that the base is oxidized by
the blood to carbopyridinic acid, which is a still more powerful
antiseptic than chinoline itself. Chinoline taken internally would,
therefore, be a useful and safe agent in cases of internal putrid
fungoid or other growth.
_Chemical Reactions._--Chinoline yields very characteristic reactions
with a number of chemical reagents, for a description of which we
refer to the original paper.--_Chemist and Druggist._
* * * * *
PREPARATION OF CONIINE.
Dr. J. Schorm, of Vienna, the author of this paper, after remarking
that in spite of the increase of the consumption of coniine, the
methods hitherto in vogue for preparing it yielded an article which
darkened on exposure to the air, and the salts of which crystallized
but badly, gives the following method for preparing pure coniine and
its salts:
_PREPARATION OF CRUDE CONIINE._
A.--100 kilogrammes of hemlock seed are moistened with hot water, and
after swelling up are treated with 4 kilogrammes of sodium carbonate
previously dissolved in the requisite quantity of water (caustic
alkalies cannot be used). The swollen seed is worked up uniformly with
shovels, and then placed in an apparatus of 400 kilogrammes capacity,
similar to that used in the distillation of ethereal oils, and charged
with steam under a pressure of three atmospheres. Coniine distills
over with the steam, the greater part separating out in the receiver
as an oily stratum, while a part remains dissolved in the water. The
riper the seeds, the greater is the percentage yield of oily coniine,
and the sooner is the distillation ended. The distillate is
neutralized with hydrochloric acid, and the whole evaporated to a weak
sirupy consistence. When cool, this sirup yields successive crops of
sal-ammoniac crystals, which latter are removed by shaking up the mass
with twice its volume of strong alcohol, and filtering. This filtrate
is freed from alcohol by evaporation over a water bath, the
approximate quantity of a solution of caustic soda then added, and the
whole shaken up with ether. The ethereal solution is then cooled down
to a low temperature, whereby it is separated from conhydrine, which,
being somewhat difficultly soluble in ether, crystallizes out.
B.--The bruised hemlock seed is treated in a vacuum extractor with
water acidulated with acetic acid, and the extract evaporated in vacuo
to a sirupy consistence. The sirup is treated with magnesia, and the
coniine dissolved out by shaking up with ether.
The B method yields a less percentage of coniine than A, but of a
better quality.
_RECTIFICATION OF THE CRUDE CONIINE._
The solution of crude coniine in ether obtained by either of the above
processes is evaporated over a water bath to remove the ether, mixed
with dry potassium carbonate, and then submitted to fractional
distillation from an air bath. The portion distilling over at 168° C.
to 169° C. is pure coniine, and represents 60 per cent. of the crude
coniine.
Coniine thus prepared is a colorless oily liquid, volatile at the
ordinary temperature, and has a specific gravity of 0.886. At a
temperature of 25°C it absorbs water, which it gives up again upon
heating. It is soluble in 90 parts of water. It is not altered by
light.
The author has formed a number of salts from coniine thus prepared,
and finds them all crystallizable and unaffected by light.--_Berichte
der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft._--_Chem. and Druggist._
* * * * *
STRONTIANITE.
Since it has been shown by Professor Scheibler, of Berlin, that
strontium is the most powerful medium of extraction in sugar refining,
owing to its capacity of combining with three parts of saccharate, the
idea suggests itself that the same medium might be successfully
employed in the arts, and form a most interesting subject of
experiment for the chemist.
Hitherto native strontianite, that is, the 90 to 95 per cent. pure
carbonate of strontium (not the celestine which frequently is mistaken
by the term strontianite), has not been worked systematically in
mines, but what used to be brought to the market was an inferior stone
collected in various parts of Germany, chiefly in Westphalia, where it
is found on the surface of the fields. Little also has been collected
in this manner, and necessarily the quality was subject to the
greatest fluctuations.
By Dr. Scheibler's important discovery, a new era has begun in the
matter of strontianite. Deposits of considerable importance have been
opened in the Westphalian districts at a very great depth, and the
supply of several 10,000 tons per annum seems to be secured, whereas
only a short time ago it was not thought possible that more than a few
hundred tons could in all be provided.--_Chemist and Druggist._
* * * * *
PARANGI--A NEWLY DESCRIBED DISEASE.
A peculiar contagious disease, called framboesia, or the yaws, has
long been known to exist in Africa, the West Indies, and the northern
parts of the British Islands. It is chronic in character, and is
distinguished by the development of raspberry-like tumors of
granulation tissue on different parts of the body.
A disease of a somewhat similar, but severer type, has for many years
prevailed in Ceylon. Even less was known of this affection than of its
supposed congener, until a recent careful report upon the subject by
Mr. W.R. Kinsey, principal civil medical officer of Ceylon.
The disease in question is called "parangi," and is defined by Mr.
Kinsey (_British Medical Journal_) as a specific disease, produced by
such causes as lead to debilitation of the system; propagated by
contagion, generally through an abrasion or sore, but sometimes by
simple contact with a sound surface; marked by an ill-defined period
of incubation, followed by certain premonitory symptoms referable to
the general system, then by the evolution of successive crops of a
characteristic eruption, which pass on in weakly subjects into
unhealthy and spreading ulcers whose cicatrices are very prone to
contraction; running a definite course; attacking all ages, and
amenable to appropriate treatment.
The disease seems to develop especially in places where the water
supply, which in Ceylon is kept in tanks, is insufficient or poor. The
bad food, dirty habits, and generally unhygienic mode of life of the
people, help on the action of the disease.
Parangi, when once developed, spreads generally by contagion from the
discharges of the eruptions and ulcers. The natural secretions do not
convey the poison. The disease may be inherited also.
In the clinical history of the disease there are, according to Mr.
Kinsey, four stages. The first is that of incubation. It lasts from
two weeks to two months. A sore will be found somewhere upon the body
at this time, generally over some bony prominence. The second is the
stage of invasion, and is characterized by the development of slight
fever, malaise, dull pains in the joints. As this stage comes on the
initial sore heals. This second stage lasts only from two to seven
days, and ends with an eruption which ushers in the third stage. The
eruption appears in successive crops, the first often showing itself
on the face, the next on the body, and the last on the extremities.
This eruptive stage of the disease continues for several weeks or
months, and it ends either in convalescence or the onset of a train of
sequelæ, which may prolong the disease for years.
Parangi may attack any one, though the poorly fed and housed are more
susceptible. One attack seems to confer immunity from another.
Although some of the sequelæ of the disease are most painful, yet
death does not often directly result from them, nor is parangi itself
a fatal disease. Persons who have had parangi and passed safely
through it, are not left in impaired health at all, but often live to
an old age.
The similarity of the disease, in its clinical history, to syphilis,
is striking. Mr. Kinsey, however, considers it, as we have stated,
allied to, if not identical with framboesia.--_Medical Record._
* * * * *
A CASTOR OIL SUBSTITUTE.
So far back as 1849, Mr. Alexander Ure investigated the purgative
properties of the oil of anda. The specimen with which the experiments
were tried had not been freshly prepared, and had indeed been long
regarded as a curiosity. Twelve ounces were alone available, and it
was a yellowish oil, quite bright, about the consistence of oleum
olivæ, devoid of smell, and free from the viscid qualities of castor
oil. There was a small supply of anda fruits differing a good deal in
appearance one from the other, but we are not aware whether these were
utilized and the oil expressed; as far as our recollection serves, the
subject was abandoned. It was known that the natives of Brazil used
the seeds as an efficient purgative in doses of from one to three, and
it was in contemplation to introduce this remedy into England, though
it was by no means certain that under distinctly different climatic
influences equally beneficial results might be expected. Mr. Ure
determined, by actual experiment, to ascertain the value of the oil in
his own hospital practice. He found that small doses were better than
larger ones, and in several reported cases it appeared that twenty
drops administered on sugar proved successful. Oil of anda-açu, or
assu, therefore, would stand mid-way between ol. ricini and ol.
crotonis. These researches seem to have been limited to the original
sample, although the results obtained would appear to justify a more
extended trial. M. Mello-Oliveira. of Rio Janeiro, has endeavored to
bring the remedy into notice under the name of "Huile d'Anda-Assu,"
and possibly may not have been acquainted with the attempt to
introduce it into English practice. He describes the anda as a fine
tree (_Johanesia princeps_, Euphorbiaceæ), with numerous branches and
persistent leaves, growing in different parts of Brazil, and known
under the name of "coco purgatif." The fruit is quadrangular,
bilocular, with two kernels, which on analysis yield an active
principle for which the name "Johaneseine" is proposed. This is a
substance sparingly soluble in water and alcohol, and insoluble in
chloroform, benzine, ether, and bisulphide of carbon. Evidence derived
from experiments with the sulphate of this principle did not give
uniform results: one opinion being that, contrary to the view of many
Brazilian physicians, this salt had no toxic effect on either men or
animals. Local medical testimony, however, was entirely in favor of
the oil. Dr. Torrès, professor at Rio Janeiro, using a dose of two
teaspoonfuls, had been successful. Dr. Tazenda had obtained excellent
results, and Dr. Castro, with a somewhat larger dose (3 ijss.), was
even enthusiastic in its praise. It might, therefore, be desirable at
a time when new remedies are so much in vogue, not to abandon
altogether a Brazilian medicament the value of which is confirmed both
by popular native use and by professional treatment. M. Mello-Oliveira
comes to the conclusion that oleum anda assu (or açu) may be employed
wherever castor oil is indicated, and with these distinct advantages:
first, that its dose is considerably less; secondly, that it is free
from disagreeable odor and pungent taste; and thirdly, being
sufficiently fluid, it is not adherent to the mouth so as to render it
nauseous to the patient. In this short abstract the spelling of the
French original has been retained. As this therapeutic agent claimed
attention thirty years ago, and has again been deemed worthy of notice
in scientific journals, some of our enterprising pharmacists might be
inclined to add it to the list of their commercial ventures.--_Chemist
and Druggist._
* * * * *
HOUSEHOLD AND OTHER RECIPES.
Mr. Jas. W. Parkinson gives in a recent number of the _Confectioner's
Journal_ the following useful recipes:
CHRISTMAS PLUM PUDDING.
Stone a pound of bloom raisins; wash and clean a pound of Zante
currants; mince finely a pound of beef suet; mix with this, in a large
pan, a pound of stale bread crumbs and half a pound of sifted flour.
Beat together in another pan six eggs, and mix with them half a pint
of milk. Pour this over the suet and flour, and stir and beat the
whole well together; then add the raisins, currants, and a seasoning
of ground cinnamon, grated nutmeg, powdered ginger, and a little
ground cloves, a teaspoonful of salt, one pound of sugar, and a glass
of Jamaica rum. This pudding may now be boiled in a floured cloth or
in an ornamental mould tied up in a cloth. In either way it requires
long and constant boiling, six hours at least for one such as the
above. Every pudding in a cloth should be boiled briskly, till
finished, in plenty of water, in a large pot, so as to allow it to
move about freely.
To take the boiled pudding out of the cloth without breaking it, dip
it into cold water for a minute or two, then place it in a round
bottomed basin that will just hold it, untie the cloth and lay bare
the pudding down to the edge of the basin; then place upon it, upside
down, the dish on which it is to be served, and invert the whole so
that the pudding may rest on the dish; lastly, lift off the basin and
remove the cloth. The use of the cold water is to chill and solidify
the surface, so that it may part from the cloth smoothly.
Plum pudding may also be baked in a mould or pan, which must be well
buttered inside before pouring the pudding into it. Two hours' boiling
suffices.
PLUM-PUDDING SAUCE.
Put into a saucepan two ounces of best butter and a tablespoonful of
flour; mix these well together with a wooden spoon, and stir in half a
pint of cold water and a little salt and pepper. Set this on the fire
and stir constantly till nearly boiling; then add half a tumbler of
Madeira wine, brandy, or Jamaica rum, fine sugar to the taste, and a
little ground cinnamon or grated nutmeg. Make the sauce very hot, and
serve over each portion of the pudding.
NATIONAL PLUM PUDDING.
An excellent plum pudding is made as follows: Half a pound of flour,
half a pound of grated bread crumbs, a pound of Zante currants, washed
and picked; a pound of raisins, stoned; an ounce of mixed spices, such
as cinnamon, mace, cloves, and nutmeg; an ounce of butter, two ounces
of blanched almonds, cut small; six ounces of preserved citron and
preserved orange peel, cut into small pieces; four eggs, a little
salt, four ounces of fine sugar, and half a pint of brandy. Mix all
these well together, adding sufficient milk to bring the mixture to a
proper consistency. Boil in a floured cloth or mould for eight hours.
THE SAUCE FOR THE ABOVE.
Into a gill of melted butter put an ounce of powdered sugar, a little
grated nutmeg, two wine glasses of Madeira wine and one of Curacoa.
Stir all well together, make very hot, and pour it over the pudding.
EGG-NOG, OR AULD MAN'S MILK.
Separate the whites and yolks of a dozen fresh eggs. Put the yolks
into a basin and beat them to a smooth cream with half a pound of
finely pulverized sugar. Into this stir half a pint of brandy, and the
same quantity of Jamaica rum; mix all well together and add three
quarts of milk or cream, half a nutmeg (grated), and stir together.
Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth; stir lightly into them
two or three ounces of the finest sugar powder, add this to the
mixture, and dust powdered cinnamon over the top.
EGG FLIP.
Beat up in a bowl half a dozen fresh eggs; add half a pound of
pulverized sugar; stir well together, and pour in one quart or more of
boiling water, about half a pint at a time, mixing well as you pour it
in; when all is in, add two tumblers of best brandy and one of Jamaica
rum.
ROAST TURKEY.
The turkey is without doubt the most savory and finest flavored of all
our domestic fowls, and is justly held in the highest estimation by
the good livers in all countries where it is known. Singe, draw, and
truss the turkey in the same manner as other fowls; then fill with a
stuffing made of bread crumbs, butter, sweet herbs rubbed fine,
moistened with eggs and seasoned with pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg.
Sausage meat or a forced meat, made of boiled chicken meat, boiled ham
grated fine, chopped oysters, roasted or boiled chestnuts rubbed fine,
stewed mushrooms, or last but not the least in estimation, a dozen
fine truffles cut into pieces and sauted in the best of butter, and
added part to the stuffing and part to the sauce which is made from
the drippings (made into a good brown gravy by the addition of a
capful of cold water thickened with a little flour, with the giblets
boiled and chopped fine in it). A turkey of ten pounds will require
two and a half hours' roasting and frequent basting. Currant jelly,
cranberry jelly, or cranberry sauce should always be on the table with
roast turkey.
WOODCOCKS AND SNIPE.
Some epicures say that the woodcock should never be drawn, but that
they should be fastened to a small bird spit, and should be put to
roast before a clear fire; a slice of toast, put in a pan below each
bird, in order to catch the trail; baste them with melted butter; lay
the toast on a hot dish, and the birds on the toast. They require from
fifteen to twenty minutes to roast. Snipe are dressed in the same
manner, but require less time to cook. My pet plan to cook woodcock is
to draw the bird and split it down the back, and then to broil it,
basting it with butter; chop up the intestines, season them with
pepper and salt, and saute them on a frying pan with butter; lay the
birds on toast upon a hot dish and pour the saute over them.
CANVAS-BACK DUCKS.
Select young fat ducks; pick them nicely, singe, and draw them
carefully without washing them so as to preserve the blood and
consequently the full flavor of the bird; then truss it and place it
on the spit before a brisk fire, or in a pan in a hot oven for at
least fifteen or twenty minutes; then serve it hot with its own gravy,
which is formed by its own blood and juices, on a hot dish. It may
also be a little less cooked, and then carved and placed on a chafing
dish with red currant jelly, port wine, and a little butter.
PHEASANTS.
A pheasant should have a clear, steady fire, but not a fierce one. The
pheasant, being a rather dry bird, requires to be larded, or put a
piece of beef or a rump steak into the inside of it before roasting.
WILD DUCKS.
In order to serve these birds in their most succulent state and finest
flavor, let them hang in their feathers for a few days after being
shot; then pluck, clean, and draw, and roast them in a quick oven or
before a brisk fire; dredge and baste them well, and allow them twenty
minutes to roast; serve them with gravy sauce and red currant jelly,
or with a gravy sauce to which a chopped shallot and the juice of an
orange has been added.
WILD FOWL SAUCE.
The following exquisite sauce is applicable to all wild fowl: Take one
saltspoon of salt, half to two-thirds salt spoon of Cayenne, one
dessert spoon lemon juice, one dessert spoon powdered sugar, two
dessert spoons Harvey sauce, three dessert spoons port wine, well
mixed and heated; score the bird and pour the sauce over it.
BROWN FRICASSEE OF RABBITS.
Cut a couple of rabbits into joints, fry these in a little fresh
butter till they are of a light brown color; then put them into a
stewpan, with a pint of water, two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice, the
same of mushroom catchup, one of Worcester sauce, and a couple of
burnt onions, a little Cayenne and salt; stew over a slow fire till
perfectly done; then take out the meat, strain the gravy, and thicken
it with a little flour if necessary; make it quite hot, and pour it
over the rabbits.
ORANGE PUDDING.
Beat up the yolks of eight eggs, grate the yellow rinds from two
oranges, add these to a quarter of a pound of finely powdered sugar,
the same weight of fresh butter, three teaspoonfuls of orange-flower
water, two glasses of sherry wine, two or three stale Naples biscuits
or lady fingers, and a teacupful of cream. Line a dish with puff
paste, pour in the ingredients, and bake for half an hour in a good
oven.
VENISON PASTRY.
A neck or breast of venison is rendered very savory by treating it as
follows: Take off the skin and cut the meat off the bones into pieces
of about an inch square; put these, with the bones, into a stewpan,
cover them with veal or mutton broth, add two thirds of a teaspoon of
powdered mace, half a dozen allspice, three shallots chopped fine, a
teaspoonful of salt, a saltspoon of Cayenne, and a tumbler of port
wine; stew over a slow fire until the meat is half done, then take it
out and let the gravy remain on the fire ten or fifteen minutes
longer. Line a good sized dish with pastry, arrange your meat on it,
pour the gravy upon it through a sieve, adding the juice of a lemon;
put on the top crust, and bake for a couple of hours in a slow oven.
CHRISTMAS RED ROUND.
Rub well into a round of beef a half pound of saltpeter, finely
powdered. Next day mix half an ounce of cloves, half an ounce of black
pepper, the same quantity of ground allspice, with half a pound of
salt; wash and rub the beef in the brine for a fortnight, adding every
other day a tablespoonful of salt. At the expiration of the fortnight,
wipe the beef quite free from the brine, and stuff every interstice
that you can find with equal portions of chopped parsley, and mixed
sweet herbs in powder, seasoned with ground allspice, mace, salt, and
Cayenne. Do not be sparing of this mixture. Put the round into a deep
earthen pan, fill it with strong ale, and bake it in a very slow oven
for eight hours, turning it in the liquor every two hours, and adding
more ale if necessary. This is an excellent preparation to assist in
the "keeping of the Christmas season."
PLUM PORRIDGE FOR CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES.
Make a good strong broth from four pounds of veal and an equal
quantity of shin of beef. Strain and skim off the fat when cold. Wash
and stone three pounds and a half of raisins; wash and well dry the
same weight of best Zante currants; take out the stones from two and a
half pounds of French prunes; grate up the crumbs of two small loaves
of wheat bread; squeeze the juice of eight oranges and four lemons;
put these, with a teaspoonful of powdered cinnamon, a grated nutmeg,
half a dozen cloves, and five pounds of sugar into your broth; stir
well together, and then pour in three quarts of sherry. Set the vessel
containing the mixture on a slow fire. When the ingredients are soft
add six bottles of hock; stir the porridge well, and as soon as it
boils it is fit for use.
SUGARED PEARS.
Half a dozen of those fine pears called the "Bartlett" will make a
small dish worthy the attention of any good Christian who has a sweet
tooth in his head. Pare the fruit, cut out the cores, squeeze lemon
juice over them, which will prevent their discoloration. Boil them
gently in enough sirup to cover them till they become tender. Serve
them cold, with Naples biscuit round the dish.
TABLE BEER.
Table beer of a superior quality may be brewed in the following
manner, a process well worth the attention of the gentleman, the
mechanic, and the farmer, whereby the beer is altogether prevented
from working out of the cask, and the fermentation conducted without
any apparent admission of the external air. I have made the scale for
one barrel, in order to make it more generally useful to the community
at large; however the same proportions will answer for a greater or
less quantity, only proportioning the materials and utensils. Take one
peck of good malt, ground, one pound of hops, put them in twenty
gallons of water, and boil them for half an hour; then run them into a
hair-cloth bag or sieve, so as to keep back the hops and malt from the
wort, which when cooled down to sixty-five degrees by Fahrenheit's
thermometer, add to it two gallons of molasses, with one pint, or a
little less, of good yeast. Mix these with your wort, and put the
whole into a clean barrel, and fill it up with cold water to within
six inches of the bung hole (this space is requisite to leave room for
fermentation), bung down tight. If brewed for family use, would
recommend putting in the cock at the same time, as it will prevent the
necessity of disturbing the cask afterward. In one fortnight this beer
may be drawn and will be found to improve to the last.
MINCE MEAT.
This inevitable Christmas luxury is vastly improved by being mixed
some days before it is required for use; this gives the various
ingredients time to amalgamate and blend.
Peel, core, and chop fine a pound of pippin apples, wash and clean a
pound of Zante currants, stone one pound of bloom raisins, cut into
small pieces a pound of citron, remove the skin and gristle from a
pound and a half of cold roast or boiled beef, and carefully pick a
pound of beef suet; chop these well together. Cut into small bits
three-quarters of a pound of mixed candied orange and lemon peel; mix
all these ingredients well together in a large earthen pan. Grate one
nutmeg, half an ounce of powdered ginger, quarter of an ounce of
ground cloves, quarter of an ounce of ground allspice and coriander
seed mixed, and half an ounce of salt. Grate the yellow rind of three
lemons, and squeeze the juice over two pounds of fine sugar. Put the
grated yellow rind and all the other ingredients in a pan; mix well
together, and over all pour one pint of brandy, one pint of sherry,
and one pint of hard cider; stir well together, cover the pan closely,
and when about to use the mince meat, take it from the bottom of the
pan.
PUMPKIN PIE.
"What moistens the lip, and what brightens the eye?
What calls back the past like the rich pumpkin pie?"
Stew about two pounds of pumpkins, then add to it three-quarters of a
pound of sugar, and the same quantity of butter, well worked together;
stir these into the pumpkin and add a teaspoonful of powdered mace and
grated nutmeg, and a little ground cinnamon; then add a gill of
brandy, beat them well together, and stir in the yolks of eight
well-beaten eggs. Line the pie plates with puff paste, fill them with
the pumpkin mixture, grate a little nutmeg over the top, and bake.
BRANDY PUNCH.
Take three dozen lemons, chip off the yellow rinds, taking care that
none of the white underlying pith is taken, as that would make the
punch bitter, whereas the yellow portion of the rinds is that in which
the flavor resides and in which the cells are placed containing the
essential oil. Put this yellow rind into a punch bowl, add to it two
pounds of lump sugar; stir the sugar and peel together with a wooden
spoon or spatula for nearly half an hour, thereby extracting a greater
quantity of the essential oil. Now add boiling water, and stir until
the sugar is completely dissolved. Squeeze and strain the juice from
the lemons and add it to the mixture; stir together and taste it; add
more acid or more sugar, as required, and take care not to render it
too watery. "Rich of the fruit and plenty of sweetness," is the maxim.
Now measure the sherbet, and to every three quarts add a pint of
cognac brandy and a pint of old Jamaica rum, the spirit being well
stirred as poured in. This punch may be bottled and kept in a cool
cellar; it will be found to improve with age.
BOEUF A LA MODE (FAMILY STYLE).
The rump is the most applicable for this savory dish. Take six or
eight pounds of it, and cut it into bits of a quarter of a pound each;
chop a couple of onions very fine; grate one or two carrots; put these
into a large stewpan with a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, or
fresh and well clarified beef drippings; while this is warming, cover
the pieces of beef with flour; put them into the pan and stir them for
ten minutes, adding a little more flour by slow degrees, and taking
great care that the meat does not burn. Pour in, a little at a time, a
gallon of boiling water; then add a couple of drachms of ground
allspice, one of black pepper, a couple of bay leaves, a pinch each of
ground cloves and mace. Let all this stew on a slow fire, and very
gently, for three hours and a quarter; ascertain with a fork if the
meat be tender; if so, you may serve it in a tureen or deep dish. A
well-dressed salad is the proper accompaniment of boeuf à la mode.
PUNCH JELLY.
Make a bowl of punch according to the directions for brandy punch,
only a _little_ stronger. To every pint of punch add an ounce of
gelatine dissolved in half a pint of water; pour this into the punch
while quite hot, and then fill your moulds, taking care not to disturb
it until the jelly is completely set. This preparation is a very
agreeable refreshment, but should be used in moderation. The strength
of the punch is so artfully concealed by its admixture with the
gelatine that many persons, particularly of the softer sex, have been
tempted to partake so plentifully of it as to render them somewhat
unfit for waltzing or quadrilling after supper.
ORANGE SALAD.
This somewhat inappropriately-named dish is made by removing the rind
and cutting the fruit in slices crosswise and adding equal quantities
of brandy and Madeira, in proportion to the quantity of fruit thus
dressed, strewing a liberal allowance of finely-powdered sugar over
all.
CRANBERRY JELLY.
Put two quarts of cranberries into a large earthen pipkin, and cover
them with water; place them on a moderate fire, and boil them until
they are reduced to a soft pulp; then strain and press them through a
hair sieve into an earthen or stone ware pan, and for each pint of
liquid pulp allow one pound of pulverized sugar; mix the pulp and
sugar together in a bright copper basin and boil, stirring constantly
for ten or fifteen minutes, or until the mixture begins to coagulate
upon the spatula; then remove it from the fire and fill your moulds;
let them stand in a cool place to set. When wanted for use, turn it
out of the mould in the same manner as other jellies.
JOVE'S NECTAR.
For three gallons, peel the yellow rind from one and a half dozen
fresh lemons, very thin, and steep the peelings for forty-eight hours
in a gallon of brandy; then add the juice of the lemons, with five
quarts of water, three pounds of loaf sugar, and two nutmegs grated;
stir it till the sugar is completely dissolved, then pour in three
quarts of new milk, _boiling hot_, and let it stand two hours, after
which run it through a jelly bag till it is fine. This is fit for
immediate use, but may be kept for years in bottles, and will be
improved by age.
PLUM, OR BLACK CAKE.
For this Christmas luxury take one pound of butter and one pound of
pulverized sugar; beat them together to a cream, stir in one dozen
eggs beaten to a froth, beat well together, and add one pound of
sifted flour; continue the beating for ten minutes, then add and stir
in three pounds of stoned raisins, three pounds of Zante currants,
washed, cleaned, and dried, a pound and a half of citron sliced and
cut into small pieces, three grated nutmegs, quarter of an ounce of
powdered mace, half an ounce of powdered cinnamon, and half a
teaspoonful of ground cloves; mix all well together; bake in a
well-buttered pan in a slow oven for four hours and a half.
BLACK CAKE (PARKINSON'S OWN).
"If you have lips, prepare to smack them now."
--_Shakspeare, slightly altered._
Take one and a half pounds of the best butter, and the same weight of
pulverized sugar; beat them together to a cream; stir into this two
dozen eggs, beaten to a froth; add one gill of old Jamaica rum; then
add one and a half pounds of sifted flour. Stir and beat all well
together, and add two pounds of finest bloom raisins, stoned; two
pounds of Zante currants, washed, cleaned, and dried; one pound of
preserved citron, sliced thinly and cut into small pieces; one pound
of preserved French cherries, in halves; one pound of green gages, and
one pound of preserved apricots, stoned and cut into small pieces;
half a pound of preserved orange and lemon peel, mixed, and cut into
small pieces; three grated nutmegs, half an ounce of ground mace, half
an ounce of powdered cinnamon, and a quarter ounce of ground cloves.
Mix all the ingredients well together, and bake in a well-buttered
mould or pan, in a _slow oven_, for five and a half hours.
This cake is vastly improved by age. Those intended for the Christmas
festivities should be made at or about the first of October; then put
the cake into a round tin box, half an inch larger in diameter than
the cake; then pour over it a bottle of the best brandy mixed with
half a pint of pure lemon, raspberry, strawberry, or simple sirup, and
one or more bottles of champagne. Now put on the lid of the box, and
have it carefully soldered on, so as to make all perfectly air-tight.
Put it away in your store-room, and let stand till Christmas, only
reversing the box occasionally, in order that the liquors may permeate
the cake thoroughly.
This heroic treatment causes the ingredients to amalgamate, and the
flavors to harmonize and blend more freely; and when, on Christmas
day, you bring out this hermit, after doing a three months' penance in
a dark cell, it will come out rich, succulent, and unctuous; you will
not only have a luxury, "fit to set before a king," or before the
Empress of India, but fit to crown a feast of the very gods
themselves, on high Olympus' top.
POTATOES (PARKINSON STYLE).
Take two or three fine white potatoes, raw; peel and chop them up
_very, very fine_. Then chop up just as fine the breast of a
good-sized boiled fowl; they should be chopped as fine as unboiled
rice; mix the meat and the potatoes together, and dust a _very little_
flour over them and a pinch or two of salt. Now put an ounce or so of
the best butter into a frying pan, and when it is hot, put in the
mixture, and stir constantly with a wooden spatula until they are
fried to a nice golden color, then immediately serve on a hot plate.
Cold boiled ham grated fine, or boiled beef tongue chopped very fine,
may be used instead of chicken, omitting the salt. A dozen or two of
prime oysters, parboiled, drained, and chopped fine, mixed with the
potatoes prepared as above, and fried, makes a most delicious lunch or
supper dish. Try any of the above styles, and say no, if you can.
* * * * *
THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY COMET.
Professor Hind, of the British Nautical Almanac Office, recently sent
an interesting letter to the London _Times_ on the comet depicted in
that famous piece of embroidery known as the Bayeux Tapestry. Probably
no one of the great comets recorded in history has occasioned a more
profound impression upon mankind in the superstitious ages than the
celebrated body which appeared in the spring of the year 1066, and was
regarded as the precursor of the invasion of England by William the
Norman. As Pingre, the eminent cometographer, remarks, it forms the
subject of an infinite number of relations in the European chronicles.
The comet was first seen in China on April 2, 1066. It appeared in
England about Easter Sunday, April 16, and disappeared about June 8.
Professor Hind finds in ancient British and Chinese records abundant
grounds for believing that this visitant was only an earlier
appearance of Halley's great comet, and he traces back the appearances
of this comet at its several perihelion passages to B.C. 12. The last
appearance of Halley's comet was in 1835, and according to
Pontecoulant's calculations, its next perihelion passage will take
place May 24, 1910.
* * * * *
LACK OF SUN LIGHT.
Some interesting information as to the way in which the human system
is affected under the peculiar conditions of work in mines has been
furnished by M. Fabre, from experiences connected with the coal mines
of France. He finds that the deprivation of solar light causes a
diminution in the pigment of the skin, and absence of sunburning, but
there is no globular anæmia--that is, diminution in the number of
globules in the blood. Internal maladies seem to be more rare. While
there is no essential anæmia in the miners, the blood globules are
often found smaller and paler than in normal conditions of life, this
being due to respiration of noxious gases, especially where
ventilation is difficult. The men who breathe too much the gases
liberated on explosion of powder or dynamite suffer more than other
miners from affections of the larynx, the bronchia, and the stomach.
Ventilation sometimes works injury by its cooling effect.
* * * * *
SYNTHETIC EXPERIMENTS ON THE ARTIFICIAL REPRODUCTION OF
METEORITES.
By means of igneous fusion the authors have succeeded in reproducing
two types of crystalline associations, which, in their mineralogical
composition and the principal features of their structure, are
analogous, if not identical with certain oligosideric meteorites. The
only notable difference results from the habitual brecchoid state of
the meteorites, which contrasts with state of quiet solidification of
the artificial compounds.--_F. Fouqué and Michel Lévy._
* * * * *
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